Chapter 164: Open Your Eyes, No More Shackles!

Until the system prompts were all finished, the foolish Zhao Si still hadn't reacted.

"This... can also rebel?!"

The game protagonist rebelled against the player... truly absurd!

"What does it mean for the true spirit to leave the system?"

Zhao Si asked blankly.

【Ding! The reason the game protagonist can infinitely restart is essentially because their true spirit is entrusted to the system; if the true spirit leaves the system, it means they have lost the ability to infinitely restart, dying means true death, which also counts as a punishment mechanism.】

"Then, from now on, will I really be unable to do anything to him?"

【Yes, in this round of simulation, the player can only look at text PPTs from now on.】

Zhao Si: ……

You're too free!

Zhao Si looked bewildered, then began to ponder the fundamental cause of this rebellion.

"This little bird, although previously quite opinionated, would ultimately always obey my orders; even if it were a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, at worst it would just restart... In short, it wouldn't dare to defy and resist my orders like this time."

"If it's not because he suddenly lost his mind, then it's that my order this time is flawed, thoroughly making him resent me..."

"What's wrong with my order?"

With a sense of puzzlement, Zhao Si began to review historical information, trying to find the cause.

After a moment, he seemed to realize:

"It seems that our understandings of the worldview differ..."

In short, Zhao Si is after all a player, and everything in the simulated primordial world is merely a round of a game; no matter how empathetic he is, he cannot truly share the three views with the game characters.

To him, this round of simulation is merely a game test, a tool for gathering relevant information, and Jiao Ming, as the protagonist, is also his tool.

Therefore, when truly facing the predicament of being 'stuck at a level,' Zhao Si will surely break out of the protagonist's mindset and instead formulate a clearance strategy from a player's perspective.

Such a strategy is naturally completely correct, able to most efficiently advance his own plot.

But Zhao Si overlooked one point: the game protagonist is ultimately not himself...

Although called 'another self,' Jiao Ming clearly has an independent set of three views and personality; to him, the game is fundamentally not a game, but the real world.

Most importantly, he truly lives within it!

Therefore, when Zhao Si tries to force him to act against his own convictions, making a choice harmful to this world, he will naturally rebel.

Zhao Si doesn't care about the life or death of game characters, but Jiao Ming does.

Zhao Si doesn't care whether this simulation is perfect or not, but Jiao Ming does.

Zhao Si thinks the next simulation will always be more perfect, but Jiao Ming thinks this round is already the most perfect!

Everything he had longed for since childhood is present in this round:

Friend Hongjun, children the three Golden Crow siblings, even a grandson played by the Yellow Dragon... The children have successful careers, they established the Heavenly Court, and diligently govern all beings of heaven and earth.

Also there is the Ancestral Phoenix, his unrequited first love; in this round they truly got together, only one step away from truly having him lay an egg...

Looking at the big picture, the great war of the three tribes is gone, Rahu is gone, and everyone is very happy.

Looking at the small picture, his career is complete, his family is safe and healthy, and all goes well.

If Zhao Si were placed in his position, he probably wouldn't want to restart either...

"Also, I had him distinguish between virtual and reality, true and false, so he would use the same perspective as me, realizing this round of simulation is false, and the perfect ending of the next round is the real one."

"The result is he indeed distinguished them, but it's the opposite of what I intended."

This left Zhao Si momentarily unsure what to say:

"Why not seek perfection in the next life? This life is nowhere near perfect!"

"I don't understand... clearly the next life could be more perfect..."

Zhao Si muttered to himself.

【Ding! The player overlooked a question: could it be that Jiao Ming has actually... grown old?】

Old?

Zhao Si stared blankly:

"Even a Great Luo Golden Immortal can age? What a low-tier primordial world!"

【……】

【Here, 'old' does not refer to physiological aging, but psychological aging.】

Upon this hint from the system, Zhao Si furrowed his brows and thought in that direction:

Indeed, Jiao Ming is different from Jin Bing; Jin Bing's three lifetimes of reincarnation grow more mature each life, whereas Jiao Ming... he grows older each life!

From the time Jiao Ming killed the Ancestral Qilin, his hesitation and contemplation have exuded a sense of twilight.

He actually considers killing the Ancestral Qilin a sacrifice, a thought impossible for a decisive, slaughter-prone protagonist!

And after killing the Ancestral Dragon, even if the Ancestral Dragon truly had guilt, he still felt it was a sacrifice, and thus indulged the Azure Dragon.

When the Azure Dragon rebelled, he was then forced back onto the scene to clean up.

But each time he slew a true dragon, his heart trembled for a long time; after killing three dragons, he even let the Azure Dragon go!

Finally, he even rescued the Yellow Dragon and placed it on Jade Capital Mountain to be raised as a grandson, causing Di Jun great difficulty...

In short, he exhibits the kind and stubborn demeanor of an elderly person, completely unlike his vigorous youth in his first life!

"But why would he grow old?"

【Because if heaven has feelings, it too grows old; let alone a person who is inherently emotional? Across three lifetimes of reincarnation, he indeed no longer wishes to reincarnate.】

Zhao Si wondered:

"What about Jin Bing then? He also undergoes three lifetimes of reincarnation, so why hasn't he aged?"

