Chapter 292: Birthplace (Part 30)

Chapter 292: Birthplace (Part 30)

He was genuinely baffled.

From the Dragon God's perspective, the Chairmen of the six major guilds conspired to slay the dragon—even if the Dragon God essentially allowed it to happen, ruining the game as they did justified Zhang Daoan's retaliation.

Even without considering the Dragon God's identity, stealing a body, attempting resurrection through it, and using it as the game's ignition? Wasn't that worthy of retribution?

Jie Fangcheng truly couldn't grasp why the Chairman bore such an expression...how dare he feel wronged?

But the Chairman did feel aggrieved.

They indeed killed the game's creator, claimed the game for themselves, and in pursuit of immortality, changed its rules, thereby altering the game's system.

Consequently, the player community's ethos changed dramatically. The system forcibly extracted points, compelling "The Three Thousand Realms" players into instances against their will.

Clearing instances not only rewarded players with items and skills but also provided the game system with rule power.

Such power was an invaluable nutrient for the system.

As a result, the current players of "The Three Thousand Realms" were no longer those pure-hearted souls from the Dragon God's era, who merely wished to aid others.

Rarely were there instances of truth, goodness, or beauty. Due to collapsing world rules nearing chaos, instances mainly featured heinous challenges.

Continuously battling within these instances, sentient beings with emotions would inevitably be affected.

Noble-hearted individuals venturing into instances out of a sense of duty might remain unscathed, but ordinary beings would easily degenerate into monsters.

Once the gates of moral decay opened, shutting them became nearly impossible.

Most reasoned: if others commit these wicked acts, why shouldn't I?

The game system even introduced hunting arenas, further plundering the rule power of small worlds.

Weren't players aware that the beings within these small worlds were real?

This differed from instances where NPCs, born from fissures, were typically evil.

However, beings in small worlds had moral gradients. Often, their missions accelerated the worlds' decline.

Players who cleared hunting arenas and earned the "Hunter" title were envied, indicating the game's deteriorating ethics.

Throughout this descent, the Chairmen of the six major guilds observed but never intervened.

When the Lady was still alive, she too had tried to shift the gaming culture, but she failed.

Hoping a single guild or individual could overhaul "The Three Thousand Realms" was futile. The rot stemmed from the system's rules; what good is pruning dead leaves without addressing the roots?

Didn't the six of them know how to rectify the gaming ethos?

No, they were fully aware.

Using their administrative rights, they could prohibit the system from extracting those so-called retention points from players.

Without the Damoclean sword of retention points, players could freely choose to live normal lives in auxiliary worlds or fight to save other worlds. After an initial screening, many with easily swayed morals would be filtered out.

Closing the hunting arena and emphasizing the game's aim to save worlds would easily rectify its culture.

Yet the six never altered the system's preset rules.

In the Chairman's eyes, it was an inevitability.

Rule amendments required using their administrative rights. But since they had altered their longevity rules, it was as if adding gaps to a perfectly meshed gear. Now, exploiting these tiny gaps, the system attained a modicum of freedom. Further rule changes would be akin to chipping the gear further.

Changes were forbidden.

Their administrative privileges couldn't be wasted here.

As for how players might evolve due to these rules, or whether their inaction might harm others… they considered it in light of the bigger picture, fearing that further rule amendments might strip their control over the game.

The Chairman believed he hadn't erred.

When the Dragon God willingly accepted death, the Chairman understood his intentions.

This benevolent deity had realized he had become an impediment to the evolution of "The Three Thousand Realms."

So, when the Chairman first brazenly plotted to slay this omniscient, omnipotent god and faced no resistance, he discerned the Dragon God's strategy.

The god was willing to be their stepping stone.

At that moment, the Chairman's emotions surged, his gratitude and admiration for the Dragon God peaked.

As a mere mortal, he hadn't anticipated such a sacrifice from the Dragon God.

He thought that once he ascended step-by-step into godhood, he'd emulate the Dragon God's selflessness.

But what the Chairman hadn't foreseen was the Dragon God, before his demise, severing everyone's path to divinity.

Why?

Countless times, the Chairman pondered: Why?

If the Dragon God no longer coveted his divine status, why couldn't ordinary beings ascend to godhood?

He severed everyone's path to divinity, and the first-generation system refused to stay, leaving them with no choice but to rebuild the game system from scratch.

Their trepidation towards the current "Three Thousand Worlds" system stems fundamentally from their inability to ascend to godhood.

Without divinity, they can't set the rules themselves; they must rely on the system to create or modify them.

However, creating or altering rules grants the system more authority, weakening their control over the game.

At the root of it all... the Dragon God's final actions were flawed!

