I changed the world.

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However, it must be said that this deity was quite unlucky. Both times he tried to escape, he was forced back down as soon as he started.

The second time, in particular, it backfired spectacularly. He had finally managed to launch a blood sacrifice with the help of his followers and extend a small amount of power into this world, but Zhang Jing's timely intervention completely stripped and sealed the power that had been extended into this world. This was a real loss for the gods.

Of course, Zhang Jing could sense that such a loss was not a big deal for Him. For a god, such a failure would not be devastating. They have enough patience to keep trying, testing, and adjusting their plans. This is also the troublesome thing about these evil gods.

Of course, Zhang Jing knew perfectly well that if he or his teacher Zhang Taihe hadn't reacted quickly enough in the last and this incidents, and had overlooked the development of events, then once the evil god used the power of the "kingdom" and the blessing of "blood sacrifice" to anchor itself, further infiltrate this world, break the seal, and establish a foothold, then sealing the evil god back would not be such a simple matter. And if the evil god were to completely break free, then Zhang Jing's concern wouldn't be whether to seal it, but how to evade the evil god's pursuit...

However, to some extent, this was also due to the manipulation of the Wish Book. Zhang Jing understood that this event couldn't be considered purely a matter of "luck." After all, it originated from a forced test caused by a certain event point in the Wish Book exceeding a threshold. Based on his previous understanding of the Wish Book, the tests it brought under different circumstances were predictable, generally following the degree of disturbance the event caused to the world's underlying consciousness. The greater the disturbance, the more points involved, and the greater the difficulty of the event.

This is why Zhang Jing was always very careful when making a wish, to avoid triggering problems he couldn't solve.

Under this premise, this incident still followed this principle. The overall intensity was within Zhang Jing's control. It can be seen that the intensity of the forced test has a certain measurement standard in the wish book. Although this standard is not explicitly stated, it is actually kept within a certain range.

In addition, a major factor in the seemingly "clean and efficient" capture of this ancient god this time was Zhang Jing's use of the "Golden Scales".

This is a treasure that Zhang Jing obtained from the underground of the Baladil National Museum in Cid, the capital of Grande. So far, this treasure is second only to the Heavenly Punishment Sword in Zhang Jing's possession. Under the gaze of Zhang Jing's True Fire Refining Eye, its essence is cyan.

Its greatest and only ability so far is "judgment".

Zhang Jing had previously given the "projection" of this treasure to the city gods he had appointed in various places, to use in judging the merits and demerits of the deceased in their lifetime, so as to determine their posthumous merits and demerits.

Of course, the underworlds in various places only use its projections, and it is only today that Zhang Jing has truly used its original form.

To be precise, this is a treasure involving "rules." Zhang Jing doesn't know how the ancient sages made this item, but he has a general idea that it might be like his Heavenly Punishment Sword, incorporating some kind of "authority."

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 990 Rules

The greatest function of this treasure is to "judge" a certain being designated by the wielder of the Golden Scales, based on certain pre-set rules.

It should be noted that the "certain rules" set here are not arbitrarily set by Zhang Jing, but rather exist in this world and are recognized by the treasures.

For Zhang Jing, this was a kind of understanding that was difficult to describe in words. Rather, it was a series of near-law-level understandings that Zhang Jing, as the wielder of this treasure, had come to comprehend after taking control of it.

If forced to explain, Zhang Jing saw it as somewhat like a collective unconscious, a set of fundamental laws recognized by a certain level of civilization. This meant that Zhang Jing only had a few rules to choose from: behavioral rules similar to those prevalent in the Western world, based on the values ​​of the "Holy Revelation Church"; or, for example, the moral system rules prevalent in the Eastern world, formed based on the thousands of years of traditional culture of the Zhao Empire…

As the holder of the treasure, Zhang Jing can adjust and emphasize certain rules to a certain extent. For example, taking Zhang Jing's previous world as an example, the traditional morality of the Confucian cultural sphere, the understanding of governing the country with Huang-Lao philosophy, is more inclined towards the Daoist understanding of the world. Traditional Confucianism or Legalism, or outwardly Confucian but inwardly Legalist…

This series of rules and frameworks are all built upon the foundation of traditional Eastern morality, but each has its own emphasis in certain aspects. Zhang Jing can make some adjustments to these "different emphases," but he cannot exceed the scope of the overall framework.

