21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 907 - 901: Deceiving the World

Chapter 907 -901: Deceiving the World

The world rules themselves are deeply embedded within the world, permeating it entirely, omnipresent and ubiquitous.

However, only when someone is able to perceive the world rules do they collapse from these intangible, omnipresent, and insubstantial principles into a Network of Rules that can be observed.

This is somewhat akin to quantum collapse in physics. Before observation, a quantum exists in a superposition state: it might be at point A, or at point B, or even simultaneously at points A, B, and C. Only after direct observation does the state of the quantum collapse into a definite condition.

The world rules share similarities with this phenomenon; when unobserved, they are everywhere, deeply entrenched in every corner of the world.

But only when someone perceives the world rules do they manifest as the shape of the Network of Rules, adopting an observable form.

Unlike quantum collapse, however, when the quantum state collapses, its state of existence also collapses simultaneously. But this is not the case with the rules. They simply change from intangible and insubstantial principles into an observable state, revealing a tangible form, while fundamentally remaining deeply entrenched in every corner of the world, still omnipresent.

Yet, if this were all there was to it, Chen Yu could only achieve the observation of the existence of the world rules, without being able to extract any particular rule from the Network of Rules.

Therefore, he needed to further collapse the rules, transforming them from their intangible nature into a tangible existence, enabling the extraction of such rules from the Network of Rules.

To achieve this, he had to utilize the power of a ritual—using this ceremony to contaminate and disrupt the rules, forcing their collapse.

In essence, this is a deception upon the rules, as it simulates the process by which deities achieve Divine Enthronement, obtaining Divine Duty and Divine Rank, by imitating the process in which deities draw upon rules to coalesce Divine Rank and Divine Duty during their ascension.

By deceiving the world rules in this manner and making them believe that a particular rule has been claimed by a new deity, the deeper mechanisms of the rules ensure that the world transforms the rule into corresponding Divine Duty and Divine Rank.

The union of power and rules coalesces into Divine Rank, representing the world’s recognition of a being’s Life Force, deeming it sufficient to wield and control rules.

Meanwhile, the union of the Power of Faith and rules births Divine Duty, symbolizing the prerogatives that tens of thousands of believers attribute to a deity they revere.

In this process, the transformed rule temporarily separates itself from the world. After it solidifies into a new Divine Rank and Divine Duty and is imprinted with the mark of the newly formed deity, it re-integrates with the world.

This process allows the new deity to manipulate rules through their Divine Rank and Divine Duty.

However, new deities influence rules through the Power of Faith, relying on the collective mental and spiritual devotion of believers, whereas Ancient Gods directly wield the rules themselves.

This explains why, among new deities, the same Divine Position might be held by multiple deities, while Ancient Gods are unique in nature.

Believers’ diverse points of faith may lead to variations in deities—same God of War, yet one might symbolize bravery, another victory, and still another strategic wisdom.

In contrast, Ancient Gods directly and singularly dominate rules, holding exclusive control unless another deity successfully wrests a rule from their grasp. Otherwise, identical Ancient Gods cannot coexist.

At this moment, Chen Yu has already used the power of the ritual to begin collapsing one of the rules within the Network of Rules, slowly extracting it from the world.

With the process underway, his entire focus and spirit are fully committed, not daring to make the slightest mistake, entirely absorbed in conducting the ritual.

The sacrificial offering originally prepared on the Ritual Altar—Tai Lao—has already been offered by Chen Yu to the Nether River. The power bestowed upon him by the Nether River is now continuously streaming through the Ritual Altar and merging with the rule he is pulling from the Network of Rules.

This is the very reason why the ritual is capable of deceiving the world rules—because the Nether River possesses a Divine Position that far exceeds any single world within the Multiverse.

Even though Chen Yu has merely borrowed an insignificant fraction of the Nether River’s power and aura through the Ritual Altar, the extraordinary rank and power level of the Nether River, which transcends all worlds, are enough to deceive the world rules into believing that Chen Yu is a powerful newly ascended deity, permitting him to fully extract a rule from the Network of Rules.

However, while Chen Yu’s ritual succeeded in deceiving the world rules, the previously perfected rules now undergoing shifts still have rippling effects on the entire world, and the world’s consciousness has responded.

The ferries on the Sanzu River, merely representing the Japanese Deity system’s response, have already been intercepted by over twenty Ship-Girls’ gunfire.

But the world’s consciousness responded quickly and with fury.

On the Sanzu River Bank, the previously calm river waters—despite being bombarded repeatedly by the gunfire of over twenty Ship-Girls—had merely splashed and remained stable. At this moment, however, the waters began to churn violently, and the water level started to rise.

All of the Ship-Girls had listened to Chen Yu’s explanation about the terror of the Nether River before coming here. Thus, seeing the abnormality on the Sanzu River, tension gripped them universally.

Although the ritual site Chen Yu chose was on a slope near the Sanzu River Bank, where the terrain was elevated, the sight of the Sanzu River swelling and flooding filled everyone with concern that their location might be submerged.

Even if the area is not completely submerged, a single wave crashing through would still be disastrous. After all, this is Stygian Water—coming into contact with even a single drop would be enough to impact eternal deities, causing their soul to return to the Nether River.

Despite their fear, the Ship-Girls remained steadfast, with none retreating even a step backward.

To these Ship-Girls, though they had fought and clawed their way to return to life again, cherishing the chance for another existence, they were still warriors. On the battlefield, fear of death would never cause them to retreat.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to hold their ground here to the death. Seeing the rising tides of the Sanzu River, Warspite, the commanding officer, quickly issued an order: “Fall back! Watch out and don’t touch the river water!”

The Ship-Girls’ position still maintained a small distance from the riverbank, temporarily keeping the swelling Sanzu River waters from posing immediate danger. Yet, for the sake of safety, Warspite issued the command to retreat.

Moreover, she assigned several Ship-Girls to guard the altar, prepared to fend off potential attacks from elsewhere.

After all, given that even the Sanzu River—a mere branch of the Nether River—had begun to change, it was difficult to guarantee that the world consciousness would not launch other assaults.

While Warspite worried about this development, the ritual reached its critical juncture. A dazzling brilliance, indescribably colorful, as if containing infinite wisdom and knowledge, was beginning to manifest from the void, gradually appearing above the altar.