| PN | Scram | 172
The world consciousness of any dimension is an exceedingly cunning and intelligent entity. It determines the past and future of its dimension, and within the dimension, no being can surpass it.
Similarly, as the supreme existence within the dimension, it also has limitations. The more flaws a world consciousness has, the greater the restrictions imposed upon it by the rules.
Take the current situation, for example. Although it desperately wanted to crush the human in front of it, it was bound by the rules and couldn’t attack the human proactively because the human was the incarnation of the Mother Tree.
The fate lines of this dimension revolved entirely around this Mother Tree. The world consciousness could choose to self-destruct, but it couldn’t defy the rules and attack the Mother Tree on its own initiative.
The incomplete world consciousness felt somewhat aggrieved.
It simply wanted to self-destruct according to the world’s timeline and couldn’t understand why this group of people was trying to stop it.
What made it even angrier was that the black-haired, green-eyed human that had forcibly injected spiritual energy into its core.
From Qi Chao’s perspective, everything he was doing was to repair the world's consciousness.
In the eyes of the world consciousness, every action Qi Chao took was aimed at erasing its awareness and further replacing it.
The world consciousness thought to itself, luckily, it had cleverly transformed into the Mother Stone. Although this form was something it had deliberately mimicked, due to absorbing spiritual energy, it was now indistinguishable from the real Mother Stone.
Condensing itself into the form of the Mother Stone not only solidified its energy to protect its consciousness but also allowed it to feign weakness, rendering the human in front of it powerless to act against it.
All it needed was to escape from here.
The world consciousness didn’t mind playing weak to the human if it meant gaining an opportunity. As long as the human let down their guard, it could immediately seize the chance to flee.
Sensing the people and the puppets approaching under the Mother Tree, the world consciousness became highly alert.
It hadn’t forgotten how it had been drawn here in the first place—because of that individual carrying a system from another dimension within their body.
The world consciousness had already solidified its energy, making it impossible for the Mother Tree's embodiment to "attack" it like before. Comparatively, it was far more wary of that unknown existence.
While the world consciousness was cautiously "observing" Qi Chao, in the next moment, it heard something utterly unexpected from the Mother Tree's incarnation , which it had dismissed earlier:
"This is a Mother Stone condensed by the world consciousness. Perhaps it liked me so much after I gave it so much spiritual energy that it went so far as to transform into a Mother Stone, wanting to be reborn as a puppet in my hands."
World consciousness: ???
What? It likes who?
And why on earth would it want to degrade itself into a puppet?
Nearby, Qi Yang noticed the expression on his brother’s face and instantly recognized his brother's mischievous streak at work. Playing along, he added, "Well, that’s wonderful. Brother, you mustn’t let down the world consciousness down."
Hearing this, the world consciousness instinctively attempted to dissolve its energy and flee.
However, being firmly gripped in Qi Chao’s hands, it found itself completely unable to release its energy or break free.
Why was this happening?
The world consciousness was filled with doubt and alarm. When it looked up at Qi Chao, it was met with a faint smile from him—a smile that seemed to mock its overconfidence. The initial disdain it felt was gradually overtaken by a layer of fear.
Qi Chao, on the other hand, was completely unaware that the thoughts of a fragmented world consciousness could be this active. He casually held the Mother Stone in his hand, gripping it loosely like an ordinary rock.
If he knew what the world consciousness was thinking at this moment, he might have been confused for quite a while.
On the other side, the system, perhaps due to its nature as a product of a higher dimension, observed everything with perfect clarity. Watching the world consciousness futilely attempt to dissipate its energy to escape, the system fell into silence, unsure whether to feel pity or find the situation amusing.
The host injecting spiritual energy into the core of the world consciousness was, to some extent, it was akin to signing a contract. Without the host's consent, the world consciousness had no chance of escaping from Qi Chao's grasp.
The system hesitated for a moment before relaying the world consciousness's reaction to its host.
Hearing this, Qi Chao raised an eyebrow and tightened his grip on the "Mother Stone" in his hand. "Be good, don't panic. I'll make you a body once we're back."
