Volume One: The Game of the Manipulator Chapter Fifty: Brotherhood

Neither Qin Si nor Qin Shuang had anticipated that there would be a barrier surrounding the lotus. Had they tried to retrieve it without knowing, they would have been blocked outside the barrier and fallen into the Primal Chaos Origin Water.

However, at the very instant Qin Si’s top-grade Primal Chaos spiritual treasure pierced the barrier, it broke free from his soul’s control and plunged directly into the Origin Water.

With a sudden spurt of blood, Qin Si was gravely injured. The loss of control over the spiritual treasure wounded his vital energy, and his already damaged soul lost a significant portion of its strength, leaving him weak and dispirited.

“Brother!” Qin Shuang rushed to his side, supporting him. “Are you alright?” At this moment, he had no time to lament the lost treasure.

“It’s... it’s nothing,” Qin Si coughed up another mouthful of blood. “Let me rest for a bit. I’ll be fine.”

With Qin Shuang’s help, Qin Si sat in a corner, quietly catching his breath.

Not only had his plan failed, but he had also lost a top-grade Primal Chaos spiritual treasure. Strictly speaking, there was still a chance of retrieving it from the Origin Water, but searching for something in that boundless expanse was far more difficult than finding a needle in the sea.

“Damn this place...” Qin Si cursed. Although, given Qin Yu’s status now, such a treasure was no longer significant, that golden spear had accompanied him for many years. After all, people grow attached to things.

“Brother, if the spiritual treasure is lost, so be it. Once you’re out, finding Father and forging another will be easy,” Qin Shuang consoled him. Though he didn’t know the full extent of Qin Yu’s current strength, the title of Master Artificer was no idle boast. In Qin Shuang’s view, crafting another treasure of this caliber was a trivial matter.

“Yes, I know.” Qin Si managed a faint smile, saying no more, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the lotus pond, where that softly glowing golden lotus still lay quietly at its center.

“Brother, rest and recover. I’ll think of a way to get that lotus.” Qin Shuang smiled. Having already passed two of the three trials of Shanhaitian, he was determined not to fail at the last.

“Alright, but Shuang, if you come up with anything, tell me first. Don’t act on your own,” Qin Si reminded him gravely, concerned that his brother might act recklessly.

Qin Shuang nodded with a smile and sat quietly by the pond, deep in thought.

Unlike Qin Si, he could at least sit calmly and carefully consider their options.

Swimming through the water was out of the question; not only was it impossible to break through so many layers of space, but even if someone could, time was running far too short.

“I do have a second-grade Primal Chaos treasure,” Qin Shuang mused bitterly, “but just refining it would take tens of thousands of years. If not for the hundred and twenty year time limit, it might be worth a try.”

He remained seated for fifty years, during which countless ideas flitted through his mind, but none seemed truly feasible.

“Shuang, any ideas?” Just as Qin Shuang was at his wit’s end, Qin Si appeared silently behind him.

“Brother? You’re alright?” Qin Shuang was amazed to see Qin Si apparently unharmed. He knew that losing a top-grade spiritual treasure would wound the soul, and such injuries usually required centuries, even millennia, to heal, not a mere fifty years.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Qin Si grinned, flexing his arm to show his strength.

“But... soul injuries never heal this fast,” Qin Shuang pressed.

A fiery orb floated gently from above Qin Si’s head. “Don’t forget, although I lost one treasure, I still have the Fire Origin Pearl. It accelerates soul recovery,” he explained, half-truthfully. The Origin Pearl could indeed heal soul wounds, but never so quickly.

Qin Shuang was half-convinced, but seeing Qin Si’s state, he could not discern any true harm.

“Really, I’m fine,” Qin Si reassured him, then bent down, picked up a pebble, and with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying toward the lotus at the pond’s center.

The pebble, perhaps thrown too gently, fell into the water a few meters short of the lotus.

He picked up another, this time using a bit more strength. The stone arced through the air, falling just above the lotus and striking one of its petals, making it tremble.

