As the light dissipated, Ye Bai withdrew the hovering sword.
At the same time, the power of the Light Law that had dominated this corridor of history also vanished.
However, there was no longer any need to repair the now-obsolete corridor of history. As the power of the Light Law was reclaimed, the once 'pure white' regions began revealing the scenery of the real divine realm—the very 'Lost Royal City' Ye Bai had entered earlier.
The corridor of history started to fade away, while the only structure not belonging to it, the treasure vault, slowly descended into the real divine realm.
[You have discovered the 'Eternal City.']
The system prompt echoed in Ye Bai's consciousness. As the treasure vault, which held the most critical information, returned to the 'Lost Royal City,' the labyrinth of knowledge shrouding it dispersed, revealing the city's true name from the past.
Her gaze swept over the city, weathered by time, and a hint of nostalgia flickered in Ye Bai's eyes. Previously, the labyrinth of knowledge had obscured the city's true appearance, but now, through the ruins, she could clearly discern its structure—perfectly aligned with her tastes and style, even bearing striking resemblances to the White Night City in many aspects.
The reason it was called the 'Eternal City' instead of another 'White Night City' was simply because, when naming it, Ye Bai had been accompanied by Na'ao. Otherwise, there might very well have been two White Night Cities now.
Noticing her expression, Na'ao beside her subtly shifted his demeanor before lowering his voice to ask, "My Lord, shall we rebuild the Eternal City?"
Ye Bai shook her head. "There's no rush for that now. More pressing matters demand our attention."
The 'Great Annihilation'—or the [Automatic Data Cleanup Program]—still operated within the divine realm. Despite Na'ao's efforts during the era of sealing, as long as the divine realm continued to develop, even if only in decline, the accumulation of data would persist over time.
Delaying it for ten thousand years was already an extraordinary feat. However, with the revival of the Infernal Core, this measure had nearly reached its limit.
Reducing memory usage was only a temporary solution. To truly resolve this issue, an 'expansion' of memory was necessary.
And now, Ye Bai had a solution in mind.
But then she paused. Before addressing this matter, another thought crossed her mind. Curious, she turned to the massive Autofis beneath her and asked,
"By the way, when we first met, did you already remember who I was?"
Ye Bai wasn't surprised that Na'ao had found her the moment she arrived in the divine realm. Earlier, while gaining control panel access, she had reviewed the 'background logs' and seen what Na'ao—who once held the Divine King's authority—had done.
Before deleting her character, Ye Bai had prepared contingencies for herself.
Beyond embedding the hidden profession questline into her account as the sole trigger, she had even accounted for the possibility of her new character spawning not in the divine realm but in the Myriad Worlds. To counter this, she had bound the blueprint of the Origin Well—which shouldn't have existed—to herself.
If Ye Bai obtained a golden blueprint, it would automatically be replaced with the Origin Well blueprint, allowing her to swiftly reach the divine realm without grinding levels.
It was cheating, but anyone in her position would have done the same.
Apart from the Divine King's authority, Na'ao was also the first intelligent NPC, possessing the unique traits of a Void Spirit. He could sense traces of the data source, though not as intuitively as Ye Bai.
Back then, Ye Bai had deleted her character data, not her account data, and had bound multiple pieces of information to herself. Following this thread, the moment she appeared in the divine realm, Na'ao could locate and confirm her identity.
Later, after initiating the 'Sealing Era' in the divine realm, Na'ao cursed himself, erasing all memories and 'compressing' himself into a 'two-dimensional' existence that even forgot his own name.
At that point, he no longer remembered Ye Bai. The only information he retained was the true name of Autofis—a contingency for combat—and the imperative to ensure that she, the 'Chosen One,' reached the Divine King's treasure vault, no matter the cost.
This was why the main quest to reach the Divine King's treasure vault was so vaguely described, unlike other game quests with detailed instructions.
During Ye Bai's first arrival in the divine realm, the pair of eyes she vaguely sensed watching her hadn't belonged to Autofis—it was Na'ao.
At the time, Na'ao didn't remember who Ye Bai was. Knowing his personality, Ye Bai was certain he had been assessing and strategizing how to guide her to the treasure vault.
