After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

These great celestial officials, in their final years, all become the Ziwei Emperor.

"Ok?"

Li Shuo, whose stomach was full of worms, suddenly clutched his stomach.

Wu Shanfu looked at Li Shuo.

"Stomach ache? Is the poison in this child too potent?"

Li Shuo shook his head.

"It's not a problem with the poison. The golden-armored gu worm in my stomach has liquefied its hands and feet."

Wu Shanfu was a sword sorceress and had never understood these kinds of poisons. She didn't know anything about the concept of liquefaction.

Li Shuo explained.

"The worms in my stomach are alive and well, but their bodies are starting to show signs of decay."

Li Shuo opened his mouth, and several insects came out.

The insects squeaked as they landed, clearly still alive, but their bodies began to swell, and foul-smelling liquid gushed from their bodies.

Zhou Yan stared at the insect for a while, then raised his hand to look at his palm.

Japanese name: Bai Ze's claws.

State: Irreversible entropy increase (entropy increase rate ×3, lifespan of all organisms reduced to one-third).

Zhou Yan's eyes suddenly widened.

Lu Wushanfu looked at Zhou Yan.

"What did you discover?"

Ling Su Zhaojun also looked back at Zhou Yan. Although she hadn't said anything before, Su Zhaojun had seen Zhou Yan devour the Bai Ze Tu.

Qi Su Zhaojun knew what the guy who could devour Bai Ze Tu represented, and therefore trusted Zhou Yan to reveal important information.

Zhou Yan withdrew his hand and said in a low voice.

"Do you know the theory of entropy increase?"

Wu Shanfu nodded. She had attended university, and even if she wasn't a physics major, she had heard of this theory.

"You mean the arrow of time? And the process by which everything goes from order to disorder?"

Zhou Yan sighed.

"Yes, everything tends to develop in a chaotic direction, including society and individuals."

The so-called entropy increase is the process by which people and society are constantly moving towards death. This process is manifested as a change from order to disorder, and consuming energy can slow down this process, that is, make disorder return to order.

For example, a country with rigid class structures and extreme involution expands its territory by introducing energy from the outside, thus reversing entropy.

For example, people eat because they survive by increasing entropy in reverse.

The arrow of time, theoretically speaking, can explain many social and human phenomena and offer general solutions. Of course, most of the time, such general solutions are too idealistic to be practical.

"Our bodies have been given an entropy increase buff."

Zhou Yan gave a wry smile.

"Oh no, it's not just us. Almost all living things have been given an entropy increase buff. Simply put, our lifespan is now only one-third of what it used to be."

Previously, in the conference room of the Ocean Building, Zhou Yan had discussed with Erlang Shen that Du Laiqiu's plundering of the power of the Ziwei Emperor would damage the foundation supporting this world.

However, due to the many subsequent developments, Zhou Yan did not pay attention to what this world lost without the support of the Ziwei Emperor.

Now Zhou Yan knows the answer to question 4. Without the Ziwei Emperor, all three living beings have been given a negative buff of entropy increase, and everyone's lifespan has been reduced by two-thirds.

And all of that was reduced became the source of Du Laiqiu's power.

This time, the destruction of the foundation is not as frightening as the spiritual plague, but in terms of the degree of destruction and impact, it is definitely greater than the spiritual plague.

This chapter has not been approved.

The current maximum lifespan for humans is 115, while the theoretical lifespan is 120+.

Based on theoretical lifespan, the maximum human lifespan is now estimated to be just over 40 years, while a conservative estimate suggests that the average age of death is around 30.

This is not simply a reduction of 80 years in lifespan. This state of entropy increase does not increase human learning ability. In other words, if humans start studying from childhood to university, what was originally just the beginning of life after graduating in their twenties has now become 20% of their life.

The majority of the elite class in society are between 30 and 50 years old.

Humanity will lose the vast majority of its elite class, including experienced middle-aged people.

Those professors at the forefront of science are difficult for researchers to replicate.

Whether in scientific research or industrial production, there is a common argument that a sufficient population is necessary to generate enough research results and technological development.

