Forge a path to success.

Chapter 419 If There Were No Gods
There's a saying that goes, "habit becomes second nature," and that couldn't be more true for Chu Hengkong right now. He was already very familiar with the feeling of narrowly escaping death, so when he realized he was sinking into the sea, he felt not only no burden but also a sense of familiarity.

This sense of familiarity made his ascent much easier, allowing him to notice the many memories mixed in with his own among the colorful bubbles around him. For example, chatting with a strange old man, or communicating with himself from a first-person perspective. Perhaps it was the price of devouring Bai Yan using the Soul-Returning Technique, but thankfully the bubbles meant him no harm. The bubbles drifted around him, carrying him towards the surface like a swimming ring.

He mentally prepared himself, leaped up with all his might, and looked up at the sea beneath the starry sky—

"Hey!" the shadow said to him.

Chu Hengkong floated blankly on the beach, surrounded by a group of floating trash-like objects. The shadow clutched a basket, picking and choosing among the contents with its claw-like hands. Whenever it found something interesting, it would childishly cheer and toss it into the basket, which was almost full, making one wonder if it would really examine the things it brought back carefully.

He… was a shadow. No other adjective could be thought of. He was black. Thin. Very thin. A shape without thickness. Like a piece of paper pasted onto reality. Although the shadow couldn't discern facial features, Chu Hengkong felt it was constantly smiling, like a lively, mischievous demon from a mural.

"I wasn't like this before!" the shadow told him. "I used to be huge, just like that guy you know, you know? Enormous, except he had no hair. But then, by some terrible twist of fate, he tripped and fell on me, and that's how I became like this."

"Oh..." Chu Hengkong tried to say.

"You think I brought this on myself?" Shadow thought for a moment. "I was a bit inconsiderate back then... but I never really thought about it! So whatever, it's fine as it is now."

He seemed satisfied with what he had collected, setting the small basket aside and chattering on: "You're surprised? Of course I know you've been here before. There's nothing special about it. Karsod came a long time ago, Seven Stars of Double Brightness came, and of course, your good friend Dark King... You're not the first, and you won't be the last."

"Ooh ooh ooh." Chu Hengkong wanted to shout.

[What did they say when they arrived?] Shadow recalled, [Karlsold and I had a rather pleasant conversation. Seven Stars Sprout spat at me. As for the Dark Kingdom… do you want to know?]

Oh, wow.

I think so too; it's best for good friends to have privacy.

One by one, He took out the spoils from the basket, examining the old and tattered trinkets carefully with His claws. Every now and then, He would make marks with His claws, these little actions seeming to please Him.

"Oh... Chu Hengkong asked."

"You're all always so impatient, even more impatient than me!" the shadow said. "The reason I came to you first, of course, is to answer that question that every one of you is concerned about. That big guy isn't very good at talking, you know? So He always asks me for help."

He exaggeratedly covered his face, trembling all over: "The problem is: Oh! Our world is in such a mess, why are you just watching from above! Why don't you come and help us!"

I always say there are two answers to this question, and you can choose whichever you prefer. I'll start with answer 1.

He adopted a announcer's tone, his pronunciation clear and articulate, his dark face radiating righteousness: "Little one, you must know that every action has two opposing sides, just as the giant has both shadow and light. Even the wisest among us have made mistakes, and what seems right now may well be the source of tragedy in the future."

We could try to make the world a 'good' place—but none of us can guarantee that what we consider 'good' is the same 'good' in the eyes of the other two, or that what we consider 'good' is 'not bad' in your eyes. And once we actually do it, you probably won't have any chance to refute us anymore.

This is the standard answer, applicable everywhere. Have you memorized it?

"Oh," Chu Hengkong said.

[Very good! Now let's talk about the less standard answer 2.]

The shadow turned past the basket and suddenly threw all the little things that had been painstakingly collected for half a day back into the sea. Chu Hengkong swayed left and right in the waves, scratching his forehead and laughing heartily.

I think the part below has always been pretty good! Some kids are determined to stop, while others are determined to keep going. Different thoughts, different perspectives, different choices—every minute brings something new, and every life can choose a different future. Diversity, richness, and prominent individuality—that's what I call 'good'!

He lifted Chu Hengkong up, grinning mischievously: "By the standards of some of you little guys, I'm probably a 'bad original spirit.' But I'll never take sides; I'll cheer for each of you! Go go go—oops!"

The shadow leaped up like a cat caught in a mousetrap, and a bright ray of light crashed into it, knocking it far away. Chu Hengkong fell from the shadow's claws and was gently placed back into the sea by the light.

【I am a good spirit】Guang said.

"You're a rigid, unchanging spirit!" the shadow laughed as it jumped.

The light crashed into the object with a thunderous roar, while the shadow ran off laughing, disappearing into the far distance. After the light and shadow had both departed, the area around the sea became utterly quiet, and the small objects retrieved from the sea sank silently back to the surface, the atmosphere becoming languid and gentle.

