Before long, Chen Yi arrived at where Hua Wuyan was staying.
Once again, she was in a cave brewing medicinal concoctions using ancient methods.
A dirty iron cauldron, an ordinary stirring rod, firewood.
The green liquid in the pot bubbled with a rhythmic "glub-glub."
"How strange. This time you've come within ten steps of me, and I can't even sense your presence. It seems you've grown even stronger, Chen Martial God."
Hua Wuyan turned to face Chen Yi.
She looked him up and down, then pulled out a few turtle shells, tossed them on the ground, and frowned deeply.
"I can no longer divine your fortune. This shouldn't be possible..."
Chen Yi smiled and spoke without mincing words.
"I've already obtained a cultivation level that surpasses the upper limit of the Void Realm."
"Hmm, that must be the only explanation."
Hua Wuyan was genuinely curious about how Chen Yi had managed such a feat.
But she knew that asking would be pointless.
It wasn't that Chen Yi wanted to hide anything. With his current strength, he could shout in the middle of the street that he was a transmigrator, and he wouldn't fear the consequences.
It was just that explaining everything to Hua Wuyan, a native of the human world, would be far too troublesome.
Better to maintain a bit of mystery.
"Senior Hua, what I'm about to tell you is extremely important."
Chen Yi informed Hua Wuyan that within a few decades, all five Five Element Root Vessels in the human world would be completely destroyed, leading the realm to its apocalyptic doom.
As she listened, Hua Wuyan simultaneously used her divination abilities from the Witchcraft Dao to calculate and verify.
"How strange. This Black Hand you speak of—I can't divine even the slightest trace of him."
"That's because he, like me, possesses power from the Real Realm."
In the sixth simulation, Chen Yi had learned from others that before Li Lingyue embarked on the Path to Immortality, she had stated that this Black Hand must have come from the Real Realm.
At the very end of the simulation, he had wanted to ask her why she was so certain.
Unfortunately, he got killed before he could ask.
"So you want to hide these Five Element Root Vessels of the human world in other planes, to prevent the Black Hand from succeeding?"
"Exactly. While this doesn't guarantee they'll never be found, it's at least better than putting all our eggs in one basket."
"Why not simply keep them on your person? Is this Black Hand stronger than you?"
"I've never truly fought him, nor have I ever seen his true face. I speculate that he's probably only at the peak of the Void Realm's limits, but... things I haven't witnessed with my own eyes can never be confirmed with certainty."
Hua Wuyan had no objection to entrusting the Mountain River Armor to Chen Yi.
However, she had one condition.
"Senior, please speak freely. Within this human world, I believe I can accomplish anything you ask of me."
"I want you to inherit the position of human Guardian."
Chen Yi raised an eyebrow, his expression frozen for a few seconds.
This was truly a path he had never considered.
"Senior Hua, if I recall correctly, didn't you once tell me that you had divined your successor? And regardless of who she was, she would at least be a woman, right?"
Hua Wuyan chuckled softly, slowly picking up the wooden rod from atop the cauldron and continuing to stir.
"A few days ago, my divination still showed that. But earlier today, I discovered that was no longer the case."
"It changed to a man?"
"No, I can't divine it at all anymore. It's not just my successor—I can no longer divine many things in this world."
"This is..."
"It must be that a variable beyond the world's rules has appeared. This being can freely twist any possibility, so naturally, the meager calculation abilities of the Witchcraft Dao have lost their meaning.
What could this variable be? So hard to guess."
The divination ability within Hua Wuyan's cultivation of the Witchcraft Dao was never meant to predict the future.
Rather, it estimated one possible direction of events.
Because Chen Yi had officially stepped into the Extreme Terrain Realm and brought this cultivation level that exceeded the world's rules into reality.
This directly caused Hua Wuyan's divination—and indeed all divination abilities within the Void Realm—to become chaotic and unknowable.
Because as long as Chen Yi intervened, all his movements became unpredictable to anyone within the Void Realm.
To put it simply, the program of the Void Realm had developed a bug.
"Senior Hua, I've noticed a problem."
"Go on."
"When power that exceeds the world's rules appears, the Witchcraft Dao's calculations fail. But that Black Hand should also exceed the Void Realm's upper limit. Why didn't your Witchcraft Dao fail before? I don't believe he only arrived in the Void Realm a few decades ago."
"That would mean he's sometimes in the Void Realm, and sometimes not. When he's not here, he has no effect on divination."
This Black Hand could shuttle between the Void Realm and the Real Realm?
This wasn't like the projections created by the Star Apes, nor was it like the Red River Nether King channeling his power through the planes. This was his entire physical body traveling back and forth!
At most, he could ascend via the Path to Immortality, but returning would be completely impossible.
"In that case, I've underestimated his strength..."
"Let's get back to business."
"Oh right, right, right. The Guardian... Senior Hua, you're still hale and hearty. You're more experienced at this Guardian position than I am—you should just keep doing it."
"The position of Guardian extends one's lifespan by two thousand years, so we typically live to about three thousand years of age.
Communicating with the Earth Spirit—you've seen this before—allows unrestricted teleportation within the human world. That's only one of the Earth Spirit's powers. With your higher cultivation, you might be able to accomplish even more impressive feats.
Supplementing the fortune of all clans—the Guardian's existence not only protects a race's luck, but also receives nourishment from the collective fortune of all races, enhancing one's own luck and aptitude for immortal cultivation. In short, you would possess greater fortune and cultivate faster.
And also..."
"Senior Hua, you're getting on in years. You've worked hard for the human world and humanity your entire life—you deserve a good rest!
Rest assured, with me here from now on, I will guarantee the safety of the human world and protect the prosperity of the human race!"
Hua Wuyan smiled, the wrinkles on her aged face layering like ravines among mountain ranges.
"I believe you will be the greatest Guardian in history."
For such an important position as human Guardian, Hua Wuyan would never choose her successor hastily.
Her decision to select Chen Yi had been foreshadowed long ago.
When Chen Yi led the various forces to destroy the Ancient Wasteland Secret Realm and reclaim the Path to Immortality.
That single achievement alone was enough for Hua Wuyan to realize that Chen Yi had already accumulated immeasurable merit.
Forget character qualifications—even if the Great Demon had done such a thing, he would deserve to become the Guardian.
Come to think of it, the Great Demon had actually served as Guardian before.
So compared to the Great Demon, choosing Chen Yi as Guardian was practically a meticulously curated selection on Hua Wuyan's part.
Furthermore, her previous divination of her successor was meant to follow the will of heaven.
So even if she discovered that Chen Yi was better suited to be Guardian, she wouldn't place her subjective judgment above the heavenly mandate.
But now that the heavenly mandate had become unknowable, there was naturally no need to follow it.
Especially since Chen Yi now possessed power beyond the Void Realm, allowing him to protect the entire race better than she could, better than anyone in the human world could.
The inheritance of the Guardian was conducted through the Earth Spirit.
Hua Wuyan first called upon the Earth Spirit in her capacity as Guardian.
This timid spirit body normally never came into contact with any living person.
Only the Five Element Root Vessels and the Guardian could lower its defenses.
Or, someone like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner who knew how to sweet-talk could also deceive the naive Earth Spirit.

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