Chapter 267: Version Update

A faint smile appeared on the blurry face of the Heavenly Dao’s manifestation.

By helping Lu Yan forge the Divine Court and attain the Second Heavenly Dao, the entire Great Traverse Version was now bound to Lu Yan.

Lu Yan had chosen to spread the name of the Netherworld Divine Court across the myriad versions, ascending in a single step to the status of the Myriad Heavens Divine Court. In turn, the Great Traverse Version would also benefit from this elevation.

If Lu Yan could ascend to even greater heights, the Great Traverse Heavenly Dao could then ride upon Lu Yan’s momentum to actively infiltrate other versions.

To the Heavenly Dao’s manifestation, it had more confidence in Lu Yan than even Lu Yan had in himself.

The moment Lu Yan touched the crystal sphere, it burst into a brilliant radiance, transforming into hundreds of projections that flickered around him.

These projections included version fragments that Lu Yan had destroyed, those devoured by the Changsheng Heaven, and even some that had existed briefly during the initial formation of the Great Collapse Version before being obliterated by the remnant Extinction Rule within the fragments.

The reason the Nine Heavens version fragments could contain the Extinction Rule was not because they alone possessed it, but because among all fragments touched by the rule, only the Nine Heavens could suppress it and endure till now.

Other version fragments, although destroyed, still left behind remnants that this world managed to capture.

As for those Extinction Rules, their traces were minuscule and had long been eroded by the Heavenly Dao’s order.

Now, all the fragments that once existed within the Great Collapse Version were projected into this moment.

Sweeping his divine sense across these projections, Lu Yan could clearly feel their frailty. Even with the Heavenly Dao’s manifestation maintaining them, they could barely endure a single Myriad Heavens Projection.

But for Lu Yan, once was enough.

The sky changed.

The great will presiding over the Great Collapse Version began to manifest. Golden Dao runes cascaded from the nine heavens like waterfalls, enveloping Lu Yan in a massive cocoon of light.

It was the Heavenly Dao’s gift—part of the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority split from the whole.

Within the cocoon, Lu Yan’s figure gradually blurred, replaced by a sacred silhouette woven from the Great Dao itself.

The surrounding void twisted and warped, countless minuscule space fissures flashing in and out of existence, as if the world itself trembled for this moment.

Golden radiance burst from Lu Yan’s body, piercing through the clouds, reaching the skies above the nine heavens.

His eyes transformed into twin golden moons, illuminating the entire void.

An indescribable grand will awakened within him. Every breath stirred the surrounding space. He raised his palm—within it floated a single speck of dust. With a thought, an entire mustard seed world unfolded from it.

Within the Great Collapse Version, the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority far surpassed the human-as-Heaven state in the Spiritual Revival Version.

“At this moment, I should be on par with a ‘This World’s Only One,’ shouldn’t I?”

A fleeting thought passed through Lu Yan’s mind. In the next moment, the supreme divine ability, Creation Manipulation, manifested in his palm.

As he formed hand seals, flowers of the Great Dao blossomed into existence, each bloom and wilt illustrating the cycles of all things.

With a single finger, he pointed to the void ahead—a winding river emerged from nothing, its waters crystal clear, reflecting a nonexistent starry sky.

With a sweep of his sleeve, majestic mountains rose from the earth, wreathed in mist.

Empowered by the status of a “This World’s Only One,” Lu Yan could now manifest all things with a single thought.

The once desolate Great Collapse Domain began to flourish at a staggering pace, brimming with new life.

With the support of the Second Heavenly Dao’s position and the entire version’s foundational power, Lu Yan’s understanding of Creation Manipulation surged rapidly.

But Lu Yan knew—the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority belonged solely to the Great Traverse Version. The moment he left, this state could no longer be maintained.

Thus, he cherished this opportunity to its fullest, tirelessly using Creation Manipulation to repair the damaged world.

Just as he flicked his finger to form spiritual veins across the land, a faint crack suddenly appeared at his fingertip.

So tiny—yet it snapped Lu Yan out of his moment of divine perfection.

In that instant, Lu Yan came to a realization.

“This version is vast beyond measure. Even the Second Heavenly Dao split from the full Dao is not something an ordinary being can withstand.

“Even those ranked as ‘This World’s Only One’ may not be able to bear the full might of the Second Heavenly Dao.

“Hence, one must establish a Divine Court, using its structure to anchor and disperse the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority. Only then can its full might be preserved.

“Borrowing the Divine Court’s power to partition the Dao—this is the foundation upon which one can become the momentum of the Dao, governing the past and future of this world’s cause and effect.”

With understanding came a trace of regret, but Lu Yan still withdrew his Creation Manipulation.

“Netherworld, manifest!”

At his decree, Lu Yan raised the Human Emperor Banner high. The long banner tore across the sky as a vast landmass began to materialize.

Unlike the former Changsheng Heaven, which was merely reflected in the heavens, the Netherworld’s minor realm now descended completely into the Great Collapse Domain.

First came the outlines of the continent, like a grand painting slowly unfolding, the edges still slightly blurred.

Then came the towering mountains imbued with Human Emperor’s Qi, and the surging Yellow River flowing through the earth.

Ghostly soldiers marched across the land. The five ghostly deities manipulated Probability Clouds to weave the rules of Heaven and Earth, exuding a chilling yet majestic aura unlike the mortal realm.

