While Hei Jian and the other Yang God Heavenly Venerables were having their discussion here, in the Huayue curious land, a man wearing a crimson robe with bulging storage bags hung at his waist was out sunbathing in thin air.
In this curious land, one could not see the stars that illuminated the myriad heavens.
Since he could not bask in the sun, he could only bask in the air.
The storage bag opened, and a dazzling array of ice eggs dropped to the ground, lined up beside Qi Yuan, making him look like an egg vendor.
"Sigh, the cultivators from Guiyu Heaven are way too slow and inefficient. It's been this long, and they're still dragging their feet!"
The stage had already been set; Qi Yuan was just waiting for the actors to take their places.
However, cultivators in this immortal cultivation world were dreadfully inefficient. Whatever they did, they dallied and dawdled, showing not the slightest hint of swiftness or resolve.
For example, the Linya Molt was mentioned at the last Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference, yet after all this time, it still hadn't started.
Now, Qi Yuan had brought out the ice eggs and provoked the young prodigies of Guiyu Heaven, but... up till now, those prodigies had merely tossed out fierce words accepting the challenge, without actually showing up.
"One who achieves great things must be able to endure loneliness."
Qi Yuan lounged leisurely, perfectly content with himself.
From within the game jade slip, the soundless voice drifted out once again.
Qi Yuan smiled. "Do you want to hear another story...?"
He had noticed that telling stories to the soundless voice inside the game jade slip sped up the loading rate of the new game.
So, he began making things up on the fly.
"Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On the mountain was an ox named Red Boy..."
"...Alright, that's the end of today's story."
"Every single day it's me telling you stories. Don't you want to give me a game synopsis so I can familiarize myself with the plot?"
Qi Yuan was also exceedingly curious—or rather, full of anticipation—about the new game.
Because he was already at the Purple Mansion Realm.
The next world would be the place where he would attain the Dao and become a god.
He naturally cared immensely about the next game.
"It must be so interesting once I become a god. Will I have lots of believers and followers?"
"Don't tell me people will even erect statues of me to worship and revere?"
"And then, as ages roll by, wait for some great man to appear and tear down the wild shrines and divine statues in the mountains."
Qi Yuan let his thoughts wander wildly.
Unfortunately, the soundless voice gave him no response whatsoever.
"Based on the principle of fair exchange and reciprocity, I've told you so many fun stories and burned through a ton of brain cells. Shouldn't you drop some gold coins for me? You can't be a stingy... spirit, can you?"
"Oh, I forgot. You're blind and can't speak."
At this moment, the soundless voice went completely quiet.
For some reason, Qi Yuan seemed to sense that the soundless voice was brewing something.
After roughly a hundred breaths of time passed, Qi Yuan suddenly noticed that the icon representing the new game in the game jade slip flashed with a burst of light.
Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, staring at this light.
"Such rich vitality..."
If the original game icon had been dim, chaotic, and utterly dilapidated, now it held much more vitality—or rather, color.
It was like a dilapidated, barren plot undergoing renovations.
And the loading speed of the game began to ramp up wildly at this moment.
"Hey, are you still there?" Qi Yuan called out tentatively.
Unfortunately, the soundless voice did not reply.
This left Qi Yuan slightly disappointed, unsure of what had happened inside the game jade slip.
After roughly three hundred breaths had passed, Qi Yuan stared at the game icon, his expression shifting slightly.
"Did the game... fail to load?"
"Wait... did the game company go bankrupt?"
Indeed, inside the game jade slip, over these brief three hundred breaths, the game had accelerated its loading like mad, only to... croak.
The appearance of the icon and the aura it gave off looked just as if the game company had gone under.
It was just like clicking on an installer package only for it to say the file was corrupted.
"What's going on? It went bankrupt and shut down?"
"Hey... are you still there?"
Unfortunately, no one answered him at all.
The game's progress bar turned gray and dark, freezing in place.
"Folks, who knows my pain? A game I pre-registered for so long ago shut down before the servers even opened! Who's going to compensate me for the prime of my youth?"
Qi Yuan was thoroughly speechless, and also a bit worried about the soundless voice.
"Could it be that I, the player, have to step in and save this bankrupt game company?"
"Hey, I'm just a gamer!"
"Unscrupulous merchant! Unscrupulous capitalist!"
Still, since his own interests were at stake, Qi Yuan decided to make an effort to rescue this game.
"If I pull off this rescue, give me some shares. I want to be a shareholder."
After pondering a moment, Qi Yuan tentatively squeezed his divine soul toward the game jade slip.
He tried to see if he could enter the new game.
For some reason, he had an inkling that astonishing changes were taking place within the game.
Unfortunately, a powerful restriction blocked Qi Yuan from entering.
"It's sealed too tightly; I can't get in at all."
Qi Yuan looked at the game jade slip, deep in thought.
The game was broken, making it impossible to enter.
