Grow… grow up?
Bai Buwen, along with the many others peering into this world from another, clearly could not comprehend these words.
Their first reaction was— though this was a legendary, formidable being, it seemed that all creatures were equally fragile in their infancy.
Once they lacked a sense of security, they would say such naïve and adorably blunt things.
Everyone’s parental instincts instantly surged to the brim, yet with nowhere to vent, they could only furiously flood the screen with ever more intense bullet comments.
At the same time, as the battle in the sky grew more and more dire, the enemy finally began to reveal its true form—
They were insect-like creatures, each the size of an adult human, with the largest even exceeding three meters.
Among the myriad races, they were known as Jieqiaochong— a particularly troublesome apex predator.
They habitually selected a target, then initiated spatial teleportation to ambush, usually mobilizing the entire swarm.
The attacked would become their food. In truth, they ate anything— just like locusts, they would not stop until every morsel was devoured.
“mad, the Tianjing Clan is really down on their luck, getting tangled up with monsters like these!”
“There are just too many! There’s no way to kill them all!”
“Rear guard, hold the line! Keep the battle in the sky! Prioritize protecting those with healing skills! Don’t stop the ranged attacks! Bows, light cannons— bring them all out, what are you waiting for!!”
“Though, but… I really feel like this scene is familiar, like I’ve seen it before??”
The players cursed and charged forward, wave after wave.
The pain sense for the myriad races could be adjusted between 40% to 100%, but even at the lowest, it was still 40%— meaning injuries and death hurt— a lot.
Those with low pain tolerance might even cry on the spot, heart-wrenchingly so.
Under the anxious and confused stares of Bai Buwen and Tingfeng, Beiyuan had already finished eating the last piece of Crystal Stone.
Just as the two thought they could finally continue their escape, he pulled out a new Crystal Stone.
The two: “……” No, seriously, now is really not the time to eat rocks! We’re about to die!
Beiyuan regretfully looked at the last remaining fragment of Tianwai Yunxing Suipian, a gift from the Greattail Catfish King.
This fragment had already been bitten once before, but to accumulate power, he had no choice but to take another bite.
It must be said, materials capable of forging peerless divine weapons were indeed superior to ordinary rare ores.
With one bite, he filled the final bit of his need, pushing the energy buildup bar that had stalled at 99% straight to 100%.
—Finally.
Beiyuan let out a satisfied breath and opened his eyes.
A qualitative change had begun.
The first sensation was heat. The blood surging through his limbs suddenly boiled, roaring with a tumultuous sound.
Beiyuan realized that his previous speculation was correct: when the power within his body reached a certain threshold, he could temporarily break through the limits of his juvenile form and briefly transform into another state.
The legendary, ideal form.
Bai Buwen and Tingfeng, who had been anxiously watching him, immediately sensed something change.
Especially Bai Buwen— his heart pounded in resonance, as if it would burst out of his uncontrollable body.
He clutched at his chest, retching with no concern for his image.
Before Tingfeng could ask what was wrong, he was shocked to see the boy before him suddenly enveloped in a faint glow.
Within that radiance, the figure became dreamlike and blurred, stretching and growing to an adult’s height— long arms, strong fingers, slender legs, defined muscles.
From the bones outward, down to each fine feathered lash, it was as if he was being reborn.
High above, the Jieqiaochong formation suddenly fell into chaos, sensing an unknown, immense threat.
A scent carried by the wind reached their nostrils.
Like a spark falling into a pot of boiling oil, the Jieqiaochong thrashed their blade-like limbs in agitation, shrieking hoarsely.
With every bristling hair, they began to search for the source of this threat, like madmen.
Every player charging forward at that moment was swept aside in a single motion.
“Why did they suddenly go berserk? Did they eat firecrackers?!” The players, still unaware of what was happening, shouted in dismay.
In truth, it was pure survival instinct driving the Jieqiaochong— they had to find the source of this inexplicable aura before it reached its peak! Stop him! Eliminate him!
Yes, stop him —quickly!
