Fantasy: I'm Really Not A Supreme Master!

"Betrayal..."

Hidden in a remote corner, Yun Xi bore witness to everything that had just transpired atop the mountain.

Former brothers and sisters from the same courtyard had turned on one another. Zi Ling and Su Baiqian struggled to resist, but were nonetheless corrupted, while Xinning—the one who should have stood with them—struck out and cast Li Fan's scroll into the pitch-black prison of the Dark Firmament.

Within the prison of utter darkness, all ties to the real world are severed. Li Fan would endure a torment of endless isolation across the fabric of time and space.

The Quiet One's voice echoed faintly, still serene yet dispassionate, as it said:

"The end of the first story… once, there was one who rose from the innocence of youth to the pinnacle of supremacy, only to step into the heart of the dark tide, utterly alone."

"It is an infinite abyss, an eternal cage, a forbidden realm for all life. Step within, and no matter how mighty, how proud, or how resolute one is, they will ultimately be conquered by the darkness and the cosmos. At best, they will descend into utter madness, perishing as they spiral into insanity."

Yet within the Quiet One's words, there seemed to linger the faintest trace of sentiment. It said:

"But now... it's time for another story. Do you want to hear it?"

Still gazing toward the direction of the Dark Firmament, Yun Xi replied:

"The next story is easy to anticipate… That boy, who once became Supreme but was ultimately betrayed by his dearest friends, will finally succumb to eternal loneliness and be corrupted by the infinite darkness. Isn't that so?"

The Quiet One chuckled softly:

"A story becomes a story because it carries rises and falls, waves and turns. Those very undulations and twists are the essence of a story."

"He saw light within the utter darkness."

In the Quiet One's eyes, there was a sliver of recollection as it murmured:

"This story will take some time to tell, for I have left thirty thousand years to recount it."

...

At this moment, in a little mountain village.

The entire Nine Forbidden Continents were already shrouded in black mist.

The civilizations of life had fallen into a great extinction. In this current age, there was no escape for anyone.

Almost all life had perished, and only a scarce few had transformed into Dark Creatures.

Outside the mountain village, dense fog suffused the air. Within the black mist, corrupted creatures howled intermittently.

Yet within the village, it was as though another world existed altogether.

Here, everything remained as it was.

At the entrance of the village, Second Elder was still enjoying the sunlight—despite the fact that there was no sun anymore.

Nevertheless, his leisurely demeanor remained unchanged. He brewed tea, squinted at the horizon, and, bored to tears, occasionally played chess with himself.

In the fields, Uncle Zhang, as always, was grazing the Old Yellow Bull and Big Black Bull along the ridges, letting them munch on the wild grass, while he himself bent over the earth with his Sickle, unearthing tiny potatoes.

"According to what Little Li said, the potatoes dug up around the Dragon Boat Festival are the tastiest. Braise them with oil in a big pot, oh, just the thought of it makes me hungry," he murmured cheerfully to himself as he peeled back potato vines. Seeing a bulge in the soil, he deftly twisted the blade in a circle, and out rolled a fresh potato.

Before long, he'd gathered seven or eight pounds of them.

Then, he finally led his oxen onto the main road.

Passing by Second Elder, he remarked:

"Don't bother waiting. With mist this thick, Little Li and the others won't be back anytime soon."

Second Elder didn't even open his eyes as he replied:

"I heard the sound of the pitch-black prison being unlocked… If my guess is correct, Little Li should have entered the Domain of Utmost Darkness by now."

"At the edge of the Dark Domain, beyond the Supreme Corpse Sea, one can glimpse the Dam," he added.

Uncle Zhang said, "Crossing the Domain of Utmost Darkness, even for a Supreme One, would take tens of thousands of years. It's still early."

Second Elder mused, "Do you think Little Li can break through the Dam this time?"

Uncle Zhang shook his head. "Hard to say… The Dam possesses the power to annihilate everything from the past and present, yet it cannot kill Little Li..."

"I've always been curious—how exactly does Little Li manage it?"

Second Elder chuckled softly, saying:

"Perhaps Little Li belongs neither to the past, nor to the present."

Uncle Zhang stared at him in astonishment. "Are you suggesting... Could Little Li hail from the future?"