After all, how could a player play through an incomplete, half-baked installation package?
At this, Qi Yuan thought of something, and the aura about him shifted.
"Absolute Adaptation!"
The Supreme Ultimate Principle was unleashed at this moment.
Qi Yuan's divine soul shifted and transformed continuously.
Absolute Adaptation—everything centered on survival.
Adapting to everything, adapting to all. He was also adapting to entering this damaged installer package.
His divine soul transformed, the Supreme Ultimate Principle churned, and from within his bone marrow, the faint, resonant rumble of the Grand Dao echoed.
"No good. My Supreme Ultimate Principle hasn't fully stabilized yet; I can't enter the game at all."
Qi Yuan felt a bit of a headache coming on.
It had not been long since he comprehended a Supreme Ultimate Principle. Setting aside veteran Supreme Venerables, he would find it hard to even contend against ordinary Great Ultimate Principles.
The Supreme Ultimate Principle had not yet been truly engraved and stabilized into his flesh, divine soul, and thought.
"What should I do?"
"Don't tell me I have to put my brilliant brain to work again?"
Thinking this, Qi Yuan took out the bottle that had held the Blood Ascension Comprehension Pill.
The bottle was empty. The medicinal pills had long since been finished, leaving behind only a faint wisp of exotic fragrance.
Qi Yuan poured immortal liquid into the bottle and gave it a vigorous shake up, down, left, and right.
"Picking up a bit of the scent like this should have some effect."
Qi Yuan downed the immortal liquid in a single gulp. Instantly, his waist didn't ache, his back didn't hurt, and his noggin felt sharp as a tack—he felt like he could carry ten bags of rice up ten flights of stairs in one breath while knocking out nine practice exams along the way.
"The foundation of a game is programming, it's code."
"The world is also a massive game, composed of code, rules..."
"And rules are the myriad Daos."
"The myriad Daos are zero and one."
"Therefore... the code of the game is zero and one."
"Flawless. The logic checks out. Perfectly reasonable. Not a single hole to be found."
Indeed, since Qi Yuan's brain couldn't find a flaw, that proved the plan was immaculate and seamless.
"Transform for me!"
In an instant, a wisp of Qi Yuan's divine soul split apart, turning into two drops of crimson blood.
These two drops of blood formed the numbers '0' and '1' respectively.
"Is this code?" Qi Yuan smiled happily.
However, having lost this sliver of his divine soul, Qi Yuan's face turned pale, as if his vitality had taken a severe blow.
He had sacrificed far too much for this game.
"I've lost so much Divine Soul Blood my hypoglycemia is practically acting up! Hey... I've got founder's shares now!"
Qi Yuan shouted at the game.
The Divine Soul Blood of '0' and '1' merged into the game at this moment.
Absolute Adaptation also continually exerted its unique function.
With the addition of those two drops of blood, the game icon—originally dim, dead, and stuck on its progress bar—slowly revealed a wisp of vitality once more.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally fixed."
The game had resumed loading.
"Exhausted to death."
Having lost two drops of Divine Soul Blood, a heavy wave of drowsiness washed over him. Qi Yuan wanted nothing more than a deep, satisfying sleep.
"Soundless voice, I bled heavily this time. You'd better remember to compensate me."
Qi Yuan called out, hugged an ice egg, and immediately fell asleep.
In order to revive the game, Qi Yuan had expended quite a lot, no less than having fought a massive battle.
As he slept, inside the jade slip, the game icon loaded slowly.
From time to time, flashes of light flickered.
The voice of the soundless voice rang out. Unlike before, this time it seemed to carry a touch of sentience—or perhaps... it was not entirely soundless.
"I..."
An ethereal single word echoed through heaven and earth, but Qi Yuan, deep in sleep, did not hear it at all.
After who knew how long, the soundless voice seemed to let out a helpless sigh, before finally falling quiet and disappearing completely.
The game was still loading.
After who knew how long, above the originally dim sky of the Huayue curious land, dozens of streaks of light flashed past.
A man clad in gold-threaded dark armor, clutching a Ten Thousand Soul Banner, stood in the void, his voice vast and thunderous.
"Where is Blood Robe? Come out and accept your death!"
A full forty-seven prodigies had gathered, nearly all of them Mythological, clutching Ten Thousand Soul Banners with aggressive momentum and formidable presence.
With just these prodigies, if they were sent to a world without a Yang God Heavenly Venerable presiding, they could effortlessly overturn the entire world.
Now, forty-seven prodigies had gathered and hundreds of Great Venerables descended, roaring in succession to call Blood Robe out.
Unfortunately, Qi Yuan, who was far too tired, did not hear their voices at all.
"Could it be you're afraid of me and hiding like a coward?"
Receiving no response from Blood Robe, Mo Zhong roared in fury.
The other prodigies wore mocking looks on their faces as well.
"He sure dared to talk big, but now there's not a trace of him to be seen."
Chapter 458