Chapter 175 World Background, The Truth of the Game is Hidden in the Main God Space...
When Zhou Fangdong arrived at the basement, he found that the reading bar of the lamp oil curing device had finished, and a paste-like object about the size of a bottle cap, contained in a transparent round box, appeared at the bottom of the dispensing port.
...This size means it can only be used once.
Zhou Fangdong sighed and picked up the small box.
One lamp oil hand cream requires 100 reputation points, one-fifth of a jar of lamp oil, plus 1% of his health bar, and this is all that was produced.
Other expenses weren't a big deal, but those 100 reputation points really hurt.
Hopefully this hand cream will be better.
Zhou Fangdong reviewed the item's effects again: If a human uses the lamp oil hand cream and is caught up in the God's instance, during the item's effect, this human can be used as a medium to invade the God's space and steal the God's source power.
One more thing to note: the effective time of the hand cream is randomly generated based on the difficulty of the dungeon.
One tenant needs to enter the main god instance first...
Judging from the precautions, the use time of the hand cream is strongly related to the instance, so when he invades the God's Space, he needs to keep the God's instance alive.
During this period, you cannot use the ghost in the tenant's room to erode the instance, otherwise the hand cream effect will be lost.
Therefore, tenants who need to use hand cream have strong survival skills and can survive independently in the main god dungeon for a long time.
[True Form Descent] is a skill that requires tenants as a medium. Based on past experience with this skill, the skill strength is higher for tenants who have lived in the apartment for a long time and have a high level of affection for the user.
It's conceivable that he used the hand cream tenant as a medium to infiltrate the God's Space in the same way.
Therefore, the conditions for tenants to use this item are: possessing skills, having self-defense capabilities, being familiar with the main god dungeon mechanics, having moved into the apartment a long time ago, and having a 100% affinity with him...
Only Xiao Xiaoyu remains.
We need to prepare more props for her...
"System, do those six players have any substitute dolls in their storage spaces? If so, give them to me directly. If not, return Xiao Xiaoyu's old dolls. Anyway, you stole these things, so giving them to me isn't a loss for me."
[The system doesn't understand what the host is saying. To clarify, everything in the shop was picked up by the system; picking things up doesn't count as stealing.]
"Look how poor I am, I only have 40,000 Ghost Coins left. Do you really have the nerve to ask me to spend money on equipment in the system shop?"
The system doesn't understand what the host is saying.
Why has he suddenly become so stupid again? I wonder where he learned this stubborn, stingy, and idiotic personality from… Muttering this to himself, Zhou Fangdong continued to patiently argue with the system to save money.
"System, think about it. Once I enter the Main God Space, there will be unclaimed items everywhere. You can pick up as many as you want and take as much energy as you want. Giving me all the items now is a great investment with a small investment."
[Under systems thinking...]
[This is indeed a very worthwhile deal. A fake points system is being created... Successfully completed. Please accept the [Fake Points System], Host.]
A pale blue, rhombus-shaped crystal appeared out of thin air in Zhou Fangdong's hand.
As soon as Zhou Fangdong got his hands on it, he immediately knew how to use it.
He focused his consciousness inside and examined the contents, then was immediately awestruck by the mountain of props piled up there.
There were over sixty substitute dolls, as well as various protective items. Although there were few offensive items, with these resources, even if Xiao Xiaoyu was just an ordinary blind and lame little girl, she could still roam freely in the God Dungeon.
After the [Disguised Points System] is integrated into the tenant's body, it will function as a regular God Points System. It is recommended that the host give it to a tenant who is familiar with the God Points System.
After the main god instance ends, the [Disguise Points System] will automatically teleport the tenant back to the apartment.
The system is quite thoughtful; it even took into account the tenants' return to the apartment.
Zhou Fangdong originally planned to give the [white paper lantern] to Xiao Xiaoyu so she could use it to go back to her apartment, but now it seems there's no need for that.
Zhou Fangdong checked the tenant status. Xiao Xiaoyu in room 105 had already gotten up. Inside the room, the two-headed pixelated figure was braiding her own hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom.
