Chapter 222: A Free World

Jiang Li ultimately didn’t change his face.

“My name’s Du Ming. Bro, which of the Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, or Boron galaxies are you from? How are things outside now?”

“It’s not any of those galaxies—I’m from the Nine Provinces World. I stumbled upon a holographic simulator produced by your Gougle Civilization’s Feitian Corporation and decided to try it out. Just registered a new account.”

“Hahaha, Outer World Demons are just b*stards—bro, you really know how to joke.” The handsome uncle, Du Ming, burst out laughing, thinking Jiang Li was joking.

“Isn’t the prefix in my username a bit too long?” Even though he’d come up with it himself, Jiang Li still felt weird about it.

“So what, should I call you Dog Bro?”

“…Forget my online name. I’m Jiang Li.”

“Brother Jiang.”

Jiang Li never hid where he came from, but not many believed him.

Unless he revealed his Mahayana Stage cultivation, no one would believe his words.

But this grand world simulation was clearly incomplete—no cultivation possible, no spiritual energy, no Heavenly Dao insights—just the mundane laws of physics.

This suggested that Gougle Civilization had never encountered spiritual energy or cultivation, and had focused solely on technological development.

“Uncle Du, is it just me, or are there really few people in this grand world? Don’t people live in these buildings?”

Jiang Li and Du Ming were walking down the street, which only had a handful of passersby—unusually deserted.

Yet there were high-rises all around.

If there were no people, why build the buildings so tall? It didn’t make sense.

“There are people living in them, just not often. Most live in their own personal worlds.”

“Even though the grand world is free and you can do a lot here, there are still moral and legal constraints. Stuff like ruling over others, having multiple wives, committing crimes—you can’t do any of that. So most people prefer to stay in their own worlds.”

“Usually the ones who come to the grand world are bored in their own worlds. They come here to chat, ask others how they built their worlds, look for inspiration, then go back and continue building their own.”

Jiang Li understood. Great Zhou had done research in this area—living beings possessed inherent freedom, and disliked being bound or following rules.

But to survive, they entered a conceptual “contract” with the nation, were forced to abide by laws and rules, and gave up some freedom in order to protect their right to life, survival, and a series of other rights.

Without the protection of rules, high-level cultivators could toy with the lives of lower-level ones as they pleased—even wipe out cities and nations, turning countless lives into stepping stones toward ascension.

In Great Zhou, low-level cultivators and mortals didn’t have to constantly fear for their lives.

Great Zhou called this theory “social contract theory.”

“Actually, the grand world’s pretty nice,” Du Ming said, taking Jiang Li to an ice cream shop. He ordered a big cup and asked if Jiang Li wanted anything. Jiang Li thought about it and got a cone.

“How much is it? I’ll owe you for now.” Jiang Li didn’t want to be indebted over money.

But Du Ming just laughed. “Brother Jiang, in the grand world, there’s no such thing as ‘money.’ You don’t need to pay for anything—food’s free, you can drive any car, live in any house. It’s way better than the real world.”

At the roadside, Du Ming waved his hand and a car frame appeared out of thin air. Digital symbols surged like a tide, forming the shell and interior. In less than two seconds, an extremely expensive red convertible appeared before them.

“If it weren’t for municipal planning restrictions, even houses could be conjured like this.” Du Ming took Jiang Li out of the city, gesturing animatedly as he drove. Good thing the car was self-driving, or they might’ve crashed.

“Gotta say, Feitian Corporation finally did something decent. Before the simulator came out, I thought all they knew was pushing people to death—like if you haven’t finished your work, you’d die first.”

“The government doesn’t care?”

Du Ming gave Jiang Li a puzzled look. “Isn’t Feitian Corporation the government? Or rather, the government’s something Feitian Corporation propped up. Wait… has Feitian Corporation lost power?”

Jiang Li had no answer for that.

“Hey, we’re in a virtual world now—why even talk about that stuff?” Du Ming quickly shrugged it off. The real world no longer mattered to him.

No matter how good the real world was, could it beat a grand world where everything was free? Or a personal world you ruled over?

“See any place you like? You can build a house anywhere here.” Du Ming brought Jiang Li to the suburbs, where the greenery was lush and wildlife darted through the grass.

Some people chose to build villas out here—it had the feel of an ancient noble’s estate nestled among mountains.

But even these villas were empty. People lived in their own worlds.

Jiang Li shook his head, politely declining Du Ming’s offer.

“Brother Jiang, you’re new here—have you built your own world yet?”

“Haven’t figured out what I want it to be.”

“Wanna check out mine?”

“Sure.”

A screen popped up in front of Jiang Li: “Player Du Ming invites you to enter his world. Enter?”

Jiang Li chose to enter.

A gate of light suddenly appeared in front of the car.

The world shifted, the scenery changed, and they arrived in a completely different small world from the grand one.

This was a world with extremely low productivity, resembling the medieval West from his past life.

A shadow swept overhead. Jiang Li looked up to see a Western-style winged dragon flying past—completely different from the dragon clan of the Nine Provinces.

Du Ming and Jiang Li were now armored adventurers wielding sword and shield. The car had turned into a towering warhorse.

“You’ve read those fantasy novels, right? Stuff like chosen heroes, apocalyptic demon kings, immortal elves, dragon-slaying warriors—they’re all here.”

“I made myself the hero summoned by a goddess from another world. What class do you want? How about a Sage?”

“Sage sounds good.”

Jiang Li’s weapon turned into a Sage’s Tome, and his personal profile showed he was proficient in all magic types.

“So what now? Defeat the Demon King?”

Du Ming still looked like a middle-aged man. “Already defeated him. I’m a retired hero now. Come on, I’ll take you home to meet my wives.”

As a hero, Du Ming could also use magic. He cast a spatial teleportation spell and returned home.

“A’Ming, you’re back.” Beautiful women, each with their own unique charms, ran to greet Du Ming. Their clothes were… let’s say, far from proper.

“This is Lisdale, my childhood sweetheart. She was part of the hero’s party, class: warrior.” Lisdale wore a bikini-style set of armor—barely covering anything. When she bowed to Jiang Li, well, it was all too obvious.

No need to ask—clearly Du Ming’s type.

“This is Claire, a nun from the Goddess Church, also part of the hero’s party.”

“This is Princess Fiya, third princess of the kingdom. Though we had some misunderstandings at first, they’re all cleared up now. She helped me a lot in the Demon King campaign.”

“I—I didn’t help you! I was thinking of the kingdom!”

“This is Demon King Vesnina. After I defeated her and talked some sense into her, she agreed to stop invading the kingdom.”

“This is the goddess Anna. She descended from the divine realm and chose to serve by my side.”

Goddess Anna looked divinely serene, radiating a holiness that made one hesitate to offend her—but her scanty lingerie definitely clashed with that image.

A nun and a goddess, both your wives? Jiang Li thought Du Ming really knew how to live.