The Monster is Coming

Chapter 474: Enemy with the World

Time flies, and a thousand years is but a page in the history book.

Under the watchful eye of Tu Hu, the Rongling tribe experienced 17 generations of change after entering the Twin Cities Era.

The torrent of history surges forward, leaving behind countless stories worth remembering.

During this stage, the Rongling civilization explored the boundaries of the world and became the undisputed ruler of the world.

It was known by other ethnic groups as the Rongling Empire.

The "Leap City" in the center of Xinxing Valley is no longer what it used to be.

The energy tracks within the city resemble a neural network woven from light, extending deep into the clouds and connecting to the urban area suspended in the air.

The anti-gravity vehicle moved silently through the transparent tube like a fish.

The "Guardian Series" armor, which once required Tie Xin's personal supervision to create, is now a museum exhibit. In its place is the psionic construct, which is perfectly integrated with life energy, connects to the warrior's nerves, and is driven by willpower.

The city of Mingji at the other end became a sacred place for the Rongling civilization.

Every day, people from all directions come to the square in front of the Hall of Heroes to pay their respects.

The statues of the first leaders were polished to a gleaming shine, and the names of those who followed were solemnly engraved on the memorial tablets inside the hall as civilization expanded.

Every brick and tile here tells a story of history, reminding every visitor of where the Rongling civilization came from.

Jing Si, Tie Xin, Xun Ying... names that once stood shoulder to shoulder with Tu Hu in creating an era have long since become shining stars in history textbooks.

Their spirit has become the cornerstone of civilization's progress, inherited and carried forward by generation after generation of new leaders.

The flame of civilization burns ever brighter with the changing times, illuminating paths that our predecessors never imagined.

At this moment, Tu Hu strolled through the streets of Flying Leap City.

The new generation of Rongling walking around me have an average height of nearly 1.8 meters and an elegant figure.

Compared to the Rongling of yesteryear, it's as if they've become a different race.

This is thanks to the path of inner cultivation established in the early years. Through continuous optimization of genes and the nurturing of the Blood Refining Method, each generation of Rongling is better than the previous one.

Passing by a park, I saw children playing inside, manipulating energy to condense into birds.

Their effortless grace is a level that even their ancestors, through arduous training, could hardly reach.

But he remained the same as before.

Time has left no trace on him.

After his walk, Tu Hu returned to his residence.

Take a crystal-clear amber-colored wine bottle out of the temperature-controlled cabinet.

This wine is brewed from the fruit of the "Star Tear Vine" grown in the Flying Leap City Cultivation Garden, and the liquor is named: Morning Dew.

The annual production is limited; it's a special edition exclusively for his ancestor.

Reaching out, I picked up a glass from the counter and filled it to the brim. The liquid swirled in the glass, shimmering with tiny sparkles.

He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

The wine flowed down his throat, bringing a powerful and gentle life energy that nourished his limbs and bones, but it was like a stream flowing into a bottomless abyss, having no effect on his incurable ailment.

These injuries became a unique problem in the development of the Rongling civilization.

With the explosive development of technology, from the fourth generation of Jing Si to the current 17th generation of top medical scientists, countless younger generations, out of concern for their "ancestor," have used every known means to try to cure the hidden ailment in his body.

The result was that each attempt was in vain.

The latest "Life Map and Anomalous Energy Analysis Report" is stored in the database of the terminal in front of him.

The report indicated that his injuries were not simply tissue necrosis or blood stasis.

Multiple scans confirmed that a type of unidentifiable spatial substance remained in his body.

It's like a mark imprinted on the body, already beyond the knowledge of the current Rongling Clan, or even the Dreamweaver Clan.

It can even be considered as energy matter that transcends the current dimensions of the world.

Any treatment based on the current environment cannot address the root cause.

Tu Hu speculated that the reason why time seemed to stand still in his body might be related to his injuries.

Spatial trauma locked his lifespan, making him an anomaly that walks outside of time.

From initial ambition to later confusion and bewilderment, and now to resigned acceptance... they can build facilities that span cities and edit life genes, but they cannot heal the ancient wounds on their ancestor.

As night deepens, the city lights up thousands of homes.

Tu Hu stood quietly by the window, toying with an empty wine glass in his hand, his gaze fixed on the flowing light in the sky.

