Chapter 274: Birthplace (Part XI)

Chapter 274: Birthplace (Part XI)

Ji Dai, alone, embarked on a lengthy existence in the Origin Land.

Gradually, he lost his memories, becoming assimilated by the world.

He forgot his identity, transforming into the Divine Lord of the East Peak.

His memory fragments grew blurred and fragmented, as though someone, seeking to obscure something, shattered the mental realm of the Divine Lord, rendering his memories incoherent.

Fleeting images sporadically crossed his mind, seemingly related to "Do Not Respond."

Zhang Daowu struggled to discern the truth within these images; all he felt was as if something sought to anchor itself in the recesses of his thoughts.

But this entity was too fragile; it required the consent of the mind it occupied.

A faint crackle…

Like a mended tape, the visuals suddenly sharpened.

Confronted by the image, Zhang Daowu was momentarily taken aback.

A familiar face appeared before him.

It was…

"Mother…"

Zhang Daowu murmured.

A woman knelt devotedly before the statue in the Eastern Peak Temple, deep in prayer.

"Protect my child, let him be born safely."

Blood drenched her, with countless souls passing through her very being.

She wasn't among the living; she was a lost spirit.

While most spirits feared the Eastern Peak Temple, she walked bravely inside, devoutly kneeling before the deity.

A faint golden aura enveloped her. Had she passed on properly and gone to the netherworld, perhaps her next life would've been prosperous.

An unnatural bulge formed on the spirit's belly, but it wasn't a stillborn.

A living soul had taken residence within her.

"Why do such anomalies against the natural order keep occurring?"

Next to the Lord of the Eastern Peak, a man in a suit frowned, "Lately, there have been too many incidents that defy the rules. Like this spirit, she's deceased and shouldn't be able to harbor a living soul. Yet, a living soul has entered her, even deceiving the soul-reapers... The Book of Life and Death is in chaos. Truly, a time of troubles."

Without delay, the man decreed, "I'll eliminate this living soul now and take the spirit back to the netherworld."

He was about to move forward.

Just then, a figure appeared beside the spirit, a step ahead of him.

Dressed in a dark robe but with contrasting white hair, the laid-back soul-reaper stood beside the spirit. He patiently waited for her prayers to conclude before intercepting the departing soul.

"Hey, it's time to return to the netherworld."

The lost spirit looked up with confusion. The moment she saw him, understanding dawned upon her regarding her current state.

Two tears of blood streamed down her face.

"My child... he is not dead! I must bring him into this world!"

The ghostly envoy shook his head.

The man in the suit appeared somewhat relieved, "Manager Xie is indeed one to adhere to the rules. True, this situation is irregular and cannot be permitted..."

Before he could finish, the ghostly envoy's voice interrupted.

"If the child is born with no parents, how is an infant to survive in the human realm? Formula costs money, doesn't it? Schooling isn't free, right? You surely know the exorbitant prices of houses. Do you have such affluent relatives to raise the child on your behalf? Raising a child is no small feat. Even with benevolent aid, would you want him to face prejudice from a young age due to the absence of his parents? It's easy to birth, but what about the nurturing? This simply won't do."

The spirit was stunned into silence.

Zhang Daowu watched, equally taken aback.

The ghostly envoy before him appeared languid, as if he would lie down right there and then.

But his eyes – one black, one white – were remarkable.

And in a fleeting moment, Zhang Daowu seemed to recognize something.

Could this be... the Dragon God?

It hardly seemed plausible.

From Ji Dai's fragmented memories, Zhang Daowu perceived the Dragon God as a formidable deity.

Revered by all, he understood mortal suffering but stood so high above.

So high that none could engage him as an equal, and few dared face him.

Every word he uttered was truth, the absolute "rule."

Even if he was benevolent, desiring to sacrifice for the living beings, he remained a god.

His perspective encompassed the laws of nature, the universal truths, and all creation.

When he first crafted a world, the 01 Realm was entirely shaped by his whims.

It was a beautiful place, abundant in sunlight, with gentle breezes and always a comfortable temperature.

He wasn't aware that some creatures thrived in humidity or cold because none dared enlighten him.

All beings merely praised the Dragon God's benevolence, for the deity was infallibly right.

Even if the 01 Realm perished, the Dragon God remained faultless in his divinity.

His absolute correctness allowed him to manipulate life and death as if playing a single-player game. To a creator god, every being was merely data, alterable at will.

When a microcosm collapses, another can simply be created.

If the beings of the previous world couldn't adapt, create ones that can.

Creator gods flow like vast oceans and rivers, raising waves as they see fit, never concerning themselves with any particular creature distressed by those waves.

Yet, the Dragon God is exceptional.

Instead of shaping beings to fit rules, he's willing to reshape his rules for the beings.

Such a deity has always been unique, figuring out on his own the rules suitable for all lifeforms. Even with the presence of systematic frameworks—created by mortals and adept in calculations—they can never truly comprehend the emotions of living beings.

The Dragon God must experiment, must err.

