Chapter 384

West Continent.

One person and one monkey sat facing each other.

The venerable Lin Liu sat in his wheelchair; although his bodily defects made his hands and feet clumsy, he still easily lifted the wine cup and savored it slowly, for the invisible divine power's great hand could help him do anything.

A sip of wine, a bite of dish, he was quite content……

He, however, ate happily, while the monkey opposite him wore a worried frown and asked again:

"Benefactor, are you really not planning to go to the Primordial anymore?"

Lin Liu saw through its thoughts, set down the wine cup, and smiled:

"Not going."

"But… if you don't go to the Primordial, how will we clear the game?"

The monkey scratched its ear and cheek: "You are the sole anchor point; without you, the Primordial would be doomed—bad for its inhabitants, and bad for that outsider as well……"

Lin Liu, however, shook his head:

"Essentially, I have no definite reason to save the Primordial; after all, I am merely a person in a sage's dream, and the Primordial holds no meaning for me."

"Furthermore, I have already tried my utmost to save the Primordial, expending countless efforts across three lifetimes of reincarnation… For a world unrelated to me, I have done all I could; now I give up because I truly cannot save it."

"If that's the case, why should I stubbornly cling to an absolutely impossible task?"

Having said this, Lin Liu lifted his wine cup, took another sip, and said cheerfully: "Since it was never my responsibility to begin with, I finally no longer have to worry about it……"

His words clearly indicated abandonment of the task, yet in his body and mind there was not a trace of a loser's decadence—only the ease of shedding an unnecessary burden.

The monkey wanted to speak but hesitated; yet in the end it had to admit: the benefactor truly had no reason to feel dejected about this, for he is the world's protagonist, the world exists because of him, saving the Primordial is a favor, not saving it is his duty, and no one can morally blackmail him over this……

"But even if you don't care about the Primordial's survival, you surely can't be indifferent to your own life and death, can you?"

The monkey spoke pessimistically: "Once heaven and earth are fully materialized, there will no longer be room for immortal beings; then you will die of old age, and the heaven and earth you painstakingly preserved will perish for lack of an anchor point……"

"It won't."

Lin Liu calmly explained the game's basic rules to it, leaving the monkey stunned one after another……

"……so as long as I die completely, this world can form an ending and thus be preserved."

After hearing the explanation, the monkey remained dazed for a long while, then half-understood: "So that's how it is……"

Lin Liu smiled and, with the invisible great hand, patted its head:

"That's precisely why I insist on walking this dead‑end path…… It's like a minimum‑standard guarantee: even if I cannot achieve a truly perfect ending, as long as I achieve a relatively acceptable one, then even if I die afterward, I can still preserve this dream‑world heaven and earth that I have shaped."

"So rest assured, my death will be only a boon to heaven and earth……"

Sentence by sentence, passage by passage, Lin Liu expounded various benefits of his own death.

These words, of course, aimed to console the monkey so it wouldn't grieve over his death.

But the monkey, listening on, inexplicably seized upon a key point Lin Liu had never imagined:

"Benefactor, that's not right, is it? You are the sole anchor point—a fact that cannot change—but why, after you achieve the ending, does your death as that anchor point not affect the survival of heaven and earth?"

"This…… what's the principle? The world surely needs an anchor point, doesn't it?"

Huh? The monkey's doubt instantly left Lin Liu stunned:

"Right, why is that?"

This problem he had never considered suddenly stumped him; his intuition told him that some key information might be hidden here……

……

"Monkey, you've hit the blind spot! While Lin Liu puzzled over this, Zhao Si, who had been following the plot's progress, felt a pang: "……If the anchor point is indispensable, the sole reason a game world exists, then how do those worlds in which even the protagonist's anchor point has died continue to exist?"

"Or rather, what exactly is the principle behind so‑called 'achieving the ending'? Zhao Si had never before pondered this, because the system simply said 'achieve the ending,' so the ending was achieved—this process seemed to need no reason, no explanation, utterly taken for granted."

But as the chapter's plot unfolded step by step, the concept of the 'anchor point' gradually became clear: because Jin Bing was an anchor point, he ultimately forged an eternal prosperous age, an indestructible Primordial.

Because the Number Three Little Bird was an anchor point, it too eventually made the Primordial eternally indestructible.

Because Xue Xuan was an anchor point, he ultimately secured the 'Eternal Primordial' crafted by the myriad sages, preventing it from falling into a 'quantum superposition state'.

Taking them as examples, precisely because they are the protagonists' anchor points do their worlds manage to exist; the anchor point's function is to moor the world in place.

Furthermore, when they die in a non‑ending state, the world that loses its protagonist anchor point consequently perishes……

From this it is entirely clear that the core of these three chapters lies in the 'anchor point' setting.

But the problem is that, up to now, the system has actually preserved many worlds lacking a protagonist anchor point! 'Jin Bing's first and second lives, Jiao Ming's first, second, and third lives, Xue Xuan's first and second lives, Lin Liu's first and second lives……these worlds have no protagonist, yet they remain stable ending worlds.'

What principle, then, allows these 'ending worlds' to persist without an anchor point? Surely it's not just by swallowing the setting……

"The anchor‑point theory proves that a world's existence requires an anchor point; if those worlds without a protagonist can still persist, then there is only one possibility……"

Zhao Si pondered: "That is, aside from the protagonist, the ending world must contain other anchor points……"

This important discovery let Zhao Si seize hold of it firmly:

"System, what is the anchor point of the ending world?"

