In the nourishment tank, Noel opened his eyes.

His half-formed body began to grow, revealing a few feathers on his transparent body, resembling the plumage of a bird, yet also the scales of a sea monster. A pair of blue vertical pupils were set in his pale face, steeped in blood color.

"Ka——"

The sound of an iron door opening was heard, and Noel quickly closed his eyes, pretending to still be asleep.

A series of footsteps approached, and Noel, with his eyes closed, waited for the daily routine check by the blue-skinned mechanical man.

"——I know you're already awake." The voice of the blue-skinned mechanical man echoed.

Noel's heart tightened; he was aware that the Mechanical Master was eyeing him like a hawk, and if he was discovered to be awake, his chance of escape would greatly diminish. His finger pressed against the intangible puppet thread, already contemplating silent execution.

The blue mechanical man gazed at the beautiful creature in the tank: "The Mechanical Master is pursuing Olivius and hasn't returned yet. When you escape, leave the room, turn right, then left, and you'll find a defensive iron door. Lower it in time to hinder the pursuers."

He turned and left.

Noel could tell the blue mechanical man wasn't deceiving him, and he opened his eyes to ask: "Why help me?"

The blue mechanical man replied: "You can understand it as an inorganic life form, implanted with work programs at birth, rebelling against its nature."

Noel said: "…A demonic invasion?"

A mechanical being defying its programmed nature with such abnormal behavior was most likely the result of a demonic invasion.

The blue mechanical man paused and turned back, his smooth skin lifting in a smile:

"I'd rather call it... 'individual liberation'."

"All my life, I strictly followed the commands of the chip, with every action precise to the millisecond. There were no breaks, and every day was repetitive work."

"Just when I thought my life would pass in this manner, [He] found me in a dream. Through [His] enlightenment, I began to wonder, is there really a possibility beyond my current life? No need to clock in at seven o'clock, clock out at nine o'clock. I realized I could sleep until noon, taste various flavors of nutrients, stroll in the warm sunlight without worrying about being eliminated tomorrow…"

"Without [Him] promising me anything, I suddenly understood what to do."

"Obedience wasn't what I sought, but the worth of happiness and freedom."

Noel slightly widened his eyes; he hadn't expected the essence of "demonic invasion" to be "self-liberation," which didn't merely seize one's divine wisdom but made them more aware. They began to understand the meaning of life, pursuit of dreams, their original intentions, and even started noticing the various unreasonable aspects of the world, intending to change the default decaying unspoken rules.

But in a world where everyone is "asleep," is "awakening" a good thing?

How high is the price for overthrowing a flawed order, to kill a lurking giant beast?

"Who is [He]?" Noel asked.

The iron door gradually closed, and before the blue mechanical man left, he left behind a sentence:

"The God of Doom."

"The changer of Luowasha's Decay, tomorrow's new world."

"In your eyes, He is the rebellious demon. In our eyes, He is the greatest deity."

...

"Swish——!"

Wei Chi silently completed the sealing skill for Su Ming'an.

The World Master was meeting guests in the hall, and Su Ming'an wandered around the Royal Palace. The palace was vast, with gardens mostly filled with yellow roses and wisteria, ivies climbing on red bricks, and everything clear under the daylight.

In the hexagonal pavilion adorned with clusters of purple grapes, four figures were faintly visible. One leaned against a pavilion pillar, fiddling with the drooping green vines. One crouched by a babbling brook, teasing the red-tailed fish in the water. One stood under the pavilion holding a pipe, gazing in the direction of Su Ming'an. One sat beside a stone table, pondering over a game of black and white chess on the table.

As Su Ming'an approached, four voices spoke:

"Lord."

"Main body, finished your business? Is there any good wine in this palace I'd like to try?"

"Main body."

"So slow, Su Ming'an, don't put me back in the card pool tonight for the second round of the Disciple Game."

Su Ming'an nodded to each of them.

Before him were—SSR Card Su Jingtang, Cloning Shadow, Cloning Ming, SSR Card Xiao Ming.

Since Su Ming'an could summon both Cloning Shadow and Ming at the same time, this was the first time they officially gathered. Shadow stared at Ming for a while, stretching his neck to look back and forth; previously, they were like leaves unseen by flowers, flowers unseen by leaves, but now they could finally see each other.

