After Ye Ling and the inner demon entered the city using their "passes," they discovered that everything within the city was also composed entirely of words.
There were streets formed from the character "stone," with "houses" on either side. Even "residents" selling words from stalls lined the roads.
Within this city of words, Ye Ling attempted to create the character "money" using his power of creation. As expected, the character "money" could be used to purchase anything in the city. Ye Ling and the inner demon even bought a property using "money"!
After touring the city of words with Ye Ling, the inner demon returned to their purchased "house" and smiled at Ye Ling, saying, "Other me, this realm of truth is entirely constructed from words. Even the beings here need words to converse. And your power of creation can create words. Therefore, in this realm of truth, you are an omnipotent deity."
Ye Ling replied, "Even if the power of creation can create words, so what? We are not planning to live in this realm of truth. Even if I am omnipotent here, do you really have the interest to contend for supremacy with a bunch of characters?"
"Other me, this is where your perspective matters," the inner demon smiled at Ye Ling. "I believe the power of creation is the key to breaking through our predicament."
"Explain?" Ye Ling looked at the inner demon and asked.
The inner demon queried, "From whom does your power of creation originate?"
Ye Ling responded, "What kind of question is that? You and I both know that the power of creation is the power of good."
The inner demon continued, "Then, did we come to this realm of truth to find the missing Good and Evil?"
Ye Ling affirmed, "Naturally. I wouldn't forget our primary objective."
The inner demon elaborated, "According to Xuan Yu, Good and Evil have entered this realm of truth more than once. They must be extremely familiar with this place. Moreover, Good wields a stronger power of creation than you, and even Evil's runes should be able to exert immense power within this realm of truth!"
Ye Ling countered, "We have been in this realm of truth for some time now. There is no power here that can threaten us, let alone threaten Good and Evil."
Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly. "When you say this, are you implying that Good and Evil did not disappear passively, but rather vanished intentionally?"
The inner demon mused, "That possibility cannot be ruled out. And another me, have you ever considered why this world of words is called the Realm of Truth?"
Ye Ling pondered, "Because we are all characters in a book?"
The inner demon suggested, "Let's think more boldly... The Pure White Realm contains countless books, and the worldview of each book is a world. If those books were not naturally born but artificially created... then the Book of Origin, which we have entered, is also very likely to be artificially created, and perhaps the most special one."
"The most special one..." Ye Ling murmured, then suddenly looked at the inner demon. "Are you suggesting that all the books in the Pure White Realm are constructed based on the Realm of Truth as a template?"
The inner demon nodded. "Yes... it's like an article composed of a series of textual symbols. Different combinations of characters can create different articles... And this Realm of Truth provides the characters for those books in the Pure White Realm. Different combinations of characters then produce different worldviews."
"Simply put... this Realm of Truth is equivalent to a dictionary!"
"A dictionary..." Ye Ling murmured and nodded slightly. "Indeed, your analogy is very fitting. If someone constructed our world using the Realm of Truth, then this Realm of Truth is probably the closest we can get to the real world."
The inner demon continued, "Precisely... If we continue down this line of reasoning, Good and Evil disappearing in the Realm of Truth without returning to the Pure White Realm might mean they have truly escaped from the words and gone to the real world that created the Pure White Realm, becoming true humans."
"They transformed from nothingness to reality, which is why they cannot return... Just like when we read a book, although our spirits roam within the worldview constructed in the book, no matter how real the writing is, it is still false. We cannot enter the book."
"They left the book and became real people?" Ye Ling pondered for a moment, then looked at the inner demon. "Everything we have analyzed so far is speculation. How can we verify this?"
The inner demon proposed, "The power of creation can create all words, so it should also be able to create a sword of words that can break through this Realm of Truth. As long as we break through the Realm of Truth, we will know the truth."
"However, other me, if we truly break through the Realm of Truth and go to the real world, we must be prepared to never return."
"Are you... sure you can abandon everything in nothingness? Even if it's all false, just a worldview constructed by a book."
"Is everything in nothingness false?" Ye Ling murmured, falling into silence.
The inner demon did not disturb Ye Ling and walked aside, independently studying the city of words.
Although the inner demon had now become a completely independent entity, even possessing powers distinct from Ye Ling's, the inner demon was ultimately Ye Ling's inner demon, another facet of Ye Ling, and possessed all of Ye Ling's emotions.
What Ye Ling was reluctant to part with, the inner demon also felt the same.
Both were heavy with thought.
At this moment, the characters "咚咚" (dong dong) appeared on their "door," followed by the phrase "Traveler from afar, the Emperor summons you" drifting in from the "door."
Seeing the words, Ye Ling temporarily suppressed his thoughts, opened the "door," and saw the "General" standing outside with a group of "soldiers."
"The Emperor is looking for us?" Ye Ling replied using created words with his power of creation.
"Yes, please follow me."
The "General" replied respectfully, his attitude having changed significantly from before.
"Other me, this is a good opportunity for us to consider whether to meet the Emperor of words and see what they want," the inner demon emerged and asked Ye Ling.
Ye Ling nodded slightly, then used words to reply to the "General": "Alright, lead the way."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
The "General" bowed respectfully to Ye Ling, then led Ye Ling and the inner demon towards the imperial palace of words.
Like the city of words, everything in the imperial palace of words was also composed of words. However, the surrounding "residents" had been replaced by "imperial guards," "palace maids," and "eunuchs."
Ye Ling and the inner demon proceeded unimpeded into the imperial palace hall and saw the "Emperor" seated on the "dragon throne."
Before Ye Ling and the inner demon could speak, the "Emperor" said in words, "Travelers from afar, my kingdom is facing an unprecedented crisis. You are my hope, please lend me your assistance."