When the cosmic stars simulated by the Probability Cloud replaced the original firmament, and a black sun rose high above, the Netherworld minor realm fully descended.

Lu Yan, bearing the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority, took a step and appeared in the sky above the Netherworld.

With a single thought, the Second Heavenly Dao’s power surged around him, his form shifting violently.

Moments later, divine radiance converged, and a tall figure in black imperial robes emerged high in the heavens.

His robe was as dark as obsidian, embroidered with a pattern of nine dragons and heaven-earth, the dragons swirling with sun and moon, mountains and rivers—suffused with supreme Dao rhythms.

On his head, he wore a crown of thirty-six glazed pearls, each containing a miniature world teeming with life. Atop the crown, three golden divine flames surged toward the clouds, illuminating the broken void.

His face was obscured, but his golden eyes shone like twin full moons, gazing down through the projections of myriad versions.

“Today, I establish the Netherworld Divine Court, to govern the life, death, cause, and reincarnation of all Heavens!”

The voice of the Divine Court Emperor rang through the void—each word like an ancient celestial bell, shaking the foundation of reality.

His proclamation, like a great bell, echoed across the projections of myriad versions and entered countless worlds.

Though the worlds had not yet updated, still remaining in the Great Traverse Version, cause and effect had already been set, and information flowed through the realms—responses stirred in the unseen.

Threads of golden karma converged from all directions, like a vast web covering the multiverse.

Within this web were long-spread tales of the Netherworld, ancient myths, incense offerings, and prayers from apocalypse survivors, ghostly incense from the Immortal World’s Nine Nether City, and collective faith from the revived spiritual world.

The moment Lu Yan declared the name of the Netherworld, all karmic connections across time and space were inherited by the Divine Court.

Instantly, the entire Netherworld minor realm seemed to bear immeasurable weight. Once intangible incense and prayer power became clearly visible after convergence across versions.

The realm grew denser, and the once-desolate land began to shift toward the world’s perception of what a Netherworld should be.

At the same time, the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority began slowly transferring into the Divine Court.

Lu Yan’s gaze swept across the fading projections of the myriad Heavens. His eyes flickered, and he once more chanted a grand decree:

“I rule the Netherworld Divine Court.”

“My name is… Fengdu.”

In that instant, it was as though the declaration crossed infinite versions—countless worlds simultaneously resonated with the name Fengdu.

In the modern, spiritually revived city, a cultivator looked up to see the illusory shadow of a city in the night sky. In the Immortal World’s sect gate, an elder awoke from meditation sensing a shift in the underworld’s order. In a technologically advanced star domain, an ancient AI detected an interdimensional energy fluctuation.

Lu Yan’s consciousness spread, perceiving it all. He knew he had taken a pivotal step, leaving an indelible mark across the versions.

The next moment, the projections from all versions could no longer endure—the projections from the crystal sphere rapidly faded, severing the final bridge between the Great Traverse Version and others.

Only the living beings of this world remained as witnesses to this monumental change.

Within the Netherworld minor realm, as Fengdu City was established, the 6,600 ghostly soldiers entered its gates.

They wore black armor, wielded underworld weapons, and exuded divine might polished by tribulation. Though the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority they carried was now negligible, they had still completed their transformation—from ghostly spirits to Divine Court subordinates.

The five ghostly deities were stationed at the cardinal directions, their cultivation having broken through the Nascent Soul Realm. Now they bore the authority of underworld deities, received incense offerings, and carried the Heavenly Dao’s fortune.

Though only at the Nascent Soul level, within the Divine Court, they held the authority of True Gods.

Lu Yan overlooked the vast changes to the Netherworld minor realm, especially the massive Fengdu City at its core.

Though the Divine Court was now established, in Lu Yan’s eyes it was still exceedingly crude.

There was no cultivation system, no defined pantheon, and even its authority was merely borrowed from the Second Heavenly Dao.

Once he left the Great Traverse Version, the Second Heavenly Dao’s authority would vanish, leaving behind only a hollow shell.

In the void, the power of the Second Heavenly Dao around Lu Yan faded. The mighty figure of the Fengdu Emperor dissolved, revealing Lu Yan’s true body.

The so-called Lord of the Netherworld, Fengdu Emperor—was merely a disguise, a straw man he’d conjured.

By revealing the power of the Second Heavenly Dao in this manner, even if the This World’s Only Ones traced causality, they would only see the Great Collapse Domain.

A Divine Court ruler known throughout the versions could still deter many lower-level meddlers.

“Forging the Divine Court… is only the beginning.”

Lu Yan slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into Fengdu City.

When he opened them again, over a month had passed.

In this short time, the Great Collapse Domain had undergone earth-shaking transformation, but Lu Yan could spare no attention to it.

On the version update interface before him, the update progress had reached 99.9%.

As the characters jumped once more, space-time and causality around him began to freeze, and the world in Lu Yan’s eyes lost all color.

【Version update complete. Please select one version from the following for update.】

However, that line flickered away instantly—replaced by a string of blood-red garbled text.

Lu Yan’s expression remained calm. He simply stared at the version update interface until a clearer line finally emerged:

【Main God Version: Do you wish to understand the meaning of versions? Do you seek true transcendence?】

(End of Chapter)