Chapter 342

Five hundred years in the mortal world, like a dream and also like an illusion.

Ascending to godhood at a hundred years old, he built the new Heavenly Court for over two hundred years, then established a new dynasty for nearly two hundred more, totaling over five hundred years!

For an ordinary person, this is already a lifespan so long they dare not even imagine it.

And an old general who had lived such a long life and created countless legendary stories now had his hollow eyes forever closed, lying quietly in an inconspicuous spot among the graves.

No one knew how high a position he had held in life, no one knew how fervent his aspirations were, and no one knew how many strong foes he had defeated or what great achievements he had made.

He lay there alone and peacefully, as if merely asleep…

Not long after, the gods who had been secretly watching him all came to this place.

Before seeing the general's corpse, everyone still held unrealistic hopes: for example, that the general had merely come here to reminisce about life, or that he wanted to live in seclusion here, unconcerned with worldly affairs, and so on…

But all these wishes were gradually shattered upon seeing the corpse lying still in the earthen pit.

"General…"

The gods all fell silent, including Ding Qizhu and the others who had just been released.

To speak frankly, no one actually wanted the general to die; the initial rebellion and coup were merely meant to place him under house arrest.

This is because of gratitude; the gods owe their present state entirely to the general's boundless kindness—if the general had not insisted on defying heaven, the gods would absolutely not have betrayed him!

And now the general has truly departed, forever leaving everyone…

After the silence, someone proposed: "Sir Flag Chief, the general is after all a general; leaving his corpse exposed here would ultimately be improper…"

"Why not move him back to the shogunate and bury him with state honors, so he may receive the people's incense offerings, thus not failing the general's grace to the world!"

"I think it's feasible."

"I also think it's doable!"

"..."

Everyone exclaimed that the general deserved a grand funeral, for the funerals of past emperors of the Great Shun Dynasty were already top-notch, requiring not only the construction of luxurious underground palace tombs but also nationwide mourning, with all under heaven observing mourning for the late emperor! What status did the general have? Even ten thousand emperors bound together would amount to less than one-billionth of his greatness! Whatever the emperor enjoyed, the general certainly deserved as well, and indeed should surpass the emperor's standards!

We should build a grand underground palace for the general, and outside it construct a great city of a million people to serve as a "mausoleum town," so that they may generation after generation guard his tomb.

The billions of people of the four great continents must also observe mourning for the general: during the mourning period they may not eat meat or drink alcohol, may not celebrate festivals, and even newlyweds may not wear red clothing—they must dress entirely in white!

As for the mourning period… if the emperor requires subjects to mourn for three months, then the general must at least mourn for three years!

We must hold a grand, special funeral to demonstrate the general's greatness and the gratitude of all beings.

What's more, some even suggested building terracotta warriors and preparing luxurious burial goods…

"Enough!"

Seeing the proposals become ever more outrageous, Ding Qizhu finally rebuked: "The general devoted his life to serving the people and eradicating the oppression and privileges of all dynasties; even though he has died, his ideal will not change!"

"If we really do as you say—holding a grand, special funeral and even meddling with imperial privileges—it would truly be an insult to the general's lifetime achievements!"

"Since the general's last will named me as his successor, I will make the decision… I have decided to bury the general's remains here, without a luxurious tomb, and there shall be no mausoleum town, burial goods, or underground palace!"

Ding Qizhu asserted his authority: "We must not implicate the general in wrongdoing; let him be buried here according to his own wishes, alongside the gods."

"As for mourning… it isn't necessary; the general most disliked disturbing the people, so we only need to announce his death to the four continents, and whether to commemorate him shall be left to the people's own discretion…"

【Ding Qizhu's objective words gained the support of most people, and the matter was thus decided—only a modest tomb was built for you, and a stele was erected in your name under the new dynasty.】

【But the stele bears no account of your life and deeds, for every educated person knows your exploits!】

【The stele bears only a single sentence.】

【"To serve the people"!】

【Greatness needs no further words.】

【…】

【And when the gods, bearing sorrow, departed, an unexpected person came here again……】

【Li Ziliang stood silently before your tomb, no one knowing what he was thinking.】

【Next, the world lost one hermit of the former dynasty and gained a tomb‑keeping old man.】

【This is the resting place he chose for himself……】

【Yet no one knows that all of this is meaningless.】

【Seven days later, a strand of golden light flew from your tomb, and without attracting Li Ziliang's notice, it darted straight into the hidden "Lingtai Fangcun Shan"!】

【Thereafter, it seemed to trigger some underlying procedure, and the whole world began to undergo a wondrous change, as if collapsing yet also reassembling……】

【In the end, time rewound back six hundred years.】

【With Shi Potian's startle in the East Victory Divine Continent, a golden great monkey flew out of the stone womb and was born into the world!】

【In its golden eyes flickered confusion: it seemed to have forgotten something……】

