I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

The light from the communication array flickered erratically, and Caesar's voice came through it, intermittently, with faint sounds of explosions and screams in the background.

"...Did you hear that? This is...Caesar...requesting backup..."

Li Wu walked a few steps to the front of the magic array, squatted down, placed his hand on the edge of the array, and used the power of the law to stabilize the communication channel.

The noise decreased significantly instantly.

"Caesar, I have heard you! Speak!"

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the magic circle, then Caesar visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Li Wu! Your communication is working! That's great!"

"Enough with the nonsense, what's going on?"

"Something big has happened in the Origin Realm." Caesar's voice quickly regained its usual calmness, but he spoke much faster than usual.

"After you left... no, to be precise, after you entered the Tower of Despair, something changed in the game world."

"What happened?"

"An organization called the Council of Unity has emerged," Caesar said. "I don't know where they came from; they appeared in all the districts overnight."

"Their slogan was to welcome a new god and purify the unbelievers. At first, nobody took it seriously, thinking it was some chuunibyou guild causing trouble."

"and then?"

"Then they started merging guilds. Not just ordinary PvP mergers, they had a special method to forcibly strip other players of their equipment and levels."

"Players who are purified by them will drop back to level one, and all their items will be wiped out."

Hua Zitong's expression changed.

"Forced level removal? That's impossible. There's no such mechanism in the game."

"I know it's impossible. But it happened anyway." Caesar's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"These people don't seem to be using in-game methods; it's more like... they've directly changed the rules."

Li Wu and Gu Yuan exchanged a glance.

"Continue," Li Wu's voice turned cold.

"All of your top guild core members have disappeared. You, me, Flower Whisper, Iron Blood Emperor, are all gone."

"The game world is almost a power vacuum. The Unified Council is like a shark smelling blood, expanding rapidly."

"My guild, Heavenly Punishment, is barely holding on, but we've already fought it three times, and each time someone has been purified. Your Mythical Guild..."

Caesar paused for a moment.

Hua Zitong strode to the magic circle: "What happened to the Myth Guild?!"

"Hua Zitong? You're here too?" Caesar was clearly surprised.

"Your guild... Lin Hai is holding on; the defensive array of the Undying City hasn't been breached yet. But the Council of Unity has been besieging you for three days. Lin Hai says he can hold out for at most another week."

Hua Zitong clenched her fists.

"Li Wu." She turned her head, looking directly at him. "The City That Never Falls..."

Li Wu raised a hand, signaling her not to rush.

"Caesar, how many members does the Council of Unity have now?"

"A conservative estimate is over ten thousand," Caesar said. "And it's still growing. Many small and medium-sized guilds have surrendered to protect themselves."

"The most outrageous thing is that some of them are far stronger than normal players. I've fought against them personally, and some of them have damage numbers that are beyond what the character panel can show."

This is damage that cannot be achieved by the panel.

Li Wu narrowed his eyes.

Gu Yuan whispered from the side, "The power of laws... Someone used the power of laws in the Origin Realm."

"A pawn of the Unifiers," Li Wu said.

Both of them thought of this at the same time.

Within the communication array, Caesar continued speaking: "Li Wu, I know you have your own matters to attend to. But I need a clear answer now: can you come back?"

"Even a temporary return would be fine. With your return, the Unity Council will be no match for you; your very name is a deterrent!"

"I can't go back," Li Wu interrupted him.

The person on the other side of the magic circle remained silent.

"Those who have had their panels removed cannot return to the Realm of Origin," Li Wu said. "That's the rule."

Caesar remained silent for several seconds.

"Then... what should we do?"

Hua Zitong's lips trembled slightly.

She held back from speaking, but Li Wu could tell what was wrong with her.

The city that never falls. It was built brick by brick by them. It is the home of thousands of brothers and sisters.

Li Wu closed her eyes.

"The Unification Council," he murmured the name.

Return to One.

The One Who Returns to Oneness.

The names are too similar.

It's definitely not a coincidence.

When he was investigating the Starbreaker, he had a vague feeling that there was something "familiar" about the other party's methods.

The "Unification Council" described by Caesar can forcibly strip players of their levels and equipment, something no other mechanism in the game can do.

Unless... someone is directly altering the underlying rules of the Origin Realm.

The One Who Returns to Oneness.

The definer of the rules.

If the One has already infiltrated the system of the Origin Realm...

"Gu Yuan." Li Wu opened her eyes and looked at him. "Is there something you haven't told me?"

Gu Yuan's expression changed slightly.

"I have said that the Ones are the creators of the Starbreakers and the definers of the laws," he said slowly. "What I haven't said is... that the Realm of Origin itself may operate within the framework of the Ones' laws."

Hua Zitong suddenly looked up: "What do you mean?!"

"Erlin created the Realm of Origin," Gu Yuan's voice was deep. "But where did Erlin's power come from? Why did his civilization master the power of laws?"

"He said the Starbreakers destroyed his civilization, but is it possible that his civilization's ability to use the laws was itself a gift from the One?"

"Like a breeding farm." Li Wu's voice was even colder than Gu Yuan's. "Raise them up before eating them."

Gu Yuan nodded.

"This is something I've never been able to understand. If the underlying code of the Origin Realm itself runs on the framework of the laws of the One, then the One can theoretically take over the system at any time."

"But it hasn't done that—until now."

"It started moving after you left," Caesar's voice came from within the magic circle. "Those people started appearing the day you entered the Tower of Despair."

Li Wu understood.

The Tower of Despair is the final test for those who have transcended despair.

The moment enough people filter and select those removed from the panel, the Unifiers felt threatened.

So it took action.

Instead of attacking them directly, we should destroy their rear.

Destroying the Origin Realm is tantamount to severing the source of future transcendent beings.

"I'm not going back," Li Wu said again.

Hua Zitong: "..."

"But I won't stand idly by."

He walked to the center of the platform.

"Caesar, listen carefully."

"exist."

"Gather all the guild leaders who are still resisting. Have them gather at..." Li Wu thought for a moment, "...in the Burning Plains, the place where we fought the Titans last time."

"……Then what?"

"Tell them that the miracle will be revealed in an hour."

The area opposite the communication array remained quiet for a while.

"Are you serious?"

"When have I ever joked?"

"...Okay, I trust you, one hour."

Communication was lost.

Li Wu stood in the center of the platform, facing the gazes of everyone behind him.

"What do you plan to do?" Gu Yuan stepped forward. "You can't return to the Origin Realm. Projecting power across dimensions is not only extremely costly, but if the fluctuations in the laws become too obvious..."

He didn't continue speaking because Li Wu had already started to make his move!