192: Chapter 192: Your rules are not my rules
The entire main peak of the Qingyun Sect was terrifyingly quiet; everyone felt as if their hearts were about to leap out of their throats.
Special Envoy Wang felt like he was going to lose his job today, and in a way he never could have imagined in his wildest dreams. Coordinating legal clauses with a guy who was eighty percent likely a god? This line of business was far too ahead of its time.
Boss Wan and the Qingyun Sect Leader's brains had stopped functioning. They had spent their whole lives cultivating and fighting, and they had seen all sorts of scenes, but they simply couldn't wrap their heads around what was happening before them.
Things could work like this?
Reasoning with the Heavenly Dao? And reasoning based on procedural justice?
Crazy, this world has absolutely gone crazy.
In the sky, the light on the Inspector flickered erratically for the first time. He was stuck; clearly, his system had never processed such a command before.
After a long while, that massive, cold voice rang out in everyone's minds again, but this time, it sounded a bit... confused?
"Identification? A copy of the code of law? Procedural justice?"
The Inspector's voice carried the bewilderment of a high-level civilization looking at a primitive. "My existence is the 'proof.' My words are the 'law.' Lower-realm ants need only obey; there is no need to ask questions."
"See, that's our first point of conflict." Jiang Ning wagged her finger, not at all provoked by the term 'ant.' Instead, she looked like a teacher patiently instructing a student.
"In our neck of the woods, it's not 'might makes right' based on your rank. We look at whether the rules are reasonable and if the process is transparent. You say you're here to enforce the law—fine. Let's set aside whether you have the authority for a moment and talk about this 'law' of yours first."
Jiang Ning looked up, her eyes fixed intently on the Inspector.
"You say our world should have been finished three hundred years ago. I'm asking you: Who decided that? On what basis? Has the Pillar of the World reached the end of its lifespan? Or has the spiritual vein cycle reached its end? Are there calculation models and data reports? What is the root cause? Is it because we mined resources too aggressively, or because you people up there stopped providing energy?"
A string of questions poured out of Jiang Ning's mouth like machine-gun fire.
Each of these questions hit the mark. These weren't the vague notions of 'destiny' or 'Fate' spoken of by cultivators; these were the fundamental questions an engineer must clarify when analyzing a large system.
The Inspector fell silent again.
His body made of light flickered even more violently. He could sense that the tiny 'variable' below wasn't just making trouble. Every question she raised poked at the underlying code of this world's operation.
And in the archives of the Heavenly Dao Execution Department, that code was summarized in a single word: 'Fate.'
Fate had run its course, so it should be destroyed.
As for why Fate had run its course, that wasn't important.
"Fate... is the Heavenly Dao," the Inspector's voice rang out again, but compared to his initial decisive tone, it was much weaker.
"Ha, Heavenly Dao." Jiang Ning laughed, her voice full of contempt. "A system that doesn't ask why, only looks at results, and doesn't think about fixing problems but only knows how to perform a one-click format—how does that have the nerve to call itself 'Heavenly Dao'? On our Earth, this kind of program would have been phased out long ago. We call this 'lazy governance' or 'negligence of duty.'"
She took a step forward, her aura growing stronger and stronger.
"This world is sick, very sick—it's almost like cancer. You 'Heavenly Dao' executors are just a bunch of irresponsible doctors. You take one glance and say, 'It's hopeless, just wait for death, prepare for cremation.'"
"But me," Jiang Ning pointed to herself, then to the cultivators and workers behind her who had just been woken up and were still looking dazed, "we are a different group of doctors. We did a full-body checkup, found the root cause, performed surgery, removed the tumor, and rebuilt the circulatory system. Now the patient is alive, and they're living quite well—stronger than before."
"And then you, this quack doctor, come running over and say, 'No, he was supposed to die. Saving him is against the rules! I have to kill him right now and then burn him!'"
Jiang Ning's voice suddenly rose an octave, filled with accusation.
"Tell me, what kind of logic is that?!"
These words were simple yet resonant.
Boss Wan and the Qingyun Sect Leader understood immediately. They looked at Jiang Ning's back, their initial bewilderment slowly turning into fervent worship.
So that's how it was!
The 'Heavenly Mandate' in their eyes was just a malfunctioning system to Consultant Jiang... no, to Ancestor Jiang! It turned out that so-called 'defying heaven' wasn't about fighting against the Heavens, it was about fixing bugs!
At this moment, the cultivation worldview that had confined them for thousands of years collapsed.
A new idea called 'Man Can Conquer Nature' began to grow wildly in their hearts.
Special Envoy Wang was trembling with excitement. He stared fixedly at Jiang Ning as if looking at a great figure making history. He thought to himself that if this conversation could be recorded, it would definitely be the most incredible page in human history.
This was the first time humanity had stood on equal footing with a so-called 'god' to argue their case!
"Paradox... logic... chaos..."
The Inspector in the sky saw the light on his body begin to flash like a lightbulb with a bad connection. Jiang Ning's 'Earth logic' was crashing his 'Heavenly Dao logic,' which was built on absolute authority and fixed procedures.
He couldn't understand it.
Why would a world that was supposed to be deleted want to keep living?
Why would a bunch of ants who should accept their Fate dare to resist?
"Lower-realm creature, stop your glib talk!"
The Inspector finally recovered from his system crash. He didn't plan to 'reason' anymore, and for the first time, his cold voice carried a hint of anger.
"Rules are rules! No matter how you quibble, altering 'Fate' is a great crime! I will now sever your spiritual energy connection with the Upper Realm and dig out your roots, turning this world back into a mess!"
With that, he raised his hand of light high.
Instantly, it felt as if an invisible net in the sky was tightening. Everyone felt something being violently torn away from their bones and their souls.
That was the connection between this world and the higher-dimensional energy source it had since birth. To a cultivator, that was equivalent to an infant's umbilical cord.
Once severed, this world would lose its energy source, spiritual energy would rapidly vanish, and eventually, everything would be finished.
This was the Inspector's most common and effective move. He had seen countless lower-realm experts fall to their knees and beg for mercy before this technique.
However, the fear and despair he imagined did not appear.
The variable below named Jiang Ning didn't even change her expression; she just looked at him as if he were an idiot.
The Inspector's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly increased the force of the 'severance.'
But... nothing happened.
He was stunned. That 'umbilical cord' that should have existed, that spiritual energy channel connecting this world to the Great Immortal World... was simply gone!
Or rather, it had been severed long ago!
"You... you all..." For the first time, there was genuine panic in the Inspector's voice. "How are you surviving with the spiritual energy severed? No... that's not right! The concentration of spiritual energy here... is higher than in many third-class worlds! How is this possible!"
"Oh, you mean that."
Jiang Ning's expression said 'you only just noticed,' as she pointed toward the distant Pillar of the World that propped up the heavens and earth.
"We built our own power station and became self-sufficient. Sorry, but that 'Upper Realm Power Grid' of yours had poor signal, high fees, and terrible service, so we canceled it long ago."
"Now, we use clean, efficient, and free 'Domestic Energy.'"
Jiang Ning grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"So, your rules don't work on me, or on this world."
The Inspector became completely motionless.
He looked at that Pillar of the World which had been reborn and was even more functional than the original; he looked at the Spiritual Energy Network covering the entire planet and operating efficiently; and he looked at the 'variable' below who had an expression that said 'isn't this normal?'
In his mind, which was constructed of laws, a thought he had never considered before emerged for the first time.
Perhaps...
This world really doesn't need them anymore.