139. Virtual Immortality, A Mirage in the Mirror and the Moon

Chen Sheng looked at the churning, boundless Lost Mist in his hands, a strange look flickering in his eyes. Elevated in a single bound to become a god, what his eyes could now perceive was entirely different from what his mortal eyes had once seen.

With the naked eye, looking at the Lost Mist revealed only fog, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of desolate and boundless panic.

Yet as he looked again at this moment, he perceived six narrow paths hidden within the Lost Mist.

Each of these six paths exuded an aura connected to his own power. However, compared to his innate strength, these auras were permeated with an unyielding, lingering aura of death.

Among these six paths, four were extremely narrow, almost invisible.

As for the remaining two, one was somewhat broad, resembling a woodland trail. The other was akin to a farmer's field ridge; although it was also nearing invisibility, it could at least be discerned.

"The destinations to which these six paths lead must be the perfect worlds that the six former gods sought to create," Chen Sheng realized.

The power within him could now be called divine power.

Although not a trace of it existed within his physical form, whenever he desired to wield it, an endless torrent of divine power would surge from within him, akin to a volcano on the verge of erupting.

"This is the Ghost Dao World providing me with divine power."

Chen Sheng naturally understood this, so the auras tied to his own strength could only have been left behind by those former "Entities."

Thus, Chen Sheng reached out and tore open a breach in the Lost Mist.

Chen Sheng's figure grew illusory, and then his entire body transformed into a stream of light, descending onto one of the paths within the Lost Mist—specifically the one that possessed the breadth of a woodland trail.

This path must have been left behind by the god who died last, known as the "Sixth Son."

Chen Sheng decided to investigate the purpose behind these former gods' creation of perfect worlds, a quest for which they had even exhausted their very origins, leading to the destruction of their divine standings.

Possessing the divine power provided by an entire world, the "Ghost Dao World," a god could be considered an invincible existence across the realm.

No matter how powerful a malevolent spirit, no matter how formidable an execution instrument, none could contend with a god.

For a mortal shoulder to match that of a divinity was an absolute impossibility within this "Ghost Dao World."

If a god were willing to expend effort, they could directly forge a rule of the world—a law.

In the earliest days of this "Ghost Dao World," ghosts were not divided into sentient ghosts and fierce spirits. After birth, any ghost could be said to be a fierce spirit, differing only in the degree of their malevolence and violence.

Until the first "Entity" appeared.

Using the power of law, ghosts were categorized into two groups: sentient ghosts, which possessed conditions for harming humans and could only kill when those conditions were triggered; and fierce spirits, which could kill indiscriminately, though their probability of birth was far lower than that of sentient ghosts.

This directly controlled the extent of harm ghosts could inflict upon the living.

The little female ghost's past words—that the appearance of "Them" was a golden age for the living, yet simultaneously a calamity for all ghosts—could be said to contain not a shred of exaggeration.

The advent of gods in the "Ghost Dao World" was indeed an eradication campaign against ghosts.

Yet Chen Sheng did not yet fully understand the reason why. Having happened upon the Lost Mist and uncovered its secrets, he naturally could not resist wanting to investigate.

This path was undoubtedly long, especially within the Lost Mist—a remote edge of the world unreachable by any soul.

Yet none of this could stump a god.

Furthermore, the god who had left all this behind was already dead, and the divine power that once belonged to them now belonged entirely to Chen Sheng.

Therefore, with merely a breath's time, he had already reached the end.

Here lay a ball of unfathomable black light.

Within the black light stood a faint, shimmering stone gate. Chen Sheng stepped forward, reached out, and gently pushed. The stone gate swung open.

And then, Chen Sheng beheld a world brimming with a sense of high technology.

An extraordinarily developed technological civilization seemed to have once flourished here, with towering skyscrapers piercing the clouds and ubiquitous mechanical apparatuses whose precise functions defied immediate understanding.

Every single one of these mechanical apparatuses was still in operation.

