Their commission was suspicious.

"Really, I didn't see wrong. Look for yourself."

"I won't look; staring at that chaotic scene for too long will hurt my eyes."

"I'm not lying to you!" Seeing that Chen Luo didn't believe her, Yakumo Yukari directly grabbed Chen Luo's chin and changed the direction of his face by about 60 degrees.

"Hey, there really seems to be a figure... I'll go take a look." When Chen Luo saw that there really seemed to be a figure faintly visible in the depths of the abyss, he became interested, got up from his chair, and ran to the entrance of the bar.

"Wait for the new customer, Yukari Yakumo," Chen Luo called out.

Then Chen Luo jumped straight into the root cause.

Seeing Chen Luo's actions, Yakumo Yukari was startled.

You just jumped in like that? Aren't you afraid of getting hurt?

However, upon seeing Chen Luohao's unharmed figure, Yakumo Yukari instantly realized that Chen Luohao had entered a state of feigned stealth.

Chen Luo, in his virtual stealth state, will not be harmed when he enters the source, but he will also be unable to make a wish or truly touch the source.

Chen Luo watched the faint, indistinct phantom in the distance drift towards that direction.

However, Chen Luo floated for a while but couldn't get even half a step closer to that figure.

It's like looking at a mountain and running yourself ragged.

Chen Luo looked back and realized that he was already some distance from the bar, and he even saw Sato Kazuma and the others inside the bar.

Considering that curiosity and the raw stone cannot be had at the same time, Chen Luo decisively chose the raw stone.

But just as Chen Luo gave up chasing the figure and floated back to the bar, a lying phantom instantly teleported in front of him and smeared him in the face before he could stop in time.

"Uh... Ryougi Shiki?" Although Chen Luo had a suspicion that the figure might be Ryougi Shiki when he decided to investigate, he was still surprised when he actually saw it.

Although Ryougi Shiki is also widely known as the Root Shiki, Ryougi Shiki has never actually come to the Root Shiki.

Ryougi Shiki awakened the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception during the period when she was unconscious, because she could not see the outside world and could only look at the inner nothingness. However, this does not count as a direct intersection with the Root.

However, given that the Ryougi Shiki before him seemed to be just an illusion... Chen Luo suspected that it might be something like a projection of Ryougi Shiki's soul.

In addition, the other party was wearing an extremely gorgeous kimono... This should be considered the Root Style, right?

The root cause lies in the root cause, which makes perfect sense.

Chen Luo's hand traced a line across Genyuan's body, and then, unsurprisingly, passed right through the other's arm.

"Unfortunately, I am now also a phantom." Chen Luo recalled this matter.

Judging from Ryougi Shiki's semi-transparent body, the other party was clearly also a phantom.

It's like two mute people meeting, communicating entirely through hand seals.

Unfortunately, the other person was not only mute but also blind.

What can we do?

Of course, they ran away.

After glancing at the Root Form floating in the Root, Chen Luo passed straight through the other party's virtual projection and floated towards the bar.

But just as Chen Luo was halfway through the illusory passage, the Origin Style, which had been lying very upright, suddenly sat up straight.

...and Chen Luo's eyes met.

"Ah!" Chen Luo exclaimed subconsciously.

I was terrified.

Because not only did Chen Luo not expect this, but even the humanized plugin did not anticipate this scene; this was just Chen Luo's reaction as a normal person.

"Hahahaha..." The terrifying Root-like phantom laughed heartily, ignoring its kimono and sitting cross-legged in the Root, seemingly having anticipated and even pleased to frighten Chen Luo.

"Phew... What are you laughing at?" Chen Luo, relieved, looked at the Root Style warily.

Clearly, this is the root cause, but not entirely.

"I thought you wouldn't come back to Root again, but I didn't expect to meet you again in this way." Root's face showed a smile that was completely out of character. He placed his hand on Chen Luo's head, which was also a phantom, and patted it as if he were kneading a plush toy.

Chapter 2098 The Root: I even held you when you were little.

"You... are the source?" Chen Luo looked warily at Ryougi Shiki, who was dressed in a kimono.

“Yes, as you can see. Because Ryougi Shiki is currently in a special state, and because of some relationships that are often talked about by others, I am able to appear in her form.” Ryougi Shiki… no, Root nodded.

