Abyss System Version 1.0

"Is this the depths of the soul?" A bizarre and dazzling world unfolded before him. Countless reflected images of memories flowed past, and Er Dongsheng's tiny demon body seemed exceptionally small here.

His soul-condensed body was light as air, floating through this vast space, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Ancient Daoist School teachings held that the soul contained spirit: one flower, one world; one leaf, one bodhi. Every person's soul concealed countless tiny worlds.

In martial arts, one could shatter the void and see the gods; in Daoism, one could pierce the mental miasma and likewise glimpse the true visage.

At this moment, his tiny soul contained one enormous world after another. Who could say for certain that these worlds were not real?

Perhaps these worlds existed in some corner of the universe, or even in another universe!

Er Dongsheng gazed at this world, where one enormous sphere of light after another floated, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. Within them flickered movies he had once watched, novels and anime he had once read, and even some unknown existences. One flower, one world; one leaf, one bodhi. Could real worlds truly exist within them?

Who knew!

Whoosh

The mighty will of the universe began guiding Er Dongsheng's thoughts onward. One bizarre and dazzling world after another flashed past, the speed growing faster and faster. He flew across endless distances, yet still could not see the end. And where was the end?

Ten thousand years? Or merely a second? Er Dongsheng suddenly stopped before it.

Who was this?

Was this himself?

He stared at the several-zhang-tall figure before him—the familiar scales, the familiar tail, the even more familiar eyes. Everything, everything was so familiar. This was himself!

Looking at the enlarged version of himself, a strange feeling rose within him.

At this moment, wisps of cosmic consciousness slowly began to dissipate, merging into the enlarged version of himself. Before long, a message was fed back.

"This is?"

Looking at the thing before him, Er Dongsheng's mouth twitched, his face full of helplessness...

"It evolved without a sound, just like that?"

"This is my evolutionary talent?"

"Looks like I'm fated to be a shut-in in this life too!"

\n"Abyss Version 1.0 game system, initialization now beginning."

"Integrating with consciousness, binding host..."

"Binding successful."

"Beginning condensation of host's true name!"

"Bakasa-Morag-Andrea-Fire-Er Dongsheng. True name condensed successfully. Beginning true-name disguise. Disguise successful."

"Abyss System Version 1.0 beginning startup. Three-second countdown: 3, 2, 1."

"Startup successful!"

Listening to the mechanical voices emerge one after another from the enormous figure before him, goosebumps suddenly rose all over Er Dongsheng's body. He helplessly curled his lips.

"So this is my evolutionary talent? It's practically a game system! Sure, in my previous life I either practiced martial arts or played games, but did it really have to follow me into this life too?"

Jokes aside, Er Dongsheng began examining the system seriously.

Just like in the legendary virtual games, a transparent menu was summoned before him. The more he looked, the more carefully he studied it, and Er Dongsheng slowly grew solemn.

So that was it. This really was a good thing!

\nDemon True Name: Bakasa-Morag-Andrea-Fire-Er Dongsheng (locked, must not be revealed)

Secondary True Name: Baal (for dissemination, an Abyssal name containing immense power)

Level: First-Level Demon, Imp Rank (not acknowledged by the Abyss)

Strength: 40 (every 100 jin of strength counts as 1)

Agility: 25 (a composite of speed, flexibility, and suppleness)

Constitution: 12 (constitution before evolution was 1)

Resistance: 5 (degree of immunity to all abnormal conditions; some degree of fire immunity)

Amplification: 20 (possesses a fire constitution; all fire skills amplified by 20%)

Skills: Ink Spirit Flame, Fire Control, Chinese Martial Arts, Daoist Arts (temporarily unavailable)

Game Planes: One, available.

Database: Inherited knowledge, awaiting collection, available.

After looking over the long list for quite some time, Er Dongsheng finally understood. This was undoubtedly something powerful—extremely powerful. Although it looked like a game system, overall, this evolutionary talent felt more like an intelligent chip.

This talent possessed exceptionally powerful functions. Setting aside everything else, the Game Space that came with it alone was far from ordinary.

Er Dongsheng—oh no, he should be called Baal now. After evolving into a First-Level Demon, the name Er Dongsheng had become one byte within his true name, engraved deep in his soul. It could be said to be immensely important; he could not let others know it casually in the future.

"Then from now on, I'll be called Baal."

It could be said that Er Dongsheng—Baal—had struck it rich with this evolution. No creature in the Abyss possessed such complex soul information as he did. The complicated memories of his previous life collided with the unique blessing of the Abyss's cosmic will like dry tinder meeting blazing fire, giving birth to a miracle as fierce as raging flames.

This soul space was like a game's initial lobby, while those enormous spheres of light from before were game worlds. Er Dongsheng could enter them in his true body, cultivate, study, improve himself—and perhaps even marry and have children within them.

Every game world contained a complete Heavenly Dao, a complete world, complete living beings and souls. Each had its own history and its own future. Just as he had considered before: one flower, one world; one leaf, one bodhi. Perhaps these game worlds hidden deep within the soul were each real existences as well?

This left Er Dongsheng deeply horrified, and filled him with awe at the power of the great universe.

"Perhaps this place is merely the entrance to various worlds! Those are real worlds that do not exist within this universe!"

"System, can you determine whether these worlds are real?"

"Calculating. Please wait... Calculation complete."

"The will of the great universe cannot be analyzed. Whether the host's soul contains worlds is unknown. Maintaining worlds requires vast amounts of energy, which the host cannot provide. A vague answer may be found in the database. Daoist School thought states: false within falsehood, true within truth; Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou. Every world possesses its reflection and traces. Even a false thing may truly exist; something that appears real may also be mist and illusion. Daoist School states that these are all mental miasmas. Please see through them!"

"Final conclusion: unknowable!"

"Yes, false within falsehood, true within truth—who could ever explain it clearly? Perhaps we are merely living inside someone else's dream! For a Daoist School inheritor like me to be lectured by a mechanical consciousness... it seems my will still isn't firm enough."