Reversing Falsehood and Preserving Truth: All Gods and Gods Are in My Hands

A leaf swirled in the evening breeze, still carrying the warmth of the setting sun as it brushed against Lu Yu's cheek. But Liu Jing's words, "The ethereal beings are at least thousands of times more powerful than humans," slammed into his chest like an ice cube, making his breathing become heavier.

"Lu Yu! Can we stop by the convenience store on the way?" Zhao Lei, clutching two bags of spicy strips, leaned over, the oily packaging glistening in the setting sun. "I just heard from the PE teacher that the school sports meet is in two weeks, and I'm planning to run the last leg for my class in the 4x100m relay!"

Lu Yu's thoughts were still lingering on the number "thousands of times," his ears only picking up the last syllable of "sprint," his brain not quite processing it, and he blurted out, "Sprint...scallion shreds? You're going to the convenience store to buy scallion shreds?"

"Hey! All you ever think about is food! But now that you mention it, I'm actually craving it—I remember when I was little, I used to go to your house for a free meal, and your auntie's scallion and tofu salad was amazing!" Zhao Lei said as he walked, holding a spicy snack, not caring that oil droplets got on his fingertips.

Lu Yu was amused by Zhao Lei's carefree attitude, and the heaviness in his chest eased somewhat. He stared at Zhao Lei's grinning canine teeth and suddenly realized that no matter how many ethereal beings in this world wore human skin, Zhao Lei was definitely real. After all, no other ethereal being could turn "sprint" into "scallion and tofu," and still recall the details of a free meal from over 10 years ago, remembering even the taste clearly.

The two walked side by side toward the school gate. The setting sun cast long shadows. Zhao Lei kept talking about buying new running shoes, and Lu Yu occasionally responded, but his gaze couldn't help but sweep over the pedestrians on the roadside—mothers holding children's hands, fruit vendors setting up stalls, and couples chatting and laughing. Their expressions were vivid and their movements were natural. They didn't look like spirits without self-awareness at all.

When I got home, the living room light was already on. My mother, Lin Hui, came out of the kitchen with the food and asked with concern, "Why are you so late today?"

"Zhao Lei transferred to our class, and we chatted for a while after school." Lu Yu took his rice bowl, and the aroma of stewed beef wafted into his nostrils, but it felt "thousands of times" like a thorn, making him lose his appetite.

Father Lu Jianming tidied up the newspapers on the dining table, the rustling sound of the papers making the room even quieter. He suddenly looked up and asked, "Zhao Lei? Is that kid still as big a eater as he was when he was a kid? I remember once he came to our house and ate a whole roast chicken and still said he was hungry."

Lu Yu nodded vaguely, his eyes fixed on the beef in the bowl, not daring to look his father in the eye.

He wanted to ask, "Are you human?", but the words that came out were, "I'm planning to get up early tomorrow to memorize my English text." In the end, he gripped his chopsticks and swallowed his question.

He was afraid—afraid to see the same mist rising from his parents' bodies as Zhang Hao's, afraid that even the aroma of stewed beef was fake.

"Thump, thump."

A gentle knock sounded on the door, and Mom came in carrying a light blanket: "Don't turn on the air conditioner tonight. Open the window to let in some fresh air. The weather forecast says it will get colder tomorrow. I've put the blanket by your bedside."

She reached out and touched Lu Yu's forehead, her fingertips still cool from washing the dishes. "Are you tired from studying? You didn't eat much today."

Looking at the concern in his mother's eyes, Lu Yu suddenly felt a stubborn sense of relief—

Grandma was a high-level Guardian of Truth. Before she disappeared, she entrusted me to take care of my parents. My parents must be real humans. Spirits cannot hide from Grandma's eyes.

"I want to become stronger, to be as powerful as Teacher Liu, so that I can not only protect my parents from being harmed by the spirits, but also find my grandmother and find out the truth about her disappearance." This thought haunted him until he fell asleep.

Lu Yu didn't sleep soundly that night. In his half-awake state, the ancient coin emitted a soft light.

