It wasn't that Hao Ren was overthinking things, but after coming into contact with so many supernatural events, he had gained a great deal of understanding about this bizarre world of anomalies. He was very clear about the nature of things connected with gods – gods were like powerful sources of information radiation, with countless pieces of information and data naturally revolving around the activities of the gods, even after their death.
Raven 12345 had explicitly stated that the causal connection between the Godslayer Sword and the Goddess of Creation would guide Hao Ren to the Origin Star, so he had reason to suspect that every clue related to the Godslayer event that he came into contact with from now on would be interfered with by the Godslayer Sword.
Under this premise, it would be too unsettling if he still knew nothing about this sword.
"Whenever I pick up this sword, there is a 'voice' constantly echoing in the depths of my mind, vague and ethereal, like mumbling in a dream, repeating some obscure and difficult-to-understand sentences," Hao Ren said softly to Vivian. "In fact, it doesn't even sound like a voice, but simply some external 'thoughts.' Although the data terminal has not found that this sword has the characteristics of a sentient being, I still suspect that there is a consciousness inside this sword... it's just that its operation is non-biological, even non-logical, so it cannot be observed with conventional scans. But since I can hear its voice, I think I can communicate with it."
Vivian's eyes were a little uneasy: "Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"This sword has been blessed by Raven 12345," Hao Ren smiled. "Although that woman is quite unreliable, her skills have always been reliable."
"Then what do you plan to do?" Vivian looked curiously into Hao Ren's eyes. "You can't even understand its 'words.'"
Hao Ren shook his head: "It's just that I haven't listened carefully, because I've always resisted this thing, but now I've decided to try to accept its voice. Anyway... it's too unsettling to use something I don't understand at all to deal with the clues left by the gods. I have to change the status quo."
Vivian saw the determination in Hao Ren's eyes. She didn't say any unnecessary nonsense, but nodded gently: "Be careful."
Hao Ren hummed in agreement, casually sat down cross-legged on the spot, stood the Godslayer Sword upright in front of him, gently pressed the cold and weightless blade against his forehead, and at the same time gave an order to the data terminal in his mind: "Monitor my mental defenses, highest alert level."
After saying this, he relaxed instantly as if he had suddenly fallen asleep, and entered a state of tranquility close to meditation with steady breathing.
Vivian looked at Hao Ren's sudden change in temperament with some surprise. She thought of some ancient and secret methods of mental self-control, and Hao Ren's current state was obviously somewhat similar to those control techniques. She couldn't help but laugh softly: "This guy... he hasn't been slacking off usually."
A group of small bats emerged from the darkness, flew around Vivian quickly a few times, and then formed a cushion floating in the air. Vivian sat down quietly next to Hao Ren, within reach, guarding him without saying a word.
Gun, with its tail standing upright, bared its teeth warily for a long time, and then relaxed in a daze. It carefully sneaked to Hao Ren's side, wanting to nudge the other party with its head to confirm whether its "shit shoveler" was dead, but Vivian grabbed its collar and dragged it back: "Don't mess around, watch quietly from the side."
At this time, all of Hao Ren's mind was immersed in his spiritual world. He could still perceive what was happening around him, but Vivian's voice became ethereal as if it were separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, and the cold night wind around him and the touch of the ground beneath him became numb. He seemed to be immersed in a chaos. In this spiritual realm that was difficult to describe in words, anything that did not belong here seemed particularly abrupt.
That vague "whispering" was magnified thousands of times, echoing in the chaotic sea of spirit like a loud bell.
Hao Ren's consciousness was floating in the spiritual world. It was the first time he had so smoothly "dived" so deep into his spiritual world. This should be attributed to the guidance of the data terminal and some pointers he had obtained from other inspectors, and of course, perhaps also to the power of the Godslayer Sword: the "whispering" of this sword was like a beacon, pulling him constantly into the depths of chaos.
Hao Ren stopped in a place that resembled a sea. The "sea surface" under his feet presented a strangely colored blue, which seemed to be a strange appearance after the ocean in the real world was distorted in a dream. This plane undulated slowly and silently, like a movie screen slowed down dozens of times. Under the guidance of that abrupt and harsh "noise," Hao Ren finally found the location of the "foreign object." The state in which this "foreign object" appeared in the spiritual world made him stunned.
A fragment as large as a mountain... no, larger than a mountain, was lying tilted in the sea, with the lower half completely submerged in the sea of spirit, and the upper half extending upwards to the end of the infinite chaotic vision. This strange behemoth was jet black in color, so deep that it was impossible to see any details at all, and the starlight was inlaid on its surface, just like the stars in the universe.
"It seems that this is the Godslayer Sword... as it appears in the spiritual world," Hao Ren approached this behemoth cautiously. Although it was in his spiritual realm, he still tried to be careful, because he lacked experience in mental self-control techniques. He was afraid that he would accidentally turn himself into an idiot similar to Lily. "Although it looks scary, it doesn't seem to have any impact on the surrounding environment... I just wonder if it invades the minds of those demon hunters in this state when it whispers in their minds."
No one in the spiritual world could answer these self-talks. Hao Ren just observed the huge black fragment while muttering to himself. At the same time, waves of complex thoughts were constantly emanating from the fragment, forming a certain hallucination-like roar that echoed in the space.
He concentrated all his energy and tried to distinguish some vague information from it:
"...chaos...weird...order...balance...conflict...false..."
"They are all meaningless fragments of thought," Hao Ren muttered softly. He felt that the Godslayer Sword was actually "dead," and what was roaring here was just a remnant echo left by the soul of the sword.
But he shook his head again, he had gone to so much trouble, not just to sigh like this.
He carefully stepped forward again and tried to put his hand on the black shell: "What are you saying..."
"That depends on what you are listening to."
Hao Ren was stunned for a moment, and then flew out more than a hundred meters in an instant: "Holy crap?!"
"Why are you running?" The roaring noise from all directions disappeared at some point, and a vague voice with a bit of a mechanical texture rang in Hao Ren's ear. "Didn't you ask me to speak?"
"Wait, wait... are you talking?" Hao Ren quickly calmed down and looked dumbfounded at the black "mountain" on the sea not far away. He did want to "communicate" with the Godslayer Sword, but he didn't expect that the other party would just speak! Luckily his heart was healthy, otherwise he should have started taking quick-acting heart pills at this time. "Godslayer Sword?"
"Godslayer Sword? I don't know who the Godslayer Sword is. Is that my name?" The hollow voice was still echoing around, but Hao Ren noticed that these voices were much clearer than before, as if a person was gradually waking up from a dream. "Who are you?"
Hao Ren was stunned: "You don't know who you are?"
"I don't know," the voice sounded so honest, it was answering the question seriously, even answering more than Hao Ren asked. "I have always been... like this, and I have never seen anything as strange as you... You are the first thing to take the initiative to talk to me... thing."
"I'm a person, don't call me 'thing', 'thing'," Hao Ren felt awkward all over. "Do you know where this is?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know how long you have existed like this?"
"I know what 'time' is, but I don't know how to calculate time. But I think it should have been a long time."
"Um... then do you know who made you?"
"I don't know."
"...Do you know the Goddess of Creation?"
"I don't know."
"Then what do you know?"
"I don't know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know. You have to ask me questions before I know if I know or don't know."
Hao Ren was dumbfounded.
The Godslayer Sword can indeed communicate, but this thing is a god of confusion!