Chapter 654: Chapter 5: The Development Process

Chaotic and profound, deep and mysterious.

Dim and shadowy, the light is ambiguous.

This is the Realm of Light and Darkness, the place where one cannot discern directions, where the concept of orientation is diffused in layers of illusion.

In between the real and the unreal, even truth and falsehood are blurred and uncertain.

It is like a great chaotic void, and within this ambiguous realm of nothingness, there floats an ancient house, seemingly drifting yet standing steadfast, refusing to move. The historical aura emitted by the house seems to reject all visitors.

Silently, a rift opens, revealing numerous strange eyes gazing outward.

A beautiful figure emerges from the rift, entering the room with a grid-patterned ceiling and round windows, where she unceremoniously sprawls on the low table, without any ladylike demeanor, and calls out unabashedly:

"Lan, I’m hungry..."

"Lord Zi, you’ve returned...?"

Another female voice comes from outside the room, equally melodious yet slightly rushed: "Please wait a moment, I’ll prepare a meal for you right away."

"Mm-mm, hurry up..."

The beautiful figure yawns, nodding repeatedly, lazily sprawled across the table before her.

She turns her head to look at the wall, where a round window is open, and yet outside is not the chaotic void or the profound depth, but a scene of boundless blue with a gentle breeze seemingly blowing in from outside.

In the clear sky, not a cloud in sight.

Soft sunlight bathes the entire earth.

Fields are crisscrossed, surrounded by ditches and wooden stakes, primitive and simple canals stretch across, the crops appear lush and verdant; further in the distance, the towering forests and fresh mountain mists come blowing in, everywhere is a scene of vibrant life.

From this room alone, gazing out through the window, one might mistake the house as being situated on some plain, able to see a nearby tribal village... of course, this is impossible, only that the space here seems disorderly and strange.

Both demon and strange, the figure languidly sprawls across the low table, her golden, textured long hair cascading like a waterfall, spreading like silk across the table, with some strands hanging down and swaying gently with the wind.

At this moment, the room’s door is gently pulled open.

With fox ears atop her head, and nine fox tails swaying gently behind, the dazzling fur imparting a sacred feeling, the maiden walks into the room carrying steaming hot food, glancing at her owner who always roams at night and returns during the day.

"Lord Zi... did you go to fight that Flower Demon again?"

The Fox Demon Maiden sighed, walked to the low table, and gently placed the dishes she had prepared.

"Hmm? What’s this about fighting again, I just woke up to find it’s been so long, so I went to pay a rare visit to familiar faces..." the blond maiden raised her head, lazily speaking, simultaneously stretching her arms high above to show off her proud curves, showcasing infinite beauty.

Meanwhile—

As she removed her gaze, the view outside the circular window silently changed.

From the snowy peaks, to the vast azure sea, then to the frigid polar air with its dreamlike aurora... it seems that as long as she’s not looking, the scenery beyond the window starts randomly transforming, displaying wondrous sights from other places.

"That Flower Demon isn’t easy to handle... Lord Zi, don’t take unnecessary risks." The Fox Demon Maiden, somewhat resigned, advised as best as she could.

"I know, I know... It’s strange, it’s just a regular Flower Demon, yet why so strong?"

The blond maiden pursed her lips, slightly frustrated: "I thought my power had grown significantly after such a long sleep, but she..."

She shook her head as she spoke, not continuing.

But the Fox Demon Maiden understood precisely what her master meant, inwardly pondering that the Flower Tyrant is indeed unreasonably strong, particularly rising from such ordinary origins to this level, making her even more remarkable and bewildering.

Rather than an ordinary Flower Demon, she seems more like nature incarnate.

At that moment, the view outside the circular window displayed, switching to a golden scene—

A vast sunflower field, glowing brilliantly under the sun on the Great Plains, vast and wild, covered with sunflowers... the Fox Demon Maiden’s heart briefly tightened, but the view outside seemed truly an accidental display, quickly switching to another scenery.

The blond maiden sitting by the low table was oblivious to this, or perhaps indifferent.

She merely reflected, her eyes shifting, as if contemplating seriously, her expression somewhat curious: "Thinking back, after waking from such a long slumber, everything appears greatly changed... When I went out just now, I almost couldn’t recognize the outside world..."

"I see the Gods of Yamato are now battling across these lands, suppressing those native divinities, it seems they aim to unify the faith of this land, did you notice this, Lan?"

