"Alright." Xiang Yu immediately turned his horse around and flew southeast along the coastline. "Is the God of Wine facing some difficulties? Although I don't understand awakened supernatural powers, I can still offer some advice."
Hao Jiu thought about it and agreed. There was no harm in talking to Xiang Yu; what if he found some inspiration?
"That's right. If a self-created awakened supernatural power is duplicated with other systems, the more powerful the function, the more likely it is to fail."
Xiang Yu was so outstanding, so I also want to be as outstanding as possible and create a heaven-defying and powerful divine ability, at least it can't be worse than the Black Dragon's.
The problem is that whether or not you can repeat someone else's supernatural power can only be known after you've completed it. Moreover, if the supernatural power is too extraordinary or too powerful, you may fail even if you don't repeat it.
These past few days I've come up with many ingenious solutions, but I'm not very confident I can succeed with any of them. If I fail, there won't be a second chance, so I'm in a dilemma. If it were Xiang Yu, would he bravely take the plunge, or play it safe and not fight?
Xiang Yu was slightly taken aback, then laughed and said, "So that's what the God of Wine is struggling with, haha. I wonder what the God of Wine thinks of the black dragon's awakened supernatural powers?"
"It's very powerful; it's a rather heaven-defying divine ability," Hao Jiu replied.
Xiang Yu nodded and said, "Hmm, it is somewhat heaven-defying, but didn't he still lose to you, a novice who hasn't awakened any supernatural powers?"
Hao Jiu didn't answer, thinking to himself that it was because his side was cheating too much.
Xiang Yu then said, "I remember that the God of Wine said that there are many functional modules that can be purchased in the God's Shop. In that case, why doesn't the God of Wine take a look at that shop?"
Hao Jiu's eyes lit up. "That's right! How come I didn't think of that! Oh dear, I was blinded by my own involvement. Xiang Yu is amazing, but even if I find a function that's not in the God's Shop, it doesn't mean it won't overlap with other awakened supernatural abilities. However, this method can indeed eliminate the vast majority."
Xiang Yu smiled and said, "God of Wine, please don't be hasty. I don't want you to eliminate the majority in this way and then bravely try to use a heaven-defying divine power. Rather, I want you to create a divine power that can't be bought in the God's Shop. It doesn't necessarily have to be heaven-defying and powerful, as long as it's useful to us and suitable for us."
Hao Jiu suddenly realized that she had been getting stuck on one thing. "Yes, I understand now. What suits you best is the best!"
"As long as we find something suitable for us, and it's not bad, we don't need to think too much. We should just go all out. If we fail, so be it. At worst, we can just take over all the enemy's magical abilities later!" Xiang Yu said confidently.
"Hahaha... With Xiang Yu's words, I'm relieved!" Hao Jiu was in high spirits. "Hey? Xiang Yu, look! The turning point is just ahead. That's called the Bering Strait. The other side is the New World!"
Chapter 220 The Fall
The Earth is round, but this plane may not be round.
Hao Jiu has always suspected that this plane is just a continent. If a plane is a universe, how can it be so easy to replicate?
If you pick up a globe and observe it carefully, you will find that the continents on Earth are actually connected in a discontinuous manner. Even the relatively independent Oceania is connected to larger archipelagos.
The Bering Strait, which connects Asia and North America, is only about 80 kilometers wide.
There is a truth that is easily overlooked in modern times: the United States and Russia are actually neighbors, separated by two islands in the middle of the Bering Strait.
The island on the Asian side is called Great Diomede Island, and the one on the American side is called Little Diomede Island. The distance between the two islands is less than four kilometers.
Now, in this world of the Chu-Han Contention, a man, a horse, and a system are hovering above Great Daimid Island, staring blankly at the strange scene before them.
"God of Wine, what's with the fog ahead? It's so thick..." Xiang Yu instinctively sensed that the fog was unusual and very dangerous.
"That's not fog, it's more like nothingness. It seems this world is truly imperfect," Hao Jiu remarked.
"Nothingness? Incompleteness?" Xiang Yu frowned. "Die God already knew? Is that why he came to investigate?"
Hao Jiu nodded. "That's right. In my time, science was relatively advanced. People could go to the moon and travel through outer space. From the high reaches of the universe, our world looked like a planet, just like the many stars in the night sky."
However, the stars we see at night are very far away from us, perhaps even so far that by the time we see them, the planet has already been destroyed.
Xiang Yu can be understood as people being able to see things because objects themselves emit light or reflect light. Only when this light falls into our eyes can we see it. The speed of light travels very fast, but if the distance is infinitely far, it will take a long time for the light to reach our eyes.
This is the knowledge I possess, and it's also the reason I doubt the imperfection of this world. Xiang Yu, do you remember when the plane was about to collapse, and An Qisheng noticed that the stars in the sky were fewer?
