Following the timeline, the man with the bandages became a player on the Side of Truth over four years ago, and after three years established the Evil Science Alliance, gaining immense power.
At this time the Mercury Alloy Guild came seeking help, and the Side of Truth guided and suggested the guild to look for the Retrospection Room, resulting in Mercury Alloy being trapped in the time Mystery Lock.
One year later, a new team of players emerged. Li Cheng killed Mithril and, using the time turbulence, sent the man with the bandages back over four years, completing the cycle by becoming a player.
There are two issues here. First, why couldn’t the Side of Truth, having been teleported back in time, save his own wife and children?
Second, to what extent did the Side of Truth exercise subjective initiative to facilitate the cycle?
The man with the bandages, when at Lv1, already knew the player IDs of people like Ant, Zhao Zijing, and Driver, so after he became the Side of Truth, did he keep a long-term watch on these individuals, guiding them onto the "correct" cyclic track?
Hearing Li Cheng’s questions, the Side of Truth sat up slightly straight, and calmly said: "Yes, and no.
I was shattered by the time turbulence and really was sent back over four years, just in time to witness the funeral of my wife and children."
The Side of Truth noticed the expression on Li Cheng’s face and smiled, explaining: "Don’t worry. At that time, I was indeed in utter despair and felt utter hopelessness, but paradoxically, the reward for the Electric Energy Retrospection task included a soul-type item,
allowing me to gather their remaining souls, preventing them from being completely dissipated."
Beneath the hood of the Side of Truth, a light began to shine.
In the midst of the light, Li Cheng vaguely saw the silhouette of a woman leading a child, the silhouette’s surface covered in cracks.
The Side of Truth waved his hand to disperse the light and continued: "After that, I continuously completed the tasks assigned by the killing field and likewise chose Spiritual Energy as my Power System.
To a certain extent, this was indeed influenced by Mithril.
The difference is that he cultivated the Spirit Prophecy system and the Spirit Enchantment System, while I mainly cultivated the Spirit Creation System."
Spiritual Energy is the art of developing the potential of the mind. Proficient Spiritual Ability Users can dive deep into their hearts and seize power from the vast ocean of the subconscious, twisting and reshaping external reality.
The Spirit Creation System practiced by the Side of Truth allowed him to extract Star Material from the Star Realm, creating weapons, armor, or activating Gouzhuang bodies.
"Since I returned quite late, my wife and children’s souls had dissipated a lot. In order to perfectly resurrect them, I traveled to various storyline worlds, collecting any useful knowledge, and exchanged techniques with other players.
During this process, I discovered that there was not the Evil Science Alliance Guild you mentioned, so I established one myself."
The Side of Truth said: "As my strength continued to grow, my understanding of the killing field and destiny deepened.
Especially on the day when I was exploring the killing field and found that patch of grass and the pipe that was leaking from deep within it.
I realized that it was I who was facilitating the cycle,
among the players who participated in the Electric Energy Retrospection task, Zhao Zijing, Catherine, Mendoza, Miles all used their real names, which could trace their identities.
But to allow fate to continue its course, I did not intervene in anyone’s destiny and even blocked out all memories related to you from my mind.
As expected, with my memories blocked, when facing the seeking help from the Mercury Alloy Guild, I still directed them to the killing field to search for the Retrospection Room, ultimately completing the cycle."
These earnest words led Li Cheng to ponder for a moment and choose to believe.
It’s not that he was naïve enough to accept other people’s explanations, but a Lv40 Transcendent, to a certain extent, is no different from a deity.
Like the Spirit Creation System that the Side of Truth practiced, its ninth-level superpower Creation Technique can directly create a personal Half-plane, adjusting atmosphere, water, temperature, terrain, and other factors within it, and introducing creatures from the outside world to play the creator.
With things having reached this point, there really is no reason to lie to Lv14 Li Cheng.
"Alright, everything that needs to be explained has been explained, now it’s time to talk about serious matters."
The Side of Truth clapped his hands with a light laugh: "It looks like you’ve been infected by the Insect Lord Demon?"
