Shen Lang felt as if he were right there in front of the Light Screen, watching everything unfold. The thunder seemed ready to strike him where he stood.
How should he put it? It felt like watching a 3D, surround-sound, ultra-high-definition movie—one where the entire theater had been booked out.
"Right, where's Nuwa?"
Shen Lang scanned the images on the Light Screen, but he couldn't find a single person.
Forget living creatures—apart from the dark clouds and thunder, there was nothing else!
But at that moment, a massive bolt of Golden-Blue Thunder intertwined with one another flashed within the overwhelming black clouds.
It blotted out the sky and covered the earth, dyeing even the dark clouds golden-blue.
Shen Lang's heart lurched. Even through the screen, the Golden-Blue Thunder made his blood run cold.
In the next instant, the Golden-Blue Thunder tore through the dark clouds like a waterfall and crashed toward the ground at terrifying speed.
The scene on the Light Screen rapidly pulled back into a distant view, allowing Shen Lang to see what lay below.
Following the golden-blue light downward, Shen Lang finally saw a towering, lush willow tree on the vast earth.
Was the Golden-Blue Thunder targeting that willow tree?
No, no, what did that have to do with him? The important thing was Nuwa. Why hadn't she appeared yet?
Just as Shen Lang was thinking this, something strange suddenly happened in the scene. Beside the Great Willow Tree that was about to be swallowed by the Golden-Blue Thunder, a line of notification text appeared.
"What the hell? That works too?"
If Shen Lang had a face right now, he would definitely have been staring in stunned disbelief.
If Nuwa had a face right now, she would have worn the exact same expression as Shen Lang.
Myriad Worlds Simulator, Great Desolation World, Vast Mountain Range.
It was broad daylight. Normally, this should have been the time when the beasts roared and all living things surged with life throughout the mountains.
But now, even the most powerful Strange Beasts were crawling on the ground, trembling from head to toe.
There was only one reason: the dark clouds and thunder high above the mountains radiated such overwhelming majesty that they felt terror deep in their souls.
A mountain range spanning over a million li was almost completely shrouded in the light of the Golden-Blue Thunder.
At the center where all that thunder gathered stood the enormous old willow tree Shen Lang had seen on the Light Screen.
Calling it an old willow tree was technically correct, but aside from its mottled trunk, it was lush and verdant, with dense, flourishing branches and leaves.
At the core of the old willow tree floated a cluster of Spiritual Light. She was the spirit of this willow tree.
And this spirit was none other than Nuwa!
In other words, after entering the Simulator, she had become a willow tree!
Thus, when Nuwa discovered that she had turned into a willow tree, she was just as stunned as Shen Lang.
She had entered the Simulator not in her True Body, but in an entirely different body!
However, Nuwa was no ordinary life-form. She immediately sensed two auras locking onto her, both carrying an intensely oppressive might.
Then she saw the golden and blue thunder in the sky descend toward her head with overwhelming force!
If her True Body had been here, this thunder would have been nothing. She could have extinguished it with a wave of her hand, and it would have posed no threat whatsoever.
But things were different now. She was a willow tree!
In the Primordial World, she could at most be considered a newly awakened Willow Tree Spirit. She had not even taken human form yet!
Moreover, Nuwa could sense that this willow tree had apparently already suffered a heavy blow and sustained serious injuries. It wasn't in its prime either!
When she arrived in the Simulator, not only was she not in her True Body, even her soul was different.
It was as if her consciousness had replaced the original consciousness of the willow tree. It could be understood as reincarnation through possession without any aftereffects.
Facing the Golden-Blue Thunder hurtling down from the sky, Nuwa was certain that her current tree body and soul absolutely couldn't withstand it!
She would die beneath the Golden-Blue Thunder!
Nuwa was just about to circulate her original magic power when notification text appeared before her eyes.
[In the simulated world, you are restricted from using the power belonging to your original world. You can only rely on your existing strength to overcome this crisis.]
Seeing this notification, even Nuwa, with her normally excellent temper, couldn't help wanting to curse.
