Chapter 901: The Main God's Command

"To guard against whom?"

This question was still very thought-provoking. High Priest Haotian was also thinking:

It is very obvious that when an ordinary person dies, they are dead; even if they wanted to not be fully dead, they couldn't do it. To speak of leaving behind a sliver of spiritual consciousness or a remnant soul in the world, lingering and refusing to depart in preparation for the future—if one had that ability, wouldn't it be better to just be immortal?

As for gods, gods are generally immortal. Although the current deities are unexpectedly young—most having only had the chance to grow up in the few hundred years after the two worlds rubbed against each other and the rules shattered into fragments—once a god is born, they are indeed close to immortal. Without the burden of a flesh-and-blood body, a deity's lifespan is so long that no end is in sight.

However, once a deity falls, it must have been due to an irresistible catastrophe. In such a situation, the god can barely save themselves; falling is a sign that they have no way to control their fate. How could they maintain their own remnant soul to survive? Again, the same point: if they had that ability, wouldn't it be better to escape and roll back to the Shenguo to slowly recuperate?

The only exception here is the Main God. After the Main God's certain and undeniable fall, they still left behind memories, a remnant soul, and surging power. It seems possible, if one doesn't think too deeply, to just assume that because they are the Main God, their magic power is boundless, and it is only natural they could do this. But with Taixiong saying this, Haotian could not help but consider that there might be something unusual about it—perhaps a massive price was paid, and it might have even accelerated their death.

If everything they did was to wake up and make one final struggle at some future time node, and this time is unpredictable but definitely in the distant future, and the Main God is waiting for that day to wake up, then that time should be...

Haotian said slowly: "Is it to guard against the Tu Man Jie... is it for the sake of the Human?"

In the era when the Main God fell, human development reached a climax. Led by the Sovereign, the Sword Saints and Sword Immortals saw their strength change with each passing day, and it looked as if they were about to surpass the Lingjie. It is only natural that before the Main God fell, they would worry that in the not-too-distant future, the Human would comprehensively overwhelm the Hundred Races of the Lingjie, leading to a danger of collapse.

However... the Main God might have been a bit over-worried.

In fact, human development did not always go smoothly. Not long after the Main God fell, that Human Sovereign, known as the greatest genius of all time, passed away. That wave of seemingly endless human progress came to a sudden halt. For so many years, not to mention their strength regressing, they never truly threatened the Lingjie again, relying entirely on the internal conflicts of the Lingjie to survive. At least before this Zhushin Zhi Zhan, the Lingjie had always been suppressing the Tu Man Jie.

But the tides turn. Human development there is visibly accelerating again, yet the Lingjie has been struck by an Evil God. After several mistakes, the Evil God grew powerful and wreaked havoc on the Lingjie and the Shenjie. This great disaster cannot be stopped now, and there is indeed a danger of collapse. Looking at it this way, the Main God's worries from back then have turned into reality.

This is also somewhat humorous.

Taixiong, which is to say Tang Zhao, nodded after Haotian gave his answer, then shook his head and said: "Yes, and no."

The Main God was indeed always worried about the Human, and did not stop until the very end. However, would the Human really be what destroys the world? To put it bluntly, even if the Human really counterattacked and enslaved all the people of the Lingjie, it wouldn't necessarily mean total extinction; they don't have that capability. It would be nothing more than another cycle of admitting defeat, lying dormant, and then struggling again. What could truly cause the world's destruction is the collision of the two worlds."

"Ever since the two worlds connected hundreds of years ago, the world has been shattering. The world and the world rub against each other, and the friction causes the rules of the world to shatter one after another. Those rule fragments are the godhoods, which are the Sword Seeds. The Sword Seeds and godhoods gave birth to Sword Guests and deities. They grew powerful one by one and occupied high positions, but in reality, they are all damaging the world."

Tang Zhao had heard these theories off and on before, and the Sword Saints had discussed them too, but today, with the Sovereign and the Main God communicating in the Shenmu, it finally hammered his understanding into place.

He thought that High Priest Haotian was also an existence on the same level as Qian Jian and the others, all being high-level figures of the world. Secrets to others should not be a problem for him; at most, he hadn't been certain, so he just said it directly.

However, halfway through, he noticed Haotian's eyes were wide open, filled with an expression of disbelief. Tang Zhao was stunned instead: What? He didn't know?

High Priest Haotian stammered: "Your Majesty Taixiong... who said these blasphemous words?"

Tang Zhao understood a little. Although Haotian was powerful, he was only a messenger of the gods, not a true god, and had never come into contact with the rules themselves. The long-standing tradition of revering the deities had given him the same limitations as other Lingjie people; it was impossible for him to associate deities with "havoc."

Tang Zhao thought for a moment, put on the airs of a deity, and said: "I am a deity, how could I lie to you? This is actually something everyone in the Shenjie knows but doesn't speak of; it's just that it was never explained to the believers. Now that the deities are gone, there is no need to avoid speaking of it. Whether it is us deities or those Sword Guests, everyone is clinging to the world and sucking its blood. For every additional Sword Guest or deity, each world is damaged by one part. Although the rules mastered by each individual are but a drop in the ocean of the world, if the number grows, and the sum exceeds the world's remaining rules, then the world will disintegrate. It won't be smashed by a collision, but will collapse because it can no longer support itself."

