"I need to find a way to increase the occupancy rate of the All-Heavens Divine Mirror and gather faith."
Qi Yuan pondered.
Feng Ye was powerless to help with this as well.
"It seems I still need to read more books."
Spending all this time as a shut-in on Myriad Gods Mountain felt wrong to Qi Yuan.
Knowledge was power.
And so he decided to visit the many library pavilions across Myriad Gods Mountain to gain a better understanding of this game's background.
"This game truly is different from the previous ones."
Walking out of his residence, Qi Yuan contemplated.
In the past, whenever he entered a game, there would be quest prompts.
Yet in this game, not a single quest prompt had appeared so far.
"There are quite a lot of gods. It's lively."
Strolling along the grand avenues of Myriad Gods Mountain, Qi Yuan saw numerous stalls and shops hawking their wares, bustling just like the mortal realm.
"One scarlet dragon bone, only a hundred divine crystals!"
"Incomplete volume of the Nine Yangs Serene True Divine Scripture—a rare find that can only be met by chance!"
Listening to these cries, Qi Yuan also used his eyes to examine the hidden information on the items.
"If I ever fall on hard times, I could use my eyes to pan for gold here. I might even become a millionaire."
Thinking this, Qi Yuan arrived at the Library Pavilion of Myriad Gods Mountain.
The Library Pavilion soared to an unknown height and spanned six floors in total.
As a nominal scion of Pillar Tiankai, Qi Yuan had access to the first three floors.
Within the Library Pavilion, many Void God scribes attended along the aisles, their heads bowed as they arranged the books.
Qi Yuan walked inside and dove straight in, reading earnestly.
"The sheer scale of this world is beyond measure. To think Myriad Gods Mountain isn't even the number one faction—how interesting."
The exact number of Dao Gods and Spirit Gods on Myriad Gods Mountain was a secret.
However, there were twelve Dao Gods like Pillar Tiankai alone, which indicated the total count of ordinary Dao Gods could not be small.
Having so many Dao Gods already surpassed the number of Dao Lords in the Universal Void Realm.
On top of that, there was an Emperor God who had survived the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations.
That a faction of such formidable might was not the preeminent power in this world came as quite a surprise to Qi Yuan.
"The greatest enemy of Myriad Gods Mountain is... the Soul Severing Bridge?"
The Soul Severing Bridge was also a terrifying faction, not in the least inferior to Myriad Gods Mountain.
Rumor had it that the true form of the Soul Severing Bridge's master was an actual bridge, and he held a grudge against the Emperor God.
Consequently, the two factions were currently at war.
If one encountered someone from the Soul Severing Bridge in the All-Heavens Divine Mirror, one had to be careful. The two sides would slaughter each other on sight; after all, slaying a True God from an opposing faction earned substantial merit.
"The atmosphere in this game really isn't great. Why go around fighting wars for no reason?"
"Besides, I'm already a True God, and I still have to do military service?"
According to the rules of Myriad Gods Mountain, if Qi Yuan failed to step into the God Lord realm within one hundred thousand years, he would have to go to the front lines and clash with True Gods from the Soul Severing Bridge and various other factions.
"Fighting is out of the question. I need to reach the God Lord realm as soon as possible."
At present, Qi Yuan was actually still in the Divine Kingdom realm.
However, because he had captured that female-oriented Heavenly Dao and acquired a bizarre divine oracle ability, other True Gods perceived him as being in the Divine Oracle realm.
"The so-called Divine Oracle realm is essentially Word of Law.
"Reaching the Divine Oracle realm isn't hard either. It just requires... having one's believers believe in one's divine oracle, thereby granting the oracle limitless power?"
"I need to cultivate diligently. If I fail to survive the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations, I'm done for."
Even Dao Gods comparable to Dao Lords were not guaranteed to survive the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations, often perishing and having their Dao extinguished.
Though Qi Yuan was confident, he didn't necessarily consider himself stronger than a Dao Lord.
Therefore, he still needed to be prudent regarding the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations.
"Unfortunately, I'm too weak right now to access the upper three floors to read about the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations,"
Qi Yuan sighed.
To view information on the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations, he needed at least the strength of the God Lord realm.
He continued flipping through the books in the Library Pavilion, and time slipped rapidly past.
"Qi Yuan?"
After an unknown amount of time, a clear, crisp voice called out.
Qi Yuan set down his book and looked toward the speaker.
The newcomer was a man dressed in an emerald-green robe, with a refined and cultured air.
"My name is Heitian," the man introduced himself proactively, perhaps worried Qi Yuan might not know him.
"Your name is somewhat similar to that of an old acquaintance of mine," Qi Yuan remarked.
The acquaintance he referred to was the Heitian from the Divine Wood Universe.
"I am also a child of Pillar Tiankai. In a sense, you could consider me an elder brother," Heitian said with a smile. "By the way, just a heads-up: the Immeasurable Dao God has recently been accepting disciples. Tan Ying... stands a very high chance of becoming his disciple."