Li Cheng nodded, "Yes."
"No problem. The Divine Calamity creatures in the killing field are essentially a concept. What the Insect Master represents is the mutation, evolution, and adaptation passed down from the origin of life to this day.
For microorganisms, change is a good thing. More frequent genetic mutations mean a higher chance of evolving factors that adapt to the surrounding environment, increasing the likelihood of survival and reproduction.
But higher-level beings often cannot bear the cost of change.
This item is for you."
The Side of Truth snapped its fingers and summoned a crystal construct, palm-sized, to open a nearby cabinet and retrieve an ancient, narrow, and straight jade dagger.
The jade dagger was emerald green and translucent, with the pattern of the Yin-Yang fish etched into the end of the handle.
[Item Name: Liangyi Blade]
[Type: Ritual Dagger]
[Special Effect 1: Tai Chi Produces Yin Yang. Use on self to forcibly balance inner strength, reducing conflicts between different types of power. Passive activation]
[Special Effect 2: Yin Yang Transformation. When used, allows one type of inner power to temporarily prevail, maintaining body integrity for a brief period without collapse]
[Special Effect 2 Consumption: 50% of total Spiritual Power Value, 50% of total Sanity Value]
[Special Effect 2 Cooling Time: 3 hours]
[Use Conditions: None]
[Note: Tai Chi precedes the two instruments of creation; from them derive the four phenomena, and from these arise the eight trigrams]
If one says that items of perfect quality occur sporadically for sale in auction houses, then those above perfect, of epic quality, are truly priceless.
Li Cheng slowly reached out to grasp the handle of the dagger, intuitively understanding how to use it.
The first special effect of the Liangyi Blade could forcibly balance the power within.
It could convert a Devil to believe in God, or teach a Dead Spirit the ways of Holy Light.
Applied to himself, it could suppress the Insect Lord Demon infection, neutralizing its aggressive and erosive activity, preserving only the useful aspects.
The second special effect could be used at critical moments to lift limitations on the Insect Lord’s genes temporarily, transforming into a monster.
Both effects are conceptual in nature, truly worthy of an item of epic quality.
Li Cheng’s palm slowly released the handle of the blade, carefully choosing his words, "This is very valuable."
"It’s okay, I actually stole this dagger from a Sect in a cultivation-themed script world; it didn’t cost much."
The Side of Truth said with a smile, "Consider it a favor returned with ease.
Also, this dagger is just a support tool, it doesn’t possess direct offensive or defensive abilities, so its impact on the killing field’s scoring is moderate.
If I were to give you some other item, it would severely increase your score in the killing field, leading to more challenging missions."
Since the Side of Truth already put it that way, Li Cheng accepted the Liangyi Blade and nodded in thanks.
"There’s one more thing."
The Side of Truth tapped back and forth on the tabletop, his tone growing serious. Li Cheng straightened his back a bit and listened attentively.
"Do you want," The Side of Truth said gravely, "me to send you an Enchanting Demon?"
"Ah?" Li Cheng was utterly baffled.
The Side of Truth, who rarely saw Li Cheng so bewildered after witnessing his clever maneuvers in the Electric Energy Retrospection mission, laughed out loud and said, "When I founded the Demon Scientist Alliance, I made my first pot of gold by modifying goblins into handsome men and beautiful women, opening bars and nightclubs, it’s kind of nostalgic.
Of course, given our relationship, it’s unthinkable to fob you off with goblins, Kobolds, bear goblins, or Gnolls.
I’ve signed long-term contracts with the Bottomless Abyss and Bator Hell; I can recruit Demons or Devils directly through Boss hiring."
"Er, let’s not." Read full story at Nove1Fire.net
Li Cheng, still equipped with the Electronic Eye and Electronic Nose, waved his hands to show he lacked such worldly desires.
On the contrary, Gray Rain was somewhat excited, "Are there any Devils that can help with homework, ah!"
Li Cheng gave her a chop with his hand and pulled her away to leave the place.