152. Initial Authority, This Is Also a False World

A conceptual weapon of apocalyptic grade!

Chen Sheng instantly thought of the weapon Kelsu had once mentioned, and simultaneously realized in his heart that it was indeed possible to assign the definition of the Ninth Civilization Chain to the human race of Earth!

However, he had to bypass the definition of destruction; otherwise, he would not succeed.

This discovery left Chen Sheng's heart surging with emotion.

Who would want to stand still if they had the chance to grow stronger? A demigod who acted like a salted fish had simply reached the upper limit of their own civilization and race, leaving no further room for advancement!

"Assign the definition of the Ninth Civilization Chain to the human race of Earth, who have been eternally destroyed," Chen Sheng reformulated his words.

The moment his words fell, it was as if his speech carried the force of law. Instantly, Chen Sheng felt a shackle within himself break. Along with it, the divine power in his body began to stir, and faintly, he seemed to see an inverted pyramid constructed of civilizational matter.

The more civilizational matter accumulated, the stronger a demigod's power correspondingly became.

On this inverted pyramid, Chen Sheng could even see endless mountains of accumulated civilizational matter belonging to a Ninth-Chain demigod.

"I can break through!" Chen Sheng's action stirred.

This thought did not originate from himself, but from the Great Will of the Universe. It was also Chen Sheng's first time coming into such close contact with the Great Will of the Universe, causing his entire body to tremble as he deeply felt his own insignificance.

"So, what kind of power did you actually give me back then, little girl?" Chen Sheng could not help but cradle the egg in both hands. His gaze was profound, yet the depths of his eyes held a trace of nostalgia and a hint of sweetness.

The power to assign conceptual attributes to other things was simply so terrifying that it could be called a demigod taboo!

Then, the egg, feeling somewhat annoyed by Chen Sheng's gaze, gave him a direct bonk on the forehead.

As small-tempered and fiery as ever.

Naturally, Chen Sheng would not be hurt by a blow from an egg imbued with divine power, especially since the source of the divine power within this egg was himself. Although it had been refined by the egg, that divine power and he still shared the same origin.

Thus, Chen Sheng also came to understand why demigods of co-originating divine power often had to fight to the death.

Just as in the mortal world, sufficiently massive interests could turn close brothers into mortal enemies.

"You really need to temper that temper of yours," Chen Sheng said with a helpless smile. Comparing this to her once gentle-as-water personality, the contrast before and after was simply too stark!

Bang!

The egg demonstrated with practical action that not only would she not listen, but her temper could become even fiercer.

"Then I'll cut your divine power in half," Chen Sheng directly "threatened."

The familiar little face directly imprinted itself upon the eggshell. She stared at Chen Sheng, appearing extremely angry, but then her expression turned hesitant. In the end, she reluctantly made an expression indicating agreement.

She was in great need of divine power right now. Of course, she could also generate her own divine power to achieve the first perpetual-motion cycle, but how could that process compare in speed to refining divine power given by someone else?

Having reached the first agreement with the egg, Chen Sheng saw that this method worked and promptly proposed a second condition: no more running around the world.

To this demand from Chen Sheng, the egg agreed very quickly.

She wouldn't run if she didn't run. Anyway, based on her memories regarding that Cthulhu-clan tool, the manufacturing speed of such a tool was quite fast, and she wouldn't be staying in this world for long.

When Chen Sheng went to visit that half-finished cross-universe transit tool, she had naturally seen it as well.

The moment she saw it, the corresponding memories surfaced in her mind.

Along with them, she finally remembered who this guy was, who kept giving her divine power yet refused to call her daddy.

The origin of this fellow was a long story.

So she would keep it short.

One day, when she suddenly broke through her limits and attained her status, she accidentally picked up a remnant soul that claimed: "Because I created a forbidden program that disrupted the capitalist ghost's phased monopoly power, I was persecuted by the wealthy ghost families under the capitalist ghost's jurisdiction. The wealthy ghost families sent a daughter ghost to deliberately approach me, become my girlfriend, and then, after stealing the forbidden program, she murdered my programmer soul."

The origin of this remnant soul was strange enough, but even stranger than that were the things the remnant soul said at the time. Especially the gaze the remnant soul cast upon the demigods of this universe—it was even stranger, condescending yet carrying pity, with profound hidden meanings. Particularly when he learned that there was a virtual world here capable of condensing consciousness, he even uttered strange words such as, "The final person to inherit my will will return immortal; just wait, you evil ghosts!"

