Chapter 448: I Want to See the Truth

Zuo Meng looked back at the Ancient City World.

He decided not to maintain the rift any longer. Once his true body left, the rift would slowly close. Though “slowly” meant something different for a Creator-level being – for the world’s inhabitants, this process would take centuries at minimum. This timeframe allowed his avatar sufficient harvest time. Whatever could be reaped would be acceptable; even failure wouldn’t harm his main form.

“Escaping solves nothing. Besides, the source of the sound pulls at me strangely…”

This voice could influence a grand world Creator like himself without detection. Zuo Meng felt deeply uneasy. What if it tried seizing control during his next critical breakthrough?

After leaving the Giant City World, Zuo Meng vanished into chaos again.

The directionless chaos resembled an endless sea.

The Giant City World soon disappeared from view as chaotic energy currents surrounded him. These high-level energy streams could forge worlds in Creator hands, but meant instant death for lesser beings. The Giant City World’s Distortion proved this – mere wisps leaking through the rift had warped reality, spawning ghosts and mutated Awakened Ones everywhere.

Xiao Meng!

Xiao Meng…

Though chaos lacked directions, Zuo Meng followed the sound’s coordinates. Time became meaningless until the chaotic energy suddenly parted. His body lightened, revealing a barren platform.

This platform was a dead world.

Bare ground stretched endlessly – the corpse of expired world consciousness. To ordinary people, worlds seemed eternal. Creators knew better: worlds lived and died like mortals, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death.

“This must be the place.”

When Zuo Meng stepped onto the platform, ripples distorted its surface.

A door materialized at the center, flanked by a familiar silhouette.

“We meet again.”

Giant Snake!!

Zuo Meng stopped. This was the same serpent he’d fought while subduing Dry One, though now vastly stronger. While still below Zuo Meng’s level, it had shed its original Daoist constraints, faintly mimicking Creator essence.

“Playing gatekeeper now?” Zuo Meng muttered a self-amusing joke.

The emotionless Daoist being ignored the remark.

“What’s behind the door?”

Zuo Meng focused on his true purpose – investigating the sound’s origin.

“The Unique,” answered the Giant Snake, its arrival premeditated.

“Unique?”

“The Origin’s spreading point. Before this door opened, chaos was void.”

Realization struck Zuo Meng. All chaotic worlds stemmed from this door’s expelled Origin. The original Origin World shattered through conflicts, fracturing into countless derivative worlds.

“The Primordial Door?”

“Acceptable description,” the Giant Snake shifted slightly.

At that moment, Zuo Meng finally saw countless iron chains coiling around the Giant Snake. One end of these chains bound its body while the other connected to the door. His gaze froze – he hadn’t noticed the runes on the chains earlier.

Like the Origin Rules, these chains existed beyond normal perception.

“Who chained you?”

The Giant Snake’s power approached Zuo Meng’s current level. Even now, defeating it would require significant effort. That such a formidable Daoist being could be restrained… How powerful must its captor be?

“No one.”

Seeing Zuo Meng’s skepticism, the Giant Snake explained:

“To escape my original state, I needed higher-level power. I simply shifted my harmony with the Dao from the world to this door.”

Harmonizing with a door?

This door surpassed the original world, breaking the Giant Snake’s limits as a Daoist being and granting it faint Creator-like qualities. Though merely an approximation, this represented tremendous progress – overcoming innate racial constraints.

“You knew I’d come?”

Remembering their past chess match, Zuo Meng began forming theories.

“I encountered this door long ago.”

The Giant Snake spoke slowly, like someone recalling ancient history. Zuo Meng waited patiently for the full story.

“You carry the door’s essence. That’s how I knew you’d eventually come…” This insight proved the Giant Snake’s wisdom. Those who harmonized with the Dao and entered the chaos were never ordinary.

Shared essence?

Zuo Meng recalled the mysterious voice he’d heard earlier, that unsettling sense of being guided resurfacing.

“I can open the door for you.”

The Giant Snake stared at Zuo Meng. Since the door now formed its harmonized world, opening required its consent. Without cooperation, it could vanish like before Zuo Meng reached the platform.

“What do you want?”

The Giant Snake wouldn’t help open the Primordial Door without reason. In the chaos, everything carried a price. Free gifts and kind strangers existed only for heaven’s chosen.

“Return to free me if you transcend.”

Transcend?

Zuo Meng frowned. Saints transcended within worlds. As a Daoist being, shouldn’t the Giant Snake have transcended already?

“Not worldly transcendence. My previous transcendence before harmonizing was false. I want to see… reality.”

Reality?

Zuo Meng nodded slowly. This request aligned with his own goals. If he succeeded, helping the Giant Snake mattered little. If he failed… Well, failure had its own endings.

“Agreed.”

Zuo Meng accepted the serpent’s terms.