The system gave no answer for a long time……

Until Zhao Si felt increasingly doubtful, it then answered: 【Players think, what kind of world would have no protagonist?】

Zhao Si blinked: "You're asking me?"

Although taken a bit off guard by the question, Zhao Si still thought carefully for a moment before shaking his head: "I don't know……"

I'm just a lousy gamer—what do you expect me to answer?! 【Then, changing the question, which world have players seen that has no protagonist?】 Zhao Si laughed: "I'm just an old otaku; what world could I have seen? Apart from the game world, I've never seen any……"

Wait!

Zhao Si suddenly jolted, scratched his head: "The world I've seen…… isn't that just the real world? And the real, material world indeed lacks the concept of a 'protagonist'……"

【Yes, only the real world lacks a protagonist, because the real world is material, and in a material world there is no 'protagonist' under idealist concepts.】

【Therefore, the real world will not be destroyed because of one person's death, nor will it exist because of one person's birth.】

【Heaven's way is constant; it does not persist for Yao, nor perish for Jie! An individual's life is unrelated to the world's existence or demise, because personal will is not the world's fundamental principle; the world's fundamental principle is the world itself!】

【This is materialism.】

……

Zhao Si suddenly realized: "So you mean, those ending worlds can continue to exist without a protagonist because they have become material worlds?"

【……】

【……Do you think the chaotic primordial world where immortals fly about could be a material world?】

Zhao Si fell silent for a moment: "Probably not……"

【That definitely isn't!】

【Just as Patriarch Bodhi couldn't make the monkey turn false into true, this system also cannot turn an idealistic world into a material one; at most it can only simulate, making it appear material in certain aspects……】

Zhao Si furrowed their brows: "How does the simulation work?"

【In an idealistic game world, the protagonist's existence is inevitable…… So who do you think the protagonist should be, so that the game world looks just like the real world, with no protagonist present?】

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhao Si seemed to grasp something again, their eyes showing a mix of understanding and confusion: "It seems I have a vague guess…… Can you directly tell me the answer?"

【Sorry, this system has nothing to say on this matter; if you're still confused, just keep reading……】

This is…… afraid of spoilers? Zhao Si had an inkling, so they stopped arguing with the system and simply continued to watch Lin Liu's plot developments attentively.

Intuition told him, Lin Liu's seemingly self-destructive choice might actually be the path to perfect completion……

……

【The monkey's words made you suddenly start thinking seriously.】

【"Why does the world still exist after the protagonist dies?"】

【This question, which you took for granted as something that should naturally be so, and thus never gave much thought to, suddenly jumped into your view, catching your attention.】

【But in the end you only gave it a little thought and then stopped digging deeper—first, because you lacked information and thus couldn't figure it out; second, because no matter what the answer is, it has nothing to do with you.】

【Because all you need to know is that sacrificing yourself can secure others' survival—that's enough; you don't need to worry about the underlying principles……】

【……】

【In the days that followed, you continued to quietly watch the efforts of ordinary people.】

【In the year 135 of the New Heavenly Court, the world's first electrically meaningful light bulb was born, soon put into production, and then mass‑produced to enter thousands of households.】

【The light of the lamp was like the sun piercing the darkness; it formally announced to the world: night henceforth belongs to humanity!】

【In the year 140 of the New Heavenly Court, wired telegraph went into formal production, marking that the transmission of information among mortals has entered a new era!】

【……】

【In the year 150 of the New Heavenly Court, after the various new‑era inventions had gradually gone into production, the electric power industry officially replaced the original steam industry; the power source of many factories shifted from steam engines to electric motors, greatly boosting productivity!】

【Besides factories, everyday life for the people became immensely convenient thanks to the widespread use of electricity.】

【Electric lights, telegraphs, electric fans, electric blankets……】

【These items may not be technologically sophisticated, but the improvement they bring to ordinary people's lives is far from trivial!】

【All of humanity, accompanied by the widespread use of electricity, is stepping into a new era—one unprecedented, distinct from all past eras……】

【What displeases you is that these achievements are still largely based on burning charcoal…… Although they now use electricity, electricity does not exist as a directly usable resource in nature, so they must employ other energy sources to generate it.】

【For example, using thermal power, hydro power, wind power…… but there is no use of solar power to generate electricity!】

【Because solar energy is difficult to harness for electricity generation, and its utilization rate is low, this is simply not worthwhile.】

【This makes you quite gloomy, because you had great difficulty turning the sun into a material form, expecting everyone would soon be able to use it, only to find that nobody can actually use it……】

【But you aren't overly angry, after all this is a technical problem; you can't force them to achieve something overly beyond the model.】

【For now, the only recourse is to trust in the wisdom of future generations!】

【However, you're not sure how long it will take to achieve this, because you can clearly sense: the world is gradually turning into something you don't recognize, making you reluctant to speculate……】

【Soil, water, air, plants, animals, sun, moon, stars…… Although they still appear as they once were, under careful divine sensing you clearly discover they are absolutely not the things you once knew!】

【What the monkey said is right: materialization means the difference between the dream world and the primordial wilderness will keep growing until they are utterly distinct…… At that point, every trace of the primordial wilderness in this heaven and earth will be completely erased, so that the two will have nothing in common……】

【And the more this happens, the more you feel: this materializing world is gradually rejecting all non‑material things.】

【Among the things being rejected are deities and cultivators; indeed, many of your subordinate true gods have already come to report this trend to you!】

【Naturally you are aware of this, because you too are within the range of what is being rejected……】

【At the same time, an age of Dharma decline is also gradually descending!】

【The disaster you single‑handedly caused has arrived……】

……

(End of chapter)