Chapter 144: Side Story: Creating a New Universe

In a sea of chaos, Xiao En and Hong Meng stood opposite each other;

Hong Meng looked around and laughed, "This is the chaotic state of your new universe—nothing there, yet brimming with boundless energy. With this energy you must set a law to transmute it into matter, life, souls, and so on, and then, according to your will, you can create the new universe."

"I intend to first create a universe similar to your Magic Universe," Xiao En said suddenly.

Hong Meng asked in surprise, "Magic Universe? That could work. You have no experience, so copying one isn't bad, but it seems you'll have to alter some Heaven-and-Earth Laws?"

"Yes, I have some ideas," Xiao En nodded. "But I'm not certain yet. Creating a universe takes a long time, so I can create while figuring out exactly what Heaven-and-Earth Laws to set!"

When he was in the Pan Long Universe before, he felt many Heaven-and-Earth Law settings seemed unfair;

Of course, the laws themselves need not consider fairness; after all, beings are inherently unequal—ordinary races versus God‑devouring Rats are incomparable.

Nevertheless, he hopes his created universe will be a bit more balanced in all aspects, making it more interesting.

In any case it's all a hobby; no matter how much he tinkers, it's fine. If the first one fails, he can forge another. For a being capable of creating universes, it makes no difference.

Hong Meng smiled, "Alright, I'll watch from the side. This is my first time as an observer watching someone create a universe."

"You're very welcome," Xiao En said with a faint smile.

Immediately, Xiao En's divine consciousness extended beyond his soul bead, informing his offspring that after a short departure, he would be ready to create the new universe without worry.

In the Pan Long Universe, the Wo Ke family had become the strongest Primordial God family; the destiny‑bound Ascendant Primordial God Form also found suitable descendants to refine.

The three supreme artifacts were given to his daughter Bu Lai Er, whose combined innate‑talent divine art with the Four Divine Beasts made her strength unmatched even by the Destructive Overlord Wu Te Lei De.

When his own universe is eventually created, he will leave the "Pan Long Universe", and, incidentally, the three Primordial God Forms he possesses can also be refined for his family.

However, Xiao En warned the Wo Ke family that they may dominate the divine realm, but they must not, like the previous Four Divine Beasts, incite joint human‑god resentment; they should command authority and inspire fear, not hatred.

In other respects, he gave no special favors; in fact, within Hong Meng's universe he could do little, and though he could speak to Hong Meng, there was no need.

After his consciousness returned to the soul bead, Xiao En created a brand‑new Magic Universe in a corner inside that bead.

Boom~~ A energy eruption billions of times more terrifying than the Primordial God's creation of the divine realm in the Pan Long Universe erupted, forming myriad things, all shaped under the guidance of the new Heaven-and-Earth Laws;

After countless ten‑thousands of years, a brand‑new universe was born; inside it, endless spatial turbulence of varying scales and innumerable material realms persisted.

Countless beings were born on these material realms: vast numbers of ordinary races, scarce divine beasts, and, at the dawn of Heaven and Earth, a special law that easily gave rise to powerful super‑divine beasts.

Every material realm hosted god‑level strongmen, and after an unknown number of ten‑thousands of years, the Four Great Supreme Realms emerged; all realms above the Sanctum were notified by the Supreme God that they could venture to the Four Great Supreme Realms.

In the Four Great Supreme Realms, the speed of cultivating the regulatory laws is faster, and in the future a Primordial God Form representing ultimate power will descend.

In an instant, countless strong ones rushed to the Supreme Realms, establishing families here, vying for resources, in a bustling scene.

……

Within the spatial turbulence, Hong Meng's soul avatar and Xiao En watched the newly formed universe.

Inside Xiao En's universe, Hong Meng cannot enter; he can only exist as a consciousness, yet that suffices to observe everything.

Hong Meng felt the surrounding Heaven-and-Earth Laws and laughed, "So you performed innate‑talent separation for out‑of‑body Deification?"

"Yes. Both in‑body and out‑of‑body Deification can be chosen at the moment of ascension," Xiao En nodded. "However, with out‑of‑body Deification, the soul splits and can recover, but the cultivated innate talent is divided in two."