“Wh-what’s happening?” Tingfeng couldn’t help but back away two steps from the glowing Beiyuan, feeling as if the whole world had suddenly gone awry.
Suddenly, the light around Beiyuan shifted, growing brighter for a moment, then slowly receded until it was completely absorbed into his body.
When the last trace of light vanished and the air began to move again, it was as if nothing had happened… No, that wasn’t right— of course something had happened—
Tingfeng, trembling, raised a finger and pointed shakily at the tall, slender figure before him.
Backlit, he couldn’t make out the face, but could only shout in disbelief, “You, you’re that little boy from before??!”
Following Tingfeng’s gaze, they saw, standing before him, a young man both utterly unfamiliar and strangely familiar.
The plain white robe was gone, replaced by a magnificent black garment with golden patterns— mysterious and elegant, wings unfurling as if ready to soar.
His arms and legs were clad in golden armor, golden ornaments adorned his wrists, throat, and brow.
On closer inspection, nothing was mere decoration; every piece served to protect or assist in battle.
When the wind lifted his robe, there was a sharp, dashing aura, as if in the next second, he would flick his sleeve, push off with his feet, and ride the wind away.
And when Tingfeng finally saw his face, he stopped breathing altogether.
—Golden hair shone like sunlight, eyes glittered with the brilliance of stars.
He lifted his feathered lashes slightly, as if smiling. The light in his eyes instantly condensed into the sun’s radiance—impossible to look at, seizing the soul.
Not to mention that face, beautiful beyond reality— this was the honest truth. Only in a virtual world where dreams could come true could such a being exist.
Radiant, dazzling— so much so that even this dark, disaster-ridden world was transformed by his presence into a resplendent Divine Sanctuary.
People came here, naturally, to pay homage to a god.
Bai Buwen had, at some point, collapsed weakly to one knee. When he looked up and saw what was before him, he was just as stunned as Tingfeng.
As for those in the outside world who witnessed this scene, their reactions could be guessed from the nearly paralyzed bullet comment machines— they had gone mad.
Beiyuan flexed his long, powerful fingers, adjusting to the power surging through every vein, and took a slow, deep breath.
“…I really am better suited to this body.” He murmured in a voice only he could hear, feeling better than he ever had before.
Naturally, a child’s body would always be lacking compared to an adult’s— everything felt like he was just acting cute.
Even his thoughts seemed forcedly mature, and his emotions, when roused, lacked any true presence.
Beiyuan had always been confined to a child’s form, only barely growing used to it. Now, suddenly grown up, he felt like a fish returning to the sea, a bird freed from its cage— his true nature fully restored.
“Were you looking for me?” He smirked and casually kicked a pebble, hitting a Jieqiaochong in the air dead-on.
The pebble, light as it was, did little harm but was a grave insult. For Beiyuan, this wasn’t easy— after all, even as a juvenile, he could blast a lake with a single stone like a nuke.
He had to be extremely careful to control his strength.
The Jieqiaochong, having lost track of Beiyuan’s aura after he concealed his glow, now instantly locked onto his presence with this move, casting out their spiritual senses toward him.
If before, the aura they sensed was a burning star, now it was a bottomless box. No matter how hard they tried, their spiritual feelers could not pierce its shell, only circle the perimeter in frustration.
“Why are these monsters suddenly retreating?”
“Don’t let your guard down. Something’s off—I have a bad feeling!”
In the midst of their fierce struggle, the players suddenly noticed that, apart from a few isolated Jieqiaochong being surrounded, the entire swarm had abruptly changed direction, abandoning their original breach to gather on the other side of the land.
These cunning insects knew well that a “rescue the grandpa” scenario would only get them picked off one by one.
So, at the first sign of change, they prioritized dealing with the variable, committing the whole swarm to ensure nothing went wrong. In any other story, these would be rare, intelligent, and cautious villains.
—As long as they weren’t facing Beiyuan.
Beiyuan picked up another pebble. At this moment, he realized how inconvenient it was to be unarmed, so he silently bumped his plan to ask the Tianjing Clan for weapons up to top priority.