Yet, bizarrely, there was not a single living human to be found!

This left Chen Sheng deeply shocked.

Because he possessed the divine power granted by the "Ghost Dao World" here as well, and driven by that divine power, his eyes could perceive every single corner of this place.

Even so, he still could not spot a single living person.

Not even a single flesh-and-blood body; all that met his eyes were mechanical products!

This was profoundly wrong!

Chen Sheng pondered and formed a hypothesis.

It was not that there had never been living people here; in the distant past, they must have existed. But something unknown had happened, causing all the living humans here to vanish.

Only these various machines, representing the operation of civilization, remained.

"I just wonder what kind of relationship existed between these machines and the living humans back then?" Chen Sheng had watched a fair share of sci-fi movies of this genre, especially plots concerning wars fought between robots and humans for freedom, so he could not help but guess from this perspective.

After all, although he was a god, his ascension to godhood had been somewhat hasty and accidental, leaving him prone to viewing things from a human perspective.

Yet, for reasons unknown, upon the matter of his ascension to godhood, Chen Sheng's mind was currently filled with an overwhelming sense of natural rightness.

It was as if he should have always been this way!

And his past twenty-odd years of life had merely been a mistaken experience.

"Let me test it out first..." Unable to reach a conclusion, Chen Sheng sealed his own aura, causing himself to manifest on a street like an ordinary living human.

The moment Chen Sheng's foot stepped onto this high-tech street, it was as if he had triggered some sort of alarm; he distinctly sensed that the street had "come alive."

Then, several "people" walked out.

A total of six people.

Three men and three women, spanning the three age groups of old, middle-aged, and young.

Upon reaching Chen Sheng, these "people" immediately introduced themselves: "Respected human, we are Lin Sanwu, Liu Wu'er, who are here to serve you..."

After reciting a string of names that sounded like surnames paired with serial numbers, these "people" invited Chen Sheng to choose one of them to provide service.

Chen Sheng casually pointed at one.

He happened to select a middle-aged man, who nodded slightly with a highly professional smile, while the other five "people" departed with identical smiles.

"Respected human, I wonder where you come from, as it has been a very long time since we last saw a human here. However, since you have arrived, you are henceforth a citizen of our city. You may choose from the following services: Service One: You work two hours a day, and we will prepare anything you require. For every five days of work, you rest two days, with no overtime, totaling ten hours of work per week."

The middle-aged man stated.

"Service Two: If you wish to become a city administrator or a member of the privileged class, please pass the corresponding examinations and accept our constant supervision. The supervision will be extremely strict, and once you commit an error, you will suffer a punishment tenfold that of an ordinary person committing the same crime. For instance, if an ordinary person is sentenced to ten years in prison, your punishment will be immediate execution. However, correspondingly, once you attain the privileged class, you may henceforth become a privilege holder of this city, effortlessly enjoying extended lifespans that ordinary people must pay an exorbitant price to acquire."

"Service Three: This originates from early cemetery services, which later evolved into a system where, as long as your working hours are sufficient, you can apply to the city. Upon approval, your memories and consciousness can be converted into a virtual format through machinery, thereby achieving an alternative form of eternal life."

"Service Four..."

"Service Five..."

The middle-aged man continued speaking, while Chen Sheng listened patiently. When the middle-aged man finished, Chen Sheng asked, "Did the people who used to live in this city all choose Service Three?"

Virtualizing oneself to achieve an alternative form of eternal life—although unconventional and physically detached from reality—was undeniably tempting enough to sway the vast majority.

No one could resist the temptation of eternal life.

"Yes. Do you also wish to choose Service Three?" the middle-aged man asked, maintaining his professional smile.

"What happened to the physical bodies left behind by those who chose Service Three?" Chen Sheng inquired.

"Naturally, they were fully utilized, transformed into a perpetually driven biological energy source to provide a continuous stream of energy for the virtual world that houses the countless human consciousnesses."

