Chapter 1 The Beginning

[Do you want to go higher, set foot further, and become stronger?] [Do you want to know the meaning of life?]

[Yes/No]

The girl, about to go to sleep, stared blankly at the window that popped up on her computer screen. Her bright, sparkling eyes were full of doubt, as if pondering the true meaning of these words, or perhaps experiencing some kind of wonderful calling within them.

Then, she ignored it.

"What kind of ad pop-up is this... Never mind, I'm going to sleep."

Completely disregarding what had appeared on her computer, the extremely tired Shao Shuangyue flopped onto her back, rolled herself up in the blanket, cocooning herself into a worm-like shape, and fell into a deep sleep within three seconds of her head touching the pillow.

A sweet dreamland.

Then, the next morning, Shao Shuangyue, unable to escape from the black hole-like blanket, urgently called her mother for help, only to be scolded by Aunt Wen for 'being so old and still sleeping like an elementary school student!' She hurriedly finished breakfast, grabbed her schoolbag, and rushed off to class.

The unclosed computer went into sleep mode, motionless.

In the evening, Shao Shuangyue, having finished her spiritual energy class, hurriedly started on her homework, complaining as she wrote, 'Why do we have to write about our cultivation experiences!' 'I clearly asked Zhou-ge and elder brother, and they both said the same thing, so why do I get criticized for being unrealistic when I write it down?'

She still didn't touch the computer.

Days passed. Due to her overly heavy workload and the approaching Shengju selection trials, even the playful Shao Shuangyue became serious. She only logged into her mobile games daily, at most checking some information on her phone, let alone touching the computer.

She completely forgot about the pop-up.

So, another late night arrived.

As Shao Shuangyue slept soundly, the computer, which had been in sleep mode, suddenly started itself, emitting a faint blue light. On the screen, the seemingly ordinary pop-up was flashing with mysterious brilliance.

This light was so dazzling that it directly woke Shao Shuangyue.

"Ugh... what the heck? Is it already dawn?"

Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, Shao Shuangyue sleepily turned her head and looked at her desk. "Huh... wait, that's my computer?!"

Immediately jolted awake, the girl's eyes widened. She yawned in confusion and walked towards the unusually bright computer screen in her slippers. "What exactly is going on?"

Then, she clearly saw the two lines of text on the screen.

[Do you want to go higher, set foot further, and become stronger?]

[Do you want to know the meaning of life?]

In an instant, a feeling of realization from the depths of her heart burst forth, spreading throughout her body and soul.

-- Do you want to go higher, further, and become stronger?

Of course, of course!

Why wouldn't she?

Shao Shuangyue was born into a wealthy family.

Because of the wars that occurred in the world in the mid-20th century, oil production in the central part of the World Island suffered a great blow, and countries around the world were forced to develop new energy sources, increasing investment in various new energy fields.

The Shao family was one of the lucky ones who stood on the crest of the wave of the times, achieving true success.

Originally, a wealthy and powerful family background should have made Shao Shuangyue feel extremely safe, or even become a literal little princess—theoretically speaking, with such a family background and the love of two older brothers, the girl could even be considered a half Mary Sue, a truly golden daughter.

But in fact, the opposite was true.

Ever since Shao Shuangyue became aware, she had lived in a vague sense of fear and helplessness.

An immobile mother, a physically weak brother, a father who was away from home for most of the year, and even though they were wealthy, they were extremely low-key and didn't flaunt their lifestyle, all of which made the young girl feel extremely uneasy.

Her mother couldn't take care of her; she could only tell her stories and pat her head.

Her brother couldn't help her either. Sometimes, when he tried to get something from a high place for her, he would strain his lungs and cough so hard that it sounded like he was about to cough them out.

Her father was the only support, but he was the pillar of the family. Although he had stood on the cusp of the times due to the wave of the era and gained immense wealth, this wealth came from official policies, and he had to do his best to keep up with the times, otherwise, the new energy technology company would quickly capsize in the tide of the times—he couldn't stay; he could only occasionally come home and hug his daughter.

Moreover, for some reason, the Shao family rarely allowed their children to go out and play, as if afraid that some external force would harm them... From a young age, Shao Shuangyue could only stay in her house, either staring blankly at television programs that she didn't understand at all, or flipping through books that she couldn't understand and dozing off.

