Chapter 860

The hologram closed its eyes, seemingly in deep state of thought. After a while, it opened its mouth and said, “In the beginning, there was neither time nor space, only chaos.

“Within that chaos, a consciousness awakened.

“He is the origin of all, the advent of the dao.

“As such, he named himself Dao Lin.

“Dao Lin created space within the chaos. And in doing so, gave birth to time.

“Looking at the empty space, he felt extremely bored. Thus, he began to create life in order to enrich and enliven this empty space.

“We are the first living creatures created by him.

“As his first creations, Dao Lin endowed us with vast powers so as to serve him and assist him in creating other life forms, even the entire world.

“That is the Upper Plane where the Players reside in.

“But one day, Dao Lin suddenly became fed up with the world.

“He felt that, back when he began creating the world, he had been too inexperienced, too sloppy. As a result, many parts of the world were very unsatisfactory to him.

“Due to that, he decided to repeat the process of creation to build an even bigger and better world.

“However, rebuilding it all meant that the world will be emptied. Everything except him, even us, would be destroyed.”

“Just like how you guys refreshed our Lower Plane?” Chen Xiaolian interjected. “Master and servants, you guys sure like to do this, don’t you?”

“Yes. It is just like a refresh. But it is even more thorough than a refresh.” The hologram ignored Chen Xiaolian’s words of ridicule.

“As all of our powers come from Dao Lin, there is absolutely no way for us to defy it. We who were unwilling to simply disappear could only cry and beg, but it was pointless.

“Thankfully, right before Dao Lin cleared the entire world, one of us proposed an alternative plan to him. Dao Lin could create a fictional world and superimpose it on the original world.

“Strictly speaking, the world does not actually exist. However, it could achieve the ‘highest degree of realism’, like a sandbox.

“Drawing from his experience from his first process of creation, this world that Dao Lin created is very perfect.

“It is vast and filled with all kinds of creatures.

“Dao Lin split his power into two equal parts, the divine body and the divine consciousness. The divine body was left in the original world while the divine consciousness entered the sandbox world.

“Even with only half his power left, within the world that he created, he remained a God.

“After he entered the sandbox world, we, the servants of God, temporarily substituted him in managing the original world.

“But as time passed, we came to realize… Dao Lin was once again gradually becoming dissatisfied with the world that he has created.

“He is perfect. And yet, the world he created is not. It is his belief that an imperfect world is not worthy of him.”

After saying that, the hologram let out a soft sigh. “And so, we were left with no other choice.”

“Dao Lin is our God. In the original world, it would have been impossible for us to defy him. But the moment he used only his divine consciousness to enter the sandbox world, leaving his divine body behind, he became incapable of perceiving what was happening in the original world.

“Naturally, we are incapable of truly killing him. However, we can make use of the sandbox world to seal him.

“And that is because half of his power remained within the divine body in the original world.

“We seized the power that dwells within the divine body. With its support, we initiated a refresh, utterly wiping clean the sandbox world.

“As for Dao Lin’s divine consciousness, it was utterly shattered due to the refresh.”

“But it endures.” Chen Xiaolian stared intently at the hologram. “And that was the first refresh to ever happen, even earlier than the one you guys used to eradicate the first GM. I think, before that refresh, there were no Players in the Upper Plane and no instance dungeons in the Lower Plane, am I right?”

“You are indeed very smart.”

The hologram nodded. “Players, Awakened ones, they have always been trying to figure out the reason behind the existence of instance dungeons. And there have been many guesses, but no one has ever obtained the true answer.

“The only one that can destroy God, is God himself.

“We are incapable of controlling all of Dao Lin’s power. Rather, we are only capable of steering it to a certain extent.

“And so, in the Lower Plane, we utilized the power of the divine consciousness to create the many instance dungeons while using the divine body’s power in the Upper Plane to create the system and the various redeemable items.

“Skills, equipment, all of them came from the power of the divine body. On the other hand, all the monsters in the instance dungeons came from the power of the divine consciousness.

“Every battle that the Players engage in inside instance dungeons would result in the collision and destruction of two powers that came from the same source.

“When compared to all the power that Dao Lin holds, it is only a single fur from nine oxen, but it is fine. If a thousand years is not enough, then ten thousand years. If ten thousand years is not enough, then a hundred thousand years… Dao Lin has entered a deep state of slumber. We have all the time in the world. A day will come when the power within the divine body and the power within the divine consciousness completely destroy one another. That is when Dao Lin truly disappears.”

