PGVCW 87

Playing God in Various Catastrophic Worlds

Chapter 87: The Mirror of the Past

The designation "Jade Pool" functioned precisely like a lighthouse amidst a tempest, illuminating a clear trajectory for the bewildered citizens of Yunxing.

While the culture of immortal cultivation had indeed failed to flourish within contemporary Yunxing society, foundational archival records remained fully intact.

This mirrored a scenario where modern Blue Star inhabitants were abruptly questioned regarding the Stone Age; although novels and television dramas rarely spotlighted that epoch, a cursory digital search instantly yielded comprehensive breakdowns of its chronological phases and origins.

Having prioritized total technological supremacy since entering the interstellar era, Yunxing's populace had initially operated under entrenched assumptions, only to discover that ancient Yunxing—an era they had consistently dismissed as "technologically deficient and materially impoverished"—actually possessed a complete, sophisticated tradition of immortal cultivation.

Consequently, historical specialists who had previously dedicated themselves to researching these obscure domains experienced an explosive surge in popularity, ascending to the absolute focal point of public discourse across Yunxing at stellar velocity.

Some regarded the sudden notoriety with startled disbelief, while others seized the opportunity overnight, scouring ancient folios to authoritatively "popularize science" across the Interstellar Net.

【Ancient Yunxing inhabitants believed that residing above the celestial clouds were immortals who possessed the power to shatter the heavens, command wind and rain, and perform all manner of miracles. Every deity maintained a distinct portfolio of responsibilities alongside a rigidly stratified hierarchy.】

【In the pre-technological epoch, ancient humanity subsisted primarily on cultivated natural flora, relying on a staple food designated as "rice." The precipitation essential for cultivating these plants was commanded directly by celestial deities; the bureaucrat governing rainfall was titled the Master of Rain, whose activation required preliminary thunder summoned by the Lord of Thunder and lightning unleashed by the Mother of Lightning, forming an exact, standardized operational protocol.】

【However, following the advent of the technological era, the pantheon appeared to step back from the historical stage; audio-visual media of ancient humanity rarely referenced deities thereafter. Nevertheless, the sanctified temples dedicated to these immortals—structures where ancient humans erected sculpted effigies of venerated deities and ancestors to facilitate ritual worship—were preserved.】

This meticulous historian thoughtfully appended detailed glossaries defining each archaic term.

【Substantial populations of ancient humans persistently performed pilgrimage to these shrines. On rare occasions, these venerated spirits and progenitors would manifest miracles—denoting anomalous spiritual phenomena where entities transcending mortal reality manifested before human eyes, occasionally even engaging in verbal discourse.】

【Furthermore, the anomalous artifacts deployed by military forces in the recent broadcast functioned essentially as a provisionally constructed, highly condensed micro-temple.】

【I wager my entire professional reputation that they specifically intended to invoke ancestral manifestations; otherwise, the ceremonial procedures would not have exhibited such strict compliance, even replicating paper currency—the economic medium utilized by ghosts and deities in ancient Yunxing—precisely as recorded in canonical texts.】

【As for the ancestral figure summoned in the visual records, her identity clearly transcends that of a mere familial progenitor. To access the legendary Jade Pool, she must indisputably occupy an exalted celestial rank.】

Following this exhaustive expounding, the historical specialist offered a definitive conclusion:

【Observe closely: prior to her departure, this ancestral deity trajectory exhibited an upward vertical ascension. This behavior precisely recapitulates classical depictions of celestial departure; recall that immortals traditionally inhabited the celestial vault.】

【Ancient Yunxing possessed no powered aviation apparatus; within their conceptual framework, the divine domain was localized roughly within the stratospheric layer. In retrospect, however, I postulate that immortals have perpetually resided within outer space, or an extradimensional plane situated beyond the cosmic boundary—a high-dimensional locus our current instrumentation has yet to chart.】

【Ancient Yunxing denizens presumed deities originated from the upper atmosphere merely because heavenly descents were observed from that vector. This realization provides a coherent rationale for why subsequent generations failed to locate divine entities even after inventing aircraft capable of breaching the skies.】

The Extradimensional Locus

The members of the Five Tongs Squad who accompanied Xia Wang'an stood before a public terminal within the library, absorbing this exhaustive analysis in profound silence.

