Chapter 386: A Situation the Outer Realm Demons Never Anticipated

No one present understood what Jiang Li was trying to do—bringing a statue only to smash it to pieces. 

Wasn’t this just idle behavior? The statue’s material wasn’t metal, of course it could be broken. 

Jiang Li didn’t bother explaining further to them.

This incident made the Superhuman Cult’s threat level drop several notches in Jiang Li’s estimation.

“Your world seems quite peaceful,” Jiang Li remarked, taking a sip of tea prepared by Shao Junyi.

“It’s alright. Originally our world was chaotic too, with several nations constantly at war. At that time, superhumans united and worked covertly, employing all means necessary to eventually merge those nations into one.”

“Could you tell us about your world’s history?”

Director Shao nodded. “Where should I begin? From the earliest historical records, or from what seem like absurd legends?”

“I have some interest in legends.”

There were many versions of legends. Drawing from his experience, Director Shao chose to recount those that seemed most plausible.

These were legends known only to superhumans—ordinary people’s history books told a different story.

“The legends say that six thousand years ago, humanity was weak, barely able to protect itself against nature. Then celestial envoys descended, performed miracles, and granted us abilities—what we now call superpowers.”

“I used to think ‘celestial realm’ was just a conceptual term, but now I wonder if it might be what you two call the immortal realm.”

“With these superpowers, we finally gained a foothold in nature and could defend against powerful beasts.”

“Superpower historians believe only a small fraction of people received abilities, and these powers weren’t universal. Relying solely on superhumans couldn’t drive societal progress.”

“Ordinary people, protected by superhumans, freed their hands and minds to explore natural laws.”

“Bronze, iron… the tools ordinary people used kept evolving, growing ever more powerful.”

“We progressed from primitive tribes to slave-state societies.”

“In ordinary history textbooks, the earliest slave-state rulers all possessed miraculous traits—like fists that could suppress mountains, tiger-like gazes that could suffocate people, or words that became law when spoken…”

“Ordinary people thought these were exaggerations to glorify rulers. But superhumans knew these rulers were all superhumans themselves.”

“After all, human civilization was underdeveloped then—whoever had power ruled, regardless of governing ability or how unreasonable their decisions might be.”

“History proved this point. Those rulers’ irrational decrees caused their states to collapse rapidly, fleeting like morning dew.”

“Moreover, superhumans’ descendants weren’t necessarily superhumans. If a superhuman ruler died, who would succeed? Their powerless son?”

“Since rulership went to the strongest, inevitably more powerful superhumans would emerge.”

“These factors made slave states change hands too quickly—few lasted three generations.”

“Later, superhumans realized this couldn’t continue and chose to operate behind the scenes, letting ordinary people rule. Thus began the feudal era.”

“Feudal states lasted significantly longer than slave states. Generally, rulers made correct decisions, but some superhumans, considering themselves special, threatened rulers with death. Fearful rulers then made bad decisions.”

“Too many bad decisions accumulated until they became the seeds of a state’s destruction.”

“Eventually, superhumans reached an agreement to truly hide themselves, no longer interfering in governance. This became the modern era.”

“Now the Superhuman Cult wants to break this agreement, advocating superhuman rule—a regression the Superhuman Management Bureau absolutely won’t allow!”

“Six thousand years ago… the celestial realm?” 

Jiang Li remembered he’d only been bantering with Bai Hongtu and hadn’t tested Weigu World’s time flow yet.

Bai Hongtu adamantly refused to go to the Nine Provinces to help Jiang Li measure time flow, only to be summoned back again.

Jiang Li had no choice but to contact Yu Yin using the Communication Talisman.

“Yu Yin, are you busy?”

Yu Yin was relaxing, reading a novel featuring Jiang Li as the protagonist.

“Not particularly. What’s the matter?”

“Just wanted to chat briefly—testing time flow.”

Seeing the background behind Jiang Li and Bai Hongtu, Yu Yin immediately knew they’d found another new world.

“You found a new world but didn’t invite me?”

Bai Hongtu rubbed his hands excitedly. “Easy enough to come—I’ll just set up a summoning array to bring you here.”

Seeing Bai Hongtu’s grin, Yu Yin sensed trouble and refused outright.

“Just tell me about the new world when you return.”

The call ended.

“Nine thousand years passed in the Nine Provinces, six thousand here—the timelines match.”

“That celestial realm wasn’t the immortal realm—it was the Outer Realm Demons’ world. Your superpowers came from them.”

Bai Hongtu found this strange, unable to comprehend the demons’ motives.

But Jiang Li understood. “Do you think superpowers are strong?”

“Strong, but not overwhelmingly so. Enough ordinary people could defeat superhumans.”

“Exactly. Not overwhelmingly powerful, yet superhumans considering themselves superior would inevitably clash with the ordinary masses—conflicts ranging from dynastic changes to mutual destruction.”

“Only before mutual destruction occurred, superhumans voluntarily withdrew from governance, yielding rule to ordinary people and easing tensions. This was likely something the Outer Realm Demons never anticipated.”

Jiang Li speculated that Celestial-level demons were few in number while worlds needing corruption were many—they couldn’t monitor everything closely. After setting schemes in motion, they’d only return much later to check progress and make adjustments.

Perhaps the Celestial-level demons hadn’t made their second descent to this world yet.

…

Within a magnificent structure, an enormous statue of the Three-Eyed True God stood solemnly. A golden-robed figure stood with hands clasped behind his back, quietly gazing up at the statue.

This was the world’s largest Three-Eyed True God statue—compared to it, the golden-robed figure seemed minuscule.

“High Priest, disaster!” A high-ranking Superhuman Cult member stumbled in frantically, face pale with panic as he reported to the golden-robed man.

Frowning, the golden-robed man thought his subordinate lacked composure and was unfit for important duties.

Seeing the High Priest’s displeasure, the cult official suddenly remembered this was sacred ground—the High Priest had been worshiping the True God. He immediately slowed his pace and approached cautiously.

Trembling with fear—though in the outside world he was a fifth-tier superhuman who commanded wind and rain, before the unfathomable High Priest he could only cower submissively.

He’d witnessed the High Priest’s power firsthand—a superhuman of equal fame transformed into a child, as if time had reversed.

Energy was conserved—the excess from an adult regressing to a child was absorbed by the High Priest.

And the High Priest gained that person’s superpower too.

The High Priest possessed the extremely rare Devouring superpower.