Just then, the sound of unlocking permissions rang out, and the door to the residence slid open silently.

A figure walked in lightly, without alerting the defense system.

Currently, only one person possesses such authority.

"Grandfather, I knew you hadn't rested yet," a voice rang out with a smile.

The newcomer was tall and upright, standing at 1.7 meters. He wore a well-tailored silver-gray official uniform, with a star-patterned shawl casually draped over his shoulders. His long, dark green hair was tied back with a simple bone hairpin, with a few strands falling beside his cheeks, adding a touch of casualness. His eyes were pure, crystal-purple.

Tu Hu didn't turn around, but a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The visitor was none other than the current chief administrator, Xing Tong, the seventeenth leader of the Rongling tribe.

She is the current chief administrator of the Rongling tribe, and is also recognized by the tribe as the greatest genius of her time. She is even hailed by many historians as the most gifted person in the history of the Rongling civilization.

Her growth trajectory was smooth and uninterrupted, only marked by rapid progress.

At the age of three, he was able to guide the energy around him without a teacher. By the age of ten, his mental strength had surpassed that of many adult warriors who had cultivated for decades. He could also distract himself by controlling dozens of sophisticated energy components to work together.

During her youth, she broke the psychic calculation record held for many years by the "Helmet Jewel".

The life evolution method pioneered by Jing Si was pushed to an unprecedented height in her hands. She even put forward several ideas about the nature of energy that were not recorded in the Dream Weaver Clan's knowledge base, and personally verified two of them.

She was like a chosen one born for this glorious era, possessing countless talents.

His wisdom, strength, and leadership are all top-notch.

Tu Hu still remembered the previous leader's感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep feelings) when he mentioned Xing Tong during a casual chat:

“Ancestor, Xing Tong is simply unlike any offspring that our Rongling Clan could produce. She surpasses our contemporary clansmen in every aspect, even in the way she thinks. She is born at a height that we cannot reach. Many times, I feel that she is not learning knowledge, but rather awakening memories.”

"Seeing her achievements, I feel both gratified and a little scared."

This assessment reflects the sentiments of many older colleagues who worked with Xing Tong.

She was so perfect as to be almost unreal, as if all the accumulated wisdom of the Rongling civilization was waiting for the emergence of such a culmination as her, to usher in a brand new era.

And indeed, Xing Tong unsurprisingly ascended to the pinnacle of power in the Rongling civilization.

Under her leadership, the Rongling civilization's technology tree flourished, and many problems that were once considered bottlenecks were successively overcome.

But even such a genius standing at the pinnacle of civilization would unconsciously reveal a bit of childishness in front of Tu Hu.

At this moment, Xing Tong came to Tu Hu's side and looked up at the starry sky, just like him.

"Ancestor, are you looking at the starry sky?" Xing Tong asked, tilting her head, her bright eyes reflecting the flowing light of the sky outside the window.

"Hmm." Tu Hu responded softly, took the wine bottle from Xing Tong, and refilled his glass.

Xing Tong watched Tu Hu drink, her gaze lingering on his still youthful profile, before asking curiously:
"Ancestor, you are knowledgeable and experienced. What lies beyond the heavens? Why does the Dream Weaver Clan yearn for it so much?"

Tu Hu paused slightly in his grip on the wine glass. Turning his head to look at Xing Tong's inquisitive eyes, he smiled, then shook his head and said:

"I don't know. I used to think that crossing the Blackthorn Forest would be the end of the world. Later, I discovered that there was an endless wasteland. I thought that conquering the wasteland would allow me to settle down and make a living. Later, I was caught up in the invasion wave of the Bone Clan. I thought that overthrowing the Bone Clan would allow me to rest easy... It seems that there is no real end to the world. After crossing one mountain, there will always be a higher mountain."

After speaking, his gaze once again turned to the boundless sky:
"The Dreamweavers' knowledge base contains a vast amount of data, but lacks a lot of historical information. Clearly, they hope that the civilization that inherits this knowledge can take a completely different path from the Dreamweavers. So these are questions that we have to explore ourselves."

Xing Tong blinked and shrugged playfully:

“Our ancestor lived as long as heaven and earth, so naturally you will live to see the day the answer is revealed. But I can’t say for sure, since we mortals can’t withstand the hardships of time.”