Cai Cai remarked: "I find myself compelled to concede that this historian's arguments possess exceptional coherence. The logical progression is airtight."

Yuan Ning, Qiu Zhuang, and Lin Ke chorused in unison: "Seconded."

Xia Wang'an concurred entirely, raising her gaze toward the vaulted canopy: "In that case, should we proceed to construct an immortal celestial palace out beyond the physical boundaries of the universe?"

Qiu Zhuang widened his eyes: "Wang'an, have you personally ventured beyond the boundary of the universe?"

Xia Wang'an paused in brief reflection: "I retain no direct memory of the experience, yet intuition suggests I must have traversed it."

"That is astonishing!!" Her companions were universally thunderstruck. The nature of the extradimensional space beyond the cosmos represented a conceptual frontier that even Yunxing's advanced interstellar civilization had failed to breach.

"I cannot retrieve the visual landscape of what lies beyond the cosmos; yet if I journeyed thither, an underlying catalyst must have existed..."

Mid-sentence, Xia Wang'an abruptly arrested her train of thought.

Indeed. Throughout her past incarnations, she had continuously traversed disparate worlds; yet a world remained intrinsically bound within its native cosmos—even a colossal domain like Yunxing was encompassed within a physical universe.

Therefore, what imperative compelled her to step beyond the absolute boundary of the cosmos?

The Corrupters...

Xia Wang'an murmured beneath her breath, her gaze piercing upward through the architectural superstructure, transcending planetary substance and bending spacetime itself to gaze into the absolute void beyond the universe:

"The ultimate hive-nest of the Corrupters resides out there."

That singular realization explained her historical migration.

It explained her absence of localized memories concerning that domain.

And it illuminated why the Corrupters possessed the capacity to fluidly navigate between myriad independent worlds—because from the inception, they operated from an overarching, god-like vantage point.

She had perpetually pondered: Where is the epicenter of the Corrupters? Why can they traverse interdimensional boundaries at will?

An ordinary ant crawling within a subterranean nest cannot spontaneously materialize within an entirely distinct anthill.

Yet an entity standing directly above the system can effortlessly manipulate access to every individual nest.

The Breach at Headquarters

The absolute instant Xia Wang'an articulated that definitive conceptual realization, she distinctly perceived an invisible barrier governing higher-tier universal rules fracture violently.

Within an immaculate, sterile white extradimensional control chamber, emergency klaxons shrieked across every diagnostic instrument.

【Warning—Headquarters spatial coordinates compromised—】

【Warning—Coordinates exposed to baseline universal operational parameters—Initiate protocol restoration immediately—】

The white-robed operatives plunged into absolute pandemonium. An overwhelming cascade of anomalies had recently plagued headquarters—multiple localized world coordinates had suffered catastrophic corruption, mission execution metrics had deteriorated exponentially, and an entire agricultural farming sector had been thoroughly cleansed out of existence, resulting in the instantaneous extermination of every Corrupter garrisoned therein.

Now, the supreme humiliation of coordinate leakage had materialized. While orthodox indoctrination demanded absolute faith in the omnipotence of their presiding deity, an instinctive, visceral terror rippled across the countenances of the Corrupters.

Terror was an inescapable biological imperative; from inception, it was precisely out of a paralyzing dread of mortality that these entities had betrayed their native worlds, mutating from tragic victims into predatory executioners.

Though they had successfully excised the vast majority of their human empathy, the primitive instinct to recoil from annihilation remained permanently hardwired into their physiological architecture.

Amidst the swirling vortex of panic, B06 maintained a silent, unobtrusive posture seated in the perimeter shadows, observing the sequential arrival of high-ranking dignitaries bearing privileged serial designations.

A04 materialized.

A01 arrived in succession.

Yet B06 preserved his meticulous, calculated patience.

Predictably, within moments, an elite vanguard of Corrupters arrayed in flowing pale-gold vestments entered the chamber.

Though numbering seven individuals, their synchronized gait exhibited absolute mechanical uniformity, down to the precise geometric curvature of their identical smiles.

