Chapter 3

(PS: This chapter is an introduction, you can read it or skip it)

The Cycle Space.

Ever since entering this twisted space, Furen's eyes showed a look of despair for the first time.

Because, he lost, and lost completely.

Furen finally understood that the purpose of the Cycle Space was not "evolution," but to select a successor to become the "sage" who created the Cycle Space. To get this answer, his teammates and the teams that participated in the final battle were all reduced to dust.

"Pity, pity... Although you have unlocked the fifth stage, your body and soul are not strong enough, and they are already beginning to collapse..." The usually emotionless Overgod this time spoke with a hint of regret, "Such injuries cannot be healed; you should make plans early!"

"Plans?!" Furen's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted with anger: "My body is like this, how can I make plans?" His entire body was disintegrating and collapsing from the most basic genetic energy. If this continued, it wouldn't be long before he was even cleaner than if he had been dissolved in corpse water.

"You can choose..." The Overgod's voice began to sound tempting, "Although your soul power is slowly dissipating, and although your soul strength does not meet the standard of the fifth stage, if you lower it to the first stage, there will be no problem with continuing to survive..."

Furen's lips curled into a cold smile upon hearing this: "Your meaning is... to let me lower my abilities and barely survive?"

"What? You don't agree?" The Overgod's voice began to turn cold.

"I agree!" Furen gritted his teeth, "Why wouldn't I agree? Being able to survive is certainly good."

Furen, who had experienced countless cycles and worlds, deeply knew that dignity, such a luxurious thing, was far less important than survival. Only the living can regain dignity; the dead? What can they find? He didn't know.

"OK, since you choose to lower your abilities to survive, I can give you two options. One is to live forever in a low-level horror movie with the soul power of the first stage gene lock, of course, all your current abilities will be reduced to the first stage." The Overgod announced without emotion, "At the same time, I can create a body that perfectly matches your soul to accommodate it."

This condition made Furen's heart race, but he knew that with the Overgod, one should never expect to gain an advantage. So he asked, "What's the other option?"

"Simple, return to your original time and space through a lottery. Before returning, your soul power will automatically drop to the first stage, and you must exchange your current abilities." The Overgod said.

Furen was speechless. After so many battles, he had never thought that one day he would return to his original time and space, so it took him a while to ask, "What can I exchange my abilities for?"

"For example, gold, firearms, experience, or unranked cultivation methods or bloodlines..."

Listening to the Overgod's explanation, Furen rolled his eyes. Gold and firearms might be useful in the real world, but compared to his own abilities, they were completely unequal. It was a wonder the Overgod could even say it.

As for unranked cultivation methods, the lowest level in the Cycle Space was D, and below that were some unranked miscellaneous methods, such as the basics of a certain internal martial art. Such things might be precious in the real world, but compared to Furen's god-like abilities, they were nothing.

The Overgod asked indifferently, "Both paths are laid out for you, which one do you choose?"

Furen almost jumped up to curse, but for the two paths of survival before him, he had no choice but to accept them, or he would die.

After much thought, Furen did not want to continue living in the world of films, as it always made him feel like he was living in an unreal world. Reluctantly, he chose the second path.

Yes, the second path. Although this path might also be a rainbow created by the Overgod, it was indeed a good choice given that his life was gradually fading. It must be said that even though Furen had killed countless people, he had never forgotten the words "parents," which were buried deep in his mind. Now, it was time to go back and see them.

"I choose the second path."

"Do you want to return to the real world? Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"It's not impossible, but the problem is that your body cannot be repaired, only your soul can return!" The Overgod's voice contained a hint of mockery.

Furen's intelligence had long been enhanced to an incredible level, and he immediately thought of a serious issue, his face turning grim: "Soul return? What about the soul compatibility of my future body?"

"About fifty percent!" The Overgod said casually, "Of course, if you exchange your abilities or bloodline, it can even reach perfect compatibility."

Furen, in his heart, had already cursed the Overgod's ancestors to the nth generation, knowing it was impossible, but still said, "Then I choose the first path, can I?"

"Sorry, you have already chosen the second path, and it cannot be changed!"

Sure enough, the Overgod gave the expected negative answer.

"What kind of ability do I need to exchange for perfect compatibility?" Furen asked.

"Hand over your Ancestor Witch bloodline."

"..." After a long silence, Furen tentatively asked, "Are there other options?"

"Of course..." Furen was delighted, but the Overgod continued, "You can choose not to achieve perfect compatibility, so you don't have to pay the Ancestor Witch bloodline!"

Furen couldn't help but curse, "Overgod, I f*** your mother!"

The Overgod had no concept of "mother" and still asked, "Captain of the Heavenly Evil Team, have you considered it?"

Now, Furen, who was like a dragon in shallow water, had to admit defeat and said, "Can I choose other options first and then exchange for perfect compatibility?"

The Overgod's unchanging voice carried a hint of victory, "Since you will return to the real world, the exchange will be done all at once after you have made all your choices."

Being the meat on the chopping block, Furen could only nod weakly and said helplessly, "Then let's start the exchange now!" As he spoke, the Overgod instantly displayed a series of exchange lists before him.

The list was long, but there was nothing that Furen found appealing, mostly ordinary things like proficiency and experience in alchemy, firearms, and ordinary martial arts.

Furen admitted that these things might be useful in the real world, but it was like asking someone used to riding a spaceship to switch to a ox cart; the difference was too great. Fortunately, his injuries constantly reminded him that his abilities and bloodline must be exchanged as soon as possible, or he would not be able to return to the real world.

After a brief thought, Furen decided to exchange for firearms proficiency and experience first, as in the real world, a first-stage soul power could not match hot weapons. However, just before making the request, he flipped through the list again and immediately cursed, "Damn!"