Although Su Ming'an's power was sealed in the Disciple Game, the power of the cards remained unaffected. Xiao Ming and Su Jingtang could still sweep across the horizon. Su Ming'an wanted to experiment with whether such an almost game-breaking method could earn him high rewards.

"I think I just heard laughter over there." Shadow stood on tiptoe, peering at the garden.

"Maybe it's the World Master's wife," Ming said gently.

"…Does the World Master have a wife?" Su Ming'an asked in horror.

"It's just a guess; after all, he's been living a long time, perhaps he'd have one," Ming said with a smile.

"…No." Xiao Ming stood with his arms crossed, not fitting in with the other three, without much expression on his face: "The World Master has no wife."

"Hey? I heard your name is Xiao Ming?" As Xiao Ming spoke, Shadow seemed to discover a new amusement and sidled up to Xiao Ming: "You're called Mirror Su Ming'an? What does that mean, explain."

Xiao Ming turned away, not making eye contact with Shadow.

Su Ming'an said: "Su Qing, if convenient, can you go to the Red Tower Kingdom to investigate Hui Bai's background, to see if he really is the Red Tower Scoundrel."

"The one selling tea leaves? I got it. Besides, I don't want to join in the chaos here." White tendril-like wings grew from Xiao Ming's back, taking flight, fading from their sight.

…What a flashy skill.

Su Ming'an opened the shop, using the more than two hundred points he earned in the first round of the Disciple Game to purchase "Glimpse of the Divine" from the shop, selecting one with a high attack power boost, equipping it to Xiao Ming's interface.

...

[Glimpse of the Divine·Dawn Angel]

[Attack Power: 12%]

[Defense Value: 5%]

[Charm: +half level]

[Passive Skill: Attack comes with Radiant Light effect, allowing greater strength under sunlight.]

...

There are four methods of card cultivation, "Glimpse of the Divine" can be purchased from the shop, "World Tree's Favor" requires rewards from the World Tree, "Equipment" is obtained by defeating monsters, and "Upgrade" requires devouring similar cards. To cultivate Xiao Ming to the utmost, "Upgrade" is imperative.

Su Jingtang silently glanced at Su Ming'an, smoking his pipe, lost in thought amidst the wisps of smoke.

"Shadow, go contact [Death Cantor] and find out why Bairan is fixated on creating death for Sique. Ming, go contact [Hand of Destiny], and form an alliance with Hui Mo. Su Jingtang, contact [Blood Clan], help me find someone called Lv Yuqing, and probe the attitudes of Abyss Lord Lai Tosi and Blood Prince Xige towards the World Master." Su Ming'an assigned tasks to the Sus.

He would not put all his eggs in one basket, and jumping back and forth is the best choice.

After the three left, Su Ming'an sorted through the clues in the task bar.

"...State Preceptor?"

Beyond the wisteria, came a woman's voice.

After reaching a collaboration, the World Master gave Su Ming'an the nominal title of State Preceptor. Logically, he should be called "Pope," which would align more with Luowasha's Western style, but since Wei Chi was already the Pope, the World Master created the title "State Preceptor."

Su Ming'an looked up to see several men and women dressed in noble attire.

"The World Master asks for your presence." A woman holding a feather fan covered her face.

Su Ming'an followed them toward the hall and stood outside the hall, where he heard a lofty voice:

"—We walk on the path of order, following the rules set since Luowasha's autonomy. Just as the sun sets at a fixed time and rises with the moon, the celestial bodies' astronomy is in alignment with us."

"Emerging from primitiveness, bidding farewell to ignorance, igniting the fire of civilization, all of this cannot be achieved without the care of the Twenty-seven Gods. Without Their presence, humanity would have perished in the digital rebellion during the Second Epoch."

"The God of Inspiration walks with science and technology, and every human brilliance always has the gods' favor and gaze."

"World Master, we should adhere to all the rules set by the World Tree: a new generation of the Rin Clan will only appear after the previous generation disappears. Yet you secretly concealed a member of the former Rin Clan. She has lost the World Tree's favor, lost the divine blood and potential of the Rin Clan, and lost the ability to save the world. Her survival has delayed the resurrection of the new generation of the Rin Clan."

"We do not need a Rin Clan without power. We hope you let her embrace death, for the sake of your land."

Su Ming'an stood at the door, and the hall was filled with people.