Everything was so silent, unsettling, helpless, and without any sense of security.

Except for Aunt He and Su Zhou.

Aunt He was the true mainstay of the family, a true member of the Shao family, a kind-hearted aunt. Her existence prevented the Shao family from becoming as deathly silent as a castle in a horror story, with only occasional coughing sounds, but instead filled it with enthusiastic, slightly nagging calls and the sound of northern comic dialogues.

And Su Zhou's existence brought true vitality to the family.

"Let's go, Qiming, let's go out and play—I heard a few days ago that there are drowned ghosts wandering by the river, they sound so pitiful, let's go see if we can help them get liberated."

"Huh? Little sister, you want to come along too? That won't do, you're too young, it's too dangerous to go to the river... How about this, I'll play games with you when I get back, okay?"

"Don't know what games are? Hey, Qiming, what's wrong with you? Are you just going to let your little sister stay at home all day staring at the TV? You have money, buy some game consoles for your little sister!"

Honestly, this scene is still vividly etched in Shao Shuangyue's memory.

After all, it was from that time that she started to get hooked on Nintendo's GBA games—God, that guy was simply a devil! It was already bad enough that he recommended *Pokémon* to a six or seven-year-old girl, but he even recommended *Super Robot Wars*, *Harvest Moon*, and various other games, completely distorting a girl who theoretically should have become a Gothic *yandere* beauty or a classical literature girl into a game addict who now constantly thinks about playing *Animal Crossing* and cursing the Game Freak factory.

But honestly, this couldn't completely cover up the unease in Shao Shuangyue's heart.

The existence of games, Su Zhou, and Aunt He only concealed the essence of that helplessness—after all, if she wasn't really afraid of the outside world, she wouldn't still be immersed in games to this day, always unwilling to interact with the outside world.

Because that fear of the unknown, of the distance, of things outside the 'family' fortress, still existed in Shao Shuangyue's heart.

But now, the light emanating from the computer screen allowed Shao Shuangyue to confront the fear in her heart.

Especially revealing the essence behind this fear.

-- Yes. Staying in the known realm is comfortable, peaceful, and full of security.

This is also why Shao Shuangyue chooses to stay at home and play games because she lacks a sense of security about everything. Her father, mother, and brother can't provide support, and she doesn't have the confidence to explore the unknown and the distance, so she can only choose to stay at home and explore the virtual world.

Here, games can always be cleared, distances can always be reached, and when facing forks in the road, if you choose wrong, you can just reload and try again. The enemies are also virtual data and can't bring real threats.

Anyway, the Shao family is indeed rich, so living a life like this is naturally happy and comfortable.

However, the era of spiritual energy revival has arrived. Can she really be sheltered under the wings of her elders and spend her life in comfort, like in the past?

Her two elder brothers have already stepped onto their dazzling and eye-catching stages of life. Will she just stay in the stands, watching them perform?

[You are not satisfied with such a life.]

In her memories, Shao Shuangyue seemed to hear such a voice.

[You play games because you want to explore new worlds. You pursue achievements because you want to reach goals. You fight with people in arenas and ladders because you want to confirm the fact that you are stronger. You seem to be playing, but you are actually just venting your true desires in the virtual world.]

This voice didn't come from any external source but from the depths of Shao Shuangyue's heart—it was the voice of her soul itself.

-- The unattainable goal is my goal, the winding road is the road I want to take, and each rest always brings new longings.

The screen in front of the girl once again showed that subtitle.

[Do you want to go higher, set foot further, and become stronger?]

[Do you want to know the meaning of life?]

"I..."

Walking forward, her hand spontaneously raised and touched the mouse. At this time, Shao Shuangyue was not being brainwashed, nor was she being forcibly instilled with anyone else's thoughts—she was truly feeling the ripples from the depths of her heart, originating from the very essence of her soul, receiving the call from the unknown, where the great chef was, and then making her own choice.

Soon, on the screen, the mouse moved to the option where [Yes] was located.

It seemed about to click.

But, as luck would have it, Shao Shuangyue accidentally stepped on a Lego brick on the ground as she walked forward.

"Eek!!!!!!"