Moreover, this remnant soul was extremely special. Clearly lacking any power whatsoever, he could exempt any demigod's power! However, that remnant soul could not exist for long; even divine power could not protect him, and he could only allow the remnant soul to gradually dissipate bit by bit.

Before that remnant soul completely dissipated, he bestowed upon her a power called "Initial Authority."

And all other memories related to this were entirely gone.

She only remembered that she seemed to have done something in the past, causing this power called "Initial Authority" to use a virtual world built with massive resources to condense consciousness, replacing a peach with a plum, and becoming a person who had once existed.

From this perspective, letting this fellow call her daddy was entirely reasonable!

After all, her past self had created this fellow!

Thinking of this, the egg eyed Chen Sheng's forehead, and a surge of malice welled up in her heart. She wanted to bash this unfilial son! Where was there an unfilial son who wouldn't recognize his own daddy?

Yet, thinking of this unfilial son's "threat to halve her divine power," she immediately lost her nerve. If her divine power were halved, the time it would take for her to recover would be prolonged by a huge margin.

This was something she simply could not tolerate.

So, why on earth did her past self turn this "highest authority" power into a person?

Wouldn't it have been better to integrate that power into herself?

The egg muttered resentfully in her heart.

She felt that her former self must have had water in her brain.

Naturally, Chen Sheng had no idea that a certain egg was currently cursing herself. After modifying the civilization chain of Earth's humans, he couldn't help but feel his heart surge.

Following that, the thought of resurrecting Earth's humans arose in him.

However, after trying it once, Chen Sheng instantly abandoned this notion. Because not only was the destructive resistance immensely powerful, but even the Great Universe Will was warning him.

If Earth's humans remained in a state of destruction, the definition of the Ninth Chain he bestowed could exist. But if Earth's humans were resurrected, not only would that conceptual destructive-grade weapon lock onto him, but the civilization chain tier of Earth's humans would instantly vanish. By then, the backlash of the civilization chain alone would be enough to kill him.

Moreover, after such a test, Chen Sheng also sensed a binding force descending upon his head.

That binding force gave him an intense sensation.

It felt as though it originated from the exact same source as his power to assign definitions to other things!

"What kind of power is this?" Chen Sheng couldn't help but wonder, but he dared not try again. No demigod dared to ignore the warning of the Great Universe Will.

...

"The mysterious 'bug' codenamed Absurd has appeared again, rewriting the definition of Earth's humans this time, but it hasn't caused too much impact. The Virtual Reality Ghost Spirit Realm remains normal just like before, and all programs are operating as usual."

In a bustling office building, a grayish-white human hand pressing on a keyboard said this.

"That's good. If the programs are normal, then let that mysterious 'bug' codenamed Absurd be. Anyway, it's not the first time it has appeared; it showed up ten years ago as well. Notify down the line that the next batch of human living souls can continue to be deployed into the Virtual Reality Ghost Spirit Realm. Remember to erase the past memories of those living souls while making them all think they are still alive."

Speaking these words was a red eyeball protruding from the darkness. As it spoke, fresh blood constantly dripped down, making dripping sounds that created an eerie and inexplicably spine-chilling atmosphere in the darkness.

"Rest assured, the Virtual Reality Ghost Spirit Realm is Lord Capitalist Ghost's proudest creation; how could there possibly be any flaws?" The grayish-white hand on the keyboard retorted somewhat irritably.

"Of course I'm not worried about problems in the Virtual Reality Ghost Spirit Realm. What I'm worried about are those two little ghosts who came ten years ago—all clumsy and butterfingered. Didn't that allow a remnant soul killed by the wealthy ghost Dai family to sneak into the virtual reality world?" The red eyeball protruding from the darkness retorted with a hint of anger.

"That's true as well. I even suspect whether that mysterious 'bug' codenamed Absurd was created by that remnant soul. I'll go over and keep an eye on it."

Seeing the grayish-white hand back down, the red eyeball was immediately satisfied and appropriately retreated. "You don't need to go keep an eye on it personally; just give a word of reminder. However, recently, the statuses produced by the Virtual Reality Ghost Spirit Realm are somewhat insufficient, which will affect Lord Capitalist Ghost's next step in expanding the market ghost domain. Have them urge a batch of demigods of the ghost spirit realm to mature, striving to cultivate two statuses this time."

"I've noted it."

As this sentence fell from the grayish-white hand, the red eyeball fell silent once more, and this office building returned to its usual bustling state.

Countless heads floated back and forth, yet no lights ever lit up.