Autofis, on the other hand, had arrived beside the 'new character' Ye Bai shortly after Na'ao.
Recalling how skillfully Autofis had pilfered food from her backpack back then, Ye Bai strongly suspected it had recognized her.
"Roar..."
Hearing her question, Autofis rumbled deep in its throat, barely moving its head but lifting its large golden eyes to gaze at her innocently.
Na'ao coughed lightly and explained, "The curse on Autofis not only transformed it into a donkey but also sealed its draconic speech."
Ye Bai froze, then couldn't help but facepalm.
Only now did she realize that even in its restored form as a Spatial Dragon, Autofis still hadn't uttered a single word in draconic. Had it spoken, her [Draconic Linguist] skill would have translated its words into comprehensible language.
So, back then, Na'ao—the mastermind behind everything—had forgotten the past, knowing only the goal that had to be achieved. Meanwhile, Autofis—the sole keeper of the truth—couldn't speak...
Looking back, Ye Bai mused that if, upon arriving in the divine realm with no memories, an NPC had told her she was the Divine King and that reclaiming the treasure vault would restore her to the throne, her first reaction would likely have been:
"Since when did divine realm NPCs learn the 'I'm Emperor Qin, send money' scam?!"
"But shouldn't Autofis's curse be lifted now?" Ye Bai then turned to Autofis in confusion. With the curse broken, its draconic speech should have returned.
"Roar..." Autofis rumbled again, as if answering her.
But its face was now too large for Ye Bai to read its expressions as she once could.
Na'ao answered for Autofis, "That should have been the case, but it seems to have used that power to preserve its draconic soul instead."
"So that's how it is..." Upon hearing this, Ye Bai suddenly recalled the moment in the Dragonborn Dungeon when Autofis had "bitten" off a piece of the soul flame during the Dragonborn Lich's transformation ritual.
At first glance, it seemed as though the dragon's soul had been devoured by Autofis, but in reality, for a Spatial Dragon, it was more likely preserved using spatial power.
Thinking of this, Ye Bai couldn't help but praise, "You two have such great chemistry!"
Ye Bai still needed certain conditions to fully grasp Autofis's intentions, but Naoh and the dragon communicated seamlessly—a testament to their years of companionship.
Autofis: "Roar!"
Naoh: "No."
The two voices sounded simultaneously, followed by a brief pause as Naoh and Autofis exchanged glances before turning away, thoroughly expressing their mutual disdain.
What a familiar scene... Watching this, Ye Bai couldn't help but smile, the complicated emotions of their long separation gradually fading.
Then, Ye Bai refocused and checked her personal panel. After slaying the divine-tier Lich King Rory, her experience pool had naturally received another massive boost.
Moreover, with the return of her [God King] identity, even more experience than what [Kraken Keeper] provided began flooding into her pool, as if some force was "empowering" her directly. The level cap she had once worried about for her third-tier profession was now lifted.
Judging by the momentum, this "power restoration" would continue until her current character reached the level cap of 150.
More memories about the applications of temporal power also resurfaced, automatically mastered as her level increased.
"I'll be gone for a bit, but I'll return soon." Curious about the changes in reality, Ye Bai bid Naoh and Autofis farewell before her figure faded from the divine realm, returning to the real world.
The moment she logged off, Ye Bai's spiritual body sensed something unusual—a feeling she had never experienced before.
It was a stifling sensation, as if trapped in a cramped room, on the verge of touching the ceiling.
This brought to mind the information revealed by Archbishop Lelun of the Starfaith—the "Lord" had imposed limits on all intelligent life: a mental strength cap at A-rank, a soul lifespan of ten thousand years. Like natural laws, these were part of the universe's fundamental rules.
From Ye Bai's past journey of using Infinite Worlds to enhance her mental strength, the game's levels corresponded to real-world mental tiers: levels 0 to 20 (pre-class change) matched F-rank, 20 to 40 (first-tier) matched D-rank, 40 to 60 matched C-rank, 60 to 80 matched B-rank... and 80 to 100 (demi-god) matched A-rank.
Upon reaching the divine tier beyond level 100, it was highly likely she would surpass the "mental strength cap" Lelun had mentioned.