That moment of pain pierced through the primordial creation, the end of darkness, and even the beginning and end of the Great Dao. In an instant, it almost made the girl scream in pain, forcing her body to soften and sit on her gaming chair.

And as she was teary-eyed and shaking her head, she saw a bottle of lunar soil placed on her desk, several Warhammer models, and a replica of the Nether Severance Blade in the display case next to her.

This immediately made Shao Shuangyue enlightened and completely broke free from her previous 'state of enlightenment.'

"Crap, what was wrong with me just now? How did my state of mind suddenly become so pure and my awareness so high?!"

The throbbing from her heart disappeared, and Shao Shuangyue's thinking returned to humanity, not pure, lofty ideals.

She immediately looked at the computer screen in front of her with lingering fear, raised her hands above her head, struck a French pose, and her eyes were full of rejoicing. "This thing, this thing made me feel like a saint in an instant! I didn't consider any personal dangers or personal desires, I just purely pursued ideals! It didn't even matter if they could be realized, the most important thing was to start acting!"

"Yeah, I admit that my ideals are indeed very high, and I especially want to catch up with my two brothers' achievements and not be left behind... But, wanting is one thing, isn't it good to cultivate happily and live freely like this? I might want to go on adventures to transcend myself in the future when I get bored, but I'm still a high school student and underage! Is it too early to realize my dreams now?"

Muttering to herself like this, Shao Shuangyue's gaze towards the computer screen in front of her suddenly became extremely wary—things that can affect people's hearts are the most dangerous.

But after searching for a long time, she couldn't find a way to close the pop-up, so she could only choose to shut down the computer, muttering in a low voice, "Computer viruses are so terrifying these days, they can even brainwash people. I don't know if clicking 'Yes' will cost me a lot of money or if I'll be hypnotized into a puppet."

"...No, I have to call Zhou-ge over to take a look tomorrow. This is too dangerous!"

At the thought of the terrible plots in various *doujinshi*, the girl shivered and crawled back into bed, trying to forget about it.

However, what Shao Shuangyue didn't know was that...

While she was ignoring this pop-up and diligently studying hard every day...

Perhaps on her phone, perhaps on her computer, perhaps in the mist that appeared on the mirror when she washed her face, or perhaps in the ripples on the water's surface when she was fishing...

The same words and the same choice appeared in front of more people.

Then, it was the moment to choose to move forward or stay put.

Zheng Country, the ancestral home of the Weiwu lineage, in a small mountain town north of Tiandu.

A young man who was diligently cultivating and honing his body and martial arts in his practice room collapsed in his own sweat because he had completely exhausted his last bit of strength.

In front of his practice room, a television screen was looping through Su Zhou's actions and power in the Beast God Realm, as well as the terrifying true form he showed when facing the Talin and Kro people.

Effortlessly changing the weather, destroying everything at will.

Even the country had to treat him with caution, and even aliens and people from other worlds had to tremble because of him.

Faced with this power... Was effort meaningful?

The young man named Ma Jing stared at the scenes looping on the screen in the puddle formed by his sweat.

The same age as Su Zhou, he may have met him once in the past, but in any case, he and Su Zhou were now in two different worlds.

Faced with the difference in talent that was like heaven and earth, effort seemed futile.

"But, if I don't try, there's really no point at all."

Thinking this, the young man gritted his teeth. He absorbed the spiritual energy of the surrounding atmosphere and input it into his muscles and bones, starting a painful and scorching internal circulation... Pain, that's right, pain is the teacher of will, successfully guiding him. It's not that pain is right, but if you don't experience pain, let alone right, even failure is out of reach.

Not wanting to chase after the shadow whose back he could no longer see, Ma Jing only looped Su Zhou's footage to remind himself of one thing.

That is, if a person can't defeat himself, he can't catch up with others.

Higher, faster, stronger—not to catch up with others but to surpass himself, explore the original horizon, and then discover a new horizon.

So, as Ma Jing endured the extreme pain of his body and slowly propped up his hands, lifting his body off the ground, he saw that in his sweat, there were such ripples fluctuating, causing words to appear before his eyes.

[Do you want to go higher, set foot further, and become stronger?]

[Do you want to know the meaning of life?]

"Are there any other options?"

