Chapter 123: The Shackles of the Heavenly Dao—The Only One in This World?

Despite having undergone multiple version updates, the more Lu Yan learned, the more he marveled at the mysterious wonders of the world’s version-switching mechanics.

He glanced around, preparing to head toward the city center.

But the moment he took a step forward, he abruptly froze in place—his eyes fixed on a familiar figure on a nearby billboard.

It was a bald, muscle-bound man with a physique like a double-door refrigerator, grinning wide and flashing a mouthful of pearly white teeth.

This muscle-bound bald guy was none other than his subordinate—Shark.

Beneath the billboard, a slogan was written in bold:

“Kowloon Fitness Club—We Await Your Membership!”

Lu Yan fell silent for a long while, then lifted his personal terminal to search for information about this Kowloon Fitness Club.

His terminal had been brought over from the Cyber Version.

Due to the connection between the Soul Computer and the Intelligent God, all of City 14 had abandoned Soul Computers entirely, switching instead to the older soul-energy-based electronic computers. The personal terminal was a product of this hybrid tech.

While not nearly as powerful as a smartbrain, the terminal was more than enough to crush the Urban Version’s tech standards.

In less than a second, it connected to the internet and began searching for “Kowloon Fitness Club.” A flood of headlines immediately popped up on the screen.

“Shocking! Watch Shark’s rise from gym owner to Phoenix City Councilman in mere months!”
“The Rise of Gym Owner Shark!”
“Love and Hate at Kowloon Fitness Club—The Shark Saga!”
“Bodybuilding’s New Darling—Shark, Spokesperson for Steroids, and Founder of the Kowloon Fitness Club in Just Four Months!”

The barrage of headlines felt like clickbait straight out of a trashy news agency.

Lu Yan casually clicked one and began reading. Gradually, he pieced together Shark’s development in this Urban Version.

To the public, Shark had once been just a boxing gym owner. A few months ago, he was nearly imprisoned due to a tax evasion case.

During that time, Shark disappeared for a few days, then returned as the official distributor of a steroid supplement known as Kowloon Power.

The product took the bodybuilding scene by storm due to its fast effects and low side effects. Shark’s fame skyrocketed as he posted countless videos online, raking in views and influence.

Recently, Phoenix City passed a controversial tax bill that sparked public outrage. Protests erupted, and when the city council sent police to suppress them, Shark led over ten thousand Kowloon Fitness Club members to stand up and fight for the people.

In the aftermath of the unrest, a new city council election was held. A retired executive named Rumpf became the new city council speaker—and Shark was elected as a councilman.

Now a public official, Shark’s popularity soared even further. Rumor had it that fitness enthusiasts from neighboring cities were flocking to join the Kowloon Fitness Club. Over four thousand core members had achieved perfect physiques using Kowloon Power, and the organization’s influence had grown astoundingly large.

After reading all this, Lu Yan was left utterly speechless.

The brutal death arena had become a boxing gym. The Kowloon Society’s powerful leader, once commanding millions in the lower districts, had transformed into a viral fitness influencer. And the four thousand-plus soul-users? Now they were just four thousand jacked gym bros.

The only thing that hadn’t changed… was the Kowloon Power supplement.

While marveling at the absurdity of version updates, Lu Yan began contemplating a deeper question.

“If the Cyber Version can reflect onto the Urban Version… then what role would the Intelligent God play here?

Could He be a hidden AI lurking in the shadows? Or maybe a death game disguised under a different skin?”

The pressure the Intelligent God brought in the Cyber Version had been overwhelming—so much so that Lu Yan had nearly forgotten one crucial trump card: his ability to kill across versions.

“The Urban Version’s nature ensures that this world won’t contain any supernatural elements. No matter how strong someone is in another version, once they return here, they’re just an ordinary person… unless, like me, they’ve broken free of those limitations and become an ‘unchanging one.’

Maybe… I can eliminate the Intelligent God right here in the Urban Version.”

Lu Yan’s eyes gleamed.

The last time he returned to the Urban Version, he had only just started to understand version mechanics. Even so, he had managed to kill the man behind Storekeeper Chu, solving a major threat.

Now, the Intelligent God from the Cyber Version had already marked him.

If the version changed again, no one could predict what the Intelligent God might become.

Rather than wait passively for the next encounter, why not find the Intelligent God’s origin point in the Urban Version—and destroy Him now?

With that thought in mind, Lu Yan immediately issued a command to his terminal.

“Search for real information on artificial intelligence or death games.”

The personal terminal processed quickly. Soon, it displayed nothing but ads for games, movies, and promotional content from companies—none of it what Lu Yan was looking for.

He frowned slightly and gave another command:

“Search the entire web. Confirm the existence of real artificial intelligence—not fake ads.”

This time, the terminal worked significantly slower. Finally, a single sentence appeared:

[No relevant information found.]

Lu Yan was genuinely surprised.

In the Cyber Version, the Intelligent God wielded such immense influence that He essentially controlled the entire world.

And yet here, even someone like Shark existed—how could the Intelligent God not?

Unless… the Urban Version never had an Intelligent God to begin with!

A chill crept through Lu Yan’s heart. He suddenly thought of something and, pretending to reach into his coat pocket, discreetly took out an ancient-looking book from his storage pouch.

The cover read in bold, archaic characters: “Treatise on the Heavenly Dao.”

Lu Yan flipped through the pages until he found the passage he remembered.

The Treatise on the Heavenly Dao stated that even Immortals who ascended to the highest realms were merely pursuing deeper harmony with the Dao. But that pursuit was flawed.

The more one conformed to the Heavenly Dao, the more one became bound by its constraints—and thus failed to see the Dao’s impermanence.

“The stronger one is, the more impossible it is to break free from the shackles of the Heavenly Dao.
On the contrary, it was Zhao Huowang—just an ordinary man—who could perceive the truths of many versions.”

“So this so-called Heavenly Dao’s shackle… could it mean that powerful beings can’t follow the version update?”

“For instance, the Intelligent God of the Cyber Version—His entire foundation is built on soul-energy laws. He’s become so powerful that He’s been permanently locked into the Cyber Version.

No matter how the version changes, He can only manifest in that version.”

“This is… the only one in this world?”

(End of Chapter)