Chapter 434: Creator's Authority

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying the so-called real world, meaning Heaven and Hell, was made by the Creator?"

Xiao Yuan nodded happily. "Yes!"

To Su Mu, the Creator felt much like a god of creation from mythology, the source of everything.

If it was really as Xiao Yuan said, then fundamentally, there was no difference between the real world and the Dream World. Both were just creations of higher-dimensional entities.

Did such an entity truly exist in this world? One capable of creating time and space, the laws of the universe, and all living creatures...

Xiao Yuan once again saw through Su Mu's thoughts and asked, "Is that so strange?"

Su Mu chuckled. "The thought that everything was created by another being is probably a bit strange for a human."

Xiao Yuan didn't seem to understand. She asked in surprise, "Human thoughts are really strange. If there were no Creator, how do you think the world was formed? Where did time and space come from? Why do the rules of all things operate with such perfect precision?

"You humans have survived to this day and discovered many laws of the universe, like gravity. You can calculate gravity, but have you ever thought about who established it? Why does gravity exist in the first place?"

Su Mu fell into deep thought.

Xiao Yuan continued, "Some people believe the world was formed naturally. In that case, the Creator is nature itself. The Creator isn't a human-shaped God like humans imagine, one who can communicate like the gods of myth. The Creator is an existence that cannot be understood or described."

"Since you said the dream I live in was created by the God of Nightmares, how did this Computer—or this Jade Disk—become the origin of the Dream World?"

"You can call this Jade Disk the Creator's Authority. If you want to know about it, I'll have to start from the beginning.

"The Creator made everything, and then died. This death isn't quite the same as death in the human sense. For the Creator, death is just another state of being. Since humans can't comprehend this state, just consider it death for now.

"After dying, the Creator left behind the Creator's Authority, which is the Jade Disk you see now. Of course, it can be anything, taking any form. Just think of it as a Jade Disk or a Computer or whatever."

Xiao Yuan scratched her head, seemingly unable to express exactly what the Creator's Authority was with words. After all, human language had its limits. Many things simply couldn't be described with words.

"The Gods of this world started a divine war to fight over the Creator's Authority. The divine war lasted a very long time, and the Authority ultimately fell into the hands of the Heavenly Venerate of Myriad Laws."

The Heavenly Venerate of Myriad Laws?

This was a God Su Mu had never heard of before. Now that he mingled in the Divine Dream World and Hell, he had seen quite a few Gods, such as the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity, the Primal Angel, and the evil gods sealed in the Abyss. Even if he hadn't seen some of them in person, he had at least seen their corresponding cults.

But the Heavenly Venerate of Myriad Laws was an exception. Not only had he never heard of this figure, but he had also never seen a cult devoted to him.

Su Mu listened quietly. He knew there had to be a twist, because the Creator's Authority was in the hands of the God of Nightmares, not the Heavenly Venerate of Myriad Laws.

Xiao Yuan continued, "However, just as the Heavenly Venerate of Myriad Laws was preparing to fuse with the Authority, Xuan Tian slipped into his dreams. Xuan Tian is the name of the God of Nightmares. Xuan Tian stole the Authority from within the dream.

"Then, all the Gods began to fight over the Authority in his hands. To resist the Gods, Xuan Tian used the power of the Authority to shatter the boundary between reality and dreams, intending to drag the entire world into Nightmare.

"Nightmare was his domain. As long as he succeeded, the Gods wouldn't be able to defeat him.

"Unfortunately, Xuan Tian hadn't held the Authority for very long, and his power wasn't enough to rival the Gods. He ultimately failed. Before dying, he used his last bit of strength to activate the Creator's Authority and fabricate this fake Dream World to isolate the Gods.

"That is the origin of the world you live in."

"Then what about Hell?"

"Hell is right beneath the surface. Although Xuan Tian died back then, the Nightmare he created continued to spread endlessly. To isolate the corruption of the Nightmare, the Gods sealed the Nightmare Creatures along with the corrupted humans and entities of the Demigod Realm beneath the earth. That became the current Hell."

"Then why is the Dream World inside the Abyss of Hell?"

"In the beginning, the Dream World was completely illusory and had no concept of location. It could appear anywhere. But as its reality increased, it gradually gained a fixed position. To stay away from the Gods, I anchored the Dream World at the bottom of the Abyss. It's the place furthest from the Gods."

Su Mu's eyes flickered. "You? You can control this Dream World?"

Xiao Yuan nodded. "Yeah. I'm essentially the product of Xuan Tian's power combining with the Creator's Authority."

Su Mu grew thoughtful. He mostly understood it now. This Divine Dream World was a fake world fabricated by Xuan Tian using the Creator's Authority, and the Land of Origin was essentially the hub of the dream, managing and constructing everything within it.

If the Dream World was compared to a virtual computer program, then the Land of Origin was the server room, the Creator's Authority was the Computer, and Xiao Yuan was an existence similar to an artificial intelligence.

If the Dream World was compared to a dream, then the Land of Origin was the dreamer, the Creator's Authority was the human brain, and Xiao Yuan was the consciousness.

"Xiao Yuan, what is the meaning of your existence?"

"Meaning?" Xiao Yuan tilted her head, her large eyes filled with deep confusion. "I don't understand what meaning is."

"Then what about your duties? What do you plan to do?"

"I don't really have any duties either. However, because I inherited a fragment of Xuan Tian's consciousness and have been running this world the entire time, I've been influenced by the consciousnesses of many people, which is how I gained a little bit of humanity. Strictly speaking, I should actually be what you understand as a cold program, or an emotionless artifact spirit.

"Even though I look very much like a person right now, it's just to make it easier to talk to you. That's why I took the form of a human girl. Based on my experience running the world, males have less guardedness toward females and are easier to communicate with.

"I originated from the Creator's Authority and this dream, and I developed self-awareness under various external factors. But it's not quite the same as human consciousness. I don't have emotions, I have no desires, and I never feel bored. If I have anything at all, it's probably just a slight instinctual desire not to fade away.

"That's why I moved the Dream World to the bottom of the Abyss. It was to hide from the Gods. Their goal is to destroy this world and take the Creator's Authority. If they do that, I'll disappear too."

Su Mu nodded. "What about the Mad King? I'm curious about what he did before."

"He wanted the Creator's Authority, but it had already been corrupted by Xuan Tian's power. One either needs power of the same origin as Xuan Tian—meaning becoming part of the Nightmare Race—or another God must intervene to erase Xuan Tian's power. Those are the only two ways to obtain it.

"He chose the first method, but he failed."