Extra 1: The Game Has Only Just Begun

Canglan Realm. Divine Light Sect. The morning bell tolled ceaselessly, just as it always had. "Wake up!" "Wake up!" The wooden cat puppet's voice was as maddening as ever. Qi Yuan tossed a piece of dried fish, gagging the wooden cat puppet's mouth. Only then did the noise vanish completely. Just at that moment, a crisp voice rang in Qi Yuan's ear. "Senior Brother, hurry up and get out of bed! Stop lazing around, the sun is already scorching your butt!" A lovely figure appeared in the ocean-view room. Indeed, with his recent increase in strength, Qi Yuan had once again upgraded his living quarters to match his status. This time, he had switched to an ocean-view room. What if Seven Colors Peak had no ocean? Just move one over. "Ugh, let me sleep a little longer." Qi Yuan stretched lazily, settling into a more comfortable position. "Besides, what sun? Where is there any sun?" At Qi Yuan's words, the several suns hanging in the sky above Seven Colors Peak vanished without a trace. Jiang Lingsu planted her hands on her hips and glared at Qi Yuan. "Aiya, Senior Brother! Sister Ning Tao even said you've been so exhausted and weak lately that she won't even sleep with you at night anymore!" "Cough, cough! What nonsense are you spouting?" Qi Yuan flipped upright like a carp. This was what one might call: the Yang God Kip-up. "I'm just tired from playing games," Qi Yuan yawned, looking utterly drained. On the path of fighting Returning to Nothingness, he was always forging ahead. Not long ago, he had expended tremendous energy to finally protect the Abandoned Lands and break them free from the abyss of sinking. He had also stepped into the realm of the Yang God. His Yang God realm was, in truth, quite ordinary. It wasn't as dazzling as a Stellar Golden Core, nor as overbearing as an Innate Divine Spirit Divine Infant. In Qi Yuan's understanding, a Yang God was just that—his Yang God was merely a bit more yang, a bit more manly and upright. Yang represented openness and brightness; it symbolized justice. And this time, he hadn't awakened any superpowers either. Perhaps one day, after he had traveled across the myriad heavens and realms and taken in all the scenery under heaven, he would awaken a new ability. "Senior Brother, hasn't the game already been beaten?" Jiang Lingsu asked, somewhat perplexed. She also knew a bit about Jing. "Has the game... ended?" Qi Yuan took a deep breath. "Am I not still inside the game?" "In fact, aren't the Canglan Realm and the Immortal Realm games as well?" Although Qi Yuan had a terrible memory and a rather muddled mind, being crazy didn't mean being stupid. Back in his first game—or rather, on the Moon Gazing Continent—he had already realized that so-called games... were also reality, or truth. Back then, however, he had been far too weak, living in a thatched hut. On top of that, his mind and true spirit had still been frail. Playing inside a game for extended periods drained his true spirit. Add to that the endless storylines and the tangled complexities of human hearts, and all of it had consumed his true spirit. To put it in Blue Star terms, it hogged too much memory. Qi Yuan's true spirit hadn't quite been able to support the game's operation. So, he had chosen to selectively forget certain things. That way, two birds were killed with one stone: He could also act with far greater freedom and whim. After all, back then he was merely a baby just over two hundred months old. All that daily business about saving the world, national feuds, family grudges, and bitter betrayals—his tender young heart simply couldn't take it. "Wait, are we in a game too?" Jiang Lingsu's eyes went wide, making her look extraordinarily adorable. "Not only is it a game, but it's also situated within Dao Lord Nan Ke's dreamscape. In truth... we don't even exist," Qi Yuan said with a smile. At his current realm, turning illusion into reality and forging truth out of falsehood was child's play. It wasn't an issue at all. "The false game has ended. The true game that belongs to me... has only just begun," Qi Yuan said. His game would be a very long one. To quote a certain famous figure: The road ahead is long and arduous. If Returning to Nothingness was represented by 0, Samsara was 1. To obtain 1, one had to traverse the myriad heavens and realms, countless ages, past and future. He had to observe every living being, every stone, every person in the void, and every past. This was not something that could be completed in a fleeting moment. It could be said that from here on, Qi Yuan would be playing a game in reality. A game... of