He was extending goodwill toward Qi Yuan.
Not long ago, Tan Ying had formed a grudge against Qi Yuan.
Now, if Tan Ying became the closed-door disciple of the Immeasurable Dao God, Heitian believed it would bode ill for Qi Yuan.
Running into him in the Library Pavilion, Heitian thought to offer a timely warning.
"This time, not only is Tan Ying striving to participate, but many godchildren are also eager to try and apprentice themselves to the Immeasurable Dao God.
"Brother Qi Yuan, aren't you going to give it a shot? Becoming a disciple of a Dao God comes with immense benefits," Heitian urged.
The Immeasurable Dao God's recruitment of a disciple had stirred quite a commotion across Myriad Gods Mountain. Many True Gods were sharpening their blades, eager to apprentice under him.
The advantages of becoming a Dao God's disciple went without saying, and one would also be exempt from 'military service.'
"Is that so?" Qi Yuan replied calmly. "Thank you for letting me know."
He didn't care in the slightest.
Tan Ying would be dead soon anyway.
He would likely end up deceased before he could even become the Immeasurable Dao God's disciple.
Heitian conversed further with Qi Yuan, remaining exceptionally polite and friendly throughout.
"Brother Qi Yuan, I shall take my leave for now. I need to check the Xuan Section.
"If you run into any difficulties in your cultivation, feel free to ask me anytime. If I know the answer, I will hold nothing back."
Having said that, Heitian bid Qi Yuan farewell and walked toward the Xuan Section.
A few dozen breaths later, Heitian's expression turned solemn, and his back looked somewhat desolate.
"I, Heitian... am not a bargaining chip.
"My destiny must remain in my own hands. I will never... serve as a scapegoat to ward off someone else's tribulation!"
Heitian muttered softly, though his tone was tinged mostly with helplessness.
Unlike the other godchildren, though he had been born at the Void God realm, he had been pushed directly to the True God realm.
That was because he knew he was merely a trade item.
Consequently, once he reached the God Lord realm, he would no longer be able to cultivate.
He could only quietly await the start of the trade, followed by... death.
Such a fate was not what Heitian desired.
Thus, he relentlessly ingratiated himself with other True Gods, playing the role of a genial friend to all.
He hoped that among those he befriended, someone might one day ascend to the Spirit God realm or Dao God realm.
When that time came, lending him a helping hand would suffice—he wouldn't ask for too much.
Naturally, he knew this was mere wishful thinking.
For one, most of those he befriended were his half-brothers and half-sisters. Talented though they were, reaching the Spirit God or Dao God realm was extraordinarily difficult.
Secondly, this sort of rapport was far too fragile.
After all, the one using him as a bargaining chip was a Dao God.
Even another Dao God would hardly offend a peer on his behalf.
...
On the other side, Qi Yuan put down his book.
"This Heitian... is rather interesting."
Qi Yuan stretched, then resumed reading.
He was currently searching for information regarding the All-Heavens Divine Mirror.
After all, his current chat group was far too quiet and had too few members.
"Hmm?"
"There are numerous fragments of the All-Heavens Divine Mirror scattered across the myriad realms. Is the group chat so sparsely populated because... the fragments haven't been activated?"
According to the records in the books, Qi Yuan learned much about the All-Heavens Divine Mirror.
Its fragments were plentiful.
However, to many people, a fragment might look like a piece of broken jade or a chipped roof tile, treated merely as an antique. Without giving it proper attention or studying it, they couldn't activate it to enter the chat group.
"So, if I help those people activate them, won't they be able to enter my All-Heavens Divine Mirror?"
Qi Yuan considered the possibility.
"If I treat my All-Heavens Divine Mirror as a megaphone and pair it with my superpower, could I cause the living beings who possess fragments... to join my newly created group chats?"
One of Qi Yuan's superpowers was that his voice could span countless distances and travel into the unknown.
This could be done randomly or directed with intent.
Qi Yuan contemplated using the All-Heavens Divine Mirror to broadcast his voice to those beings holding mirror fragments,
prompting them to take the All-Heavens Divine Mirror seriously and join the chat group.
...
In an unknown location.
Heavenly Dragon Great Emperor wore a conflicted expression.
"What, that Origin Celestial Venerable hasn't spoken?" the alluring woman asked.
Heavenly Dragon Great Emperor nodded. "Ever since he descended into Wu Santong's world, he has rarely said a word. He seems entirely indifferent to visiting other worlds. Master... could it be that Wu Santong is actually fishing, just like you?"
Heavenly Dragon Great Emperor asked cautiously.
He suspected that Wu Santong was also baiting people and had already hooked Qi Yuan.
The alluring woman shook her head. "Wu Santong is a mere mortal. Perhaps this Origin Celestial Venerable is cautious and noticed a flaw in your act. Do not panic. He possesses only this single All-Heavens Divine Mirror and only these few worlds from which to gather faith. He will definitely grow restless sooner or later. We need only wait patiently."
