My Word Is Fact

The Dao Marker fell into Yu Ziqing's hands, and its radiance began spreading toward him, guiding Yu Ziqing back.

It would take some time.

Outside, however, things were not looking good for the three powerful figures who had brought the weapons of state-suppression here.

In a single exchange—just one exchange—all three of them were wounded, and all three Dharma Treasures suffered tremendous damage.

Even Dharma Treasures of this level could recover as long as they had not been completely destroyed in one blow. But in the short term, they could no longer be used.

The three fell silent. Although they knew that the King of Hungry Ghosts' aura was stronger than theirs, and that there might even be a whole realm's difference between them, they had never expected that even with the weapons of state-suppression, they would still be crushed and thrown into an absolute disadvantage.

And now, the King of Hungry Ghosts' aura was still growing stronger. It was becoming more and more outrageous.

Suddenly, their expressions shifted. Each of them used a secret art and sensed carefully. They seemed to feel that the King of Hungry Ghosts' ever-growing momentum had stopped.

It even seemed to be beginning to decline.

The King of Hungry Ghosts, who had looked so manic, slowly calmed down as well.

But they no longer had sufficiently powerful Dharma Treasures to use—or rather, even if they did, they dared not use them.

The three exchanged a distant glance, seemingly reaching an understanding. They quietly waited, apparently intending to observe a little longer. If the King of Hungry Ghosts' momentum fell back down, and they had the chance, they would strike again.

After waiting for an hour, the King of Hungry Ghosts' momentum did indeed decline, and the tide of black oily filth surging toward the surroundings began to roll back.

Yet the three people who seemed to have tacitly prepared to attack all wore solemn expressions. Each looked seriously injured, and none of them had the slightest intention of making the first move.

At that moment, a streak of light flew over from the direction of Great Qian and transformed into a disheveled Daoist, his entire body in tatters.

The Daoist glanced from afar at the King of Hungry Ghosts and shouted bitterly to everyone.

"Stop screwing around already! Haven't you had enough?"

Seeing this Daoist, the three were all shocked. Who had made him look so wretched?

They wondered this inwardly, but none dared ask. They merely clasped their hands politely in greeting.

The burly man from Great Zhen and the woman from Great Li spoke at the same time.

"Greetings, Senior Dragon Tiger."

The old man from Great Qian also dutifully saluted.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Dragon Tiger. Senior Brother, weren't you traveling through the void? How did this happen...?"

Daoist Dragon Tiger glanced at the distant King of Hungry Ghosts.

"What else could it be? It was caused by this fellow. In the void, I vaguely sensed that some peerless fiend had awakened. I merely went over quietly and took a look from afar. Who would have thought this fellow had quite a temper? He nearly crushed me to death on the spot.

"Right afterward, I saw this unreasonable fellow tear open space and enter the Wasteland.

"I was already wondering why this fellow had inexplicably come to our place and entered the Wasteland, landing right here. The purpose was far too obvious. It made no sense at all, and it was completely impossible.

"I asked around, and only then did I figure it out. It was all because of you blockheads!"

The more Daoist Dragon Tiger spoke, the angrier he became. Once his temper flared, he kicked the old man flying on the spot. With a single stride, his enormous foot appeared before the woman in the phoenix robe, and he kicked her flying as well.

The burly man from Great Zhen wore a bitter expression. He was already no match for this man, and now he was gravely wounded, with his Dharma Treasure shattered. How could he dodge? And even if he did, it probably would not end with just one kick.

Who would have thought Daoist Dragon Tiger would ignore him completely, pointing at the two from Great Qian and Great Li and letting loose a tirade.

"Are all of you blockheads? Are the people you raised all blockheads too?

"He was sleeping there peacefully, waiting to use this realm's earthly vitality, the radiance of the sun and moon, to nourish and gestate himself through the long ages, perhaps returning once more.

"And what did you do? For no reason at all, you kicked his sleeping place into the void. Did you think he wouldn't lose his temper just because he hadn't woken up?"

The old man pointed at the distant King of Hungry Ghosts in shock.

"Senior Brother, you're saying this King of Hungry Ghosts hasn't woken up yet? You call this not being awake?"

"If he had truly woken up, all of you would be dead by now. I would be dead too. Great Qian, Great Li, and Great Zhen around the Wasteland would all be dead." The Daoist sounded exceptionally serious.

