On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

Liao Ji never intended to actually eliminate the Source Master. All he did before was for this moment, to make the Phoenix completely submit and obey, and to develop more independent consciousness so that it could communicate with him.

"Tell me, what did you mean by 'get through' before?"

Phoenix was briefly confused, as if pondering what Liao Ji meant by "crossing over," but soon her expression changed, as if she was about to become excited again.

"The Cold Wave. The End of an Era. Why do you refuse! Foolish! You are courting death. I am your only hope."

It was as if the phoenix had transformed back into the "Source Master," and even its voice became sharp and piercing. Unfortunately, it couldn't maintain this state for more than a few seconds. It had only spoken halfway when it suddenly fell silent.

Because Liao Ji's greatsword moved even closer to her neck.

"What is a cold wave?" Liao Ji asked.

In light of the source's previous remarks, Liao Ji paused before emphasizing again: "Use easily understandable expressions."

"The cold wave marks the end of an era, a crisis that the World Tree must face," Phoenix replied honestly.

Seeing that Liao Ji still seemed a little confused, and fearing that the sword at her neck might drop even further, Phoenix immediately followed up with a metaphor.

"Trees will naturally turn their leaves yellow, wither, and fall in autumn to help them survive the cold snaps of winter, and the World Tree does the same."

“The calamities were never directed at us.”

"The destruction of your world is the World Tree's own will, while we, as the source, are the ones who will save you."

"We must stop the World Tree from going into hibernation and gather the healthy leaves together. This is the only way to survive the terrifying cold wave that even the World Tree cannot withstand."

"If we don't concentrate our power, and things remain separate worlds..."

"When the cold wave arrives, all the leaves on the trees, which is your world, will be stripped of everything in an instant, becoming a desolate and silent world. That is when you will truly die."

Perhaps he was worried that Liao Ji wouldn't believe what he said.

After speaking, the Source Master spread its phoenix wings toward Liao Ji, and then, images preserved from the distant past began to slowly reappear before Liao Ji's eyes.

The Starry Sky World Tree has existed for countless millennia.

Although “Source” only developed consciousness in recent eras, it still retains vague memories from before.

In the images shown by Phoenix, Liao Ji saw a cycle of reincarnation.

In summer, the world's trees are lush and verdant. Within each leaf lies a microcosm of life, where creatures thrive and multiply, giving rise to all sorts of civilizations, including some leaves that are incredibly dazzling and brilliant.

But gradually, as tens of thousands of years passed, at "a certain point in time," that is, when "autumn" arrived, the corresponding...

A calamity has occurred.

Yes, as the "Source Lord" said, the turbid calamity did not appear "suddenly," but has existed since ancient times. However, it was not recorded before because the worlds that experienced the turbid calamity were destroyed.

The lush, healthy leaves withered and decayed under the corrosive influence of the calamity, mirroring the devastation and cracks in the world within. Civilizations, though they resisted, were ultimately annihilated by the calamity.

As the last leaf on the World Tree faded, symbolizing the complete death of its world, these withered yellow leaves fell from the World Tree and all entered the "Source Sea" beneath it.

From its lushness in the "summer" to its current bare state, the World Tree is preparing for the upcoming "winter".

After an unknown amount of time, this time it was a little faster, probably only a few thousand years. Liao Ji saw the so-called cold wave in the images recorded by the "Source Master".

It was like a biting cold wind, or like a swarm of locusts.

Countless tiny particles, densely packed together, approached the World Tree from the distant darkness.

Chapter 349 Cold Wave (Part 2)

The cold wind robbed the World Tree of its warmth, covering its branches with frost. Even the World Tree's main trunk, with its thick bark, seemed unable to withstand such temperatures, and began to crack and frostbite.

Immediately afterwards, tiny particles, like locusts, attached themselves to various parts of the World Tree. They crawled and wriggled on the branches, frantically searching for food to gnaw on.

Unfortunately, by this time, the World Tree had already lost its leaves prematurely, leaving only a bare trunk.

Therefore, after the cold wave lasted for three hundred years? Five hundred years?, the cold wind continued to blow to more distant places, and those tiny, locust-like particles also followed the cold wind and left the World Tree.

That's it

The World Tree successfully "survived" the torment of "winter".

Over the next few thousand years, the season of "spring" arrived. The withered leaves that had fallen into the "Source Sea" were transformed into nutrients by the "Source Sea," becoming the foundation of the world—the Source.

The source became nourishment for the World Tree, awakening it from its hibernation. The source substances transported from the "Sea of ​​Source" transformed the bare branches into new shoots, the budding of "leaves," and so on.

new world.

After tens of thousands of years of reproduction and growth, the World Tree returned to the season of "summer," once again with lush branches and green leaves, and with brilliant civilizations.

This scene is similar in significance to the image Liao Ji saw at the beginning.

This is what the "Source Lord" showed him: the entire cycle of the World Tree.

It has been a cycle of reincarnation for tens of thousands of years, millions of years, or even tens of millions of years.

Liao Ji, upon seeing this, finally understood the Source Master, the Cold Tide, and the obsession with "Source".

"Your world is also the result of our hard work. We once cherished every world because every leaf was built upon the foundation laid by our fellow human beings. But because of the cold wave, the World Tree had to force the 'turbidity' to cause the leaves to fall off, otherwise..."

