Chapter 1296: Imagination and Insights

Urban Reality

Zhiji’s mind raced, countless thoughts flashing through her.

Her first reaction was: Impossible!

Were these life-form cosmic meteor showers actually being deployed by some unimaginable, mysterious conceptual entity? This was the universe! It was terrifying.

But the universe was inherently mysterious and profound; the emergence of these cosmic life forms was already quite bizarre.

Now, the future trajectory of this universe was shrouded in a hazy, mysterious mist. No one could foresee the future, unless they were someone who had traveled back from it.

Zhiji mused inwardly, “They seem to know more about the situation. Is there really a mysterious entity at play? Could it be that among these cosmic meteor showers, there’s a hidden cosmic leader who descended with the meteor showers, has already gained intelligence, and is secretly manipulating the arrival of these universes?”

“If there truly is a cosmic leader capable of giving birth to these universes before us, then it could indeed be possible....”

She naturally couldn't guess that these universes were deployed by the God of Destruction. However, her speculation about a "cosmic leader" was surprisingly close to what Caroline, Di Qi, and others were thinking.

After all, in their eyes, these current universes were deployed by the God of Destruction from the future, intended to destroy this cosmic era and replace it with a catastrophic new epoch!

Zhiji’s mind was somewhat unsettled.

“If it really is a cosmic leader....”

“Then, among these falling meteor showers, is there a hidden leader?”

“If one could control it, wouldn’t they be able to command all universes...?”

Her heart instantly burned with excitement; this was a shortcut to controlling the prevailing trend of the era. But the idea quickly fizzled out.

“No, that’s not right. If it were truly possible, they wouldn’t be discussing it like this. So, this cosmic leader cannot be controlled by anyone. What exactly is it, then...?”

Her mind was awash with thoughts, all sorts of suspicions flashing by like lightning.

Just as she was pondering, the wandering Evil God, who seemed to have finished his business, suddenly walked in.

“Ha, thanks to you all, I’ve successfully found some good allies. Your current strategy of ‘pulling the rug from under them’ is truly brilliant... Oh? Emperor, long time no see.”

Medusa’s gaze swept around.

It suddenly landed on the Emperor, on this handsome young man.

Medusa recalled her previous battle with him. He was indeed a very formidable opponent, and her fighting spirit flared. She smiled, “I never expected to find you here.”

This person...

He must be a battle maniac, daring to challenge my husband to a fight!

On the deck of the military tent, Zhiji stood by. Although she hadn't activated her innate divine ability, fearing it might provoke anger, her judgment of people was still very accurate.

She was secretly amazed again.

It seemed her husband’s status within this faction... was truly not low!

Not only did these three mysterious and ruthless figures, who dared to challenge Guyou and establish a second grand dao rule, show him sufficient respect, but even this generally neutral force gave him significant attention.

It was as if they had all suffered at his hands before.

Zhiji felt a pleasant surprise in her heart as she looked at the young man.

“I knew my judgment was absolutely not wrong!”

“Back then, when we debated, he could see a corner of the future cosmic trend and spoke eloquently, telling the Saints on the deck not to lose heart but to regain their spirits... I knew his talent and wisdom were certainly not inferior to mine... Otherwise, even if I was disheartened and self-destructive at the time, I wouldn’t have debased myself like that!”

His talent, articulated through words that evoked an inner wisdom, likened to a bright pearl long obscured by worldly toil, now shining brilliantly to illuminate countless green mountains, had deeply moved her heart. One should know that back then, only a sparse fifty or sixty people could discern a corner of the future trend of the ‘Immortal Realm Era.’ For him to be able to see this current era meant he was equivalent to her own past self from that time.

“It’s just that he’s too aloof, not striving for grand trends or overall strategy.”

Zhiji secretly thought, “Once we return, I need to properly motivate my husband, make him cheer up, and stop being so idle. All he does is drink tea, eat fruit, and pull me aside to talk about asserting his authority and avenging past grievances...”

She secretly blushed. What revenge was he talking about?

At this rate, even if she gave him a hundred million years, he might not be able to defeat her.

“I need to really push him so that in the future, he can also contend for supremacy! Only when he’s strong will he have a chance to defeat me,” she thought, feeling that this reason might make him less idle.

Zhiji felt she was truly worrying herself sick.

Perhaps, living alone before was quite good. Although having a companion now felt very warm and allowed her to enjoy the feeling of home...

However, perhaps this was also the general trend!

Over the years, Zhiji had clearly observed that with the advent of the Myriad Heavens Universe Ship Era, the number of Saint companions had grown exponentially!

This was because, in the Myriad Heavens, almost everyone was immortal.

As long as one left a few clones in various universes, they could not be completely annihilated.

Originally, the disadvantages of having a companion were: one’s Dao heart’s weakness could become a hostage threat for enemies, and if the companion fell, one’s own Dao heart would collapse...

But now, almost everyone was immortal with no side effects, naturally ushering in an era of ‘companion’ proliferation. One could have a home without bearing the responsibility of protecting it, essentially getting it for free.

“However, among these companions now, they cannot establish Heavenly Dao vows. There are no rules to bind them, so there’s no absolute trust...” Zhiji secretly thought, “After all, the mature vow system of the Nine Yuan Universe isn’t binding outside of it... Companions can scheme against each other, even backstab one another...”

Heavenly Dao Vows.

They were divided into many types: companions, slaves, equal partners, master-disciple... Many types, all serving as restraints among Saints, perfected by ancient Saints to give Saints their own social rules...

Without vows...

It meant untrustworthiness and breaking promises, leading to complete chaos among the Saints of the universe.