For example, "filial piety" is a core moral principle in Eastern culture, and this cannot be replaced or substituted; otherwise, the rules would not hold true...

The power of this "Golden Scales" lies in its ability to forcibly drag designated entities into the rule system for "judgment".

This kind of "forced control" is at the level of the rule, which means that (in this case) within a certain range, any "escape", "agility", "concealment" or "get rid of" of the target will be ineffective. Thus, a kind of forced "check" at the rule level is formed.

Once a target is deemed to have failed in the "judgment" at the rule level, it will be subject to a predetermined punishment. The method of punishment, in fact, is the same as the formulation of the rules, and must be based on a certain rule that exists in this world and is recognized by the treasure.

For example, in both Eastern and Western cultures, people who indiscriminately kill others are considered to be subject to trial after death and severe punishment.

In this situation, Zhang Jing, who already possesses the initial form of his own "nation," can use the power of the Golden Scales to construct his own punishment "plan."

This punishment is not illusory, but real. In fact, many people see it as a form of "divine punishment."

To some extent, the "Golden Scales" lies not only in the coercive and lawful nature of this "judgment," but also in the fact that, strictly speaking, Zhang Jing did not use his own power when using this treasure. Rather, he also borrowed the power of "rules," a rule-based application mode that is extremely similar to the "authority" of gods.

In other words, with the help of this treasure, Zhang Jing can not only use his own power, but also, to a certain extent, influence the underlying forces of the civilization that he has chosen as the "rule".

This also limits Zhang Jing's choice of rules for "trial" to avoid selecting overly niche rules, otherwise he would lose the greatest advantage of using the Golden Scales for "trial".

In fact, he chose to use the Eastern traditional morality of the Zhao Empire and its cultural sphere as the rule for "judgment." In this world, the entire Eastern cultural sphere has a population exceeding 20 billion; theoretically, Zhang Jing could leverage immense power to suppress the ancient gods.

However, it is not so simple to leverage such great power. After all, it would be too childish. In ancient times, the sages did not fight with ancient gods for thousands of years.

In fact, if you want to truly use the Scales of Gold for "judgment" and leverage tremendous power to suppress the target, there is a huge prerequisite: you must establish a connection with the relevant people and gain their approval.

This is easy to understand, after all, how can you use the enormous power at the bottom of the abyss without creating a link?

In Zhang Jing's view, this was somewhat similar to the relationship between gods and believers. However, the cultivation system in ancient times was not a system that built gods based on faith. He did not know how the previous holder of this golden scale used it in ancient times. However, in his view, this scale could be integrated with the conferment system he had established.

This is also why Zhang Jing previously handed over the projection of the Golden Scales to the underworlds in various places. He planned to embed the Golden Scales into the operation of the deified divine system, making it an important node in its operation. In this way, although the Golden Scales itself cannot directly contact a large number of people, it can contact them through the deified divine system.

Zhang Jing chose the "final judgment" stage, which connects everyone. On the one hand, the Yin official system does need such a treasure to measure "merit and sin". On the other hand, death is the fairest thing for everyone and must be faced. No matter if you are poor or rich, noble or lowly, you cannot escape the final judgment of death.

As a result, Zhang Jing was able to establish a strong connection between the Golden Scales and the entire conferment system, which in turn connected with everyone.

However, at present, since Zhang Jing's imperial decree system has only been initially established and is far from being able to cover the entire Zhao Empire, let alone the entire Eastern cultural sphere, the power it can leverage is far from reaching the expected limit.

Even so, the Golden Scales still brought considerable power. Combined with Zhang Jing's own power, the two were able to completely suppress the power of Argon that had broken through the seal and judge him according to the rules.

Of course, this judgment is two-way; that is, during the judgment, the one who holds the Scales of Gold is also subject to the "judgment" of the rules. Naturally, the one who holds the Scales can distort the degree of this judgment or the determination of the rules to a certain extent, but this distortion is also limited.

This means that if Zhang Jing wants to use this treasure, he cannot violate the traditional moral principles he has established. To the greatest extent possible, he can skirt around them, but he cannot go completely against them.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 991 The Sea

The truth is that, even after using the "Golden Scales," Argon, who was still sealed and could only let a very small portion of his power seep out of the seal, suffered a great loss.