There was no other reason; on the second-to-last page of the list, there was an exchange item: "Special Operations Proficiency and Experience." The explanation noted that special operations proficiency included firearms proficiency, cold weapons proficiency, combat-style fighting proficiency, and assault tactics proficiency...

Furen, feeling indignant, asked, "If I want to exchange for special operations proficiency and experience, what do I need to pay?"

"Your Ancestor Witch Body Cultivation Technique."

"What about the firearms proficiency at the beginning?"

"The same."

"Damn!" Furen cursed again. This time, it was really a damn, but it was a good thing he had the habit of flipping through the list. Otherwise, he would have suffered a great loss.

But that was how things were with the Overgod; everything was laid out, but no hints were given, and the exchanger had to discover it themselves. If Furen hadn't been so anxious about his injuries, he wouldn't have made such a mistake.

After figuring it out, Furen, before his injuries worsened, quickly exchanged a series of proficiencies and experiences, plus a special item that could be brought back to the real world—a hidden ring. This ring was different from a storage ring; it was neither metal nor iron, could hold one cubic meter of items, and could be worn on the left pinky finger after a blood recognition, invisible to others.

At this point, including the Ancestor Witch bloodline, Furen had three abilities left, but he really didn't know what to exchange.

The Overgod tempted, "If you can offer the double S-grade Blood Moon Jade on your chest, I can open the exchange for the six basic attributes."

Furen was taken aback and instantly understood that the Overgod wanted to take the only item left on him, and also understood that the Overgod had a way to apply the six basic attributes to his body in the real world.

Most importantly, according to the Overgod's suggestion, the Blood Moon Jade seemed to be able to be brought back to the real world. However, Furen immediately thought that he was about to die, and everything was in the Overgod's hands, including his return to the real world. If he insisted on taking the Blood Moon Jade, the Overgod might play tricks on his return, so after a few seconds of indecision, he made a decision.

"Alright, I want to exchange for the six basic attributes."

The Overgod seemed eager and immediately opened the exchange panel for the six basic attributes, while taking the Blood Moon Jade: "Captain of the Heavenly Evil Team, one of your abilities can exchange for a total of six hundred basic attributes, please choose!"

Furen had already planned and immediately said, "Use my remaining two abilities to exchange for two hundred points in each of the six attributes."

"Sorry, you only have three abilities left. After reserving the Ancestor Witch bloodline for 'perfect compatibility,' you need to reserve one more for the opportunity to return, or you will only die." The Overgod's indifferent tone was filled with a hint of mockery.

A flash of anger passed through Furen's eyes, but with his muscles already beginning to fall off and decompose, he had to suppress his anger: "Then one hundred points in each of the six attributes, this should be fine, right?"

"Of course, the exchanged items or abilities will be applied to your body after you return to the real world." The Overgod responded and then asked, "Now, do you want to exchange for perfect compatibility?"

Furen shook his head with a self-deprecating smile and said, "I will exchange." As he spoke, he felt the decomposition of his flesh accelerate, indicating that the Overgod had already taken the Ancestor Witch bloodline.

"OK, once you return to the real world, your soul will perfectly match the new body." The Overgod said coldly, "Quickly spin the wheel of fate to choose your path back, or I can't guarantee you will still be able to return."

Furen, upon hearing this, felt a sense of unease. The exchange list before him disappeared in a blink, replaced by a huge wheel. Each of the four directions on the wheel had a small colored sector (about one degree), with text inside, while the rest of the sectors were a terrifying black.

"If the needle points to the black, you will be completely annihilated. If it points to the colored sectors, you will return to the real world." The Overgod declared without room for doubt.

Furen glanced at the small text in the colored sectors. The eastern sector read, "Return to the current time point of the original time and space." But Furen himself didn't know how many years he had spent in the Cycle Space. If he returned at this time, his parents would likely be long gone.

The southern sector read, "Return to the time point when you entered the original time and space." This made Furen very happy; if he could return to the time point when he entered, his parents would still be alive, and he could fulfill his filial duties.

The western sector read, "Return to a more exciting time point in the original space." Furen genuinely didn't understand this and asked the Overgod, "What does this mean?"

The Overgod sneered, "I'm not sure, but you should hurry and spin the wheel. The needle is currently pointing to the black area!"

Furen was startled and quickly moved to the wheel, stretching out his hand to spin it. Unexpectedly, the entire wheel did not budge. Furen was shocked and tried again, but the wheel still did not move.

"Overgod, what's going on?" Furen asked anxiously.

"..." The Overgod remained silent, seemingly watching Furen's body disintegrate from above.

At this critical moment, Furen suddenly calmed down, a flash of inspiration in his mind, and reached out to move the needle on the wheel.

Sure enough, the needle moved easily, but this movement also drained Furen's last bit of strength, and his flesh fell off even faster.

The huge needle, as if weightless, spun rapidly, and Furen felt his vision begin to blur, but the needle showed no signs of stopping.

"Stop—" Furen suddenly shouted.

Incredibly, the needle slowed down at his shout. Furen, seeing this, cursed in his heart, "Damn, I'm being played again!"

Finally, the needle slowly stopped, and Furen's heart sank as it seemed to be about to land in the black area.

Desire often arises from comparison. Previously, Furen was thinking about which of the four colored sectors he should aim for, but now, he was repeatedly praying, hoping that the needle would enter the colored sectors, regardless of which one, as long as it entered.

Fortunately, the gods did not abandon Furen. Just before his vision went completely dark, he saw the huge needle slowly crawl into the northern sector—return to an unexpected time point in the original space.

Unexpected? In the Cycle Space, Furen was most afraid of these four words. As his vision turned black, he screamed, "No—" but a white light mercilessly enveloped him, and he completely disappeared from the Cycle Space.

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