Chapter 1878: Disappearance |
Death Beam Dimension:
Death Reverence sensed Dugu Baitian's death and, with a wave of his hand, activated the backup seed he had placed on him, retrieving the entire process.
"Self-Assimilation? So, he didn't find a flaw or create a counter? Could my information be wrong? No, the Lord himself said the Prehistoric World was once a gateway to Hongmeng. Since Wang Wei originated from there, he should have detected something."
Death Reverence reviewed the footage of the battle without missing a single detail. After zooming in on Wang Wei's facial expressions from the beginning to the end, he frowned, "He should have realized the power is foreign to the Chaos Universe, but that's not hard to deduce since the Cardinals should have told them some information about the Lord."
Not satisfied with the information gathered, Death Reverence reviewed the finished product countless times, but the frown on his face remained; no, it deepened. From everything Wang Wei's done since he started his cultivation journey, it's obvious he has access to knowledge from countless civilizations — some of which aren't from this Chaos Universe either. His purpose in using Dugu Baitian was many, but one of the priorities was to determine whether Wang Wei knew about his Lord's civilization.
"In the end, Dugu Baitian was truly useless as a pawn," Death Reverence snorted coldly. "However, it doesn't matter. Wang Wei has gazed at the Lord, which means the Lord has gazed back at him. Now, he should be marked. Well, knowing him, he should be extra careful, but he's dealing with powers beyond his mortal mind could fathom."
Mortals always think they are clever, believing they can peer into true power and even control it. But most of them — no matter how brilliant — always lose to their hubris, and Wang Wei will not be any different.
Lesser Heaven and Origin Cycle Array, Unknown Location:
Wang Wei's true body — who was focusing on cultivating his Saint Embryo — suddenly opened his eyes. "Hmm? The avatar died?" He focused his mind to access the latter's memory, but to his surprise, he discovered he couldn't. "What's going on?"
"Ai? What happened?"
"It's like this," Ai explained everything that had happened in excruciating detail, including every word, sight, experience, or thought the avatar had uttered since their last synchronization. And just as the avatar had cautioned her, she did not transmit the information through divine sense or even projected an image, relying only on verbal accounts.
"He did the right thing," Wang Wei nodded. Dealing with these third-step powerhouses required this level of caution — especially when an unknown being from another Chaos Universe was involved. And if not for the lack of time, he would have destroyed Ai itself and rebuilt another in case she was compromised as well.
"How many proxy avatars do we have left?" Wang Wei asked.
"Now, we are down to five, sir."
"Haven't you replenished the previously missing one?"
"I have a lot of projects, and resources must be tightly managed," Ai reminded. "Proxy Avatars are not in the priority list."
"Fair point," Wang Wei nodded. The avatars exist to help him quickly regain his power if his main body dies. But in the current situation, which is filled with countless Saints, death is permanent due to [Existence Hierarchy], rendering these avatars useless. So, since their purpose has now shifted to helping him hide his main body, it's understandable why Ai felt no need to revive the dead ones.
"Alright. Send one to conduct the experiment and the other to continue keeping an eye on the situation outside."
"As you wish, sir."
…
Isolated Dimension, Experimental Ground:
Wang Wei's avatar teleported to this void dimension, no matter; it was barely holding on by the spatial structure created by Ai. Glancing around, he nodded in satisfaction: "Not a bad place. Now, can you tell me the plan for this experiment?"
"As you command, sir."
AI created a holographic projection of the experiment's blueprint, and Wang Wei observed it intently. Due to safety measures, all this information could not be transmitted directly to his mind, which forced Wang Wei to spend hours manually reviewing it. However, once the process finished, Wang Wei immediately shook his head, "That won't do."
"Is there an issue?"
"If we want to limit our Chaos Universe's influence, it's not wise to use [Chaos] to create this new world. Instead, let's start with the raw power of [Nothingness]."
"Very well. I will redo the blueprint."
"How is the security situation?" Wang Wei suddenly asked. "The last thing I need is for Death Reverence or even the Beyonder to detect this place once the experiment succeeds. There is also Grand Dao; it's hard to tell how she'll react."
"This area is protected by countless Heaven Deception Arrays, as well as the Lesser Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array, so Death Reverence should not be an issue. However, it's hard to say about Grand Dao or the Beyonder."
Wang Wei frowned, "You can imitate some of the essence of Hong'er 3800 Seals, correct?"