“Yes, the restriction is gone,” Qin Si said to the puzzled Qin Shuang.

“Shuang, I know how to get the lotus,” Qin Si said calmly, his eyes fixed on the flower.

Qin Shuang blinked, then quickly asked, “Brother, what’s your plan?”

“The pond’s radius is less than seventy meters. Though there are some constraints, it shouldn’t be difficult to throw you that distance,” Qin Si said simply, though only he knew the true challenge.

“No, Brother,” Qin Shuang refused firmly. If he left, he knew Qin Si would be trapped here, and he would never agree to that. If their roles were reversed, he doubted he could throw Qin Si even seven meters, let alone seventy. The plan simply could not work the other way.

“Don’t be stubborn,” Qin Si pressed. “Only if you get out, do I have a chance to escape as well.” His tone suddenly grew severe.

“Brother, give me ten more years. I won’t leave you here unless I have no other choice,” Qin Shuang insisted, his eyes resolute despite Qin Si’s sternness.

“Fine, I’ll give you ten years,” Qin Si relented, returning to his corner. For an Immortal Emperor or a high celestial, ten years was but a fleeting moment.

Never in his life had Qin Shuang felt so mentally exhausted. For ten years, every waking moment was spent pondering how to reach the lotus, but every idea led nowhere.

The simplicity of the pond’s structure and environment only further constrained his imagination; no matter how he tried, the possible solutions were always the same few.

“Have you decided?” Ten years later, Qin Si reappeared behind him, smiling.

“Very well, Brother, I agree!” Ten years, or even twenty, would have made no difference; he still had no solution.

“Heh, if you’d agreed earlier, we wouldn’t have wasted ten years,” Qin Si laughed, yet his face was relaxed.

“Brother, I promise I’ll return to the Divine Realm and find Father to save you,” Qin Shuang vowed.

“There’s no need to say it—I know,” Qin Si teased. “With your cultivation, it won’t be long before you face the Divine Tribulation. Just don’t lose to that so-called tribulation.”

“Brother, don’t worry!” His soul had already reached the upper ranks of celestial beings, and his body was as tough as a lower-grade divine weapon; if he failed the tribulation now, it would be a joke across the universe.

“Come, let’s begin,” Qin Si said, grabbing Qin Shuang and hauling him to the pond’s edge, encircling his waist with his arm. With divine power surging wildly through his body, a golden aura enveloped them both.

“Shuang, be ready!” Qin Si shouted, kicking off the ground and leaping ten meters across the water.

“Brother...” Qin Shuang panicked—he had never imagined Qin Si would leap so far before throwing him toward the lotus.

He struggled to break free, but the gap in power between a ninth-grade Immortal Emperor and a high celestial was insurmountable.

“Go!” With a mighty shout, Qin Si hurled Qin Shuang straight toward the lotus. In the blink of an eye, he was above the flower.

Meanwhile, Qin Si himself slowly fell toward the water’s surface. Looking back, Qin Shuang saw him waving with a smile.

Time seemed to stand still. Qin Shuang’s heart ached with sorrow, great tears streaming from his eyes as the wind roared past.

“Brother...!” As he reached the top of the lotus, Qin Shuang let out a furious cry, snatched the massive lotus, and clenched it tightly in his hand. Qin Si, by now, had vanished, completely submerged in the Primal Chaos Origin Water.

At that moment, the entire space changed. The lotus in Qin Shuang’s grasp burst forth with blinding light, and lines of gray markings flashed from its heart.

In that instant, Qin Shuang realized he was free from all restrictions, floating serenely in midair, while the pool of Origin Water below had entirely vanished.

The lotus continued to transform, surrounded by swirling hues of gray, black, gold, and even faint traces of mysterious yellow.

“Brother...” Qin Shuang paid no heed to the final reward of Shanhaitian, staring blankly at where the lotus pond once stood.

Gradually, a figure appeared in the air—a man dressed in black, cold and stoic, quietly standing behind Qin Shuang.

(To be continued)