As this septet traversed the chamber, the surrounding throng of subordinate Corrupters instantly quieted into absolute, petrified stillness; even these terrifying entities lowered their heads in reverent subservience.

Moments later, an alternate silhouette manifested, swathed in abyssal black robes.

It was a female.

In stark contrast to the white-robed operatives whose expressions flickered with varying degrees of suppressed agitation, this newcomer maintained a serene, placid smile across her visage, every stride executed with identical spatial precision.

A01 and his companions hastily dipped their heads in profound deference.

These figures constituted the true Divine Envoys—devoid of standard serial indices or personal honorifics, yet each embodying a manifestation of catastrophic potency.

Yet the gathered Corrupters remained privately perplexed: exactly what category of supreme entity did this anomalous eighth individual in black robes represent?

Furthermore, her hierarchical status appeared to visibly surpass even that of the seven established Divine Envoys.

The woman maintained her gentle smile—an expression radiating deceptive approachability, bordering upon youthful innocence.

Yet prolonged fixation upon her features revealed an unsettling truth: her smile possessed the rigid, immutable architecture of a mask affixed permanently to her skin. The corners of her mouth curved at an invariant mathematical angle, her pupils possessed a slight upward crescent, yet those irises were a bottomless, light-absorbing obsidian, evoking the unsettling vacant stare of an evacuated marionette.

One of the Divine Envoys offered a formal introduction: "Behold the latest divine creation forged by the Master across a decade of intensive labor. This entity shall serve as the sharpest blade within the Holy Empire."

Comprehension dawned across the assembled Corrupters, who immediately bowed their heads to convey absolute allegiance and submission toward the black-robed female.

B06 mirrored the posture of universal subjection, while internally harboring a silent, bitter derision.

A divine creation?

If the colossal monstrosities looming above truly constituted gods, then the fabricated "Divine Envoys" manufactured by such entities were utterly stripped of genuine emotional resonance.

Can an entity incapable of authentic weeping or laughter genuinely be classified as a living organism?

B06 harbored severe internal agitation; ever since receiving confirmation of the farming sector's total eradication, he had frantically sought an operational opening to investigate the anomaly personally.

What precisely transpired? Why was the agricultural domain obliterated instantaneously? Was it executed by internal factions? If his comrades possessed competence of that magnitude, they would have long since launched a direct assault against the Corrupter headquarters, rendering his undercover infiltration entirely redundant.

The Arrival of the Executioner

While B06 cycled through these volatile speculations, an emotionless pronouncement cut through the chamber: "The central headquarters coordinates have suffered absolute exposure within Zero World."

The emotionless Divine Envoy proclaimed in flat, unmodulated cadences:

"Zero World, which has evaded final reclamation for ten thousand years, shall be reduced to total oblivion under the execution blade of the newly birthed Divine Envoy."

"Through death shall true genesis be attained." The Divine Envoy smiled, her obsidian pupils reflecting total void, articulating each syllable with chilling precision: "Zero World shall ultimately welcome its rebirth beneath the divine grace of the Master."

The Clash of Titans

Simultaneously, while cataloging stellar archival records within the public library, the members of the Five Tongs Squad were startled by the sudden, deafening shriek of emergency Klaxons echoing across the municipal facility.

【Attention—Hostile ingress detected—All citizens immediately assume beast-form and evacuate to designated subterranean shelters—】

The Yunxing inhabitants—who had moments prior been deeply immersed in studying classical xianxia literature—executed rapid crisis protocols; within seconds, the grand concourse was inundated with a surging tide of diverse beast-forms.

Amidst their frantic stampede, several entities collided directly with Xia Wang'an's contingency.

007 absorbed a direct impact, yet demonstrated exceptional reflexes by immediately seizing Xia Wang'an's arm: "Host, this furry specimen possesses exceptional tactile softness!"

Xia Wang'an patted the creature absentmindedly amidst the chaos, scanning the perimeter: "Is it another stellar beast incursion?"

Had she not previously eradicated the overwhelming majority of their population across the regional sectors?

Emerging from the library structure engulfed within a surging sea of plush animal-morphs, the group burst into the open exterior.

Directly overhead, the upper stratosphere was literally blackened by an infinite density of swarming stellar beasts.

