Chapter 1 Truthfully Deserved

To be honest, Lily thoroughly deserved that lightning strike. Had she simply said that Raven 12345 was crazy, she wouldn't have been struck. It was only because the husky didn't think before speaking and directly questioned the goddess's intelligence – though Hao Ren also felt the girl had a point.

But whether Raven 12345's settings were flawed or the situation was indeed more complex than expected, the crucial crystal core was lost. And the loss of the core was secondary; more importantly, a critical clue was gone:

The great rift in the Rift Nebula likely led to some ruin of the Creation Goddess!

"Can you make a new core?" Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 with anticipation. From her words, he gathered that the goddess sister only took two hours to make the thing, so it didn't seem too complicated.

Unexpectedly, Raven 12345 shook her head. "There's only one core."

"You can't make a new one?" Hao Ren was surprised. "Didn't you say it only took two hours to make?"

"The processing is simple, but there's only one batch of raw materials," Raven 12345 glanced sideways at Hao Ren. "Do you know what that crystal was made of?"

Hao Ren shook his head.

"It's something that fell out of the Rift Nebula," Raven 12345 pointed to the swirling chaotic void in space. "Over two thousand years ago, the Wall of Reality collapsed here, tearing the entire galaxy to shreds. The rift spewed out a large amount of material from the Dream Plane like a fountain. Almost all of these materials were annihilated into raw energy by the opposing laws, but only one thing survived: a huge crystal. What it originally was is impossible to verify because it was severely distorted in the process of crossing the Wall of Reality. Its external form and even its essence changed. It might have been a stone, a ray of light, or even a person—whatever it was, it condensed in the great annihilation and became a 'medium' belonging to both the Dream Plane and the mortal world. The crystal core I gave you was carved from that crystal, with my mark and some advanced rune technology added. Now you understand, the technology itself is simple, but the material is irreplaceable. It bears the mark of the Dream Plane, and that is something I can't interfere with."

Hao Ren never expected that the twisted, unremarkable crystal had such a history. After hearing Raven 12345's explanation, he knew that finding a second core was probably impossible.

"Looks like you'll have to go to the Dream Plane to find it," Lily said, poking Hao Ren's arm with her claw, her hair a mess from the lightning. "Something that awesome probably won't break... probably."

Raven 12345 left without giving Hao Ren a "blessing" or muttering anything. She simply tasked him with finding the crystal core in the Dream Plane and opening the door from the other side of the Wall of Reality.

And that was enough to make Hao Ren agonize.

After a discussion among the three inspectors, Hao Ren had a rough idea.

The crystal core was not activated properly, so it was still in the "silent state" of deployment. It was unlikely that it could be recovered by tracking signals or similar means. The only valuable clue he had was the short information feedback wave that Anthony had detected.

The instant the crystal core passed through the great rift, the passage briefly opened, leaking the aura of the Dream Plane from the other side of the "door." Based on this trace of aura, he might still be able to find where the core fell.

Hopefully, it didn't fall too far. If the signal came from outside the range of the drone swarm, it would be a big problem.

"We can't help you if you go to the Dream Plane," Galazur said apologetically. "Only you have permission to cross the Wall of Reality at the moment, and we each have our own things to do."

"You've already helped me a lot; I'm honestly quite sorry," Hao Ren sincerely thanked the two seniors. "What follows is my personal mission, and I can handle it myself."

Anthony appeared on another communication screen. "Galazur and I will leave the construction unit here. After we leave, it will continue to work, first building the framework of the 'door.' When you find the core's location in the Dream Plane, you can directly perform the door-opening operation there."

Lily thought for a moment and interjected, "Hey, when the landlord opens the door again, should we set up an interception net or something here?"

Hao Ren was a little stunned. "What would we need an interception net for?"

"In case you throw the core too hard again and it comes back over here," Lily's husky logic was very reasonable and convincing. "That way, we can catch it in time and throw it again..."

Hao Ren's face darkened. "Do you think this is beanbag toss?!"

Due to the unexpected loss of the core, Hao Ren's ambitious "door-opening plan" had to be postponed, and Mimir's reunion with his brothers and the research work of Little White also had to be put on hold. To be honest, it was quite frustrating. Hao Ren felt like he had agreed to a duel at the Forbidden City, only to find that after ten years of hard training, the Forbidden City had been demolished and turned into a children's amusement park. And it was even worse than that—if it was a children's amusement park, you could still get over it and duel on a carousel. But on Hao Ren's side, the person he was supposed to duel with was gone… and he had to travel thousands of miles to find him.

