Lorina slowly lowered the arms she had folded across her chest.
The shock from that brief moment had gradually faded from her ice-blue eyes, leaving only a trace of unapproachable coldness.
She and Gu An were merely acquaintances, and she had no interest in getting to know him.
Even so, she knew his world-creation theory was almost flawless, while his bluntness was enough to give anyone a headache.
He had just pointed out that the Silvermoon Elf World consumed too much origin essence, and when he saw her displeased expression, he had been ready to continue explaining the reasoning behind his calculations.
How could someone who barely understood why others got angry say something like that in public?
"Gu An." The girl's gaze was icy, and her voice was even colder than before. "Do you know what you're saying?"
The young man twirled the pen between his fingers, his expression calm. "I do. But you proposed the wager, and you were the one who told me to name the terms. There's nothing unfair about it, is there?"
She wanted to be his mother, so he would be her father. As far as Gu An was concerned, that was only right.
If she couldn't take it, that was her problem.
"I accept."
The girl raised her chin again, her voice returning to its usual composure. "But once the assessment results are out, I hope you'll be prepared to honor the wager too."
Gu An smiled and nodded. "See you then."
Lorina turned and left.
Her long, silver-white hair swept over her shoulders as she moved, and her black ankle boots clicked crisply and steadily against the polished floor.
The girl didn't look back, nor did she argue another word with Gu An, as though she had set their absurd wager aside for the time being.
Gu An watched her return to her World Creation Platform,
feeling a little more admiration for her.
She had been offended in public, yet she could regain her composure so quickly. No wonder he regarded her as his most troublesome opponent in theory class.
"The world-creation ceremony is beginning. Everyone, take your places!"
The teacher's voice rang out from the raised platform.
The chatter in the hall gradually died down.
The intricate star charts across the dome lit up one by one, and beams of silver light descended over the neatly arranged World Creation Platforms.
"Today, you will complete your first official world creation. In ten days, the school will conduct a unified assessment of the potential of your natal worlds."
"The high-grade world-creation origin essence will also be awarded once the assessment is complete."
Many students immediately grew serious.
World-creation origin essence could be used both to open up a world and to drive its subsequent evolution.
High-grade origin essence in particular could give students who had just embarked on the path of world creation a considerable advantage.
Gu An pressed his palm against the World Creation Platform.
Everyone qualified to create a world had a world seed connected to them in their sea of consciousness.
The World Creation Platform helped newcomers stabilize that seed and recorded external data for the school's assessment.
Once their natal world truly took shape, its creator could observe it at any time through their own connection, without relying on equipment.
Deep in his consciousness, a wondrous connection formed, as though a door that had yet to be opened had appeared before him out of thin air.
Behind the door were no mountains or rivers, no living beings, only a void waiting for him to shape it with his own hands.
He had prepared for this day for a long time.
In his "Low-Martial World Construction Plan," everything from the distribution of terrain to the inheritance of martial arts, and even the order in which the first living beings would be nurtured, had been calculated over and over.
After all, creating a world wasn't a matter of making wishes out of thin air.
A concept had to be able to function in a self-consistent way, and its creator also had to understand and master the principles governing it.
As for how many mountains, rivers, living beings, and supernatural powers could initially be brought into existence, that depended on how much the origin essence could support.
Gu An glanced at the plan, then moved it aside.
He had transmigrated and bound the Mythic World-Creation System. If he still created a world according to the low-martial plan, he would really be wasting the advantage he had started with.
Just as he was about to begin, a patch of silver light suddenly flared beside him.
At another World Creation Platform, Lorina's world had already begun to take shape.
A silver moon rose into a deep-blue sky, its hazy radiance passing through the thin mist among the trees and falling upon towering ancient trees.
Silver patterns gradually appeared on their thick trunks and branches. Moonlight flowed into the earth along their roots, then gathered upward through their branches and leaves.
A sparkling dewdrop slipped from the tip of a leaf and fell precisely into a flower bud beneath the tree.
Layer upon layer of petals slowly unfurled.
A silver-haired, pointed-eared elf awakened inside the flower and stepped barefoot onto the grass.
She looked around curiously, then reached out and gently touched the ancient tree beside her.
A pale-green magical glow flowed along the tree's grain and spread in every direction. Seedlings that had just broken through the soil rapidly sprouted branches and grew fresh green leaves.
The branches and leaves caught the moonlight, then sent its gentle radiance to the other unopened flower buds in the forest.
Before long, a second elf and then a third were born.
Signs of life gradually appeared in the once-silent forest.
"Silver Moon Elves... she actually succeeded on her first try!"
"They can use nature magic as soon as they're born? This is official world creation, not a simulation!"
Gu An couldn't help taking a few extra looks himself.
Lorina's plan did consume an astonishing amount, but the silver moon, ancient trees, and elves had already formed a cycle of mutual nourishment.
As long as that cycle kept running, it was hard to say just how far it might develop in the future.
As expected, she hadn't taken first place in the year's simulation rankings with a pretty silver-moon projection alone.
Lorina seemed to notice his gaze and looked up at him.