"Correct."
"Use them — wait, no, let's leave things as is, just in case even they are not enough to block the power of these third-step powerhouses." The ability to use his wife's power remains a trump card. But if these powerhouses suddenly become aware, the seals' effect will drastically decrease. So, instead of taking the risk, Wang Wei chose to keep the seals hidden for now.
"As you wish."
A while passed before Ai finished her calculations and created a blueprint that Wang Wei was satisfied with. Then, without wasting another second, they began working. Using the [Power of Nothingness], Wang Wei assimilated the surrounding void, rendering the environment infinitely dense and devoid of matter, energy, space, time, or even heat. Then, with a thought, order was established, and a rapidly expanding universe was born, with basic concepts such as space, time, and matter.
"Now, for the hard part," Wang Wei muttered. After he gave the signal, 1.269 trillion white lights materialized in this dimension. Without wasting any time, these newly created proxy servers began their work.
Like a painter, or maybe a programmer, they slowly wrote the underlying order or code of this universe according to the parameters deduced by Ai. The process was both slow and rapid; the speed at which the universe developed was astonishing, with billions of years unfolding in the blink of an eye. However, for Wang Wei, who was observing the programming process on the servers, everything felt slow and tedious; he had to watch as they adjusted every atom, law, rule, and order based on specific calculations.
After what felt like an eternity, the crucial moment he had been waiting for finally arrived: the first — and primary extraordinary Qi, or energy — of the universe was born. What is Qi? The most common definition is "subtle energy," but there are many others: breath, vital force, vital energy, and others. But whose breath? Whose vital energy?
Humans — and all other sentient life in a Chaos Universe — have existed for a short period compared to the universe itself, meaning that Qi predates all living creatures. Following that logic: from whose breath did Qi originate? The answer is simple: the universe itself. Because of this fundamental truth, cultivators have formed a symbiotic relationship with the universe: they use its Qi to evolve, and, in return, they return that Qi and more to the world after they die and decompose.
Wang Wei observed the unique blue energy before him, then frowned. "The first experiment has failed. Have you registered the data?"
"Yes."
"Then, let's not waste time."
Under his command, this universe was shredded apart, returning to nothingness, before being rebuilt with a modified code based on the previous failure. The process was swift and efficient — and of course, ruthless at its core.
"Still failed," Wang Wei frowned. " Let's go again, but modified things as such. First…"
They repeated the experiment a thousand times, each time, they came close to what he wanted, but Wang Wei wasn't truly satisfied. They came close to a power that resembled the Beyonder's, but it wasn't quite the same. "Where are the Beyonder's Runes? Let me look at it. Maybe I can find the source of our failures."
"Absolutely not," Ai responded.
"I'm just an avatar that is destined to die. Plus, we've already eliminated the causality connecting me to the main body."
"We still cannot take the risk," Ai remarked.
"Fine," Wang Wei groaned. He knew that even if he tried to override her command, she would just report the situation to his main body, which would choose the safer approach. "Where is Emperor Kong? Has it already left for his mission?"
"He has already left."
"What a shame," Wang Wei sighed. Luck would be quite valuable at such a crucial moment. "Where is Ying Zheng now? His Jade Butterfly might be able to help."
"Let me check," Ai replied. They were now in isolation, which meant that connecting to the outside world required a tedious verification process involving input from all the proxy servers — all to prevent leaks or contamination.
"Sir, I have some bad news."
"Did something happen to Ying Zheng?"
"He has disappeared," Ai answered. "Not long after returning from the Sovereign and King World, he locked himself in his room. But, after checking on him, no one was in his quarters."
"What happened? Is he dead? Or did someone get to him?"
"According to Avatar A's deduction, there is a high chance he disappeared on his own."
"Disappeared on his own? Is it because of Hongjun?"
"Yes. His logic is that since Hongjun gave you a means to survive the expedition, he might have done the same for Ying Zheng."
"Investing in both of us since he will be the one who benefits no matter who wins? That bastard is indeed cunning," Wang Wei sneered.
"Sir, that's something you would have done as well."
"I haven't dealt with you after assigning me as Avatar B, yet, you still dare get cheeky with me?" Wang Wei snapped back.
"My deepest apology. How about I call you by the designation [Avatar A] from now on?"
Wang Wei waved his hand to indicate for her to stop talking; he needed to concentrate.