【Although both undergo three lifetimes of reincarnation, their experiences are completely on different levels.】

Jin Bing experienced three lifetimes, but his three lifetimes were always the same Witch-Demon Era, so he wouldn't be too maladjusted, while Jiao Ming's three lifetimes... actually experienced at least three eras!

Three eras?

Zhao Si thought carefully:

"Isn't it just a Three-Clans Era?"

Not at all; Jiao Ming's three eras are the "Primeval Barbaric Wasteland", the "Primordial Three Clans", and the "Heavenly Court's Peaceful Rule"—from utter barbarity, to the initial spark of civilization, then to a new era of civilization... three utterly different eras; even if Jiao Ming could bear it, he'd be an old man.

Zhao Si finally came to a realization:

It's like someone living from the late Qing dynasty, through the warlord chaos, then to the founding of the nation, experiencing the turn of the new century, finally living into the new era, and scrolling through short videos of monsters and gods flying wildly...

After experiencing all that, if he weren't old, that would be strange!

Jiao Ming even experienced the first two eras three times each.

Players might as well be more straightforward and count up how much time each protagonist has spent.

Huh?

Zhao Si raised an eyebrow:

"Jin Bing... in his first life he died at most a few yuan cycles at the hands of Xuan Du; in his second life he had about ten yuan cycles; and by the end of the third life's simulation, he should have had less than twenty yuan cycles."

"Jiao Ming, though..."

Zhao Si realized he couldn't calculate Jiao Ming's age, because before the Heavenly Court's demonic calendar, the system had no year counts at all.

But after some thought, Jiao Ming's first life alone should have lasted over a hundred yuan cycles, maybe even more...

If you actually add up his three lifetimes, it's probably longer than the total lifespan of the Heavenly Court when Jin Bing ascended the throne!

Thinking this way, Zhao Si finally understood Jiao Ming's mindset a bit:

An elderly person whose wishes have basically been fulfilled just doesn't want to bother anymore.

"But..."

Though I understand, Zhao Si still wants to complain:

"You kicked me away with that kick, going solo... what's the point?"

"Without the game system's protection of true spirits, you can only clear it in one life; from now on, no matter what ending you achieve, you can't restart, nor can you pursue a more perfect ending."

"In this round, you've already killed the Ancestral Qilin, Ancestral Dragon, Red Dragon... and a whole host of Dragon Kings."

"In terms of slaughter, Hongjun enlightened the Qilin tribe to slaughter a wave of people, and now he's had Qiankun and Yin Yang slaughter another wave... although it's definitely not as many deaths as in the Three-Clans War, nor as many as Luo Hou's slaughter, but still a lot of people have died."

"If you go solo now, those dead people would be completely meaningless—you couldn't forge the Heavenly Dao, nor avoid sacrifice, leaving things in an awkward limbo..."

Zhao Si really doesn't understand what kind of ending Jiao Ming is trying to achieve.

"But, the more you head toward an ending I can't predict, the more it proves your freedom..."

"But how exactly will this freedom ultimately conclude?"

"And what price must this freedom exact from you?"

"Whether perfect or flawed, it's the path you chose; I hope you can walk it to your satisfaction..."

……

You broke free from the bonds of "another self," from now on stepping completely into freedom!

This is a chaotic freedom, with no superior issuing commands; from now on, all consequences must be borne by yourself...

But you have no regrets, for your mind is already clear, distinguishing real from false... you know what you must do!

You manifest the true form of the firebird, raise your head and cry long; blazing Golden Crow true fire entwines your whole body, red feathers set off against platinum-colored flames—you are now a round, free sun!

You spread your wings, ready to fly.

"Wait!"

The Ancestral Phoenix cried out: "I'm going with you!"

Saying that, another giant bird, its whole body wrapped in flames, spread its wings and took off; the two birds circled nonstop atop Jade Capital Mountain, their tail feathers trailing flames, calling to each other, appearing supremely auspicious!

Hongjun: ……

"No, sis... if he wants to go crazy, fine, but why are you joining him in going crazy?!"

Seeing the two fellow cultivators already primed to explode, Hongjun finally let out a long sigh: "Damn it, let them go crazy."

"Count me in too!"

Hongjun said stubbornly: "I'm not going crazy with you… I'm just worried you can't beat those two guys…"

Saying that, a purple light shot up into the sky, accompanied by the two flame-wreathed divine birds, heading straight for the Western Wasteland!

……

Not long after, the three had already reached the Western Wasteland territory, and following the coordinates given by Di Jun, they found the two innate divinities who were recklessly unleashing their Unrivaled power!

Qiankun Lao Zu had the Qiankun Giant Cauldron atop his head, Yin Yang Lao Zu waved the Taiji Diagram, a golden bridge suppressed the earth's wind, water, fire, and metal—like a long dragon; wherever it passed, all true spirits drifted about...

With a furious cry, the repressed Golden Crow true fire surged straight toward the two ancestors!

Attaining the Dao, the Heavenly Dao, sagehood, creation from nothing...

As the firelight burst forth, all those pent-up thoughts also welled up.

But you don't want to manage anything now, nor consider any consequences, because you can never grasp the future—you only want to hold onto the present!

……

(End of chapter)