“Of course I remember, could it be…” Xiang Yu seemed to understand.
Hao Jiu continued, "The plane collapsed because we had an accident when we used the time reversal item, and the time between that point in time and the stars starting to disappear was too short."
Even if the stars in the sky disappeared due to the reversal of time, what we see would be stars from hundreds of thousands of years ago or even longer, which would not be able to be reflected in real time and seen by us.
So at that time I thought that this world might just be this land and sky, and the stars in the universe might be painted on, because this is an ancient world, and no matter how big or real the universe is, no one can reach it.
This plane is called the Chu-Han Contention Plane. It may have been born at the beginning of the Chu-Han Contention, at the earliest at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Everything related to the Chu-Han Contention will be in this plane.
Conversely, things that are unimportant are unnecessary, such as the new continent on the other side, the planets in the universe, or even the very land beneath our feet, which might be a very thin layer; if we keep digging holes down, the end will only be this emptiness.
"Is there anything wrong with this?" Xiang Yu asked, puzzled.
Hao Jiu shrugged. "I can't tell yet, but I feel very insecure living in this kind of world, and I also have a not-so-good guess."
"What is it?" Xiang Yu's heart skipped a beat.
"I think this world might still collapse, just not as quickly as before," Hao Jiu said, making a startling statement.
"Why is this?" Xiang Yu frowned. This was not just bad, it was absolutely terrible.
Hao Jiu organized his thoughts, “If a plane can absorb energy to upgrade and develop, then why does it need to continuously absorb energy from the main plane after a branch plane is created? Is it because the branch plane does not have the ability to absorb energy on its own?”
They're all copies, so surely there must be some, right? The only reasonable explanation is that these branch planes and the main plane have the same energy absorption capacity, but their consumption rates are vastly different. Forget about upgrading and development; they might even be running a deficit and slowly regress.
"But didn't we already solve the problem of the plane collapse using that array plate?" Xiang Yu's doubts deepened.
"Perhaps it only solves the problem of the main plane's collapse. After the distribution planes install the array disks, they will no longer absorb energy from the main plane, nor will their own energy increase. However, the distribution planes themselves also consume energy, for example, living beings need to draw energy from the planes. This consumption rate may not be too fast, but there are always hidden dangers. It's like sitting idle and running out of resources."
Moreover, Xiang Yu should not forget that the energy that creates the split planes cannot be generated out of thin air; it still originates from the main plane. Even if it is divided into seven equal parts, each plane is already weakened to one-seventh of its original strength. If the energy is not replenished as soon as possible, there is a risk of collapse.
"Assuming these incomplete planes were all created by the supreme god, the reason for not creating a complete universe is probably to save energy. If one-seventh of the energy is enough to maintain the stable development of a plane, then why waste so much energy when creating this plane?" Hao Jiu said helplessly.
Xiang Yu took a deep breath. "Does the God of Wine have a solution?"
"There is a way, of course. We can still use the primary and secondary plane array plates to complete this. We just need to buy another sub-array plate, place it in a larger plane, and absorb the energy of that plane to replenish our plane."
Hao Jiu's face was full of pain as he spoke. That single array panel was worth 100,000 points! So the benefits he gained from the split plane had to be used on this? That System God must have done it on purpose! How could he have the nerve to do that?
Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great. Anyway, we'll be going to other planes to do missions in the future, right? Let's buy a split array plate and carry it with us. We can absorb energy wherever we go, and then fix it in place when we find a suitable one."
Hao Jiu sighed, "Well, that's all we can do. But we still need to resolve the Awakening and Royal Realm issues first."
"Where do we go next?" Xiang Yu asked.
"First, find a landmark on this island below, then check it against the main plane to see if it's exactly the same, and then we'll... Damn it! No need to rush!" Before Hao Jiu could finish speaking, Xiang Yu and his horse plummeted down the mountain.
With a neigh, the black horse thrashed about, but the floating clouds above it vanished!
Chapter 221 Embarking on the Journey Home
How long does it take for a person to fall from a height of 10,000 meters to the ground?
The answer is not necessarily; it depends on posture and body type. Generally, a vertical fall takes about 1 minute, while a horizontal fall takes about 3 minutes. Relatively speaking, thinner people fall faster, while heavier people fall slower. Naturally, those with parachutes fall even slower.
Simply put, it's related to air resistance; the larger the frontal area, the greater the resistance.
"Ah!" Hao Jiu let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered. Xiang Yu was very powerful now, but this time he seemed a bit too strong.
Xiang Yu grabbed the reins, "It's not that I and Wuzhui want to fall! It's that Wuzhui seems to have lost its ability to fly!"
Hao Jiu cursed under his breath, "Could it be that they're out of gas?!"
"Out of oil?" Xiang Yu asked in surprise.
