Chapter 1181 — Words of Experience

Deep within the narrator's neural network, in a corner of the "New Phantom Nexus City" modeled after the imperial capital of Cecil, a towering oak rose from the center of a plaza. Beneath its vast canopy drifted a gentle breeze and the faint, pleasing chime of wind bells. Pale golden leaves carpeted the ground beneath the great tree, and sunlight filtered through the sparse gaps at the edges of the branches, scattering dappled patterns of light and shadow across the fallen leaves—like an afternoon carved into alternating bands of brightness and shade.

The plaza was empty and quiet, pedestrians few. The residents of Xuanque City seemed not yet to have noticed this secluded spot of beauty tucked into a corner of the city. Directly beneath the oak sat a small square table on the leaf-covered ground, and beside it were two of the plaza's only regular visitors—one an "elven" elder with hoary hair and whiskers and a kindly, aged face; the other a "human" lady in an elegant, stately black court gown, beautiful and wrapped in an air of mystery.

Before the two gods, a chess game was locked in fierce contention. The pieces, their fates already arranged, slaughtered and maneuvered across the tiny board, bitterly contesting every inch of ground. Yet the players themselves wore calm expressions, treating all this carnage and struggle as nothing more than a pastime. This atmosphere persisted for who knew how long, until the God of Nature—seated at the table in the form of the elven elder—suddenly raised his head and looked toward the entrance of the Golden Oak Plaza.

"It seems we have a guest, Old Deer," said the black-haired lady, who had also sensed the sudden presence. A faint smile crossed her face as she watched the figure rapidly materializing at the edge of the plaza. "Gao Yang—what made you suddenly think to come find us in Phantom Nexus City?"

Gao Yang's form coalesced out of a shifting blur of light and shadow. After a moment's adjustment to the sensation of his senses resetting, he strode toward the two gods seated at their game. Hearing Myrmina's voice, he sighed. "Ah, I was originally going to look for you at the Courtyard of Defiance, but just as I was about to set out it occurred to me I might as well find you online—you two spend twenty-three out of every twenty-four hours soaking in the neural network!"

"Yes," Amoen nodded slightly, his tone placid as he admitted it. "We accepted Master Artisan Nikoxi's suggestion and reduced the time we spend active in the neural network. We now shut off our neural interfaces for at least one hour a day to rest..."

Gao Yang: "..."

He always felt something had gone wrong in his communication with these two retired gods before him, yet their expressions were each more composed than the last, leaving him momentarily speechless. In the end he managed a dry laugh and swiftly, clumsily steered the conversation to business. "Actually, I came today because there's something I'd like to discuss with you..."

"I can see that, and I can guess—you rarely seek us out for a chat unless you've run into a thorny problem," Myrmina said with a faint smile, lifting her hand to place a piece as she spoke calmly. "I can sense that 'anti-divinity barrier' of yours is active. It seems the problem you've brought this time is no simple matter either. So, before this problem of yours ruins today's leisure, would you allow us to finish this Game of the Gods first? Don't worry, it won't take long."

As she spoke, Amoen, seated across from her, also placed a piece. Amid the crisp click of piece against board, a ethereal chime rang out beneath the golden oak, as though the great tree itself were applauding the gods at their game.

"Game of the Gods?" Only then did Gao Yang notice the board before the two gods. He could not help but stare wide-eyed—and for a moment was struck dumb on the spot. Only when the click of a piece sounded again did he finally cough twice with a strange expression. "Ahem—I have no objection to you two playing games online, but I really didn't come here today to watch the two of you play checkers and take back moves while you're at it..."

Amoen paid Gao Yang's words no heed, merely pushing a piece forward another square. It was Myrmina beside him who remarked offhandedly, "Quiet for a moment, this game will be over soon—the two of us have been battling for hours..."

Gao Yang was instantly dumbstruck. So the two of them could spend half a day on a single game of checkers. Frankly, that was a level ordinary mortals could never reach—yet the fact that they called two hopeless players sitting down to a day of checkers the "Game of the Gods" still left Gao Yang deeply shaken. For a moment he could not tell whether this insulted "the Gods" or "the Game"... After turning it over in his mind, he concluded it probably insulted checkers...

Amid these wandering thoughts, Amoen took back another move, and the game seemed further than ever from ending. Gao Yang finally could not help but interrupt aloud: "Hold on, friends, I came today to—"

"How about we switch to something else?" Amoen, as though he had not heard Gao Yang at all, pressed a hand casually on the board. The board, projected from thought, vanished in an instant, replaced by a deck of cards with exquisite illustrations. He looked at Gao Yang beside him, a smile on his face. "Good, we have enough people now. Care for a Game of the Gods with cards? You've always insisted you're a mortal, but in our eyes you crossed the threshold for playing against gods long ago..."

Gao Yang was about to interrupt again when something seemed to dawn on him, and a thoughtful look came over his face. "...You actually know what I came to ask."

Amoen, who had been preparing to deal, stopped his hands. Myrmina beside him spread her hands. After a moment of awkwardness, the former Goddess of Magic finally broke the silence: "You've found the God of War's divine realm, haven't you?"

"...How could you know that?" Though he had guessed a moment ago, Gao Yang could not help but be surprised. "Apart from the neural network, you shouldn't be able to perceive anything happening in the present world, and the matter of the God of War's divine realm hasn't been made public on any channel in the neural network, including the secure lines... How do you know about this?"

"We truly do not know what happens in the 'present world,'" Amoen said slowly, shuffling the cards in his hands—those cards bearing gorgeous patterns shifting ceaselessly between his fingers. "But we lie in our courtyard in the Shadow Realm—we can see certain changes occurring deeper still... though only a little."

"A sudden echo arose in the God of War's divine realm, which had been dead and silent. Ripples spread through the deep sea and stirred waves in the deepest reaches of the Shadow Realm. Those sluggish gods trapped in their own divine realms may not have noticed yet, but..." Myrmina gave a soft laugh. "How shall I put it—I happen to be an 'idle god' who likes to wander all over the Shadow Realm, so on one of my walks to the deepest reaches I accidentally saw a few things. And not long after that, you arrived. It all... lends itself easily to association."

"In the depths of the Shadow Realm?" Gao Yang sharply caught the key words in Myrmina's account. "You're saying that experiment really did connect to the God of War's divine realm, and the 'ripples' from that connection can even spread to the Shadow Realm? So the deepest reaches of the Shadow Realm and the 'deep sea' are substantively connected?"