Demon Ancestor Gantuo, the world of the past

After learning some clues about "Supreme Evolution" from Stiller and arranging Stiller's next "performance," Lin Yu had basically completed the preliminary preparations for going to the Barren Realm to carry out the "Order" mission.

But before actually using the [Team-up Card]...

Lin Yu needed to first take stock of his previous gains.

The Blank Dao Banner given by the "Diviner" has been preliminarily inspected, but...

Lin Yu has not yet begun to study the "Demon Ancestor's Inner Core" given to him by Xiao Yun.

There's still some time before "Order" sends him a notification, so Lin Yu decides to extract the Demon Ancestor's consciousness during this period.

For Lin Yu, this was already a job he was quite skilled at.

He took out the [Ancient Notebook], used his mental power and causal threads to probe into the "Demon Ancestor's Inner Core," and then...

He also extracted the Memory contained in the remaining part of the "Demon Ancestor's " consciousness.

Lin Yu relaxed his mind and immersed his consciousness into the [Ancient Notebook].

In other words... he became immersed in the past experiences of "Demon Ancestor Gantuo".

"Whoosh--!"

Lin Yu opened his eyes and found himself on... a bustling Street.

The streets were bustling with traffic and pedestrians hurrying by.

This is a large metropolis that rivals Shenzhen in size.

Lin Yu was somewhat dazed.

Wasn't I... exploring the Memory within the remnants of the Demon Ancestor Gantuo's consciousness?

Why did I come to such a modern city?

After carefully looking around, Lin Yu realized that this was probably not a real city.

Although they look about 80-90% similar, upon closer inspection, there are still some very obvious differences in the details.

Most of the surrounding high-rise buildings are hexagonal, resembling a honeycomb shape.

The pedestrians on the street, regardless of gender, were generally a head taller than Lin Yu, as if they were all basketball players approaching two meters in height.

Those cars were also larger in size, and apart from that... although the styles were similar to the Vehicles Lin Yu had seen in reality, none of the car logos were familiar to Lin Yu.

"Could this... be the past of the Demon Ancestor Gantuo?"

Lin Yu pondered.

A deep voice came from behind Lin Yu.

"Yes, this is my past."

Lin Yu turned his head and saw a voice that was quite loud even by the average standards of this Street.

Although he was tall and strong, he lacked the iron-gray skin, wild black hair, and chains wrapped around his body.

However, Lin Yu could recognize him by his facial features.

This is...

"The Demon Ancestor Gantuo."

Lin Yu said in a low voice.

The tall man shook his head slightly.

"It is Gan Duo, but not the Demon Ancestor... For now, it is just Gan Duo."

"Or rather, I was always just 'Gan Duo'."

Lin Yu looked at Gan Duo, and after confirming that the Consciousness Entity generated by using the other party's Soul Fragment and "residual consciousness" was indeed not hostile, he hesitated before speaking.

"Not the Demon Ancestor... Could it be that the 'Demon Ancestor' is your second personality?"

Gan Duo did not answer the question, but instead looked around.

"What a brilliant move," Player, you've managed to construct all of this using the power of two 'Authority' —and even incomplete 'Authority'."

"It almost made me think I was still 'alive' and that my Minecraft still existed."

Upon hearing Gan Duo's praise, Lin Yu humbly replied.

"Just a trivial trick... So, this really is the world you used to live in?"

Gan Duo nodded. "Yes, this is the world where I was born and raised."

At this point, Gan Duo walked to the roadside, touched the low shrubs in the green belt, and chuckled softly.

"It's quite similar to your world, isn't it?"

Lin Yu nodded. "It is very similar... I thought your original world would be a world with a style like 'Prison Mountain Realm'."

Gan Duo laughed.

"Just because I was sealed there, and because my nickname is 'Demon Ancestor'?"

Lin Yu nodded. "Yes."

"To be honest, compared to the time I spent living in my original world... I did spend a much longer period of time in the Prison Mountain Realm —even the time before I was sealed there was several times longer than the time I spent in my original world."

"Gan Duo said in a low voice."

Lin Yu looked at Gan Duo, somewhat surprised. "Oh, so you're a 'time traveler'? Hmm... or rather, do you understand the concept of a 'time traveler'?"

"It's like us 'Player,' moving from one world to another..."

Gan Duo looked at Lin Yu and gently shook his head.

"No need for so much explanation. I understand the concept of 'time traveler.' As you've already seen, our original worlds don't seem that different."

"The concept of 'time travelers' has also been proposed in our world."

Then, Gan Duo paused for a moment.

"As for your point about being like a 'Player,' there's really no need to say that."