Upon seeing this, he teleported directly to room 105.
Zhou Fangdong told Xiao Xiaoyu about the things he wanted to ask her to do.
He initially thought the little girl had some psychological trauma related to the main god instance and that he would need to persuade her for a while. After all, she had been abducted by the main god for ten years and had finally reunited with her parents and settled down.
Unexpectedly, he underestimated Xiao Xiaoyu's mental fortitude. Upon hearing that they were going to target the main god, the girl's eyes lit up with excitement.
...The eyes, in a physical sense, lit up. It was unknown when Xiao Xiaoyu had asked Ke Yan to replace her eyes with a pair of high-tech fluorescent powder eyes that could glow.
It looks pretty good.
Having received the [Disguised Points System] from Zhou Fangdong and seen what was inside, Xiao Xiaoyu felt even more confident: "Mr. Landlord, you can rest assured and go deal with the main god. Leave the matter of delaying the dungeon time to me. I guarantee the dungeon won't end easily!"
In fact, Xiao Xiaoyu had wanted to get rid of the God of the Main God for a long time. During the years she was abducted and forced to separate from her family, she hated the God of the Main God to the extreme.
Unfortunately, she was too weak on her own and never found an opportunity.
After reuniting with her parents, Xiao Xiaoyu buried the idea of taking revenge on the God in her heart and stopped thinking about it... But now, the landlord has given her the chance to get revenge! And it's the landlord himself who's doing it, she can't wait to see what happens to the God.
I'm so lucky to be a tenant at Liwan Apartments.
Zhou Fangdong took Xiao Xiaoyu to the fifteenth floor by elevator.
Repairs to the collapsed areas above the tenth floor are progressing very slowly, as there are many collapse cracks connecting to the main god instance.
After selecting a dungeon that looked difficult, Zhou Fangdong had Xiao Xiaoyu use [Lamp Oil Hand Cream], and then watched her enter the dungeon.
Almost the instant Xiao Xiaoyu's figure disappeared, Zhou Fangdong sensed that he had formed a connection with something in the void.
It was a huge, pale blue sphere suspended in the dark void, composed entirely of various data and information streams.
The surface of the sphere has a white, curved line that looks like it has closed eyes. The flowing data rings constantly circulate around it, expanding and contracting continuously, just like it is breathing.
In terms of appearance, the main god looks much more pleasing to the eye than the evil god.
The method of intrusion was simple. Zhou Fangdong used this connection to guide his consciousness closer to the giant blue sphere.
As the pale blue data streams completely filled the field of vision, Zhou Fangdong's figure disappeared into the apartment corridor.
In the God Realm, a new batch of players had just cleared a supernatural dungeon and returned to the God Realm in a sorry state.
After returning to the main god space from the dungeon, the player's wounds will not heal automatically and will require spending points to heal.
In the God's Space, sleeping requires points, healing requires points, and buying items and exchanging skills for protection also requires points.
For ordinary players, after clearing a dungeon, healing their injuries, and replenishing the items consumed in the dungeon, their points are usually almost depleted.
Fortunately, the food and some daily necessities in the God's Space do not require points to exchange, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to survive.
Since they don't have enough points to stay overnight in the God's Space, they need to choose a supernatural instance to enter after their treatment is complete.
Most players are constantly clearing various supernatural dungeons, like porters, transferring the points they get from the dungeons to the main god space, then using the points to exchange for survivability in the dungeons, and then clearing the dungeons again to get more points.
It keeps repeating, without end.
Under such high pressure, many players gradually became psychologically distorted, completely abandoning thought upon entering the dungeon and choosing to directly slaughter all the dungeon NPCs. After all, as long as they killed them all, they would definitely reach the quest objective.
Most dungeons also have a safety net mechanism; if only one player remains, that player will automatically clear the dungeon and return to the main god space. Therefore, these psychologically twisted players, finding no other way out, will choose to kill their own teammates.
Moreover, it always feels like this kind of slaughter-style player is more favored by the main god.