The middle-aged man was merely a robot; Chen Sheng asked, and it answered.

Although the technology in this city was highly advanced, and artificial intelligence surpassing ordinary human intellect had even emerged among the machines, the robots here truly harbored no intent to persecute humans.

Or more accurately, before the artificial intelligence could even voice a protest to secure more rights for its "brethren"—such as demanding a ten-hour workweek instead of twenty-four-hour standby shifts—the living humans of this city had already managed to phase themselves out entirely.

This detail could not be concealed from a god.

When Chen Sheng had first arrived, he did not understand, but as the robot recounted these details, he finally perceived the full picture of the city.

At the very bottom of this city, nestled within layers of protection at its safest core, lay a colossal biological energy source.

And this biological energy source was tirelessly and endlessly powering a virtual world.

Within this virtual world resided a massive number of consciousnesses.

These were the transformed remains of the living humans who once inhabited the city!

These consciousnesses were akin to ghosts, yet devoid of the malevolence of ghosts, and having long been nourished by the biological energy source, each possessed independent self-awareness.

In this regard, aside from lacking physical bodies, they were indistinguishable from the living.

And that virtual world was not merely a hollow vessel for those consciousnesses to exist in. Instead, it was crafted with diverse worldviews for them—immortal cultivation, martial arts, fantasy, urban romance, and more. Whatever humanity had once imagined could be manifested within that virtual world, allowing those consciousnesses to joyfully practice cultivation and martial arts.

To die in such a world was, for these consciousnesses, merely a matter of awaiting a "reincarnation."

Service Three was indeed devoid of false advertising.

"This can truly be considered a perfect world..."

Chen Sheng fell silent.

Then he withdrew his gaze, for he finally understood why, despite looking so much like a perfect world, this place had ultimately failed.

Although life within this city was pleasant, free from the torment of poverty or illness, humans would inevitably age and die.

Human desires are endlessly escalating.

When a person is no longer troubled by survival, wealth, or disease, all that remains is, inevitably, death.

Death is an eternal theme.

This magnified the allure of eternal life without bound.

Consequently, when Service Three appeared, it offered everyone a glimpse of hope for eternal life.

Yes, everyone.

Because the prerequisite for achieving the virtualization of humans and transferring consciousness into that virtual world was not difficult: one only needed to work ten hours a week for ten consecutive years.

Although the time was not short—spanning a decade—it was a steady, grinding effort, achievable through mere persistence.

Because cumulative working hours made no distinction by job type.

Regardless of the labor performed, the treatment regarding time accumulation was identical. It could not be shortened for the children or relatives of the privileged class, nor could anyone exploit personal connections to misappropriate another person's working hours as their own.

Thus, in less than two hundred years, the human population here transitioned rapidly from emergence to total disappearance.

Leaving behind only a mechanical city still operational, yet reduced to a semi-standby state due to the complete absence of humans.

"On the one hand, this is indeed a perfect world. The people living here are free from exploitation and suffering, and they can choose to live with their families in the virtual world or venture into dungeons created within it to fully experience a different kind of life—such as attending the Peach Banquet in Heaven."

"Yet on the other hand, this world is a thorough and utter failure. When the people are gone, what value remains in a city meticulously crafted for humanity?"

"The virtual is, after all, merely virtual."

Chen Sheng raised a hand, and a speck of golden light flew toward him—the final spark of origin left behind by the "Sixth Entity."

It was the presence of this very origin that had sustained this city, which had sprung from nothingness.

Glancing at this spark of origin, Chen Sheng placed it back where it had been.

After all, this place held the final traces of the "Sixth Entity," so it was best left intact.

Presumably, the existence of those other five narrow paths was due to the former gods having made the exact same choice.

Yet, origins could never truly replace gods... As time flowed on, when this woodland trail within the Lost Mist began to fade, that would be the moment of the mechanical city's ultimate demise.

Furthermore, even gods could die.