Abyss System 1.0

"Is this the depths of my soul?" A bizarre, dazzling world unfolded before Er Dongsheng. Countless images of memories flowed past, and his small demon body looked impossibly tiny here.

His soul-formed body felt weightless as it floated through the vast space, his eyes full of curiosity.

According to ancient teachings of the Daoist School, the soul held a spirit: a world in every flower, enlightenment in every leaf. Each person's soul contained countless tiny worlds.

In martial arts, one could break through the void and glimpse the divine. In the Daoist School, one could see through the veils of the mind and catch a glimpse of its face.

If even this small soul contained vast worlds, who could say those worlds weren't real?

Perhaps they existed in some corner of the Universe, or in another universe altogether!

Er Dongsheng gazed at the immense spheres of light floating through this space, each vast enough to blot out the sky. Films he had watched flickered within them, along with novels, anime, and things he couldn't name. A world in every flower, enlightenment in every leaf—could real worlds truly exist inside them?

Who knew!

Whoosh!

The mighty Universe Will drew Er Dongsheng's thoughts onward. One bizarre, dazzling world after another flashed past. He flew faster and faster, crossing endless distances, yet no end came into sight. Where was the end?

Ten thousand years? Or just a second? Er Dongsheng stopped abruptly before him.

Who was this?

Was it himself?

He stared at the figure towering several yards high. The familiar scales, the familiar tail, those even more familiar eyes—everything was so familiar. It was him!

A strange feeling welled up as he looked at this enlarged version of himself.

At that moment, wisps of the Universe Will slowly dissipated and merged into the enlarged figure. Soon, a message came back.

"What is this?"

Er Dongsheng's mouth twitched as he stared at the thing before him, helplessness written all over his face...

"My evolution finished just like that, without a sound?"

"This is my evolutionary talent?"

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

"Abyss 1.0 game system initializing."

"Integrating consciousness. Binding host..."

"Binding successful."

"Beginning to condense host's True Name!"

"Bakasa-Morag-Andrea-Fire-Er Dongsheng. True Name condensed. Disguising True Name. Disguise successful."

"Abyss System 1.0 starting. Three-second countdown: 3, 2, 1."

"Startup successful!"

As one mechanical announcement after another rang out from the enormous figure before him, goose bumps suddenly rose all over Er Dongsheng. He pursed his lips helplessly.

"This is my evolutionary talent? It's an entire game system! Sure, I spent my past life either practicing martial arts or playing games, but did that really have to follow me into this life?"

Jokes aside, Er Dongsheng began examining the system in earnest.

Just like in the virtual games of legend, he summoned a transparent menu. The more he studied it, the more serious his expression became.

So that's how it works. This really is something good!

Demon True Name: Bakasa-Morag-Andrea-Fire-Er Dongsheng (locked; must not be revealed)

Secondary True Name: Baal (for public use; an Abyssal name containing immense power)

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

Strength: 40 (each 100 jin of force equals 1)

Agility: 25 (a combination of speed, nimbleness, and flexibility)

Constitution: 12 (constitution before evolution was 1)

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

Amplification: 20 (Flame Constitution increases the power of all fire skills by twenty percent)

Skills: Ink Spirit Flame, fire control, Chinese Martial Arts, Daoist arts (currently unavailable)

Game worlds: One available.

Database: Inherited knowledge. Awaiting collection. Available.

There was a whole heap of information. It took Er Dongsheng a long while to make sense of it, but one thing was certain: this was powerful, extraordinarily powerful. Although it looked like a game system, his evolutionary talent felt more like an intelligent chip.

This talent had formidable capabilities. Even setting everything else aside, the Game Space that came with it was astonishingly powerful.

Er Dongsheng—no, he should be called Baal now. After he evolved into a First-Level Demon, "Er Dongsheng" had become a part of his True Name, engraved deep in his soul. It was far too important to let others know it casually.

"Then I'll go by Baal from now on."

Er Dongsheng—or Baal—had gained an enormous advantage from this evolution. No other creature in the Abyss possessed such a tangled wealth of information in its soul. The tangled memories of his previous life met the blessing of the Universe Will, unique in the Abyss. Like dry wood catching fire, they gave rise to a miracle fierce as flame.

This soul space resembled a game's starting lobby, while the enormous spheres of light were Game Worlds. Er Dongsheng could enter them in his True Form to train, learn, and grow. He might even marry and have children inside them.

Every Game World contained a complete Heavenly Dao, a complete world, and living beings with souls. Each had its own history and its own future. It was just as he had thought before: a world in every flower, enlightenment in every leaf. Perhaps these Game Worlds hidden deep within his soul were real after all.

The thought left Er Dongsheng deeply shaken, awestruck by the power of the Great Universe.

"Maybe this place is only an entrance to the other worlds! Maybe they're real worlds beyond this universe!"

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

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

"The Great Universe's will 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 tentative answer can be found in the database. Daoist thought holds that falsehood and truth intertwine: did Zhuang Zhou dream he was a butterfly, or did the butterfly dream it was Zhuang Zhou? Every world has its reflections and traces. Even something seemingly false may truly exist, while something seemingly real may be no more than mist and illusion. The Daoist School calls these veils of delusion. See through them!"

"Final conclusion: Unknown!"

"Yes. Falsehood and truth intertwine. Who can tell them apart? Perhaps we're only living in someone else's dream. To think that I, a disciple of the Daoist School, would end up being lectured by a mechanical consciousness. My will still isn't firm enough."