**Chapter 0: The Modern Small World (1)**
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“Just like the Four Warriors who charged through the challenges back in the day?”
【Yes, although they didn’t clear stage 70, they still earned the system’s approval and gained the power they needed.】
“At this critical moment, does unlocking the maze mean the system is helping the Asking Dao Continent?”
【Not quite. At your current cultivation speed, even if you were given 100 more years…】
……
【The system will activate the level editing mode for you now!】
……
Lin Nan keenly sensed the system’s attitude toward the divine clan’s judgment of the Asking Dao Continent. It seemed this high-dimensional creature, capable of manipulating the continent’s historical timeline to some extent, was not entirely in cahoots with the divine clan.
Otherwise, why would it have involved her in a similar testing mode after the Ji Shen and Demon Race coalition barged into the maze?
Wait a minute… Why was it being so tough on her, the boss?
Just losing normally would suffice; why all the unnecessary twists and turns?
Lin Nan couldn’t figure it out and decided to bury her doubts for now, waiting to see which way things would go.
【Loading… loading…】
【Ding! Level editing mode officially activated. Would you like to use it now?】
Absolutely.
She was curious to find out what the so-called level editing could do to shape the forty-level maze that lay ahead.
【There are six basic scenes (small worlds) available for editing, which are:
– Beginner Martial World (low difficulty);
– Modern Civilization World (low difficulty);
– Spiritual Revival World (medium difficulty);
– Medieval Magic World (medium difficulty);
– Immortal Hero World (high difficulty);
– Nuclear War Wasteland World (high difficulty).
You can choose four small worlds for transformation.】
The moment Lin Nan saw these lines, she was instantly dumbfounded.
While she had been racing against time to prepare the sentient beings of the continent for the judgment day in two years after the connection with the real world was severed, she had also been absorbing refugees into the cities she controlled, trying to expand their scale.
Her aim was to quickly grow in strength within the limited time frame, at least to have self-defense capabilities by the time judgment day rolled around.
In her subconscious, this continent still followed the rules of the Immortal Hero World, especially the human race; their daily lives, customs, and habits were practically identical to those of ancient Chinese people, even their classical Chinese sounded just the same.
The monster race was a bit like a subspecies of humans; any somewhat powerful monster took pride in changing into a human form.
The demon race had looks akin to elves from Western fantasies, but the difference was clear— they had devilish horns on their foreheads, which made both humans and monsters keep their distance, generally avoiding communication unless absolutely necessary.
Overall, this was originally a game heavily leaning towards the Immortal Hero genre.
So, in Lin Nan’s subconscious, the so-called system was supposed to be omnipotent within the Immortal Hero World, controlling the heavenly way.
But when she saw that line about the “Nuclear War Wasteland World” with such a sci-fi flair, she instantly gained a new understanding of the system.
This system was no ordinary thing; its level was definitely above that of the divine clan.
The divine clan could probably only utilize a fraction of the system’s features but couldn’t fully grasp it.
Otherwise, how could they just stand by and watch as the system returned to Lin Nan’s side, doing nothing?
【You have 30 minutes to edit the first small world. Please hurry.
If you haven’t completed your creation by the end of the time, the system will randomly generate a level and throw you and the challengers in.】
Lin Nan was startled and immediately halted her meaningless thoughts.
A randomly generated level would not bode well for her—who knows what kind of devilish boss would show up?
If the process was too difficult and these guys croaked before reaching the final boss, she’d miss the chance to experience the other levels.
The system definitely had its reasons for providing these six worlds.
She needed to sift through the cluttered facts and extract clues and fragments, piecing together a complete puzzle.
“Hmm, should I choose the Beginner Martial World or the Modern Civilization World, both of which are of low difficulty?”
“Oh right, system, you aren’t really going to drop us back into the world we originally came from, are you?”
【No, these small worlds only capture a part of the corresponding world’s content; think of it as a projection of the real world.】
With that, Lin Nan finally relaxed.
Then she would choose the Modern Civilization World; at least it was somewhat familiar and would be easier to manage.
As for the Beginner Martial World, the name alone screamed ‘wuxia’—she hadn’t enjoyed the conveniences and comforts of modern civilization in ages. She couldn’t just let this opportunity slip away.
As for level editing…
Even if these guys had a modern army with all the weaponry, they’d probably still struggle, right?
But who knows, unless she tried, how would she know?
After all, this world was merely a projection; she had free rein to arrange it as she wished.
……
After a period of rest, both the demon race and Ji Shen’s side finally got back into the swing of things.
The boss of merely the 60th level had cost them nearly half their forces; had it not been for the palace gate being tightly shut, people would have had nowhere to escape, and it was doubtful that even a third of them would have survived.
Now, there were barely more than three thousand people left, and many were nursing various degrees of injuries.
Thankfully, after resting, the harpists managed to recover some of their magic, and after doing their utmost to heal, they at least ensured that everyone could walk on their own.
For better treatment later, they would need the harpists to regain even more magic.
“Your Highness, how are you feeling now?”
Fu Yetian looked over at Eric, whose injuries healed quickly without needing the harpists’ help.
Eric noticed this and couldn’t help but raise his opinion of Fu Yetian another notch.
“Finally recovering some energy, thanks for your concern, Lord Fu. We’ve been resting for almost half a day; how about we set off for the 61st level now?”
Fu Yetian grinned, “I didn’t expect His Highness to be more eager than us! Alright, we’ll follow your orders.”
Lady Rong Ji inserted the special item that had turned into a key into the lock located at the top of the power outlet, and with a deep rumble,
a dark, downward-extending entrance appeared before them.
Seeing this, Fu Yetian, Rong Ji, and Eric exchanged glances instinctively.
They had expected the newly appeared passage to be similar to the previous spacious tunnel, but instead, this black hole looked like it led to a deeper dungeon, with cold winds continuously spewing out from within—bone-chilling.
Fu Yetian gritted his teeth, “I’ll go first; everyone follow me.”
At this point, as the left protector and the person most likely to succeed the leader, how could he falter?