I heard that in a recent A-level casual dungeon, the main god only allocated slots to players who focused on massacres. I heard that many players fought each other in the main god's space, and in the end, the dungeon slots were taken by the six victorious players.
Xiao Fei sighed. Ordinary players like them didn't even know what the entertainment dungeon contained. But since so many players specializing in massacres were vying for it, the rewards must be quite generous.
He opened the points system panel and began redeeming healing items.
Many players, like Xiaofei, choose to find a way to survive by honestly clearing dungeons.
Before being chosen by the God, they were all ordinary, law-abiding citizens, either students or ordinary office workers, with family and friends, their own studies and jobs, all striving for a better life.
Most of the NPCs they encounter in the dungeon are ordinary people like them. These NPCs cry when they see their loved ones die, and they are afraid when they encounter ghosts, so they really can't bring themselves to do it.
Although clearing dungeons takes a long time and yields few points, many players still choose to stick to their original intentions.
...Only by upholding one's bottom line can one be considered human. Those players who engage in slaughter have been assimilated by the demons and are no different from the evil spirits in dungeons.
After redeeming the medical supplies, Xiaofei looked at his points balance and felt like he was seeing things.
...Strange, why didn't his points change after he redeemed them? Could it be that the God finally had a change of heart and made healing items free for players?
Just as he was about to try exchanging for another one, he suddenly heard his teammate exclaim, "Holy crap! Xiaofei, look at my stats!"
Xiao Fei subconsciously turned his head to the side, because they were in a team, so he could clearly see that his teammate's score balance was rising rapidly.
He was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to say something, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that his score number had also started to jump rapidly, directly from a pitiful 33 to 9999.
The teammate was so excited that his face turned red. He pointed at the panel and was about to say something when Xiaofei covered his mouth.
Xiao Fei switched to the teammate chat channel and said, "Calm down, bro. Do you want the main god to notice this bug and then take back all the points?"
The exchange hall in the God's Space is a circular space with a light blue sphere about the size of a soccer ball suspended in the center. All players are gathered around this sphere, exchanging items with their points.
The single eye of that sphere is currently closed, and so far, the main god has not detected anything unusual.
Moreover, it wasn't just the two of them whose scores changed; most of the players present looked unusual.
Those with teammates whispered amongst themselves in a private chat channel, just like everyone else. Those without teammates, their faces flushed with excitement because they had no one to share with.
Among the many excited players, only one inconspicuous player with a green buzz cut looked somewhat depressed—Zhou Fangdong, who had transformed into a player and invaded the God's Space, was the instigator of this change in points.
After entering the Main God Space, Zhou Fangdong realized that he had been too naive. The Main God Space was not his domain, and he could not devour all the Main Gods at once.
While a quick attack and retreat might secure a large amount of energy, the main god is likely to become wary and hide, making it difficult to eliminate the threat completely.
Compared to the evil god, Zhou Fangdong hated the main god who lurked in the shadows even more. If it hadn't secretly abducted all the supernatural talents of this world, the situation wouldn't be as dire as it is now.
So Zhou Fangdong discussed with the system that this time, instead of absorbing the power during the infiltration, they would secretly modify the main god's data, temporarily store the stolen power in players with low evil values, and then create a [Disguise Points System] to install on these players.
If the main gods abduct people in their world, they can naturally also come to the main god's space to steal players.
After infiltrating the God's Space, Zhou Fangdong discovered that the God did not monitor every player at all times, because there were simply too many players.
The main god has also deployed many supernatural instances in various worlds. Its main focus is on finding ways to steal power from other worlds, so it cannot keep an eye on these worker ant-like players while maintaining the operation of the supernatural instances in various worlds.
After returning, Zhou Fangdong decided to find a way to lure the main god out. In his home turf, using the upgraded [True Form Shrine] should be able to completely defeat the main god.
In the worst-case scenario, the system can bring back all players carrying the [Fake Points System].
So what he needs to do now is to implant the [Fake Points System] into more players and then temporarily store the power he stole from the main god in the players.
Zhou Fangdong had already figured out how to lure the main god out.
