In Tokyo, the dungeon master

Meanwhile, Gu Meng, Shirakawa Keiji, and the blond-haired, dark-skinned Shihōin Kagamine have arrived near the main family's residence in Tōkai Prefecture. The town is called Isshin Town, named in honor of the local celebrity, the swordsman Tōkai Isshin.

"How could this happen..."

Jing Zhi paused slightly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the familiar yet unfamiliar streets and alleys before him. However, because Gu Meng was right beside him, although there was surprise in his eyes, he did not show any panic.

The ghost Maybach followed the original route, taking the old road and winding its way to One Heart Town, but everything before it was strangely eerie.

The Donghai family mansion, which should have stood at the end of the town, has not left a trace, as if it had never existed.

Disappeared.

Gu Meng had already understood the situation. He closed his eyes and used his spiritual sense to explore for a moment. When he opened them again, his eyes were calm as water. He stroked the Shikon Jewel fragment at his waist and felt the faint connection.

The place that should have been the old house was now just an empty space, but it was now emanating a faint yet unusual magical fluctuation, and he already had some guesses in his mind.

"Mentor, what exactly happened here?"

Kagamine Shihouin stopped, raised her hand to wipe the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, her tone tinged with weariness and confusion, and turned to look at Gu Meng.

She remembered that the Donghai family had been rooted here for a century, but from the moment they stepped into the town, every passerby they asked shook their heads with a blank expression.

Even the origin of the name "Ichishin Town" in their understanding has become "Sword Saint Ichishin," as if a part of the East Sea has been erased by some invisible hand.

Before Gu Meng could speak, Shirakawa Keiji beside him frowned, his tone hesitant:

"Strange, I seem to... not quite remember why we came here. What are you talking about, the Donghai family? What kind of family is that? Why does that name sound so unfamiliar to me?"

Gu Meng understood, but his face remained calm and expressionless.

strangeness?

He turned to look at Shirakawa Keiji, then glanced at Shihōin Kagamine, clearly noticing the dazed look in their eyes.

The Tokai family had lived here for generations, but when they arrived with the fragments of the Shikon Jewel, all traces of their existence vanished.

They tried hard to recall, but could not grasp the key point. Only Gu Meng clearly remembered the existence of the Donghai family and knew the purpose of this trip.

"I just asked an old man on the street, and he said he'd never heard of any Tokai family, and even said I must have the wrong place." Kagamine Shihouin rubbed her temples, her confusion deepening. "But I clearly remember the main family mansion being right here... How could this be?"

Keiji Shirakawa nodded in agreement, his expression growing increasingly bewildered.

"Yes, I seem to have a vague recollection of what we came looking for, but now... I've almost forgotten what the Donghai family is, it's like... it was just a hazy, distant dream."

Gu Meng nodded slightly, slowly closed his eyes, and concentrated his mind to perceive the magic around him.

When Gu Meng was not observing, the magic did not exist; when Gu Meng observed, a distorted yet eerie magic lingered over the entire town.

Unlike ordinary demonic power or human magic, it carried a chaotic and distorted aura that seeped into his body through his breath, yet it did not disturb his mind in the slightest. This aura was subtly consistent with the anomalies that the Shikon Jewel might cause, as he had anticipated.

It was indeed the aura of the Shikon Jewel, but it was also an extremely dark aura.

Because the fragment in Gu Meng's hand was real, it caused other fragments that existed between reality and illusion to arise in the world.

When Gu Meng approached with the fragments, attempting to use the bug to turn the fake into the real, his own unique characteristics and those of the Ancestral Book were abnormally distorted.

Am I like Wan Hua and the others, blinded by the power of darkness and unable to see the bigger picture? Or... is this the distortion brought about by the paradox of history?

He had already made up his mind, and the magical fluctuations became increasingly obvious.

The Shikon Jewel fragments scattered throughout the world were originally Gu Meng's experiment, and its properties became abnormal due to Gu Meng's various requirements and the influence of the Ancestral Book.

Their purpose in coming here was to achieve instant success, which is beyond the realm of common sense. This bizarre scene, though unexpected, is also within reason.

In fact, the abnormality is the change that Gu Meng needs even more.

Chaos is precisely the ladder that Gu Meng craves.

