Emperor God's voice echoed in my ears as I looked around.
"Come out."
I shouted, but nothing happened. The entire world seemed to freeze—there was nothing, not even the faintest whisper of wind.
I used my power to destroy some houses, but they did not restore themselves; they remained ruined. I started wandering, trying to see how many similar houses and streets there were. I thought I could use some streets as markers to help me know where I was.
After a while, I returned to the street with the destroyed houses and found that they still hadn't recovered.
I wondered whether everything I saw was just an illusion, or if I had been moved to some space they created with their spells.
But after thinking for a long time, I still couldn't reach a conclusion. I could only sit dazed on the rooftop, staring up at the unchanging starry sky.
Time passed—how many days, I couldn't tell. Nothing changed in this world; it was always a starry night, a silent city.
No matter how I searched, I couldn't find anything resembling a wall. If I could, I'd try using my power on it. But no matter what kind or how strong my power was, all I could destroy were the houses below—everything else remained untouched.
In my rage, waves of immense power began to surge from my body. Streams of white energy danced like wild wind, spreading in all directions. The entire city was effortlessly destroyed by my strength—the ground cracked, houses collapsed, and I kept on wrecking everything I could.
After a long while, I looked down at the city below, now reduced to ruins. The devastation stretched as far as the eye could see. I walked to the edge of the destruction and saw, in the distance, a vast expanse of cities, each one starkly different from the last.
My agitation gradually gave way to numbness. I had no idea what to do. I was powerless in the face of everything before me. But one thing was certain: this wasn't Phantom Sage using his illusions to deceive my senses—this was a real part of the Yang Realm. I had no idea how they managed to trap me in a world that could extend infinitely, making it impossible for me to find a way out.
"The Yang Realm?"
Suddenly, I snapped awake and landed on the roof of a house, gasping for breath as I sat down. No matter how things changed here, no matter what appeared, it was always the Yang Realm—the place where human faith comes to die.
Something clicked in my mind. My only option now was to figure out their true purpose. Surely, it wasn't just to trap Xu Fu and me. If that was all, there'd be no need to create those illusory citizens of Oasis City after daylight, nor to disperse the power that had previously surrounded us. It must have been something that happened while Xu Fu and I were moving through the desert.
Thinking carefully, the Yang Realm had suffered massive upheaval. Curse power had utterly destroyed this world, leaving it shattered and broken. Could it possibly recover in such a short time? And could those autonomous citizens truly be created by the power of those three?
Thinking carefully, the Yang Realm had suffered massive upheaval. Curse power had utterly destroyed this world, leaving it shattered and broken. Could it possibly recover in such a short time? And could those autonomous citizens truly be created by the power of those three?
"What are they really hiding?"
I muttered in confusion, then got up and started exploring some houses. Inside, everything was complete—there were both ancient and modern items, along with some bizarre things. It reminded me of when Zhang Qingyuan and the others first arrived in the Yang Realm and saw those massive piles of strange junk. All of it was the product of human phenomena—things imagined in childhood, believed in when naive, but mostly incomplete. As people grew up, these childish things stopped being recognized, and the first things they ever believed in simply died.
Some people, when young, see an airplane and want to build one. But what they imagine is just a shell with no interior. As they grow up, they selectively abandon these things, and the things they once believed in die—whether objects or parts of themselves—when they come to this world.
I inspected everything in the house carefully and found plenty of oddities: soccer balls that were mere shells, so light they felt like balloons, and strange machines that were nothing but empty husks.
Previously, the Human Soul and Earth Soul had both visited the junkyard where Entity 001 resides. That place is an ocean of trash, where the materialized products of human imagination end up discarded.
"Could it be..."
Seeing an empty car shell not far away, I hurried over. It was just a shell, with no wheels, sitting in a large room. I pressed my hand to my head—Zhang Qingyuan had seen this car before.
I returned to the distant city I'd already destroyed. Searching through the ruins, I found some iron plates. Upon closer inspection, they were the deck of some kind of ship. I remembered the giant warships Zhang Qingyuan had seen before—just shells, nothing inside.
"So that's it. They use these things, born from the death of primitive imagination, as the foundation. Then, they build this world on the things people believe exist after gaining cognition, making faith the basis of reality here."
By now, I'd already figured out how to break free from my current predicament—and how to destroy the gods they created. The solution was simple.
"Because this is the Yang Realm."
I smiled. Since this is the graveyard of human faith—the place where the first things people believed in die—all I need to do is create something real. Then, this world will naturally reject it.
I began to ponder carefully. It was possible to create something truly functional here—the materials were sufficient. I remembered when Zhang Qingyuan came to this place, the robot he saw gave me a hint. Later, Zhang Qingyuan encountered Entity 016, known as Winter in the Yang Realm.
That robot, which could move but had only a faint consciousness, was probably the product of someone in the Yang Realm who, though no longer truly believing, still subconsciously imagined its existence. That's why the robot appeared so incomplete.
Thinking of the Forsaken in the Yang Realm, it's because their inner beliefs collapsed that they appear here in a different form. Entity 001 is like this, Agent Seven is like this, and so is Entity 016.
I tried to recall exactly what a car running on the road looked like. All its structural parts started to surface in my mind. Since I've observed the world for years, I remember clearly how many things in this world are fundamentally constructed.
Smiling, I raised both hands. White streams of energy scattered in all directions. I found the car shell, then began searching for everything needed to build a real car.
After a while, I gathered many materials and placed them beside the car.
Instinct. Origin.
In an instant, golden-red light shone from my eyes. Every part of the car's structure surfaced in my mind—I remembered them all clearly.
Under my power, each material was shaped and refined, gradually taking form. I began assembling the car, installing the engine, laying the floor, fitting the tires, and connecting every component piece by piece.
A few hours later, when everything was done, I got into the car, inserted the key, and started it up. The engine roared as I drove onto the street—I'd created everything the car needed.
Suddenly, I realized everything around me was becoming unstable. Cracks appeared in houses and objects. I stopped—if I kept making real things, things that truly exist in the real world, this place would inevitably react. But since all my materials came from this world, they wouldn't be rejected.
The Forsaken, who loathe real things, should sense this too. I kept searching the city for materials, trying to make as many real things from the Yang Realm as possible.
Gradually, I built more cars and small boats, frantically using everything in this world to create real objects. The city twisted in many places—abnormalities appeared. Soon, a dramatic change would occur, and I should be able to find the exit.
All of Zhang Qingyuan's memories in this world kept surfacing in my mind.
I'm grateful Agent Seven told me about his past, and for Entity 001's unique power. All of this helped me understand what this world really is.
Gradually, cracks appeared on the ground throughout the city. As I made more things, the whole city grew more unstable.
In the distance, a fierce black tornado rose and swept everything up. It was curse power—I could feel it. I stood up and quietly watched everything unfold before me.
False things should be destroyed, even gods are no exception.