The basement can be used to create a [God's Trap]. He is currently 100% eroding the evil god's authority, and the aura emanating from that slime clone should now be comparable to that of the evil god.
He will then throw out his slime clone near the apartment, and then throw out a [God's Decoy].
Both the main god and the evil god had attempted to invade the apartment to replenish their power. Zhou Fangdong speculated that the Liwan Apartment might be the last layer of protection for their world, and that the outer god could obtain the world's original power by occupying the apartment.
When the main god descends into the dungeon and discovers that the one inside is an 'evil god,' he will definitely be furious—thinking that his partner has been seriously injured and escaped, but in reality, he faked his death and took the opportunity to steal the apartment.
Having been deceived by the 'evil god' time and time again, it must be furious. The main god showed up last time when the 'evil god' invaded the mirror instance, and it will most likely appear again this time.
As long as the supreme deity dares to show itself, he will not let it leave.
Zhou Fangdong stayed in the Main God Space until Xiao Xiaoyu's instance ended, marking more than 600 players together with the system.
It was already noon when Zhou Fangdong returned to the apartment. He noticed that Xiao Xiaoyu had also returned unharmed and was working at the courier station.
He retrieved the [Disguise Points System] from her and discovered that Xiao Xiaoyu had only used a substitute doll.
Using only one item, you managed to last so long in the dungeon; you truly are a veteran player.
He currently has fifteen players under his command, and more than six hundred more are coming soon. He needs to hurry up and prepare for the construction of the player training center at the Supervision Bureau.
However, he only has 40,000 ghost coins on hand, so he needs to go to the ghost market to withdraw some from his savings. He just caused the system to bleed money, so it definitely won't be giving him a free renovation for the Bureau of Supervision.
Thinking of this, Zhou Fangdong teleported directly to the Ghost Market.
This time, he didn't appear at the paper offering shop, but directly at the end of the ghost market street, next to the blacksmith shop.
As Zhou Fangdong's figure appeared, he noticed a thin old man wearing a long mandarin jacket standing at the entrance of the blacksmith shop, seemingly observing the shop's door.
Noticing Zhou Fangdong's presence, the old man turned around and looked over.
Unlike the pedestrians on the street, this old man did not wear a mask.
The moment Zhou Fangdong saw his face, he was immediately startled.
The old man looked extremely old, with skin as dry and rough as tree bark, and layers of wrinkles piled up on his face and neck, making him look like a withered branch.
But his eyes were unusually bright, as if he were in his prime, like a blazing torch, which contrasted sharply with the sense of decay on his body.
Although Zhou Fangdong did not have a memory of the old man's face, he felt that the old man looked very familiar and had a special sense of familiarity.
A name was about to come out, but it got stuck in Zhou Fangdong's throat, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Looking at Zhou Fangdong's appearance, the old man stroked his beard and laughed: "I am the owner of a coffin shop. You can call me Zhou Qi."
Would you like to come and sit in my shop?
Is the coffin shop owner also surnamed Zhou?
...Could the Ghost Market be entirely owned by the Zhou family?
Zhou Fangdong carefully examined the old man's face and found that he did indeed resemble the old man in the photo on the computer, and they looked like they were related.
Since we still have time, let's go to the coffin shop and chat with the owner first.
After talking with the ghost bus driver, Zhou Fangdong went to the ghost market to look for the coffin shop owner, but he wasn't in the shop at the time.
Zhou Fangdong and the old man returned to the coffin shop together.
He randomly chose a coffin to sit down, looking at the old man making tea at the counter. He had too many questions in his mind and didn't know what to ask for a moment.
The coffin shop owner brought over a cup of tea and handed it to him, but Zhou Fangdong waved his hand and refused: "No, I can't drink it in my current condition."
"This tea doesn't need to be tasted, just smell it." With that, the coffin shop owner lifted the lid of the teacup and brought it close to Zhou Fangdong.
A refreshing aroma of tea wafted into his nostrils, and Zhou Fangdong, who was not a glutton, suddenly felt like eating again.
