Chapter 81
That was nature... Ye Bai not only understood the deities but also the five other races capable of producing god-level beings in the divine realm, aside from the ancient dragons: the kingdom forces representing order and light, the infernal creatures embodying chaos and magma, the ethereal beings symbolizing secrecy and intellect, the high elves representing nature and balance, and the deep-sea tribe representing all aquatic life.
In addition to these powerful races that naturally pursued supremacy, there were other diverse groups in the myriad realms. For instance, the Luo Zhi tribe that Ye Bai was searching for and the dragonborn just mentioned—either derivatives of these races or their vassals.
The six major powers had some that were naturally allied, some that were inherently hostile, and others that remained neutral. They were stronger than the players and closer to the 'primordial power' of the blood of the gods. Together with the other myriad tribes, they formed the grand tapestry of life in the divine realm.
According to the original design, players who reached the third transition could choose to join these factions upon entering the divine realm, transforming into a certain race and participating in the struggle for supremacy. There was no fixed script; players' actions would influence the entire world's trajectory. This was the essence of the open-world game that Ye Bai ultimately wanted to achieve.
The overall style of territory construction in the myriad realms leaned towards strategic management, while "Shattered Divine Court" was more of an immersive adventure in a traditional RPG setting.
However, knowing was one thing, and saying it out loud to the strange humanoid was another. So, she resorted to a dismissive tactic and replied, "I only have a basic understanding, just a little."
"Oh..." The strange humanoid seemed unsure if it had caught on to Ye Bai's evasiveness. It responded with a nod and continued, "Actually, it’s not just the ancient dragons that were destroyed... Would you like to know more? If so, it would require..."
"Wait, I’m not interested in knowing more."
The familiar tone of task issuance made Ye Bai immediately interrupt.
The strange humanoid, who was about to continue, paused, "…Huh?"
"Here’s the thing," Ye Bai said with a serious expression.
Although she wanted to learn about the divine realm, the direction the strange humanoid was taking with its next words was already leading towards the reasons for the destruction. This had the air of a major quest, a sense of a grand main storyline that was unmistakable.
Ye Bai didn’t want to take on such a task at just over level 20, especially since she had gleaned a piece of information from the other party—"not just the ancient dragons were destroyed."
This implied that there had been significant upheaval among the other five races, and in the worst-case scenario, the other five races might have been wiped out as well...
With the ancient dragons having set the precedent, Ye Bai could accept a few more races meeting the same fate.
From her previous inquiries about the dragon race, it was clear that the strange humanoid didn’t know the details, or rather, it wouldn’t provide more precise information until she completed its task. Since that was the case, it was merely leading Ye Bai to speculate among a few possibilities. Why trigger an unknown quest?
Ye Bai still hadn’t figured out the origins of this strange humanoid. It might not be a benevolent character; cursed to the point of its own disappearance, it could only exist as a 'two-dimensional' entity, with unknown pitfalls lurking behind it.
The divine realm was unlike other myriad realms; there were no fixed storylines or functional NPCs, only different factions. Thus, in task selection, there could easily be opposing dual quests, requiring players to make choices. If one started on the wrong side and messed up a prerequisite task, it would be very difficult to switch allegiances later, leaving only one path to follow.
For example, in two opposing quest lines, without knowing the subsequent developments, if an NPC tasked the player with killing someone, the player might eagerly comply, only to later discover that the opposing quest was to protect that very person.
In such a case, even if the player immediately backtracked and expressed a desire to switch sides, would the NPC still cooperate? Of course not; they would simply reveal their health bar and attack.
The strange humanoid seemed taken aback by Ye Bai's decisive refusal; it wasn’t just a rejection—it was a direct interruption.
After a long silence, the strange humanoid finally spoke again, returning to its previous lighthearted tone: "I understand. In that case, about the dragon race's treasure vault we mentioned earlier..."
Ye Bai cut in, "I’m not interested in that either."
The strange humanoid stammered, "Uh..."