"And because I am different from ordinary world consciousness, and I have two roles, you can communicate with me in this way, instead of relying on your ears and eyes."

“Your personality is quite different from what I imagined,” Chen Luo said after a moment of silence.

“Then accept it, instead of questioning it, because I don’t need to change my persona to cater to a little kid who’s not even a fraction of my age,” Genyuan said with a smile.

“That’s not what I meant… but thank you,” Chen Luo said after a moment’s hesitation.

“You should thank me, but what are you thanking me for this time?” Genyuan tilted his head.

"Regarding the exchange of raw stones for the essence of the origin, which is the source of the world, it seems you're offering more than the normal exchange." Although Chen Luo wasn't quite used to the source's overly familiar manner, he knew he shouldn't try to understand the world's consciousness from a human perspective.

"Oh dear, so you're thanking me for something I never paid attention to? Oh, no need to be so concerned, and no need to be so wary. You might not believe it, but I held you when you were just born." Genji's smile changed from its original somewhat bold one to a gentle one.

"Huh?" Chen Luo was taken aback.

"Hahahaha, you actually believed it... Hahahaha." Seeing Chen Luo's expression, Genyuan laughed even harder.

"..." To be honest, this is the first world consciousness that Chen Luo has encountered that makes him feel overwhelmed.

However, since the Root is the first world consciousness that Chen Luo has heard of that is not the original world consciousness, but a second-generation world consciousness that received the inheritance from the original world consciousness and has never independently managed the world, it seems reasonable for the Root to do anything.

In Chen Luo's view, the root of this world consciousness is just like a rich second generation. As long as they don't think about starting a business (reincarnating the world and reopening the world) and try to prove themselves, they will be well-off for life.

"Don't make that face. Considering I gave you some extra Origin of the World, don't mind my joke... You call it Origin Aura, right? I like that name. So, want to feel Mother Origin's embrace again? I'll give you a little more this time, because I have some extra leftovers." Origin winked playfully at Chen Luo.

"...Sorry, the expression you made with Ryougi Shiki's face made me a little uncomfortable. As for the hug and stuff...we'll talk about it later, it's not the right time now." Chen Luo shook his head.

"But I see that the World Source I left on you is almost used up. There are only two small portions left."

"That's enough for now," Chen Luo replied immediately.

"Alright then. I can tell you're still a bit shy around strangers. But you might not believe it, but I gave you a gift of money when you turned one month old."

"...Do you think I believe you or not?"

"Don't you believe me? I wouldn't lie to you."

"..."

I don't believe you for a second.

"Sigh, I finally found someone in the Root, but after only a couple of sentences, it got boring. How boring..." The Root sat cross-legged in the empty chaos, resting his chin on his hand, seemingly resigned to his fate.

Are you bored?

"It's so boring," Genyuan said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Why do I feel like other world consciousnesses all have something to do? Are you that bored?"

"...You've probably heard my legend to some extent. Do you think I'm the same as an ordinary world consciousness? The first world consciousness ran away, and then it chose me, who best fits the current world's development philosophy, as the new world consciousness... It didn't even consider whether I wanted to be this world consciousness in the first place." The Origin began to grumble.

"Then why did the first World Consciousness choose you to be the World Consciousness? Even if you didn't want to be it, shouldn't there be two other restraining forces as candidates?" Chen Luo asked, somewhat puzzled.

Why did the one who least wanted to be the world's consciousness end up being the world's consciousness?

"Because when the first generation of world consciousness conducted the assessment, it set a test question in advance, and then observed all living beings in the world to see who whose style of doing things in the next 100 years or a lifetime best matched the test question, and then made that person the world consciousness. But it did not announce the test question."

"This kind of retirement is actually quite common in the world consciousness. It means that when someone leaves, but can't find a replacement, they find the most suitable one from among the beings in this world. This is called keeping the good stuff in the family."

"This is an internal matter of the world, so no one can interfere. Although there is such a thing as the World Consciousness Headquarters, it is like the United Nations, which has stronger constraints, and respects the world's autonomy. However, if a world consciousness that has been promoted performs poorly after a cycle of testing, it is possible to bring back the previous world consciousness to work, or to select another one." The rather talkative Root pulled Chen Luo and recalled the story from the past.