Haotian was somewhat dazed. Clearly, Tang Zhao had not considered that his worldview needed protection; he had struck a heavy blow to Haotian's worldview without any regard for an old man's ability to endure it.

Fortunately, he was not truly stupid; on the contrary, he was very intelligent. After taking a few deep breaths and thinking desperately, he said: "According to what you say, those deities falling... is that still a good thing for the world?"

Taixiong said: "It's not exactly a good thing, but it's not that bad either. Without gods, they won't actively seek more rules from the world—but in fact, most deities didn't do that anyway. We were born with the fragments of the world first, and then we grew; we didn't actively steal them. So our existence is objectively a witness to the world's damage, but subjectively, we are not sinners."

This "we" refers to the deities, and also to the Sword Guests. Most Sword Guests just follow the experience of their predecessors to find a sword, cultivate a Sword Heart, and promote to Sword Hero... walking step by step. They only think they are advancing step by step according to the correct cultivation system; they haven't even touched the edge of the rules, and the truth of the world is a hundred thousand miles away. What fault do they have?

"Those godhoods are now in the hands of the Evil God, and we have no way to take them back. But even if we did, I don't know how to piece them back into the world—more importantly, the two worlds are still constantly colliding and rubbing against each other, and I don't know how many rule fragments fall every day. How much can we repair?"

"So the Main God's meaning is also that the important thing is not to kill all the deities and dig out the godhoods to offer to the world, but to separate the two worlds and stop their wounds from bleeding. As for how the world heals after it stops bleeding—whether it heals itself or is slowly stitched up—that is a matter for later. The important thing is to stop this collapse—before the world completely collapses."

Haotian let out a breath and said: "I understand. This is indeed a major matter... just like the world that attacked before, it is a matter of life and death. However, what is the Main God waiting for?"

Since the Main God knew long ago that the key was to separate the two worlds, why didn't they do it while they were alive? Wasn't the world more complete a hundred years ago than it is now? If they had done it back then, wouldn't there be no crisis now?

Tang Zhao said: "It couldn't be done back then. Because the hostility between the two worlds was too deep. With internal friction, the success rate of concentrating power was already low, and fighting made it even more impossible. So the Main God was actually waiting... waiting for one world to conquer the other, for power to be unified again. Only with a clear command could power be concentrated."

Haotian couldn't help but laugh: "That's not going to happen. Look at this situation; does it look like a winner will be decided anytime soon..."

He changed his expression slightly as he said this.

He realized: two months ago, the situation was indeed chaotic and unclear, but now it might not be...

Isn't the Lingjie in a complete mess now? If the Human World waits for both sides to suffer, they might be able to take advantage of the weakness and end this battle.

Tang Zhao said leisurely: "Actually, before the Main God fell, that situation was relatively clear... At that time, the Human Sovereign was unstoppable. Even when the Main God was around, they could only resist a little. If the Main God were to fall, how could the Lingjie resist? Perhaps the Main God thought the Sovereign would unify the two worlds? The Main God was noble and selfless, thinking that after the Sovereign unified them, the Sovereign would take action to separate the worlds. If the Sovereign's strength was insufficient, the Main God could use their final bit of power to help. This was the last thing the Main God did for the world. Who could have thought that the Sovereign wouldn't even last a few years and would also fall soon after?"

Haotian said: "This is also the protection of the gods."

Actually, this statement is a bit ridiculous if you think about it: the gods themselves are almost all dead; who can they protect?

Tang Zhao said: "So the Main God's meaning is that the internal battles of the world, no matter how big, are small matters, nothing more than us ants living and dying. The Main God didn't want to use their remaining power to do what we could accomplish ourselves; they were still waiting for the world to be destroyed."

Haotian smiled bitterly: "I do understand their deep meaning. It stands to reason that the Evil God is indeed just an opponent we should defeat... but we can't defeat them, so what should we do?"

No matter how good the logic is, it cannot defy reality. If you, the Main God, can despise the Evil God, then show your ability and finish off the Evil God in a few moves; only then would your contempt be justified.

Tang Zhao sighed and said: "Do you think I didn't say that to the Main God? I said that we really can't beat them now. Even if we did, we would need at least dozens or a hundred years to recuperate, and it would be impossible to win the war against the Human again. We might as well wait together for the world to be destroyed; you, Main God, would have left behind such a remnant soul in vain."

"They said: Then you should find a way to borrow the power of the Human. Negotiate with them, ask for support, or at least make them stand by and watch."

The Main God shook their head and said: "The thought is nice. But why would the Human agree? They have always wanted to weaken us."

Tang Zhao said: "The Main God said, aren't you tired of so many years of war? After fighting the war against the Evil God, do you have the heart to fight another great war? If you want to negotiate, then negotiate with the intention of solving the dispute between the two worlds once and for all, and even solving the collision of the two worlds. Be open and honest, and put the future of the world on the negotiating table!"