Hence, thereafter, whether confronting Mid‑rank Gods, Ascendant Gods, or grasping the introductory and consummate stages of merging the profound mysteries, any bottleneck will become far more difficult.

Moreover, I set a final law: to achieve Great Perfection one must use in‑body Deification; only when the Sanctum Avatar and Divine Avatar merge can true Great Perfection be attained, granting the will‑power reward of Heaven and Earth.

When he previously read the book "Pan Long", he thought the Heaven-and-Earth Laws were too unfair to in‑body Deification—there were few benefits, yet it cost life, even the "telephone" function vanished;

Although early in ascension, in‑body Deification can preserve soul strength and avoid crisis, that's its only advantage; only a fool would choose in‑body Deification if safe ascension were possible.

Now, creating a new universe, he tweaked this slightly: in‑body Deification remains the same, but out‑of‑body Deification will affect innate talent, each having its own pros and cons.

"Ha ha, your setting is interesting," Hong Meng said after a moment's thought, "But if one chooses out‑of‑body Deification at the first ascension, even though the innate talent is split, can the Sanctum Avatar still cultivate the corresponding law, and will the combined‑talent cultivation speed remain the same?"

"Theoretically it's the same," Xiao En explained. "But one can never achieve Great Perfection, and if the Sanctum Avatar later refines other laws into Deification, the innate talent will split again, leaving a single‑line talent incomplete."

And if one ceases to refine other talents, isn't that a needless waste of the chance to become Great Perfection? Though that probability is virtually impossible.

"Your setting does make many decide to choose in‑body Deification," Hong Meng agreed. "So then Great Perfection can only have one Divine Avatar?"

"Not exactly. This setting actually has a loophole," Xiao En smiled while explaining. "Great Perfection requires the Sanctum Avatar and Divine Avatar to be one, but if the first talent chooses out‑of‑body Deification and the second or even third talent chooses in‑body Deification, that in‑body Deification's Divine Avatar could theoretically achieve Great Perfection."

Hong Meng laughed, "In theory that's true, but under normal circumstances the strongest talent ascends first, siphoning its talent; later talents are weaker, and if they're split again, cultivation becomes extremely low. In such a case merely reaching Ascendant God is impressive; how could one still achieve Great Perfection?"

Not to mention Xiao En's talent‑splitting arrangement; even in his original Magic Universe, many who possessed a second or third talent for Deification still faced a terrifyingly low chance of reaching Ascendant God.

Great Perfection does have other Divine Avatars, but those avatars are inevitably the strongest‑talented, usually the first to ascend.

"Right, so it's merely theoretical," Xiao En said with a faint smile. "Normally Great Perfection only appears when the very first talent ascends via in‑body Deification."

That serves as compensation for in‑body Deification: out‑of‑body Deification truly adds an extra life, whereas in‑body Deification leaves only one life but preserves the strongest talent, so even without Great Perfection the chance of becoming a peak powerhouse is higher.

Talent separation affects not only Great Perfection but any cultivation speed and bottlenecks.

For the same individual, early choice of in‑body Deification may allow cultivation to independent Ascendant God, whereas choosing out‑of‑body Deification adds a split avatar and an extra life but may only reach Mid‑rank or Lower‑rank God, perhaps never becoming a god at all.

Thus, the choice between in‑body and out‑of‑body Deification each has its own pros and cons.

Everything is unpredictable; under such Heaven-and-Earth Law settings, many will find that if the second talent is weak, choosing in‑body Deification for the first talent's ascension is the optimal solution.

"Your setting is indeed good," Hong Meng agreed.

"Wait a bit longer; after the Primordial God Form descends, there will be further changes," Xiao En said with a faint smile.

He also made many other alterations.

……

After the New Magic Universe's birth, ten‑trillion years later, 77 Primordial God Forms descended; those who seized a Primordial God Form combined strength and luck, though the greater factor was power, and most were in‑body Deifications.

The Primordial God Form also carries immense faith power and the ability to create divine realms, enabling some Primordial Gods to break through Great Perfection with its aid.

"Huh, can a Great Perfection Primordial God completely shield its aura so other Primordial Gods' divine consciousness can't detect them?" Hong Meng, after the Primordial Gods' birth, also noticed this law and curiously asked, "What's the purpose of this setting?"

