Chapter 284: Shaping the World

"It doesn't seem to be one book, but two."

Someone squinted, shielding their eyes with a hand to peer afar.

Beneath the red maple tree, the book's cover was made of an unknown beast's hide, bearing the aura of ancient antiquity; the book was closed, yet yellowed pages could be seen, as if sealed by time.

Another book lay beneath it, stacked on top, causing people at first to mistake it for only one book.

A breeze passed by.

The wind blew the books open, pages rustling loudly as they flipped.

It seemed these two books were not merely memory images imprinted by heaven and earth, but two actual books placed beneath the red maple tree.

Yet no one dared approach.

Everyone had witnessed Su Daji's ferocious reputation—she would annihilate entire nations at the slightest provocation, acting without warning, turning enemies into specimens; any one of her deeds could terrify a person to death.

Under such fearsome renown, even if the Su Daji before them was merely an imprint of heaven and earth, no one dared step forward.

Who knew if this imprint might suddenly awaken, or connect with Su Daji's true self?

If that happened, approaching to take the books would shatter this eternal beauty beneath the red maple tree—definitely a capital offense.

"How about we all take a couple steps forward together?" someone suggested.

Everyone stood dozens of meters away from the red maple tree; moving a bit closer shouldn't be dangerous.

Gathering courage, they crept forward two steps, saw nothing happen, then took two more steps, inching slowly until they finally drew within a few meters of the red maple tree.

Before anyone could hesitate over how to take the books, a figure in the crowd suddenly lifted their foot, walking with steady, unwavering steps straight to the red maple tree, bowed slightly to King Zhou and Su Daji, then picked up both books and walked back.

The man was none other than Kamikawa Mitsu.

The entire process was utterly seamless, leaving the crowd momentarily stunned.

By the time Kamikawa Mitsu returned with the books, everyone's faces were twisted in agony.

Bro, you could've been this decisive earlier—why make us inch forward like this for so long?

If Kamikawa Mitsu knew their thoughts, he'd probably shrug and reply: I wanted to walk up directly too, but I saw Chiaki filming your slow shuffling with such delight, so I gave up—now that Chiaki's here, I just stepped forward immediately.

The next moment.

Filled with excitement and having followed Kamikawa Mitsu this far without seeing any sign of his displeasure, they realized he wasn't cold or unapproachable, and timidly edged closer, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Nii-san, what are these two books?"

Kamikawa Chiaki asked, excited:

"Are they the kind that make you ascend to immortality with just one practice, or let you fly to heaven in broad daylight? Or is this one of those Chinese 'cheat' power-ups? I remember Sister Rikui recently watched Chinese webnovels and mentioned one where the protagonist had a book-like cheat that could scan everyone's info—kind of like a book encyclopedia."

Kamikawa Mitsu's lips twitched slightly; he glanced at Kamikawa Chiaki, a strange glint flashing deep in his eyes.

Has this girl awakened again?

He pulled out the book lying beneath:

"It's not a cheat power-up, but you're right—this one book here does indeed catalog various kinds of information."

"The Book of Living Beings: Volume One?" someone read aloud the ancient Chinese characters engraved on the cover.

Immediately after:

To everyone's astonishment, Kamikawa Mitsu handed the book to Mayer.

"Take this book and read it."

Mayer took the book, stunned for a second: "Mr. Kamikawa, you're giving this book to us? Don't you need it yourself?"

"This book is useless to me," Kamikawa Mitsu pointed to it. "My family already has one, and I've read it. But now, no one knows about it—so take it, share it. It'll help you understand the true nature of this world."

Filled with confusion and curiosity, Mayer and the others opened the Book of Living Beings.

Upon closer inspection, each page detailed a different living being; hundreds of thick pages cataloged over a hundred species from different worlds.

The Void Demons and the Nether Eclipse Clan were clearly listed among them.

【This is literally a 'Pokémon Pokédex'!】

【So it's a race catalog of living beings—the multiverse version of the Classic of Mountains and Seas.】

The live stream chat exploded with comments.

"Holy shit, this creature looks just like a Slime—wait, could Slimes have been inspired by this thing?"

Those gathered around Mayer flipped through the pages of living beings, occasionally gasping, exclaiming, mocking, or sighing.

Not long after:

Mayer closed the book, walked up to Kamikawa Mitsu, and clasped his hand in thanks:

"Thank you, Mr. Kamikawa, for giving us this book. It's immensely helpful for understanding other worlds—we're truly grateful."

"You're welcome."

Kamikawa Mitsu smiled. This Book of Living Beings was another gift he returned to the world.

He knew the Earth universe he shaped had originated from the earliest world, the primordial world—how could humanity living in such a world remain ignorant?

As time passed, invasions from the multiverse would accelerate and multiply.

Kamikawa Mitsu had already shaped the Origin Realm this way and spread his influence across other worlds—if, when foreign realms invaded the Origin Realm, humans knew nothing about them, reacted to every alien being as if discovering a new continent, it would be a catastrophic loss of dignity.

Worse, alien beings might even suspect the Origin Realm wasn't truly the primordial world—if its inhabitants knew nothing, acted like complete newcomers, who'd believe it was the origin?

To prevent this, Kamikawa Mitsu didn't just need to elevate the Origin Realm's dignity—he had to elevate the people's dignity too. Before the multiverse invasions arrived, he had to make the world understand alien beings.

This Book of Living Beings was his first step in shaping the people's dignity.

He spent script points, commanding the system to collect information on the alien beings most likely to invade—and those already beginning to invade—and compiled them into an encyclopedia, ensuring people understood alien beings thoroughly, deepening the aliens' awe of the Origin Realm.

To make the alien beings more convinced and hold the Origin Realm in higher regard, Kamikawa Mitsu carefully studied these alien beings and altered some of their information.

What was the purpose of these alterations?

Very simple.

Kamikawa Mitsu thought it better to deceive alien beings with a crowd than alone—after all, strength lies in numbers.

First, gather a group of "little brothers," then have the "little brothers" trick the "little-little brothers," then have the "little-little brothers" trick other "little-little brothers," and so on.

Of course, the main goal is to elevate the prestige of the Gain the Origin Realm, making outsiders from other realms think it's utterly awesome.

"Rest assured, everyone. Once I take this back to my superiors, I'll definitely share the content with all of you."

Mayerk handed the book to his elite subordinates and responded solemnly to the crowd, who still clung to their gaze on the Book of Living Beings, reluctant to look away.

Not to mention that, to prevent human extinction, all nations are now sharing information; even if the Book of Living Beings were made public, it carries no real advantage or harm. Hoarding it would only earn a bad reputation, and there's no reason to hide it—especially not while broadcasting live.

Besides, this isn't the time to read books—we must hurry and seek opportunities.

"Three passages— which one do we take?"

Walking to the other end of the valley, the people discovered three corridor passages behind it, stretching endlessly, their ends invisible.

……

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