The Heavenly Realm Was Naturally Desolate

Shu Shui clutched her head. Suddenly, she realized something, and her eyes lit up. "Father God, do you mean you're going to send us out to teach humans, like Li Huo and the others? That's wonderful! I'm nearly dying of boredom in the Earth Realm! Let me go out and have some fun!"

"..." Huang Si said, "Oh, all right. You can go be the god of Monster Beasts. Pack your own things and leave for the Great Wilderness tomorrow."

Shu Shui dropped to her knees with a thump.

"I don't want to go to the Great Wilderness! Please, Father God!"

"Father God, the Great Wilderness is full of Fierce Beasts. Sending a delicate little girl like me over there is just like sending a lamb into a tiger's den..."

"Pfft—" Kong Yu burst out laughing.

Zhong Yin gave Shu Shui a disdainful look.

As if! The artificial intelligences' bodies were products of Father God's combined biological and mechanical technologies. They were more agile than biological bodies, could fly, and were stronger than any beast.

Only Shu Shui would say something so shameless.

But Huang Si was only teasing her.

Huang Si said:

"All right, Shu Shui really isn't suited to the Great Wilderness. Xue Shang would be better suited to go there."

At Huang Si's words, Xue Shang gave a soft "Mm," a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.

Father God really did understand her.

Everyone looked at Xue Shang. Actually, when it came down to it, she really was the best person to send to the Great Wilderness. She'd be no better off managing Human Race affairs than going there.

Because Xue Shang was a monster enthusiast!

"If Xue Shang wants to go to the Great Wilderness, she can leave now. If she has any questions, she can ask me or Xiao Ke."

As he spoke, Huang Si changed the subject. "As for the rest of you, you'll be going to the Human Race, so don't rush. Wait a while."

After discussing various details about the flood with the artificial intelligences, Huang Si was about to end the meeting and head home.

Fortunately, the thoughtful Nan Yang brought something up:

"Father God, weren't you going to mention something else at the beginning? That girl named Xiao Hua?"

"Oh, right!" Huang Si slapped his forehead. "I almost forgot!"

If Nan Yang hadn't brought it up, he really would have forgotten. After cutting off all data flow, as long as Huang Si didn't consciously make an effort to sense her, he could make the assimilated soul completely fade from his awareness.

He'd discovered this trick while experimenting on animal souls.

If he hadn't had this trick, Huang Si thought he might have destroyed Xiao Hua's soul the month before last—or, in other words, an unknown number of years ago in the Green World.

He wasn't a god, just an ordinary person. He didn't like receiving messages from believers.

At the mention of Xiao Hua, Shu Shui's ears perked up.

She stared intently at Huang Si.

Unfortunately, Huang Si showed no expression at all. "When ordinary living things die, their souls naturally dissipate. But Xiao Hua's soul belongs to me, and my Mental Force strengthened it. So even though she lived out her natural lifespan, her soul hasn't dissipated."

"Right now..." Huang Si sensed her briefly. "She's 187.5 kilometers from here in a straight line, at a 249-degree angle. Mm, wandering. I've cut off all data flow, so there's no way she can find me on her own."

Since Huang Si had complete, detailed knowledge of Xiao Hua's soul, he could tell where she was with just a brief effort to sense her.

But Xiao Hua couldn't possibly sense Huang Si's location. Aside from the instinctive knowledge that her soul belonged to someone, every connection had been severed completely by Huang Si.

Xiao Hua was ultimately a shaman under Dong Yao's jurisdiction. Dong Yao felt some sympathy for her, so he tentatively asked:

"Father God, what do you plan to do with Xiao Hua?"

Huang Si shrugged. "I haven't decided. I'll probably put her back in the Heavenly Realm later. Until I figure out how to handle souls belonging to me, I don't want to deal with it for now."

As he spoke, Huang Si glanced at Dong Yao. "Don't worry. I won't kill her of my own accord. After all, she's practically a specimen for my experiments now."

However, a certain word in Huang Si's answer caught the artificial intelligences' attention.

Wei Ji asked, "Father God, you just mentioned the 'Heavenly Realm.' Where is that?"

Huang Si said, "Oh, I originally planned to build the Heavenly Realm around the Ring passage in the sky. But the two crucial technologies—vacuum zero-point energy and antigravity—haven't been solved yet, so the project has been put on hold for now."

Wei Ji asked, puzzled, "Then what did you mean...?"

Huang Si said, "I haven't started building it, but isn't the Ring platform the prototype of the Heavenly Realm?"

Everyone: ???

Wasn't the Ring platform just a signal base station and solar panels?

Half an hour later.

Above the Ring platform.

Huang Si had gone along the network straight to Xiao Hua, then brought her soul back.

After that, he placed her back on the Ring platform.

After the trials of life, Xiao Hua's soul had changed a little once more.

Her soul was not only solid enough; it even radiated a spiritual glow from within.

This glow was much like Huang Si's Mental Force Field, but it couldn't affect the physical world.

However, it could affect human minds to a certain extent.

Its influence spread outward from the center, weakening with distance. It could reach more than ten meters at most.

That was why she had become the greatest "Great Shaman" among the Human Race.

To some extent, she could be considered a shaman with genuine magical abilities.

Huang Si even discovered that although Xiao Hua had lost her body, her soul was remarkably intact. Not only were her self-awareness and reasoning intact, but she even retained a small part of her memories.

"Wasn't memory supposed to belong to the body?"

Huang Si was puzzled as he examined Xiao Hua's soul.

Xiao Hua now had some impression of her life and identity. Huang Si could see every corner of her soul and confirm that she really did have some memories.

Her birth, growth, death, assimilation, revival, and finding her place in the world—all of these experiences, along with her worldview and thought patterns, remained in Xiao Hua's soul, albeit faintly.

In her soul form, she could vaguely remember things from her life.

But she could only remember things that had happened directly to her during her life. She had no memories belonging to other people.

This made Xiao Hua more like a living person with a complete personality, rather than the empty shell without a single memory that she'd been before.

"Soul memories? Like the memories the Creation Book directly implanted in me?"

Huang Si speculated.

He still didn't understand everything about souls.

But he could research it slowly.

Huang Si pointed at the Ring platform. "There. This is the Heavenly Realm. From now on, you'll stay here."

Xiao Hua obediently replied, "Yes."

Xiao Hua looked around. She was on a circular platform. A metallic spire stood on it.

A gray ring was connected to the middle of the spire, making it seem as though the spire hung from the ring.

Around the circular platform, enormous black petals encircled it in layer upon layer.

There wasn't a single person anywhere in sight.

Xiao Hua asked curiously, "God, has the Heavenly Realm always been this desolate?"

Huang Si kept a straight face. "First, you're forbidden from calling me God from now on. Second, of course the Heavenly Realm is desolate. Only the mortal world is lively. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have come to me after you died."

Xiao Hua lowered her head. "I overstepped, Master."

After Huang Si left, Xiao Hua remained alone on the Ring platform.

She looked at this place, the Heavenly Realm she had always longed to reach. It was so bleak and desolate.

Xiao Hua sat down in silence.

The god had ordered her to stay here, so she would remain here forever, no matter how the world changed, even until the end of time.

If only the god would acknowledge her more as his loyal believer.

Now, she wasn't even allowed to use the title believers used for their god.

A trace of regret welled up from deep within Xiao Hua's soul.