walking the entire world. A game... of traversing Samsara. "When I have seen all the scenery under heaven, Xiao Jia... will truly possess her own eyes." "When I have heard every sound in the world, she will have her own ears." "When I have greeted every living being and every void in existence, she will truly be able to speak without end." "The game is always underway, the road is always being walked, and the scenery will always remain in my eyes." Qi Yuan looked rather desolate. He was already invincible. Even those Yang Sixes were no match for him. Yet his road remained vast and long. Every space and realm, every hidden corner of time, he had to set foot upon and take a look. It was just like a story he had heard in his childhood: Tossing stranded fish on the beach back into the sea. Someone asked: There are so many fish, how could you ever finish? Who cares? The person replied: This fish cares. For Qi Yuan, what he had to do now was pick up every single fish, rescue them from nothingness, and toss them into Samsara. Unlike the person saving fish in the story, Qi Yuan had plenty of time—eternal and boundless. What's more... he was very fast. It was just that sometimes, Qi Yuan felt that having cultivated for so long, his head was a mess; he no longer knew what was righteous or evil, what was right or wrong. Fortunately, he was now a Yang God. Yang stood for openness, brightness, and goodness. Therefore, he... could temporarily be counted as good. Representing what was right. So, when tossing those fish back into the ocean, he would also ask: Are you just sunbathing? Do you actually want to go back to the sea? What if he misunderstood? What if there happened to be a fish that despised its belly being too pale and sickly, preferring to sunbathe on the beach to get a tan? He wouldn't make decisions for others. Nor did he need the living beings of the myriad heavens and realms to kneel before him. After all, the education he had received on Blue Star was... for all people to stand on their own feet. "Alright. This time... I'll head over to the Yang Realm, to the lands of the Ancient Clan's ancestral land, to play around for a bit." Right now, although he was still sleeping here, his Dao of Samsara was playing the game every single moment, entering countless cycles of reincarnation, countless spacetimes, little by little coming to understand all the living beings and lifeless void objects in the myriad heavens and realms. "Senior Brother, I want to go too!" Jiang Lingsu chirped. But then, as if remembering something, she hesitated. "Forget it, I won't go. I promised Qi Jianjun I'd go fishing with her." "You bunch of... fishing addicts," Qi Yuan sighed helplessly. After Qi Jianjun returned, she had met up with Jin Li, Ning Tao, Canary, and the others, taking them out fishing every single day. At this time, they were probably fishing and sightseeing in Ziyuan Heaven. Furthermore, under Horned Sis's instigation, they were even preparing to hold a grand fishing tournament. The tournament's venue was set in the Immortal Realm's Twelve Heavens. After stepping into the Yang God realm, Qi Yuan had reshaped the Nine Heavens and Twelve Heavens of the Immortal Realm, breaking the Immortal Realm's plight of having no future. "Whoever catches the biggest fish, I'll confer upon them the title of Great General of Fishing, Invincible Across the Universe." With that, Qi Yuan's figure vanished without a trace. "Going to play in the ancestral land... let's mold an alt account." "Hmm, make the appearance a bit ordinary, with low presence. After all... I have to observe living creatures and rocks every day... If I'm too handsome, what if someone mistakes me for a pervert?" Although Qi Yuan's Dao of Samsara was observing the myriad heavens and realms on his behalf, continually perfecting Samsara, didn't he himself... still need to observe as well? To increase efficiency. It was just that when observing in person, it was easy to be taken for a pervert. Fortunately, he didn't have a phone on him, so he wouldn't be branded a voyeuristic creep. "Game... start." ... Three years later. In a courtyard. "Do you think... there's something wrong with Little Yuan?" "Hm? Malnutrition? Should we feed him some nutrient fluid?" "I think... there's something wrong with his head. He's already three years old, yet all he does all day is stare at ants, look at rocks, and play in the mud." "He really is a bit slow... When Wang Zhiyong next door was three, he was already running his family business and smuggling Thunder-Ore Divine Ducks." "Looks like Little Yuan really needs some medicine to fix his brain."