Damn it! Just landed and ran into this dreadful weather!" The torrential rain poured down, instantly soaking him to the bone. Cold raindrops lashed against his body, and a disheveled figure growled irritably into the void: "System! Scan the energy parameters of this world, evaluate... if there are any extraordinary powers present!"
"Ding! World rules are being analyzed, please wait, Host..." The cold, mechanical voice responded without a ripple.
"I hope it's a world with extraordinary powers..." The figure murmured in the rain, his voice turning cold, carrying a hint of chilling cruelty, "...The little bugs in this world had better pray your cradle holds some surprises. If there's no transcendence... Hmph, then let every last bit of its remaining origin become my stepping stone to the peak!"
"Analysis complete! Target world level: Hengsha Small World. Extraordinary reaction: None. Threat assessment: Unknown...? (?)"
"Tsk, another barren, weak world? So be it..." The figure seemed a little disappointed, then instantly turned chillingly ruthless, "Begin extracting origin!"
"Origin extraction initiated..."
Before the words finished, the world changed drastically!
"Boom—!!!" Deafening thunder tore through the sky. The dense curtain of rain from moments ago instantly escalated into a world-ending deluge! Dark clouds pressed down on the earth, and violent lightning, like giant whips wielded by a god, danced wildly and ferociously across the sky. Each explosion carried a suffocating, doomsday-like pressure!
"Warning! Warning! Deep-level rules activated! Extremely high threat detected!! System emergency escape mechanism initiated!!" The urgent electronic warning sounded, for the first time, with a fearful, altered tone.
"Wh... Ugh ah—!!!"
A blindingly white bolt of lightning, carrying a judgment-like power, struck down from the sky without warning!
Just across the street, in front of the glass doors of a commercial building, Zhao Lin—who had just contributed to the national military budget (actually, he was just buying cigarettes)—was opening his umbrella, which had "Another Bottle" printed on it. The world-destroying scene before him and the target precisely struck by lightning made his scalp tingle instantly!
"Holy crap!!!" A scream burst out of his mouth. Zhao Lin's eyes were practically bulging out. "Did this guy dig up the Heavenly Dao's ancestral grave or steal the Thunder God's wife?! Are all the lightning rods in this building just for show? I've lived long enough to see anything now!!" The intense visual impact stunned him for two seconds before he found his voice again. "...120! I need to call an ambulance quickly!"
He fumbled for his phone, his fingertips trembling slightly from tension:
"Beep... beep..."
"Hello? This is the 120 Emergency Center..."
Zhao Lin spoke rapidly, with undeniable urgency: "Help! Someone here was struck by a huge lightning bolt! He looks like he's not going to make it! The address is in front of the building at XX, South Section, XXX Road! My name is Zhao Lin! Phone number 137xxxxxxxx! Quick! Send someone over!!"
"Sir, please don't rush, keep the line open, the ambulance will be dispatched immediately..."
The piercing siren of the ambulance still echoed in the distance, but Zhao Lin had already cautiously approached the spot where a human figure had once been. Just one glance, and his stomach churned.
"Hiss... My God..." He gasped, his voice dry, "This... turned into charcoal, even his mother probably wouldn't recognize him... would she?" This corpse before him... if it could even be called a corpse? Its shape was ghastly, emitting a burnt smell.
The moment he shifted his gaze, the corner of his eye seemed to catch a faint, unusual glint, coming from the position of the charred head.
"Huh? Is that... Wait!!!" Zhao Lin's pupils suddenly contracted!
"Buzz!"
A dim, seemingly about to extinguish, broken ball of light suddenly struggled out from the charred remains! It seemed alive, carrying a panicked aura, hovering in the air for only a thousandth of a second before transforming into a swift streak of light, shooting straight towards his face!
There was no time to react; the ball of light had already merged into his chest!
"Holy crap... What the hell is that!!!" Zhao Lin was horrified, feeling a bone-chilling cold pierce him, followed by an intense tearing sensation, as if his entire soul had been seized!