Apart from her consciousness, nothing about her was still her own. Was this the Simulator's so-called new life and new beginning?
A new beginning was a new beginning!
I refuse to believe I'll be killed the moment I enter the Simulator!
Nuwa's mentality didn't collapse. Instead, a competitive spirit was stirred within her. She refused to fail at the very beginning of the simulation!
[Facing a life-or-death crisis, your will is steadfast. Mental State +1]
But Nuwa had no time to care about that. She was frantically mobilizing the power within the willow tree.
This willow tree had surely been extraordinary in the past. Explosive energy was stored in every inch of its wood, and Nuwa could control it at will.
As Nuwa mobilized the energy within the tree, all the branches of the willow tree began to sway violently, whipping rapidly toward the sky.
Under the infusion of energy, every slender willow branch, along with all the willow leaves, turned ink-cyan!
In the blink of an eye, the willow branches twisted into the air, weaving through one another to form a gigantic ink-cyan shield that protected her beneath it.
To accomplish this, Nuwa poured out all the energy within the willow tree. This was her only chance to survive!
Even her consciousness energy was poured into it!
Just as Nuwa finished preparing her defense, the Golden-Blue Thunder arrived at the top of the willow tree with unmatched force!
BOOM—
Amid the earth-shaking roar, the Golden-Blue Thunder was actually blocked.
However, it was blocked for only an instant.
The next second, the shield formed from branches and leaves exploded, transforming into sparks and broken twigs that scattered in all directions.
The golden thunder had already engulfed the entire willow tree!
Chapter Five: Empress Nuwa, hang in there! It's only the first day!
The Golden-Blue Thunder pierced downward, instantly vaporizing large swaths of willow branches.
The mottled bark on the trunk—which would have required at least dozens of people to encircle—rapidly turned to ash.
In the blink of an eye, the lush willow tree was gone.
As the thunder gradually faded, only an enormous crater remained, with thick smoke billowing all around it.
The thunder had been so powerful that it ignited the nearby forest.
For a time, the savage beasts and Strange Beasts of the wilderness, which had been stunned by the thunder's might, fled into the distance in a frenzy.
At the same time, the oppressive aura that had weighed over the entire Vast Mountain Range vanished without a trace.
Its appearance seemed to have existed solely to destroy that old willow tree. It had no interest in any other living creature or thing.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—crackle, crackle—
Flames still burned in places throughout the enormous crater blasted out by the thunder.
Those were the old willow tree's roots!
The thunder had not only destroyed her tree body, but had also burned away all her roots. It truly intended to cut down the tree and eradicate its roots!
Primordial World, Buzhou Mountain.
Shen Lang stared at the crater shrouded in smoke on the Light Screen, feeling a little dumbfounded.
He had never expected Nuwa to become a willow tree the moment she entered the simulated world.
But what he found even more unbelievable was that Nuwa had been struck by that violent thunder immediately after entering the simulated world. She probably hadn't even had time to react!
Damn, even if this was a life-or-death challenge, it shouldn't have launched a devastating attack the moment she arrived!
This wasn't a survival challenge at all. It was clearly making him watch all the different ways a player could die. This time, she had been struck to death by lightning!
When the relevant notification had appeared beside the willow tree, it hadn't merely revealed Nuwa's identity. It had also explained the relevant rules.
The Simulator had restricted Nuwa's Primordial World cultivation realm and strength!
In other words, Nuwa was no Grand Unity Golden Immortal right now. She was merely a willow tree!
He didn't even need to sense how powerful the Golden-Blue Thunder was. Just looking at it was enough to know how terrifying it was. How could Nuwa possibly withstand it?
"Good thing I didn't enter the simulation myself. Otherwise... Huh?"
Just as Shen Lang was thinking this, a gust of wind blew away the smoke filling the sky. A trace of cyan light appeared in the crater.
It was a tree root as thick as a bucket. No flames burned on it, but its outer layer was charred black, with glowing embers visible within.
The cyan light came from those embers, flickering as if it might go out at any moment.
"She's still not dead?"
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