"And then?" Chen Luo was indeed very curious about what had happened in the past.

"Then, due to its own unique nature, the suppressive force that vaguely received some information began to show itself, trying to stand out through various means and suppressing the other party in the process. As for me, because of my even more unique reasons, I know more, but since I don't want to get involved, I just lie down and give up. After all... I'm just a source. Isn't it enough for a source to just exist? You agree, right?"

"That's...indeed."

The inhibitory force does have a lot of work to do, but the root cause only needs to "exist".

"And then, why were you elected?"

"Because the test prepared in advance by the first generation was 'laissez-faire'! That is, to do nothing! How dare it do that!" At this point, the source's tone seemed to become agitated.

"Ah, this..."

Chen Luo probably understood.

Because the two major inhibitory forces try too hard to show themselves and interfere too much in the world, they do not conform to the concept of non-interference at all. On the contrary, the root cause, because it lies flat enough, perfectly fits this concept, so it was chosen as the world consciousness.

While there are other creatures that lie flat like the Root, the Root is not only perfectly flat, but also quite unique in itself.

Its origin is similar to the Heavenly Dao beneath the Great Dao in some ancient fantasy novels.

Now that the emperor has passed away, the crown prince should have ascended the throne. However, this crown prince has performed exceptionally well, so his ascension to the throne is now a foregone conclusion.

"If you're so bored, why don't you just choose an agent too?"

"The problem is I can't choose," Genyuan said dejectedly.

"why?"

"Because I haven't passed the assessment period. It's said that one cycle counts as one assessment period, but this world has never reincarnated since it appeared, and the world consciousness during the assessment period cannot step down."

"Then reincarnate."

"lazy."

"..." Chen Luo was speechless.

You truly deserve to be chosen as the successor by the previous world consciousness.

"Actually, I did try to resist. Back before that damned alchemist invented the World Projection Deflector, quite a few transmigrators came to this world. After careful consideration, I chose a couple and offered to be their grandfather in exchange for taking a portion of my consciousness with me and letting them leave this world to explore the Dimensional Sea. The three of us then went on a rampage in the Dimensional Sea..."

"and then?"

"Then one of them became a damn archaeologist! The other became a damn alchemist! They both transcended!" Root said through gritted teeth.

"Finally, they sent me back using the excuse: 'Actually, we feel that you're doing quite well as a couch potato in this world. It's too dangerous outside; you run into transcendent beings all the time. So just stay home and be a homebody. We'll come to see you later.' They also strengthened the world's defenses and fixed the loopholes that attracted transmigrators. It's like they not only closed the door but also locked it!"

Chen Luo could now even hear the source grinding its teeth.

“The most crucial thing is… those two haven’t come back to see me for over ten years! Those heartless bastards! Is raising kids so fun?” As Genyuan spoke, he suddenly stared straight at Chen Luo.

This startled Chen Luo.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? It's not like I closed and locked the door you used to escape through. Maybe they were just trying to help you." Chen Luo shrank back.

"I don't care, you have to find me some fun, or you'll be the next fun."

"Huh? On what grounds?"

"...Because I'm rich. I heard you're raising the World Tree?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"What a coincidence, I have five special materials here to nourish the World Tree, but I have nowhere to use them." With a wave of his hand, five golden objects wrapped in bubbles appeared in front of Chen Luo.

"!!!" Chen Luo's eyes widened slowly.

Chen Luo had seen these materials in the book; they were the highest-grade materials for cultivating the World Tree!

Any one of these items would be more valuable than the Fallen Star, Bone Powder, Breath Soil, and Golden Fertilizer that Chen Luo currently possesses combined.

"Where did you get these materials from?" Chen Luo's eyes were filled with doubt.

"From that damned alchemist!"

"This is a good thing, why are you so angry?"

"Because that guy couldn't possibly not know that I'm too lazy to plant trees! So giving me these 5 sets of materials must be for some other purpose," Genyuan said angrily.

"Then... will you really give it to me?" Chen Luo was a little worried.

"Don't worry." Genyuan waved his hand.

After all, you might just be the one they're after.

Of course, it's also possible that the damn alchemist's lab had too much junk and nowhere to put it, so he just dumped it all here with me.

So, do you want it?

"want!"