"Those who consume Qi become divine and long-lived; those who consume years absorb evil and become demons."
Zhu Zhengwei closed the diary. At that moment, he understood exactly what Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng's final words meant.
It was one of the Nine Mortal Categories described in the general compendium—the "demon" category.
They consumed other people's "years and lifespans."
In other words, they ate other people's souls!
After all, the essence of Qi Consumption was also devouring soul energy. Naturally, consuming another person's soul could also count as consuming Qi. However, this kind of Qi was too low-level and impure, and its side effects were enormous.
Hence, they absorbed evil and became demons.
Therefore, the First Generation Stone Light Emperor Changheng, and even the later Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng, were demons in the strictest sense.
They cultivated quickly, possessed terrifying combat strength, and had short lifespans. Their wills were even unstable, and they could suffer Soul Disorder.
While Zhu Zhengwei was reading, the Immortal Herb beside him had already memorized that page of the Cultivation Book. Instead, it had been peeking at the Longevity Diary alongside him for quite some time.
"What?"
"This is simply—!!"
After reading a few lines, they were completely shaken!
The contents of this diary were far too astonishing.
The descriptions of the passing years made them feel as though the Torrent of History were surging toward them.
A profound sense of historical epic pressed upon their hearts. In a daze, they saw a painter working before a harbor; the Desert War, with countless corpses piled behind it; countless heroes shouting atop a mountain; two old men cherishing one another in the snow; and a Longevity Diary, a long-lived person bidding farewell to an old emperor in the imperial palace.
After they finished reading, everyone sat there in a daze.
After a long while,
many people finally could not help but quietly mutter, "That's fucking awesome!"
Slave Laborer A Da!
Who would have thought that Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng had such an identity!
History repeating itself.
The origin of Chong Dao's name actually came from this!
Awesome!
Absolutely awesome!
Which person who could play this Wallpaper Scenery Game wasn't an Artistic Youth?
Their expressions tightened completely as they read the Longevity Diary. They felt countless emotions surge through their hearts.
The final missing piece of the old man beneath the Tea Shed had finally been filled in after his death. The vivid life of a hero emerged completely before their eyes. That Human Emperor, whose presence was stirring and whose character was genuine and noble, had walked toward the lamentable fate he had long known—and chosen his own death!
"Damn it, I was already so moved when I accompanied you idiots in sending off the Human Emperor. But now I've been thoroughly touched. My tears are flowing like a burst dam, and I can't stop them!~~ (Wailing.jpg)"
"Don't say that. Even someone like me, who watches tearjerkers all year round, is crying my eyes out. I feel this isn't merely the story of a hero. He was actually just one fragment hidden within the diary of a long-lived person. The diary's Hidden Plot is so magnificent, yet so insignificant and tragic."
"I'm not crying. I'm just feeling emotional. Our lives are really short. (Cold.jpg)"
"Human Emperor Chong Dao overthrew the Slave Regime and unified the world! It's as if we're witnessing the beginning of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in this world—the official launch of a Mythological Era!"
"I suddenly feel that being able to watch wallpapers in this fantastical and dazzling Mythological World is simply a kind of happiness!"
"This diary is probably another Hidden Plot, a conversation between a god and a long-lived person! It must be the old man who previously appeared in disguise throughout the world."
"I love this mythological epic plot. I really do."
"After the Human Emperor, there will never be another Human Emperor! But there will definitely be new Civilization Heroes to write even greater history, because the entire era has only just begun! Human Emperor Chong Dao seems to have merely lifted the veil on the civilization of this world—the 'preface,' perhaps. And even this 'preface' is already so astonishing."
Mixed in among the Immortal Herbs, everyone discussed the matter through the Immortal Grass Broadcast. Even Wang Jun and Li Xiang were unable to remain calm, and it took them a long time to slowly recover.
"It's a shame that Zhu Zhengwei missed this scene again because he didn't come in." They exhaled slowly.
In their eyes, they had witnessed more than a plot taking an unexpected turn. They had also seen the perfect connection between the story's foreshadowing and its setting.
At this moment, even after death, parts of a life were completed through the diary. Everything was so natural and ingenious.
The two of them could imagine that if they wrote this scene into a novel and published it, with Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng's past completed and his character made fully three-dimensional and lifelike, the story of this Human Emperor would surely cause an even greater stir on the Online Forum. It might even go straight onto the trending searches!
Zhu Zhengwei had no idea that those two were once again plotting how to harm him.
Naturally, he had deliberately let the Immortal Herbs read the diary this time.