World consciousness: …
Qi Chao didn’t elaborate further. His gaze shifted toward the bare branches of the giant tree, a gentle warmth flickering in his eyes.
He understood that, at the critical moment, it was the shadows that willingly gave up their obsessions and returned to the Mother Tree, allowing him the opportunity to corner the world consciousness into submission.
Green spheres of light swirled around Qi Chao, their origins unclear—whether or not they included the shadows was something no one could say.
Qi Chao pursed his lips slightly before softly patting his children nearby. His gaze briefly lingered on the intricate patterns etched on their faces before he looked away. "Let’s go back and find Brother Shen. Afterward, I’ll talk to you guys later"
His expression was calm, revealing no trace of emotion, but whether it was Xiang Yue, Li Bai, Qiu Qiu, or Xuan Jian and Shuang Jian, their hearts clenched tightly.
They knew that their previous attempt to sacrifice themselves to help their father had angered him.
Nearby, Agu noticed their unease and, just before stepping into the vortex, turned to comfort Xiang Yue, "Don’t worry! If Dad gets mad at you, Agu will make sure to coax him."
What he conveniently left out was that when he and Chi Yao had learned of Xiang Yue and the others' plan, they had also wanted to join in.
Unfortunately, since they lacked the intricate markings, their reactions were slower, and they hadn’t been able to keep up in time.
Xiang Yue’s gaze lingered briefly on their father’s back before he looked away and gently nodded, accepting Agu’s kind offer without objection.
Agu’s eyes curved into a smile.
He understood that Xiang Yue must also be afraid of their father’s anger, which was likely why he agreed.
However, Agu’s smile only lasted for a second before it faded slightly. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but inside, he was deeply worried about his father’s condition.
That worry, however, didn’t last long.
The moment they stepped out of the vortex, Agu saw Shen Yuxi sitting up from his sickbed.
Shen Yuxi’s face was still as pale as before, his slender back leaning weakly against the bedhead. His thin frame and faintly furrowed brows, paired with his shallow, labored breathing, made it clear that his condition was far from ideal.
Yet compared to before, his health improved significantly.
As he caught sight of Qi Chao and the others emerging from the vortex, the faint crease on Shen Yuxi’s brow instantly smoothed out. He broke into a soft, genuine smile.
“You’re back,” he said.
Qi Chao paused in his steps when he saw Shen Yuxi, who had been in a deep sleep, now awake. Although he had anticipated this moment, seeing it for himself brought a mix of joy and lingering fear.
Shen Yuxi seemed to sense the undercurrent of emotion beneath Qi Chao’s calm demeanor.
His gentle expression remained unchanged, but he raised his right hand. The gesture was slow and shaky, his pale fingertips trembling slightly from exhaustion.
“Sorry for troubling all of you,” Shen Yuxi said softly.
“It wasn’t any trouble. But what about your body? How are you feeling?” Qi Chao asked, gripping Shen Yuxi’s fingers firmly yet gently.
“Much better now,” Shen Yuxi replied, his voice calm and reassuring.
As he spoke, he turned his head to glance at the nearby puppets. His golden hair cascaded softly over his shoulder with the motion.
The puppets, perceptive as always, quickly understood that their father and dad needed some private time together. Even the youngest, Qiu Qiu, realized the importance of giving them space.
After ensuring that Shen Yuxi’s condition had stabilized, they quietly left the room in groups.
Shen Yuxi made no effort to stop them. Instead, once they were gone, he looked at Qi Chao and asked about what had happened.
Shen Yuxi had many questions he wanted to ask, but having just woken up, he had limited information to go on. All he knew was that Qi Chao and the family’s puppets had ventured out to find the world consciousness in an effort to save him.
“The world consciousness is here,” Qi Chao said.
Shen Yuxi’s gaze shifted to Qi Chao’s left hand, where he saw a red crystal. His voice carried a trace of curiosity. “A Mother Stone?”
Qi Chao hummed in affirmation and proceeded to explain what had happened. “I’m planning to make a body for the world consciousness now.”
