Smack.
Xu Yuan could not even be bothered to flip through it. He tossed the Illustrated Guide to Cat and Dog Feeding and Care onto the table.
"Want to talk?" he asked the dog.
It was a yellow-brown mutt. One eye kept swiveling in its socket, though there was no telling what it was looking at.
"Swear you won't serve that master of yours. Then I'll talk to you."
The mutt spoke.
"Fine, I swear I won't serve him. We aren't actually master and servant. Why won't you believe me?" Xu Yuan said with a chuckle.
An inexplicable ripple suddenly wound around him.
Then faint, glowing text appeared:
"Your oath has been fixed. You may not serve the being named 'Lu Feiming,' or you will be reduced to ashes."
So the dog had pulled a trick on me!
But he really was not Lu Feiming's servant, so it did not matter.
"Now you can tell me a few things, right?"
Xu Yuan rested his chin on his hand.
"Since you swore the oath, I can tell you who that fellow really is," the dog said.
"Who is he?" Xu Yuan asked.
"You humans have created many kinds of civilization, so you must have heard the word 'backup,'" the dog said.
"I have," Xu Yuan said.
"The Ancient God and the Universe are Truth's Two Aspects. What do you think—if both died in battle, would Truth still exist?" the dog asked.
"...That's a little beyond me, but I'd guess Truth cannot be destroyed," Xu Yuan said.
"You do have a little wit." The dog looked him up and down. "That's right. Though both aspects die, Truth endures. It will still manifest a new aspect."
A new aspect?
The Ancient God was terrifying enough already.
The Universe wielded power beyond