Reversing Falsehood and Preserving Truth: All Gods and Gods Are in My Hands

Just as their consciousness was about to be swallowed by endless pain, the five of them, in their respective inner hells, unanimously touched the true heart of the guardian of truth.

Shen Che watched helplessly as yet another comrade fell for his "conservative strategy." Before his death, the man's eyes held no resentment, only relief and unwavering faith in him.

This faint light pierced his mind, which was overwhelmed by pain, like a needle, roaring as it broke free of the shackles of preconceived logic: "Sacrifice is never a bargaining chip; it is their voluntary choice! My responsibility is to make every sacrifice worthwhile, not to exchange the lives of innocents for victory!"

Instead of using the talisman that sacrificed 100,000 souls, he tore up the strategic map and roared in the illusion to adjust the deployment—abandoning to defend the core, splitting forces to break through and find the weaknesses of the ethereal spirits, even if it was futile in the "inevitable death situation".

He was not rebelling against the illusion itself, but against the cruel rule that "only extreme costs can bring victory."

Lin Yue finally stopped his futile attempts to control his loved ones, caught in an endless cycle of vines tightening around them.

As the vines tightened again, he transformed his last shred of consciousness into a gentle thought, which traveled along the vines to his mutated relatives: "Don't be afraid, I'm with you." His relatives eventually mutated and died, but at the last moment they stopped struggling, and a fleeting peace appeared on their faces.

He suddenly realized that the punishment was forcing him to experience the terror of losing control, and that his real pain stemmed from the guilt of "failing to protect," not from the power itself.

He no longer clings to control, but embraces the desire to offer comfort even amidst this sense of powerlessness.

Zhao Changfeng went from rage to deathly silence in the transparent force field. When the scene of his teammates' deaths was repeated, he no longer avoided it, but stared intently at the Guardian's code that one of them had drawn with blood before his death—it was an abbreviation of "Go quickly, do not worry".

A protective intent that transcended time and space shattered the prison of regret like a thunderbolt. He slowly stood at attention before the phantom corpse, giving a standard Guardian's salute: "I am not a god, I cannot save everyone, but those who live, continue to fight with your will!"

He accepted his past mistakes, but refused to be consumed by regret.

Faced with the moral dilemma of the pandemic, Liu Jiaqi finally let go of her obsession with "having to choose the optimal solution".

When faced with another choice, she didn't rush to either side. Instead, she transformed all her healing power into pure light, shining equally upon the area around her, regardless of age or status. Then she knelt down and used the most basic techniques to clean the wounds of the crying child, even knowing it was a drop in the ocean.

The punishment was to plunge her into the hell of "choosing who to save," but she used her actions to declare: a doctor's benevolence is never the best solution after weighing the pros and cons, but rather to never give up on any small, equal act of care.

After going through countless cycles of knowledge paradoxes, Sun Ruliang stopped obsessing over a perfect solution.

He traced lines with his fingertips, working backward from the structure of the dangerous blueprint: "Knowledge is a knife; it can kill or protect. I don't need this knife, but I can forge a scabbard and a shield."

He began to build a virus early warning mechanism, transforming his obsession with solving problems into his commitment to preventing and controlling risks. This is the true responsibility of the technical staff of Shouzhen Bureau.

They were unaware of each other's experiences, yet they made the same choice in dire straits: refusing to bow to punishment, refusing to be swayed by the flaws in their moral compass, and upholding their respective principles as guardians of truth.

Just as the light of the five souls flickered and was about to go out, yet never truly extinguished, the cold and vast will of "punishment" showed its first fluctuation.

"what?"

The ancient tone, devoid of mechanical rigor, carried a hint of astonishment that transcended endless time: "Under punishment, there was no begging for mercy, no collapse, no depravity..."

The chaotic altar receded like the tide, and the oppressive feeling that had shaken one's soul vanished abruptly.

The five of them suddenly returned to themselves and found that their power had not been truly stripped away. The excruciating pain dissipated like the receding tide, leaving only a deep sense of lingering fear and exhaustion on a spiritual level. However, something essential had been tempered and refined to become even purer in the pain.

That immense will had not left; the cold, distant feeling had lessened by a fraction of a billion, replaced by a more scrutinizing one.

"The millet gate is for punishment, to cut down the cowardly, greedy, selfish, and those whose moral hearts are not firm; it is also a mirror to see the seeds of benevolence, perseverance, responsibility, compassion, and wisdom... This is the essence of the heart of protection."

After a moment of silence, as if weighing the operation of ancient rules, the will slowly proclaimed: "If the punishment has failed to extinguish your Dao hearts, then it may stop."

A gentle, cyan light traveled from countless ages ago, softly enveloping the five people. This light neither increased their strength nor imparted knowledge, but rather seeped into their limbs and bones like spring rain, altering the most fundamental aspects of their lives.

"This is not a gift, but the lingering echo of Shennong's instinct to resonate with plants when he walked among humans, now stirred by the light of your hearts. From now on, always cherish the thought of nourishing all living beings, and you will be able to slowly absorb the meager vitality dissipated by plants to nourish yourselves and strengthen your foundation. I hope you will be mindful of this and strive to do so."

The sound faded into the distance, and the immense will vanished silently, as if everything were merely the execution of a predetermined program.

As the chaos completely dissipated, the five found themselves back at the entrance of the valley. With each breath, a faint freshness filled the air, and their skin could vaguely sense the subtle "warmth" emanating from the plants. The power of the Great Dao within their bodies flowed more smoothly, and the instinct of "resonance with plants" had taken deep root.

"Just now..." Zhao Changfeng's voice was hoarse as he touched his face, as if trying to confirm that he was still intact.

Liu Jiaqi closed her eyes, feeling the gentle, new life flowing through her body, and said softly, "In the end, it seems he didn't want to kill us anymore."

"Just now..." Zhao Changfeng's voice was hoarse as he raised his hand to touch his cheek, as if to confirm that he was still intact.

Liu Jiaqi closed her eyes, feeling the gentle flow within her body, and whispered, "In the end, it seems he didn't want to kill us anymore."

Shen Che looked up into the depths of the misty valley and vaguely sensed a gaze that spanned millennia watching them, but it vanished in an instant.

He clenched his fist, and the power of the Shadow Hunter and the newly formed instinct of "Resonance with Grass and Trees" formed a delicate balance, and the red light in his eyes became more and more concentrated.

All five of them gained the ability of "grass and trees resonance," which allows them to slowly absorb the energy of the surrounding plants and trees to maintain their cultivation state for 24 hours.

Just then, the five of them turned to look at the outer edge of the valley, their expressions suddenly becoming solemn—a strange, illusory energy was quietly spreading, but it was completely different from the sinister energy of ordinary illusory spirits, and it even contained familiar Dao fluctuations.

"It's Old Han's aura of the Eternal Freeze Dao!" Sun Ruliang quickly pulled up his instruments; the energy curve on the screen was jumping wildly. "Illusory energy and the power of the Dao are intertwined; something's wrong!"

The group exchanged glances, then sped off in the direction of the energy fluctuations.

Deep within the valley, on a stone platform shrouded in mist, the phantom of Shennong turned around and looked at the boy sitting cross-legged on the ground.

The boy was soaking wet, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. His eyes were closed, and his Spirit Plant Returning to Origin Body was operating on its own. A faint vitality of plants surrounded him, which resonated with the aura of Shennong.

"Millet communicates with spirits and gods, and also reflects the human heart. Punishment is the blade, cutting away the chaos; a single seed of spirit grows from obscurity."

The phantom of Shennong whispered, carrying an expectation that transcends millennia, "Boy, your path is more interesting than I expected."