As they spoke, they clearly sensed that the King of Hungry Ghosts' aura continued to decline, and there truly was no further great disturbance.

Thinking of how they had been beaten by the King of Hungry Ghosts while it wandered in its sleep, the three wore complicated expressions.

Then they thought that if their people had not been fighting here and caused the semi-Blessed Land known as Jinlan Mine to fall into the void, perhaps none of this would have happened. Their feelings grew even more complicated.

"Don't provoke it anymore. It has returned to its sleeping place and will fall asleep again soon."

Everyone watched as the black tide of oily filth that twisted everything began shrinking back without leaving a trace, revealing the mountain ranges beneath.

They became more honest than the next, not even daring to circulate their power. They merely watched obediently, afraid of disturbing that irritable old master again.

As the black oily filth receded, the mine appeared once more. The villagers, who had all hidden obediently, had not been harmed.

The black oily filth withdrew into the cavern and disappeared within.

Deep underground, the radiance around Yu Ziqing grew brighter and brighter. All the black oily filth shrank back into his body. The flame burning at his heart slowly dimmed, while his faint flame of life began to grow stronger.

At that moment, Yu Ziqing slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a Hungry Ghost that looked like a dried corpse, skin stretched over bones and internal organs shriveled. The Hungry Ghost wore a smile and slowly bowed, welcoming his return.

He lowered his head and looked at the small strip of dried beef clutched in his left hand.

This was the Dao Marker of his return.

It was also a gift from the countless Starvation Ghosts formed from those who had starved to death around him the first time he became a Hungry Ghost. Grateful that he had given all Starvation Ghosts a new path, they had somehow found some dried beef and presented it to him in thanks.

At that time, he had only landed in the Wasteland a few days earlier when disaster struck. Everything was destroyed. The temperature began plummeting, more and more people died, and chaos spread. It was a living hell.

In the end, he would rather starve to death than eat the rotten White Meat. He feared that after eating it, even surviving would be worse than death. It was better to end everything then and there, dying cleanly.

Finally, he crawled to the top of a hillside and looked at the countless corpses scattered across the land. He chose the same path as them, preserving his last bit of resolve and starving himself to death.

Yet, by some cruel twist of fate, everything about him—his memories, the roads he had walked, his feelings, his thoughts, his past—was under his own control. It was the sole method of grasping a person's information perfectly, without a single blind spot.

The prerequisite for triggering his ability had been fulfilled beyond the slightest doubt.

At the moment of death, his endless resentment, pain, and despair transformed into pure power without a trace of impurity, perfectly unifying with his body, heart, and will.

That fulfilled the second trigger condition as well. He was going to kill someone, even if the person he was going to starve to death was himself.

The judgment was complete, and the eruption began.

Thus, his ability underwent its strongest and most perfect eruption ever.

But that eruption became a battle between himself and himself.

He wanted to starve himself to death, yet did not want to die of starvation. The contradiction led to ceaseless self-conflict, which ultimately reached unity.

Neither side would yield, so both sides could only be satisfied. He had starved to death, yet had not starved to death.

He surpassed the Starvation Ghosts that could never eat anything and became the first Hungry Ghost with a chance to eat—a thing that had never existed before—completing that unity.

That time, however, his transformation into the primordial Hungry Ghost lasted only a very short while. The countless Starvation Ghosts there accepted the path he had pointed out and dug up a small packet of dried beef for him as thanks.

This was the first gift and repayment.

The entire process took less than the time needed to burn a stick of incense. He was pulled back by the dried beef that had transformed into objects of testimony.

From then on, the path of the Hungry Ghost appeared, and the dried beef in his hand was no longer ordinary dried beef.

He had once said that these strips of dried beef had given him his life. It truly was not because he was stingy...

And now, after awakening, his right hand still held a wooden bowl. That was because the Hungry Ghost from before stubbornly believed that the thick soup in the bowl was the best thing in the world, a sacred object most capable of dispelling hunger, and insisted on leaving it for him.

Coming back to himself, Yu Ziqing smiled as he looked at the Hungry Ghost formed from Cècè before him.

"Seeing you means we should have returned to the Wasteland, and it hasn't been more than twelve days."

After awakening for the first time, Yu Ziqing naturally knew that twelve days was the limit.