After a brief moment of daze, Ma Jing, knowing that this choice was wrong and very strange, laughed and said, "Of course I want to!"

This was his belief.

-- I will go forward at all costs and with all my strength. Either die or surpass myself. If one day, I stop, that means I'm already dead, just bones in a grave.

A drop of sweat fell and landed on 'Yes.'

Thus, a figure disappeared from Earth.

The Southeast Sea, the Tianchi Realm, at the entrance to the two realms,

The deep blue-haired young man lying in the sea gazed at the moonlight above the sea with a somewhat dazed expression, drifting with the waves.

The young True Dragon's strength was only one step away from the Dominator level. Being located at the spiritual energy entrance of the two realms was equivalent to being in the best blessed land. Originally having the inheritance of an Earth Immortal, and a rather advanced one among Earth Immortals, almost guaranteed to become a Heavenly Immortal, Jiu Ming, who had the inheritance of the Tianchi Dragon King, knew that his future was bright and clear.

But he still felt lost.

Yes, he had strength, inheritance, a title, territory, and the Zheng Country treated him very well. Even if he became the new governor of the Tianchi Realm, it might not be impossible, although he had no interest at all. But he could have whatever he wanted in terms of money, power, and cultivation.

The handsome young man felt that his dragon life was already complete, not to mention that he was originally just a sea cucumber—Heavenly Venerable be praised, who in the entire world could have such luck? From sea cucumber to True Dragon, he was the only one in the world, right?

Ah, no, there was also the one who was shown the mimetic Dao transformation power of the Tianchi Dragon King... But that one was his junior. He would have to take disciples on behalf of his teacher in the future, so there was no need to care too much.

In general, he didn't have to worry about anything. He could just grow naturally and become a hegemon.

"But what's the point of that?"

Thinking this, the young True Dragon closed his blue dragon eyes. He muttered in a low voice, "I am a dragon—I shouldn't be a sea cucumber that is satisfied with crawling around on the seabed."

"I am a dragon. What I should pursue is the wider sea, the vaster sky, and the boundless world."

"Such a future where everything is already predetermined, even if it looks so perfect, it's as uncomfortable as fate... I want more possibilities and to explore more unknowns..."

Although he said that, Jiu Ming also knew very well that he couldn't do any of this.

Having been conferred the title of South Sea Dragon King, his duty was to guard the South Sea for the Zheng Country officials, manage the sea beasts, and suppress the Tianchi Realm—and the Zheng Country officials would be responsible for his cultivation, his future, and his rights.

Perhaps one day in the future, after completing his duties, he could freely explore the seven seas, the heavens, and the stars.

With this expectation for the future, Jiu Ming opened his eyes.

Then, he saw the words floating before him.

More and more.

Besides what happened in these places, the same thing was happening all over the world.

Throughout the entire Earth, in a short period of time, there were hundreds of extremely bizarre and strange disappearance cases.

And all of this had nothing to do with Su Zhou, who had already completed his duty in Tiandu and returned to his hometown to rest.

April 10, 2018.

The fifth day after Su Zhou led the Qingqiu people back to Earth, and the second day after completing the tense and exciting post-duty report in Tiandu and the Hegemon-level test.

These things could be discussed slowly in the future. For the young man now, the most important thing was to rest well—and the Zheng Country officials also suggested this, especially since they knew that Su Zhou had actually single-handedly killed over a billion heavenly demons, killing so many that the ashes overflowed from Qingqiu Star. They hoped that he would rest well and not continue to move around.

-- Su Zhou, please don't kill anymore, the officials are afraid.

"Aunt Wen, Aunt He, I'm here as a guest!"

"That's strange, they're not here? Did they go out to sunbathe?"

Because no one was at home and he only went to the criminal investigation bureau to see his old man's work, Su Zhou didn't choose to go home but instead turned around and went to the Shao family mansion as a guest.

Wearing a hat woven from Chongming bird feathers, he hummed a little tune as he walked towards the door.

Out of politeness, Su Zhou didn't deliberately use spiritual energy and detached senses to probe the people inside the house. It wasn't until after knocking on the door that he realized that there was only someone in Shao Shuangyue's room.