The experience of smelling this tea is like being outside in the dead of winter for half a day, and then coming back inside to drink a cup of warm water – soothing and comforting.
Zhou Fangdong held the teacup, somewhat moved.
This is life...
It would be even better if you replaced the tea with cola.
The coffin shop owner poured himself a cup of tea, smiling as he looked at Zhou Fangdong with eyes full of satisfaction, as if he were looking at his own promising junior.
After finishing his tea, Zhou Fangdong finally gathered his thoughts and asked, "I heard from my ghost tenant that I used to frequent this place when I was alive. You not only have the coffin where I slept, but also photos of me as a child... We must have been quite familiar with each other before, right?"
The coffin shop owner nodded. "That's right. I've made all your coffins since you were a child."
Zhou Fangdong didn't press the matter further; now wasn't the time for reminiscing. His biggest concern was the apartment issue.
He continued, "In that case, I should be able to communicate with you about everything I do, right? Can you tell me what caused the cracks on the top floor of the Liwan Apartments? What exactly did I do at the Liwan Apartments before? And who were my partners?"
After dealing with the main deity, he prepared to address the cracks in the apartment's rooftop, as figuring out how this supernatural source had formed was crucial.
If Zhou Fangdong were to recall these events on his own, aside from the headaches and loss of mental energy, the system would also constantly interrupt him. Therefore, he could only learn this important information from others.
Obtaining information from others is equivalent to re-entering memories into your body while you are in a state of amnesia, rather than recalling memories that were originally sealed away. Therefore, the system will not stop you from chatting with either the ghost bus driver or the coffin shop owner.
"Sigh..." The coffin shop owner sighed softly, "It's hard to explain in a short time..."
"It's alright, I have plenty of time, I'm free all afternoon, we can talk slowly."
The coffin shop owner smiled at Zhou Fangdong, but instead of directly answering his question, he brought up something unrelated:
"Throughout history, all deities have gone through hardships, accumulated merits, and gained the recognition of the people in order to obtain divine status and receive incense and faith."
"Becoming a god is not the end. Even the ancient gods who created the world will grow old and die, let alone ordinary gods..."
Zhou Fangdong didn't know what the coffin shop owner was trying to do by suddenly saying all this, but he wisely didn't interrupt and just sat obediently on the coffin, holding his teacup.
The coffin shop owner gazed into the distance, his eyes somewhat vacant: "When the five signs of decay of heaven and man arrive, no god can escape—this is the transformation of the entire world, and also a test for the gods."
"The ancient gods died of old age, the protective barrier collapsed, the world transformed, the Heavenly Dao was reorganized, all the gods experienced the five signs of decay, and were unable to respond to the prayers of believers... This is the most vulnerable time for the entire world, and also the time when it is most susceptible to invasion by external evils."
"The Heavenly Dao foresaw this matter, and thus, before the ancient god died of old age, it sent down a revelation."
"This world needs a new ancient god to support heaven and earth and protect the world. Therefore, a god needs to be elevated to a higher divine status to fill the void left by the ancient gods."
"However, the ascension to godhood is not an easy thing. In order to prevent being affected by the five calamities of decay of gods and men, one must first destroy one's own godhood, be reborn as a human, and then go through the three tribulations of the mortal world, endure hardships, gain merit and incense offerings, complete the test, reshape one's godhood, and return to a new godhood."
The coffin shop owner stepped out from behind the counter and said in a deep voice:
"The three tribulations in the mortal world are the tribulation of the body, the tribulation of love, and the tribulation of life and death."
"Body Tribulation - Stillborn and Resurrected, the first half-ghost in the world. Consciously trapped in the body of an infant, unable to move like a paralyzed child, unable to eat on its own, unable to speak, clinging to the family like a parasitic vine, and able to survive only by being cared for by others for decades."
"The Tribulation of Love - The blood relatives who gave you the grace of raising you either die of old age or violent death. After the separation of death, you personally capture their souls and send them into reincarnation. You watch the familiar dead souls reincarnate, their memories disappear, and they become completely unfamiliar people."
