Chapter 509: People Selection (Additional Chapter for Commander Yan)

Online, discussions were swirling, and netizens were all waiting for the appearance of the last player, Yuan Qinghua. This individual was no ordinary person. Having secured third place in the PVP Fighting Competition, he was considered a combat genius chosen from millions. They had, of course, watched that fighting match, noting his exceptionally strong adaptability and combat instincts during battle.

"Has he escaped now? Fighting a desperate battle?""Perhaps he's stumbled upon an incredible opportunity?""No, he might have been captured; after all, he's only a fourth-tier combatant, probably enduring torture."

As everyone was discussing, "Where am I?" Yuan Qinghua groggily opened his eyes, feeling as if he were in a water prison, tightly confined. All his cultivation was hard-won, but he couldn't use it now. He wondered what strange abilities those higher beings had used to completely seal him. After all, he had witnessed many bizarre things these past few days: like being cut in half and still being saved, or encountering mysterious leaders who would immediately kneel, or a girl with arrows who would shoot him and animals together, and then...

"Wuwuwu!" He seemed to struggle.

"You're awake?" A completely different language. He saw a tall, burly, black-skinned mantis gazing at him curiously. This was someone the Celestials had told him to pay attention to, but there seemed to be a language barrier.

"Wuwuwu!" He gesticulated wildly.

The black-skinned mantis seemed to understand his meaning. "You want me to teach you the language?"

The Mortal Realm.

"Players have begun to enter and develop!" Xu Zhi seemed to be looking at a certain place. "Since my Nine Revolutions Profound Art, the world within me, has entered the right track, I need to find someone to help manage the Underworld… At the very least, I'm not talking about handing over the position of Yama King; that's too far off. I still need to manage that position myself, but someone needs to help serve the soup, right?"

He slowly walked down the street, looking around. "Steamed buns, the freshest steamed buns!" "Fine wine..." Pedestrians came and went, dressed in ancient attire, bustling about. In the distance, there was a tavern, and at its entrance, someone was selling themselves to bury a parent. Further away was an elegant brothel where many people were composing poetry and prose. A farmer pushed a fruit cart, creating a scene reminiscent of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

They lived very naturally. They had no idea they were beings inside a human body, living within the inner space of a colossal giant.

Nine Revolutions Profound Art. This was Xu Zhi's first personal, portable world! It was similar to Dao Changsheng's Immortal Realm, Armin's Underworld, and Caroline's inner world.

"I really do need to find someone!" He rubbed his forehead in distress, walking wordlessly down the street, waving his folding fan with an elegant demeanor. "I'm managing the Underworld alone, handling reincarnation, checking the Book of Life and Death, providing all sorts of one-stop services. I'm too busy by myself... Especially recently, the Underworld is overflowing, with long queues. Even though my mirror clones are robots, they can't handle it; I'm stretched too thin. This online game world also needs to be operated seriously!"

As he thought, he arrived in front of a school where a group of teenagers, mostly around ten years old, were having a lesson. The teacher, high up, was explaining: "In the distant past, it is hypothesized that the first intelligent life forms appeared in the lowest Animal Path! The Animal Path developed for several decades before intelligent life began to emerge in the Mortal Path... And after countless years of development in the Mortal Path, the Celestial Path only then began to truly develop civilization."

A student below couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't that mean the Celestials' development time is shorter than ours? But their civilization is more advanced. Is it because of different time flow rates? This means that even though they started later, they developed faster than us!"

"That is natural!" The teacher slowly replied, "Our world is divided into three spatial dimensions: the higher world—the Celestial Path, the middle world—the Mortal Path, and the lower world—the Animal Path... The time flow rate between each world differs by ten times! One day in the Animal Path is equivalent to a full hundred days in the Celestial Path!"

The surroundings gasped. "Doesn't that mean the Celestial world is very fast, and Celestials age very quickly relative to mortals? But it also means they develop incredibly swiftly."

The teacher continued to explain, "And crossing worlds will integrate one into the time-flow domain of the destination world, but it's impossible to stay long, as it will cause an unknown repulsive force. This is a conclusion we have drawn from observing the Celestials' actions over many years!"

"After that, we also confirmed this! The third-generation Demon Empress Du Wei, who was also the Tree King's disciple, attempted to enter the Animal Path, and the result proved this theory! We also found that generally, only Heavenly Emperor level beings can easily cross space to descend! As for Quasi-Emperor level beings, they need certain special methods to barely cross over. The Great Empress Du Wei back then was a Quasi-Emperor."

"Our Mortal Path and even the Animal Path have developed for too short a time to this day; our civilizations are still very primitive, and no Heavenly Emperor level powerhouse has yet been born."

As they spoke of human history, Xu Zhi listened with keen interest, as he could draw parallels and refine his own worldview. Their analysis was quite accurate. Indeed, civilization developed first in the Animal Path, then the Mortal Path, and finally the Celestial Path... This was a ladder, for according to his reincarnation mechanism, only by continually accumulating through rebirth in the lower realms could one gradually ascend!

Three lifetimes in the Animal Path for one in the Mortal Path! Three lifetimes in the Mortal Path for one in the Celestial Path!

Of course, this was not absolute. Depending on one's merits and the strength of their cultivation in a given life, they could skip ranks and enter the Celestial Path... However, after dying in the Celestial Path, one must return to the lowest Animal Path, unless their merits in that life were exceptionally great, with enough points to support a second reincarnation in the Celestial Path.

"Undeniably, the Celestial Path is indeed the higher transcendent world I designated... Moreover, due to the structure of the reincarnation mechanism, all talented and powerful beings among the three paths will flock to the Celestial Path. For example, humanity's ancestor, Emperor Bai, and other historical luminaries... they have all become Celestials in the Celestial Path. Coupled with the time flow rate, this is why their civilization develops extremely quickly, dominating and ruling the other two paths!"

Celestials, born noble, were no joke. It took nine lifetimes of arduous cultivation to earn one Celestial reincarnation.

"Conflict, bloodshed, hatred, and racial war are the driving forces behind a world's development," Xu Zhi said calmly. He was already accustomed to this pattern, so he had set up a perfect system of contradictions and conflicts that could perpetuate eternal struggle, even maintaining relative balance among the players.

"Celestials!!" At this moment, Li Sansheng, still in the classroom below, now in his teens, listened intently, clenching his fists.

"What a pity he won't be a civil servant for the Underworld..." Xu Zhi merely glanced at him before turning to leave, intending to find other civil servants. "I need to find operating staff. First, a Meng Po to serve the soup, and also the Black and White Guards of Impermanence to oversee reincarnation and maintain order..."

He continued to walk along the street. Suddenly, a child crashed into him hard. "Sorry!" Then the child stumbled away.

Xu Zhi paused, instinctively feeling his wallet empty. He couldn't help but be amused, watching the child's retreating back. "A pickpocket? Such refined skill. Did I really just encounter this ancient profession? It seems scenes from TV dramas actually happen."

He smiled and couldn't help but chase after the child. The child ran remarkably fast, eventually disappearing into a large gate. Looking up, Xu Zhi realized it was a brothel. He stepped inside. "After developing this sandbox for so long, this is the first time I've entered a place like this. It's quite interesting."