Chapter 425

The great doors of the shrine slowly opened.

Lin Qing stepped forward and was immediately sucked into the shrine's internal spacetime.

Around him was nothing but a dim, chaotic void.

There stood a human statue, roughly the height of an ordinary person, silently rooted in the center of this chaos.

"A human statue?"

Lin Qing glanced closely and realized the statue was none other than the "End Universe God" carved on the shrine's entrance.

The instant he laid eyes on the End Universe God statue—

【All phenomena tend toward chaos; only order is eternal.】

【When you hold order, the future becomes clear—you may reverse cause and effect, harvest results, and prepay the future.】

At this moment, the Anti-Entropy Device activated on its own.

"Hm?"

Lin Qing carefully observed the Anti-Entropy Device's reaction and found this time differed from the previous two—it did not display the prompt 【Discover absorbable primordial source】.

At this moment, a low sigh suddenly echoed—

"Finally… finally, a new inheritor has arrived here…"

Lin Qing snapped his head up.

Before him, a vast, illusory face slowly materialized in the air, studying him with quiet curiosity.

"You are…" Lin Qing began.

"Like the two divine generals outside the gate, I am merely a guardian spirit formed from the accumulated power within this End Universe Shrine," the vast illusory face said.

Lin Qing understood and said, "You just said I am a new inheritor?"

The vast illusory face replied, "You entered this End Universe Shrine before becoming a God-Nation Lord, and you comprehended the Three Spacetime Rules—naturally, you qualify as an inheritor."

It paused, smiling faintly at Lin Qing, and added, "Moreover… you possess the Anti-Entropy Device."

"Hm?" Lin Qing's pupils sharply contracted.

"Surprised?"

The vast illusory face chuckled. "When you last entered this spacetime, I already noticed the Anti-Entropy Device fused with you. Didn't you ever wonder where the Anti-Entropy Device came from?"

Lin Qing took a deep breath and said, "Could it be connected to the End Universe God?"

The vast illusory face said, "The Primordial Universe God, who forged the main universe—a celestial body of the highest possible rank within infinite chaos—is the supreme entity of infinite chaos, wielding the three authorities: Nature, Dominion, and Destruction. Nature is the source of all life; Dominion establishes rules; Destruction returns all phenomena to unity. It claims half the present and all the past."

"The End Universe God, by contrast, is the opposite counterpart to the Primordial, wielding the three authorities: Life, Order, and Chaos. Order and Chaos are the developmental laws of the main universe; the essence of life is anti-entropy, capable of regulating Order and Chaos. Thus, the End Universe God claims half the present and all the future."

Lin Qing began to understand.

No wonder the Anti-Entropy Device activated with the words 【All phenomena tend toward chaos; only order is eternal】—this was its meaning…

And life itself is the Anti-Entropy Device.

"The Anti-Entropy Device originated from the End Universe Shrine."

The vast illusory face said, "It is the End Universe God's ultimate application of spacetime—the greater the number of possible futures, the more future lines it can seize."

Lin Qing understood its meaning.

He himself could only perceive the seven hundred and sixty most probable future lines; any future with too low a probability was beyond his observation.

But the Anti-Entropy Device was different—it did not care how many future lines existed. As long as a future held even a sliver of possibility—even infinitesimally close to zero, as long as it wasn't zero—it could prepay and realize it!

In a sense, transforming the illusory into the real could bring any physical object from the future into the present, while prepaying brought future abilities into the present.

"But… how could it be such a coincidence that the Anti-Entropy Device chose me?" Lin Qing suddenly asked.

The vast face smiled. "You think it's coincidence because the Anti-Entropy Device chose you—but it chose you precisely because you are the most suitable being in the entire universe."

Lin Qing frowned. "I'm suitable for the Anti-Entropy Device?"

"You made it here—that proves you are," the vast illusory face said. "In all the endless eons since its creation, the Anti-Entropy Device has been claimed by six hundred and fifty-one beings—but only a handful ever reached this point."

"So many beings have possessed the Anti-Entropy Device?" Lin Qing exclaimed.

"The Anti-Entropy Device can only prepay futures that are possible—but if a future does not exist, even the Anti-Entropy Device cannot achieve it."

The vast illusory face said, "Even with warnings of order shifts, some dangers remain unavoidable. If you're not careful, you can still die—and many situations simply cannot be prepaid."

Lin Qing nodded slightly, understanding its meaning.

He had reached this point largely thanks to the Anti-Entropy Device, but some techniques and lineages were beyond his comprehension—he could not prepay them.

Without sufficient insight or fortune, he could never have reached this stage.

Especially the path of Spacetime Rules—even the Anti-Entropy Device could not prepay them.

"But where is the End Universe God? Why release the Anti-Entropy Device?"

Lin Qing could not help asking.

The vast face smiled. "The End Universe God does not exist—or rather, it has not yet been born. Unlike the Primordial Universe God, who was born from the rules of infinite chaos to forge this main universe, all systems within the universe tend toward chaos, ultimately leading to universal destruction."

It whispered, "The End Universe God exists to balance the universe's chaos, preserve order, and extend the main universe's lifespan—that is the meaning of life's birth."

Lin Qing pondered.

Wasn't that exactly the Anti-Entropy Device's core function?

"If you pass the Universe God's trial, you will become the true inheritor of the End Universe God."

The vast illusory face said, "But if you fail, the Anti-Entropy Device will return to this End Universe Shrine."

"A legacy trial?" Lin Qing asked.

"The trial has only one requirement," the vast illusory face said. "Before the main universe enters its decline phase, collect the six authorities: Nature, Life, Order, Dominion, Destruction, and Chaos."

Lin Qing was stunned.

Collect the six authorities?

He could not help asking, "Do you know where the six authorities reside—with the six Universe Gods?"

"The Cosmic God?" The vast, illusory face laughed. "Those six are only half-Cosmic Gods—but still, to erase you now, all it takes is a flick of the finger."

Lin Qing sighed. "Then how am I supposed to collect the Six Paths' Authority?"

"As the inheritor, all you need to do is kill those six, and you'll reclaim the Authority," said the vast, illusory face.

"Kill?" Lin Qing was stunned. "What level of power would that require?"

"I don't know," said the vast, illusory face. "But within the endless chaos, all possibilities exist—there will always be hope."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly and asked again: "As the inheritor, do I get any special advantages?"

"Isn't the Entropy Reverser the greatest advantage of all?" the vast, illusory face countered.