Hao Ren was worried, so worried that he was pulling out his hair by the handful, muttering, "Opening a door is so fraught with setbacks… Why do I suddenly feel like this door is cursed?"

Nangong Sanba was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"The self-awareness of a troublemaker," Hao Ren slapped his thigh. "I've learned from the past three years that anything I'm in charge of usually has some hidden agenda, and the degree of the hidden agenda is directly proportional to the amount of trouble I go through."

Everyone: "..."

The project was suspended, so there was no point in staying there. After arranging the subsequent construction program for the automated equipment, Galazur and Anthony returned to their respective territories, and Hao Ren and Vivian went back to Midgard again.

They had to pick up Odin.

The King of the Nordic Gods (former) had unloaded the burden from his shoulders, and his exhausted body and mind were really not suitable to continue messing around in this world undergoing reconstruction. After a thorough exchange of views, Hao Ren and Vivian decided to take Odin back to Earth—at least in the Sanctuary for Unusual Creatures there, Odin could see some familiar faces, which would be good for the old man's recovery.

As for the Valkyrie who was left behind to guard the gate in Asgard, Hao Ren would arrange a direct teleportation privilege to Asgard for Odin, so it would still be easy for them to meet.

As for the Twilight Remnants on the continent of Midgard… to be honest, the old man still couldn't let go of them, but the beauty of mankind lies in its tenacity and power to survive and develop. Seeing the Twilight people starting to build new homes in the wilderness, Odin felt it was time for him to retire from the position of "Ancient Sage."

After all, he had completely handed over the authority of the Nine Realms to Hao Ren, and for the rest of the matter, he chose to trust his chosen successor.

Standing on a small hill in the Midgard wilderness, Hao Ren and Odin looked out over the distant plains. Rumbling steam machinery was leveling the foundations around the new city, and a team of explorers in scholar robes was heading towards the Black Forest next to the new city under the escort of heavily armored Twilight Guards. The leader of the explorers was none other than Wendell, and behind him was Hope, who had once broken with him.

Just as this world was gradually healing, this father and son seemed to be resolving their conflicts as well.

Odin looked up at the clear sky. The blue-green Purgatory Star was hanging in the center of the zenith, a thin beam of light extending from the surface of the Purgatory Star, pointing in the direction of the Nine Realms, and twisting and disappearing into a spatial rift halfway. That was the youngest daughter's tentacle, the "Tower of Heaven" connecting the two "worlds." When Little Black was in a good mood, this tentacle would be shrouded in a soft light.

"It's been over two thousand years since I saw a sunny day," Odin said softly with emotion, "and sunlight from the outside world…"

"Yggdrasil is now in a semi-open state. Sunlight from the prime material world can shine into the Nine Realms after filtering, and the extra energy can accelerate the recovery of the ecosystem," Hao Ren nodded. "The connecting bridge between Purgatory and the Nine Realms is located in Nibelungen, but Little Black hasn't opened that passage yet. She wants to wait until the people of both worlds are ready."

"Little Black…" Odin's mouth twitched, but he didn't say anything.

A snow-white girl was floating around, her feet not touching the ground like a light cloud. When she floated in front of him, Hao Ren said, "Little White—stop floating around, I have something to tell you. After we leave, you have to manage the ecological balance of Purgatory and the Nine Realms. Don't leave everything to Little Black. She's a little… manic right now, so you need to keep an eye on her."

"I know, I know." Little White casually agreed as she circled around Hao Ren. "Aren't you coming back?"

"Of course I'm coming back," Hao Ren smiled. "I'm still the lord of the Nine Realms. At the very least, I have to come back and check on the Valkyrie in Asgard. Her condition is worrying. And I've left a lot of monitors here, so I'll know if anything happens. If there's an emergency, you can call me directly. The communicator is on the Starmap."

"I knowwww—" Little White replied as she floated away.

"Let's go," Hao Ren nudged the somewhat absent-minded Odin. "Don't look, it's not like you can't come back. If you keep looking, you'll be even more reluctant to leave."

"Oh, oh…"

A beam of light descended from the sky, and Hao Ren and his party left this place.