When he transformed into the primordial Hungry Ghost, the path of the Hungry Ghost no longer presented any obstacle to him. He advanced one tier per day. After twelve days, he could never return, and the King of Hungry Ghosts would exist forever.

However, the King of Hungry Ghosts in that state had no self and no consciousness, only instinct.

It was also possible that after an extremely long time, the King of Hungry Ghosts would give birth to a new consciousness. But that would have nothing to do with Yu Ziqing anymore.

Yu Ziqing studied the Hungry Ghost before him.

"Seeing you like this is something I'm not used to."

He raised his hand and offered the dried beef to her.

"This is the proof of your class change, your advancement token—whatever. In any case, it's yours. Eat it."

The Hungry Ghost held the dried beef in both hands, smiling all the while, and nodded.

The instant she received the dried beef, a hole large enough to swallow appeared in her sealed-shut throat.

She put the dried beef into her mouth and chewed slowly.

As she moved, a mass of black flames enveloped her. She pressed her lips together slightly, unable to suppress a painful whimper, yet her body underwent transformation and gained new life within the flames.

Her corpse-like body became full once more. Her sauce-black skin regained its fair, tender appearance, and hair reappeared on her completely bald head.

When the flames dispersed, she had returned to her former appearance, looking like a living person.

The old shell that had fallen away transformed into a black robe and settled over her body.

Cècè looked at herself, somewhat surprised.

Yu Ziqing smiled.

"Congratulations. You've completed your class change. 'Hungry Ghost' is merely a race name, like 'Human race.' Before, you were only an ordinary Hungry Ghost. Now you've truly set foot on the path of the Hungry Ghost, with no chance for regret."

Cècè knelt prostrate on the ground, her face full of reverence.

"Thank you for the King's generous gift."

"Call me something else. I don't really like it. If possible, I never want to be starved to death again. I've already been starved to death twice, and I don't want to become that mindless thing again either. I might really turn into a demon king who destroys the world."

"Understood, Young Master."

"Are the people in the village all right? I didn't... kill them, did I?"

"No, Young Master. Although you lost consciousness, you still had instinct."

"Help me outside. The aftermath will probably be troublesome."

"Please forgive me, Young Master. I took matters into my own hands and did a few things."

"What?"

"After Young Master returned to the Wasteland, I delayed waking you for a little while. So Young Master beat up the one in the abyss, as well as the powerful figures from Great Zhen, Great Li, and Great Qian. The powerful figures from the other places are probably just as afraid to approach now. As long as they aren't too foolish, they should have learned their lesson."

"This..." Yu Ziqing shook his head helplessly. "Forget it. We'll deal with it later. Help me outside first. I'm so hungry, so hungry. I only want to eat..."

As they traveled onward, halfway there, they saw the Hungry Ghost from before kneeling prostrate on the ground, holding the dried beef in both hands. Behind him followed a dense mass of Hungry Ghosts.

Yu Ziqing walked over and stroked the stubborn Hungry Ghost's bald head with one hand. Not only did he show no disgust, his gaze also softened.

He still remembered this stubborn Hungry Ghost. He was foolish, yet adorable.

"What I gave you was meant to be eaten, not treasured like a precious gem. Eat it."

The stubborn Hungry Ghost hesitated, still stubbornly holding the dried beef in his palms and trying to make Yu Ziqing, who could barely stand from hunger, eat it.

"You really are foolish. I said, eat it."

At the command, the Hungry Ghost's body trembled. He obediently put the dried beef into his mouth.

Just like Cècè, the black flames that ignited enveloped him. Amid the black flames and pain, he completed his class change and fully set foot on the path of the Hungry Ghost, transforming into a thin, small youth. He fell onto the ground, a wooden bucket clutched in his arms.

He held the wooden bucket blankly. Only after a long while did he come to himself. Then he hurriedly knelt and bowed, repeatedly expressing his thanks. He babbled, trying to say something, yet could not get the words out.

"Get up. I'm not used to people kneeling before me. It always feels like it'll shorten my life. Don't do it in the future."

Cècè glanced at the lucky youth, a smile on her face, and spoke gently.

"Young Master told you to get up, so get up. You haven't spoken for a long time and have forgotten how. You'll slowly get used to it."