His thumb brushed over the surface of the Mother Stone, where he could distinctly sense the presence of life within. The intuition granted by the Mother Tree told him that the stone in his hand could indeed be awakened as if it were a true Mother Stone.
Qi Chao’s decision to craft a body for the world consciousness wasn’t just born out of a mischievous streak. More importantly, it was because he needed to communicate with it.
The world consciousness couldn’t speak.
But with a body, they would finally be able to negotiate directly.
Shen Yuxi was momentarily stunned upon hearing Qi Chao’s plan. Negotiating with a fragmented dimensional consciousness—only Qi Chao would come up with such an idea. He chuckled softly. “If you want to do it, go ahead.”
He paused briefly. “But if you’re planning to make a puppet from scratch now, it will take quite a while.”
Especially with Qi Chao’s meticulous nature, such a task would only drag on longer.
“I know,” Qi Chao replied with a smile. “That’s why I wanted to ask you, Brother Shen, if you don’t mind, can I make some modifications to the first puppet you ever made?”
The first puppet?
Shen Yuxi blinked in mild surprise before realizing what Qi Chao meant. His mind went to the puppet shell stored in the cabinet in the basement. “You’re talking about the one in the basement, right?”
“Yes.”
No matter how much of a genius Shen Yuxi was, he had made a mistake during his first attempt at crafting a puppet.
Although it was only a minor flaw, he had deemed the result unsatisfactory. Since then, he had stored the faulty puppet shell in the basement and moved on to create the much more perfect Moss.
Since the puppet shell in the basement hadn’t been embedded with a Mother Stone, nor had its eyes or inner pathways been crafted, it was essentially an unfinished product—a resin shell with slight imperfections from Shen Yuxi’s first attempt.
Given the time constraints, Qi Chao couldn’t afford to make a puppet from scratch. Otherwise, with his perfectionist tendencies, he’d undoubtedly spend an unreasonable amount of time meticulously crafting, even for the slightly ridiculous world consciousness.
Despite being a prototype, the puppet’s appearance and design were stunning, with a sophistication that would hardly be an affront to the world consciousness.
“If you don’t mind the flaws in the puppet shell, I’d be happy to help,” Shen Yuxi said, a faint smile curving his lips. He seemed genuinely curious to see how Qi Chao would modify the puppet he had crafted.
How could Qi Chao possibly mind?
He returned Shen Yuxi’s smile and said, “I’ll head to the basement this afternoon.”
Shen Yuxi nodded, his gaze lingering on the red Mother Stone in Qi Chao’s hand. The smile in his eyes deepened.
What he looked forward to the most was the world consciousness's reaction upon seeing that puppet shell.
In fact, the world consciousness didn't even need to see the so-called unfinished puppet. Just hearing the two of them mention that the puppet had "flaws" was enough for it to brace itself for the worst.
In the span of a few minutes, whether it was the lowly, incomplete puppet or the mockable, clown-like puppet, the world consciousness had already imagined the worst-case scenarios. It understood all too well that in this world, puppets were seen as inferior beings, their shells ridiculed one after another.
How ridiculous it seemed for such a high-ranking existence as itself, a supreme being from a plane, to become something so pathetic. Even more infuriating was the fact that it couldn't escape.
While the world consciousness was suffering in turmoil, far away in the Imperial Palace in Linjing District, the Emperor was using his abilities to attempt to send it a message.
[Dear Heaven and Earth, please tell me where the core of the Convertor Device is now.]
The Convertor Device core, also known as the Mother Tree core, was currently in the trial grounds, the very place where it had just been captured. It was the source of all its pain. The thought of this made the already flawed world consciousness instantly seethe with anger.
On the other side, the Emperor waited eagerly for a response from Heaven and Earth. He closed his eyes, feeling the surge of energy, his heart filled with reverence. Then, suddenly, a sharp pain struck his head.
The Emperor recognized the pain and became even more excited. It was a sign that Heaven and Earth were sending him a message.
With his face flushed from excitement, he knelt fervently, ready to receive the divine will. But in the next moment, a thunderous echo filled his mind, the voice of Heaven and Earth resounding with overwhelming authority:
Scram—
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