"I'll happily fall prey to your scheme." Regression grinned in response and continued to target the universe, not showing any intention of letting up its assault. It didn't wish to risk and fall victim to any other plans that Slayer and Arnark had otherwise concocted.
…
God Realm!
This was one of the strongest worlds under Immortal, one that was connected to more than a million cultivation worlds. There were three layers to this power structure.
First, forming the bottom-most of the totem pole were cultivation worlds, where cultivators and mortals lived amidst one another.
There existed sects that nurtured cultivators, with the majority of the mortals living their entire lives without seeing even a single cultivator.
And once the cultivators of these worlds attained the peak of their cultivation limit, they would spark a tribulation and if succeeded, would transcend the plane and enter the immortal world.
There existed thousands of immortal worlds. Each immortal world stood above thousands of cultivation worlds. Here, everyone was immortal, possessing lifespans in the thousands of years, with those at the top living for tens of thousands of years.
And the immortals that attain the peak of such worlds would spark a tribulation once again and if succeeded, ascend to the God Realm, the plane where Gods lived, with the lifespans of everyone infinite.
This three-layered structure was common among most of the immortal worlds under Immortal.
Currently, in a corner of this God Realm, seated within a cave with an inconspicuous aura was a God, the strongest to ever emerge in the God Realm. He had attained the peak of cultivation possible, with him alone consuming more than half of the God Realm's resources.
He ascended from the God Realm, becoming a being that could roam through the void and create as many cultivation and immortal worlds as he desired. It was then that he met Immortal, realising the truth of the cultivation genre and the problem plaguing it—Systems.
From then on, he visited the other cultivation worlds and gradually shaped his own power system to be more universal. Following that, he returned to his home world, the God Realm, and focused on nourishing its development.
Pretty much every single peak cultivator was the same, striving to improve their worlds to surpass the strength stolen by the Systems.
"Hmm, who are you?" The eyes of the God shot open as he stared at a lady wearing a bear costume, surprised because even the strongest of Gods wouldn't be able to see through his protection array.
"Are you the leader of the Immortal Army, Shen Ze?" Mascot asked.
"You…you're not alive, are you?" Shen Ze frowned, his eyes widening as the pupils turned scaly, oozing out the power of dragons as a formidable power slammed into Mascot, causing her feet to slide back by a dozen centimetres.
Mascot stared at her feet, noticing that she was pushed back a dozen centimetres, surprised at the outcome, "You're strong, probably the strongest after a Genre Representative."
"That method of speaking…" Shen Ze muttered after a moment of thought, "You're Mascot."
"Bingo!" Mascot winked in joy while flailing her hands at him, "Now, why don't you join hands with me."
"Don't bother." Shen Ze closed his eyes as slowly, his body began to transform into a golden dragon, the power reaching a suffocative level.
Sensing the sheer power emanating from him, Mascot was shocked, 'He's already surpassed most of the weak Genre Representatives. As expected of the strongest God under Immortal. He alone would be able to battle a Grade 3 System.'
"Now, come on!" Mascot fawned in response as she evaded an attack and leaped onto the golden dragon's back, whispering in his ears, "I'll make you stronger, you know."
"Immortal's about to die."
"I'm still alive." Shen Ze didn't bother attacking her after she evaded his initial attack, speaking calmly, "As long as even one of us is alive, Immortal would revive."
"Yes, but in what state?" She asked, causing him to frown.
"What do you mean by that?" Shen Ze expressed confusion, surprised to stare at a screen flash before him, one that displayed the figure of Immortal howling like a madman beside a trashed truck. "T-This is…Immortal?"
"Yes," Mascot said, "The Systems schemed against him to cause his worlds to be dominated by non-sentient creatures. Even though he's still strong, his mind is affected. He's gradually becoming no more than a rabid beast."
"This is a weakness all Genre Representatives have. We're only as intelligent as the average of the people inhabiting our worlds." Her voice echoed solemnly in the cave.
"The immortal worlds are still alright." Shen Ze snorted, "I've just communicated with the other Gods. The universes they're in charge of don't have any plaguing issues."
"You sure?" Mascot tilted her head before saying, "Why don't you…take a look at the river of time in the immortal worlds."
"The river of time?" Shen Ze stood up in alarm to flash away to a nearby universe, one that was the weakest among the immortal worlds. His divine sense inspected its foundations, noticing a foreign entity manipulating the universe's river of time, "You bastard!"
Boom!
Shen Ze erupted with the entirety of his strength, causing the space to crack as he destroyed the entity affecting the river of time.
"You've managed to kill my fragment in this universe. But, how many can you kill?" Regression's voice resounded, followed by a cackle, "Without Immortal, your worlds are helpless against me."
Bam!
The last vestiges of Regression's fragment dissipated under Shen Ze's attack. He then glared at Mascot, "Why aren't you helping Immortal?"
"Aren't you allies?"
"Not anymore." Mascot shook her head, "All the Genre Representatives have sided with the Main Character while Immortal alone joined the side of someone else and ended up paying the price."
She stared at the universe, pointing at the worlds there, "Don't they seem young to you?"
"What?" Shen Ze inspected in alarm, muttering in disbelief, "All the Realms regressed in development by a century?"
"Yup, in mere seconds, the Regression System stole a century of this universe's timeline." Mascot nodded, "Until now, Immortal prevented that from happening. But in his current beastly state, he doesn't have the capacity to protect your worlds."
"Which is why," She extended her hand, "You should join my side."
"Come under my banner and I'll protect your worlds."