It wasn't strange that Uncle Shao wasn't here, since he had seen him yesterday in Tiandu meeting with officials from the Ministry of Energy. It wasn't strange that Shao Qiming wasn't here either, since he had been drinking tea and chatting with him in Xijing eight hours ago. But if Aunt He and Aunt Wen weren't here, it could only mean that the two of them had probably gone out shopping—since Aunt Wen recovered, this very energetic woman had basically never stopped moving.

Since that was the case, there was no other choice.

Skillfully taking out the key—don't ask why Su Zhou had the Shao family's key—he opened the door of the Shao family mansion: "Then I'm coming in!"

But strangely, even though Su Zhou spoke so loudly, Shao Shuangyue didn't respond, causing the young man to feel confused. "Is she wearing headphones and playing games? The Shengju selection trials are almost here, and she's still playing games. That won't do."

Thinking this, he lightened his steps, preparing to knock hard on Shao Shuangyue's door and scare her—just like he had done occasionally in the past.

"Tap, tap, boom!"

However, when Su Zhou arrived on the second floor and knocked hard on the door, what greeted the young man wasn't the angry, cursing, and fragrant little sister he had expected but a frightened, timid girl who proactively opened the door.

"Zhou, Zhou-ge, I was just about to call you—"

As soon as she opened the door, Shao Shuangyue didn't say a word of nonsense. She immediately flashed to Su Zhou's back and pointed at her computer with a trembling hand: "That thing, that computer virus, can't be removed at all!"

"It's so scary! I've never seen such a supernatural phenomenon. Exorcism spells don't work, shutting down doesn't work, it's like it's haunted!"

This immediately made Su Zhou completely confused: "What are you talking about? What computer virus? You're even bringing up supernatural phenomena."

"Let Zhou-ge take a look."

Saying this, Su Zhou walked forward with extreme confidence—no matter what supernatural phenomenon or special computer virus it was, could it possibly do anything to an Earth Immortal? Not to mention computer viruses, even the Mind Virus and the Heavenly Demon King had their ashes blown away by him, mixed with volcanic ash, and scattered all over the planet.

It was all a piece of cake!

But when he really saw the two lines of large characters on the computer screen, the young man immediately frowned, and his gaze changed from relaxed to extremely serious.

"This, the Harbinger?!"

Although he had never fought against the Harbinger's kin, he had faced the Harbinger itself, so Su Zhou was very clear about the other party's power and the essence of 'correctness.'

There was no doubt that the two sentences in front of him were the core of the other party's ideology.

"Ah ha."

At the same time, sensing that something was wrong, Yala also poked a snake's head out from under the hat. He also stared at the screen and couldn't help but nod, saying through soul transmission: "Good fellow, isn't this the Harbinger's usual way of selecting its kin?"

"Kin?" Su Zhou communicated with Yala in his heart: "Just by asking a question and making a choice, can you select the kin?"

"No, to be precise, if you choose 'Yes,' then it's equivalent to agreeing with the Harbinger's ideology—generally speaking, those who choose 'Yes' will be pulled into a central space spanning many worlds and then embark on adventure after adventure of exploring the unknown."

Answering in such detail, the Snake Spirit narrowed its eyes and carefully examined the computer screen in front of him: "The more domains that are explored, the higher the Harbinger's kin are."

"Explorers, adventurers, pioneers, trailblazers—until the final 'opener,' the Harbinger's kin system is that simple and easy to understand. And He is always generous, providing His kin with various convenient ways to become stronger—after all, if they don't become stronger, even if they are His kin, it will be difficult to persist in the increasingly difficult exploration of the unknown."

Withdrawing his gaze, Yala retracted his head into his hat. He said lazily, "Your little sister, in a sense, really longs to become stronger and explore the distance—the Harbinger never chooses unsuitable people. If He initiates a choice, then it means that the other party is indeed suitable to be His kin."

"But honestly, that Harbinger guy always thinks that 'there will naturally be sacrifices when exploring the unknown' and never shies away from death or failure. Anyway, as long as it's exploration, even failure is great, and death is worthwhile and upright."

Yala's words couldn't be completely trusted. Anyway, if this guy wanted to argue, he could pick bones in even the perfect world created by God. Su Zhou never really believed him in this regard.

The young man just stared at the option in front of him and said thoughtfully, "What do you think will happen if I click this 'Yes'?"