"Because I used to be a 'Player'."

"Gan Duo's Consciousness Entity said lightly."

Lin Yu felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing Gan Duo's casual remark.

As he heard more and more high-level Secret Knowledge, Lin Yu now understood most of the knowledge involving Deity, the essence of the world, and even the "Death game," so he was hardly surprised even when he heard some bizarre news.

But Gan Duo's casual remark still made Lin Yu's fingertips tremble slightly.

"You are... Player?"

Lin Yu said in a low voice.

Gan Duo nodded calmly.

"Yes, I am a 'Player' —or, in your words, a 'Player' from the previous 'version'."

He pointed to his head.

"This isn't the first time a 'Death game' has appeared; you should be well aware of that."

"At the same time, it doesn't only appear in your world."

"Let's use the timeline of the 'Prison Mountain Realm' as a standard—tens of thousands of years ago in the Prison Mountain Realm, before your world was touched by the 'Death game,' I became a 'Player' of the 'Death game.'"

"Let me ask you this: how many different [Instance] worlds have you discovered in this current 'Death game'?"

Gan Duo looked at Lin Yu and asked.

"Ten Realms."

Hearing Gan Duo's question, Lin Yu felt increasingly uneasy, but he still answered it anyway.

Gan Duo indeed showed a surprised expression. "So many... That's quite a long time... Hmm, it's also possible that the 'Death game' is progressing faster than I expected."

Gan Duo spoke, Lin Yu pressed for more information.

How many worlds do you have?

Gan Duo chuckled, "So you've finally figured out the problem... My 'Death game' back then only had two worlds: 'Prison Mountain Realm' and 'Mist Island Realm'."

"All our [Instance], all our 'Game,' take place in these two worlds."

"However, the two realms back then should be different from the two realms you see now."

"Afterwards, I was sealed away and fell into a deep sleep in the Prison Mountain Realm. The 'information' I came into contact with intermittently was also related to the Prison Mountain Realm. Therefore, I don't know what the Mist Island Realm has changed into, and naturally I can't compare the differences. In addition, I didn't have much activity in the Mist Island Realm to begin with... So, I'll just tell you about the Prison Mountain Realm for now."

"Back then, the Prison Mountain Realm was quite habitable—although the 'Nine Cold Mountain' and 'Ultimate Yang' mountains already existed, the environment wasn't that extreme, and there were no Six Hells at the foot of the mountains."

"So, the name we gave him back then was 'Two Mountains Realm'."

"At that time, the climate in the Two Mountains Realm was favorable and the resources were abundant, while in terms of social system, it was a period of 'Nine Kingdoms Vying for Supremacy.'"

"After entering an agricultural society dominated by planting, the nine human kingdoms that had been allied and coexisting peacefully for four hundred years began to experience friction as metallurgy developed and various 'Fang Techniques' rose to prominence."

"That's how I participated in the Game at the 'Two Mountains Realm'."

"At first, I was just grateful that the 'Death game' gave me a second chance, allowing me, who should have died, to continue living... But gradually, I realized that all of this came at a price."

"Although I can survive, and even learn the 'Fang Techniques' of the Two Mountains Realm to enhance my physical and spiritual strength, the price is... the world I live in is being eroded and controlled by the 'Death game.'"

"I didn't discover this myself; I was told."

"In my Minecraft, there are approximately four billion people—it had been around for about nine years when I entered the 'Death game.'"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu couldn't help but interrupt Gan Duo.

"Nine years? How many days are in a year according to your calendar?"

Gan Duo looked at Lin Yu: "Three hundred and sixty-three days, and a day in the Prison Mountain Realm is also twelve hours... What's wrong?"

Lin Yu shook his head. "No, no... it's nothing, please continue."

Although Gan Duo found it somewhat strange, he didn't suspect anything and continued speaking.

"In short, nine years have passed, and our world now has over 50,000 'Player'."

Even though "Player" are eliminated every week, the number of existing "Player" continues to grow because new "Player" join every week.

"After interacting with many 'Player,' I naturally came into contact with the ideas prevalent in our 'Player' community."

Lin Yu began, "Most of the 'Player' there are aware that the 'Death game' is eroding your world, right?"

Gan Duo nodded. "Yes, those veteran 'Player' believe that if the 'Death game' isn't controlled... eventually, it will completely take over our world."

"As for the consequences of the 'world' being controlled by the 'Death game,' there are differing opinions."

Some believe it will become a 'Game Venue' like the Prison Mountain Realm and the Mist Island Realm; others think it will become some kind of 'living dead hell'; still others believe our world will be wiped out...

"But, either way, it doesn't sound very optimistic."