Moonlight illuminated the silver-white ends of the girl's hair, but her ice-blue eyes remained calm.
She merely gave Gu An an indifferent glance before returning her attention to her world.
Gu An looked away, his anticipation growing even stronger.
Even elves and nature magic could be born so vividly.
Then what would Pangu, the Three Thousand Chaos Gods and Demons, and the Primordial World that had yet to be opened up look like?
At last, his consciousness passed through that doorway and entered an empty void.
Most ordinary world creators would first divide heaven and earth and create mountains and rivers, then establish life and a cultivation system within them.
But what Gu An intended to create was the Primordial World.
Before heaven and earth were opened, there had to be chaos.
When he was truly ready to begin, he recalled the legends of Pangu from his previous life.
The Chaos Green Lotus had nurtured Pangu, while the three thousand gods and demons each wielded a Great Dao.
In the end, Pangu swung the Sky-Opening Axe and fought a great battle against the gods and demons. Countless innate beings fell, and even Pangu himself became the myriad things, giving rise to the Primordial World of later ages.
That myth was magnificent, but it also gave Gu An an idea.
Since it was his turn to create a world this time, why couldn't he let the Three Thousand Great Daos take part in opening the heavens in another way?
The Chaos Gods and Demons were innate beings nurtured by the Great Daos themselves.
What if they could continue seeking and contending for the Dao after heaven and earth were opened, allowing their respective Great Daos to endure in the newborn Primordial World?
Of course, giving them a possible path didn't mean they would follow it.
Since the gods and demons possessed true wills of their own, whether they cooperated or fought in the future was not something Gu An could decide with a word.
But he could at least lay the foundation with his own hands.
"System, use mythic chaos as the foundation for world creation."
Golden text appeared in his consciousness.
[Mythic concept: chaos.]
[Mythic principles: can be established.]
Gu An's heart stirred.
This was precisely what made the mythic system so astonishing.
Other world creators could, of course, construct a giant named Pangu and even grant it the mighty power to open up a world.
But a name was ultimately not the same as a true mythic origin, nor did it mean the Three Thousand Great Daos and Chaos Gods and Demons would be born according to the corresponding innate principles.
The system, however, could make the myth he constructed into principles that truly governed the world.
Even so, while the principles could be established, bringing the entire myth into being as a world still required world-creation origin essence.
Rather than rushing to invest it, Gu An went over his world-creation plan again.
The Chaos Pearl would establish the origin of chaos, giving the myriad phenomena that had yet to be divided a common foundation.
The Chaos Green Lotus would nurture Pangu, and the Sky-Opening Axe would bear the true power of creation.
As for the Fortune Jade Disc, it would be used to hold the interactions and derivations among the Three Thousand Great Daos.
If the various Daos could reflect one another, then perhaps, when Pangu opened the heavens, those innate gods and demons wouldn't have to fall for their Great Daos to merge into heaven and earth.
Gu An didn't know whether this path could succeed.
But precisely because he didn't know, it was worth creating to find out.
He completed the final concept in his mind.
[Mythic world-creation plan confirmed.]
[Investment this time: all initial world-creation origin essence.]
[Projected result: establish mythic chaos and nurture the Four Treasures of Chaos and the initial foundations of the Three Thousand Great Daos.]
[Notice: this origin essence will support only the initial world creation. Additional world-creation origin essence will be required to drive new major acts of creation afterward.]
Gu An stared at the final notice and froze.
Good grief, he had to empty his pockets right from the start.
Under his original low-martial plan, the same amount of initial origin essence would at least have been enough to lay out mountains and rivers and nurture the first living beings.
But his chaos first had to establish the foundations of the Three Thousand Great Daos. No matter how much he invested now, it might not immediately yield many visible results.
Once the various Daos began to unfold one after another and interact with one another, the origin essence required would likely be far more astonishing than what an ordinary world needed.
Meanwhile, Lorina had already created an elven world capable of reproducing on its own.
The assessment was only ten days away. If he held on to his origin essence and made a world that was half Primordial World and half low-martial, he would truly end up with neither.
At that thought, Gu An smiled instead.
Wasn't it just spending money? Once this chaos was truly born, he would find a way to earn the next sum.
"Confirm investment."
In an instant, the void behind the door shook violently.
A dim circle of light appeared first, gradually condensing into an ancient-looking pearl.
The pearl was seamless and flawless, as though countless worlds that had yet to be opened were hidden inside it.
The Chaos Pearl!
The moment Gu An recognized it, the pearl vanished into the void, as though becoming one with the entire world.
In the next instant, endless chaos qi surged forth.
The void, which had once contained nothing at all, gained a foundation capable of supporting the myriad phenomena of myth for the first time.
In Gu An's perception, the vast chaos spread in every direction, its limits impossible to make out for the moment. Neither heaven nor earth could be seen; only an ancient, undivided aura filled the expanse.
[Myth made real successfully!]
[Natal world: Supreme Great Wilderness.]
[Current stage: mythic chaos.]
[Remaining world-creation origin essence: 0.]
Gu An stared blankly at the vast expanse, a warmth rising in his chest.
