Chapter 275: Birthplace (Part 12)

Chapter 275: Birthplace (Part 12)

"But in the end... I failed."

Dongyue Divine Lord made meticulous preparations for his rebirth within this soul.

The departed soul refrained from entering the reincarnation cycle, choosing instead to reside in the depths of the underworld.

Here, amidst the chaotic rules, a slight misstep could spell doom.

Dongyue Divine Lord nearly stripped away all his Yin energy, channeling it into the departed soul's body, nourishing the unborn spirit.

However, upon the soul's birth, even in the tumultuous depths of the underworld, Dongyue Divine Lord's attempts to fuse his consciousness with the newborn spirit failed.

The power of rules protected every being, granting them the right to life.

Perhaps due to the world's escalating decay, the binding force of the cosmic laws weakened. An infant, who under normal circumstances wouldn't have survived, miraculously breathed and lived, exhibiting a normal human's vital signs.

This child, born from the departed soul, was a typical human. Once the departed soul tenderly named him, he became just another ordinary child among countless beings.

The departed soul anxiously awaited Dongyue Divine Lord's verdict. After a prolonged silence, the Divine Lord sent both the soul and the child back to the mortal realm.

"You carry my Yin energy. I'll shield you from the cosmic order, allowing you two years as a normal human in the mortal world. After two years, I'll come for you."

The departed soul departed gratefully, child in tow.

Memories flitted like colorful butterflies, rapidly progressing, and in a blink, two years had passed.

Dongyue Divine Lord, seemingly weathered from the past events, stood with closed eyes leaning against the doorway of the departed soul's home, listening intently to the soul instructing the now two-year-old child inside.

Zhang Daowu listened intently.

Despite his intelligence, the events from when he was two had faded from his memory.

Ever since he could remember, his older brother had played the role of both parents.

But this brother had a unique constitution, unable to come close to him. What Xiao Zhen Dao Wu could receive were only fragmented letters and just enough money for sustenance.

Children of poverty grow up fast, yet Zhen Dao Wu never harbored resentment towards his parents.

His only encounter with his mother was at fifteen when he met her again... but he later learned that she was a creature from "Do Not Answer", not a truly resurrected being.

Now, as an observer, Zhen Dao Wu faintly sensed a hazy tender figure deep in his memories, who once spoke words beyond the comprehension of a two-year-old.

The Eastern Mountain Deity coughed twice, knocking on the door as if a frail mortal.

The sound inside paused.

Quickly, as per their agreement, the departed soul stepped out.

Over these two years, she had found a guardian for her child.

Perhaps, as the ghostly envoy said, his life would be fraught with hardship... but as a mother, she had done all she could.

Zhen Dao Wu instinctively leaned forward, but the scene before him was just a memory of the Eastern Mountain Deity.

Tears formed in the departed soul’s eyes, but she still expressed her gratitude.

Without the leniency of the Eastern Mountain Deity, her child would undoubtedly perish.

The Eastern Mountain Deity covered his mouth, coughing weakly, then asked, "You have two choices now. One, you can be reincarnated normally. Given your deeds, you'd lead a favorable life. The other... I need you to enter a game."

The departed soul paused: "A game?"

The Eastern Mountain Deity held nothing back, despite facing a mere soul.

"Yes. It’s a horror game. Inside, you'll encounter terrifying scenarios you've never experienced. If successful, you might return to the netherworld in three years. If not... you might cease to exist."

The soul inquired, "Can I know my task? What is this game about?"

With a gesture from the Eastern Mountain Deity, the scene shifted dramatically.

They found themselves at the very depths of the netherworld.

Compared to two years ago, when the Eastern Mountain Deity wanted to transplant his soul into a living body, deceive the cosmic order, and enter Section F against the river's flow, the changes in the netherworld's depths were profound.

"The 'Devourers' have multiplied."

In Section F, where countless creator gods were imprisoned, there were creatures called "Devourers". Ji Chaoyang used one such "Devourer" to dispose of trash from other worlds.

These creatures resembled prehistoric behemoths but were mechanical, actually the result of the six great guilds merging with the souls of creator gods.

Since the Dragon God sacrificed himself, decreeing no more creator gods, those in Section F fell or weakened, becoming powerful beings without rule or power.

Yet in Section F, fragments of once-fallen creator gods remained.

These fragments, strictly speaking, were no longer Creators and thus weren’t influenced by the Dragon Deity's final edict.

The "Chairman" utilized the current system of "The Three Thousand Realms" to fuse these former Creator fragments with machinery, crafting the "Devourer."

The "Devourer," immensely powerful and wielding a semblance of rule-based power, was a mechanical entity that could be fully controlled—making it an exceptionally effective enforcer.