Tu Hu was immediately amused:
“I have seen the medical report on your body from the Department of Life Sciences. If we’re talking about longevity, besides this old codger, you’re next in line… Now that Project Sky Dome has been launched, and you’re in your prime, that day isn’t far off.”

After speaking, he put down his wine glass and turned to look at Xing Tong:
"Tell me, Your Excellency is so busy with state affairs, why did you come to see me today? I'm sure it wasn't just to keep me company while I look at the stars?"

Upon hearing this, Xing Tong's expression gradually became serious:
"Actually, I came here today to talk to you about a strange thing."

Tu Hu put down his wine glass, straightened up his body leaning against the window, and waited for Xing Tong to say something next.

It's safe to say that anything that makes Xing Tong's appearance so strange must be extraordinary.

Xing Tong then reached out her hand, lightly tapping her fingertips in the air. Immediately, her wristwatch flashed and connected to the house system, projecting a light and shadow image.

The image shows the current territory and real-time monitoring data of different resource points.

The dense array of parameters is dazzling, but all the curves point to the same anomaly: the energy level is decaying at a rate that defies common sense.

"The abnormal fluctuations in psionic radiation first appeared three months ago at the jade mine." She zoomed in on one of the images:
"The spiritual energy within the vein rapidly depleted, dropping from its peak to zero within 72 hours. Our detectors show that the energy was not extracted by any external force..." She paused, then found a more accurate description:
"It's as if the rules that constitute spirituality have been rewritten. The spiritual ore in the vein is still there, and its weight and texture haven't changed, but it has become an ordinary stone."

"Next is the condition of the spirit plants in the Morning Spirit region." Xing Tong switched the screen to show a withered field of spirit wheat:
"One second they were sprouting ears of grain, the next they were all withered and yellow. The strangest thing is that even the gene samples left in the seed bank have lost their activity."

She looked at Tu Hu, her crystalline purple eyes filled with confusion:
"It's as if there's a force that negates the properties of these substances at the physical level, modifying them at the level of rules."

"The investigation team I dispatched conducted every conceivable test, including environmental parameters, energy fields, spatial stability... All the data was normal; there were no signs of intrusion or external contamination, yet this anomaly spread inland like a plague."

She pulled up a map of the territory, and a light gray area was slowly spreading out from the edge of the Rongling territory.

"At this rate, it will affect Leap City within a year at most, or perhaps even sooner."

The tiger-slaying gaze film is eroding the gray areas that undermine the foundations of civilization, and a long-lost sense of crisis has resurfaced.

This is unlike any crisis they have ever faced before.

"Is there any pattern?" Tu Hu asked.

Xing Tong shook her head:

“Completely random, the same symptoms appeared at resource points in different regions and different ecosystems. The only common point is that they all occurred within the territory controlled by our Rongling civilization, so I regard it as a precise strike by an external threat.”

She turned off all the images, and the room fell dark again.

“Ancestor, I used all monitoring methods, and even activated several observation devices left behind by the Dream Weaver Clan, but the result was the same: everything is normal.”

"It is precisely because everything is normal that it seems so strange."

Tu Hu's pupils contracted slightly.

Xing Tong's description was like a key, unlocking a piece of his past memories.

He walked slowly to the wine cabinet, poured himself another glass of wine, and gently swirled the amber liquid in the glass.
"Two hundred years ago... when we had just established ourselves in the northern mountains and were exploring local resources, we discovered stone carvings from a vanished civilization."

He turned to look at Xing Tong, his gaze grave.

"It records a civilization that called itself the Tianjing Clan. Judging from the description, at its peak, it was not much weaker than us now. At its peak, they also experienced similar things, with many resources inexplicably becoming ineffective and energy disappearing into thin air."

Xing Tong held her breath:

"Did they find the reason?"

Tu Hu shook his head and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.

"They did find a way to temporarily alleviate resource depletion by altering the material structure through some kind of blood sacrifice ritual to nurture resources, but just when they thought the crisis was over, a new disaster struck."

"The stone inscription records that a creature called 'Erosion Spirit' descended upon the territory of the Celestial Crystal Clan. These creatures have no physical form; any attack will pass right through them, yet they can easily devour the life force of living beings."

"Within a few years, all the top experts of the Tianjing Clan perished, and their civilization system completely collapsed."

