180: Section 180

"Die!"

Jing Yuan didn't waste any more words, flipping over and slashing his blade toward Charles's head.

But the moment the war blade neared Charles's forehead, a sharp light erupted from his eyes.

A powerful brilliance burst from Charles's eyes, instantly engulfing Jing Yuan's entire body.

Jing Yuan had no time to retreat and was completely unable to withstand it!

Blinded by the intense light, Jing Yuan closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in a white space, with a humanoid creature floating before him.

Though it had a human shape, its proportions were vastly different from a human's.

"Who are you?" Jing Yuan spoke first.

Looking at the humanoid creature before him, Jing Yuan felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

The next second, Jing Yuan's eyes widened!

The appearance of this humanoid creature was exactly the same as the so-called "lord of light and shadow" he had seen in the Data Room!

Jing Yuan had just attacked Charles's skull; how did he end up in this space?

Charles? lord of light and shadow?

"Your Mental Power is very strong! I actually couldn't kill you on a spiritual level! You win!"

The opponent's first sentence was actually this!

A spiritual level?

Jing Yuan realized that this was a mental space!

"Are you the lord of light and shadow?" Jing Yuan asked.

"Charles and Morgan call me that as well! But I have lost some memories and don't remember exactly who I am. I only remember that I carry a mission to save humanity."

"Save humanity? Look at the things Charles and Morgan have done, and you tell me you want to save humanity?"

"What Charles and Morgan did was not wrong!"

Jing Yuan stared at the opponent. "Did you instigate them to plot this series of events?"

"I did not instigate them to do anything! It is just that what they did aligns with my position, so I want to help them and stop you!"

"You can't stop me! You are just an energy body now; you can only use mental attacks, but your mental attacks are useless against me!"

"Yes! That is why I intend to persuade you!"

"Persuade? You can't persuade me!"

"As I said, my purpose is to save humanity. You are human yourself; I believe you won't watch humanity perish!"

"Of course!" Jing Yuan looked at the other party; it was just an energy body, nothing to fear.

Jing Yuan was also curious about how this creature, which looked like both a human and a Phage Beast, intended to save humanity.

"Fine! I'll listen to what you have to say for now! But first, you must tell me who you really are! And why are you inside Charles's body!"

"For now, you may call me the lord of light and shadow!"

Jing Yuan was full of doubt, but he soon figured it out.

The lord of light and shadow was just a name, perhaps one given by Morgan.

The name wasn't important; what mattered was what he actually was!

"My mission is to stop the mana ecology from driving Earth's civilization to extinction. I experienced the mass extinction of the previous civilization. After a long slumber, my body gradually degenerated, so when I encountered someone with a brain capable of carrying my life source essence, I entered his body! Because I need to prevent this civilization's extinction."

"That person is Charles!"

"Yes!"

"You chose Charles simply because he could carry your life source essence!"

"Transferring life source essence to a human requires an exceptionally developed brain. Such people only appear in a very small proportion of the population!"

"Do you want to control Charles's body?"

"I need a shell to fulfill my mission. If our goals are aligned, I do not need to control his body."

"Conversely, if the goals are not aligned, you will control his body."

"I cannot allow the civilization of this era to be driven to extinction again!"

"You say you want to save humanity; how?"

"For eons, several civilizations have tried to resist the mana ecology, but without exception, they all failed! We have summarized the lessons learned and concluded: resistance only brings destruction! Only by living according to Their requirements can humanity have a possibility of continuation!"

Jing Yuan frowned.

"Who are 'They'?"

"A type of life you cannot comprehend!"

"What are Their requirements?"

"Completely abandon immortality, abandon technology, abandon source energy cultivation, and just be ordinary people who multiply and thrive."

"You said several civilizations. Were there other civilizations before ours?"

"Yes! When a civilization reaches a certain height, They will trigger the growth of Earth Vines, nurture Phage Beasts, and extinguish the civilization. As time passes, civilization will rise again, and it will be destroyed again. The mana ecology will continuously repeat the cycle of civilization extinction on this planet!"

"You're saying that by completely abandoning immortality, technology, and source energy cultivation, human civilization can continue?"

"As long as all those who resist on The Surface die, and the Lighthouse completes its rule through the unification of church and state, the Lighthouse can become the sole continuation of human civilization! When the mana ecology no longer perceives a threat and the Earth Vines retreat back into the crust, people can return to The Surface to multiply and thrive!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! By giving up resistance, humanity will only head toward extinction!"

Jing Yuan's pupils constricted; another voice had actually appeared in this mental space!

Then, Jing Yuan saw a scene that shocked him.

Another humanoid creature appeared in the mental space, and his appearance was very similar to the lord of light and shadow!

Chapter 182: Master Lai

"Who are you?"

The lord of light and shadow asked before Jing Yuan, both of them staring at the newly appeared humanoid creature!

"I should be the same as you, yet different!"

The newly appeared humanoid creature did indeed look much like the lord of light and shadow, with a slender body, wearing a long purple robe, and even his face was hidden beneath the brim of a hood.

"How should I address you?" Jing Yuan asked.

"You may call me Master Lai!"

Jing Yuan was stunned. "You are Master Lai!"

"Did that girl Yuekui mention me to you?"

Jing Yuan smiled awkwardly. Bai Yuekui hadn't directly mentioned Master Lai to him; he knew of such a character from the original plot. However, Master Lai hadn't appeared yet, and he hadn't expected him to look like this.

"Yes."

Master Lai turned to look at Jing Yuan, and Jing Yuan thus saw the face beneath the hood.

It was a human face, but it was deep blue.

This appearance was somewhat similar to the mana primordial body that had appeared in the original animation.

"Your life source essence is very strong; perhaps you too can join our plan!"

"Your plan?" Jing Yuan looked at Master Lai with great confusion.

Master Lai looked at the lord of light and shadow instead and said, "You must be the fusion product of the artificial intelligence that was injected into the mana primordial body's brain during the previous civilization!"

Master Lai's words reminded Jing Yuan of a plot point from the original work.

Back then, Bai Yuekui had found the mana primordial body in her father Bai Jingyu's secret Research Institute. To study the mana primordial body, the AI Ash had actively connected to its brain, but Ash's life source essence was instead devoured by the mana primordial body!

The lord of light and shadow hesitated for a moment, as if recalling something.

"Yes! We were seeking a way to solve the mana ecology and entered the mana network through the giant brain! But we discovered that no matter what, we could not defeat the mana ecology. Compromising with Them is the only survival strategy!"

Master Lai said, "We obtained information from other Ancient Civilizations. The ultimate goal of the mana ecology is to destroy our planet! Therefore, compromising to survive is absolutely not our survival strategy!"

"But... the ecology is invincible!"

Master Lai shook his head. "Perhaps because we continuously injected new life source essence into the giant brain, we have gained a new opportunity. Perhaps with his help, we can learn the true purpose of the mana ecology and the method to completely eradicate it!"

The lord of light and shadow fell silent for a moment, then slowly raised his head and said, "I understand! My life source essence is nearly exhausted. The baton for saving Earth's civilization is now in your hands!"

Master Lai nodded. "I also have your life source essence within me!"

"I can feel it!"

After saying these last words, the lord of light and shadow directly dissipated.

Master Lai looked at Jing Yuan.

Before Jing Yuan could react, the mental space vanished, and he returned to reality.

The conversation in the mental space just now had lasted only an instant.