Without wasting any words, Hao Jiu quickly opened the God's Shop and, with a pained expression, spent 100 energy points to buy a Cloud Horse Immortal Herb. "Quickly, make Wuzhui eat it!"
Xiang Yu understood and immediately stuffed the magic herb into the mouth of the black horse, Wuzhui. The horse chewed it greedily, and finally, just before falling to the ground, its hooves seemed to rise again, stopping its fall. That was incredibly close!
"Huff, huff, huff..." Hao Jiu wiped away sweat that wasn't even there.
"God of Wine, what exactly happened? Could it be that Wuzhui is hungry?" Xiang Yu said, still feeling uneasy.
“It’s not wrong to say he’s hungry, but I think we’ve overlooked something. Wuzhui has now evolved into a celestial horse. While ordinary grass can fill his stomach, it’s not enough to sustain his flight. Celestial horses need to eat celestial herbs. Just to be on the safe side, let’s give Wuzhui another mouthful of Heavenly River water.” Hao Jiu’s face was grim as he spent another 100 energy points.
"I see. It's been about half a year since Wuzhui transformed into a celestial horse, which means it needs to be fed immortal herbs and water from the Milky Way every six months," Xiang Yu said in realization.
"What a rip-off!" Hao Jiu calmed himself down. "That's not necessarily true. I think it also has to do with the flight time of the black horse. We flew for too long this time. Why don't we do an experiment and see if the black horse can maintain its flight ability for more than half a year or even longer if we fly less in the future?"
"Hmm, that's one way too." Xiang Yu's lips twitched violently. After he advanced to the Emperor Realm, he would probably get more than 100 energy points every day. Was it really worth spending 200 points to raise horses for half a year?
"Alright, no real danger. Let's find a landmark according to the original plan, and then head back the way we came." Hao Jiu said, then continued to study the awakened supernatural power. Time was running out.
Xiang Yu, riding his black horse, quickly found a distinctive boulder near the center of the island, located not far from the boundary of nothingness. After memorizing its location, he soared into the sky again and flew towards the Central Plains.
Chang'an, the Prime Minister's Residence.
After a busy day, Xiao He finally returned home. His wife massaged him, and he fell asleep while they were massaging him.
Since being terrified by the human pig, the new emperor Liu Ying has neglected state affairs and spent his days indulging in pleasure.
A few days ago, Marquis Biyang was assassinated and disappeared. Empress Lü was furious and devoted all her energy to investigating the cause of his death. Many things had to be handled by Xiao He.
The key issue is that Xiao He is already quite old, and it's really difficult for him to continue working at such a high intensity, especially since there's a war going on in the Yan state.
Strangely enough, Xiao He dreamed of Xiang Yu, who gave him a magic pill. After taking it, he felt extremely comfortable and even became young again.
"Prime Minister Xiao, how have you been?" Xiang Yu approached Xiao He.
Xiao He opened his eyes. "King Xiang? Am I dreaming?"
"I have come to tell you something. Your life is coming to an end. If you come with me to another world, you can live a few more years, but everything in this world will be irrelevant to you, and you will have to fake your death. If you agree, then make arrangements for your affairs as soon as possible. If you do not agree, then I will consider this my farewell to an old friend," Xiang Yu said solemnly.
Xiao He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "King Xiang, could you also take my family with you?"
"Yes, after they bury you, they can move to Zhongshan in Jiangdong to live in seclusion. Then I will let them reunite with you."
Xiang Yu heard Hao Jiu say on the way back that Xiao He in history would die of illness in two years, but the problem is that the time flow in this plane is too fast.
Two years here is equivalent to a little over a month in the main plane. Xiao He might already be dead when Xiang Yu comes to the sixth plane again. It would be better to take Xiao He away now.
Of course, Hao Jiu suggested using Xiao He as an example. If Xiao He in the main plane met the clone, he would definitely merge souls. But what if the two clones met?
Therefore, Hao Jiu plans to send Xiao He from the sixth dimension to other sub-dimensions first.
Xiao He hadn't held out much hope; he thought it would be a great favor if Xiang Yu would take him away. But to his surprise, Xiang Yu actually agreed.
"Thank you, King Xiang! I will make the arrangements immediately. To be honest, I've been feeling quite exhausted these past few days, I'm practically dead from exhaustion."
"Very well. We'll leave on the day the funeral ends. Let's arrange a guest room for me first." Xiang Yu had nothing else to do for the time being, so he decided to wait at the Prime Minister's residence.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will take care of it immediately." Xiao He bowed and slowly withdrew.
The following day, news that Prime Minister Xiao had fallen critically ill from overwork spread throughout Chang'an.
When Emperor Liu Ying heard this, he wept bitterly and was filled with remorse. If he hadn't indulged in wine and women and given up on himself, how could Xiao He have been so exhausted?
Empress Lü also sent an imperial decree, ordering Liu Ying to visit Xiao He on her behalf.