Second Elder smiled faintly. "Why not?"

"The future?... An eternal abyss of darkness!"

Uncle Zhang muttered, "You and I once fished for the shadows of the heavens, hoping to glimpse a strand of hope from the future, but all we saw was the same darkness."

"Does life even exist in the far future?"

Second Elder replied calmly, "Just because we couldn't see it doesn't mean Little Li, in his time, couldn't."

Uncle Zhang lapsed into pensive silence.

"Little Li… Is it possible he truly came from a distant future, crossing the river of ages?"

He spoke softly.

The Dam, capable of obliterating all from the past and present, wielded absolute foundational power. No matter the mindset or strength, none could escape its reach.

But if Li Fan truly hailed from the future...

"Yet, if he comes from the future, while the Dam cannot destroy him, neither can he approach it. Between him and the Dam lies an insurmountable chasm—close enough to see, but eternally out of reach!"

Uncle Zhang concluded decisively.

The distance between future and present, even when they occupy the same space, remains incomprehensibly vast.

Second Elder chuckled again. "Let's wait. There's no use in guessing at our level."

"Did you dig up any potatoes?"

Uncle Zhang replied, "I did. Planning on braising them with oil…"

At the mention of this, Second Elder got up from his recliner, exclaiming:

"Oil-braised potatoes, eh? With premium wild boar lard, that'll taste even better!"

Suddenly, he extended his hand toward the black mist outside the village.

From the mist came a reverberating wail of agony and frenzy. The next moment, an enormous black beast was wrested into the village's front yard.

This was a creature… one that had surpassed the Heavenly Emperor's level to achieve the Quasi-Supreme Realm!

Even within the vast darkness of the Dark Firmament, this creature was a tyrant second only to the Supreme Ones. Upon entering the Nine Forbidden Continents, it had swept across the land unopposed. Yet now, it was utterly powerless!

"I've waited long enough. Since none of the Supreme-level creatures dared venture here, we'll have to settle for this one!"

Second Elder smiled lightly as he tossed the colossal beast into the village.

Once inside, this Quasi-Supreme Dark Creature abruptly shrank and transformed into a large black pig, weighing only three to four hundred pounds.

"You caught so little—who's it supposed to feed? If the neighbors of the Darkness see, they'll think we can't afford a proper meal!"

Uncle Zhang, unable to resist, also cast his hand into the black mist.

Moments later, outside the humble village, all sorts of powerful Dark Creatures appeared.

Exotic Creatures with massive tentacles, Devouring Behemoths shaped like towering mountains, Dark Demon Birds with shadowy wings…

Seven or eight in total!

And among them, the weakest was at the level of a Heavenly Emperor!

Cast into the village, these once-unrivaled beings that dominated the Nine Forbidden Continents transformed again.

They turned into cows, sheep, chickens, and ducks… bleating and quacking as they wandered the dirt paths.

"Didn't I tell you to catch fewer? What about sustainable development, huh?"

Second Elder shook his head repeatedly.

"What's there to worry about? Once we're done eating, we can always go hunting in the Dark Firmament."

Uncle Zhang, satisfied with the harvest before him, said:

"Shall we begin the feast?"

Second Elder responded:

"Let's feast!"

...

Meanwhile.

In a small courtyard.

"The master has entered the Domain of Utmost Darkness."

The old hen spoke.

"Should we not follow him and trample the Supreme Corpse Sea?"

In the pond, a koi transformed into a True Dragon, burning with fighting spirit!

"From time immemorial, before the Dam, the Supreme Corpses have piled as mountains, their blood pooled as oceans. Under the illumination of the Dark Laws, countless projections emerge, forming the Dark Firmament…"

"While the master breaks the Dam, we will annihilate the Corpse Sea!"

The True Dragon soared through the Nine Heavens, its power causing even the black mist outside the village to churn in waves.

—Beyond the Dam lay the Supreme Corpse Sea, a burial ground formed over countless ages by unnumbered powerhouses.

The Dark Firmament itself was but a projection of the Dark Laws upon that sea of corpses.

"We wait," came a clear, serene voice from the Peach Tree.

"How much longer must we wait?"

Even the old hen seemed eager now.

"Until a ray of light appears… And until that ray of light vanishes," the Peach Tree murmured.

...