Chapter 173

He just... left?

Seeing Saint Hongjun silently leave the simulated world, Zhao Si was momentarily unable to react:

"I thought he would completely take over this world..."

According to Zhao Si's expectation, actually the most direct and simple way to achieve a "perfect ending" is to let the Heavenly Dao Hongjun occupy this simulated world.

There's no need to expend any more effort scheming anything, because the Saint's descent is invincible!

But evidently Saint Hongjun doesn't want to cross realms to alleviate poverty; since he refuses to send the Buddha all the way to the West, the task of clearing the game still falls on Bird No. 3...

Well, anyway he already solved the hardest problem of achieving perfection; this round, as long as we proceed step by step steadily, perfection is already a sure thing.

This result made Zhao Si very happy:

Jiao Ming's three lives, essentially, are stuck on the 'Becoming a Daoist' problem; the earlier problems like the three ancestors, as long as there is enough information, have corresponding solutions, but only the Becoming a Daoist problem is an absolute death trap.

Besides condoning the slaughter, Jiao Ming has no way to gather enough true spirits; but once the slaughter is started, the excessive morality of a do-gooder will make him grieve and commit suicide.

Theoretically, this is unsolvable; even many more reincarnations are useless.

Thus Jiao Ming chose to give up the illusory next life, and try as much as possible to reduce casualties in this life; to protect this relatively perfect world, Jiao Ming was even willing to die completely…

But nobody expected that his death would instead give rise to a perfect solution!

True spirits insufficient? No problem, just send his excess true spirits to the next little bird!

And to achieve this condition, it is necessary to let Hongjun, who has built a deep friendship with Jiao Ming, become a sage, so that Hongjun can use sage's means to cross over to the next life.

The sage personally acts as a delivery courier; the No. 3 little bird's appearance is maxed out, securing victory from the start.

And all these clearance conditions must be based on Jiao Ming as the sacrifice; it's hard not to sigh…

Zhao Si also came to a full understanding:

"So there is only one solution: Jiao Ming voluntarily betrays the system, using his complete death to pave the way for the next generation's successor!"

【Yes, therefore Jiao Ming's sacrifice is a necessity; whether viewed from his own perspective or from a macro perspective, he is inevitably destined to sacrifice.】

This is a big pit:

If he insists on reincarnation, Jiao Ming will have endless lives; no matter how steadfast his mind, under the wear of countless lifetimes, he will eventually decay, age, and end in despair!

Once he sees through the true and false, virtual and real, he can only walk the path of betrayal, using his own sacrifice to do his utmost to save the people of this world.

Only if he truly sacrifices himself to save will the next life possess the necessary conditions to move toward perfection.

This game naturally dooms him to die; without death, it will never end…

Zhao Si sighed:

"A conglomeration of contradictions, a convergence point of contradictions…"

Just as all the contradictions he has experienced so far:

To stop war, he instead becomes the source of war.

To save others, he instead must sacrifice others.

To clear the game perfectly, he instead must die in an imperfect world…

"The more one longs for freedom, the farther one is from freedom."

Zhao Si suddenly wanted to question the system why it was so persecuting Jiao Ming, but in the end still didn't speak out:

Questioning why the game persecutes the protagonist is itself a meaningless act; virtual characters are ultimately virtual, and the more rights one gives them, the more boring it becomes.

Perhaps this is inherently the contradiction between player and character…

"But why does the sage Hongjun insist that I must kill the three ancestors, and especially emphasize killing the Phoenix Ancestor first?"

On this point, Zhao Si is somewhat suspicious:

Could it be that the Phoenix Ancestor and Hongjun have a conflict?

Can't guess, can't guess…

But anyway it's not a big problem; since Hongjun the great father said so, we'll just treat it as his request.

They even came specially to deliver aid; we, to show gratitude for the sage's great kindness, just go ahead and do it!

【……】

【Three flowers gather at the crown, five energies flow to the origin!】

【With Jiao Ming's experience as the foundation, plus the sage's personal transmission of the Dao as assistance, you only took less than ten yuanhui to achieve Great Luo Golden Immortal, a speed far surpassing Jiao Ming.】

【When you open your eyes from the meditative state, the sage's silhouette has already vanished, a faint sense of regret arises spontaneously…】

【But you quickly regrouped your mindset and formulated the next plan: first kill the Phoenix Ancestor, then destroy the Dragon Ancestor, the Qilin Ancestor is nothing more than a chicken and dog!】

【This isn't you being arrogant; it's the confidence brought by genuine strength: although you are only a standard Great Luo Golden Immortal, you have activated cheats!】

【The Golden Crow true fire in your palm rises, a faint purple aura twines around the flames—that is the power of the Heavenly Dao it has absorbed.】

【Under the empowerment of the Heavenly Dao, this true fire, already far stronger than ordinary innate spiritual treasures, has now become a complete bug; you have full confidence to easily slay any fellow cultivator single-handedly!】

【The three ancestors? Just rotting bones in a grave!】

【No delay; you decide to take advantage of the fact that the three ancestors have not yet begun to awaken their spirits, to completely eradicate them all, the first being the Phoenix Ancestor…】