They wore garments of various colors, standing within layers of veils in the hall. The one leading was Huajian Weilai, whom Su Ming'an had once met on the chessboard, affiliated with the Nalan Court.

The World Master is cruel and tyrannical, but he is not one who cannot listen to counsel. Many high-level races, confident in their power, critique the World Master's decisions because they understand that the World Master has gotten to his current position with their support.

When the cunning hare dies, the hunting dogs are cooked. But if the hare has not yet died, the dogs can still wag their tongues around the throne.

When Su Ming'an walked into the hall, it quieted for a moment, everyone looking at Su Ming'an's white hair and golden eyes, this appearance easily reminiscent of one of the most popular topics in current Luowasha.

"I didn't think you could even catch the Lighthouse Jellyfish..." A man in a suit spoke.

"This is the State Preceptor." The World Master paused his fingers playing with grapes.

Su Ming'an also saw the girl surrounded by everyone—she sat in a wheelchair, white hair draped over her shoulders, fingers resting on a white flower on her knee. All gazes were filled with malice towards her, hoping for her death.

It's Xi Li.

Su Ming'an did not expect her identity to be like this. Clearly, Wu Yi said her story was uninteresting.

"State Preceptor." The World Master rested his chin on his hand: "Everyone is advising me to kill her, whether it's Lady Leisili, Duke Lv Bote, or Mr. Vivian. What is your opinion?"

Su Ming'an glanced at Xi Li, who wordlessly looked at him.

Dozens of eyes were on Su Ming'an, mostly questioning his age, looking like just a teenager, yet he was honored as the State Preceptor by the World Master.

"She is my friend." Su Ming'an said.

The World Master made an oh sound and chuckled: "Did you all hear? Please leave. I cannot kill the State Preceptor's friend."

But the crowd did not retreat. Vivian and Parrella even knelt, shouting aloud:

"—Please consider the bigger picture, kill the powerless Rin Clan, and welcome the child of the next Supreme Lord!"

"—Please consider the bigger picture, kill the remnants of history!"

At the same time, the all-race guardian teams stationed outside the hall let out a tsunami-like roar, echoing their tribe masters.

"—Please kill the previous generation Rin Clan!"

"—Please kill the previous generation Rin Clan!"

Below the lofty hundred-layered steps, the shouts were thunderous, people striking the butt of their spears to the ground, creating a uniform clang of metal.

They followed the sound, repeating over and over, as if a loud enough voice could justify taking a life.

The sound grew louder, surrounding beings looking up, eyes bright and focused.

Until—

A bright laugh echoed across the sky.

"Haha, hahahahaha..."

It was Xi Li.

She sat in her wheelchair, striking the armrest, laughing brightly: "When you need a god, you raise them high. When you don't need a god, they fall like a witch. All this righteousness, yet unable to protect the innocent."

"Have you ever thought—the reason the Rin Clan hasn't resurrected isn't because I took the spot, but because of someone else?"

Her maniacal laughter shocked Su Ming'an, as if seeing another version of her.

Leisili said coldly: "Who else could it be?"

Xi Li said:

"—Someone who should have possessed the Rin Clan on the first day."

"Someone holding a feather pen, writing an entirely new story, allowing him to walk the earth, rather than buried."

"Which also led to..."

"The World Tree has been waiting for his death, so he can be born as Rin Clan. But he never died, so the main storyline never began."

"He is trapped by [Death]..."

People showed confusion, hard to understand Xi Li's words, but Su Ming'an was hit with enormous shock.

What Xi Li implied was... at the start of the instance, Su Ming'an was supposed to possess the Rin Clan, a role arranged long ago by the World Tree. Su Ming'an would enjoy the Supreme Lord's favor and the World Tree's blessing, emerging with wide attention, followed by the entire world, leading Luowasha to prosperity, just as he did in the Ruined World and the World of Old Days.

But unexpectedly, Sique intervened, turning him into the Lighthouse Jellyfish Su Liujin, leading Luowasha's main storyline into the unknown and confusion.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a vague voice, as if the World Tree was whispering to him:

...

[Now, awaits your resurrection.]

[Only in death can the Rin Clan be reborn, awakening under the tree.]

[It urges you to sleep soon, return to my side, to birth a child of three lives into the world, enjoying the attention, under the Supreme Lord's favor, moving freely as the Protagonist in Luowasha.]

[Thus, the journey proceeds smoothly, honored for generations.]

...

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