After a while, or perhaps a long time—after all, time doesn't exist in a world without light and shadow—a large, furry creature came to the shore, wanting to take a nap. It stared at Chu Hengkong for a moment, then slowly pulled out a fishing net.

"Oh...oh," He mumbled, "You've gone to the wrong place again, little one. You always make things so difficult for yourself."

oh oh……

He listened for a while and tried hard to recall.

"I don't think I asked Him for help," He said confidently. "He's just making things up again; He always likes to lie."

...Chu Hengkong was speechless for a moment, and he smiled innocently.

[He is always very fickle. Sometimes He is the first to object, and sometimes He is eager to slip down. We have argued about this several times, and occasionally even bumped into each other. In the end, we all felt that not going down for now was the 'good' thing... at least the 'good' thing that we could all accept.]

He put the fishing net into the sea, stared blankly for a while, and may have even taken a nap.

"Look," He said slowly, "the matter is right here. 'Good' or 'bad' depends on your perspective. You used to live over there, now you live down here. Which side do you prefer?"

Oh!
Chu Hengkong replied without hesitation, and he seemed very happy.

I'm so glad you like it here too.

He reached his hairy hand into the sea, scooping up something: "You've listened to too much...things irrelevant to life. It'll be hard for you to go back on your own. I need to find a friend to pick you up. Little Flower? Little Flower, are you there?"

"I'm here~"

He scooped out a small flower, its petals adorned with cartoon-style facial features. The little flower smiled at Chu Hengkong.

"Come on, let's go back!"

And so the world turned upside down. He fell from the other side of the sea, crashing into the dark, obscure depths of the vegetation. Chu Hengkong suddenly sat up, hearing the clear chirping of birds in the forest.

He sensed a faint familiarity; he had been here not long ago. This was the deepest part of the city-state of Thornsa, the place where the ancient divine tree had bestowed honors upon them a dozen days ago. Back then, led by Banningtik, they had first encountered a small, talking flower that was ubiquitous throughout the city-state…

He stared wide-eyed at the smiling flower not far away.

"Are you more awake now?" Xiaohua asked.

Chu Hengkong moved his mouth slowly, his thoughts a jumbled mess, like a lump of sticky porridge. He struggled to utter his guess: "The World Tree...?"

“The World Tree is my name, and my old friends usually call me the Prosperous Heart Flower,” Little Flower corrected. “There’s more than one flower—every flower can be me. I even greeted you when you first came to the city-state.”

Chu Hengkong paused for a long time, recalling when he first arrived at the third vein sequence, the exact same flower chatted with them and welcomed their arrival. They had also encountered it during the Inspiration Mushroom incident, and they had seen it in the amusement park... There were simply too many such flowers in the city-state, and he couldn't tell if they were the same one.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Why?"

"I'm busy too!" Little Flower sighed. "The little mage and the little giant are both watching me, not to mention there's something else plotting something wicked down there. If I come out first, they'll be eager to get on the field. I have to help Stone Seed heal first—that took me a lot of effort!"

"What is the situation within that city-state?"

“My ‘city-state’ is this mysterious realm of the underworld,” Little Flower said with a worried look. “Compared to me, Little Thorn Robe is perfectly healthy!”

Chu Hengkong recalled the various heretical sects within the Senluo Secret Realm and immediately realized that the renowned World Tree had likely been in a state of near-death for a long time. If the Jingsha City-State was beset by internal and external troubles, the Senluo Secret Realm had probably evolved to the level of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

"This is really..."

"If it really comes to the final moment, I'm afraid I'll have to do what Little Beast used to do and risk my life to send Little Thorn Robe off to her funeral." Little Flower said with a worried look on her face. "But the path I've chosen means I can't interfere in the internal affairs of other forces. What am I supposed to do? You guys have really helped me a lot this time!"

Looking at the flowers sighing and lamenting before him, and thinking of Chongming who only appeared at the very end, Chu Hengkong shook his head repeatedly: "In the end, the supreme being is not much freer than the original spirit."

"That's why everyone needs you," Little Flower said with a smile. "You are the future of the world!"

He thanked the little flower and left the depths of the vegetation in a teleportation beam. The Flourishing Heart Flower smiled and waved its leaves at him.

He thought of the giant spirit and the shadow, of Chongming and Fanxinhua, pondering these incredibly powerful beings that he could not act rashly against. For a moment, he felt as if he were completely free.

When the divine light disappeared, he appeared at the bookstore entrance. The owner, who had just come out of the store, stared at him in astonishment.

"Ah Kong, what exactly are you..."

“I just spoke with the Primal Spirit and the World Tree,” he told Velbert.

Vilbert looked at him with concern.

"You should wake up first," she said.

(End of this chapter)