"Then why didn't the Heavenly Dao reverse time and space during the Demon God War? With the Demon God's power, it should have been possible to crush those people in their cradle!"
Song Wanníng frowned in confusion. She knew the Demon God's battle strength far surpassed her own.
The Heavenly Dao let out a bitter smile.
"Reversing the time and space of an entire star system world is no easy task. Even fragments of the Heavenly Dao gathered together could not accomplish it."
In other words, the lower worlds were simply too degenerated, or even the Heavenly Dao could not do it.
After hearing this, Song Wanníng fell silent.
By this logic, her luck was truly boundless.
From now on, she would never complain about her luck being bad again.
After another moment of silence, Song Wanníng sighed softly.
"Senior, what do you want me to do?"
Her goal now was likely far beyond simple revenge.
The Heavenly Dao had given her life anew, a debt of life and death.
Yet it did not ask for repayment. Instead, it was filled with endless guilt.
"You do not owe me anything. In fact, I owe you...
As the Heavenly Dao of this world, I failed to protect you. I could not stop the invaders from slaughtering your people...
Especially those subjects—I watched helplessly as one after another suffered cruel deaths."
Following the world's rules means survival of the fittest, but being betrayed and slaughtered by invaders is something else entirely.
Those people never deserved such a miserable end.
Song Wanníng never should have suffered those trials.
She was the favored child of Heaven. Without Ye Chuxue's appearance, her life would have been smooth, and she could have ascended long ago.
Yet in the end, she and her entire family were annihilated.
The Heavenly Dao's hatred ran deep. If it could, it would have destroyed itself along with the Heavenly Dao of the Mùsù system, rather than allow its people to suffer such disasters.
"Senior..."
Song Wanníng was stunned.
She never expected the Heavenly Dao to apologize to her.
For a moment, a complicated feeling filled her heart—a real sense of grievance, as if her suffering was finally understood.
It was as if she had found a support, no longer alone bearing everything silently.
"Wanníng, I am sorry to you. I knew how much pain you endured, yet I could only pin my hopes on you..."
Once on this path, there was no turning back.
"I need you to reunify the lower realms, to bring the Heavenly Dao fragments together as one!"
The Heavenly Dao did not mention even grander goals.
It only hoped the lower realms could soon regain their former glory. Other Great Thousand Realms and so forth had their own Heavenly Dao fragments to worry about; it could not intervene.
At last, the Heavenly Dao revealed its purpose.
But it was powerless to interfere directly, even as the Heavenly Dao. It could only find loopholes and scheme through Song Wanníng. To restore the lower realm, it needed her hand.
"Reunify?"
Song Wanníng raised an eyebrow, surprised and wide-eyed.
Could she really reunite the world?
"Yes, reunify!"
The Heavenly Dao's voice was firm. "Only when the two realms merge into one and rules are restored can the invaders be stopped from entering here again.
Moreover, the Spiritual Realm is also invaded. Invaders openly steal resources and harm native residents.
But this task is no small matter. You are not just fighting those people, you are confronting the Heavenly Dao of the Mùsù system. This journey will be a near-death ordeal.
You don't have to worry about anything else or feel obligated. Just follow your heart and decide whether to accept this. I will respect your choice."
Song Wanníng owed it nothing, and it would not force her.
The mountaintop fell silent again, only the whispering wind remained.
Song Wanníng sat on the ground, her thoughts drifting far away. Her parents were in the lower realm, her Senior Sister and Martial Uncle in the Spiritual Realm. How could she ignore them?
If the invaders achieved their goals, what fate could native residents hope for?
If they did not resist, they might die like before, their paths and cultivation destroyed.
That was not the future she wanted.
Besides, she held grudges. The Heavenly Dao of the Mùsù system had ruined her so thoroughly. Without revenge, how could she find peace?
She would not give up.
Song Wanníng's eyes cleared. She solemnly addressed the stone tablet.
"Senior, maybe I am not the kind of kind-hearted person willing to sacrifice herself for the world, but I have people I care about. I want to protect them. And I want to protect myself."
She was never a savior, often cold and hard-hearted. But she refused to be controlled or coerced. Working with the Heavenly Dao now was the best choice.
"All right!"
The Heavenly Dao was delighted by Song Wanníng's decision. Choosing her had been a very wise choice.
"You are willing to risk everything for this world. I will not let your efforts be in vain. That black orb I gave you before is a gift from me."
"Black orb?"
Song Wanníng took out the black orb.
So this was a gift from the Heavenly Dao!
"Yes. This is the treasure the Demon God once possessed—The Demon God's Origin!
When the Demon God fell, the Demon God's Origin nearly got stolen in the chaos. Luckily, I hid it inside the Three Lives Mirror and it escaped disaster. Now, I give it to you. Once I teach you how, you can try to create a world inside your body."
Small worlds can grow and even evolve. Maybe, in the end, Song Wanníng could become the Heavenly Dao of a star system world!
The Heavenly Dao's words made both Song Wanníng and Xiao Jin's eyes fix on the black orb.
This tiny orb was the Demon God's Origin?
And it could create a world?
"Creating a world will greatly boost your strength, especially after life emerges. The power of belief will become your nourishment! It will pave a path to the Divine Realm, and even the Heaven Beyond Heaven!"
The Heavenly Dao's voice echoed, stirring Song Wanníng's heart with soaring ambition.
The God Realm?
The Heaven Beyond Heaven?
She wanted to see them for herself!
...
"Demon Sovereign, we may have found traces of Ye Chuxue and Gu Qingyuan."
Someone presented the recorded images.
At the demon tribe's border, a man and woman entered the demon territory together. Both disguised, and their cultivation levels did not match.
So the team did not dare confirm their identities and returned to report to the Demon Sovereign.
Mo Yuan was checking the accounts when he looked up, frowned as he took the footage.
Ye Chuxue's cultivation level didn't match, and neither did Gu Qingyuan's—plus, Gu Qingyuan had white hair.
After so much time fleeing for their lives, would they really return?
Mo Yuan could not be sure. Thinking about his promise to Song Wanníng made him uneasy.
"Even if it doesn't add up, don't let them slip away. Go investigate carefully. If there's trouble, contact me immediately!"
===
From the revelations in a few chapters, it's fairly clear what the "star system" means in this novel. The hierarchy of worlds is somewhat similar to what I've outlined in my glossary, but the star system here is less complete.
This novel's system divides worlds into three main tiers—Small, Middle, and Great Worlds—with each tier containing 3,000 worlds. Above these tiers are the Immortal Realm, followed by the highest level, the God Realm.
In my version, there are four tiers instead: Small, Middle, Big, and Great Worlds, each also consisting of 3,000 worlds. The pinnacle beyond these is the Eternal World. Additionally, each world in my system has its own internal hierarchy or rank, creating a more varied and nuanced structure than what this novel presents.
Regarding personally created worlds, on this chapterstates that a specific tool is currently required to create one. In my system, however, only cultivators who have reached at least the Daluo Jinxian stage—which exists in the God Realm or Big World—can create personal worlds. And if I remember correctly, they didn't need any specific tool to do so. Only the potential of the world created by them depend on the creator's power.