Chapter 170: Sacrifice? Betrayal?

Excited? Agitated?

No, when Zhao Si saw the new introduction of the Golden Crow True Fire, his first impression locked onto a single word:

Origin-level!

An Origin-level prize is naturally good, but for Zhao Si, Origin-level also means……

Boom!

A platinum-colored flame rose from the phone screen; the moment it rose, Zhao Si's pupils contracted, he kept stepping back, and he urgently shouted:

"System! Prepare to kick people!"

Just as his voice fell, the platinum flame suddenly glowed purple, the purple light grew brighter and brighter, and a vast presence seemed about to descend across the boundary……

【Ding! Detected a cross-boundary intrusion of a Primordial Origin-level figure; the security system has automatically activated!】

With a 'ding' sound, the purple light entwined around the flame suddenly stalled, then completely faded away.

【Ding! Repelled the intrusion of Hongjun (the Heavenly Dao)!】

Seeing the system once again display its mighty power, Zhao Si finally breathed a sigh of relief:

Indeed, anything remotely related to the three words 'Origin-level' is naturally a coordinate for an otherworldly invasion; if the system couldn't kick people out, reality would likely have been infiltrated by those sages into a sieve.

Calming his mind, Zhao Si took the now harmless Golden Crow True Fire in his hand and began curiously sensing how it differed from before.

"It seems…… there's no difference?"

After playing with it for a while, Zhao Si felt a bit confused, because he didn't sense any obvious difference from it.

After all, it was a supreme treasure that Jiao Ming brought into the Heavenly Dao and elevated with its power; its grade has risen to Origin-level, so there must be some change, right?

【……Player, no need to try again; trying it in reality would also be useless.】

"Huh? Why?"

{Because the biggest change of this flame compared to before is that it can borrow some power of the Heavenly Dao, while the opposing Heavenly Dao just got kicked by this system and dares not come again. }

"……"

Zhao Si was at a loss for words, then looked at the fire's introduction again:

{……Tainted by the power of the Heavenly Dao……can borrow some power of the Heavenly Dao……}

Well, the main changes of the Golden Crow True Fire are all tied to the Heavenly Dao's power; since the opposing Heavenly Dao got kicked by the system, it indeed amounts to no change……

"So can this fire still be used in the future?"

Zhao Si felt a bit worried:

Could it be that I just upgraded for nothing?

{It can be used, but not in reality; otherwise it would be equivalent to a Heavenly Dao invasion. }

Then for me, isn't it still unusable?!

Zhao Si's mouth twitched, but after thinking it over:

In reality, I basically have no enemies; what would I need such strong power for?

The best use of these gifts is obviously to use them as props in the simulation game!

In other words, this is high-end equipment specially made for the game protagonist……

Meanwhile, the flame is trivial; the problem with the simulator is the biggest.

Playing with the true fire in his hand, Zhao Si thoughtfully flipped through his phone:

Although the protagonist of this chapter, Jiao Ming, is dead, the chapter's story still hasn't achieved a perfect ending—it hasn't fully resolved the sacrifice issue, nor has it, like Jin Bing, lived eternally in the Primordial world.

Jiao Ming failed to protect all living beings, and even himself; although by accidentally ending the demon-person conflict that Jin Bing could never resolve in his lifetime, he earned a 'higher' evaluation, he is still far from perfect.

In theory, Zhao Si should continue the simulation game until a truly perfect ending.

However, now that even the protagonist is thoroughly dead, this chapter won't hit a snag, will it……

Zhao Si can't help but worry, after all, all his supernatural powers now come from this simulation game; if it gets stuck, wouldn't that be like his golden finger being scrapped?

"Can it still be played?"

After hesitating a bit, Zhao Si clicked 'Continue Game':

{Ding! Since you gathered enough information in the previous simulation round, this round's simulation will have a certain offset from the previous one; please pay attention to control……}

{Returned to the initial node……}

{……On an utterly ordinary day of some certain epoch, meeting, and fortune, beneath a small volcano in the Southern Wasteland, an old tree had a bird egg mysteriously hatch; a featherless chick, dazed, poked its head out of the shell and first surveyed this world……}

{In the nest there's only your egg; you have no siblings, nor even parents—perhaps they're dead, or perhaps they simply don't care about you. }

{Suddenly, endless memories surfaced in your mind; you seemed to have dreamed of a bird identical to yourself, and dreamed of his three lives three worlds……}

{……}

Ah?!

Zhao Si, who was just trying it out, froze at that moment:

"No…… Jiao Ming isn't thoroughly dead, is he? How can he start a new round?!"

{Ding! Players, please note: this is not Jiao Ming, but a brand-new True Spirit. }

"Not?"

Zhao Si skeptically examined the description closely:

Although the little bird's debut description is exactly the same as Jiao Ming's, if it were Jiao Ming's reincarnation, there would definitely follow a description of the recovery of his three-life memories.

But this little bird…… has nothing; all there is is a dream—he dreamed of Jiao Ming's three lives!

Thinking of the system's method of enlightening Jiao Ming, Zhao Si suddenly understood:

It seems the system has enlightened another bird, specifically to replace Jiao Ming and continue pushing toward the perfect ending……

Jiao Ming, having achieved his benevolent goal, has been stripped of his protagonist identity!

{……You awakened from those tangled memories, realizing that person wasn't yourself, and spontaneously, as an observer, carefully reviewed the life of that individual named Jiao Ming. }

Seeing his weakness and incompetence, you sneered. Seeing his repeated suicides, you couldn't understand. Seeing him discern truth from falsehood, you gradually fell silent. Seeing him choose to rebel, you gradually nodded. Seeing him self‑sacrifice, you were completely dazed…

How could there be such a fool in the world?