Because this was a famous haunted building in the Spirit Realm.

Ever since the power of evil ghosts overwhelmed the power of immortals and gods, sealing and slaying all immortals and gods, the Spirit Realm had completely degenerated into a carnival paradise for evil ghosts.

And to be "famous" in such a place, one could easily imagine how extraordinary this haunted building was.

After all, this was under the jurisdiction of the Capitalist Ghost.

Capitalist Ghost had originally been just a minor ghost in ancient times, but with the changes of the times and the shift in human social productivity, this "minor ghost" suddenly expanded. In less than a hundred years, Capitalist Ghost became one of the three great ghost kings of the Spirit Realm, and simultaneously the head of the three, commanding numerous ghost generals under his jurisdiction. Among them, the wealthy ghosts, rich ghosts, aristocratic ghosts, and landlord ghosts were the most powerful.

As for other minor ghosts, such as daughter ghost, building lord ghost, house old-woman ghost, and assembly-line ghost, they were countless, with hundreds of formidable ones selectable from each category.

...

Naturally, Chen Sheng had no idea that the civilization chain of Earth's humans he had modified had startled gazes from outside this "universe."

After all, he knew nothing of worlds outside this "universe."

At this moment, he had given up the idea of cultivating immortality and was pondering how to collect civilizational matter from this world, which possessed the aesthetic style of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

As for Chen Sheng's frequent changes of mind, Chen Xiao-yi was naturally greatly dissatisfied.

Because she had just discovered the fun of transforming into a large black dragon.

Yet she dared not voice it aloud.

She could only cast her gaze toward the egg nearby. Although this egg had beaten her up, they had become acquainted through conflict.

Unfortunately, this time the egg did not help her.

Because the egg was extremely satisfied with Chen Sheng's change of mind. A demigod should diligently and earnestly collect civilizational matter; acting like a salted fish all day, either idling away one's life or running around playing, looked nothing like a demigod!

Naturally unaware of Chen Xiao-yi's inner thoughts, Chen Sheng finally thought of a method to collect civilizational matter in this world after some deliberation.

Civilizational matter was born from civilization; it was a special kind of substance that could be said to be nonexistent, yet alive, blooming and bearing fruit much like a fruit tree.

And the best way to collect civilizational matter was to activate the era's civilization of a world, allowing this world to develop rapidly during this era.

During that process, civilizational matter would accumulate wildly, thus blooming and bearing fruit for demigods to harvest.

"Let's go!"

Chen Sheng decided to descend the mountain.

"Where are we going?" Chen Xiao-yi asked instinctively.

"To hoodwink a sovereign of a realm, and then go be the imperial preceptor," Chen Sheng said.

Hearing this, Chen Xiao-yi felt a stir in her heart and hurriedly said, "If that's the case, why can't I go? I'll fly over, summon clouds and rain in a drought-stricken area, and won't the people there directly treat me like an immortal?"

When Chen Sheng heard this, he couldn't help but feel it made sense.

"Then you summon clouds and rain, make the locals convinced, and immediately do this..." Chen Sheng instructed. In a world like this, powerful local clans reigned supreme; as long as one controlled those powerful clans, achieving goals such as driving the development of a region would be extremely easy.

A county town held tens of thousands of people, yet those who grasped the lifeline of that county town numbered perhaps only a few dozen.

Among them were officials, landlords, and men of great reputation.

As for the ordinary people, whatever they wanted to do had to go through these few dozen people. For instance, that man of great reputation—known both inside and outside the village as fair-minded, whenever someone encountered a matter requiring judgment or notarization, regardless of whether this reputable man was truly fair, the first thought of ordinary people in the county town was to seek this reputable man!

Or perhaps, when an ordinary family produced a scholar who wished to pass higher imperial examinations, they needed to enter a good academy so they could encounter a famous and good teacher. Yet such academies were hard for ordinary families to enter; someone had to bridge the connection!

And who was best suited to bridge this connection? Local officials, gentry landlords, and men of great reputation.

It could be said that whatever one did, one could not escape that small group grasping the lifeline of the county town.

If an external force gained the recognition and assistance of this small group, then whatever they did would yield twice the result with half the effort, as if aided by divine forces.

"Alright, alright, I know!" Chen Xiao-yi listened impatiently and gave a casual, perfunctory agreement, to the extent that by the time she descended the mountain, she had forgotten everything Chen Sheng had just told her.

"Then let's just pretend this unfilial master didn't instruct me at all!" Chen Xiao-yi happily changed her approach.