【Some yuan, some hui, some yun, you alone rush to the southern great volcano, find a dazed Phoenix Ancestor, and shout: Worthless creature, die!】

【Phoenix Ancestor:???】

【Where did this lunatic come from?!】

【Facing your blatant offense, though the Phoenix Ancestor is dazed, the vigorous, upward-rushing great Luo aura on your body clearly shows your strength.】

【A hostile same-level powerhouse, the Phoenix Ancestor can't help but be wary, and immediately starts calling for allies…】

【You pay no heed, unleash the Golden Crow true fire straight at the Phoenix Ancestor!】

【You know that in a past life, the Phoenix Ancestor and Jiao Ming were dao partners; to show respect for Jiao Ming, you actually don't really want to fight it, but since the Heavenly Dao Hongjun said to kill it first, you naturally won't hold back.】

【After all, you have no relation to it; with Jiao Ming's memories beforehand, you also don't feel love at first sight for it, and moreover you clearly know the three ancestors are worthless creatures; you are not Jiao Ming, so you won't harbor fantasies about them, nor feel any pain!】

【I am not the sentimental Jiao Ming!】

Precious thing, eat my true fire!

It seems the power of the Heavenly Dao also sensed the aura of the Ancestor Phoenix; the flames suddenly blazed up, and it again turned into a scorching sun, baking everything between heaven and earth.

It's obvious, Hongjun has exerted his power!

You were slightly startled, then taking advantage of the situation you roared angrily, raising the true fire sun, and fiercely smashed it at the greatly startled Ancestor Phoenix!

The power of the Heavenly Dao is far from ordinary; even if only able to project across realms an extremely small portion of its power, it still far exceeds the standard Golden Immortal level.

The greatly startled Ancestor Phoenix immediately realized that today might be its doom; after a brief resistance, it spread its wings and fled without looking back, trying to escape...

But you came here specifically to slay it, with plans for all scenarios; how could you possibly let it escape?

Not long after, a beautiful bird with colorful tail feathers let out a mournful cry, was overtaken by the sun in time, smashed down fiercely, and its body plummeted...

When the Ancestor Dragon and Ancestor Qilin, having received the distress signal, hurried from their respective homes, everything was already too late; they only managed to see this scene: their old friend's corpse blazing on the ground, motionless.

Its splendid feathers all over were scorched black by the platinum true fire; even though it was already dead, the flames continued burning, as if to reduce it to ashes completely...

The Ancestor of the Phoenix clan, one of the three primordial ancestors of the ancient wilderness... Ancestor Phoenix, has fallen! It fell under the golden crow true fire of its past lover; the blazing true fire will completely sever all karmic affection, burning its form and spirit to nothing in these vast primordial ages.

In another spacetime, He seemed to sense it, and the last obsession faded away...

Some people are better off dead. Even if it's not her, even if He knows that someone's death has no direct relation to it.

The fall of the Ancestor Phoenix filled the remaining two ancestors with shock and rage; to avenge it and also for self-preservation, a great war erupted once again!

Facing the angry joint attack of the two old ancestors, you finally became solemn, but you were not panicked, because you knew you would surely win.

Indeed, not long into the war, your Golden Crow true fire successively burned the two ancestors; despite their fierce resistance, they were utterly unable to turn the tide, only gradually falling into a disadvantage...

With a mournful dragon roar, the boundless Azure Dragon fell to the earth, its entire body engulfed in eternal true fire!

Another mournful qilin cry, and its massive corpse turned into a torch!

On the ancient, barbaric South Wasteland, three great fireballs ignited in succession; the three platinum fireballs were like three suns, using primordial sacredness as kindling, igniting a brand-new era of civilization.

The boundless radiance of the sun will replace the three clusters of blood‑stained, oppressive firewood, illuminating the future of futures.

With the three ancestors fallen, primordial spirits naturally scatter across heaven and earth; the half of Pangu's primordial spirit you need is already sufficient.

No delay; as a speedrun player with cheats, you of course know what to do next.

Thus you nonstop flew straight to the Jade Capital Mountain of the East Wasteland, and directly shouted at its base: Old timer! Come out and work!

Hongjun:...

Upon reaching the mountain, you directly stated your origin and purpose, requesting that Hongjun immediately create the Heavenly Dao and ascend to the position of Dao Ancestor!

Dao Ancestor! Please become a sage! I am absolutely loyal to your word!

Hongjun:...

No, buddy, wait for me to catch up...

Faced with your earnest loyalty, this world's Hongjun was slow to react for half a day, completely dazed as if dreaming.

"You say you obtained my help from another spacetime, and came here to save the world?"

You nod.

"You say you have already slain the three ancestors, gathering half of Pangu's primordial spirit?"

You continue nodding.

"You say the other me also gave you half of Pangu's primordial spirit?"

You then keep nodding.

Hongjun:...... (CPU no response!)

Hongjun fell into contemplation...

The more Hongjun thought, the more dazed he became...

Hongjun stopped thinking...

Damn! Why overthink? This windfall delivered to your door, Daoist Lord simply cuts off hundreds of yuanhui of detours!

Smack!

Hongjun fiercely slapped himself: "What the hell!"

Come on! Let's all be speedrun players together!

(End of chapter)