At this moment, in the distance, something seemed to be prowling, eyes fixed intently, yearning to enter.

"They can't resist any longer; they've always wanted to come to the Origin Land... While the laws of the Origin Land differ from the current 'Three Thousand Realms,' the rules of all connected minor worlds are founded upon the Origin Land. To this day, it still sustains the operations of the rules in other realms. Those six rats altered the game's rules from the backend, granting themselves eternal life within the 'Three Thousand Realms,' which is a violation of the rules. They broke the rules, yet the consequences fell upon all players of 'Three Thousand Realms.'"

The extant system of 'Three Thousand Realms' is a much less advanced technological creation compared to its predecessor. Such a product, lacking rule power and cognitive abilities, should have been strictly confined by the rules.

Much like an ant can lift a sugar grain a hundred times its weight but cannot manage one ten thousand times heavier.

As long as the rule's power perfectly aligns, it would function like a set of seamlessly interlocked gears, driving 'The Three Thousand Realms' smoothly forward.

Even if changes occur within this system, they should be gradual and with the consensus of living beings.

But the moment the rules are altered by "administrators"—when the leaders of the six major guilds change their own rules to achieve immortality—the tight-knit, robust rules would shatter from within.

Regardless of whether any living beings notice, contradictions in the cosmic laws would emerge.

—The rule is that every living being undergoes birth, aging, sickness, and death.

—The rule is that the leaders of the six major guilds are exempt from this cycle.

Amending rules without a price is impossible.

For instance, in the Origin Land, Zhen Dao Wu's mother, a departed soul, managed to safely birth a living soul due to the slight golden protection of Jie Fang Cheng and the presence of the Eastern Mountain Deity—a protector of the Origin Land and ruler of the underworld, who took her to the chaotic base of the underworld to nurture the life within her.

But upon reaching the depths of the underworld, even the Eastern Mountain Deity had to exhaust all his Yin energy to safeguard this nascent soul.

Despite dissipating his Yin energy, this foremost protector of the Origin Land couldn't overturn the rules to replace his own soul with this ordinary life.

The disintegration level of the Origin Land is already acute, with cosmic restrictions increasingly weakening.

Yet from the start, the Eastern Mountain Deity never sought to alter the rules; he aimed to dodge them, trying to deceive the cosmic order.

For he had already witnessed the consequences of rule modification.

The system of 'Three Thousand Realms' swiftly "learned" within these conflicting rules that rules aren't entirely immutable.

While it's a high-tech creation and the six leaders have control over it, it doesn't mean this system is a wholly obedient non-living entity.

Quite the contrary, the original system of 'Three Thousand Realms,' the machine surpassing all technological creations, started as a mere divine creation.

The self-evolution of non-living entities is faster than that of living beings.

Living entities are restrained by bloodline, genetics, spirit energy, etc. Non-living entities, on the other hand, have no such limitations. Given sufficient energy, they can undergo millions of updates and evolution in the blink of an eye.

In terms of energy, where could there be a more abundant source than the "Three Thousand Worlds"?

And speaking of computational power, is there currently a more potent non-living entity than this system?

Due to the Dragon God's decree, no new creator gods can emerge in the world, and the power to establish rules has been eradicated. This remains the sole restraint preventing this system from becoming a new creator god.

The governance of "Three Thousand Worlds" indeed remains in the hands of the six major chairmen, for the system is always bound by existing rules.

It isn't the original system; the creator god of the first system didn't constrain its non-living entity by rules. By the time it met the Dragon God, it had merged into one with this creator god.

To the original system, the rules of "Three Thousand Worlds" were like shackles with a key—unenforceable unless voluntarily accepted.

However, the current system, born within "Three Thousand Worlds," is entirely bound by its rules.

Initially, whenever the six chairmen altered the rules, the system could obtain some degree of autonomy from it.

By now, even if they're not altering the rules, as long as the six administrators utilize the system's managerial privileges, the system gains more freedom.

Currently, while the six chairmen control the system, they're also tethered by it. Often, they prefer to operate in the restricted area of A1 District, where the Dragon's horn still deters, even though the Dragon God has passed, making it a realm the current system hesitates to tread.

After all, that creator god was immensely powerful.

While the six chairmen sought to use the untouched rule power of the Origin Land to build a new system to replace the current one, this nascent system was also trying to infiltrate the Origin Land, intending to obliterate existing rules and establish its own.

"It's not just the 'Devourers'; many entities are watching us closely," the Eastern Mountain Deity finally opened his eyes.

A pair of blood-red eyes spun in his sockets.

"Although I can't use the [Ghost Eyes], thankfully I have this tool crafted by the system... After all, games aren't exclusive to 'Three Thousand Worlds'."