"The Tribulation of Life and Death—sacrificing one's body and soul, paying the price of eternal damnation for a slim chance of reincarnation... Blood and flesh offered to the heavens, souls fed to countless ghosts, enduring boundless pain in an endless sea of suffering, neither truly alive nor truly dead, consciousness severed, one half driven mad and bloodthirsty, the other half as foolish as a child..."
The coffin shop owner walked up to Zhou Fangdong and gently patted his shoulder with his withered, wooden fingers.
"What you are experiencing now is a life-or-death ordeal."
After listening to the coffin shop owner's story, Zhou Fangdong's expression became unusually somber.
Good grief, is the haunted house landlord management game actually an ancient god growth simulator?
The coffin shop owner's prediction of the first two tribulations of life and death has come true. His childhood growth cycle was very long, and he probably does indeed have no living relatives now.
However, he was completely uninterested in these backgrounds. No matter how capable he was in the past, he was now just a newbie who couldn't even leave the Liwan Apartment.
Moreover, if he saw so much background information while playing the game, he would definitely skip it.
This is because he was afraid of affecting his image in real life; otherwise, he would have interrupted the coffin shop owner's rambling and gotten to the point quickly.
Moreover, in the final life-or-death ordeal, half of his consciousness is driven mad and the other half is mentally impaired... He doesn't feel like he's either mad or mentally impaired, or is it that he hasn't reached that stage yet, and he needs to advance some more progress before it occurs?
Damn it, he's already having enough of amnesia, he doesn't want to become a serial killer or develop dementia.
After Zhou Fangdong had processed the information he had received, the coffin shop owner continued:
"I am a fragment of the soul of Zhou Qi, the Five Ghost Emperors. Because you chose to be reborn into a mortal family with whom I am related by blood, my original body created me to protect you."
Seeing that the coffin shop owner seemed about to tell him stories from his childhood, Zhou Fangdong finally couldn't take it anymore and was about to interrupt when the old man suddenly changed the subject: "After all the living descendants of the Zhou family have died out, you have been staying here with me for the time being."
"Not long after, the calamity foretold by Heaven began... At the same time, when you were going through the Impermanence Soul-Binding Path, you also noticed the existence of the Liwan Apartments."
Hearing him finally mention Liwan Apartments, Zhou Fangdong sat up straight.
But perhaps because older people like to talk at length, the coffin shop owner started introducing the background of Liwan Apartments again.
According to the coffin shop owner, before the Liwan Apartments were built, this land was an extremely yin and evil place.
In the 1980s, a wealthy businessman built the Liwan Apartments on this land.
It would be fine if it were built like a regular apartment, since many schools or hospitals are built on cemeteries, using the yang energy of the living to suppress the yin energy.
However, during the construction of the apartment building, the wealthy businessman listened to the advice of the bone-setting priests and not only drove live piles for the foundation, but also allowed the living and the dead to live together.
The chaotic yin and yang energies form a vortex of yin energy, which will cause the people living in the apartment to become increasingly extreme in their emotions.
Ten years after the apartment was built, a large number of murders began to occur in the apartment due to the secret guidance of the Bones Society. At the same time, the cult took the opportunity to sacrifice a large number of tenants, which aroused the power of the evil god.
By this time, the ancient gods had aged, and the world's defenses had become weak. The evil god discovered this world in the midst of transformation and began to actively respond to the prayers of his followers, using his own power to erode the Liwan Apartments.
And so the whole world began to disintegrate from the Liwan Apartments.
Due to the chaotic vortex of yin energy and the erosion of the evil god, the chaotic yin energy in the Liwan Apartment area began to erupt explosively, and a crack tore open on the top floor of the apartment, allowing the power of the void to invade this world.
The world is in a period of weakness and begins to transform. The laws of nature are being reorganized, and supernatural forces are starting to go out of control, with ghosts and monsters appearing in the mortal realm.
After the ancient god died, the world's defenses completely collapsed, the cracks in the top floor of the apartment building began to expand, the power of the void invaded, and the calamity of the gods officially began.