She and her husband also had not established a Heavenly Dao vow.

After all, they were in the Chaos. She had originally considered going to her husband’s universe to make a vow with his true body and sign a contract...

But she decided against it. Times were different; violating a vow and perishing would only mean the death of one’s self in that particular universe...

Now, the demise of one’s self in a parallel universe was no longer a truly tragic price; the binding force was no longer sufficient.

Even Guyou, who now sought to eliminate the true bodies of those Saints, found them mentally prepared.

But those Saints were ruthless enough!

They were willing to sacrifice their true bodies to contend for a new era.

After all, ever since those ancient Saints, millions of years old, had rebelled and fallen, a consensus had gradually formed in the Nine Yuan Universe: that one was merely at the mercy of others, dominated by these ancient existences, within the Nine Yuan Universe itself...

“Alas, who knows what the rules will become in the future,” she sighed.

Zhiji secretly shook her head, lamenting, “Everything starts from scratch... If you ask me to establish these Heavenly Dao vows for the Chaos Sea, I wouldn’t know how to do it... After all, there are too many universes, and they aren’t interconnected. How can we make them uphold their promises in every single different universe?”

“However, if I could establish Heavenly Dao vows, wouldn’t I be invincible?” Zhiji sighed inwardly, but then thinking about it, she also felt it was impossible. “But in the Myriad Heavens Era, it simply cannot be established!”

Contracts are rules.

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished.

When two factions from the Myriad Heavens fight and then negotiate peace, there must be rules to guarantee it, otherwise, who would believe them?

Rules guarantee relationships between spouses, land deeds must have regulations, and transactions need rules... Without contracts, the Myriad Heavens would surely be an era of chaotic warlordism.

“I can’t imagine the future era... I don’t know who can change the future,” Zhiji thought to herself.

At this moment.

The deck was covered by a large tent, and the group seemed to be drinking tea inside a military encampment. Although Zhiji was lost in her private thoughts nearby, they had already discussed a considerable amount.

Both sides chatted amiably but aimlessly, without much substance.

“By the way, what were you just discussing?” Medusa finally couldn’t help but ask.

“We were discussing where Moon God Ji has gone,” the Three Pillar Gods replied calmly.

“Moon God Ji?”

Medusa secretly frowned. “I’ve seen less of her than you, but she was once able to almost defeat you. She’s definitely terrifying and should not be underestimated... Remaining hidden is the most frightening thing of all!”

Caroline nodded, “You’ve reached an agreement with them? Did they offer you something that moved you?”

“They made a huge concession, allowing me to prove my Dao,” Medusa admitted, knowing it couldn’t be kept secret as the entire universe would soon find out.

Rivers, Lakes, and Seas!

Upon hearing this, everyone secretly frowned, surprised.

“I can’t believe they thought of such a move!” Di Qi was secretly alarmed. “If one proves the Dao of Rivers and Lakes, digging grooves in the universe to allow the Chaos Sea to flow in—lakes, streams, rivers... we could then navigate our universes into the depths of the cosmos. This would indeed perfect the rules for the Chaos Sea!”

“At the same time, the other party would gain mastery over the rules of rivers in this aspect, making them invincible.” Caroline was also alarmed. Unless she avoided entering the rivers, she would be controlled by them.

Her life and death would be in their hands!

What the other party was proving the Dao for was the surface membrane outside the cosmic chaos, establishing rules for creating ravines on the surface. They could naturally easily divert rivers and trap anyone within.

“This move is terrifying. These entities have too profound an understanding of the Nine Yuan Universe. It’s yet another special method of indirectly proving the Dao of the ‘Chaos Sea’ by proving the Dao in the Nine Yuan Universe!” Di Qi frowned inwardly.

They were indeed inferior to these ancient Saints!

What they were doing now seemed like proving the Dao, allowing the universe to conceive, but they were merely ushering in an era and completing rules. They hadn't grasped the authority over these rules themselves.

Currently, they merely allowed Saints to become their cosmic descendants and kin, but they couldn’t completely monopolize this. Others could potentially research and discover it too.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t seizing the authority over these rules.

And the other party?

They were cunning and shrewd. How would they prove the Dao to more easily grasp rules? To control the prevailing trend of the era?

They were too skilled!

“This proving the Dao of Rivers, Lakes, and Seas... at worst, we just won’t enter the universe,” the Three Pillar Gods stated coldly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had Shiji grasp these rules. She won’t harm you; feel free to enter,” Medusa said, smiling broadly.

“None of them are good,” Di Qi snorted. “If I navigate my universe inside, wouldn’t I be at their mercy?”

The surrounding crowd also nodded in agreement.

Signaling that they would simply not enter.

Rivers, lakes, and seas were indeed convenient, but they wouldn’t put their lives at the other party’s disposal.

But at this moment, Zhiji suddenly said, “You still don’t see the terror of these Rivers, Lakes, and Seas. In the future, all Saints in the Myriad Heavens will inevitably have to enter them! Even if you don’t want to, you’ll have no choice!”

“Ah?”

Everyone was startled. They pondered carefully but couldn’t figure out why.

Zhiji now felt it was finally her turn to speak. She said, “You know a lot about the rules of the Chaos Sea, but your understanding of the universe’s rules is far inferior to mine!”

Everyone couldn’t help but look sideways at her.

Zhiji, however, remained silent and looked at the Emperor.

Xu Zhi also felt pleased. Zhiji was still giving her husband face in public, deliberately bringing honor to his faction. Having Zhiji as an inside contact indeed brought considerable benefits.

“Zhiji, do tell,” the Emperor said.