007's customarily relaxed vocal cadence abruptly dissolved into stark disorientation: "That is... Wang'an..."

He conventionally addressed her as Host, reserving personal honorifics for rare emotional emphasis.

Yet presently, this address functioned not as a conversational title, but as an urgent alarm drawing her visual focus upward.

Xia Wang'an tilted her chin upward, her gaze locking onto the black-robed silhouette hovering amidst the swarm of stellar beasts.

Stationed at the epicenter of the celestial void, clutching a 2.8-meter heavy black blade, her visage largely obscured beneath the cavernous hood of her tattered black vestments—yet the blood-stained hands and frayed hemline of those garments were details Xia Wang'an had witnessed countless times.

That silhouette represented Xia Wang'an's exact self from her prior incarnation.

Xia Wang'an's pupils progressively suffused with lethal, frigid intent.

Without requiring complex cognitive deduction, she instantly deduced the enemy's strategic architecture: the supreme deity had weaponized her sealed, discarded memory fragments to materialize this facsimile of her former self.

She launched herself vertically into the vacuum; spinning spiritual qi condensed the heavy black blade into her palm, and she cleaved downward with absolute, world-splitting momentum.

Upon initial blade-to-blade contact, she registered a chilling reality: this black-robed adversary possessed the identical, uncompromised combat potency of her absolute prime.

Conversely, her current incarnation labored under a severe deficit—she remained short thirty billion units of collective faith power.

"Critical warning! Host currently lacks statistical parity; her accumulated faith reserves are insufficient!"

007 possessed absolute clarity regarding the terrifying scale of Xia Wang'an's primeval combat capacity; no terrestrial or celestial entity could challenge her in single combat save for herself.

Yet operating at merely seventy percent functional capacity, she now confronted an adversary mirroring her absolute zenith.

Xia Wang'an executed a descending cleave that was expertly parried by the black-robed entity; instantly dropping into a low evasive crouch, she narrowly avoided a retaliatory execution stroke.

A fluttering ribbon of her celestial vestments was shorn cleanly away, leaving a fine crimson laceration across Xia Wang'an's cheek.

007 and the squad members launched themselves upward into the vacuum without hesitation to provide tactical reinforcement.

The black-robed entity remained mute, operating with the cold mechanical precision of an organic war machine; every structural slash was explicitly calculated to sever craniums from cervical columns.

Cai Cai and Qiu Zhuang maintained hazardous coordination, absorbing the primary aggro vector alongside Xia Wang'an to narrowly survive the opening onslaught.

Qiu Zhuang's muscular frame warped to its absolute physical limits: "When Wang'an previously claimed she held back during our sparring drills, I harbored lingering skepticism—now I offer absolute, unreserved belief!"

Cai Cai loosed an instantaneous arrow-talisman while executing an acrobatic evasion off the skull of a passing stellar beast to dodge an incoming wave of sword qi: "Wang'an, precisely how insatiable was your historical obsession with decapitation?!"

"Standard tactical conditioning! Besides, I certainly never anticipated encountering my historical self in mortal combat across a future timeline."

Sustaining the brunt of the adversary's offensive momentum, Xia Wang'an experienced an instantaneous flash of profound empathy for Instructor Zheng Shanhe, who had historically subjected her to endless tactical drills.

"No wonder Instructor Zheng perpetually complained that my combat tempo offered opponents zero transitional breathing room—I am genuinely terrifying!"

007 rapidly traced defensive array matrices in the void: "Never could I have fathomed that upon achieving genuine human embodiment, the inaugural sentient entity I engage in mortal combat would be my own Host!!"

Failing to complete an evasive vector in time, his left arm was severed cleanly by a sweeping arc of blade qi, plummeting toward the planetary surface below where it immediately degraded into crude metallic components.

"My arm!"

Lin Ke utilized a crescent blade of wind-qi to lacerate the black-robed entity's shoulder: "Vengeance secured."

Xia Wang'an retreated dynamically through the vacuum, absorbing the kinetic shock of a localized blade wave before executing a counter-slash: "Once this skirmish concludes, have headquarters fabricate a replacement prosthetic for you."

