Chapter 914: The Third Fruit

In the imagery, human cities rose from the ground, and internal strife followed closely behind.

"Although these humans have gained wisdom, they have also begun to expose their greedy, bloody, and selfish sides. They slaughter each other for resources, becoming even more cruel than mutated beasts."

"At that time, as the god who created this world, I gradually began to detest the lifeform known as humans."

"I felt they were the tumor of this world and wanted to completely erase them from the world."

"But Duan did not agree."

Chun sighed softly.

"It was also at that time that the conflicts between Duan and me gradually surfaced."

"He believed that human flaws were a necessary path of evolution, while I believed they were unworthy of living in this world."

"Duan was still very weak back then; he used too much of the Origin power to create attributes and classes, making him no match for me at all."

"However, I didn't kill him either; after all, he was my only companion. I simply suppressed him beneath the origin sacred tree."

"Then…"

In the imagery, thunder descended upon the First World.

"After I eradicated the humans across the entire world and completely destroyed the First World."

"I utilized the Origin once again to create the Second World."

A hint of puzzlement appeared in Chun's voice.

"As a result, I was astonished to discover back then that although I clearly hadn't created the human species, it somehow miraculously gave birth to them anyway. Furthermore, their development trend was extremely rapid, and they even spawned their own civilization."

"I knew that Duan must have meddled."

"Even though he was suppressed by me beneath the origin sacred tree, he was, after all, the second fruit nurtured by the sacred tree. He used the roots of the sacred tree to infiltrate the underlying logic of the Second World, silently re-sowing the fire of humanity."

"Ever since that time…"

Chun paused for a moment.

"I gave birth to the thought of getting rid of Duan."

"And Duan also harbored the intention of completely replacing me."

Zhou Huai stopped tapping the armrest.

"Two tigers cannot share a mountain," Zhou Huai evaluated in his mind, "not to mention that the two of you fundamentally couldn't see eye to eye at all."

Chun did not refute: "That's right, because by that time, we both had realized."

"The two sides of us are two absolute extremes."

"I wanted to create a world without humans, consisting only of pure nature and mutated beasts. In my world, all living things follow instinct, without greed, without endless exploitation and destruction."

"Yet he only wanted to create a world populated solely by humans. He believed that human wisdom and evolution were the ultimate answer of the Universe, even if this evolution was accompanied by destruction and mutual slaughter."

"It was fundamentally irreconcilable."

The imagery shifted.

The Second World, the Third World, the Fourth World… the birth and destruction of epochs flashed before Zhou Huai's eyes.

"Thus, Duan and I began a covert and overt struggle lasting across several worlds."

"Every time I launched a Heavenly Dao purge, attempting to completely eradicate humans, he would make a move in secret to preserve the spark of humanity, and even continuously improve his so-called 'attribute' and 'class' systems."

Zhou Huai raised a question:

"As the first fruit, and also the Incarnation of the Heavenly Dao System, logically your power should completely crush him. Why couldn't you kill him?"

The imagery froze on the phantom projection of the origin sacred tree.

"My strength is indeed far superior to Duan's."

"However, do not forget that we were likewise born from the origin sacred tree."

"I am the first fruit, and he is the second fruit. This means he can likewise command the power of the origin sacred tree."

"Every time I drove him into a desperate situation, he would utilize the Origin Laws of the sacred tree to forcefully tear apart space or alter dimensional coordinates."

"Therefore, he was able to escape from my hands time and time again."

Zhou Huai suddenly understood.

No wonder Mr. Duan could master so many mutually exclusive High-Dimensional Laws and survive countless epochs under the very eyes of the Heavenly Dao System.

He himself was an existence of the same Origin as the Heavenly Dao.

The two of them were like administrators holding the highest privileges of the same computer, neither of whom could completely delete the other.

"This stalemate lasted for a very long time."

"Until the beginning of the Fifth World, when the situation reversed."

"Over the long years, Duan's understanding of the origin sacred tree deepened. He mastered more and more of the sacred tree's power."

"What is even more terrifying is that he perfected the final closed-loop of the class system."

"He could even inversely transform those created Professionals into a part of his own power!"

A massive wave surged in Zhou Huai's mind.

Inverse transformation!

He finally understood.

The Professionals in the present world leveling up by slaying monsters, gaining experience values, skills, and equipment were not bestowed by the Heavenly Dao at all, but rather a grand layout spanning across epochs laid out by Mr. Duan.

He treated all of humanity as a battery.

Humans desperately leveling up and making Breakthroughs were actually helping Mr. Duan refine the Origin of the Laws.

Once humans reached max level, or were targeted, they would be devoured and become nourishment for him to complete his divine persona.

Every expert of the old world was like this.

Chun continued speaking bitterly.

"Conversely, my power began to gradually weaken due to the repeated Heavenly Dao purges and reboots."

"At that time, I realized that if I didn't resolve Duan soon."

"One day in the future, I would very likely be completely replaced by Duan."

"Once he absorbed enough of the Professionals' Origin, his authority would exceed mine, and by then, I would be completely erased from this Universe by him."

The imagery shifted. Amidst the vast ocean, sea beasts roared. This was The Seventh World.

"Therefore, in The Seventh World, I launched a fierce sweep at all costs."

"I even went so far as to shake the Foundation of the entire Universe, descending the world-destroying Heavenly Tribulation, vowing to completely destroy him along with the humans of that world."

"That time, Duan almost died by my hands."

Chun carried lingering resentment.

"Unfortunately, it was still a move short in the end. He escaped."

"Not only that…"

"At the end of The Seventh World, because I excessively overdrew the Origin, I completely lost control over the origin sacred tree."

"The sacred tree was controlled by Duan."

Zhou Huai was secretly shocked. An administrator who lost control of the server—how could this still be played?

Starting from The Seventh World, ownership of this tree had changed hands.

"By the time The Eighth World arrived, the situation was completely out of control."

Chun continued to narrate.

"With the help of the origin sacred tree's power, Mr. Duan caused the Human Race to become unprecedentedly powerful. In that era, SSS-Rank Experts emerged in endless streams, and they swept away all mutated beasts."

"If internal strife hadn't broken out within the Human Race, Mr. Duan probably would have completely replaced me back in The Eighth World."

"And now, in the Ninth World."

"I have completely lost the ability to eradicate Mr. Duan."

"Duan—once he finishes absorbing the power of the human experts across generations."

"Replacing me will merely be a matter of time."

Zhou Huai asked unhurriedly: "So you came looking for me at this time?"

"That's right, because it is precisely at this moment."

"The origin sacred tree has given birth to the third fruit."

Zhou Huai had already anticipated this in his heart.

"So I am the third fruit?"