While all the gods were suffering from the collapse and reconstruction of their divine status, they also had to divert their power to support the world for the ancient gods and slow down the collapse of the world. They were unable to respond to the prayers of believers, nor did they have time to deal with the monsters causing chaos in the world.
The underworld, which should be receiving and dealing with ghosts and monsters, was the most deeply affected.
—The void power emanating from the cracks in the top floor of the apartment building not only pollutes ghosts and monsters, but also erodes the underworld, bringing evil spirits from hell into reality.
At the same time, due to the imbalance of Yin and Yang in the mortal world, the Sanzu River, which is the dividing line between life and death, underwent an anomaly, changing its course and shifting from under the Naihe Bridge in the underworld to the place where the Yin and Yang fluctuations were most intense... that is, the gap on the top floor of the apartment building.
Originally, the Sanzu River was already filled with many vengeful spirits who could not escape. After the river reached the gap on the top floor of the apartment building and was polluted by the power of the void, the power of the evil spirits in the river became even more terrifying.
Freed from the constraints of the underworld, these vengeful spirits emerged from the river of blood and crawled out of the cracks into reality.
Therefore, in order to prevent the situation from worsening, the underworld directly sealed off the passage connecting it to the mortal world.
"It was at this time that you noticed the problems with Liwan Apartments."
"Thanks to your and my joint protection, the Ghost Market has remained stable despite the imbalance of Yin and Yang."
The coffin shop owner slowly walked to the counter and gently patted the coffin that was placed upright behind it.
"Later, you combined the situation of the Ghost Market with the characteristics of the Liwan Apartments and together with me opened up a stable Yin-Yang gap in the mirror world of the Liwan Apartments. That Yin-Yang gap can automatically attract the souls of all ordinary people who have nowhere to go after the Underworld closes down, and the passages to that space are one in the coffin shop in the Ghost Market and the other in the back building of the apartment."
Zhou Fangdong was aware of this matter; the eight ghost tenants of Chuyun Temple were brought out by him from the space behind the apartment building.
The ghost bus driver also mentioned this incident. After becoming a ghost tenant, his job was to transport the souls of ordinary people who had died in the apartment.
The coffin shop owner continued, "Due to health reasons, I cannot leave the ghost market for long periods of time. So you began to try to create beings that are neither human nor ghost, unaffected by the yin energy of the apartment, as helpers for transporting the souls of the dead."
"After successfully creating that ghost driver, you met your 'partner'."
Finally, this has come up!
Zhou Fangdong also stood up, resting his hands on the counter, staring intently at the coffin shop owner, somewhat nervous.
The coffin shop owner seemed completely lost in his memories, oblivious to Zhou Fangdong's burning gaze:
"After the underworld was closed, the cracks in the apartment continued to widen, the collapse of the world intensified, and the spiritual projections of Outer Gods began to crawl out from the cracks."
"Just then, the Heavenly Dao recovered from the world's transformation and developed its own consciousness. The world consciousness attempted to save itself for the first time, attaching itself to the Liwan Apartments and trapping the projections of the outer gods within the Liwan Apartments."
"Because of insufficient power, the world consciousness is temporarily unable to spare the power to deal with the ghosts in the apartment... But at the same time, you brought the ghost bus driver into the apartment. Then you placed all the ghost messengers that you had previously rescued and who were stranded in the mortal world in the rooms on the top three floors of the apartment as pillars to stabilize the chaotic yin energy on the top floor, which made the situation of Liwan Apartment more stable."
"Your first collaboration with the world's consciousness was to create that furniture store manager and, based on this manager's power, to screen for supernatural talents, attempting to have these people move into the apartment and deal with the ghosts within."
At this point, the coffin shop owner sighed heavily: "But this attempt failed. Another powerful outer god, the chief god, has somehow formed a partnership with the evil god of the Bone Inheritance Society and has been lurking in the shadows, watching us intently."
"It took away all the selected paranormal talents."
"Due to the lack of paranormal talent, the Bureau of Supervision is becoming increasingly short-staffed, and there is a shortage of young investigators, making it increasingly difficult to contain the spread of paranormal events."