Without such extraordinary phenomena that defy common sense, how could mortals possibly ascend to godhood?

If we consider this strange phenomenon in the simplest terms, it must be due to the power of the Shikon Jewel, or more accurately, the power of the Book of Ancestors, which distorted the history of this place and obscured the traces of the Tokai family and the memories of everyone when Gu Meng arrived. It can only reappear when Gu Meng confirms a certain fact or when Gu Meng leaves this place on his own initiative.

The Donghai family has not been erased; it is simply in a state of being unobservable.

As for why this phenomenon occurs, the answer may also be related to Donghai Yixin... The future simulation of Donghai Yixin will definitely greatly disrupt the current situation of the Donghai family. The ancient Donghai Yixin may have left behind the possibility of kings not meeting, such as leaving behind a high-level corpse.

It wasn't so much to prevent Gu Meng from getting the rewards early, but rather to protect the possibility. Because once it was observed, if Donghai Yixin was only in the middle sequence and Gu Meng, who was half a step into the tenth rank, witnessed it, it would become fixed.

Because what others perceive is not the truth to Gu Meng, and besides, the history of the Donghai family in this world has been largely erased, but what he sees with his own eyes will be different.

Once witnessed, in order to resolve the cause and effect, even if Gu Meng truly opens the ancient instance in the future and elevates Donghai Yixin to a high sequence, he will fall again.

If Gu Meng had accomplished great things in that instance, many developments might have been completely distorted. The special state of the Donghai family's main family, which was not observed by his own eyes, was both a restraint and a protection. It seemed to be a superposition paradox, but in fact it reduced the occurrence of spacetime paradoxes.

But Gu Meng did not choose to leave temporarily or to avoid certain facts; he insisted on making contact ahead of time.

The paradoxes in Japanese history have nothing to do with him. He's Chinese; at most, we can just ignore them.

Moreover, this was originally a minor matter. If I hadn't deliberately exploited the bug, this hidden avoidance mechanism probably wouldn't have been triggered, and I should have been able to directly observe the current situation of my hometown.

Gu Meng opened his eyes, his gaze devoid of seriousness. He looked at the two people beside him, whose expressions were growing increasingly dazed, and said in a steady yet powerful tone, "Think carefully again, do you have any fragmented memories? — Never mind, there's no need to rush. This isn't your problem. It's already good that you're forgetting more slowly than the people in town."

Kagamine Shihōin and Keiji Shirakawa exchanged a glance and both shook their heads vigorously.

Kagamine frowned, her gaze lowered as she looked at her palms, and murmured softly, "I only remember that we were going to a place to find some people, but I can't remember exactly what place or who they were... This feeling is so strange."

Keiji Shirakawa sighed as well: "Me too. It's like something is deliberately erasing our memories, leaving only blurry fragments that we can't grasp or piece together."

Gu Meng's expression remained unchanged, but he had already figured out the situation. This power was not particularly domineering; even a newcomer at the zero level could retain a lingering impression, and it was a gradual influence. As for Gu Meng himself, it was even less effective.

He could feel the power around him still spreading, erasing memories and distorting space and time. But since he was an outsider, he was essentially in charge of lifting the veil, because the Book of Ancestors was his own artifact. It was up to him to choose how to do it.

"Don't worry if you can't figure it out." Gu Meng raised his hand and gently patted the two of them on the shoulder. "I already have a clue. This should be another conspiracy by the evil god. Just treat it as a special kind of divine concealment, but it can't fool me."

Although Shihouin Kagamine and Shirakawa Keiji were still confused, they looked at Gu Meng and nodded, determined to trust their ancestor.

Gu Meng had already figured out how to utilize this power. Perhaps this time he could push the Shikon Jewel—no, it should be said, take advantage of this rare distortion and manifestation to push the extremely dark chaotic power to its true limit.

Today is Saturday, so I'll stay here for another day. Once I've truly adapted to this place, that's when I'll unveil myself.

As the owner of the Book of Ancestors, he was not disturbed by its power. Once he adapted to the paradoxical environment of the town, he could fully enter the game himself, step into that hidden, unobserved realm, and become a player in it.

It is reborn through being observed again.