This was not a scene painted according to a mythological tale.
The chaos was real.
Those beings he had heard of only in legends now truly had a chance to be born here.
Just then, the World Creation Platform outside projected the observable scene within the world, and a dim gray projection lit up above Gu An's head at the same time.
Several students waiting to see Gu An's results drew closer.
But after looking for quite a while, they still couldn't find the slightest trace of mountains, rivers, or life in the projection, only churning gray mist.
"Wasn't Gu An planning to create a low-martial world? Why is there nothing there?"
"Forget martial artists, I can't even see a patch of land."
"Don't tell me he messed up the very first step?"
The students looked at one another, then couldn't help glancing over at Lorina.
On one side was an elven forest bathed in moonlight; on the other was nothing but gray mist. The contrast between them was almost absurdly stark.
Lorina naturally noticed it too.
She glanced at the world projection above Gu An's head, then at the low-martial plan he had set beside the World Creation Platform. A trace of puzzlement appeared in her beautiful ice-blue eyes.
Did he change his plan at the last minute?
"Gu An, this is the world you think can surpass mine?"
The girl's cool voice rang out, her tone already tinged with disdain.
Gu An came back to his senses. He first glanced at the silver moon casting a gentle glow behind her, then looked at the gray mist above his own head. His expression remained perfectly calm.
"Yes."
Lorina had clearly not expected him to remain so composed even now, and a cold sneer crept onto her lips.
"Then I'll be waiting to see it."
Gu An smiled and nodded, offering no explanation.
He could hardly tell her now that the one responsible for opening the heavens hadn't been born yet.
Besides, all the initial origin essence he had just invested had become the foundation for nurturing chaos and the four treasures.
They wouldn't suddenly disappear just because the balance had reached zero, but if he wanted to actively drive grander acts of creation in the future, he really would have to find money elsewhere.
Gu An made a mental note of it.
Ten days wasn't long. He had to obtain the next batch of world-creation origin essence as quickly as possible.
For now, though, he was more eager to see what that initial investment had brought into being.
Gu An sank back into the chaos.
This time, new changes had already appeared in the vast expanse.
A speck of green light bloomed in the depths of the chaos. At first, it was barely perceptible, but then it unfurled into layer upon layer of lotus petals.
Boundless chaos qi gathered around it. The Thirty-Six-Rank Chaos Green Lotus took root in the vast expanse, and profound innate Dao patterns flowed across its leaves.
Gu An focused his gaze on it.
Deep within its tightly closed heart, an ancient and immense aura was slowly taking shape.
That aura had yet to truly awaken, but the surrounding chaos already trembled gently with its rise and fall.
Pangu.
The great god who had opened up heaven and earth in the myths of Gu An's previous life had now truly come to life in his own world.
A surge of excitement rose in Gu An's heart.
More wondrous still, besides that aura, a wisp of incomparably sharp intent to split open lay hidden deep within the lotus heart.
It had yet to take the shape of an axe, but it was already making the surrounding chaos qi part of its own accord.
The Sky-Opening Axe was also taking shape.
Outside the green lotus, more and more innate Dao traces were emerging from the chaos.
Some blazed like fire, some were dark and silent, and others seemed to lie beyond countless layers of space, each giving off an entirely different aura.
Deep where the Dao traces intersected, a warm jade light flickered in and out of sight, gradually tracing the outline of a simple, ancient jade disc.
The Fortune Jade Disc.
Gu An could sense that the jade disc had not created those Dao traces out of nothing.
The Three Thousand Great Daos had already established their foundations through his conception of the myth, while the jade disc was gradually bringing the connections between them into focus.
Before he could carefully sense the jade disc, however, a deep beat suddenly came from within the lotus heart.
Thump.
The entire chaos seemed to shudder gently with it.
Immediately afterward came another.
Thump!
A silver-white Dao trace that had lain dormant suddenly burst into brilliant light.
It had been taking shape within the chaos since the initial creation, and now, stirred by those two heartbeats, it spread into the boundless distance.
Wherever it passed, scenes that had originally occurred one after another began to be reflected in the void at the same time.
The Chaos Green Lotus, which had only just unfurled, was reflected as it had been before it bloomed; the jade disc in the distance seemed already to have endured countless ages.
Those scenes converged into a vast river, with neither its source nor its end in sight.
"The River of Time..."
Gu An's gaze sharpened.
The Time Dao was one of the three thousand innate great daos established when the chaos first came into being.
Pangu's heartbeats had not created it, but they had changed the formerly dormant flow of time, creating an opportunity for one of the innate beings within it to awaken.
Sure enough, ripples suddenly spread through the depths of the river.
A Daoist clad in gray-white robes slowly emerged from the rushing years.
The Daoist looked no older than a youth, but when Gu An looked again, he felt that this was an ancient being who had lived through countless ages.
Countless figures overlapped across different flows of time, finally converging into the one person before him.
As the Daoist slowly opened their eyes, the entire River of Time seemed to fall still.
Then, an ancient and majestic voice rang out across the newborn chaos for the first time.
"My name is—Shi Chen."