Page 604

However, he had only lived in this world for just over two decades, and the knowledge he possessed was far inferior to that of the thousand-year-old monster before him. Based solely on such a brief account, it was impossible for him to grasp the full truth, so he had no choice but to continue the conversation.

"You want to escape this world—why come to me? I'm no mage, and my understanding of matters involving deities is limited. Is there something I can do that you can't?" The werewolf still wore a cold expression as he questioned.

Bato nodded. "Exactly. In this world, only you can help me."

"How so?"

"Do you know why my soul wasn’t taken by the demon gods during the sacrifice? I only found the answer after I was sealed." Bato's voice carried a hint of self-mockery. "You should know that my seal was completed with the help of an ancient seal meant for virtual gods. In other words, my prison was practically right above theirs—close enough to sense them. Back then, to break free, I repeated my old trick of offering sacrifices, intending to swindle some power from those sealed virtual gods. But instead of gaining power, I received a vast amount of knowledge—the core knowledge of the goblin alchemy civilization that had created those virtual gods."

"It was only then, through this knowledge, that I learned the reason I could deceive divine power was because a fragment of a shattered virtual god's soul was hidden within my own. This fragment granted my soul certain divine attributes, and the demon gods' sacrificial rites couldn’t claim the soul of another god, no matter how weak or broken it was. This very fragment was also why I could communicate with the sealed virtual gods and even acquire further knowledge."

"From that moment on, I truly began to touch the world of the gods. Perhaps you could call it divine favor. I already had the divine power I’d swindled from the demon gods, and now I also possessed the divine knowledge left behind by the goblin dynasty. While these couldn't make me a god, they gave me many unexpected gains."

Chen Xuanfeng raised an eyebrow. "Like the Saint Domain? Like forbidden spells?"

Bato chuckled. "Exactly. The magical seal that imprisoned me was far too perfect—undoubtedly the result of divine guidance. So I knew that if the orcs or elves were left to guard it, I’d never escape, not in a hundred million years. To break free, I had to try replacing your two races with a new one... After failing with many, I finally waited for humans."

Chen Xuanfeng suddenly asked, "How did you influence the outside world from within the seal?"

Bato replied with some pride, "Though the seal was perfect, it was built upon the foundation of the virtual gods' own seal. The one restraining me was only a kilometer in diameter, but the virtual gods' seal stretched deep underground, spanning dozens of kilometers. After establishing a connection with them, I could extend my consciousness beyond my own seal when celestial bodies were in specific positions, wandering above the domain of the virtual gods' seal and communicating with intelligent beings who had keen spiritual awareness but limited strength. If they were willing to acknowledge me, we could even form a contract, allowing me to project a portion of my consciousness onto them no matter how far away—though the toll was heavy."

"If history hasn’t been tampered with, you should have realized by now that legendary figures such as the 'Dragon-Sealing Emperor,' the 'Ancestor of Sword Saints,' and the 'Twelve Sages' all lived near my sealed prison in their youth—some as slaves, others as beggars. Back then, they received my guidance and formed contracts with me, later receiving my aid in times of crisis, ultimately becoming the cornerstone of humanity’s rise. With sword saints, humans no longer faced one-sided slaughter on the battlefield. With forbidden spells, the elves' magical superiority was no longer absolute. And with the dragons' help, the era of humans replacing orcs and elves arrived swiftly. And humans didn’t disappoint me—their greed and curiosity were boundless. Once they seized the land later known as the Saint Spirit Mountain, they claimed it as their own without hesitation, recklessly studying and excavating. Though the twelve half-elves later tried to reinforce my seal, the knowledge I’d given them had been tampered with from the start. Instead of strengthening it, within a few centuries, it gave me the chance to break free."

"Apologies, I digress. While plotting my escape, I also pondered how to survive the gods' encirclement. In the end, a piece of hidden information from the goblin era gave me hope. Those ancient alchemists had always believed one thing: our world wasn’t supposed to be like this. The stars weren’t meant to be nests for astral dragons but distant suns. Originally, there was only one plane—no shifting sub-planes, no Starvoid Sea or World Tree, and thus no gods. It wasn’t until a higher-dimensional planar cataclysm threw the entire star system into chaos that the Earth Mother constructed the World Tree and the subsequent creation of the world. By the end of the goblin empire, the leading faction was the 'True Cosmos' school, built upon this theory—hence their attempt to create virtual gods. Their creed was 'control the gods, expand space, explore the cosmos.' In truth, the goblin sorcerers were never power-hungry; their passion for uncovering the truth burned hot enough to scorch the gods, and their intellect was sufficient to carry them that far."

"According to the goblins' final research before their destruction, the space we inhabit—composed of the Starvoid Sea and countless planes—is wrapped in a layer called the 'Crystal Wall.' I don’t know its exact form or composition, but this barrier prevents the energy of the Starvoid Sea from leaking out while also trapping us inside. Back then, the goblin alchemists had manipulated the virtual gods to forcibly alter the laws of the material plane, affecting the World Tree’s operation in an attempt to use its immense power to breach the Crystal Wall. But doing so would have caused the Starvoid Sea’s energy to spill out, risking the collapse of the World Tree and the four major planes that relied on it. That was why the gods of all four realms descended together, battling for years until the entire goblin empire was erased."