Because there are countless disciplines nowadays, only when each discipline has researchers and its own infrastructure can new technologies, which embody countless professional knowledge, be obtained through the combination of professionals in hundreds of disciplines.

All of this will absolutely cease under the entropy increase buff.

Because people who die at the age of thirty are unlikely to accumulate enough knowledge to inherit and integrate cutting-edge human research.

Humanity's future is locked in.

Zhou Yan has reason to believe that in the future, even if the human population does not decline, cutting-edge technology will decline at a visible rate. In addition, other organisms will also be affected by entropy increase, which will bring about many unknown changes.

This world isn't finished yet, but it's on the verge of collapse.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yan couldn't seek help from the Four Divine Beasts, the Eastern Dipper Star Lord, the Central Dipper Star Lord, or the Literary Star. All these great star officials ultimately belonged to the Ziwei Emperor, and there was no guarantee that these true gods wouldn't covet the Ziwei Emperor's heart after killing Du Laiqiu.

"Wait a moment."

Li Shuo wiped his mouth and smeared the sticky fluid from spitting out the worm onto the back of his hand.

"According to your logic..."

Li Shuo stared at Zhou Yan's face.

"Now not only are our ancestors in trouble, but we can't let Du Laiqiu off the hook either?"

To be honest, Chi You's side is too unstable. Before resolving the state of entering darkness, Chi You caused more fear and anxiety among the Wu tribe than the resurgence of the Wu tribe. Therefore, Li Shuo had mixed feelings about whether Chi You would be killed.

If we insist on helping Chi You, we might be killed; if we don't help Chi You, even if he dies, the Wu tribe will still be the Wu tribe, still the superior people.

It's important to know that before the existence of the Five Witch Ancestors, Chi You, Li Shuo lived a life where even the Four Symbols and Three Divine Beasts were treated as honored guests.

Now that two-thirds of their lifespan has been cut, things are different. Even if a demigod's lifespan is measured in thousands of years, they wouldn't like to have thousands of years of their lifespan cut off.

Zhou Yan's words meant that Li Shuo and Du Laiqiu could no longer ignore them.

Wu Shanfu, standing to the side, hesitated.

“I know a Taoist priest in Pingdingshan. He owns a large temple where the main deity is the Ziwei Emperor. According to this priest, their temple had a patriarch who could communicate with the Ziwei Emperor a thousand years ago, and the lineage has remained unbroken for millennia. Perhaps we could hold a grand ceremony and ask that priest to issue an edict…”

Erlang Shen, who was beside Zhou Yan, interrupted.

"Who do you think orchestrated the calamity and decline caused by the clash of fates after Du Laiqiu forcibly seized the bloodline?"

Erlang Shen pointed to the sky, indicating that the Ziwei Emperor was still alive. Du Laiqiu had forcibly seized the bloodline, and the Ziwei Emperor would naturally sense it and then bring down disaster.

Simply put, Du Laiqiu is currently under the sanction of the Ziwei Emperor. However, the Ziwei Emperor's sanction is not like what normal people imagine—slapping you in the face and turning you into a meat patty before leaving. Instead, it is a more subtle, conceptual punishment.

However, this punishment is not absolute.

Erlang Shen explained.

"The ancient Yin-Yang School wasn't stupid. The reason they dared to plunder the bloodline power of the gods was because of the forty-nine Heavenly Evolutions, of which only one was human."

The so-called "Forty-Nine Heavenly Evolutions, One Human Escape" means that even if Heaven wants you to die, it won't truly kill you. It will always leave you a way to survive and struggle. As long as you seize this opportunity, you can escape any calamity or disaster.

The Heavenly Emperor is the same. As the embodiment of the Heavenly Way, when the Heavenly Emperor sends down disasters, it is not really to make you die a horrible death. They will also leave you a way out, so that you can escape and live.

The ancient Yin-Yang school wanted to use this opportunity to escape into one of the realms, thinking that no matter how much trouble they caused, even the Heavenly Emperor, whom they had blasphemed, would leave them a way out. So they started committing evil deeds, but they were unlucky and eventually perished.