【It instinctively gazed toward the distant western sea.】

【It saw it!】

【That was a lone tomb, its stele mottled and speckled, as if inscribed with ancient characters from some unknown dynasty.】

【Although it had just been born and obviously could not recognize characters, it still instinctively read them aloud.】【"To serve the people…"】

【What does it mean?】

【Confusion showed on its face, so it decided to go see for itself……】

【…】

【Ding! You are dead; a wrong choice led to a wrong ending… You rose from obscurity, from a seaside fisherman to a Great Church True God, from a commoner to a shogunate general, you crossed an unimaginable class divide, destined to become a legendary figure sung through the ages.】

【With the ideal of creating a prosperous age backing you, you were invincible, you crushed the oppressive Great Shun court and the folk wild gods, you restabilized the teetering human order, thereby avoiding the great chaos that often plagued the ends of dynasties, and you saved the people at the end of the Shun era.】

【Thus incense accrued to you, and you cultivated into a true god!】

【As a god, you wholeheartedly served all beings; to this end you even defeated the slothful Heavenly Court, causing the lofty divine power to descend to earth, and you forged an age of peace and prosperity for all beings!】

【But success also came from divine power, failure also from divine power; though divine power is good, it too originates from the Dao of the gods. By having true gods and cultivators serve the masses, you built a mortal golden age upon the foundation of oppressing cultivators and true gods— the target of oppression changed, but oppression itself did not disappear.】

【The harder you strove forward, the further you drifted from the truth of your dream, filling your heart with bitter regret……】

And what makes it even harder for you to untangle is still this bug you're stuck on!

Your sudden appearance directly cuts off the possibility of all beings moistening the Eternal Primordial Wasteland: if you don't die, the dream doesn't wake; if you die, the dream restarts!

The irreconcilable contradiction means you cannot achieve a peaceful prosperous age in the dream world, and it also causes you to kill the Eternal Primordial Wasteland; the bug leaves you stuck just right, truly a layout like a work of art……

Thus you despairingly chose to end your life.

In the mindset woven from despair and confusion, your spirit gradually becomes abnormal; self-doubt and self-denial become the true reflection of your inner self.

You can't do anything……

As for the next life, can you really achieve a perfect ending?

You express pessimism……

Ding! This round of simulation is fully completed, relevant information has been collected sufficiently, this round of simulation has ended, calculating rewards……

……

"Second life Lin Liu is also over……"

Zhao Si finished reading, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Although theoretically, the protagonist usually can achieve a perfect ending in their third life, but the situation is now too complicated, to the point that not to mention Lin Liu, even Zhao Si feels hope is slim!

Because this chapter's plot is unusually special:

It has no boss in the true sense!

Like Jin Bing's chapter, although clearing it is difficult, at least there is a clear boss Di Jun on the table; as long as you find a way to take down the boss, you basically clear it.

Jiao Ming's chapter is the same; as long as you take down the Three Patriarchs boss, you're not far from clearing it.

Xue Xuan is the same; although the Nether River isn't a true boss, giving him a few elbow strikes is also a necessary condition for clearing it.

But Lin Liu's chapter……

It truly has no boss, not even a novice village mini-boss! What? West King?

Isn't that just a wild monster?

"Looking at this chapter's background setting, it's completely different from the usual monster-slaying clearance; clearing it doesn't require defeating any big figure, because the contradiction lies entirely within himself……

Why does the Primordial Wasteland in this chapter face an apocalyptic crisis?

Because Lin Liu this living father didn't go to the Eternal Primordial Wasteland, but was born into the dream instead!

Also precisely because he is the unique high-level anchor able to anchor the real world, it caused the Primordial Wasteland to be stuck with an unfixable bug, making the biggest obstacle to clearing it the protagonist himself.

Once the bug got stuck, even the Nine Sages programmers were dumbfounded; they never dreamed it would turn out like this……

Zhao Si thought carefully:

"Theoretically speaking, for Lin Liu to achieve a perfect clear, he must preserve the Eternal Primordial Wasteland."

"So the current biggest difficulty is how to get him from the dream to reality…… As long as he gets there, everything can be discussed……

Although it's hard in practice, at least the path is clear……

Just as I was thinking, the system settlement also ended! 【Ding! This round's settlement is complete!】

Upon seeing this, Zhao Si also tentatively took an interest:

"What is the reward?"

Although this round didn't resolve the fundamental contradiction, Lin Liu also counts as having done everything he could.

Seizing Great Smooth, unifying the Four Continents, establishing a new dynasty, overthrowing the Heavenly Court, promoting education…… single-handedly created an unparalleled age of peace and prosperity! By that reckoning, it should at least be a 'mid-tier reward', right?

In Zhao Si's anticipation, the system responded: 【Ding! No reward for this round!】

Zhao Si:???

……

(End of chapter)