It must be said that it truly lives up to its reputation as a treasure of cyan material. Without this item, although it would still be possible to handle the matter properly, it would definitely have taken a lot of effort.

As for Sonny Garner, the chosen one of the evil gods who caused this incident, Zhang Jing targeted him immediately. As the earthen altar was destroyed, he was also killed on the spot.

Furthermore, Ratu Saiman Vinant Ratu of the local Sriba community also died in this incident. Strictly speaking, Ratu was actually a tragic figure, a complete victim of the evil god's conspiracy. The entire Sriba community was greatly affected by him.

Furthermore, the subsequent events are still unfolding, and the repercussions may linger for a long time. However, for Zhang Jing, these are not his concerns, but rather the concerns of the local colonial government in Rune.

Zhang Jing sat at his desk, continuing to examine the wish book. After the mandatory test ended and the wish book was unsealed, two more messages appeared:

Special Events: Constantine Durand, the deputy secretary of the Lutheran Ministry of Bergopelli, has recently encountered a series of supernatural events that have sparked his keen interest in the history of the Holy Revelation Inquisition and mysticism during the Middle Ages.

This series of events significantly altered Constantine Durand's understanding of history, mythology, the Church of Revelation, the Inquisition, and mysticism, causing a slight disturbance in the world's underlying consciousness.

A total of 2 wish points have been added.

Special Events: Pope Clement III of the Church of Apocalypse has recently encountered a series of supernatural events, which has sparked his keen interest in the origins of the Church and mysticism.

These events significantly altered Clement III's understanding of history, the Church, the Holy Son, and mysticism, causing a subtle disturbance in the world's underlying consciousness.

A total of 2 wish points have been added.

He was familiar with these two pieces of information, as they were part of the plan he was behind.

He also noticed a detail: some of the events he had previously arranged and promoted with Bergo Perry around the world were not fully shown as "special events" in the wish book this time.

Having had previous experience, he was no stranger to this. He anticipated that some of those events had already merged into the statement, "Due to your influence, there have been multiple sightings of supernatural events in various places, suspected to involve highly skilled individuals with religious backgrounds..." The other part was not shown in the wish book. The reason was simple: the previous cases that formed "special events" all had a common characteristic, which was that, regardless of the number, they all caused a certain number of people to change their perception of the world. This change would at the same time bring about varying degrees of disturbance to the world's underlying consciousness. Zhang Jing guessed that this disturbance was the real reason why the wish book could form a "special event".

The events he orchestrated and promoted in Bergopelli involved a limited number of key figures. These key figures, such as Father Simon, already firmly believed in the existence of the "Holy Lord," the "Holy Son," and even some myths and legends. Therefore, there was no disturbance to the world's underlying consciousness, and thus no points could be generated from the wish book.

Therefore, Zhang Jing became increasingly certain that the essence of the points that the wish book could bring was the disturbance of the world's bottom consciousness.

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Inside the palace on the edge of the abyss, Zhang Jing rose from his high throne. The next moment, he arrived at a high mountain peak outside the palace. The entire surrounding space was slowly trembling. Looking around, everything in the world was changing. Clouds were surging, the ground was constantly cracking, breaking, and recombine; mountains and hills were being flattened and compressed into new folds, as if an invisible hand was reassembling the world...

Compared to the beginning, this world is now much larger, and can be described as vast and boundless. Clearly, it is also constantly growing as Zhang Jing's imperial decree system has grown.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jing turned his gaze to the distance. In this "kingdom" of his, distance meant nothing to him; he could see any object clearly if he wished. At this moment, he clearly saw a "sea" forming, or rather, it couldn't yet be called a sea, but it was already a super-large lake, the kind of lake whose edges ordinary people couldn't see even from the shore.

However, Zhang Jing knew clearly that this was the "sea," not only because the water there was salty, but because the moment Zhang Jing saw the ocean, he knew clearly that it was the "sea."

Meanwhile, the area of ​​the sea was constantly expanding, and the terrain in other regions continued to change accordingly; the mountains were still moving, and the ground was constantly cracking and expanding...

After an unknown amount of time, all the changes finally stopped. This "sea" now covered about one-sixth of the entire "world," and Zhang Jing could clearly sense that this sea area was still expanding.