Xing Tong suddenly thought of something and continued:
“Border patrols have recently reported similar incidents. Three squads were attacked by creatures in the form of white light. All their weapons were completely ineffective, and they barely managed to escape thanks to a psionic barrier.”

The two looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

This is obviously not a coincidence.

Tu Hu's expression immediately turned serious, and he spoke immediately:

"Xiao Tong, immediately access the Dreamweaver Knowledge Base and search for information related to the world's anomalies... The Dreamweavers once ruled this world, so there might be relevant records there."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

……

Three days later, Xing Tong hurriedly returned with an encrypted file.

Her face was pale, and her voice trembled slightly:

"Ancestor, we've found the answer. The records of the Dream Weaver Civilization are even more terrifying than those described by the Tianjing Clan."

Tu Hu, who was drinking, immediately looked up to hear Xing Tong continue:

"According to the records of the Dreamweaver Civilization, they once discovered that the world they ruled seemed to have undergone some kind of unpredictable change, completely deviating from the Dreamweavers' definition of this world and exceeding the laws of physics. They then launched an investigation into this."

"In the end, it was discovered that the world beneath our feet seemed to have given birth to a self-awareness. It could modify the rules of the world's operation, manipulate everything at will, and even freeze flames and burn water... Fortunately, it was discovered in time, and the Dream Weavers decisively regarded it as a threat that had to be eliminated. They devoted all their civilization's resources to finally eradicate it."

Xing Tong rotated her wrist, bringing up the information records in the file:

"The destroyed world will was ultimately crafted into two supreme treasures. The core was made into a dream space that can deduce all things through dreams, and the other is the Dream Weaver Crystal in our hands, which is difficult to destroy by any external force and can store and record a vast amount of data... It is precisely because of these two supreme treasures that the Dream Weaver civilization was able to shift from a simple martial arts blood refining system to a golden age of comprehensive development, and ultimately even possess the power of civilization ascension."

"Therefore... the world we live in may have already given birth to a rudimentary world will."

Hearing this, Tu Hu frowned and then asked:
Why is the nascent world will so fixated on destroying civilization? What benefit does it gain from this?

Xing Tong retrieved the analysis records of the Dreamweaver Clan:

"Based on the millions of simulations and observations conducted by the Dream Weaver Civilization in the dream space, they believe that the essence of the world's will to eliminate civilization is a process of resource recycling and self-optimization."

"It views all civilizations as abnormal organisms parasitizing its body. When a civilization develops excessively and consumes resources beyond a certain threshold, it will trigger its cleansing mechanism. This process is like the body eliminating parasites or toxins to achieve a purification effect."

"But after the world's will eliminates all civilizations, it will not let the world fall into complete stagnation. On the contrary, it will restart the ecological cycle, allowing all things to return to the state of natural evolution. In this process, new life forms create new civilizations, and eventually, a peak civilization will be born here, and then it will be eliminated again."

"Each cycle of civilization generates a completely new knowledge system. The world's will observes the rise and fall of these civilizations, which is in fact also learning and evolving."

"The world's will will become increasingly intelligent in the cycle of civilization, gradually shedding its instincts, developing its own thinking, and evolving into the supreme Heavenly Way that completely governs the world. It will no longer be satisfied with passively cleaning up, but will begin to actively design the evolutionary path of civilizations, controlling the rise and fall of each new civilization as if cultivating experimental samples."

Xing Tong closed the file image, and a long silence fell over the room.

This truth is far more terrifying than any external enemy.

Because they are no longer facing an invading force, but the world that gave birth to them.

"The Dream Weavers left a warning at the end of the document: when the world undergoes changes that defy the laws of common sense, it means that the world's will has been born."

After speaking, Xing Tong looked up at Tu Hu:
"Ancestor, I have good news and bad news."

"The good news is that the nascent world will acts solely on instinct, which is its weakest stage."

She retrieved the observation and assessment information for the Dreamweaver Clan:
"At this moment, it is like a newborn baby, with only the most basic survival instincts and no complete logical thinking yet."

"The bad news is that even if it is just a nascent will, it can mobilize the natural forces of the entire world, including landslides and tsunamis, the cycle of the seasons, and even the modification of the rules... These natural disasters in our eyes are nothing more than a thought to it."

"Our next enemy... is the entire world."

(End of this chapter)