Since they were already willing to be stepping stones for others, why betray at the last moment?

The guild leader, seeing the current state of the game, feels a perverse satisfaction, almost like revenge.

Dragon God, you earnestly wanted the best for everyone, but you made mistakes.

Because you denied us divinity, the game is in its current state. Were you still alive, you'd reflect on your missteps, wouldn't you?

Had you not blocked everyone's ascension, the six of them would now be gods, together creating a better "Three Thousand Worlds."

Are you aware that your final proclamation brought suffering to those you aimed to protect?

Over the years, the guild leader has imagined confronting the resurrected Dragon God, passionately and indignantly pointing out his mistakes. It was the Dragon God's fault that the lady died and that the game fell into its current state.

He wants to see the Dragon God, once so proud, admit his errors with remorse.

As for the guild leader himself... he truly believes he's the savior of this game.

The lady, though kind-hearted, was naïve and impulsive, not fit for leadership.

As for the other four guild leaders – one's grown increasingly devious, another increasingly lazy, one just follows orders, and one's obsessed with tricks. Only he has diligently managed the game.

Without him, the six major zones would have been in constant conflict.

He mediated disputes between zones, even using the power of rules as bait to focus high-level players on clearing dungeons instead of killing other players senselessly.

He's done so much; one could say the current "Three Thousand Worlds" hinges on him alone.

He certainly deserves the title of the game's savior!

But now, as the Dragon God truly revives, while the guild leader wants to passionately state his case, the god dismisses him with an impatient gesture. There's no guilt or reflection in those eyes, only disdain.

...Disdain??

Did we want the game to end up like this?

Didn't we also start with the intention of doing more for other beings?

Why has it become like this? Isn't it because you were petty? Even on the brink of death, you sought to restrict our ascent to godhood!

If only we were gods! We wouldn't be bound by the system! Without such constraints, we could have made the game even better!

This is clearly your fault!

"What gives you the right to look at me like that?!"

Streams of black data enveloped the roaring guild leader like thick armor.

With his furious shout, a gust of wind abruptly arose, causing the withered leaves of the Tree of Life to rustle and fall.

The guild leader's eyes were now entirely obscured by the black data flow, leaving no trace of the whites.

Behind him, Devourers, controlled by him, materialized out of the white light.

"Watch out!"

Players around quickly activated their items and skills.

Numerous in number, their abilities shone with vibrant, colorful lights. Like surging waves at the vast periphery of the Tree of Life, they charged at the emerging Devourers.

The guild leader's skin cracked inch by inch, revealing not human flesh but strands of system data that had grown by absorbing his administrative rights and life force, becoming even more autonomous.

Depleting all his energy, the black data entrenched in his mental space multiplied like rapid-breeding flies, continuously pouring out of his orifices.

In the sky surrounding the Tree of Life, the massive black data loomed like dark clouds, encircling the tree.

The system could sense its last master, the sole administrator who could restrain it, was rapidly dying.

Once he perished, the game system would no longer be bound by any constraints.

The black data streams churned excitedly, sending tremors felt throughout the six zones.

In Zone D, "Tianzi," who was on a rampage, furrowed his brow. He released the throat of the elf he was strangling and looked up to the skies.

Ordinary players could not see it, but those advanced players with a hint of the power of the rules could—

It was as if the apocalypse had come, with tar-like substances writhing above.

"What is that..."

Before he could finish, he sensed an attack from behind.

Bone-like hands emerged from "Tianzi's" back, grabbing and shattering the wrist of his assailant before ripping out the attacker's heart.

He turned around expressionlessly.

A young-looking blonde elf, still seeming childlike, coughed up blood and slowly collapsed.

It was a beautiful young elf he had recently taken under his wing.

On his ghostly chariot, a head resembling the blonde elf's opened a toothless, tongue-less mouth, cursing silently.

"Tianzi" had a penchant for capturing elves closely related by blood, the closer their bond, the better.

Those with exquisite beauty he kept close as attendants, while the less attractive ones had their heads severed, kept alive through dark arts, and embedded on his ghostly chariot.

Such attendants, for the sake of their kin, often refrained from ending their own lives, obediently serving him like docile puppets.

Once he grew tired of them, he would kill the attendant and attach the head from the chariot to their bodies.

Ah, what splendid artistry.

Over the years, some elves had indeed rebelled, but with his formidable power, none had ever succeeded.

Just like this very moment.

The corpse of the elf slain by the skeletal ghost hand was torn apart by him, chunks of flesh mingled with blood tumbling down. Dutiful attendants, loyal to him, knelt and wiped clean the bloodstains on the ghostly chariot.