The atmosphere fell into silence. Ye Bai sat quietly, while the strange humanoid remained motionless on the white stone, the only sounds being the crackling of the campfire and the rhythmic swishing of a donkey's tail.
After a while, perhaps sensing the awkwardness, Ye Bai looked up at the strange humanoid, as if struck by a thought, and suddenly asked, "By the way, since you don’t even remember your own name, how do you know all this?"
The strange humanoid took a moment before answering, "The curse binds me to exist within words. Inside and outside of the text, I exist as an observer, witnessing many events unfold."
Ye Bai pressed on, "Have you ever communicated with the ancient dragons?"
"No." The strange humanoid's head, marked with abstract carvings, seemed to shake slightly, but due to the abstract style of the stone carvings, it was hard to tell. It only indicated a part that represented the head.
"So, I don’t know why the dragon race was specifically destroyed," it explained.
Ye Bai's brow furrowed. If viewed from this angle, the strange humanoid's presence in the dragon tomb ruins must have occurred after the ancient dragon race's demise.
"I see... So you must have been around here for quite a while, no wonder you’re so familiar with it."
"Exactly," the strange humanoid replied.
Ye Bai then casually continued, "You mentioned there are dragonborn spirits to the south. What kind of dragonborn are they?"
"There are the Dragon Scale Tribe, the Half-Dragons..." The strange humanoid named a couple before suddenly pausing. "If you’re interested, we could talk about the dragon race's treasure vault?"
"Forget it." Ye Bai hesitated, shifting the topic. "Let’s talk about something else."
"Oh, of course, no problem." The strange humanoid responded cheerfully.
What followed was a tug-of-war between two masters of empty promises.
Ye Bai sought to extract information, while the strange humanoid aimed to issue tasks, neither getting what they wanted.
Perhaps because Ye Bai was the only creature nearby capable of communication, the strange humanoid answered her questions, but it had learned to change the subject. Every time the conversation approached something juicy, it would mention a task to silence Ye Bai.
In the end, they chatted back and forth until dawn, as if they had exchanged a lot, but upon closer examination, it turned out to be mostly meaningless chatter, revealing nothing of substance.
As dawn broke, Ye Bai stood up from beside the fire—it was time to head south to gather some Luo Zhi tribe fabric from the dragonborn.
She turned her gaze to the donkey, which also seemed well-rested, and fed it a piece of bread. As it munched happily, she gave it a knowing look:
What do you say? Shall I ride you?
"Ah-uh!"
The donkey clearly understood, quickly gulping down the bread and bolting away.
Ye Bai's eyes narrowed, and she immediately took off after it, tossing a parting remark to the strange humanoid with whom she had spent the night:
"It was 'pleasant' chatting with you. Until we meet again!"
In a holographic game where one shouldn’t feel fatigue, this night had left Ye Bai with a sense of mental exhaustion. The strange humanoid must have been a tough nut to crack before it was cursed!
"Wow, it’s already dawn. Time flies. As you said, I look forward to our next..."
The strange humanoid hadn’t finished its sentence when Ye Bai had already chased after the donkey, disappearing from sight.
"See you—"
The strange humanoid slowly completed its last two words, its figure fading from the white stone, where the dragon language text returned to normal.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Bai chased the donkey through the dragon tomb ruins, arriving at a long slope leading downward.
Before her lay a dark, ominous fog, and the donkey, which had been running, came to a halt here.
Catching up, Ye Bai walked up beside it. "What’s going on?"
The donkey merely glanced at her, remaining silent.
Ye Bai studied it, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. She had only intended to try riding the donkey, but it had run away again, and the direction it fled was precisely where she had planned to go—the south.
If that was just a coincidence, it was a bit too coincidental.
Seeing this, Ye Bai pulled out another piece of bread.
The donkey, without a moment's hesitation, eagerly stretched its head forward, ready to eat the bread from her hand.
Leaning closer to the donkey's ear, Ye Bai suddenly said, "You can understand us, right? Otherwise, how would you know to come south?"
Table of Contents