But he's the one who can least afford to.

With the entire burden resting solely upon him, even the slightest mistake from such a powerful deity could result in unimaginable consequences.

This is inevitable, as establishing and amending rules, even slightly, affects countless beings.

Now, he's no longer a god but one among myriad life forms.

Whether this is good or bad remains debatable, but he has indeed changed.

For a brief moment, Zhang Daowu even believed he wasn't the Dragon God but merely a common soul collector.

Having witnessed the rise and fall of a dynasty as a human, and confronted the unyielding cosmic laws as a fierce ghost, he eventually became an executor of those laws.

He found self-awareness, understood the cosmos, and finally, all living beings.

Watching the fragmented memories, Zhang Daowu observed this soul collector casually persuading the spirit, while the man in the suit beside Lord of the Eastern Peak berated him. The soul collector remained unfazed, having faced such situations countless times. Effortlessly, he ushered the spirit back to the underworld.

With his divine touch, the spirit would likely have a favorable outcome in its next reincarnation...

Likely.

The scene blurred and fragmented again.

A force pulled Zhang Daowu forward, stumbling. When he reopened his eyes, he had become Ji Dai... or rather, the Lord of the Eastern Peak.

Standing in the abyss of the underworld, chaos and invisible fractures enveloped the surroundings.

The memory-less Lord of the Eastern Peak was previously oblivious, but now he understood.

If one could traverse the base of the underworld to reach Zone F and hover above it, they'd realize that Zones A, F, and the Initial Land were aligned vertically.

Zone A lies directly above the Initial Land, while Zone F is directly below.

The corpse of the Dragon God sprawled out, encircling the Initial Land. Its horn connected with Zone A, and its belly touched Zone F.

The other four zones are scattered around, orbiting the Dragon God like satellites.

As time passed, after the Dragon God's demise, the Primordial Realm continued to radiate the power of rules, diligently upholding its responsibility as the "anchor point."

However, countless black streams of data paralleled the rule's power, attempting to permeate the Dragon God's remains to enter the Primordial Realm.

But even in death, such a formidable deity proved impenetrable to these black data streams.

Between Area F and the Primordial Realm flows the River of Reincarnation.

In the past, Ji Dai, with the blessings of the Dragon Heart and the Ghost Eye, was guided into this river.

The "River of Reincarnation" isn't a tangible river but an intangible conduit formed by the rules of life and death. It was a chance for reincarnation that the Dragon God once granted to the beings of World 01.

Its existence also provided the gods confined in Area F an opportunity for rebirth.

Once these imprisoned creator gods perished, their souls could traverse the River of Reincarnation to be reborn as beings of the Primordial Realm.

"Recycling the waste," the Dragon God had quipped.

After all, these imprisoned gods were formidable. Even though their strengths were considerably diminished upon their rebirth in the Primordial Realm, they were still bound by its cosmic laws.

What a valuable reinforcement!

This was the Dragon God's sentiment.

This river undeniably expedited the Primordial Realm's growth.

It's worth noting that World 01 was fragile, vulnerable to destabilization by even a few powerful entities.

The subsequently constructed Primordial Realm was fortified by the Dragon God, and its stature was elevated.

Yet, its inhabitants remained beings from a lesser realm.

Those fallen creator gods, upon arriving in the underworld via the river, lost their memories and reincarnated like ordinary spirits.

However, most of these gods' souls couldn't transition through the river seamlessly. Their innate rule power conflicted with cosmic laws, resulting in the majority becoming scattered fragments across the universe.

These divine shards nourished the world, propelling the Primordial Realm's rapid advancement.

Now... the Primordial Realm is on the verge of collapse.

As the rules of the "Three Thousand Worlds" diverge from those of the Primordial Realm, the latter, being the anchor point, is also undergoing alterations.

However, many rules from the "Three Thousand Worlds" are incompatible with the beings of the Primordial Realm.

For instance, the rule in Area C, where might makes right, regardless of morality.

Such a rule did influence the Primordial Realm for a time, but as epochs passed, its inhabitants rejected this ideology.

The realm's laws remain primal, bearing a close resemblance to the rules predating the Dragon God's fall.

This has only exacerbated the disparity between the Primordial Realm and the rules of the "Three Thousand Worlds."

As the core and its surrounding components became mismatched, the Primordial Realm, driven by the force of the "Three Thousand Worlds," failed to assimilate, ultimately causing fissures.

From the depths of the underworld, Dongyue Divine Lord gazed into the distance.

At last, he spoke.

"You're here, aren't you?"

Zhang Daowu, now merged with him, hesitated, sensing that these words might be meant for him.

Soon, he realized they were indeed addressed to him.

"I don't have much time left... That day, when I discovered your mother bore a soul, it seemed impossible given the rules. Yet, the cosmic order didn't punish her, and it sparked a thought in me."

"Perhaps I could 'reincarnate' within this soul, deceive the cosmic order, and reverse-travel through the River of Reincarnation to Area F."