She had intermittently concluded that her tactical repertoire had reached its absolute developmental ceiling; however, engaging in lethal combat against her own primeval self exposed a vast, unmined horizon of progressive optimization.

In prior engagements, she invariably crushed adversaries through sheer dimensional superiority, precluding any genuine requirement for tactical evolution.

Yet clashing against her historical counterpart catalyzed rapid integration and dynamic growth within mere exchanges.

To borrow Cai Cai's hyperbolic lamentation: "Wang'an, your lethality is monstrous! How can you actively invent novel combat arts while locked in mortal combat?!"

The Terminal Dilemma

Despite maintaining an atmosphere of resilient humor through rapid banter, within three to five minutes every member of the Five Tongs Squad registered an inescapable conclusion.

They lacked the capacity to secure victory against the black-robed entity.

The primeval manifestation of Xia Wang'an possessed excessive, insurmountable dominance.

Unless Xia Wang'an instantaneously restored her complete, uncompromised primeval state.

Yet obviously, the Yunxing citizens currently running for their lives lacked the capability to generate thirty billion units of faith power on demand.

Lin Ke absorbed a parry that threatened to fracture his entire skeletal framework, throwing up a desperate wind-barrier to prevent his thoracic cavity from being pierced: "We are utterly doomed—we cannot prevail. This iteration genuinely feels insurmountable."

None had conceived that their inaugural systemic defeat would materialize against a corrupted, pitch-black projection of Xia Wang'an herself.

Xia Wang'an expelled a mouthful of crimson fluid; directly opposite her, the dark clone radiated dense clouds of malevolent black miasma, maintaining its perpetual, sculpted smile.

"I possess the capacity to absorb the faith power consolidated within her physical shell."

This energy represented discarded memory residues originating from Xia Wang'an herself; sharing an identical ontological provenance, absorbing the adversary's power source was theoretically frictionless.

Qiu Zhuang urged frantically: "Then absorb her! Reduce her back to seventy percent power so we can collaboratively pin her down and beat her senseless!"

Lin Ke surveyed the roiling waves of venomous black miasma: "Is consumption safe? Will ingestion induce systemic toxicity?"

Yuan Ning, possessing the lowest combat tier, was the first to be battered downward from the spatial ceiling.

The atmosphere among the combatants instantly curdled into grim solemnity.

Only 007 possessed immediate insight into why Xia Wang'an had persistently refrained from executing that maneuver.

"Consumption is prohibited; those faith deposits are corrupted by foreign interference. Should Wang'an forcefully assimilate them, it is mathematically equivalent to reabsorbing her discarded memories—she will suffer total cognitive collapse and forfeit her sanity permanently."

"Indeed."

The absolute moment Xia Wang'an confronted the black-robed clone, she decoded the overarching strategic trap engineered by the deity.

The entity was fully cognizant that the clone's existence functioned primarily as a high-capacity energetic battery for Xia Wang'an.

At her absolute discretion, Xia Wang'an could instantly drain the clone's reserves.

Yet executing that absorption guaranteed her regression into the vegetative, catatonic state that characterized her previous incarnation.

This constituted an inescapable strategic dilemma.

Refuse to absorb the energy, and she would inevitably perish beneath the blade of her primeval self.

Assimilate the energy, and she would sacrifice her cognitive faculties, rendering humanity permanently incapable of mounting resistance against the Corrupters.

What alternative path remained?

Could she realistically abandon her comrades to perish before her eyes?

Resolved in her determination, Xia Wang'an experienced minimal internal agitation or terror.

"On what absolute authority does the deity presume that absorbing these residual energies will inevitably strip away my sanity?"

Dodge an incoming execution stroke, Xia Wang'an extended her hand directly toward the black-robed clone: "I declare that my cognitive clarity shall remain absolute."

She smiled—an expression devoid of mechanical rigidity, radiating absolute, untamed autonomy:

"Whatever Xia Wang'an resolves to accomplish, she invariably achieves."

Distant voices screamed across the com-links: "Wang'an!!"

A torrent of black faith energy surged like an oceanic tide, rushing directly into Xia Wang'an's physical vessel.

A cascade of long-suppressed, forcibly excised memories echoed simultaneously across the architecture of her mind:

"I possess no home remaining..."

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