Even someone as powerful as Gu Meng, who could distinguish between the Tree of Good and Evil, could only theoretically ascend to the heavens.

In reality, it would be quite good if he could advance to the powerful third tier in this Great Evil God Zorc dungeon. The chance of reaching the fourth tier is less than 10%, and he may not be able to push his path to its limit or unearth the strongest fourth-tier class. This is only because he is enjoying the bonus in the Absolute Demon environment; otherwise, he would definitely fail. But now the opportunity has come.

The chances of instant success have skyrocketed to at least 20%, let's do it.

Don't think 20% is too little.

This is equivalent to a Qi Refining cultivator advancing three major levels in one step to directly form a Nascent Soul, and even forming a unique Nascent Soul that is invincible among those of the same level.

Let alone Gu Meng, who is only a half-step True God who has been rebuilt, even if he were a Dao Ancestor who had been rebuilt, could he refine his Qi and ascend directly to the Nascent Soul stage without any consequences?

Even if he falls short, he can make up for it with his extraordinary wisdom. At most, his condition will be slightly worse, but that can be restored.

It's normal to be a little crazy; nothing is more important than leveling up.

Adam also went through the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but according to the records, he was a typical one who went from one to two, and from two to three. Oman's state was special and will not be considered. When he embarked on the path of the Fire Sword, he possessed the characteristics of one, four, seven, and ten at the same time. Just like his previous life of going through both forward and reverse paths, it was a special path.

Having received a special path of fusion in my past life, which combines the positive and negative paths, I no longer need to follow the path of Oman. The Tree of Good and Evil is naturally endowed with a normal, basic path, so I no longer need to follow the path of Adam.

If we were to obtain this extreme evolutionary path that lies between the ordinary and the extraordinary, between madness and rationality, between loss of control and balance, and combine these three elements, we would truly lack nothing.

This is a tremendous opportunity to rise to the top in one step.

This opportunity may only come once. Next time, the Book of Ancestors will record your actions, and your subconscious will be prepared. Perhaps you won't be so easily drawn into this unobserved realm again.

We must seize this opportunity, or we will definitely regret it.

He couldn't leave this place; Gu Meng's main consciousness couldn't leave the town. If he exited and re-entered, the town might be refreshed, and he would miss a great opportunity...

Only the darkest of the dark can witness the darkest of all. With the three women absent, the only one who can currently serve as an observer is... a backup, which is used at this moment.

Gu Meng decisively decided to activate the backup hidden energy source.

He launched the last of the four true seeds to his companions... Gu Meng looked at Jing Zhi and Kagamine respectively.

Although Keiji shares the surname Shirakawa, they are not related by blood, so their bond is still shallow.

Kagamine, being a member of the Shihouin family, has a bloodline that is neither too close nor too distant. If it were the real Shirakawa, the observation would be decisive, leaving no chance to control the progress bar. This wouldn't match the extreme advancement between loss of control and balance in this situation.

If Wan Hua were to come, Gu Meng would have to worry about her wild imagination and the arbitrary settings she adds to him. If she were to observe and confirm things he didn't need, he would have to spend more time cleaning up the impurities. Jing Yin, with her calm and reliable personality, is the kind of talent he needs.

The remaining time today cannot be wasted. While abandoning his control over Tokyo affairs, Gu Meng supplemented Kagamine's brainwashing settings, leaving various backdoor hints in her mental world.

In a critical moment, you can directly log in and seize control of her as a backup, to avoid being accidentally lost due to the observation of the Dark True Seed and the authority of the Ancestral Book.

Meanwhile, Gu Meng pulled out new equipment. He had some extra energy today and couldn't waste it, so he refined a new weapon. Gu Meng's hidden identity was also that of a veteran anime fan, capable of playing five mobile games at the same time, so he had to manage his stamina well.

Looking at it now, putting everything else aside, the guaranteed gains from Isshin Town this time will cause the power of the Shikon Jewel to expand to a level far beyond what was expected.

Gu Mengke had not forgotten that the stronger the Shikon Jewel was, the stronger the evil god would be in the next great war. The three phantom gods were actually just illusions, and the God of Light, the creator of light, was even more absurd.

If you don't prepare in advance and die in a self-generated instance, that would be truly pathetic.

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