A long, long time later—
The viewers in the mortal realm had been replaced by new generations.
The Underworld flourished even more after the establishment of the network.
Within a small world that Jiang Lin had personally carved out,
There was blue sky and white clouds, and a gentle breeze.
There were also various forms of [mini spaces], some were mazes, some were ant worlds, some were ice practice grounds…
All of them were his practice creations.
Atop the peak of a mountain,
Jiang Lin sat cross-legged.
The aura around him swirled, becoming increasingly terrifying.
The wind in the air, the leaves on the ground, all paused slightly, then were drawn by the terrifying aura, spinning together.
Spinning, then shattering into dust.
*Crack,*
The [mini spaces] used for practice emitted faint cracking sounds.
*Crack, crack,*
Cracks spread like a spiderweb.
The overflowing energy, uncontrollably, flowed towards the mountaintop.
All the energy in heaven and earth began to gather there.
As this small world was on the verge of destruction,
Atop the mountaintop,
At the dense center of energy, a terrifying aura suddenly emanated.
With a booming sound,
The energies swirling around Jiang Lin were pushed away from the inside out.
Like an explosive shockwave, they spread to the distant horizon.
A golden light shot out from the mountaintop.
At a speed faster than light, it flew out of this small world, out of Water Blue Star.
Heading straight for beyond the universe,
It landed on the last missing segment of the golden ring road.
Instantly,
The entire universe froze.
The galaxy ceased its flow, and everything on Water Blue Star seemed to be paused.
Splashing river water hung in mid-air, construction workers held their hammers, motionless, vehicles on the road maintained their speed but could not advance further…
It felt like a long time had passed, yet it also felt like only a few seconds.
The golden ring road was successfully repaired.
Without the existence within this universe even noticing,
The world resumed its normal flow.
The galaxy began to move again, and life on Water Blue Star reactivated.
The time on the clocks showed no anomaly.
At the edge of the universe,
The mighty beings of the Heavenly Realm, who had been resisting invading species, suddenly froze.
Realizing belatedly, something seemed to have just shot out.
Their spiritual senses instinctively pursued, but found nothing.
Their hearts sank, and they immediately heightened their vigilance.
Guarding this position required constant attention; even a moment of laxity
Could give those invading species an opportunity.
But soon, they discovered…
Something seemed different.
Those invading species appeared to be isolated on the outside.
In their minds,
The sense of crisis, which had always been on the verge of sounding an alarm, gradually faded.
…
*Boom—*
In the small world carved out by Jiang Lin.
At the center of the mountain peak's energy explosion, the wind howled, and a white figure stood tall.
His original clothes and accessories had all shattered, replaced by white robes conjured by energy.
Exquisite patterns quickly spread across the hem of his robes, carrying a certain Daoist charm. His long hair, flowing in the wind, was tied back with a hairpin.
His face remained the same, but it was now more refined, as if meticulously sculpted.
He stepped forward in the air.
A passage appeared on the path ahead.
Leading to where he wished to go.
At the end of the passage,
Was a small courtyard.
A wooden house, a well, and a peach tree in full bloom with pink flowers.
A small stone path led from the entrance of the wooden house to the courtyard gate.
Beneath the peach tree, there was a stone table.
On the stone table lay a game of Go.
Among the black and white stones, the white pieces were clearly at an advantage.
An old man sat on the black stone side, his head bowed towards the chessboard.
He wore simple cloth clothes, his hair was white, but his spirit was strong.
It was not difficult to imagine that he must have been a handsome and elegant man in his youth.
*Knock, knock, knock—*
Jiang Lin arrived at the courtyard entrance and knocked on the wooden door.
Several pink petals drifted down from the peach tree, landing on the chessboard and on the old man's white hair.
The old man looked up at him,
His tone was calm, with a hint of relief.
"You've arrived."
Jiang Lin came under the peach tree and sat on the stone stool.
Just as they had sat facing each other tens of thousands of years ago.
His eyelids drooped, and he looked at the chessboard.
He raised his hand, picked up a white stone, and placed it on the board.
Then he looked at the other person, his eyes smiling, his tone affectionate:
"I won."
The old man also smiled, "You won."
"This world has passed the review."
He stroked his beard, "This game of Go took quite a long time to play; my beard has grown out."
Back then, this fellow had said that the review would take as long as a game of Go.
He hadn't expected it to take tens of thousands of years.
Although long, it was indeed magnificent.
He had witnessed the decline and rise of the mortal realm, the gradual perfection of the Heavenly Palace and the Underworld,
And… many interesting people and stories.
"This world is indeed interesting and worth preserving."
The old man sighed, then asked, "When are you planning to return?"
Jiang Lin: "Let's wait a bit longer. I want to see other worlds."
He raised his hand, collecting the white stones one by one and placing them into a nearby box.
He said slowly, "I must visit my other brothers and sisters."
The old man stroked his beard, perhaps thinking of something,
And nodded, "That's good. Come back and visit when you have time."
"Mm."
…
…
A long, long time ago.
In a void of nothingness, an existence appeared.
As it simply existed there, the surrounding void gradually nurtured one small world after another.
Gradually,
Some of those small worlds grew stronger, while others vanished with time or exploded.
Perhaps finding it amusing,
Perhaps feeling bored.
It began to shape small things and endow them with the energy to move.
Thus, around it appeared various life forms.
Some walked on two legs, some on four.
Some did not use legs but flew with wings.
Some had no wings or legs, crawling with their bodies.
Almost every life form had its unique characteristics.
The Green Snake could manifest things it dreamt of in reality.
A beautiful woman with pointed ears and long green hair, when bored, would grow things for herself.
Growing little people resulted in little people, growing green apples resulted in green apples.
A bird monster with four eyes could speak the thoughts of others.
The twin brothers, who had four limbs but walked on two legs,
Could see the energy sources within their other siblings and the flow of their meridians.
…
It created a Peach Blossom Spring for these life forms.
A world that could accommodate all their unique traits.
…
One day,
The Green Snake, bored in the Peach Blossom Spring, flicked its tail and said, "So boring… anyone want to compete?"
"How do we compete?" asked the bird monster with four eyes.
How to compete?
Everyone's abilities were different, so how could they compete?
Seeing everyone start to ponder,
It appeared, its voice echoing through the Peach Blossom Spring.
"Go and manage those small worlds."
…
And so,
A leaderboard for the small worlds appeared in the Peach Blossom Spring.
Periodically, siblings responsible for reviews would visit various small worlds.
From all aspects, they would judge the completeness of that world.
And…
Whether it posed a threat to other small worlds.
Whether it had a reason to exist.
…
…
The moment Jiang Lin repaired the flaws in the Heavenly Dao,
The rankings of Number One and Number Two soared into the top ten of the leaderboard.
…