Xiao En laughed and explained, "It's a compensation for some mid‑rank or lower‑rank Great Perfection Primordial Gods. Their talents are strong, but limited by the Primordial God Form, their power may be suppressed by higher‑rank Primordial Gods with weaker talents."

Thus I set this: a Great Perfection Primordial God who does not deliberately emit aura, keeping its divine consciousness contained, cannot be detected by other Primordial Gods, including other Great Perfection ones, allowing them to stay low‑key and avoid being hunted.

Only if another Primordial God is extremely close—so close that the Great Perfection God's aura could be sensed—might detection occur, but given the vastness of the divine realm, such accidental proximity is virtually impossible.

One more point about the size of the divine realm: Xiao En altered it, expanding the area from several hundred billion li in the original work to ten thousand times larger in his universe.

Naturally, the Primordial Gods' divine consciousness and speed also increased, still covering the entire realm, allowing a lower‑rank Primordial God to traverse the whole realm in half a day.

"Sounds not bad either." Hongmeng laughed.

Shawn said: "It's also because I was previously a Great Perfection Main God, yet I couldn't appear in the God Plane, so I set this rule."

"That is indeed also a kind of protection for the Great Perfection Main God." Hongmeng thought for a moment, then asked: "What about the Great Perfection Upper God?"

"Haha, for those Upper Gods of Great Perfection with extraordinary talent, I naturally set up stronger protection." Shawn said: "In my universe, Main Gods can kill Great Perfections, but once they kill a Great Perfection, they will be punished by the Heaven and Earth Laws, with frequent excruciating soul pain."

This causes no actual harm, but it constantly bothers him, preventing him from resting and secluding himself, and even during battle it may affect him, until the next Great Perfection of the same lineage is born, at which point this punishment will disappear.

"A lifelong entanglement? This punishment is truly terrifying, and the way to lift it is the birth of another Great Perfection of the same lineage?" Hongmeng also couldn't help but feel somewhat startled.

Shawn said: "This itself is a protection I give to the Great Perfection, but it merely restricts their safety; if the Main God does not kill the Great Perfection, they can also be exiled, or there are other means to deal with the Great Perfection."

However, it's not very meaningful, because my protection for the Great Perfection goes beyond this; regardless of whether the Great Perfection group is exiled or enters space turbulence for other reasons, after a period of time, the Heaven and Earth Laws will also cause them to approach the edge of some plane.

Only then can the Great Perfection be truly protected; this is also a privilege I grant to those Great Perfections with extraordinarily strong talent, for only in this way are they the true emperors of the gods, whom even the Main God cannot do anything about.

"Your protection for the Great Perfection is truly strong." Hongmeng exclaimed in surprise: "But then, wouldn't the Great Perfection be able to insult the Main God at will?"

Shawn laughed: "These people deserve such privileges, but under normal circumstances they shouldn't casually offend the Main God, after all, besides killing and exiling, the Main God also has other ways to torment the Great Perfection, the power gap is there."

"Haha, that's right." Hongmeng also agreed: "In my universe, the Great Perfection is indeed somewhat unfairly treated; an ordinary Upper God who refines a Main God's divinity can easily kill them."

"That's why I deliberately changed it." Shawn laughed.

Hongmeng also said: "Then, in your universe there is no soul mutation; how are the people supposed to transcend?"

Shawn shook his head and laughed: "I don't care whether the people in my universe can transcend; they actually already have infinite lifespans."

This universe also has the four great rules and seven great laws, but lacks the soul mutation setting; anyone who wants to become an expert must rely on talent and effort, growing gradually, without the possibility of soul mutation through life-and-death crises.

"Indeed, there's really not much difference." Hongmeng nodded and then asked: "This universe looks about the same, after all—will you still create a new universe later?"

Shawn nodded and said: "Right, I've gained some experience, preparing to create another cultivation universe; that universe will have a lifespan limit, and the cultivators' greatest enemy is lifespan."

Afterwards I will also create a universe full of planets; that universe will grow through cultivation and technology together, and it should be quite interesting~

(End of chapter)