Moonlight Sect.

The cell was cold and dark. Iron bars separated Cipher from the outside world, and the only light came from a small window high above.

Sun Lihua stood before the bars, her arms crossed.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" she asked. "Don't you want to get stronger?"

"I already told you, I already have a master so I can't recognize another," Cipher said flatly.

"Besides," he added, "you said you want to turn me into a woman."

Sun Lihua raised an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with being a woman?"

Cipher stared at her blankly.

She sighed. "Hmph. It seems I've been too lenient. Let's see how you'll fare after staying in here for a full month. Maybe you'll become a little more agreeable."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked away, her robes swishing behind her.

The moment she was gone, the cell door creaked open and a group of girls rushed in.

"Senior Brother, are you alright?"

"Senior Brother, what did you do to offend the Sect Master?"

"Senior Brother, you look so pale! Have you been eating properly?"

"Senior Brother, I brought you some medicinal soup!"

"Senior Brother, I brought you a warm blanket!"

"Senior Brother…"

They crowded around the bars, each one more eager than the last, their voices overlapping in a cacophony of concern and curiosity. Some held trays of food, others carried blankets and medicine.

Cipher shook his head, refusing to take a single thing.

This Moonlight Maiden was really wicked, using such methods. She was giving him a hard time, and then having all these girls come here to play coy with him to soften his resolve.

Did she think he was born yesterday?

Well... maybe he'd consider it if she brought more mature women. Or if she was the one playing all coy with him.

[Are you listening?] the Heavenly Demon's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Ahem, yes," he responded quickly.

[Were you having weird thoughts?]

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

[Hmmm]

Cipher cleared his throat. "What do you think? Is it possible to escape from here?"

[Yeah. The theory I was developing is almost complete,] she said. [I rewired my soul to be able to use your spiritual sea. I got this idea from using it last week to spy on them when you were unconscious. Now I've perfected that method even more.]

She paused. [As long as I extend my divine sense and cover you with it, it should be possible for us to sneak out of here without being detected.]

Cipher nodded thoughtfully.

[OR,] she added, [you could just teleport to the Gate entrance.]

Cipher blinked.

Ah.

He had almost forgotten he could do that.

His fast travel only worked for places he'd seen and visited before. He had been so focused on thinking his only option was the outside world that he'd forgotten - he had seen the area close to the Gate, even if just for a second.

"Why didn't you remind me of this sooner?" he asked.

[I was hoping you'd figure it out,] she said with a shrug.

[Jokes aside, I needed to complete this theory. This place is really dangerous. You need to have a solid way to conceal yourself if you want to survive. Now that it's complete, we can leave.]

Cipher smiled. "I expected no less from you."

He stood up, brushing off his robes.

The girls were still chattering away at the bars, completely oblivious.

"Senior Brother, won't you at least try the soup?"

"Senior Brother, the Sect Master isn't that bad once you get to know her!"

"Senior Brother…"

Cipher activated his cheat.

"I appreciate the hospitality," he said with a casual wave, "but I'm afraid there are too many of you and not enough Senior Brother to go around."

He smiled.

"Adios."

And then he vanished.

…

Cipher appeared in front of the entrance gate.

The second he materialized, he felt a soft energy wrap around him. This was the Heavenly Demon's divine sense. It felt... different. It was difficult to explain. Like being wrapped in a thin veil that was somehow both there and not there at the same time.

He looked around.

The portal bubbled quietly behind him.

The clearing was empty. Silent. Just grass and trees stretching out in every direction.

"I really wasn't imagining this," he muttered. "It really is just a gate."

No golden walls. No protective barrier. No safe zone.

He wondered how come they hadn't arrived in the safe zone first. Not that it would've changed much given how prepared those old monsters had been. Still, what was happening here? He had never heard of a Gate without a safe zone.

And he was pretty sure Li Chen would've said something if it didn't have one. He didn't believe Li Chen was the kind of person to lie.

Then he remembered the weird feeling from before - when he dove into Gate 2998. At first, he had dismissed it as just the nervousness of going in alone. But he had also felt the same thing with Iris, who had confirmed it was something serious.

He wondered if it was all connected.

Could it be that the safe zone was weakening, and that's what he had been sensing all this time?

[That's definitely possible,] the Heavenly Demon responded to his question in the spiritual sea.

"Then does that mean..." he began.

[That's right. The Time God's power is weakening. We probably don't have that much time left before the worlds collapse for good.]

It made sense. The Time God was the one holding these worlds together, so he had probably created the safe zones. If they were weakening, then that meant his power was weakening too.

Back when Cipher had received the Time God's skill in the future, it had mentioned that he wasn't in the best of conditions. And he had seen the same thing when he appraised the dead Murim world.

Did this mean that the Time God didn't recover even with him going back in time?

It made sense. The Time God might not be affected by time like regular people.

If the Time God was really weakening as time went on, then what did this mean for his own world?

Without the protection of the Time God's safe zone, raiding worlds would become increasingly risky. The Awakeners might not even reach the same level of power as they had before he regressed.

Was this run a failure?

Cipher slapped his cheeks with both hands.

This wasn't the time for that.

He needed to lock in and save his teammates first.

He scanned his surroundings more carefully.

Thankfully, the area around the portal didn't seem to have any dangers nearby. No monsters. No beasts. No cultivators lying in wait - well, apart from those scheming old monsters. Maybe the portal was scaring away creatures with its energy.

For now, he decided to pick a direction and start moving. He needed to find some humans and gather information about this place.

He chose a direction at random and began walking.

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