It wasn't the blinding golden light of battle, but a soft light like moonlight soaking into warm water, enveloping his consciousness and sinking it into boundless darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing on a "sea of ​​light".

It wasn't water, but countless tiny threads of light: gold, black, bluish-gray, red, blue, pale purple... intertwined to form this boundless "ocean" beneath our feet.

These filaments of light each have their own rhythm, yet they are strangely harmonious. When they collide, they emit a soft "humming" sound, like the whispered rules of the beginning of time.

Lu Yu silently turned around. Behind him, 9999 starlight steps connected to the sky, each step shimmering with tiny starlight. At the end of the steps, a gigantic Rubik's Cube far beyond imagination floated—no, even more magnificent than a Rubik's Cube, it was composed of countless nested compasses, and the 9999 steps of the heavenly ladder only barely reached the waist height of the Rubik's Cube compasses.

Each time the compass cube is turned, different mysterious symbols flash on and off, and even the patterns flow with different mystical powers, as if just one glance would exhaust half of Lu Yu's brain cells.

"Is anyone there?" Lu Yu called out.

"Where is this?" No one answered.

Only the mysterious, soft sounds of the "ocean" beneath our feet and the fantastical rhythm of the Rubik's Cube compass turning can be heard.

Lu Yu carefully stepped onto the starlight steps, walking faster and faster, his eyes fixed on the enormous Rubik's Cube compass in front of him. He dared not look down...

After climbing what seemed like two or three thousand steps, Lu Yu could vaguely make out some of the changes on the surface of the compass cube—

A blue-gray Bagua pattern slowly rotates, seemingly entwined with black and white energies. When the Rubik's Cube compass spins out, it releases luminous five-colored particles that, when they land on the surface of the shimmering sea, create ripples.

Golden threads crisscross, and within the flowing light spots on the threads lie fragmented images, reflecting the ebb and flow of all things in the world.

There is a milky white Holy Cross symbol, and mysterious Latin script composed of light particles surrounds it. It vaguely transforms into wings of light that unfold. When the wings of light tremble, they scatter countless light particles. Just one glance can soothe your tense nerves.

There are also occasional phantom images of pyramids floating in the air, with huge eyes atop their apex, from which flow wondrous golden light, like ordinary ripples on water, yet seemingly capable of gleaning insights into life and death.

And the deep green trees, their roots seem to have penetrated deep into a Rubik's Cube, and each leaf on the canopy seems to be a microcosm of a small world.

"This is the hub of all the rules of heaven and earth, connecting all the great paths!" A realization suddenly appeared deep in Lu Yu's mind.

It wasn't that this sentence was awakened from the depths of memory, nor was it conveyed to Lu Yu by some unknown force; rather, it was a profound and mysterious realization that emerged.

"I want to get closer."

Lu Yu silently recited in his mind that he could vaguely see the entrance to the Rubik's Cube Compass at the end of the Heavenly Ladder, and his pace quickened unconsciously.

The surface of the sea of ​​light suddenly surged violently, the "humming" sound of the light threads colliding turned into a muffled roar, and a powerful pressure erupted from the Rubik's Cube compass—as if the weight of the world's rules themselves were pressing down on you, as if the entire world was pressing down on you, and even every breath carried the weight of the rules.

"I can't breathe..." Beneath the imposing presence, Lu Yu's consciousness was gradually fading...

An invisible force suddenly gripped his consciousness—not a push, but a "rejection" from the rules, as if heaven and earth were telling him "the time is not yet right."

The sea of ​​light, the staircase, and the Rubik's Cube compass before my eyes suddenly receded like the tide, leaving only boundless darkness.

"Hmm!"

Lu Yu suddenly opened his eyes. It was just getting light outside the window, and the ancient coins in his palm still retained their warmth. He sat up, his heart pounding against his ribs, and even his breathing was trembling.

He didn't inherit the true Dao, didn't truly approach the Magic Cube Compass, and didn't even actually touch the surface of the Sea of ​​Light Silk, yet he genuinely felt:

Hidden within that myriad of paths are the operating principles of the entire world!

All the great paths in the world intersect here!