Chapter 163 Open your eyes, no more shackles!
Even after all the system prompts were played, Zhao Si was stunned and still didn't react:

"This... can also be a rebellion?!"

The protagonist of the game rebelled against the player... How outrageous!
"What does it mean that the true spirit is out of the system?"

Zhao Si asked blankly.

[Ding! The reason why the protagonist of the game can restart infinitely is essentially because their true spirit is entrusted to the system. If the true spirit is separated from the system, it means that he has lost the ability to restart infinitely. If he dies, he is really dead. This can also be regarded as a punishment mechanism. ]

"Then will I really be unable to do anything to him in the future?"

[Yes, in this round of simulation, players can only read text PPT from now on. ]

Zhao Si: …

You are so free!
Zhao Si was confused, and then began to think about the root cause of this rebellion:
"Although this little bird was quite opinionated before, it will definitely listen to my orders in the end. Even if it really is a sea of ​​fire and swords, the worst that can happen is that it will start over... In short, it will not dare to refuse and resist my orders like it did this time."

"If it wasn't because he suddenly lost his mind, then there was something wrong with my instructions this time, which completely disgusted him..."

Is there something wrong with my instructions?

Puzzled, Zhao Si began to review historical information, trying to find the reason.

After a moment, he seemed to understand:
"It seems that it is because he and I have different perceptions of the world..."

In short, Zhao Si is a player after all, and everything in the simulated prehistoric world is just a game. No matter how empathetic he is, it is impossible for him to have the same values ​​as the game characters.

For him, this round of simulation is just a game experiment and a tool to collect relevant information, and Jiao Ming, as the protagonist, is also a tool for him.

Therefore, when facing the dilemma of being stuck at a level, Zhao Si would definitely think outside of the protagonist’s mindset and instead develop a strategy to pass the level with the player’s mindset.

Such a strategy is naturally extremely correct and can most efficiently advance the plot for you.

But Zhao Si overlooked one thing, that is, he was not the protagonist of the game after all...

Although he calls himself "another self", Jiao Ming obviously has an independent set of values ​​and personality. To him, games are not games at all, but the real world.

Most importantly, he actually lives it!
Therefore, when Zhao Si forced him to go against his own personal beliefs and make a choice that was harmful to the world, he would of course rebel.

Zhao Si doesn't care about the life or death of the game characters, but Jiao Ming does.

Zhao Si doesn't care whether this round of simulation is perfect or not, but Jiao Ming does.

Zhao Si felt that the next round of simulation would always be more perfect, but Jiao Ming felt that this round was the most perfect!
Everything he had longed for since childhood, he had in this round:

His friend Hongjun, his children the three siblings Jinwu, and even his grandson Huanglong... His children were successful in their careers, established the Heavenly Palace, and devoted their efforts to governing all the spirits in heaven and earth.

And Zu Feng, the object of his first unrequited love, really got together with him this round, and was only one step away from laying an egg for him...

Looking at the bigger picture, the war between the three tribes is over, Luohu is gone, and everyone is happy.

Looking at it from a smaller perspective, your career will be successful, your family will be healthy, and everything will go well.

If Zhao Si were put in his position, he probably wouldn't want to reopen...

"Another point is that I asked him to distinguish between reality and illusion because I wanted him to use the same perspective as me and realize that this round of simulation is fake and the perfect ending of the next round is real."

"In the end, he did figure it out, but he did it the opposite way from me..."

This made Zhao Si not know what to say for a moment:
Why not seek perfection in the next life? This life is not perfect anyway!

"I don't understand... The next life can be more perfect..."

Zhao Si muttered to himself.

[Ding! The player overlooked a question. Is it possible that Jiao Ming is really... old? ]

old?

Zhao Si was stunned:

"A Golden Immortal will also grow old? What a low-profile prehistoric one!"

【…】

[The old here is not old in the physiological sense, but old in the psychological sense. ]

When the system gave him this reminder, Zhao Si frowned and thought:

Indeed, Jiao Ming and Jin Bing are different. Jin Bing’s three reincarnations have made him more mature in each life, but Jiao Ming...he has become older in each life!
From the moment Jiao Ming killed Zu Qilin, his hesitation and contemplation revealed a sense of decadence:

He actually thought that killing Zu Qilin was a sacrifice, which was an idea that the decisive and ruthless protagonist could never have!

After killing Zulong, even though Zulong was really guilty, he still felt that it was a sacrifice and therefore let Qinglong go.

When Qinglong started to cause chaos, he was forced to step in and clean up the mess.

But every time he killed a real dragon, he would tremble in his heart for a long time. After killing three dragons in a row, he even let the Azure Dragon go!
Finally, he rescued Huang Long and brought him to Yujing Mountain to raise him as his grandson, which made Emperor Jun extremely upset...

Anyway, it highlights the kind and stubborn mentality of an old man. Compared with the youthful vigor of his first life as a child, he is completely different from the same person!

"But why did he grow old?"

[Because if the sky had feelings, it would also age, let alone humans who already have feelings? After three reincarnations, he really didn’t want to reincarnate again.]

