Vast, complex, and pure knowledge emerged all around. Under Leyton's influence, it came alive, gained self-awareness, and spontaneously aggregated, intertwining with each other, like countless intricate parts self-assembling.
Soon, a giant clock Tower hundreds of meters high appeared. Each face on the top of the clock Tower was carved with an eye, and illusory, three-dimensional clocks were reflected in their pupils. Their gazes, whether up or down, collectively watched every corner of the wilderness.
Leyton retracted his mythical creature form and appeared on top of the clock Tower, still holding the four gems that had originally been embedded in his mechanical glove.
He brought one of the grayish-white gems close to his eyes for a look, then threw it out of the clock Tower.
As it fell, surrounding information was continuously attracted and converged within it. The grayish-white gem gradually brightened, emitting colorful light, and transformed into a grayish-white translucent giant dragon.
Its eyes were pale gold, its pupils vertical, its four limbs relatively thick, and its two grayish, leathery wings continuously flapped, twisting its body in mid-air and flying around the clock Tower.
During this process, its body continuously split, and due to the different knowledge integrated, it separated into various giant dragons, some covered in ice crystals, some wreathed in flames, some as black as ink, and some adorned with crystals.
Only when the 'Virtual Persona' ability reached its limit did the giant dragons stop splitting and each found a direction, disappearing into the wilderness.
"The 'Spectator's' Virtual Persona and the multi-threaded operation of the Cowardly Trio are truly the most suitable materials; they can help me establish this information world in the shortest time..." Leyton murmured with a sigh. He had an impulse to immediately gather more 'Manipulator,' 'Bizzaro Sorcerer,' or 'Secrets Sorcerer' characteristics.
Shaking his head and collecting his thoughts, he also threw out the remaining three gems in his hand, which belonged to the 'Earl of the Fallen,' 'Black Knight,' and 'Cataclysmic Interrer,' allowing them to combine with the activated knowledge to form some peculiar information creatures.
"Since it's a story, how can it be without fairy tales?"
As he muttered to himself, book after book bound with parchment appeared before Leyton. These books spontaneously flipped open, revealing the stories and illustrations recorded within.
Staring at the books rotating around him, complex and illusory symbols condensed in his eyes, and streams of information peeled away from the books, drifting out of the clock Tower and falling onto the wilderness.
These information streams each converged and reorganized, forming pumpkin carriages pulled by two plump mice, swans with pure white feathers, a little girl huddled in a corner in heavy snow, gray wolves standing on two legs, a little girl wearing a red cloak and a matching soft hat, a prince riding a white horse, with a straight sword at his waist, dressed in luxurious attire, and gnomes laughing and wrestling in a heap...
More and more figures emerged on the wilderness. They were neither blurry nor transparent, some enthusiastic, some sorrowful, some playful, but without exception, they all lacked a sense of vividness, like rigid mechanical puppets.
On the clock Tower in the center of the wilderness, Leyton raised a hand to wipe away non-existent sweat from his forehead, and let out a long breath, saying:
"That's enough. Next is to perfect it little by little and separate this place from the Spirit World."
No sooner had he spoken than his body instantly became transparent, as if turning into a statue formed by countless starlight.
The statue instantly shattered, and brilliant starlight surged out, flowing beyond the clock Tower and gradually covering the entire wilderness, becoming its sky.
One star after another emerged, dense and dazzling, reflecting a night sky filled with a brilliant galaxy.
In the Spirit World, in the place covered by seven clear lights, an invisible fluctuation dissipated somewhat unevenly. The surroundings suddenly darkened, as if night had instantly fallen, and a sense of tranquility and peace descended with scattered starlight.
This change lasted less than a second before disappearing. What also disappeared was the winding and undulating river, the reflection of the Paz River in the Spirit World.
Soon, that colorful river, as if a paint bucket had been overturned, reappeared in another direction. The colors in the river merged and separated from each other, like a flowing rainbow.
Leyton sank the information world into the river, cutting off its information interaction with the Spirit World. Then, relying on his mastery of information, he recreated a river in the Spirit World.
As this series of actions was completed, the seven slowly flowing and wriggling clear lights returned to the very top of the Spirit World, as if they had never moved.
Time flew by, and it was two months later before Leyton emerged from the information world.
Before he could even receive the information from his external avatar during this period, Roselle appeared directly in front of him.