"As you have seen, if the World Tree does not do this, then when the cold wave comes, the leaves will not be able to withstand such low temperatures and will still die. Even if a powerful civilization can withstand such extreme cold, the following glimmers of light and the insectoids that come with the cold wave will completely devour these leaves and these civilizations."

“These insectoids are different from the Chaos. The Chaos is essentially still the power of the World Tree. All the worlds destroyed by the Chaos will fall into the Source Sea, and after being settled in the Source Sea, they will return to the World Tree itself.”

"But once the leaves are absorbed by those faint lights and devoured by the insectoids, this part of the 'source' power will be completely separated from the World Tree and plundered by the real alien species. It is as if the World Tree has completely lost this part of its power."

"Over time, the World Tree will indeed become weaker and weaker until it finally dies out completely."

When the Phoenix, the Source Lord, spoke of this, his voice became low, highlighting the predicament that their "Source" could not avoid.

Yuan didn't want the leaves to fall off, nor did he want the world his kin had become to be corrupted by the turbidity. However, on the other hand, because of the cold wave, it seemed necessary for the leaves to fall off, otherwise the consequences would only be worse.

"Our ancestors tried many methods without success, until, until..."

The phoenix proudly raised its head.

Even without the Source Lord saying anything, Liao Ji could understand from this expression that this generation's Source Lord, the phoenix in front of him, had tried to use the "player" creature to successfully resist the Turbid Calamity, preventing the leaves from falling off and allowing the world of the Source to be preserved.

And afterwards

"So you didn't tell the other sources the truth, right? Instead, you deliberately provoked a conflict between the sources and the World Tree?" Liao Ji recalled those worlds that had been ravaged by the sources.

The so-called "source" is "destroying" the world from the perspective of the world's native creatures. However, from the higher perspective of the "source," it means that the source is relying on the world to cultivate and increase its power.

“That’s right. We have successfully overcome the calamity. Next, we will face the cold wave. The power of the cold wave has been proven many times by the civilization of the native creatures. It is simply impossible to resist it. So we have to deal with it ourselves.”

"I will collect all the healthy leaves and concentrate all my power. Only in this way can I use my wings to protect the leaves when the cold wave comes, and protect other worlds from being plundered."

Phoenix raised her head again. In the Source Master, Liao Ji saw a sense of mission and a firm will. This was not a lie; she really wanted to do this, to fight against the cold wave with her own strength.

Therefore, Phoenix Source Master's current "plundering" of the world is more like a kind of foraging for food before winter arrives? Or accumulating power?

At this point, Liao Ji finally understood the whole truth.

He also found the solution he was looking for.

"If I had another way to resist the cold wave ten thousand years from now, would you and your Origin Clan be able to stop your endless conquest of the world?"

"Domination? That's not domination at all! The world itself is ours!" Phoenix was about to express her dissatisfaction with Liao Ji's wording, but after feeling the sword's edge drop again, she quickly let out a cry and pulled back from the brink.

"Yes, that's fine. We're just trying to survive, but I have serious doubts about you. I don't believe you have such a method. If I'm not mistaken, your so-called method of resisting the cold wave is still using high-dimensional beings like yourself, isn't it?"

At this point, Phoenix couldn't help but let out a snort, as if to say, "Haven't you tried it before?"

However, the truth is...

"You are strong, I admit. If all the leaves could be born with the strength of your world, they might really be able to withstand the cold wave. But how many people on your planet are like you?"

"Based on my observation, in fact, those so-called saviors could hardly even resist the calamity. They only managed to succeed with the help we provided. With such strength, how could they possibly face a cold wave that is countless times more severe than the calamity?"

"Moreover, even your world is developing too slowly. It's simply not enough for a high-dimensional being like you. The most direct evidence is, in the five hundred years since you disappeared, has your world made any progress?"

It's clear that the Source Master had done his homework, even knowing that he had disappeared for five hundred years.

What the source said is indeed true.

In the past five hundred years, his world has made progress since he left, but the pace of progress is far too slow compared to before. In fact, in terms of the strength of the world, it has actually regressed.

After all, the Ash Empire during his time had hundreds of Cataclysmic Evils, but now only five Supremes remain in the world.

To put it bluntly, the fundamental question is...

Players are the driving force of a world. If there is only one player in a world, it is far too few and cannot meet the driving force needed by the world.

Moreover, once the player logs off, the world essentially comes to a standstill and loses its vitality.

This is why the Source Lord Phoenix denied Liao Ji.

indeed.

Based on her previous concept for "The Fall," the single-player mode was indeed insufficient to withstand the cold wave.

but

As an indie game enthusiast, Liao Ji, though unwilling to admit it,

The true way for players to utilize their skills, to unleash their maximum potential, and to generate ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times more power and drive, is definitely not through the "single-player" mode.

Phoenix Source Master is clearly still in the early stages of learning and experimenting with this new player model, and is a rather clueless administrator.

But Liao Ji is different.

How long until the next cold wave arrives?

"About three thousand years." After calculating for a moment, the phoenix quickly asked with suspicion, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Three thousand years should be enough to rebuild an online game world," Liao Ji murmured.

"Online, online games?"

Chapter 350 The Final Act

The goal has been set, but to achieve it, a great deal of preparation is still needed.

It may be ten years, or a hundred years, or even a thousand years.

After all, in the past, the world of "Falling" was one player per world, and the total number of players was only tens of thousands. But according to Liao Ji's plan, the power needed to resist the "cold wave" is in the millions, or even tens of millions.

The difference in size alone shows that the two are not even in the same league.