Zhao Si was puzzled:
"What about Jin Bing? He also reincarnated three times, so why didn't Jin Bing age?"

[Because although both of them have reincarnated three times, the things they experienced are completely different.] [Jin Bing has experienced three lives, but his three lives have always been in the same lich era, so he will not be too uncomfortable, while Jiao Ming's three lives... have experienced at least three eras!]

Three eras?

Zhao Si thought carefully:
"Isn't it just an era of three tribes?"

[No, Jiao Ming's three eras are "Eternal Wildness", "Three Ancient Clans", and "Heavenly Rule". From a barbaric era to the beginning of civilization, and then to a new era of civilization... three completely different eras. No matter how strong Jiao Ming is, he has become an old man.]

Zhao Si finally understood:
It's like someone lived from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the warlords, then lived to the founding of the country, experienced the turn of the new century, and finally lived to the new era, watching short videos on Douyin and Kuaishou where all kinds of monsters and demons are flying around...

After going through so much, it would be strange if he didn’t age!

Jiao Ming even experienced the first two eras three times.

[Players may wish to be more intuitive and count the time spent by the two protagonists. ]

Ok?
Zhao Si raised his eyebrows:
"Jin Bing... In his first life, he died at the hands of Xuan Du in a few epochs at most. In his second life, he died in about ten epochs. By the end of the simulation of his third life, it should have been less than twenty epochs."

"Jiao Ming..."

Zhao Si found that he seemed unable to calculate Jiao Ming's age, because before the Heavenly Court Demon Calendar, the system had no history at all.

But if you think about it, Jiao Mingguang should have lived for hundreds of eras in his first life, or even more...

If you really add up the three lives together, it would probably be longer than the total lifespan in Heaven when Jin Bing ascended the throne!
Thinking about it this way, Zhao Si finally understood Jiao Ming's mentality a little:
An elderly person whose wishes have basically been fulfilled just doesn't want to go through the trouble anymore.

"but……"

Although he understands, Zhao Si still wants to complain:
"You kick me away and fly away on your own...what good will that do?"

"Without the game system protecting your true spirit, you can only complete the game with one life. From then on, no matter what the ending is, you can no longer restart, and you can't pursue a more perfect ending."

"In this round, you have killed the Ancestral Qilin, the Ancestral Dragon, the Red Dragon... and a large number of Dragon Kings."

"As for the massacre, Hongjun inspired the Qilin tribe to massacre a group of people, and now he has let Qiankun and Yinyang massacre another group... Although the number of deaths is definitely not as high as the war between the three tribes, and it is definitely not as high as the massacre by Luohou, but there are still many deaths."

"If you go solo now, then the deaths of these people will be completely meaningless. You can neither create the Way of Heaven nor avoid sacrifices. It's a mess..."

Zhao Si was confused. What kind of ending did Jiao Ming want?

"However, the closer you get to an ending I can't predict, the more it proves your freedom..."

But how will such freedom end?

What price will you pay for this kind of freedom?

"Whether it's perfect or incomplete, I hope you can walk the path you chose to your satisfaction..."

……

[You have broken free from the shackles of "another self" and have entered into complete freedom! ]

[This is disorderly freedom. Without orders from above, you will have to bear all the consequences in the future by yourself...]

[But you don’t regret it, because you have become clear-minded and can distinguish between the real and the fake… You know what you have to do! ]

[You transform into your original form of a firebird, cry out to the sky, blazing golden crow fire lingering all over your body, your red feathers contrasting with the white-gold flames, you are already a free sun! ]

【You flap your wings and are ready to fly. 】

【"etc!"】

[Zu Feng shouted: "I'll go with you!"]

[As he spoke, another giant bird with flames all over its body flapped its wings and flew up. The two birds circled around the top of Yujing Mountain, their tail feathers trailing flames, and they chirped at each other, looking extremely auspicious! ]

【Hongjun: ……】

[No, sister...it's fine if he wants to go crazy, but why are you going crazy too?! ]

【Seeing that the two Taoist friends were ready to go, Hongjun finally sighed: Damn it, just go crazy. 】

[“Count me in too!”]

[Hongjun said stubbornly: I am not mad at you... I am just worried that you can't beat those two guys...]

[As he spoke, a purple light shot up into the sky, accompanied by two flaming divine birds, and flew straight to the Western Wasteland! ]

【…】

[Soon after, the three of them arrived at the Western Wasteland, and according to the coordinates given by Emperor Jun, they found the two natural born saints who were wreaking havoc! ]

[The Qiankun Patriarch held a giant Qiankun Cauldron on his head, and the Yinyang Patriarch waved the Tai Chi diagram. A golden bridge suppressed the earth, wind, water, and fire, like a long dragon. Wherever it passed, true spirits floated...]

[With a cry of anger, the Golden Crow True Fire that had been suppressed for a long time rushed straight towards the Second Ancestor! ]

[Achievement of the Way, Heavenly Way, Sainthood, creating something out of nothing...]

[The flames burst forth, and all the worries came to light.]

[But you don’t want to care about anything now, and you don’t want to consider any consequences, because you can never grasp the future, you just want to grasp the present! ]

……

(End of this chapter)