191: Chapter 191: Don't give me that nonsense, let's go through the procedures first.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Over these three days, the entire world was filled with a sense of rebirth, a scene of bustling activity everywhere. The spiritual energy from the Pillar of the World was abundant, and as the global array turned, every corner of the world benefited. In mortal nations, new sprouts emerged from fields that had been dry for half a lifetime; in immortal sects, disciples who had been stuck for over a decade broke through one after another.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
The Qingyun Sect had now become the center of the entire world. The main peak's great hall had been converted into a semi-open-air meeting square, with a massive holographic projection floating above it, displaying a global spiritual energy map and progress bars for various projects.
Special Envoy Wang and his team of experts were incredibly busy. What they brought was not just technology, but a whole new way of doing things. Terms like "Five-Year Plan," "Individual Responsibility," and "KPI Evaluations" left the cultivators' heads spinning. However, once they saw the terrifying production speed of the automated alchemy factory aided by Earth, everyone felt as if they had been injected with adrenaline and dove headfirst into the tide of "New World Construction."
But beneath this scene of fiery enthusiasm, a sense of tension was quietly gathering in the skies above the Qingyun Sect.
Only a few people at the very top knew that the three-day deadline was today.
At the highest point of the meeting square, the leaders—Jiang Ning, Special Envoy Wang, Company Commander Zhang, Boss Wan, and the Qingyun Sect Leader—stood together, all looking up at the sky.
"Consultant Jiang, our 'Sky Eye' system is running at maximum capacity, staring outside the atmosphere, and currently... we've found nothing," Special Envoy Wang said, adjusting his glasses. His voice was steady, but his fingers gripping the tactical tablet had turned slightly white.
Behind him, a group of experts nervously operated rows of precision instruments. These top-tier devices shipped from Earth were scanning every inch of space, trying to catch even the slightest energy fluctuation.
"Don't rely entirely on those metal lumps," Boss Wan said, stroking his beard. His old eyes held a weight passed down through generations. "When a truly big figure descends, they can't be seen with mortal contraptions. That is the 'Rules' descending; until it happens, we are all blind, unable to see or feel it."
The Qingyun Sect Leader nodded repeatedly beside him. He had already pushed the Mountain Protection Array's energy to its limit, with every elder at or above the Nascent Soul Stage guarding the various Array Nodes, ready to fight for their lives at any moment.
Jiang Ning said nothing.
She just stood there quietly, eyes closed. Having reached the Nascent Soul Stage, her Divine Sense could connect with the entire planet's array. She could feel how the wind blew, hear the magma pulsing underground, and even more so, feel the joy and hope in the heart of every person on this land.
It was these things that made her feel particularly grounded.
She was not alone.
Suddenly, Jiang Ning opened her eyes.
"They're here."
As soon as she spoke, the entire world seemed to be placed on mute.
The wind died down, the birds stopped chirping, and the sound of machinery from the distant construction sites ceased. Every noise was wiped away in an instant by an indescribable power.
Then, in the very center of the cloudless sky, a crack appeared out of thin air.
It wasn't torn open; it was more as if the fabric of the sky was being unzipped from the middle by an invisible hand. The inside of the crack wasn't black, but a pure, radiant gold.
A ladder made of golden light slowly extended from that rift, quietly laying itself out above the main peak of the Qingyun Sect.
A heavy pressure bore down directly from the heavens.
On the square, countless low-level cultivators and staff from Earth didn't even have time to react before their eyes rolled back and they fainted on the spot.
Even the sect elders at the Golden Core Stage turned as pale as paper, their legs shaking uncontrollably, feeling as if their Golden Cores were about to be crushed by this pressure. They desperately circulated their power to resist, but it felt as useless as a single grain of sand in a gale.
"Activate... Gravity... Counter-Field!" Company Commander Zhang gritted his teeth, forcing the words out. Beside him, several soldiers used every ounce of their strength to slam down a red button.
A layer of pale blue light rose from the ground, shielding the core area of the command platform. That terrifying pressure instantly lightened significantly. Special Envoy Wang and his team gasped for air, looking as if they had just been fished out of water.
But this was only the beginning.
A shadow walked down, step by step, from the top of that golden ladder.
It was an indescribable "person."
He wore a long robe covered in unintelligible symbols that flickered in and out of existence. He had no facial features, his face being a mass of soft light, yet everyone could "feel" a pair of cold, lofty eyes looking down at them.
Just by standing there, the rules of the entire world seemed to bow to him. The Qingyun Sect's Mountain Protection Array emitted a series of strained noises, and cracks appeared on many of the Array Base stones.
"Lower realm lifeform, designation Gengchen 739. The world's foundation is broken, and its spiritual veins are exhausted. According to the order of the Heavenly Dao, it should have perished and turned to dust three hundred years ago."
A voice didn't come through the air but rang directly in the minds of everyone still conscious. The voice was loud and cold, devoid of any emotion, like a pre-set program.
"However, a variable has appeared in this realm, forcibly reversing its extinction, reshaping the world's foundation, and establishing a 'pseudo' cycle. Such actions are a serious violation of the 'Universal Balance Code' and constitute a grave sin against heaven."
The shadow slowly raised a hand—a hand made of light, yet carrying the power to crush stars. He pointed toward the vibrant, newly repaired Pillar of the World below.
"I am a Third-Class Inspector of the Great Immortal World's 'Heavenly Dao Execution Department.' I have been ordered to descend today to restore order, eliminate the variable, and... reset this realm."
The word "reset" hit Boss Wan and the Qingyun Sect Leader like two massive sledgehammers. They immediately understood what it meant.
It wasn't a repair, nor was it a punishment; it was a total formatting.
This world, all its people, all its things, its entire past and future, would be completely erased and returned to a blank state.
Despair instantly overwhelmed them.
Faced with this pressure and pronouncement, everyone was terrified, their minds blank, leaving only primal fear.
At that moment, a calm voice rang out clearly across the deathly silent square. It wasn't loud, but it was like a sharp blade, easily slicing through that suffocating pressure.
"Wait a minute."
Jiang Ning stepped out from the crowd, seemingly unaffected. She looked directly at the massive shadow in the sky, without a trace of fear on her face. Instead, she looked like an engineer examining a blueprint, her gaze full of scrutiny and critique.
"You say you're an Inspector acting on orders. In that case, could you first show me your credentials and that 'Universal Balance Code' you mentioned?"
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Special Envoy Wang nearly choked on his own breath.
Boss Wan and the Qingyun Sect Leader's eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets.
Good heavens! What... what kind of move was this? To a "God" who could destroy the world with a flick of his finger, you... you're asking him for ID?
The light and shadow in the sky clearly paused as well, his form even seeming to waver slightly. Clearly, in his long career of executing countless "reset" missions, he had never encountered such a "variable."
Jiang Ning seemed not to notice everyone's expressions. She tilted her head back and continued in a very serious tone:
"According to the basic principles of procedural justice, before you enforce the law, you must first clarify your identity and the legal basis for your actions. You can't just be whoever you say you are, and you can't just reset whatever you want to reset. What if you're an impostor? What if this code of yours is a fake? Can you bear that responsibility? Our world might be small, but we still follow the 'law'."
She paused and pointed to Special Envoy Wang behind her.
"We have a professional Legal Team here. How about you coordinate with them first?"
Special Envoy Wang: "..."
I really have to thank you for that!