Chapter 493

Village Flower Palace? When did you arrive?

Uesugi Muneyuki thought Zaizen Professor wasn't dead yet! My Qinghui Stone just lit up? And what exactly does Village Flower Palace's "soul resonance" mean?

The last human who resonated with Village Flower Palace and got eaten dates back to the Edo Period, which is also the source of her current appearance, but how exactly the resonance conditions are triggered, Village Flower Palace didn't say, and Uesugi Muneyuki didn't ask one by one—Village Flower Palace originally disliked people asking her questions.

"Possessing extreme love and extreme hatred, containing extremely rich emotional energy, with an intense attachment to life that cannot be let go yet harboring a death wish, able to accept death calmly—these are the conditions for my resonance." As if seeing through Uesugi Muneyuki's thoughts, or perhaps simply in a particularly good mood today, Arimura Hana's face bore a faint joy as she answered his question: "His soul is mine, I will devour his soul, and lick his memories!"

"Um, Village Flower Princess, does this require obtaining Zaizen Professor's personal consent?" Uesugi Muneyuki, seeing the situation, could only speak softly: "Just eating people like this—isn't that rather inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? This is waste utilization, and not just any cockroach is qualified for me to eat." Arimura Hana wore a look of utter indifference; on her pure, exquisite, sorrowful beauty, a confused expression flickered from her frost-covered beautiful eyes, as if surprised that Uesugi Muneyuki would ask such a low-intelligence question: "When you performed the death soul contract, you never once asked the dead soul's opinion, did you?"

Really now!

Uesugi Muneyuki had nothing to say in response.

"Ask whatever you want to ask; today I'm in a good mood, and finding a soul that can resonate with me is truly difficult." Arimura Hana blinked at Uesugi Muneyuki: "No extensions, three questions max."

Can I ask questions?! And I can ask three?

Uesugi Muneyuki pondered; he had always been in a state of partial understanding about the Inner World, but now he finally had an opportunity!

"Why did the Old Gods leave this world? What is the essential difference between New Gods and Old Gods?" Uesugi Muneyuki brought Village Flower Palace to a relatively secluded room inside the hospital and couldn't help but ask: "Before, Mai Xuejie and I had discussed Old Gods and New Gods, but I still didn't quite understand."

"——This question is very complex." Village Flower Palace looked at Uesugi Muneyuki: "In short, using terms humans can understand:

"Old Gods are embodiments of primal, savage, flesh-and-blood, instinctual, and mystic natural forces. They embody the world's chaos, darkness, and unknown aspects."

"New Gods are gods born from humanity. When a person's thoughts, ideas, or influence become strong enough to alter the world's cognition,

they may ascend to become New Gods."

"You should have learned from that shrine maiden that the Old Gods have been gradually leaving this world, right?" Village Flower Palace sighed.

"Yes." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "It is said that in the 4th to 6th centuries CE, the Old Gods gradually departed."

"Then you should know, in the first year CE, a world-changing event occurred—the first New God in history was born in this world, and this New God's birth marked the end of the old era, ushering the world into a new age?" When Arimura Hana spoke of this, she furrowed her lovely brows, clearly lacking fondness for the first "New God": "It is the last Old God, and also the first New God; its appearance permanently altered the world's laws."

"He bestowed upon the world the laws of 'order,' 'logic,' and 'reason'; under this concept, he is an Old God, because he symbolizes part of the world's laws."

"Yet his ascension also brought rationality, order, and predictability to the world; this legal system systematically negated the chaos, mystery, and superstition represented by the Old Gods. The world began operating under a fixed, rational set of rules, causing magic and mystical power to plummet sharply."

"You can imagine the Old Gods as 'chaos,' while this New God represents 'order'; after he completed reshaping this world,

the power of order made the environment unsuitable for Old Gods' activities, so they gradually departed this world."

Hearing this explanation, Uesugi Muneyuki gaped, thought for a few seconds, and said: "In other words, is this world essentially a 'Human Emperor' defeating the 'Chaos Four Gods' in an 'if' ending?"

"Although I don't fully understand what 'Human Emperor' and 'Chaos Four Gods' mean, it's roughly the same idea." Village Flower Palace nodded: "This being was indeed human before ascension, a perfect ascendant who challenged the Old Gods' control of the world and ultimately succeeded; he also truly represents the concept of 'humanity' and especially favors the human race."

Emperor, you're amazing!

Uesugi Muneyuki fully understood.

"Then why are New Gods so weak?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked his second question.

"Because the Old Gods' strength is a manifestation of 'natural violence'; their power is primal, direct, material, and the source of all supernatural forces. And Uesugi, think about it: as order and reason's power blankets this world, supernatural forces naturally become bound by law, and New Gods are precisely the product of law." Village Flower Palace rolled her lovely eyes and retorted: "Thus, the stronger the power of law and reason, the weaker and rarer supernatural forces become; and the weaker and rarer supernatural forces become, the more difficult and scarce the birth of New Gods and Inner World energy grow."

"Old Gods are the source of all supernatural forces, while New Gods are the embodiment of conceptual rules—naturally, the former far surpasses the latter in strength; order arises from chaos, Old Gods possess the power to break bonds and alter world laws, while New Gods merely represent a single concept; and as they wield their power, they themselves merge into the world's order, so New Gods' power is fleeting and unsustainable, let alone comparable to Old Gods."

"Every New God must ascend using Old Gods' supernatural power, but each New God's birth deepens order and reason's transformation of the world, so supernatural forces dwindle, and Inner World energy grows ever thinner." Village Flower Palace shook her head: "If this continues, one day this world will have no supernatural force left—this is also what the last Old God and first New God desired."

"Ultimately, must humanity's fate be decided by humanity itself?" Uesugi Muneyuki mused.

"Pretty much." Village Flower Palace said offhandedly: "I can only tell you this for the last question."

"Then, what do you think my Inner World Path should take in the future?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked his final question: "Should we aim to become New Gods, or should we"

"Have you lost your mind, Uesugi?" Village Flower Palace stared at Uesugi Muneyuki for a while, her face showing contempt and confusion: "Your 'we' includes neither you nor me!"

"????" Uesugi Muneyuki momentarily failed to comprehend.

"Well, saying this now is meaningless, but I see another side of this world from you." Arimura Hana seemed unwilling to continue on this issue, speaking with interest: "This world seems not to be developing as that 'Human Emperor' wished—for example, he hoped humanity could unite, understand each other, and exist under a unified order of reason, but this world's fear, conflict, and murder have never ceased."

"He hoped humanity could understand each other and multiply as a species, but as you, Uesugi, like to say, humanity can never truly understand each other, and humanity itself is a product of the love of Chi Rui An and other Old Gods, favoring sex and violence; the clash of human and beastly, sensual and rational natures is endless and etched into human instinct."

"On this point, he failed—this is life's instinct, not something reason and order can control."

"Uesugi, you might neither become a traditional Old God nor a New God destined to be bound by rules, briefly fulfill a mission, expend power, and have your soul return to the High Plain of Heaven; you might become a very special existence."

Uesugi Muneyuki keenly sensed Village Flower Palace had left something unsaid: "Wait, what exactly do you mean? And what did you mean by this 'we'"

". —...."

"This is the fourth question—I told you, no more than three, right?" Village Flower Palace said lightly: "Three questions have been answered; now—this person's, Zaizen Professor's soul, is mine!"

She returned to the ward, awaiting Zaizen Professor's death, leaving only Uesugi Muneyuki standing there, thinking.

The Old Gods have departed, New Gods are destined to be weak and powerless.

My future will be unlike anyone else's?