Chapter 1125: Second Shadow
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the following month, the Azure Dragon went along the nodes of Milky Way Nets Above Snares Below, doing a round of patrol and inspecting them one by one.
There was good news as well as bad news.
The good news was that on the planets, there seemed to be no other major changes for now other than a few occasional volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
This was also the bad news.
Fang Ning knew that the calmer the ocean was, the more horrible the storm would be later on.
There was no way the merging of the two realms could be happening as quietly as this. The Bodhisattva Spirit King had predicted that the Upper Realm’s Earth would project itself onto the Universe like a shadow first and would eventually transform into reality, combining itself with this space.
The various changes that would occur during this process were entirely beyond what he could ever anticipate.
With his mortal intelligence, he really could not imagine how things would turn out in the future.
Then, two days later, he finally understood the true magnitude and horror of this changing world.
One day, Sir System anxiously woke Fang Ning up from his sleep.
“Mr. Rich Boss, something has happened. Many people are having an extra shadow! They’re very emotionally unstable.”
Fang Ning rolled out of bed and instructed, “Open the surveillance monitor.”
Ever since Earth and the other Twenty-Eight Mansions had come under the System Domain, everything that had happened at these places could be observed from the System Space. Sir System would only need to project the images onto the surveillance monitor for him to see what was going on at the time.
This lowered the Heavenly Book baby’s workload immensely and was way more effective than the Nets Above Snares Below.
A god’s omniscience applied to all the domains of that particular god.
On the big monitor screen, a strange image soon appeared.
Under the blazing sun, a row of people was standing on a square and were surrounded by fully armed soldiers. There were also some powerful cultivators on-site, floating in midair.
Under the feet of each person, there were two shadows!
One was the original shadow that was rigid and stiff, moving only according to the movements of the real body. It was a completely natural shadow of the person.
The other one, on the contrary, appeared as if it had a life of its own as the black shadow kept squirming about on the ground like it was trying to stand up from the flat surface.
Those people were all trembling in fear. They seemed to be frightened out of their wits.
If Fang Ning were to come across such a scene in the past, he would most likely have been scared to death as well.
However, after having experienced so many strange events, he was more used to it now.
After all, he did not have to see this in person anyway…
“What, what happened here? I don’t understand,” Fang Ning said, gawking at the image.
“Indeed, I can’t understand what I’m seeing either. I thought Bodhisattva was speaking metaphorically. Turns out he meant it literally,” Sir System said in shock.
Thus, Fang Ning had to go to the hotel and ask the two learned gods about this.
Now, Fang Ning also understood why these two gods were willing to so shamelessly hide themselves in the System Hotel.
It was really too dangerous out there. It had only been a few years since the recovery of vitality and such a big problem had already occurred!
The Heavens of the Upper Realm had been broken, and the gods and deities had fallen. As the two realms began to merge into one, a shadow had descended over the world…
Before this, Fang Ning thought that when Sir System became a god, their peaceful days would return. Now, it seemed like all their troubles had just begun!
When he arrived at the entertainment room on the second floor of the hotel, Death and the Culinary God were already staring at the large screen in the entertainment room.
On the screen, the same scene was being broadcasted.
“I never thought they would go to that extent. The Pantheon King is still determined after all.” Death sighed.
“Wait, this is all the Pantheon King’s doing?” Fang Ning questioned.
Death shook his head. “It’s not just him. I believe this is also what the saints had hoped for. After all, the previous state of this new world of yours doesn’t allow the existence of saints, but the circumstances have changed now. The mature and aging Heavenly Axiom is on the brink of death while the newly born Heavenly Axiom is already gone. The opportunity belonging to the mortals has come again.”
When Fang Ning heard this, he was overcome with astonishment.
‘Ah, compared to these gods, I’m inexperienced indeed. I can hardly get ahold of the situation at hand. In the future, I should just get by in an honest way,” Fang Ning quietly said to Sir System.
