Chapter 7: A Necessary Interlude
"...."
Chu Hao opened his eyes and looked downward from the upper layers of the Endless Abyss.
At this moment, in his view, the soul of the First Fallen had already become completely different from the soul fragment he had once thrown down.
That fragment, torn apart by divine fire, had contained only the most basic essence of a soul — such as the three forms of consciousness.
By textbook definition, such a fragment could only be considered a "soul fluctuation," without any self-awareness.
Without the nourishment of the countless planes within the Endless Abyss, it would have quickly dissipated into nothingness, vanishing completely.
But this time was different. The still-forming world of the Endless Abyss had eagerly accepted and transformed the fragment, imprinting it with its own unique mark.
From this moment onward, the First Fallen belonged entirely to the Endless Abyss.
"Success?"
Chu Hao looked at the soul of the First Fallen floating at the bottom of the abyss, his emotions complicated.
"I've always wondered why the Endless Abyss can constantly attract evil and chaotic souls, why it can corrupt them and turn them into true abyssal beings..."
Before crossing over, Chu Hao had studied the Endless Abyss.
No — more precisely, he had experienced it up close. That was why he had such doubts.
"At first, I thought it was the unconscious choice of the soul — that souls naturally drifted toward the Abyss, willingly falling into corruption."
"But now it seems... the truth is otherwise."
Chu Hao took a deep breath, his eyes filled with shock upon realizing the truth.
"The truth is that low-dimensional worlds like the Endless Abyss, from the moment of their creation, instinctively attract souls to fall into them!"
"It's not that fallen souls want to go to the Abyss — it's the Abyss that captures them!"
At that moment, the First Fallen opened its eyes.
But unlike ordinary beings, it did not possess a physical body.
What it had now was a pure soul, reshaped by the Endless Abyss itself.
Though it existed only as a soul, it could still live — because across all sixty-six layers of the low-dimensional planes, it was the only soul.
From the moment it fell to the bottom of the Abyss, the world itself began nourishing it.
Of course, this "nourishment" was not organic matter.
It was composed of all the rules, elements, and energy-conversion formulas of the Endless Abyss.
Everything was beginning to shift from illusion to reality — a sign of a world maturing.
What was once "ownerless" was gradually becoming claimed.
All of it was slowly turning into the powers that the First Fallen could command — authority, dominion, and the path itself.
"It's starting!"
"It's instinctively learning the rules of this world. I have to take control of its soul now."
Seeing this, Chu Hao extended his consciousness into the soul of the First Fallen, engraving his own soul mark upon it.
This was to ensure that he maintained control over the First Fallen, preventing it from developing too much self-awareness.
It would also allow him to fully command the Endless Abyss once the First Fallen's soul eventually dissolved, guiding its continued evolution.
If he didn't, even Chu Hao could not predict what might arise from such extreme chaos.
Absolute chaos meant absolute disorder.
"..."
As Chu Hao was attempting to seize control of the First Fallen's soul and the entire Abyss, inside the observation chamber, Wang Zhi and the others were stunned, staring motionlessly at the projection of Chu Hao's world.
They were in shock because they had encountered something unprecedented.
Chu Hao's divine fire count — was dropping rapidly!
A world that was growing and perfecting itself — yet its divine fire was decreasing?
That made no sense!
———
A few minutes earlier.
"Chu Hao's divine world has given birth to its first being..." Wang Zhi nodded, visibly excited.
This was his first time witnessing the legendary birth of a being from a low-dimensional world.
Although he had seen low-dimensional life forms before, he had never seen one actually emerge from such a world.
This time was different.
What he was observing now was a true life form, born from a soul fragment within a low-dimensional world.
Though the being had no physical body yet, this miracle alone was enough to satisfy him.
He was still expecting more — more surprises from Chu Hao.
But then, one of the instructors beside him suddenly cried out.
"Wait — Vice Principal Wang, something's not right!"
Wang Zhi frowned. "What's wrong? What happened?"
The instructor wasn't looking at the projection of Chu Hao's world but at the divine fire monitoring system in the observation room.
"Chu Hao's divine fire count has dropped sharply — from nearly 5000 to 4800!"
Chu Hao currently ranked first among all graduates in divine fire count — such a massive drop was immediately noticed.
"What?"
Wang Zhi's expression changed instantly.
"Why?" he shouted.
"Why is a perfecting world losing divine fire?"
The instructors looked at one another, unable to explain it with their existing knowledge.
"Wait—! It's dropping again!"
"4570! 4180!"
Reports about the plummeting divine fire filled the room.
"3204!" "1765!" "872!"
On the system panel, Chu Hao's divine fire was plunging like a torrential flood bursting through a dam — uncontrollably and faster by the second!
It was now nearing zero!
Wang Zhi's face turned pale.
A terrifying thought struck him.
"Could it be... Chu Hao's design has failed?!"
"Is his world—"
"Going to collapse?!"
Meanwhile, Chu Hao remained calm.
Because he knew — the decrease in divine fire...
Was merely a necessary interlude.