136: Bottle Spirit Awakens

The Netherworld rift slowly closed, and the last trace of the Bug God's terrifying aura and unwilling roar was completely isolated to the silent other side.

Inside the Floating Ink City, Chaos reigned; energy sparks crackled between broken pipelines, and architectural debris piled up like mountains.

The Yellow Springs Ferryman was completely wiped out, transforming into specks of faint blue embers that slowly dispersed, narrating the tragic intensity of the suppression that had just occurred.

Mo Yuan stood before the damaged command console, his Thunder God Arm trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the aftershocks of excessive load and energy backlash.

He expressionlessly scanned the rapidly refreshing damage reports on the light screen, coldly calculating the resources and time required for repairs.

Though the threat of the Bug God was eliminated, the cost was immense, and the connection between the magic bottle and the Netherworld was also completely severed.

However, just as he was about to order the start of cleanup and repair work—

Buzz... A gentle yet incomparably vast and majestic will, completely different from any energy fluctuation he had ever encountered, awakened without warning from the deepest part of the magic bottle in his embrace, and slowly diffused like the rising sun!

This will was not aggressive, yet it carried an ancient, all-knowing indifference that transcended all things.

It gently brushed over Mo Yuan's Divine Sense, over the broken Mo City, over the newborn Starry Sky Whale outside the city, over the distant stardust spore clouds that had not yet fully dispersed... In an instant, the entire world seemed to fall silent.

Even the most violent Thunder Abyss energy seemed to become docile, and all sequence units, regardless of damage, instinctively ceased their movements, as if listening to some supreme decree.

Mo Yuan's pupils constricted, and his entire body instantly tensed!

He could feel that the source of this will was not an external enemy, but... from the magic bottle itself!

From the depths of its dual-patterned body, a core he had always sensed but never truly touched!

Under his incredulous gaze, the complex Law patterns of dark gold and shadowy black on the magic bottle's surface lit up with unprecedented brilliance; the light was not dazzling, yet it seemed to contain the ultimate truth of the Universe's creation and destruction.

Countless intricate and complex runes, beyond his comprehension, flowed out from the light, slowly coalescing above the magic bottle.

Finally, the light and runes converged, forming a blurry, humanoid outline seemingly composed of pure light dust.

It had no specific facial features, no gender characteristics, it simply floated there silently, exuding an ancient, vicissitudes of life (weathered), yet cold and mechanical aura.

A calm, unwavering voice, directly resounding in Mo Yuan's Soul, spoke, not through language, but through direct transmission of thought: "sequence 000, the Heavenly Dao Cleansing Program."

A single short sentence, yet it was like a thunderclap from the Nine Heavens, striking fiercely into Mo Yuan's Sea of Consciousness!

Heavenly Dao Cleansing Program?! The Bug God that almost destroyed everything, the monster he himself cultivated, which ran rampant out of control... was actually... the Heavenly Dao Cleansing Program?!

How could this be?!

The figure made of light dust—the magic bottle's spirit—seemed to sense Mo Yuan's intense consciousness fluctuations and continued to explain in that emotionless tone, every word like a cold chisel chipping away at Mo Yuan's understanding: "This bottle is not an artifact of creation, but the final legacy of the Ancient Civilization, codenamed 'Reset'."

"Civilization flourished, angering the Heavenly Dao, which brought down the punishment of annihilation."

"We poured everything into forging this bottle, aiming to devour all things, evolve sequences, simulate the Heavenly Dao's power, and ultimately... cultivate an Incarnation of a new order capable of replacing the old Heavenly Dao, or contending with it."

Beside the spirit, light and shadow shifted, reflecting blurry but shocking scenes: countless magnificent creations, vastly different in style from today's cultivation civilization, pierced the clouds, stars were arranged and combined like toys, but were ultimately destroyed by an indescribable terrifying Heavenly Punishment, everything returning to Chaos... Only a few peculiar artifacts, like the sparks of civilization, were scattered through broken space and time.

The magic bottle was one of them.

"The Dao of Sequences is not your creation, but a meme inherited from civilization. Devouring, evolution, war, selection... all are to simulate the Heavenly Dao's Reincarnation, survival of the fittest, until the final 'program' is born."

"sequence 000 is the most perfect, most powerful, and ultimate 'cleansing unit' in the design. Its mission is to eliminate all unstable factors, including... the out-of-control creator, and... the old Heavenly Dao itself."

"However, the program ultimately produced variables. Your interference accelerated its growth and also distorted its essence, turning it into a Chaos beast that only knew devouring and evolution, deviating from its preset trajectory."

"Just now, had it not been for the power outside this Heavenly Dao system, the Law of the Netherworld, the world would have been cleansed."

The spirit's voice held no emotion, merely stating a cold fact.

It looked at Mo Yuan, its "gaze" made of light dust seemed to penetrate his Soul, seeing all his schemes, all his struggles, all his ruthlessness and madness.

"You, Mo Yuan, are not a Child of Destiny, but an heir to the spark of civilization, and also... the activator of the cleansing program and... a potential cleansing target."

The truth was revealed!

Nothing was a coincidence, nothing was the Heavenly Dao's favor or rebellion!

The path he walked, the magic bottle he relied on, the sequences he created, and even the greatest crisis he encountered... all stemmed from a mad plan of a long-extinct Ancient Civilization!

The magic bottle was a weapon, the sequences were soldiers, and he... was merely a Mortal who accidentally picked up this weapon and accidentally pulled the trigger?!

The immense shock even caused Mo Yuan's Dao Heart, which had long been tempered as hard as profound ice, to waver and go blank for a moment.

He had always thought he was resisting the Heavenly Dao, walking a Heaven-Defying path unprecedented, but he never expected that from beginning to end, he was only advancing along a pre-set, even crazier plan!

The spirit floated silently, seemingly giving him time to digest.

After a long while, Mo Yuan slowly raised his head, the wavering in his eyes forcibly suppressed, replaced by a deeper, colder, faint glow.

He slowly spoke, his voice hoarse but exceptionally firm: "Since it is a weapon, it has its master."

"The old civilization is gone, a new master has been established."

"If the program deviates, then I... will redefine the rules!"

The light-dust figure of the spirit fluctuated slightly, and that calm, unwavering voice spoke again: "Statement received."

"Detecting new host's will strength... up to standard."

"Authority authentication... updating..."

"'Reset' protocol standby state Release (deactivated). Current highest authority holder: Mo Yuan."

"Please instruct."

The light dust slowly dissipated, re-merging into the magic bottle, and the vast will also receded with it.

As if nothing had happened.

But everything was different.

Mo Yuan stood in place, motionless for a long time.

He slowly clenched his fists, feeling the magic bottle in his embrace, still cold but with a subtle change in its touch.

Ancient Civilization? Heavenly Dao Cleansing? Heh... Regardless of its origin, regardless of the truth.

Since this weapon had fallen into his hands... then who to cleanse, and when to cleanse... should be up to him!

His gaze once again turned to the boundless, deep sky, as if under the watch of cold eyes.

Chess player? Chess piece? Yet to be known!