Chapter 8 Fun Creativity
"Conflict is also a source of vitality."
Lin Yun pointed to the crack where wine had spilled out.
The deep purple liquid condensed in the void into tiny figures no bigger than a fingernail.
They held up miniature spears and gestured to each other.
It's like a military exercise.
Occasionally, some little figures wielding spears would secretly pass a berry to the little figures opposite them.
"You see, even in a fight, there's a tacit understanding to 'take a break before fighting again'."
Lin Yun inserted the memory anchor into the phantom, and the image of the fried egg in the crystal suddenly transformed into a group of little angels wearing aprons.
Their aprons were still covered in flour, and they held spatulas, ladles, and whisks in their hands.
They chattered and rushed toward the little men holding spears.
Then, without further ado, they replaced the spears with wooden spoons and the shields with bread baskets.
Surprisingly, the little people didn't resist. Instead, they picked up wooden spoons, tapped them together to create a rhythm, and started singing.
"A universe without conflict is stagnant water; the key is to sow the seeds of reconciliation amidst the disputes."
Lin Yun watched as the sparks he had created with the wooden spoon transformed into fireflies in the void.
"Just like children arguing, they can turn around and share the same piece of candy."
Anan chuckled softly as he looked at it, and the star pattern on his robe softened considerably.
"Using the 'everyday life' of mortals to resolve divine conflicts, how did you even come up with that idea? But..."
She abruptly changed the subject, her fingertips tracing the base of the illusory pottery bottle, where a faint ring of black mist lingered.
"The concentration of 'chaotic power' here is too high."
"According to the original records, Charon added three drops of water from the River Styx to his wine during the sacrifice."
"It is said that it was to make the gods 'recognize their own dark side'."
"But this would cause the cosmic egg to explode as soon as it takes shape."
"Look, the flow rate of this black mist is three times faster than that of normal chaotic energy."
"A divine object with the attribute of 'restraint'."
Lin Yun replied.
At the same time, with a light wave of the long staff, a bronze mirror appeared in the void.
The mirror surface is engraved with fine meander patterns, and seven small moonstones are inlaid along the edge.
"This is a 'mirror of self-reflection' unearthed from the ruins of Troy. It is said to be able to reflect the user's greed and desires."
Orphus himself used it to control chaos—he inscribed "See and tame" on the back of the mirror.
Lin Yun placed the bronze mirror on the bottom of the ceramic bottle, and the mirror immediately reflected countless distorted faces.
Some were scrambling for the scepter, some were tearing apart ears of wheat, and some were grinning at their reflections in the mirror.
That was the hidden ambition of the eight main gods.
As the mirror slowly rotated, the moonstone emitted a soft white light, and the distorted faces gradually became peaceful.
Those vying for the scepter began teaching each other how to hold it more firmly, those tearing off ears of wheat scattered grains onto each other's land, while those grinning and grimacing laughed at themselves in the mirror.
The black mist emanating from the ceramic bottle had thinned considerably, with some wisps even transforming into white fog that drifted into the void like cotton candy.
"That's it, we're safe now."
Lin Yun nodded in satisfaction.
The staff drew a circle in the void, and countless tiny bubbles of memories were drawn into it.
"Now we can begin condensing the cosmic egg."
The process of condensing the cosmic egg is more complex than imagined.
Lin Yun must first extract the core elements of the seventeen versions of the Cosmic Egg.
The "dragon's breath eggshell" of North Africa is an orange-red flame with a sulfurous smell, and it will automatically tighten when it comes into contact with chaotic energy.
The "giant's membrane" of Eastern Europe is a translucent film with a mother-of-pearl luster that can automatically repair cracks.
The "stardust yolk" of Asia Minor is formed from countless shimmering stardust particles, with an extremely high density, and it constantly contracts inward...
These elements are in conflict with each other.
Dragon breath burns the armor membrane, the armor membrane's repairing power hinders the stardust's contraction, and the stardust's gravity absorbs the dragon breath's energy.
"We need to use memory as the adhesive."
Lin Yun took a deep breath, lightly tapped his brow with his staff, and countless bubbles of memories floated out from the depths of his consciousness.
He reached out and plucked a steaming bubble.
Inside is a scene from my university days, where I and my roommates would gather around a small electric pot in our dorm room to cook hot pot.
The soup in the pot was bubbling away.
Some people complained that it was too spicy, while others complained that it was too bland, but they still managed to put food from their own bowls into the other person's pot.
He crushed the bubble, and the heat merged into the point of contact between the dragon's breath and the armor membrane.
The sizzling sound of burning suddenly turned into a soft "gurgling" sound.
A soft white mist rose from the edge of the dragon's breath.
It looks like the steam rising from hot pot broth.
It neither reduced the temperature nor burned the nail membrane.
"We still need to adjust the density."
Anan pointed to a cluster of golden light in the void that was constantly shrinking.
That's an egg yolk made from stardust from Asia Minor.
The density was so high that it could absorb the surrounding light, forming a ring of black shadow.
"If this continues, it will become a black hole and suck in all matter."
Lin Yun immediately waved his long staff, infusing a memory with golden light.
That was a scene from his college days, where he shared a bowl of instant noodles with his roommate.
They woke up hungry in the middle of the night and sat around a bowl of instant noodles, taking turns eating and drinking every last drop of soup.
Finally, they even licked the last bit of dough off the spoon.
Strangely enough, when the golden light came into contact with this memory, it actually slowed down its contraction.
At the edges, a warm orange glow even emanated.
Like the steam rising from a bowl of instant noodles.
"It turns out that memories of 'sharing' can dilute density."
Lin Yun suddenly realized and then injected several more similar memories.
In high school, I shared a comic book with a classmate.
The two of them leaned their heads together, their breaths spraying onto the pages of the book.
When I was a child, if I shared half a piece of candy with my neighbor, I would lick the candy wrapper clean.
On one occasion, she even shared an umbrella with a stranger on a bus.
Shoulders pressed together, the sound of rain pattering on the umbrella like drumbeats...
The golden light gradually stabilized into a soft sphere of light, with ripples appearing on its surface, much like the oil droplets in instant noodle soup.
Next is the eggshell.
Lin Yun chose the most durable "time-space glass".
This type of glass becomes stronger when exposed to strong forces and more brittle when exposed to weak forces.
If you hit it with brute force, it will crumble into dust; but if you gently support it, it will become as supple as silk.
He asked Anan to help stabilize Liuli's form; her star-patterned robe could weave a temporary force field, while he extracted all his memories of "protection."
When I was in elementary school, I shielded my younger sister who had fallen behind me, which resulted in my back being bruised by a pebble.
Carefully cleaning artifacts at an archaeological site, brushing away the green patina on bronzes with a soft brush is like stroking a baby's skin.
And right now, the determination to keep this universe alive.
These memories, transformed into silver threads, weave a resilient net outside the crystal-clear space-time.
The most amazing thing is that the shape of the mesh is exactly the same as the vegetable basket at Lin Yun's grandmother's house when he was a child.
"Grandma said that a good net is not about blocking out the sand, but about letting out the sand that should leak and keeping the vegetables that should stay."
Lin Yun spoke softly, his fingertips brushing across the mesh of the net, where tiny, menacing specks of light were leaking through.
And those warm, tender memories are firmly held in place.