In addition, the entire "kingdom" had become larger than before, complete with plains, mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Although, strictly speaking, the area of ​​this "ocean," according to Zhang Jing's estimation, was still far smaller than the Mediterranean Sea in his previous life. Even so, to him at this moment, this world already seemed more like a real world.

As for where this seawater came from, Zhang Jing had a vague feeling that it should be related to the power from the ancient sea god that he had previously sealed away.

As he pondered this, he turned his gaze to the sky, where the vast expanse of clouds did not obstruct his view at all…

If we broaden our perspective, we will find that the "kingdom" Zhang Jing is currently in is a multi-layered structure similar to an egg, with the "planet" Zhang Jing is on being like the yolk of the egg.

On the outside of an egg, there are multiple layers, just like the egg white and yolk.

When Zhang Jing looked up, it was as if he were standing on Earth gazing at the starry sky. But unlike Earth, the starry sky was not composed of round planets, but rather a vast, interconnected region.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 992 The Fiery Hell

That was another world, or rather, a plane, in which Zhang Jing was located, in the same world, yet never intersecting with it.

The area Zhang Jing was observing at this moment, strictly speaking, was a completely different world from his own "planet," a region within a vast plane, and this vast plane was called—"The Underworld."

Yes, this is the true "Underworld." The Underworld is not located in the deep underground of Eastern mythology, nor is it in heaven as Westerners believe. The true "Underworld" is located within Zhang Jing's "Kingdom" on the surface of the abyss, and is part of that "Kingdom."

Similar to the legends of the East, the underworld is not just one layer, but has numerous sub-layers, with each layer of planes forming the prototype of a vast system. At this moment, Zhang Jing's gaze, as if it were tangible, pierced through the layers of plane barriers and landed on the last plane.

This plane, in terms of its location, is located at the outermost layer of the entire "kingdom". In fact, it is also the "deepest" layer in Zhang Jing's "kingdom" system at present!

This is a plane shrouded in raging flames. Endless, scorching fire fills every inch of this area. Indistinct voices scream, cry, beg for mercy, and howl amidst the flames. Their hazy, blackened bodies, like withered twigs, struggle and run endlessly in this area, trying to find a slightly cooler spot to escape the omnipresent, relentless blazing fire. However, this is destined to be futile; in this plane, there is simply no area that is not ignited.

This is a scene that would give any ordinary person a nightmare just by looking at it. The figures running through it are scorched like charcoal, even sizzling with oil. Yet, they are not dead, and their senses are not even weakened. They are suffering endless pain...

This is the legendary bottom level of the Avici Hell—the Fire Hell. Legend has it that the most heinous criminals are thrown here after death to suffer punishments worse than death!

Zhang Jing's gaze swept over these figures without lingering. He felt no sympathy for them, for he knew that every being cast here was a dead person who had committed a grave crime under the laws of the underworld. In fact, up to now, only a handful of dead people had actually been cast into this level, a very small proportion of the total dead population.

Zhang Jing's gaze finally settled on the core area of ​​the Fire Prison, where a colossal figure was tightly bound by countless chains. In the blazing red flames, the figure appeared hazy and ferocious, its thick tentacles waving as it tried to break free of the chains. However, this was destined to be futile. To some extent, what bound it was not a physical chain, but a constraint at the level of laws. What it was truly fighting against was the very laws of this plane.

This colossal being, amidst the ceaseless burning, let out painful and furious howls. At the same time, a powerful force resisted the scorching flames around its body. In the core area of ​​this infernal hell, the surrounding rules were constantly being distorted, and large amounts of flames were directly twisted into dark seawater. This seawater flowed within the flames, attempting to extinguish the surrounding fire, while simultaneously turning into large amounts of steam, enveloping a vast area in steam.

However, this seawater usually ignites soon afterward, as if its substance were not "water" but flammable gasoline. As long as one is a little distance away from that enormous being, this seawater is assimilated by the rules of the plane itself, becoming new flames that continue to burn.

The entire space fluctuated in this constant distortion, making everything here seem somewhat bizarre. The two extreme energies of water and fire were constantly distorted, giving rise to numerous intermediate forms. Energy storms collided and roared in this area, and solid ice formed in some places. This solid ice quickly burned and eventually became some kind of strange crystal.