"It's been almost a year since you left here, and I thought you had given up on your initial decision. Please search on Baidu."
Meredith walked ahead, pushing aside bushes that blocked his way, and said, “Especially after I heard about the Son of the Gods… You know what? The northern kingdoms are either fanatical about the rise of the gods or trembling under the iron heel of tyrants. If this continues, it won’t be long before you have the entire northern continent.”
Looking at the dilapidated temple before him, Todd said softly, "I never thought of giving up here. In the past year, I have just done what I was supposed to do."
"You sound like someone with a terminal illness trying to fulfill an unfinished wish."
Meredith's words startled Todd.
The latter was silent for a moment, then laughed: "It really does look like it."
Meredith glanced back at the man, then turned away, sighed softly, and said nothing more.
The two walked to the high platform of the temple. Scáthach, the Queen of Shadows, was gazing at the distant mountain peaks, seemingly unaware of the visitors.
Todd was about to speak when Meredith stopped him, gesturing for him to wait a moment.
A few minutes later, Scáthach turned her gaze from the distance to Todd.
"The number of spirits in the sky is increasing."
Scáthach's sudden remark made Todd look up in confusion.
He transformed his eyes into golden pupils in his tyrant form, gazing at the southern sky, where a thick layer of ever-flowing blue clouds hung.
Meredith frowned: "Those are the souls of the dead... Souls don't normally come together unless someone is manipulating them from behind."
Scáthach descended the stone steps and came to the two of them. She said to Meredith, "You may step back now. I have some questions for him."
Looking at the purple-haired shadow queen standing in front of him, Todd felt uneasy, as if everything about her had been seen through.
“A human who was willing to become a monster for the sake of his human companions.” Scáthach’s words carried an emotion that was difficult to understand: “You showed me that there is still hope in humanity.”
Todd hesitated before saying, "Actually, I..."
Scáthach continued, "But you may not know this, but you've chosen the most difficult path, Xia Shang..."
Hearing Scáthach utter that name at the end, Todd froze, completely bewildered, his mind a jumbled mess: "You know my name in another world?!"
"This is nothing to be surprised about. A name is just a symbol; what you're called doesn't matter. The key is what's inside you."
Todd was getting more and more confused: "Excuse me, could you be more specific? I..."
Scáthach closed her eyes and gently shook her head: "You've already met Crystal, haven't you?"
Todd was startled again: "You even know about Crystal Lodge..."
“Besides me, there is another being who also knows about your affair with Crystal.”
"who?!"
"Leviathan".
Todd rubbed his temples vigorously with his left index finger, while gesturing for Scáthach to pause with his right hand: "Wait! Wait! I'm completely confused! Who are you people?!"
Scáthach waved her hand, and a thick tree root burst forth from the earth, instantly growing into a 'tree chair'.
Scáthach gestured for Todd to sit down first and began, “Let me start from the very beginning… When the universe was still in chaos, Crystal created everything, including me and Leviathan.”
Todd's eyes widened: "So you mean..."
“That’s right. Leviathan and I were among the first beings created by Crystal. We are also known as the ‘Pioneers,’ assisting Crystal in managing and overseeing this world.” Scáthach looked at her palm and said, “Like Leviathan, I have had various names throughout the long history: Hecate, Zechariah, Geofein… All these identities have only one purpose: to help Crystal observe the creations of the world.”
Todd gathered his thoughts and asked, "The pioneers? The first creations of Crystal Nest? Then, this group isn't just the two of you?"
"Yes, but over the long years, some pioneers chose to exile themselves to a corner of the universe, while others chose to turn their life forms into inorganic matter. Only a handful of individuals have truly survived to this day, including myself and Leviathan."
"I see... I have a question that has been bothering me for a long time: what exactly is Crystal Nest? Or rather, what does Crystal Nest want to do?"
"I don't know much about this. I only know that Crystal created us, but above Crystal, there is a group of higher-level creators who created Crystal. According to Crystal, its creator gave it only one mission: to find the optimal mode of existence for life."
Todd pondered these words repeatedly and asked, "What is meant by the optimal mode of existence for life?"
“I don’t know. Jing Su once said that all created beings are flawed. The optimal form of life should not be created, but should be formed naturally through continuous evolution and development. Discovering the optimal model that conforms to the development of life is the mission given to Jing Su by its master. As for why it should do this, I don’t know, not even Jing Su itself knows.”
Todd rubbed his temples and continued, "Let me ask you another question. What's this about the god candidate that Crystal mentioned?"
Scáthach replied, “The so-called candidates for gods are actually a method of life selection. By judging an individual’s strength, evolution, and cognition, a ruler of the race is ultimately chosen, and he is given abilities slightly higher than those of ordinary individuals, to observe how he will improve the race.”
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