Chapter 111: The Ascendance of Power

Xigu’s spirit expanded boundlessly.

His body showed no outward change.

Thanks to his idealistic ability of “one percent daily growth,” he completely transcended the material laws of this world.

Yet, both his body and mind were evolving toward a new stage.

This was not a backlash from the world’s rules, nor was it the universe’s law seizing the moment to transform him into a celestial body, thereby forcing him to comply with physical laws—from the conservation of mass-energy to the law of universal gravitation—and expel lawbreakers, restoring the universe’s austere and solemn order.

On the contrary, it was quite the opposite.

Xigu’s innate talent was harnessing the universe’s laws to deduce and determine his next evolutionary direction.

The obsession and will of the extraordinary can drive their abilities to “spiritually transform” into new supernatural traits.

Xigu’s obsession and will were not that intense.

But after prolonged accumulation of power and talent, combined with the experiences gained from several other extraordinary individuals, he finally entered the next phase of evolution.

Xigu stood quietly above the sea.

At that very moment, his thoughts and senses completely entered the strange world where quantum realms intertwined.

Simultaneously, his body seemed placed at the center of the universe, shining in concert with countless celestial bodies.

Like a black hole, he devoured all information about himself within this universe.

Countless pieces of information—countless data about himself were swallowed from all directions. The name “Xigu” began to vanish from the memories of everyone who had ever known him.

Moreover, on various information carriers, all traces of “Xigu” started to fade away.

...

In a high school in Qingxia City, a slightly shy young boy’s photo in the academic record turned blank as if it had never existed.

...

At the talent market in Qingjiang Province, a file about “Xigu” had its written content fade away as if ink had been bleached, gradually losing all marks.

...

At a mid-sized internet company’s team-building event celebrating the company’s recent A-share listing, a man raised his glass and sighed with satisfaction.

“Alas, if Brother Xi had stayed with the company, we could have gone public at least six months earlier.”

“...Yeah.”

Someone nearby chimed in, but as they raised their glass, they suddenly frowned.

“...Wait, what were we just talking about?”

“Huh?”

The first person who mentioned “Brother Xi” hesitated, then shook his head.

“I don’t know... never mind, it’s such a happy day; let’s not think too much. Come on, keep drinking.”

No one entertained further thoughts; they all raised their glasses together, celebrating the inevitably bright future ahead.

...

At the “Fuxi” supercomputer in the Dragon Nation, the central AI program “Luoshu” was performing its routine nine trillion six hundred billionth self-check.

Data flowed like drifting clouds.

Yet it didn’t notice that after one cycle, the database suddenly lost about a few dozen kilobytes of data—the records of a certain citizen ranked around 100,000th in “supernatural probability” disappeared like a wisp of smoke from the system.

...

Tokyo.

Fang Shican sifted through the information he had just obtained, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

“...Suyu Bookstore...”

Everything about that bookstore seemed plunged into unknowable chaos.

The manager’s name was unknown; none of the photos taken showed the manager’s figure. Even the surveillance footage directly facing the store entrance, where the counter was within the camera’s view, showed no sign of that manager after thorough investigation.

...

Why was all this happening?

Fang Shican lifted his head, gazing into the distance at a heavily guarded building.

—Would the owner inside know any relevant clues?

...

Ito Mio sat by the window, utterly ignoring the fully armed soldiers stationed around her, shadows of gloom flickering across her eyes.

“Manager...”

She murmured.

She clearly felt a void forming in her mind concerning that “manager,” that deity. Just moments ago, some gaps had appeared in her memory—yet at that critical moment, she didn’t know what those gaps were.

More importantly, as each second passed, she sensed that the void was being filled by other emerging memories. In about ten seconds, even she would no longer notice that some memories had vanished.

Ito Mio closed her eyes slightly, waiting quietly.

...

“Master...”

Both Grey Shadow and Black Moon sensed something different at that moment, a difference emanating from their master.

However...

“No matter what the master does, there must be a reason behind it.”

They instantly dismissed the strange feeling and refocused on their current tasks.

...

At the instant of Xigu’s transcendence,

All information about Xigu’s true name throughout the universe had been completely devoured by him.

Only those who had established “connections” with him could retain faint impressions.

In Xigu’s vision, he seemed to become a perfect information convergence entity; from this moment on, even if he walked among people, humans could neither see him, nor could cameras capture him, electromagnetic waves detect him, or history record him.

If he had not retained the extraordinary information he created, then at this moment, even data about the “Divine Hall” or “Suyuan Supreme Deity” would be utterly forgotten.

Xigu had become a wholly independent existence, detached from the torrent of information in this world.

Yet at the same time, whenever he wished, he could instantly transmit his information to every corner of the Earth, until all eyes, ears, and minds were filled with his presence.

“This ability... perhaps it can be called an information black hole—or maybe it’s akin to the ‘transcending the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements’ state of the Golden Immortal realm in those martial fairy tales?”

Xigu murmured to himself.

Furthermore, he sensed his innate ability had evolved again—

From “one percent daily growth” to “ten percent daily growth.”

In roughly a thousand days, his power would increase by one hundred quintillion times compared to now.

And yet—this was not the end.

Xigu narrowed his eyes, feeling the natural transformation following the refinement of his innate ability.

The moment the “information black hole” ability formed, that transformation had already begun.

—Just like a true black hole,

It continued collapsing,

Toward an ultimate point.

...

...

At Noyfer City Public University, Kyle Rockman’s lecture continued.

“...Beyond the black hole information paradox, the next topic I will introduce is the black hole singularity.

“In many people’s impressions, the inside of a black hole is a pure void, the highest density in the universe, where any matter absorbed is instantly crushed and becomes part of the black hole.

“—But I must say, this notion is absolutely wrong. In fact, the density of a black hole can, in a sense, be said to be both infinitely small and infinitely large.

“...Infinitely small refers to the space within the Schwarzschild radius surrounding the singularity at the black hole’s center—there is no matter in that space; infinitely large refers to the singularity itself. Once a black hole forms, all matter falls toward the central singularity, which is a point without volume but with increasing mass—thus its density approaches infinity.

“...Does the name ‘singularity’ sound familiar? I believe you have heard it in another, more famous hypothesis.

“—Yes, the ‘Big Bang.’ According to this hypothesis, the entire universe was born from an explosion of a singularity. And as you might expect, the singularity at the center of a black hole, according to current physical theories, shares properties remarkably similar to the Big Bang singularity. Extending this hypothesis, we can even consider that the universe’s ultimate fate will be all matter collapsing into the singularity of a supermassive black hole—until the next time this singularity explodes again—then, ‘boom,’ a new universe is born.

“...So, do you understand?

“—In a certain sense, every black hole can be considered an unhatched new universe, and the singularity is the convergence point of this new universe.”

(The End of This Chapter)