After carefully observing Leyton for a while, Roselle finally clicked his tongue and said:
"When the 'Hidden Sage's' oracle appeared, I almost thought he had gone mad, or you had gone mad."
"Using the authority of information, it's not difficult to build a network platform in this world through mysticism. But opening it to everyone simultaneously and bearing a massive and chaotic amount of consciousness is enough to drive any self-aware existence insane, even a Sequence 0 true god."
"You didn't go directly insane or lose control. In fact, I feel your state is even better than before. How did you do it?"
While receiving the events of this period as information through his connection with his avatar, Leyton explained to Roselle:
"The interaction and processing of information are handled by the 'Hidden Sage,' which poses no burden to him—well, except during combat."
"As for the carrier of the information world, haven't you noticed something missing from my hand?"
As he spoke, Leyton raised his right hand, which was not wearing a mechanical glove, and waved it in front of Roselle.
Roselle still asked with some doubt, "Just a portion of a 'Knowledge Magister's' characteristic?"
Leyton smiled and shook his head, saying, "Of course not. There's also a portion of a 'Sage's' characteristic, and some special items."
Roselle's pale blue eyes deepened, but he didn't press further. He changed the subject, saying:
"Everything needed for exploring the 'Specter Empire' is ready. Coincidentally, the war between this side and Intis is currently at a stalemate, so why not try our luck in the Fog Sea?"
"Alright, within the next two days..." Leyton nodded lightly, giving an approximate time.
Roselle waved his hand and casually stepped forward, but his body abruptly appeared dozens of meters away in another direction. Stepping again, he vanished directly from Leyton's sight.
Withdrawing his gaze, Leyton closed his eyes, quietly receiving information from his avatar to understand what had happened in the past two months.
Aside from Intis's 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church and 'God of Steam and Machinery' Church, Loen's 'Lord of Storms' Church also joined the war against the new regime in the Southern Continent. Feysac and the 'God of Combat' Church were exceptionally active, but never participated on any side.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess and the Church of the Earth Mother remained silent, but the Sanguine of the Southern Continent and the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction were very active, constantly striking at the Rose School of Thought and the followers of the 'Primordial Moon,' making them unable to interfere with the coastal battlefield.
In Backlund, the Loen Royal Family's preparations also seemed to be in their final stages. Adam seemed to have arranged everything beforehand. Should one say he truly lives up to being the strongest 'Spectator'?
After receiving all the information, he let out a long breath, and his body instantly dematerialized, turning into a pure information stream creature, surging like a torrent back to the manor on the North shore.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, there was still some time until three in the afternoon, so he simply sat down in a nearby armchair, raised his hand, and swiped it in the void. A transparent light screen appeared, like a simplified computer screen, with functional areas simply divided into chat, reading, and games.
After the information world took shape, he had the 'Hidden Sage' disseminate relevant information through an oracle. As long as the correct ritual was performed, one could receive feedback and obtain a charm that allowed access to the beta version of the network platform.
"Developing a suitable 'mobile phone' is still very necessary. Currently, only Beyonders with more active spirituality can use it, and it's also limited by time and charms."
Muttering to himself, he used his mind to control the light screen in front of him, entering the chat interface and randomly selecting a group chat named "Tarot Card Enthusiasts."
The content on the light screen changed rapidly, with many messages floating on it, and even… emoticons? Did someone add Arrodes to the group?
As the thought flickered, his question had already formed and was sent out directly as subtitles.
Soon, someone with a blurred figure shrouded in gray mist as their avatar replied:
"You invite the great Arrodes to add new functions to your World Tree, but you don't want me to chat with others? Is that reasonable?"
"Question: Why call it the World Tree and not the Internet?"
"It's a tree-like network connecting the entire world. Of course, more importantly, the name World Tree sounds grander and more impressive."
After casually answering Arrodes's question, Leyton already knew from the 'Hidden Sage's' backend why Arrodes appeared outside of the "Magic Mirror Quiz Game": Roselle, who had obtained partial authority from Bernadette, did it. The reason was that Arrodes knew too many of his little secrets and was threatened.
"What a handful..." he sighed inwardly, then stopped pursuing the matter.
He had dispersed the management authority of the World Tree to Bernadette and the two angels of the Moses Ascetic Order precisely to alleviate his own pressure. As long as it wasn't something that could affect the foundational information world, he wouldn't interfere.