Wu Shanfu inquired.

"So we have no way to persuade the Ziwei Emperor?"

Erlang Shen hummed in agreement.

Wu Shanfu's expression was solemn, while Li Shuo beside her clutched his stomach. The entropy increase buff had caused extremely strange changes in the various Gu worms in her stomach, and many Gu worms that originally had a lifespan of one week died one after another.

The vast majority of Li Shuo's body is composed of Gu worms, and the changes and deaths of these Gu worms have greatly affected Li Shuo's body.

Metabolism begins to become disordered.

These are countless days and nights.

It is my endless longing for you.

Your gentleness fills me with endless longing.

Even though time has changed my appearance...

Erlang Shen took out the cell phone from his pocket.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

Erlang Shen walked out of his study and answered the phone in the hallway outside.

The howling dog's voice came out.

"Erlang?"

"Yes, it's me. How are you?"

"That group of henchmen has already appeared at the Zhou family villa. Many of them are carrying weapons, and there are also several awakened individuals leading the way."

Erlang Shen gave a disdainful snort.

From the moment he decided to deal with Tongxing, Erlang Shen had already guessed that these cultists would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Therefore, Erlang Shen had already ordered his henchmen, including Xiaotianquan, to deal with Zhou Yan's adoptive parents and his own parents.

Over this period of time, his own parents and Zhou Yan's adoptive parents had already used passports from another country, which Erlang Shen had prepared, to board a plane and leave the country.

Both Erlang Shen and Zhou Yan are now all alone. The advantage of being alone is that you can do whatever you want without worrying about harming your family.

Erlang Shen asked again.

"Where did these henchmen come from?"

The celestial dog on the other end of the phone sighed.

"It's Councilor Qian..."

Among the high-ranking members of Tongxing was a local city councilor. This councilor used his power to investigate the situation of Erlang Shen and Zhou Yan's family. Afterwards, he used Black Gloves and Tongxing's lower-level believers to deal with Erlang Shen and Zhou Yan's parents.

Erlang Shen remained silent.

Councilor Qian Erlangshen knows him. He is a social media influencer who has suddenly become very popular in Cihe City in recent years. His remarks include, but are not limited to, "opening up marriage between siblings and close relatives", "preventing the lower class from being exploited by capitalists", "rich people should marry more wives so that excellent genes can be passed on", and "women should stay in the kitchen and at home, and learning to read is the right of men".

Erlang Shen used to think of this councilor as a clown, but little did he know that this clown was not only ugly, but also a cult member.

But it's nothing, Erlang Shen had already anticipated these things.

"I understand. Xiaotian, you can continue to keep an eye on it."

"Oh, right... Erlang, a member of the Tongxing family came to our company looking for us. He said that their Holy Maiden and Prophet wanted to talk to us. That guy is still waiting for us at our company."

"Just keep waiting?"

"Yes, our company also has criminal police and economic police from other cities stationed here, and they are currently retrieving our company's business information."

Erlang Shen said jokingly.

"They really will stop at nothing."

Erlang Shen has bribed all the local government agencies in Cihe City. With shared interests, the local officials are unlikely to target Erlang Shen. Therefore, Tongxing has started to hire police from other places to "investigate" Erlang Shen's company.

Erlang Shen asked.

"What about the city government? What did they say?"

Normally, using out-of-town police to investigate local leading enterprises would provoke strong protests and concrete opposition from the local government.

"The municipal government hasn't reacted much, Erlang. According to my investigation, it seems that some councilors from the state government are putting pressure on us. The municipal government is under a lot of pressure, and no one dares to speak up for us."

Erlang Shen already knew that there were people in the state government who were also Tongxing members, but he didn't expect these councilors to come down against him so quickly.

"It's nothing. 2 is four~↓潾"◇♀路‰_4中＞☆:"

They're all over a thousand years old. What kind of wealth and glory hasn't Erlang Shen seen? Whether he's being investigated or his property is confiscated, it's all just fleeting smoke.

Trying to blackmail Erlang Shen with wealth is rather ridiculous.