Ying Ge didn't stay for long and soon left Immortal Demon World. Clearly, it didn't take much time for Zi Dian to handle his affairs. But she gave Gu Nan a plane's coordinates before she left.
"The largest neutral trading plane of Myriad Heavens Universe? Zi Luo Heaven?" Gu Nan memorized the coordinates, but he was silently pondering the subtleties behind this description.
This was the second time he'd heard of the name Zi Luo Heaven—the first time was from the mouth of the shadow servant Duanmu Yin. After Zi Yi was injured, her true body hid in Zi Luo Heaven.
On the other hand, Ying Ge's unintentional words really did suddenly enlighten Gu Nan somewhat.
He felt that his path was getting narrower and narrower, and he often seemed to have lost his goal. Right now, he relied entirely upon the Myriad Heavens Starry Road as the source of his Evil Value.
Previously, he always believed that it was a problem with the Evil God Temple where it couldn't provide him more help. But now that he thought about it carefully, it seemed that he also had a misconception.
The Evil God Temple was just a system incapable of sentient thought; it couldn't always guide Gu Nan forward.
In fact, from how it gradually reduced the possible sources of Evil Value as Gu Nan's realm increased, it was actually guiding him in an obvious direction.
Everything it did was to tell Gu Nan one thing—after Tier 4, world origin was equal to Evil Value and points.
At this stage, Gu Nan's advancement journey finally seemed to have the same destination as the cultivators in this world. They ultimately pursued the same thing.
This matched Gu Nan's original conjecture. In essence, the game's power system was the same as that of this world, so the resources required by players and cultivators were naturally the same as well.
"It's such a simple idea, yet I only realized it just now? Watson, you found the blind spot…"
Gu Nan muttered a roast of unknown significance, but his thoughts became clearer and clearer.
These years of research gave him a new understanding of the true nature of the world.
The Outer World was the real world. Planes at the Heaven or Realm level only differed in their names. Their essence was still the same—planes whose laws were complete. However, planes at the World level had all kinds of defects.
On the other hand, the Inner World was the hub that controlled all the planes. It contained the most fundamental laws of each plane, and the corresponding plane was constructed by these laws.
Looking back now, he earned Evil Value via the Evil God Temple's "summoning" at Tier 1 but had to reincarnate by himself after Tier 2. And once he reached Tier 4, even reincarnation lost its effectiveness.
Perhaps the real turning point wasn't coming to larger worlds, but his own advancement.
Gu Nan's consciousness once again entered the Evil God Temple. This familiar hall was the same as usual, but it looked somewhat unfamiliar in Gu Nan's eyes.
Perhaps this place shouldn't be called the Evil God Temple, but the Evil God Training Center, with the goal of cultivating a true Evil God.
"Teacher, the first martial arts tournament between the two alliances has ended. This is the ranking."
Yan Xiaoxiao's voice called Gu Nan back to reality as she handed him a list, but Gu Nan wasn't too interested in looking at it.
He was still immersed in his thoughts. It's just that the real observations and impressions of Immortal Demon World made him smile slightly.
It was enough as long as the rules of the game still applied here. He didn't spend so much effort studying this world in order to abandon the rules of the game.
Only by deeply understanding this reality could he better replace it with the game's rules, and then defeat one enemy after another using those familiar rules.
Gu Nan lowered his head to glance at the list, then put it aside.
The Divine Kingdom was still in its foundational stages, and too many things had yet to be perfected. Similarly, his goal wasn't to determine some champion, but rather…
"As I said before, allocate a certain number of opposite gender mates to fighters with excellent rankings, so that their bloodlines and genes can be passed down as much as possible."
Yan Xiaoxiao nodded without much expression. She had gradually adapted to Gu Nan's attitude already.
Selecting the best individuals in a group and then trying to breed them was a solid "pig-raising" technique.
Gu Nan remembered the coordinates Ying Ge gave and said, "I'll leave on a trip soon. Is there anything else?"
"Nothing big… Oh right, Lan Si entered closed-door cultivation to break through to Void Cutter Realm," Yan Xiaoxiao answered after some thought.
Gu Nan nodded without saying anything. Lan Si advancing to Tier 4 soon was good news, and it was also within his expectations. Her talent was very good to begin with. In the past, her growth was just held back by her personality.
With the Godhead's help, it was normal to make a breakthrough after cultivating in Immortal Demon World for ten years.
...
At the other end of the endless void, a black-haired figure in white clothes slowly stepped out of the void and entered a strange world.
There was no outer space here, nor was there any concept of a planet. The entire plane blended together, and the earth seemed to have no end in sight.
This was Zi Luo Heaven, the famous neutral trading plane.
"Welcome to Zi Luo Heaven, Your Excellency," someone immediately greeted Gu Nan from a distance as soon as he arrived. That was a woman in white formal attire. Her expression was respectful.
Gu Nan descended by directly tearing through the void instead of taking a starship, which was enough to show his identity—a Void Cutter existence.
Even in an enormous plane like Zi Luo Heaven, Void Cutters still weren't cabbages that could be commonly found on the side of the road. Instead, they were fighting forces Star Rulers valued and were existences that mortals needed to look up to.
The woman lowered her head slightly while standing in front of Gu Nan, but she felt a little excited.
Although many Void Cutter cultivators visited Zi Luo Heaven, the territory of Zi Luo Heaven was so vast that she didn't manage to meet many at all.
This woman didn't dare to harbor any ill intentions towards Void Cutter figures. She was an idle guide who wandered around the plane's borders, making a living as a guide for powerful figures.
There were too many possible benefits if she could converse with a Void Cutter powerhouse. If there was hope, she didn't even mind selling out her body for cultivation resources.
The more neutral a plane like Zi Luo Heaven was, the more apparent the law of the jungle and the more blatant equivalent exchange was.
"My Lord, do you need—"
"No need," a voice behind Gu Nan directly interrupted the woman's words.
This voice made the woman freeze. When she looked behind Gu Nan, she saw a young girl whose height only reached her waist.
This girl didn't have the aura of a cultivator, but her expression was ice-cold, and the blood-red cloak behind her gave people an inexplicable sense of suppression.
"Yes, sorry to have bothered you…" The woman didn't dare to say more. She quickly retreated with her head lowered.
"Hmph! Vixen!" Ying Ge's loli face snorted coldly in the direction the woman retreated to.
Gu Nan looked back at the Ying Ge behind him and wondered, "How come you also followed over?"
"Someone might have set their sights on us. It's safer to follow you," Ying Ge explained without hiding anything. "You promised to protect me!"
"Haha." Gu Nan responded with a friendly smile.
Players' promises to NPCs were worth absolutely nothing. If necessary, they could go back on their word at any time, so Gu Nan couldn't even be bothered to argue with her about whether he truly did promise that.
By contrast, he was more concerned about another matter. The flames of gossip lit up in his eyes. "Won't Zi Dian be jealous if you run over to my side? You two must've had a lover's quarrel, right?"
"Hey hey hey!" Ying Ge suddenly glared at him. "Just what kind of relationship do you think we have?! I've always regarded that uncle as my father!"
Gu Nan showed an enlightened look and gave a heartfelt sigh. "So he was a stepdad."