You angrily wanted to shout at him to wake up, but then sadly realized that this fellow of your kind was already completely dead—saying more would be useless…

Immediately, you realized that you had unknowingly become the next Jiaoming: you, too, would have to face that unsolvable problem just as he did.

If you fail to achieve the optimal solution, you'll likely fare worse than he did—at least he died once and for all, whereas you would be reborn lifetime after lifetime, gradually losing yourself in this unsolvable problem until you grow old and rot…

No! You cannot set foot on this road of no return!

Your heart clenched, dreading that you would follow Jiaoming's path; you are not that sort of naïve do‑gooder he is—you only want to survive safe and sound, whether you sacrifice your life or not aside, anyway first and foremost preserve yourself.

Ding! Faced with this senior counterpart's failure experience, you had no idea what to do, so you could only pin your hopes on that mysterious "other self"... You choose (?)—feel free to answer!

Eh?

Seeing this new little bird completely change Jiaoming's approach and, right from the start, directly ask for advice, Zhao Si was somewhat surprised:

"It seems Jiaoming's personality was really just a fluke; this other bird is completely unlike him… but that's actually better!"

Having a protagonist who heeds advice as a tool makes clearing the stages much easier.

Feeling mildly satisfied, Zhao Si began to seriously plot for this new partner:

The useful information Jiaoming uncovered after three lifetimes can roughly clarify the problem and difficulty of this chapter.

First are the Three Ancestors. As twisted‑thinking rarities, they allied from the start, intending to farm kills with each other to attain the Dao, so we must find a way to eliminate all three of them right at the outset!

Jiaoming's solution is to bring Hongjun on board at the outset, then split the Three Ancestors by feeding them false information—first eliminate the team's core ancestor Qilin, then kill the ancestor Dragon, and finally the ancestor Phoenix can be killed or spared; either way it won't stir up trouble.

The difficulty at this level mainly lies in needing to slay the ancestor Qilin beforehand; otherwise the Three Ancestors will definitely farm kills, each reaching the peak of Daluo, which in fact already makes them invincible in the wilderness—if Rahu does not enter the fray, they are sure to win, but if Rahu does appear, the simulation becomes imperfect.

You must slay the ancestor Qilin before the Three Ancestors awaken their spirits, even if it hasn't yet had a chance to do anything wrong.

The same applies to the ancestor Dragon—kill it as early as possible if you can.

But even if you can eliminate the Three Ancestors before they appear, this merely resolves the superficial issue of the first layer.

Next comes governing and civilizing the myriad spirits of the wilderness; the awakening of spirits can be done with the blood of the Three Ancestors or with the protagonist's blood—the crucial part is what follows the awakening.

Since Jiaoming lacks political talent, to avoid bucking the trend of the times he could only entrust everything to Di Jun to handle.

And as for this new little bird, unlike Jiaoming, although we don't know whether it has political talent, just to be safe we should still bring Di Jun down from the sun star…

Finally, this is the most unsolvable link:

The dilemma between scarce resources and the sacrifice needed to attain the Dao.

To have infinite resources, one must make a sacrifice.

To avoid sacrifice, one will bring about the age of Dharma decline.

Jiaoming is stuck dead on this final layer; no matter how perfectly he cleared the first two layers, this last layer will overturn his whole board…

"Jiaoming gave up on becoming a sage to gather more information, leaving me still unaware whether a perfect ending can be achieved… So let this little bird try for a perfect ending."

Zhao Si thought again:

"Besides, we should still try to avoid civilian casualties… Right, Jiaoming's true spirit equals half of the Heavenly Dao, and adding another half from the Three Ancestors' true spirits lets us directly forge the Heavenly Dao—might as well do it in one step."

Try it!

Since trial and error costs nothing, Zhao Si just started writing…

Ding! Faced with worries about the ending, you choose: (First win Hongjun's trust, then split the Three Ancestors, jointly slay the ancestor Qilin, then kill the ancestor Dragon, then kill the ancestor Phoenix, to gather half of the Heavenly Dao.)

(Afterward, to awaken the spirits of all beings and to govern them well, you need to go up to the sun star in advance to fetch Di Jun and make him the heavenly emperor.)

(Finally, by self‑destructing as a sacrifice, you let Hongjun meld your true spirit with that of the Three Ancestors into the Heavenly Dao, and all is well and happy.)

You gleefully received the strategy from "another self", and scoffed in your heart: "The previous counterpart was truly divine gold—could ask why not ask? And still rebel, claiming that the transcendent existence's three views are opposite to ordinary people's—look, I'm already perfect… huh?!"

Looking at the first part of the strategy, you firmly believed it!

Looking at the second part of the strategy, your face lit up with joy!

Seeing the third part of the strategy…

You: …

You: "Sacrifice?! Screw your mother! Do you think I'm that stupid good‑samaritan Jiaoming?!"

You: @#*#@#!!!! (bird profanity!)

Ding! Your strategy fully confirms Jiaoming's description of you: the commands of a transcendent existence are often opposite to ordinary people's three views.

Ding! The new little bird lashes out at you with a torrent of abuse!

Ding! The new little bird, unwilling to sacrifice, decides to defect!

Ding! The new little bird angrily withdraws its true spirit, decides to fly solo—no matter what urgent mission, no matter how big the task, its own life matters more!

Ding! This round of simulation failed…

Zhao Si:???

…

(End of chapter)