Now, with her God King identity restored, her level cap removed, and her power continuously growing, Ye Bai had already surpassed level 81, with her game level still rising automatically. Thus, she was beginning to faintly perceive the existence of this "cap."
It also dawned on her why her spiritual body was so distinct from others, attracting the attention of black holes—it must be tied to her past level in the divine realm.
Perhaps deleting her character data from the divine realm had been akin to "dispersing her cultivation to start anew." Yet, having once reached the pinnacle, even weakened to F-rank, her mental strength differed from those who had progressed normally.
But delving deeper into this question circled back to the root mystery: Why did Infinite Worlds, supposedly just a game, manifest in the Starnet, capable of enhancing players' mental strength in reality?
Other games on the Starnet were proven to be second worlds formed from the collective consciousness of civilizations in the universe. Only Infinite Worlds was entirely "artificial." Even if Ye Bai assumed her memories as its creator were fabricated, it still didn't add up—the game's rules defied natural development, brimming with deliberate, "constructed" designs.
Beyond this, another unsolved riddle remained: the origin of the information flood.
"Don't be discovered" and "beware the Starfaith" were warnings tied to reality, while the familiar flash was a key item in the game storing her past memories.
Additionally, there was the contradiction in her verified soul activity span of 11,442 years. She could now confirm that 1,442 years corresponded to her time in the divine realm, but the remaining 10,000 years should have been a dormant period without consciousness—so why were they counted?
After a moment, Ye Bai snapped out of her thoughts.
No matter what, uncovering the secrets behind all this required sufficient strength. For now, resolving the divine realm's crisis was the priority—simultaneously, it was a means to empower herself.
If her strength surpassed the so-called "universal cap," perhaps she could finally unveil the truth.
Steeling herself, Ye Bai prepared to return to the Starnet.
With that thought, she suddenly realized something—she no longer needed the Star Alliance's personal terminal to connect to the Starnet with her mental strength alone.
Given the Starnet's nature, it had always been there, but it seemed only upon reaching A-rank could one access it without a medium.
Was this something only A-rank mental strength users could do?
Ye Bai slowly closed her eyes, her mind involuntarily flashing through thoughts of the Starnet, the Voidborn, the Starfaith... When she opened them again, she was back in the game.
...
Autofis and Naoh remained as ever, silently guarding the spot where Ye Bai had logged off.
After exchanging a few words with them, Ye Bai vanished once more, reappearing inside the treasure vault ahead and taking her seat upon the God King's throne.
Ye Bai's memories of the divine realm were stored on her player insignia, which would never be automatically purged by the system, while her administrator privileges—the [Console Authority] that influenced this world—resided within the throne.
"Alright, time to get to work."
In the next moment, torrents of data containing vast information surged over Ye Bai on the throne.
The slowly crumbling corridors of history began vanishing at a rapid pace. The treasure vault fully merged with the Eternal City in reality, and a light carrying the essence of rebirth radiated from the throne, shining like the sun and illuminating the perpetually gloomy, ash-gray divine realm.
The entire continent trembled—subtly, yet at an unfathomably deep level...
In the ninth layer of the Purgatory Space, the giant red octopus suddenly waved its tentacles in jubilation: "It's the master! The master has returned!"
Opposite Kraken, Walsh, the Purgatory Demon God serving as a "battery" in his punishment, abruptly raised his head. His arrogant, sinister face twisted into an expression of terror.
The radiance spreading from the divine throne across the entire continent of the Godrealm extended to a hidden realm beyond mortal reach, illuminating the Tree of Life.
"My King…" murmured the Elven Queen, awakening from her long slumber beneath the Tree of Life as her emerald-green dreams faded.
Beyond this, all beings in the Godrealm seemed to sense something in unison, their gazes irresistibly drawn toward the source of the light—the direction of the Eternal City.
Upon the divine throne, sensing the successful connection between the Godrealm and the Myriad Realms, Ye Bai smiled.
Due to its original design, the Godrealm had limited capacity, unlike the Myriad Realms, which utilized the entire universe as its server on the Star Network. By linking the Godrealm’s data flow to the Myriad Realms, its memory could now be "expanded."
The long-delayed Shattered Pantheon expansion was finally ready to launch across the Myriad Realms.