"Tianzi" paid no heed, continuing to gaze up at the sky, where the thick, tar-like black substance roiled—

—"Watch out!"

Cui Jue pulled Qi Chanyang with one hand and Wei Yuan with the other, quickly retreating and climbing onto the Tree of Life to evade the tidal wave of black data.

The guild leader now resembled a grotesque giant that was uncomfortable to gaze upon. Where his skin hadn't cracked, it stretched translucently. Black data pierced through his entire form, suspending him in the air. His eyes bulged but remained firmly fixed on Xie Fangcheng.

Ghostly mists swirled around Xie Fangcheng, chilling winds blew, his white hair danced in the air, and his black robes were shrouded in a layer of dark fog. With one black and one white eye, blood-red lips, and pallid skin, he looked entirely different from the once gentle and benevolent Dragon God.

Nie Shuangshuang managed to fend off the surrounding black data, leapt onto the Tree of Life for a brief respite, then peeked down and couldn't help but mutter, "Damn! Why does Brother Xie look even more like a villain than that thing?!"

Qi Chanyang had held his tongue about this, but hearing Nie Shuangshuang speak so boldly, he felt compelled to defend Xie Fangcheng, "Hey, it's not fair to say that about Brother Xie..."

Before he could finish, Xie Fangcheng swung his massive sword.

Ghostly energy formed several ferocious-looking skulls that howled and charged towards the guild leader's position.

Qi Chanyang fell silent.

The ghostly energy couldn't reach the guild leader, as layers of black data streams woven together blocked its path and also obstructed Xie Fangcheng's view.

Having just reclaimed his original body after a long time submerged in the River of the Underworld, Xie Fangcheng found it somewhat unresponsive.

He couldn't precisely target the guild leader's position through the feedback from the ghostly energy... there was just too much black data.

Of course, this didn't mean Xie Fangcheng was out of options.

If these black data streams were in such abundance, then he would simply cut them all down!

His ghostly energy surged into the data stream, possessing potent corrosive properties.

Zhang Dao'an quickly perceived his intentions.

Without a word, he grasped Xie Fangcheng's hand.

"Merge."

Atop the Tree of Life, Nie Shuangshuang quipped, "Seriously? Facing a formidable enemy and you two are getting all lovey-dovey?!"

"Sure," Xie Fangcheng responded, then, without lifting his head to Nie Shuangshuang, said, "You go ahead and fight then!"

Nie Shuangshuang didn't even realize he was addressing her, murmuring, "Brother Xie's mood swings are quite something."

Xie Fangcheng had successfully merged with Zhang Dao'an.

This was beneficial for both of them.

Although Xie Fangcheng's mental space was vast, it was chaotic with remnants of black data still present. Without a firm grounding, he was greatly limited.

But after the successful merging, Zhang Dao'an unreservedly opened up his mental space, making Xie Fangcheng feel as if he'd just refreshed a computer's cache, instantly clarifying his mind.

He could even utilize Zhang Dao'an's high-speed processor. Without any need for explanations regarding the current situation or Zhang's plans, Xie could immediately analyze everything.

While Zhang Dao'an might not be a complete main system, no matter how strong his computational abilities, he still required a powerful platform for support.

In terms of vastness of mental space, who in this world could surpass Xie Fangcheng's?

Upon entering the mental space, Zhang Dao'an, without a word, encapsulated the black data stream. Using the unique properties of the mental space and exercising the owner's rights, he forcibly transformed the black data into a usable form. In the blink of an eye, he constructed a new game system within Xie Fangcheng's mental space.

It was essentially a mini-version of the original Dragon God x system.

When Xie Fangcheng reopened his eyes, a flash of white data stream passed over him.

An invisible virtual screen appeared before Xie Fangcheng, filtering out the black data and pinpointing the guild leader's location for him.

With such advanced external assistance, how could Xie Fangcheng's strike possibly miss?

Thunderous rumblings—

Like Moses parting the sea, the ghostly energy surged even more mightily than the black data, intermittently accompanied by thunder. In an instant, it confronted the guild leader.

The guild leader barely had time to raise his hand in defense before being sent flying.

Landing on the ground, he looked up with wide eyes at Xie Fangcheng.

In the path the ghostly energy had traveled, a temporary, unobstructed view emerged.

Following this path, Xie Fangcheng once again caught the guild leader's gaze.

"What are you staring at?"

Xie Fangcheng felt this guy was really out of his mind. Why was he looking at him as if he had been betrayed?

How could Manager Xie possibly understand what was on his mind?

It was only for a brief moment that Dao'an glanced over, but upon seeing the chairman's face, he immediately understood the situation.

“It's all Dragon God's fault. He could've at least paved the way for us a bit more before he died.”