He had to prepare for the next stage of the Internal Test Game Version, allowing the Immortal Herbs to cultivate and improving their efficiency.
"In this world, besides the Ten Categories of Living Beings described in the general compendium, there is also you Zeroth Category Organisms—the Source Types. You are the most indispensable link in this world's food chain."
"You've had enough of watching the plot. It's time for you to interact with the inhabitants of the Ancestral Shaman Era's world. The Lower Level Miners should also begin growing in this world!"
He closed the diary and placed it back in the hidden compartment.
After all, Ten-Year Immortal Herbs, Hundred-Year Immortal Herbs, and Thousand-Year Immortal Herbs were also a form of interaction. The higher the cultivation level, the more people would come to seize them.
"If they truly work hard enough and eventually gain the opportunity for Form Transformation, I may not stop them. Instead, I might let them live an entire lifetime in this dream—a Nanke's Dream, becoming immortals and Becoming Ancestors!"
"Of course, for these Immortal Herbs to survive being hunted down and seized by countless kingdoms and powerful beings, their chances are already exceedingly slim."
His gaze was cold and indifferent.
"It's a consequence of their nature! After all, which batch of Servers has not been plundered or envied?"
He closed the window, casually picked the Immortal Herb growing on the windowsill, crushed it, and placed it in a teacup to brew tea.
Tap, tap, tap.
He crushed it and brewed tea.
After all, his Spectator Mission was complete.
"Huh?"
"Huh? That's it?"
The Immortal Herb's point of view quickly blurred and faded away.
In the end, the screen went completely black.
Zhu Zhengwei did not care in the slightest.
After they died, the Immortal Herbs needed time to revive.
However, they had yet to notice that this revival time existed.
That was because after they died, the next time they went to sleep and entered the Four-dimensional world, several years had already passed there.
After all, they had only just woken up, refreshed and full of energy. How could they go back to sleep again?
By the time they fell asleep again the next day, the Immortal Herb in the Four-dimensional world had already been eaten and digested until not even bone fragments remained. Naturally, it could revive again. Moreover, the Qi they had served as a primer for had already been enough to help the people who ate them begin cultivating.
As for why they could not sense the difference in the flow of time between the game and reality,
that was only natural.
A dream of yellow millet!
When people woke up and recalled what had happened in a dream, the sense of time felt extremely vague. Usually, all that remained was an overlap of Fragmented Memories.
Even Zhu Zhengwei was the same when he woke up.
When he woke during the day, he felt that his long experience of life had been condensed into a series of memory fragments. Needless to say, the others had an even vaguer sense of time.
The strange feeling in the dream would also be automatically smoothed over and repaired by their subconscious.
In that respect, dreams truly were mysterious and wondrous.
"It's about time to begin. The Fifth Batch of Servers should appear now, and these Two Thousand Servers will cause enormous waves throughout the entire world!"
Zhu Zhengwei thought for a moment, then used GM Authority and rose into the air step by step. The entire Four-dimensional world seemed to transform into Data Space, and the Base Program of the whole world appeared before his eyes.
"But this Immortal Grass Upheaval Wave will inevitably cause a Great Disaster no less than the Savage Era of the Three Hundred Empresses. It isn't time for that to appear yet. The era has only just begun and is still a sapling. Let it grow for a while first, lest it be damaged prematurely."
"And with such a huge number, I first need to find a place to settle them and form a forest."
Zhu Zhengwei planned to establish an Immortal Grass Forest.
Extremely dense Spiritual Qi would nourish an unprecedented stretch of land, forming an ecosystem and food chain.
Under the nourishment of that soul energy, would all kinds of new Mutated Animals and Mutated Plants appear there?
The Giant Octopus had been born for this very reason.
"I want to popularize them and produce genuine Special Soul Species—even genuine Extraordinary Creatures."
Zhu Zhengwei was looking forward to it.
He felt that the ecosystem of the Four-dimensional world had only just begun.
This was a special Spiritual Sense World nourished by Qi.
Perhaps some unique lifeforms that did not belong to the Three-dimensional world but to the Four-dimensional world would be fully conceived here, transforming into a complete New World.
"Come forth, new miners! Excavate the Dream Map of the entire ecosystem for me."
Ding!
The next moment, everyone heard an announcement.
[Because a player triggered a Hidden Map, witnessed a Deity Scene, and learned a Cultivation Method, a new Game Level will be unlocked. The New World's Internal Test Game Version, "Leek's Growth," will update online.]
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