Hearing this, Heavenly Dragon Great Emperor could only acquiesce. "What if it takes him a very long time before he is willing to come?"
"As True Gods, patience is the one thing we never lack," the alluring woman said with a smile.
At worst, she would wait a few hundred thousand years, which meant nothing to her.
In a mere few hundred thousand years, could the other party really overturn the heavens?
While the alluring woman was scheming against Qi Yuan, Qi Yuan was enthusiastically creating new groups.
To him, the previous chat group had too few members, a low baseline, which meant the number of fools like Wen Zhuyun was naturally low.
Therefore, he used his special ability to frantically create groups.
As long as the crowd grew large enough, the number of fools like Wen Zhuyun would surely multiply. Without needing eloquence or sophisticated rhetoric, he could make them place their faith in him.
Now, through Qi Yuan's tireless efforts, he had created two more groups.
One of the groups was quite chaotic, boasting over a hundred members.
The other had fewer members, only fifty-odd, but Qi Yuan felt the probability of fools appearing in this group was far higher.
At this moment, his attention settled on one of his newly created groups.
"This group is pretty interesting. During the day, it's dead silent, but at night it gets very lively. Yet... once past midnight, it goes dead quiet again," Qi Yuan mused.
He checked the time; by Blue Star reckoning, it was roughly six in the evening.
Sure enough, the silent group suddenly burst into life.
"Duke Nael is recruiting blood thralls (Arrogant)."
"Lord Nael, please don't drink my blood! *cries*"
"*Slurp*, ah, delicious. (Licks lips)"
"Sob, no!"
Reading the messages in the group, Qi Yuan was quite speechless.
"Why do they all love telling petty lies?"
His nose told him that everyone in the group was lying.
"Lord Group Admin, please drink this humble servant's blood." Just then, a group member tagged Qi Yuan.
Qi Yuan was at a loss for words.
Back when he created this group, he had merely dropped a passing mention of vampires.
As a result, the entire atmosphere of the group had completely warped.
"I don't fancy drinking blood lately," Qi Yuan replied. "How are your fiefs holding up? Is there any danger? Have the demon hunters been giving you trouble?"
Since they were roleplaying, Qi Yuan played along.
...
Elsewhere, in the Sky Federation.
Inside a magnificent palace, uniformed men and women stared intently at a projection screen before them.
Displayed on the screen was a chat group.
The contents within were none other than the messages from the All-Heavens Divine Mirror.
At this moment, Zhao Song looked tense and rather apprehensive.
He was not a natural-born human, but a manufactured citizen of the Federation.
There were many like him, making up a tenth of the Federation's population.
A while ago, a piece of chipped jade he had begged for suddenly emitted a sound, and he inexplicably found himself inside a chat group.
Without any hesitation, he reported the matter to the Federation.
This sent shockwaves through the higher ranks.
Soon, the Federation's leadership formed an elite task force dedicated to observing and researching this chat group.
At this point, an elderly man wearing gold-rimmed spectacles spoke up. He was a leading authority in psychology and sociology.
"It seems our hypothesis was correct. The beings in this chat group should all be the legendary vampires.
"The Vampire Emperor summoned his subjects into the chat group, and Zhao Song happened to wander in by accident.
"Our top priority is to avoid exposing our identity. Speak sparsely, but do not remain entirely silent."
The old man spoke with an excited expression.
"To think we could actually encounter the supernatural..." several women remarked excitedly.
Just then, a burly man said, "The group admin has spoken. How should we reply?"
Meanwhile, within the group chat, numerous people responded to Qi Yuan's message.
"Demon hunters are nothing more than beverages to me. I, Duke Nael, fear no one except the Emperor."
"Heh heh, a troupe of singing elves recently arrived in my fief. Their blood is exceedingly sweet."
Many members chimed in across the chat.
The personnel of the Sky Federation took every single message at face value.
If this had been an ordinary chat app like QQ, they naturally wouldn't have taken it seriously and would have dismissed it as a joke.
However, this jade fragment had inexplicably granted access to a chat group, and even when analyzed with their advanced technological instruments, nothing could be detected.
This proved it was supernatural.
When a group of supernatural entities spoke, it had to be real.
Granted, these supernatural entities sounded somewhat chuunibyou.
Yet that was completely normal.
What if these supernatural beings simply suffered from underdeveloped brains?
"A giant dragon has entered my fief. Vampire Emperor, would you like your humble subject to capture it for you?"
"No need. We must protect animals."
Seeing this, the elites were profoundly shocked.
Did you see that? Even when encountering a giant dragon, they spoke of protecting animals.
This was unquestionably supernatural.
Those present were flushed with excitement, their gazes shifting rapidly.
"Expert Liu, should we probe and ask something about... the mei?"
At the mention of the mei, the complexions of everyone present shifted slightly.
Every night, the Federation was plagued by roaming mei.
The mei were like ghosts—formless and intangible. Firearms could not harm them, yet they frequently claimed human lives with terrifying ease.
Chapter 599