“That’s why you guys have simply never cared about the existence of Awakened ones.” Chen Xiaolian himself had guessed that it was something like this. All he needed was a personal confirmation from the Development Team.

“What you guys want are but carriers for the power of the divine body. As for whether the carriers are Players or Awakened ones, it makes no difference to you guys.”

“Yes. That is why, when it came to Awakened ones, the system would also allow them access and provide them with the ability to redeem items.” The hologram nodded. “Zero City was the only exception. We cannot allow the existence of a space that we cannot monitor, especially one that cannot be affected by a refresh.”

“Because you are afraid of the emergence of a power, one that is sufficiently strong. Just like the first GM, upon reaching a critical point, that power would become the eye of the storm. That would mean that you have lost control over the divine consciousness and it would gather up once more. The refresh that occurs once every thousand years is all for the sake of restarting everything, to nip away any powers that could potentially become another eye of the storm in the bud!”

“As expected, you’ve already figured out a lot of things. That is the final and the most critical move.” The hologram nodded.

“I also managed to guess why you guys never descended in person since then. You guys are probably not afraid of any dangers since the most we can do is just destroy the angel bodies. We are incapable of harming you guys, the servants of God, who resides in the Upper Plane.

“The only one who can do that is your God, or the one who has obtained the power of the divine consciousness. For example, the first GM.

“Even when push comes to shove, you guys refused to come in person. That’s because you guys simply do not have enough manpower!

“In the past, when the first GM rebelled, most of your members must have been killed when they were in this Lower Plane, leaving only a few in the Upper Plane.

“The way I see it, since the divine body is kept in the Upper Plane, in order for you guys to activate the refresh procedure, you guys will need to keep a certain number of members in the Upper Plane, or maybe even somewhere higher up.

“And that number must be more or less equal to the number of members you guys have left, am I right?”

“Very much so.”

The hologram did not hesitate to admit that Chen Xiaolian’s speculation was correct.

Chen Xiaolian then exhaled softly.

Finally, all the questions have been answered. Although he had pieced together the many bits and pieces together to form most of it, only now was the answer truly complete.

Next…

“Now that you’ve told us everything, what else do you plan on telling us? Surely you didn’t ask us to stay just to listen to some story, right?” Chen Xiaolian stared at the hologram.

“Naturally.” The hologram shook its head. “I admit, at present, we no longer possess enough power to eradicate you guys. So maybe we can reach a compromise.”

“I’m listening.” Chen Xiaolian crossed his arms and looked at the hologram with a smile. “You guys are willing to completely give up control over the Lower Plane?”

“Naturally, that would be impossible.” The hologram’s answer was as expected.

“Completely giving up control means that we can no longer ensure the dispersion of the divine consciousness. But if you all can make a promise to not increase your strength anymore, we will, correspondingly, cancel the refresh procedures and… delete the identities of all the Awakened ones within the system.”

“Oh? I didn’t think that it would be so easy to get you guys to agree on something.” Chen Xiaolian was startled and he stared at the hologram.

He had long since figured it out. The reason the Development Team appeared as a hologram was in order to negotiate with them.

What he did not expect was that the other party would offer such a generous offer right from the get go.

Cancelling the refresh procedure meant that there was no longer a need to rely on Zero City as a sanctuary for the Awakened ones.

As for the deletion of the identities of all the Awakened ones…

“What you mean is that the Awakened ones can retain their original memories, right? Not just what normally happens when they are killed where they are refreshed with a new identity,” Chen Xiaolian probed further.

“Of course not.” The hologram shook its head. “Memories, even the abilities that are already in their possession, as long as you want it, we can allow them to retain all of it. Only, there is no longer a need to participate in instance dungeons. Naturally, they are also incapable of obtaining points or redeem anything from the system anymore.”

“Hmmm…”

Chen Xiaolian rubbed his chin as he quickly pondered the offer.

Thinking about it carefully, when it came to the Awakened ones, the Development Team was not suffering from any losses in particular.

Originally, the ones that the Development Team used were just the Players. It was the GM who created the Awakened ones.

The Development Team had known about it since the very beginning and were simply taking advantage of their existence due to convenience.

Whether or not the Awakened ones existed was not actually important.

If an agreement can be reached, the GM will no longer create Awakened ones and the Development Team will no longer include Awakened ones into the instance dungeon summoning. For the Lower Plane, this meant that the ‘invasion’ of Players will no longer exist.

The one thing that could truly affect the overall situation was the promise from the Development Team to ‘cancel the refresh procedure’.

