Inside the temple of Caster Country.
On the jaguar-shaped throne, under the convergence of acknowledged influence, the lifeless body began to undergo subtle changes. However, compared to the soul, or rather the consciousness, the body's transformation was insignificant.
The consciousness, capable of traversing the cracks between worlds, was undoubtedly resilient.
Through constant cleansing, the untrained consciousness gradually became tougher.
One day, two days...
The spread of news brought more people's recognition. The areas ruled by monsters gradually decreased as the avatar cooperated with the Five Major Countries. Correspondingly, Qi Yuan received more acknowledgment from people.
Director Yu had once privately asked the guardian avatar about the significance of these actions.
The guardian avatar smiled mysteriously, stating directly that the final battle was about to begin, and they needed to weaken the enemy forces as much as possible.
Director Yu, having been fooled, deeply believed this.
The accumulation of quantity finally led to a qualitative change one day.
If an untrained consciousness was a weakling with a battle power of only five, then the consciousness strength of a Shared Operator was no less than the primordial spirit of an ancient powerhouse.
Out of boredom, Qi Yuan had actively used his ability to put himself into a deep sleep. The breakthrough of enormous power nullified the ability he was using, and he awoke from his slumber.
As he opened his eyes, uncontrolled terrifying pressure swept through this space. The space shook, unable to withstand the burden. Qi Yuan's consciousness quickly scanned the interior of the temple.
He perceived the divine power that had been replicated by the world, sealing the room.
This is...
His scattered thoughts converged, vaguely grasping a hint of speculation. Emotions came faster than rationality - wild joy, excitement, shock - complex feelings of success surged in his heart.
The abundant power made Qi Yuan want to sit up and perform a couple of sets of military boxing to vent his inner excitement.
It really succeeded!
Woo-hoo!
However, this emotion turned into tension the moment he tried to rise, his smile gradually stiffening.
His body seemed... not very easy to control...
With the powerful consciousness crammed into a "fragile" body, Qi Yuan had to rein in his consciousness to prevent bodily issues.
Now he felt like he was wearing a paper-thin outfit, needing careful maintenance.
First detaching his consciousness from the body, then condensing it into a ball, Qi Yuan finally returned to his body. Without projecting outward, the consciousness had no aggressiveness, and the body was not as difficult to control as before.
After all, a body capable of bearing the consciousness of a Shared Operator aligned with the world's collective perception.
Having resolved the bodily crisis, Qi Yuan wiped away non-existent cold sweat from the void, realizing he had nearly sent himself off.
Now, he had the peace of mind to explore what changes becoming a Shared Operator had brought him.
First was power. He looked around, using his consciousness to discern the positions of the divine power setup, focusing his mind to infuse power into the nodes, forcibly destroying this prison that confined him.
"Pop—"
In his consciousness vision, the energy membrane formed by divine power burst like a soap bubble. Out of years of life experience, Qi Yuan's mind involuntarily generated the sound of a soap bubble popping.
The destroyed barrier emitted a dazzling white light, a pillar of light shooting straight into the sky, cutting through the night.
This grand spectacle caught the attention of the Caster Country government, and an exploration team quickly set out on the road to the temple.
Qi Yuan was unaware of this, fully concentrating on sensing the effects of the light pillar.
So that's how it is, he thought. Once the barrier is broken, it sends a signal into the sky, opening a channel for the Feathered Serpent God to descend. Unfortunately, even for a god, the world still defines it as a creature, a part that won't be replicated.
After marveling at the changes of the times, Qi Yuan also tried to sense the world's will, attempting to understand more information.
Through the vague connection between him and the world, he successfully sensed the existence of the world's will.
This...
The world didn't have a so-called will; it was more like a self-optimizing operating software, constantly adding and deleting rules and loopholes.
Qi Yuan's expression turned strange. He raised his hand to give himself a knock on the head, helping himself wake up.
Wake up! he told himself.
The world's will was just something made up, fooling everyone and even fooling himself.
What an immersive delusion patient!
Clearing his thoughts, he once again emptied his mind to sense the world's operation.
For the world, humans awakening abilities was like white blood cells fighting against bacteria. The bacteria had to die, and humans couldn't become bugs either; birth, aging, sickness, and death were one of its operating rules.
Since it could apply outdated patches, did that mean the world also had update logs?
Thinking of this, Qi Yuan detached from his body, fully sensing the world's vague feedback. He had a connection with the world, so the search wasn't difficult.
The rules recording past history paused before him. Qi Yuan probed his consciousness in, and the long flow of time slowly unfolded before him.
There were no records of gods, no records of history, only records of the state at that time.
But from the constantly updated and deleted details, Qi Yuan drew a conclusion - when biological beings became too powerful, it affected the world's stability, so the world optimized for this.
So the gods were treated as one of the bugs and optimized away?
Then what about him? Would he also be gradually optimized away after resolving the bacteria...
At this point, Qi Yuan noticed something unusual about his consciousness body. After careful discernment, he felt relieved.
The consciousness body transformed into a Shared Operator was considered a foreign bacterium; he could only stay for a period of time, otherwise he would face the world's optimization. But by stuffing the consciousness into a body that conformed to the rules, he could slip past unnoticed.
Qi Yuan's eyes sharpened as he thought of the Wanderer's setting, different rules yet very similar.
However, he seemed to have forgotten the most important setting - all three could roam outside the world. Perhaps he could find the real culprit behind the world's changes.
If he could eliminate the culprit and let the Stolen Operator take over, no one would be able to expose him.
His body could live for at least a few more decades. If he could avoid the social death of being exposed, he still wanted to save some face.
But before that, he needed to leave this godforsaken place first.
After being locked up for over ten days, his internet addiction needed Professor Yang's treatment.
Shortly after he left, the Caster Country team finally reached the pyramid. They hurriedly contacted their superiors.
The next day, news of the light pillar from the Mayan pyramid went viral online. Countless people speculated about the possibility of gods awakening.
[I've long disliked those Dragon Country people. God, wake up quickly!]
[Hehe, I just love how you can't stand us but can't do anything about it. Guess who the Feathered Serpent God will deal with first when it awakens?]
[Will our Southern Dynasty's Nine-Tailed Fox awaken too?]
[I'm from Sakura Island. Even if the Nine-Tailed Fox awakens, shouldn't it be in Dragon Country?]