"At your level, you should be able to perceive that the Spiritual Realm is selecting its administrators." The Heaven Emperor, with a symbolic disk of the Ba卦 representing time behind his back, spoke in a calm and gentle tone. "This is one of the purposes we established when creating the Spiritual Realm." "So the purpose of selecting administrators is to counter the invaders?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. He thought of the magical seedlings, the catastrophe that led to the demise of the Waha Emperor, and the malevolent beings at the very end of the evil professions. The Heaven Emperor did not answer immediately, pausing for a few seconds, then said: "Countering the invaders is a process, not the ultimate goal. "In fact, the reason the invaders erode the Spiritual Realm is to prevent the emergence of its administrators." "This means that the conflict between the Chaotic and the Lawful factions stems from a core objective—the Spirit Realm is merely the battlefield for this struggle. The Lawful faction must cultivate Administrators in order to achieve that objective, while the Chaotic invaders must prevent the emergence of new Administrators within the Spirit Realm. Zhang Yuanqing understood his words and, without suppressing his urgency, said, 'The underlying reasons—please, Lord Hou Tian, enlighten us!' Lord Hou Tian sighed, 'All of this originates from contradictions among the Deities!' Contradictions among the Deities... Indeed, beings above the half-divine rank are the Deities, and shouldn't the Deities themselves be the Administrators of the Spirit Realm—entities possessing full Administrator privileges? Zhang Yuanqing nodded silently, as he had long been familiar with the existence of the Deities. Lord Hou Tian gently waved his hand, forming a Taiji fish pattern on the ground, and spoke softly, 'All things in the world possess dual aspects of Yin and Yang. When they reach their peak, they inevitably decline; when they reach their nadir, they flourish. This is the fundamental rule of the universe.' "In the beginning of the universe, a group of beings with powerful abilities emerged, harmonizing with the principles of yin and yang, and called themselves deities. The yang deities were responsible for creating planets, generating life, infusing vitality into the land, and fostering civilization over time. When these worlds reached a certain 'lifetime,' the yin deities would descend and bring calamities, ultimately destroying the worlds and even the planets. This process—neither merciful nor malevolent—was simply the natural fulfillment of the deities' inherent attributes, maintaining the universe's ongoing cycle. Yet, since the Heaven Sovereign is a primordial deity, it is no surprise that the Huangdi Emperor, sharing the rank of one of the three, is also a primordial deity. "Thus, she stole one of the cosmic origins—the stars—and, combining her own divination techniques, deduced three possible fates of the universe: 'rupture,' 'collapse,' and 'extinction.'" The Heaven Sovereign spoke in a calm, composed tone. "Among these, 'collapse' is the most favorable outcome. All cosmic beings converge into a single point. After reaching the utmost state of collapse, a burst occurs, giving rise to a new universe, thus setting the cycle of renewal in motion. 'Rupture' and 'extinction'—the former signifies the universe shattering into dust, ceasing to exist; the latter means that all life, spiritual energy, and matter within the cosmos fade into stillness, including even the deities themselves." "To alter the fate of the universe and ensure the continuation of life, the阳性 divine beings devised a secret plan. Through repeated deliberations, we conceived a solution: endow the cosmic origin with humanity. Thus, the universe itself would reject death and make the necessary transformations." Zhang Yuanqing listened with a surge of emotion; his thoughts boiled like water, nearly bursting his brain. He hesitated and asked, "The cosmic origin is..." Hòu Tiān Shàng Dì nodded gently, affirming, "The three fundamental origins—sun, moon, and stars—constitute the universe." Indeed so! Zhang Yuanqing sighed deeply within. Hòu Tiān Shàng Dì continued, "This is a profound violation of the rules and the order. The negative beings discovered our secret plan, and a battle has erupted between the two factions across the cosmos, resulting in the demise of countless divine beings." Zhang Yuanqing suddenly recalled what Catherine had once said in the New Covenant County: "The ultimate expression of order is the absence of order." The ultimate chaos is destruction, and only through destruction does true, unchanging order emerge. This is the divine revelation she has received. Initially, Zhang Yuanqing believed she was suffering from cognitive distortion and mental instability—like a mad devotee of a cult. Now it seems the very forces of evil are, in fact, the true guardians of order. To prevent the universe from being destroyed and to ensure the enduring presence of life, those who uphold order must themselves become so unbalanced that only through madness can they achieve stability. This principle echoes within the decline of the Immortal Organization and the fading of the enduring mountains and rivers. With a mind full of thoughts, he listened as the Heavenly Emperor spoke gently: "Divine beings arise from the cosmic laws. As long as the universe endures, the divine beings remain immortal. Yet, to renew their spiritual awareness, they require vast spans of time. Later, we discovered that humans could gradually absorb spiritual energy and internalize the laws, eventually becoming divine beings. Thus, the Realm of Spirit was born. Our primary purpose in creating the Spirit Realm was to 'revive' the most powerful阳性 (yang) divine beings, so they could unite and confront the negative (yin) divine beings." Secondly, the most straightforward and efficient way for the cosmic origin to birth humanity is to empower a single human being as the embodiment of the cosmos. Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing understood the昊天上帝's initial statement: opposing the invaders is the process, not the goal. The struggles centered around the spiritual realm administrators are merely the process. The orderly faction's objective is to elevate a Night-Wanderer deity to become the embodiment of the cosmos. In contrast, the evil faction's objective is to undermine the orderly faction's "scheme" and preserve the inevitable cosmic fate of destruction. Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Why must a human be chosen? Can deities not serve as the embodiment of the cosmos?" The昊天上帝 shook his head, "Deities cannot control the sun, moon, and stars, because deities themselves are manifestations of cosmic laws—each deity possesses uniqueness, and different laws cannot coexist. Humans, however, are different. They are weak and pure, like a blank sheet of paper. Whatever rules you imprint upon that paper, the human becomes that very rule." "The divine essence left behind after the deities' demise is, for the primordial deities, at best only partially utilized—unable to fully contain or command it, thus falling short of unleashing its true potential. Hence, it is necessary to nurture humanity to become the next generation of deities." Zhang Yuanqing then asked, "Which primordial deities were responsible for creating the spiritual realms? And why did they eventually fall?" Hao Tian the Emperor answered with clarity: "Among those who co-created the spiritual realms with me were the Nüwa Emperor, the Mother Goddess, and the Goddess of Fate. I and Nüwa were in charge of—using your terms—the development and operation of the second major region. The Mother Goddess oversaw the first major region; as a goddess of conception and procreation, her domain was defined by birth and joy. The Goddess of Fate excelled in magic and sacrifice, thus the principle of sacrifice became the hallmark of the third major region. Of course, we also drew upon the divine essences of other deities: the Goddess of the Void provided the power to stabilize each individual spiritual realm, and the ability for spiritual travelers to transit in and out of the realms relies entirely on her strength." At the same time, it oversees the trading system of the Spiritual Realm, though the positions of the sun, moon, and stars have not yet aligned, and the Spiritual Realm has not yet revived—thus, the corresponding functions remain unopened. "The Mother Deity and the Nüwa Emperor’s nurturing and life-force are the source of the birth of countless beings within the Spiritual Realm. The Nüwa Emperor’s scholarly authority enriches their wisdom. "The Covenant Deity’s contracts and protective power are key to governing both the main and side quests within the Spiritual Realm. Upon entering the Realm, one enters into a binding covenant with it. By completing main or side quests, one earns rewards and returns to the real world; failure to meet these obligations results in being severed by the power of the covenant. "The Winds and Thunder represent retribution, specifically targeting semi-deities who fail to abide by the rules, while also forming the airflow and lightning within the Realm’s spatial structure. "The Ocean Deity embodies disasters and the oceanic realms within the副本 worlds. "The divine titles of the third major region each possess their own distinct functions." "The power of these deities has constructed a complete spiritual realm system, which you can understand as a piece of equipment—a divine artifact—formed collectively by various deities. Of course, these are all auxiliary functions; the true core of the spiritual realm artifact lies in the three fundamental sources: the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. The Sun's primary function is to intimidate invaders and eliminate their contamination—think of it as a disinfection tool. In comparison, the cause-and-effect artifact known as the Merit Scroll, which supports the Sun, is merely a minor feature. The Moon's role is 'concealment': it hides the entire spiritual realm in a place where even the deities cannot find it, while simultaneously maintaining the negative energy of the realm. The most crucial function, however, belongs to the Stars—their role is the calculation and generation of the spiritual realm, including the creation of instances, the processing of data, and the prevention of flaws. Since the emergence of the Star Sovereign, the spiritual realm's computational capabilities have gradually declined, and the number of instances plagued by what you call 'bugs' has steadily increased." … Hangzhou. Hangzhou University Police Office. Chen Yuanjun, together with two subordinates, spent the entire afternoon in the vast archive room of the Police Office. They were searching through the records of missing persons from July 2019. According to the Police Office system, reports of missing persons could be filed either with the local police office in the area where the person went missing or with the police office in the person's registered residence. Ms. Lei Yibing's mother filed the report with the police office in her registered district, Kangyang District. Typically, the Kangyang District Police Office would then forward the case to the police office in the missing person's area, asking them to assist with the search. Therefore, the Hangzhou-based police office should have a file on this case. However, since the information and records from the Kangyang District Police Office were deleted and the original case handler is no longer available, they have no way of knowing which Hangzhou police office received the case. They can only rely on the information that Lei Yibing had come to Hangzhou for a visit at the time, and thus narrow down their search to the most likely candidates among the various Hangzhou police offices. After going through the files, the officer named Xiao-Gao exhaled a heavy breath, "Chen Director, we couldn't find it." Chen Yuanjun pinched his brow and said, "Hm," then, "Let's move on to the next one." At that moment, the Director of the Public Security Bureau entered. He was a middle-aged man who had gained some weight but still maintained a well-proportioned build, with a lean face. Clearly a hands-on leader. Chen Yuanjun set down the files and offered him a cigarette, "Yang Director, we've reviewed the cases. Sorry to have disturbed your work." Yang Director took the cigarette, glanced at the stack of files filling the room, tucked it between his ears, and smiled warmly, "What cases are you looking into? Going from one household to another is taking up a lot of time. I'll take care of this for you—let me go through the process and have the local public security office assist you." Chen Yuanjun smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Yang Director." Yang Director's smile remained unchanged, "I've heard that you've been working closely with the sect followers in Songhai. Come to my office—let's chat."