“You’re not inexperienced. You’re just too lazy.” Sir System hit the nail on the head.
“Save me some dignity,” Fang Ning said, upset.
Indeed, compared to these gods who were always scheming against others, his time was mostly spent on fooling around and sleeping.
He might work hard once in a while, but he would not remain committed to it for long. Such instances had not just happened once in the past ten years.
“Wait a minute,” Fang Ning suddenly had a bad feeling, “Sir System, will my body also have another shadow then?”
“Uh, your thinking is really bold, but could that be possible?” Sir System said doubtfully.
Fang Ning turned around and asked Death, ” What exactly are these shadows? And what’s the deal with the shadow projected by the Upper Realm?”
“These shadows are life forms from the Upper Realm being projected onto the Lower Realm. They will instinctively seek out living beings in the Lower Realm and eventually take over the space and physical body occupied by these beings, thus manifesting into reality,” Death said gravely.
“Sss, with the immensity of the Upper Realm, its population will be no less than a few quadrillions. Yet, how many living creatures are there in this universe? How would there be enough beings for each and every one of these Upper Realm life forms to project themselves onto?” Fang Ning said in shock.
“They will have to adhere to a particular rule. The strong will be able to become the shadows of the Lower Realm beings and revive themselves from there while the weak will become the shadows of rocks and tiles, basically turning into dead objects,” Death continued to explain.
“This means that the mountains and rivers of the Upper Realm will also appear in the shadows of the corresponding objects in the Lower Realm?” Fang Ning found it difficult to wrap his mind around the principles and logic in this. Perhaps this was a rule belonging to the mysterious side, so there would be no logic in it anyway.
“Yes, but this process will be a very slow one. On top of that, the planets actually have their own shadows as well,” Death stated.
“Then what will become of the world in the end?” Fang Ning could not imagine what the future would look like.
“I’m afraid the planets will be combined into one. After all, when all the many objects in Upper Realm project themselves onto this world, they will probably fill up all the existing voids and gaps of the universe,” said Death, shaking his head.
“A round sky and square earth then?” Fang Ning suddenly recalled a prediction given by Earth’s Heavenly Axiom from a long time ago. (TN: The expression ‘天圆地方’ is an ancient Chinese belief that heaven is “rounded” while the earth is “square”.)
Was it possible that the other party had already foreseen this? If that was the case, then it should have made some sort of preparation for this.
“Yes, this planetary universe will vanish and take on the form of a round sky and square earth. However, if the process doesn’t go right, the world will either be plunged into darkness, or turn into a sea of fire,” Death warned.
“You mean we’ll have to separate the sun from the planets?” Fang Ning thought of some horrifying images.
If the sun were to be taken over by the shadow and be fused together with Earth in the end, that would be a truly terrifying sight to behold!
“Exactly so. This process of evolution will be a very long one. A cruel future may be awaiting us,” Death said, shaking his head.
While Death was saying these things on the surface, he was wild with joy on the inside.
After holding back for so long, his time had finally come!
He could already sense the endless presence of death spreading through this newborn universe!
His power began to be revitalized.
Nonetheless, the precondition was that he should not make any mistakes and reveal his thoughts in this mysterious space. He had to restore his power a little more before leaving.
He could become the strongest god and even entertain the thought of becoming a saint.
However, right now, he had to hold in his joy. He could not let it show in front of this coward and the other cold-hearted god.
This was a natural instinct of a powerhouse. Otherwise, he would not have been able to become a powerhouse in the first place.
Fang Ning did not notice the Death’s thoughts as he left the room full of worries.
Then, he slept for three days.
The fact that he could not think of a solution at all gave him a huge headache. He was neither an alcoholic nor a smoker. He could not bring himself to play any games and read any novels as well. Thus, he could only use sleep to numb himself.
That was until Sir System started shouting in alarm, “Mr. Rich Boss, you’ve jinxed it again. A second shadow has also appeared under our feet!”