Luckily, no one knew what he was thinking, or they’d think it was disrespectful to space out with such a formidable enemy before him.
No, perhaps these weren’t even worthy of being called his enemies.
Thanks to that earlier move, the Jieqiaochong didn’t realize what would happen this time, only feeling infuriated by the provocation and contempt.
All the players flying above saw the small figure surrounded by the swarm of bugs.
They dared not get too close, so they couldn’t see Beiyuan clearly— only sense the crushing pressure in the sky, as if it were about to collapse.
A few brave souls, determined to save him, charged forward, risking death. Everyone speculated about Beiyuan’s identity, but no one doubted he was doomed.
—Until Beiyuan threw that pebble.
First, there was silence. It was as if the world stopped— no wind, the charging players frozen in midair, only the tiny stone flying against the current.
In that infinitely slow instant, someone saw the pebble shatter in midair, turning into countless stardust-like particles, drifting in all directions.
Then they realized, belatedly, that it wasn’t the world slowing down— it was that the strike was too fast.
Next came the light.
In the very next second, blinding radiance filled the world. All they could see was a blankness so bright it was another kind of “blindness.”
The magnificent light made them feel as if they’d entered the legendary Shuijing Tian— the heaven where gods reside. It was empty, yet contained everything.
Every pore was steeped in this power— warm and piercing—until someone finally found their voice—
“I remember now…” Perhaps it was one person’s voice, or perhaps the voice of all who knew the truth. Slowly, as they waited for the light to fade, they forced out the words, piecing together everything behind it.
—The Tianjing Clan, this race wasn’t created from nothing, but modeled after the Six-Winged Clan in the real world.
From the race’s abilities, key figures, to historical events in the game, everything had roots in reality.
It had to be mentioned: in Star Era 2208, the Six-Winged Clan’s Shengcheng suddenly suffered a wormhole breach, unleashing a swarm of insectoids. After a day and a night, Shengcheng fell.
That magnificent, ancient city— priceless in research and meaning— fell from the sky that night, disappearing forever into the river of history, becoming the Second Regret of the Universe.
Not until the next day did the neighboring Saen Clan come to their aid.
“…What weapon did they use back then?” someone whispered, barely breathing.
“It was the Saen Clan’s most precious Crystal Stone, said to be passed down from ancient times, containing the Mythic Dragon’s Breath. Sadly, it could only be used once— after driving out the insect swarm, it became an ordinary stone. That was the Second Regret of the Universe.”
After these words, the world fell silent. A second later, someone murmured as if in a dream, “So what we’re experiencing now is…?”
[When I was about to despair, I suddenly saw light bloom from the darkness.] This was a passage left by a Survivor’s Chronicle— someone who had lived through that nightmare in Six-Winged Clan history. [It stretched infinitely, as if I glimpsed the kingdom of God. In my daze, I heard a gentle humming, as peaceful as returning to my mother’s embrace.]
In the middle was a description of the survivor’s mental state upon rescue. All who are redeemed from despair feel much the same. But at the end— […Finally, as the light faded,]
[I saw a majestic silhouette— that being was so beautiful, holy, and powerful, as if gathering all strength and grace in the world.
I was unwilling to admit it was, like me, God’s Creation— in that moment, I believed with all my heart that no one could create it, not even God.]
[Alas, that fleeting vision was but a phantom preserved for a thousand years or more. When the Crystal Stone’s power faded, it was gone.]
[I realized I would never see it again in this life.]
[I couldn’t help myself— I wept.]
That was the mirage the Survivor’s Chronicle would never see again.
But today, at this moment, as the light faded before everyone’s eyes, there was not a single insect to be seen.
The disaster, just as in the records of that night, had dissolved into the all-encompassing light.
In its place, beneath the slowly descending, colossal city, they saw a being not bound by God’s Creation, awakening before their eyes—
The golden creature spread its enormous wings and raised its head.
It became the only source of light in this dark universe, standing majestically between heaven and earth, unleashing its first roar to the world.
As if, from him onward, myth began, and the world was born anew.