The youth stood up blankly, and the wooden bucket in his arms vanished with him.

Yu Ziqing passed the youth and looked at the sea of Hungry Ghosts behind him. He took out the wooden bowl, set it on the ground, and spoke softly.

"Eat."

As his voice fell, the little bit of thick soup remaining in the bowl, already gelatinous and spoiled, suddenly transformed into a full bowl of sweet dew.

Like the dried beef that had once been in his hand, this wooden bowl had also changed. To Hungry Ghosts, it was a sacred vessel.

The Hungry Ghosts lined up in orderly fashion, approaching one after another to taste the first bite of food they had eaten after dying and becoming Starvation Ghosts, then becoming Hungry Ghosts.

After becoming Hungry Ghosts, the first food they could eat had to be personally bestowed by Yu Ziqing. Only Yu Ziqing possessed the ability and authority to do so.

The Wasteland had returned to peace. With the disappearance of the King of Hungry Ghosts, all the auras had been completely withdrawn without leaving a trace.

The four powerful figures also withdrew from the Wasteland, no longer daring to attempt anything dangerous.

Aboard a flying vessel, Daoist Dragon Tiger sprawled in a chair without the slightest trace of dignity, gulping down liquor to calm his nerves. Beside him, the old scholar asked in a low voice.

"Senior Brother, was what you said earlier true?"

The hand holding the wine jug paused slightly. Daoist Dragon Tiger slowly lowered it and stared deeply at the old man. A dangerous aura began to rise from him.

"Junior Brother Jianzhen, I'll say this only once."

"Everything I said is true. My words are fact."

"Fact that no one can alter."

After speaking, Daoist Dragon Tiger returned to his original ghastly appearance and continued drinking without pause to calm his nerves.

Cold sweat poured down Jianzhen's back. He sensed that if he dared to say even one more word, his good Senior Brother—his Senior Brother who disliked managing affairs, wandered aimlessly all day and was rarely seen, never acted properly, yet cared deeply for his juniors—

might truly kill him on the spot!

He understood what his Senior Brother meant. He also knew that perhaps because he had met the gaze of the King of Hungry Ghosts, his Dao heart had become unstable and his consciousness had been shaken, leading him to ask an unbelievably foolish question.

Regardless of whether what his Senior Brother said was true, it had to be true now.

The truth had to be this way. Whoever altered it would die!

Because none of them might be able to bear the price of the truth being otherwise.

From the moment he heard the truth from Daoist Dragon Tiger, his words and actions—even his innermost thoughts—had to be unified, without the slightest wavering or doubt.

"Senior Brother, I understand. Once I return, I'll immediately go see the Qian Emperor and summon the court historian. I'll have him record the truth of history with Sweat-Blood Crimson Ink on the spot, leaving no room for alteration!"

Ahem, I saw some readers asking, so let me clarify the timeline first. Chapter One begins several months after the protagonist landed. The few months between his landing and Chapter One never appeared in the main text. This was made very clear in Chapter One, with the original text included.

And Chapter One already introduced the original text about the cheat ability.

If you still didn't understand, let me put it more bluntly: as long as one has enough information, even a god can be killed.

In theory, after completing the minimum level of information mastery, the more one knows, and the more detailed that knowledge is, the stronger the power triggered by the judgment.

As for the transformations, there had already been many hints and foreshadowing scattered throughout the first three chapters onward. (I saw that several experts had nearly dug everything up.)

All right, I hadn't expected that you hadn't expected the protagonist to stop being human.

So I first introduced someone who wasn't human, and when a second appeared, I thought you wouldn't be surprised...

To make it even clearer, after the transformation, I specifically said that the protagonist was the beginning, and that Hungry Ghosts had never appeared before. So I thought surely some expert would immediately guess that the protagonist had transformed before. (Some experts really did guess it in advance.)

And there was also the fact that the first Hungry Ghost could be judged directly, and so on.

There were also clues in the original text about things like advancing one tier per day and twelve days.

As for the protagonist growing stronger every day after transforming, it was mentioned n times within a single chapter...

The clues needed for the final eruption had been provided starting with the introduction of the cheat ability in Chapter One. I was only afraid some readers wouldn't understand, while also being unable to say it outright.

In fact, only a few chapters in, someone with a wild imagination had already guessed it. I didn't even dare respond.

Sigh.