Boom!!!
Almost at the same instant, as if to annihilate this unexpected "variable," another thick white bolt of lightning, like a spear of annihilation, carrying pure destructive power, precisely pierced through the spot where Zhao Lin had been standing!
"Ugh ah—!!"
Blinding light swallowed all his senses, and heart-wrenching pain instantly engulfed him. In the last moment before his consciousness sank into a dark abyss, he clearly "heard" a soul's howl, mad, venomous, filled with endless despair and unwillingness, as if coming from the deepest hell:
"No!!! Damn it—!! I have not yet recovered... The glory of the Main God's Hall... how can it... be cut off... Heavenly Dao... I hate... fragments... return... blood... debt... must be repaid..."
...Consciousness floated in a chaotic white light, slowly focusing.
Zhao Lin suddenly opened his eyes! (Although he wasn't sure if eyes still existed in this state.)
The pungent smell of disinfectant? Dazzling white light? His body felt heavy... No, this wasn't a familiar feeling! A huge shock mixed with the dazedness of surviving a catastrophe swept over him. "Where is this? I... wasn't I... struck by lightning?!" He muttered in surprise and uncertainty, his voice hoarse from just waking up.
"You're awake, child."
A grand, gentle voice, as if encompassing the entire world, resonated directly in his heart.
Zhao Lin jumped like a startled rabbit (though his "body" might not have had substance at this moment): "Who?! Who's speaking?!"
"I am the Origin Will of this universe, the source that birthed the myriad beings on this planet. You may call me 'Heavenly Dao,' just as other worlds call it 'Gaia.'" The voice remained calm, yet contained an ineffable majesty and boundless love. "Of course, if you wish... you may also regard me as 'Mother Goddess.'" Her voice even carried a faint, almost imperceptible hint of maternal affection.
"Heavenly... Heavenly Dao? Mother Goddess?" Zhao Lin's mind was in a mess, but his survival instinct made him desperately want answers. "Then what exactly happened just now? Why did the lightning strike me? And... and that ball of light that drilled into my body? What was it?!" Fear and dread made him speak faster.
"That bolt of lightning accidentally struck you; it was an accident, yet there was no other choice... As for that ball of light..." The Heavenly Dao's sigh was like a breeze, "Have you heard of the 'Main God Space'?"
"Main... Main God Space? Isn't that... something from novels?" Zhao Lin's voice was full of disbelief.
"Precisely so." The Heavenly Dao's voice grew solemn, as if recalling a dusty epic filled with bloodshed and war, "That ball of light is a fragment of the Main God Space's core. Once upon a time, it wantonly traversed the myriad worlds, plundering living beings as its 'Reincarnators,' driving them to conquer all directions. Its sole purpose was to devour the origin power of world after world, attempting to replicate 'that one's' great feat of creating the heavens and earth and transcending the Grand Dao... Ultimately, its greed incited the collective wrath of the Heavenly Daos of the myriad worlds! We, the Heavenly Daos, united with the Children of Fortune from countless eras and waged innumerable great battles in the chaos, finally shattering its core! Most of its remains were divided, studied, or sealed by other great powers. Only the most core wisp of true spirit... stubbornly resisted, exploding into countless fragments and narrowly escaping."
"So... that's what happened!" Zhao Lin was thrilled to hear this, understanding the source of the danger. "Then... this piece that drilled into my body?"
"This piece," the Heavenly Dao's voice seemed to carry a hint of sarcasm, "is one of the fragments carried by that true spirit that luckily escaped back then. Over the long years, it developed a new consciousness, inheriting a small part of its predecessor's memories. It is precisely because it is so incomplete... that it dared to brazenly bring its puppet before me." The majestic voice rose slightly, revealing a sharp aura like a sleeping giant lion awakening. "In that final battle back then, I was one of the main forces that tore it apart! Although my origin was damaged after the war and I slept for a long time... I have now recovered eight or nine tenths, so how could such dregs covet and touch me!"