That was the most important issue here!

Once the worldwide refresh was no more, the average humans of this world, the Awakened ones, the Irregularities and even the GM will no longer be faced with any threats.

“How do you guys guarantee that? It is completely possible for you guys to suddenly activate a refresh while we are not in Zero City.” Du Wei, who had been observing the exchange silently all this time, suddenly asked.

“There’s no need to worry about that.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. Without waiting for the hologram, he explained, “The GM has checked the database. The command for the refresh can only be executed after all the instance dungeons have been cleared. Though, he has never figured out why the Development Team would set up such a restriction.

“The way I see it, it must be because the instance dungeons come from the power of the divine consciousness while the refresh is – in essence – an all-out collision between the power of the divine consciousness and the power of the divine body. If there are still any uncleared instance dungeons, an imbalance would occur in the process of collision. Am I right?”

Chen Xiaolian’s final sentence was directed at the hologram.

The hologram simply nodded without saying anything.

“Although the GM cannot monitor what is happening inside an instance dungeon, he can monitor the total number of existing and uncleared instance dungeons. As long as the Development Team can guarantee that a new instance dungeon will be generated immediately after an instance dungeon is cleared so as to maintain a safe number of instance dungeons, there is no need to worry about them suddenly activating a refresh.” After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned his gaze back to the hologram. “However, I’m really getting a strange feeling here. You guys seem… a bit too agreeable here.”

He was still harbouring some doubts and worries within his heart.

Before appearing in front of them as a hologram, the Development Team had clearly been going all out to kill them. This change in their attitude was a little too fast.

Matters that were proceeding too smoothly can always be turned upside down.

Who knows what dangers lay hidden within the agreement offered by the Development Team?

“You can also choose to not accept.” For the first time ever, the hologram revealed a smile.

“We are simply making a proposal. The final decision rests in your hands. Or perhaps… if you guys need time to make a decision, you can first finish this instance dungeon and return to the safety of Zero City. Take your time to discuss it through before giving us your answer.”

After the Dev said that, a figure silently appeared inside the Pope’s Chamber located not far away from them.

The figure wore black robes and his right hand held a thin sceptre while his left hand held a shield.

It was the final BOSS of this instance dungeon, the Pope.

Chen Xiaolian was surprised.

By killing the Pope, this instance dungeon would end.

The Development Team… was not forcing them to make a decision here?

They seemed really sincere.

“How about it, you guys?” Chen Xiaolian cast an inquiring look at Du Wei and the others. “Do you guys plan on making a decision now?”

“Let’s talk about it after leaving this place. No need to rush.” Mr San thought for a while before continuing, “Anyone has any objections?”

“Then, let’s go.”

The most impatient one was Cheng Cheng. Seeing no one object, she raised the Dimensional Rip Blade in her hand once more.

For them, a casual swing of the blade was enough to finish off an ordinary instance dungeon BOSS.

Observing Cheng Cheng raise the blade, Chen Xiaolian finally let out a secret sigh of relief.

All of this will end soon.

Barring any accidents, after they return to the new Zero City, the final conclusion would likely be of them reaching an agreement with the Development Team.

The Awakened ones will be liberated. Even the GM will not be wiped. The refresh will not come again. Everything was proceeding smoothly.

And yet, for some unknown reason, he kept getting the feeling that there was something amiss.

The thought flashed through his mind like a spark. The very next moment, Cheng Cheng’s Dimensional Rip Blade was already slashing towards the Pope.

“Wait!”

As spatial rifts were appearing across space, Chen Xiaolian’s pupils abruptly widened.

He had figured out what the issue was.

As the Dimensional Rip Blade was slashing down, Chen Xiaolian pulled the Flash Bow of Ketu-Rahu, the fastest bow draw he had ever performed.

He did not even have the time to fully draw the bow as he hastily fired out an arrow.

The invisible arrow of light struck the side of the blade at the last moment, diverting the straight downward slash somewhat. The spatial rift grazed the space beside the Pope, missing him by a hair’s breadth. The tip of his sceptre was cut off and it fell to the ground.

“Why did you stop me?” Cheng Cheng turned, her eyebrows raised as she glared at Chen Xiaolian. “Didn’t we agree to talk about it after we return?”

“No.” Chen Xiaolian’s face was as pale as snow. He turned towards the hologram of the Dev.

“We… can no longer return.”

Dao Lin’s name ‘道临’ is roughly translated as ‘the arrival of the dao’.

A single fur from nine oxen. Idiom. Like a drop in the bucket.

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