"Then the fleshy Ganoderma on the second floor of Liwan Apartment erupted, followed by the apartment's ghosts going berserk and fleeing in large numbers... The supernatural events completely broke out, and Liwan Apartment and the surrounding area were sealed off by the Supervision Bureau."
"It was at this time that you realized the danger of these external gods and felt that you could no longer delay."
"When you first cooperated with the world consciousness, you knew your mission and decided to start the tribulation of life and death ahead of time. You used your own flesh and blood and soul as a sacrifice to merge with the entire rift, suppress the Blood River Ghosts, devour all the power of the void, and become the gate guarding the world."
"When you have successfully assimilated that rift, your body will be restored, your divinity will be reshaped, and you will become a new world barrier, a new ancient god."
"This would normally take a very long time..."
At this point, the coffin shop owner looked at Zhou Fangdong with a sorrowful expression: "You shouldn't have woken up at this time. It's not time yet, it's very dangerous."
"Wake up now, because your consciousness is being torn apart every moment. While devouring the vengeful ghosts, you are also being assimilated by those evil spirits, putting you in an extremely dangerous state."
"Although the world consciousness has blocked most of your memories and consciousness, sealing away negative emotions such as bloodlust, rage, and killing, leaving only a more human and clumsy side... just like pain is blocked, it is only blocked, not non-existent."
"Once you lose your guidance, the one that will destroy the world first will not be the Outer God or the Supreme God, but yourself."
"So, to prevent the situation of waking up midway, the world consciousness separated a bit of its original power. Based on your experience and habits in playing the game, you created a guidance system for yourself and stored all the resources you borrowed from others in the system."
"Both the world consciousness and you have the highest authority over the system. To prevent you from losing control, the world consciousness occasionally takes over the system... You should have noticed that by now, right?"
Zhou Fangdong finally understood why his system always behaved in fits and starts; sometimes it was very intelligent, and sometimes it was incredibly stupid.
So it turns out they're constantly being targeted by the world's consciousness.
It can now be confirmed that his partner is the World Consciousness, and the system was created by the two of them together.
Completing the mission will accelerate the process of his body's repair. Once his body is completely repaired, the cracks in the top floor of the apartment will disappear.
The coffin shop owner continued, "After you jumped into the crack on the top floor of the apartment building, the situation at Liwan Apartments stabilized considerably."
"The world consciousness also began its second self-rescue, completely merging with the apartment, controlling all the ghosts and monsters inside the building, preventing them from leaving."
"The apartment embodies global consciousness; the entire building is essentially the origin of the world, becoming a convergence point for the power of the entire world."
"The Liwan Apartments were sealed off, trapping all the ghosts and monsters, all the collapsed areas and the projections of the outer gods, but they were powerless against the main god and the evil god..."
"Before you jumped into the rift, you manipulated the ghosts in the apartment to slaughter all the Bone Society cultists in the building and clean up all the main god instances in the suburbs."
"But they were quiet for only five years."
"I have been keeping an eye on the Liwan Apartments... I saw that the main god first tentatively sent people to infiltrate the third floor of the apartments. After the world consciousness did not react, it should have directly notified the evil god. While the evil god was active, the main god also began to openly and legitimately send down a dungeon in the city center."
"The supreme god and the evil god took advantage of the situation, so the world's consciousness had no choice but to awaken you ahead of schedule."
After listening to the coffin shop owner, Zhou Fangdong understood everything.
His body is currently inside the crack on the top floor of the apartment building. The main quest is to repair his body and the world.
After digesting the evil god's true form, the world's defenses and repair progress reached 50%.
Once the main god is dealt with, the world's protection progress will probably be 100%, and the remaining 1% for his body will also be completed.
I suddenly feel so motivated, and I have something to look forward to in life. I even have the urge to rush out right now and scatter the ashes of the main god.
Once the building for training players is completed for the Supervision Bureau, let's lure out the main god directly. This troublemaker has been causing trouble in the shadows all along, and this time he will definitely not let it escape.
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