Chapter 888: Maintainer
After hearing this, Li Yang's heart was filled with ripples.
It turned out that before the appearance of the [System], the way the world operated had already begun to solidify.
"So..." he said thoughtfully,
"The [System] is not the initiator, but the continuation of some older power?"
The human-shaped phantom nodded gently:
"That's right. And that ancient power is the concept of 'order' itself."
At this moment, a violent vibration suddenly came from the sky.
The originally gray sky began to crack, and countless light spots fell from the cracks.
"Not good!" [Observer] suddenly screamed, "Something is breaking through the barrier of the conceptual level!"
Li Yang looked up and saw that the cracks in the sky were getting bigger and bigger, and a huge existence was slowly descending.
It was a huge sphere made of pure light, with circuit board-like patterns on the surface.
Every pattern was emitting a heart-pounding pressure.
"It is the manifestation of the concept of 'order'." [Eternity] looked solemn,
"Obviously... this thing has sensed our contact with the exiled concept."
The sphere slowly turned and made a mechanical sound:
"Conceptual pollution detected, start the cleanup procedure."
Before the words fell, countless beams of light shot out from the surface of the sphere and enveloped everyone.
Wherever those beams passed, the space began to reorganize and become regular and orderly.
And the human-shaped phantoms transformed by the abandoned concepts let out a wail and began to dissipate rapidly.
"It is... erasing all existences that do not conform to mainstream cognition!"
Bai Zhi exclaimed.
Li Yang realized the seriousness of the situation.
If this concept representing "order" is allowed to perform the cleanup, not only will the exiled ancient wisdom disappear completely, they may also be assimilated.
But at this critical moment, those abandoned concepts suddenly took action.
Countless memory fragments reorganized in the air, forming a huge protective shield that enveloped Li Yang and others.
"Quick... leave here." The reverberation of many voices sounded again, "We will buy you time."
"But..." Li Yang wanted to say something, but was stopped by [Eternity].
"They are right." The silver-haired middle-aged man said in a deep voice,
"We are not able to fight against the entity of the concept of 'order' now."
"But at least... we already know the truth."
Bai Zhi maintained the plant barrier and said anxiously:
"But how can we leave here? We don't know where the exit is!"
At this moment, [Observer] suddenly said: "Maybe... we can use the space cracks just created."
"When the barrier at the conceptual level is broken, there will be an opportunity to return to the material plane."
Li Yang quickly understood what he meant.
Indeed, the sphere representing "order" has created a large number of cracks in the conceptual space in order to descend.
If you can seize the right opportunity to cross these cracks, you may really find a way back.
But the question is, how can you break through the dense network of beams?
At this moment, those abandoned concepts suddenly dispersed and turned into countless tiny fragments.
These fragments were arranged in a certain way, forming a passage leading to the high-altitude crack.
"This is..." Bai Zhi thought, "They are using their existence to create a passage for us..."
Obviously, those abandoned concepts are resisting the cleansing of the "order" concept at the cost of themselves, and strive for a chance for Li Yang and others to escape.
"Let's go!" Li Yang made a prompt decision, "We can't live up to their sacrifice!"
Several people quickly climbed up along the passage composed of memory fragments.
During this period, several beams of light attacked, but they were all blocked by the surrounding fragments.
Finally, they came to the nearest space crack.
Through the crack, you can vaguely see the scene of the material plane.
But just as he was about to jump in, Li Yang suddenly stopped.
"Wait." He turned and looked at the fragmented memory fragments below.
"Before leaving, I want to ask one last question."
"Where is the existence that originally made the rules and exiled you now?"
The fragments gave their final response:
"It... is at the source of the rules."
"In the center that supports the operation of the entire world."
Before the words fell, a dazzling light suddenly shot out from the sphere, annihilating all the remaining fragments.
Li Yang and others were shocked by the shock wave and flew backwards, falling directly into the space crack.
At the moment of crossing the crack, Li Yang heard the last vague words:
"Go find it... Then, change everything..."
The next moment, everyone's consciousness fell into a brief blank.
When Li Yang regained consciousness again, he found himself lying on a barren plain.
There was nothing around, only the whistling wind echoing in his ears.
"This is..." He struggled to sit up and looked around.
Bai Zhi and [Eternity] also woke up one after another, while [Observer] maintained the form of a raven and stood on a piece of gravel not far away.
"We are back to the material plane."
The silver-haired middle-aged man rubbed his temple,
"But it seems that we have come to a strange place."
Li Yang nodded.
This wasteland was obviously not where they were before.
But what concerned him more now was the information he had just heard in the conceptual space.
"The source of the rules... the center of the world's operation..." he muttered to himself, "What exactly is that place?"
Just then, [Observer] suddenly made a low sound:
"Interesting... This is actually the 'blind spot of the rules'."
"Blind spot?" Bai Zhi asked in confusion.
The raven flapped its wings and quacked in response:
"It is the area where the rules are weaker."
"In such a place, the boundaries between concepts will become blurred."
"That is to say..." It turned its head, "We may be able to find some clues here."
Li Yang was thoughtful.
Indeed, if you want to find the source of the rules, starting from the weak places of the rules seems to be a good choice.
But at this moment, a strange sound suddenly came from a distance.
It was a harsh sound similar to metal friction, accompanied by the rhythm of some kind of mechanical operation.
Several people looked vigilantly, and saw a huge black shadow appear on the horizon.
It was a huge machine, shaped like a mechanical spider, and was slowly moving towards this side.
"What is that?" Bai Zhi frowned and asked.
[Eternity] narrowed his eyes:
"It looks like some kind of device to maintain the rules..."
"Where the rules are weak, this kind of mechanical creation does appear to strengthen the constraints of order."
Li Yang's mind moved:
"Like the sphere we saw before?"
"Not exactly the same." [Observer] explained calmly,
"That one exists at the conceptual level, and this one is more like its projection on the material plane."