The maiden referred to as "Lan" pondered deeply upon hearing this, placing a slender, white finger upon her lips, and after some reflection, spoke: "Yes, it’s been noticed, this began several years ago, I’ve heard they plan to establish a unified nation..."

"Yes, it is quite interesting, isn’t it?"

The blond monster maiden smiled faintly, her tone somewhat inexplicable: "Moreover, it’s not just the Divine Spirits, even demons are the same... I found that many ordinary demon beasts, their numbers are increasing day by day."

"It’s because of fear, right..." Lan hesitated and said softly.

"Yes, using faith and using fear, from this perspective, there really isn’t much fundamental difference between these later Divine Spirits and demons." The blond monster maiden nodded gently, then sighed again, appearing slightly troubled.

"Lord Zi, do you think... this situation is bad?"

Lan was a bit puzzled, thought for a while, and still asked directly.

"It’s not about good or bad, it’s just a naturally occurring derivative result, whether it is Divine Spirits, demons, or humans; this process happens naturally, just like how seeds must take root and sprout in the process of growth, this is just one of the natural stages..."

The blond maiden just shook her head lightly, sighed a bit: "However, many only see the surface, failing to notice the essence."

These subsequent chaos monsters are now welcoming a period similar to the Cambrian explosion of life.

Everything is thriving, experiencing a leap in number within a short period, and in types, numerous different species have appeared.

The reason for this is because this world’s second intellectual civilization is rapidly developing, and the ever-expanding human faith and fear provide a sufficiently vast living space...

But most of these newcomers only see the expansion of faith and fear and forget what is the most essential about this matter— if this continues, everything born from this "development" process will eventually vanish within the "development" process.

......

...

Shinano Region.

—Of course, only Gu Mo calls it that.

Recently, within this land’s primitive kingdom, a new belief has quietly sprouted, different from the familiar calamity spirits, wielding the terrifying power of disaster. The new Divine Spirit Lord is more of a positive type, bringing more advanced tools and refining technologies.

And because this was allowed by the blond loli, people did not reject it and quickly welcomed the new belief with joy.

—Otherwise, this process probably wouldn’t have been so smooth.

—Because the faith of the blond loli is terrifyingly strong, establishing such a primitive kingdom as a God and simultaneously as a king.

The so-called Xieshi Country.

Incidentally, the blond loli’s name is Yasaka Suwako, a Mountain God and also the leader of various Divine Spirits residing in the mountains. It wasn’t until temporarily allying with her that Gu Mo realized this loli isn’t fighting solo, she manages many other calamity spirits.

This made Gu Mo feel as if the new company had numerous factions and complex interpersonal relationships, and he somewhat doubted whether he made a wrong decision by choosing to hold shares in this company.

But since he was already here, there was no other choice, and he hadn’t forgotten his goal was to research the mystery of the Power of Faith, not really intending to walk this path. The amount of incense shared wasn’t really the issue, the key was solving the issue of whether it existed.

The Great Shrine was established on the mountain.

This period should be the Yayoi Era, with primitive shrines already showing some aesthetic styles of later generations, for example, bird houses had already appeared.

Gu Mo naturally lived on the mountain, built a residence, while pondering how to exert influence on the Xieshi Country, doing his own things. Every now and then, he would go out with Miss Shenqi to wander around, observing this world around the beginning of the AD.

The silver-haired maiden, determined to become the creating Demon Realm God, didn’t find it boring.

Especially after he pointed out—

Observing human social systems, their social structure, operational logic, and other relations, this experience would also help her in creating the "Demon Realm", she became very interested in this, suddenly full of motivation.

She would drag him down the mountain every day, wandering around the villages in the various tribes at the foot of the mountain.

"How much longer... it’s almost evening."

Today’s maiden was also circling around Gu Mo, repeatedly urging him to finish his work quickly to go down the mountain for the usual inspection with her.

"I’m doing it, I’m doing it..."

Gu Mo stood at the experiment table, casually replied without lifting his head.

In his hand, a mannequin on the experiment table was gradually taking shape, with its contour and face becoming clear. Miss Shenqi stood on tiptoe, curiously peeking out from behind him, a small tuft of hair dangling in front of Gu Mo, making him instinctively tilt his head, feeling a bit itchy on his nose.

"Why are you making mannequins again... Are you not satisfied with the current body?"

Directly pouting, the silver-haired and silver-eyed maiden raised her face, looking at him with dissatisfaction.