"Then what do I do?!" Zhao Lin's soul trembled. Being caught in such an ancient titan's game made his scalp tingle. "Will I... will I be controlled by it? Become its puppet?!" He certainly didn't want to become "Charcoal Number Two"!
"Don't worry," the Heavenly Dao's voice returned to gentleness, with a calming serenity, "It and you have both been 'cleansed.' 'Cleansed' at the rule level."
"...You call that 'cleansing'?" Zhao Lin couldn't help but inwardly complain, full of speechlessness. "I... I really... Thank you, Mother Goddess!" When he said this, there was a mix of helplessness and lingering fear from surviving a catastrophe.
A silence filled with a deep sense of powerlessness permeated between the two (gods?).
After a long while, Zhao Lin cautiously asked: "Um... what's my situation now? Am I completely dead? Or..."
"Your physical body was annihilated in the lightning, but your original true spirit has been preserved by me," the Heavenly Dao calmly explained. "Now, you have two choices: First, remain in this realm and await the complete recovery of the world's spiritual energy. At that time, I will expend my origin to reshape a perfect innate divine body for you, bestowing upon you the authority and status of a deity of this world. Second, I will completely dismantle this Main God fragment, retaining only its most core 'traverse myriad worlds' rule and combining it with the 'One' of this world, then fully merging it with your true spirit. You will become a divine ability capable of freely traveling between the myriad worlds. And... because of the 'One,' the Heavenly Dao's will in the worlds you reach will not bear hostility towards you. As for what fortune or misfortune lies on your journey, and how far you can go... that will entirely depend on your own efforts and destiny."
"The One? Is it what I'm thinking of?"
"Yes, originally it could not be controlled by any means, but... when that one created the heavens and transcended, he divided the 'One' of that original world into three, and combined it with the Three Talents, giving all living beings in that world a trace of the essence of change. I encountered them in the great war back then, and through that, I also grasped some of the essence..."
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Lin eagerly pressed: "Mother Goddess! Please, how long will it take for the world's spiritual energy to fully recover?"
The Heavenly Dao's voice remained calm and unwavering: "One Yuanhui, a total of one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years."
"One hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred... how... how many years?!" Zhao Lin almost thought he had misheard; that string of numbers buzzed in his head. This wasn't just waiting a little while; it was like waiting for a universe's next boot-up!
After only a thousandth of a second of stunned silence, his eyes erupted with an unprecedented fervent light! The hesitation and heaviness from before were swept away. He unhesitatingly "straightened" his non-existent body and declared decisively: "Mother Goddess above! I choose the second option! Without hesitation!" His speed was so quick it was as if he feared the other party would change their mind.
The Heavenly Dao seemed to chuckle lightly. That laughter contained an understanding of this tiny mortal's curiosity and courage in eagerly embracing the unknown, and also a hint of anticipation for the future. "Very well, young man, I respect your choice. May you... have a smooth journey across the stars and seas."
"Wait!" A thought suddenly flashed across Zhao Lin's mind, making his previously joyful heart clench. "My... my family... My grandparents, they are both very old, and their health isn't too good... If I just... just 'disappear' like this... they... how will they bear it...?" By the end, his voice was filled with worry and reluctance.
The grand voice was silent for a moment, seemingly sensing the state of those two mortal elders. Finally, the gentle yet unyielding voice spoke again:
"...Child, there is no need to blame yourself. I will... adjust their memories. They will believe that you and your parents... passed away together in the great plague 20 years ago... This belief will be deeply ingrained in their consciousness, until..."
The Heavenly Dao's voice paused, carrying a profound anticipation:
"...Until the distant future, when you have the ability to cross the long river of time and return to this very moment..."
In an instant, immense guilt, gratitude, and the bittersweet relief surged through him. Zhao Lin's "consciousness" fluctuated violently.
Ultimately, all emotions converged into the most simple gratitude.
"Thank you..."