318: Xinxin returns

"Xin Xin, is that you?" Hearing that sigh, Tian Ming quickly asked.

"I am not Xin Xin. When your body suffered a fatal blow, Xin Xin chose to return and released the rules she controlled. Now, your heart is what Xin Xin transformed into." The voice became emotionless, even sounding somewhat mechanical.

"My heart?" Tian Ming was somewhat disbelieving.

"Yes, but the release of rules takes time. Xin Xin can eliminate the consciousness resistance of living beings, allowing you to directly control the elemental particles within them. However, currently, your ability is only applicable to Type-1 living beings."

Tian Ming frowned and asked, "What do you mean? And who are you?"

"I am the knowledge database left by Xin Xin. According to human understanding, I can be thought of as a personal computer. I will serve as your assistant to answer your questions. You may call me Xiao Zhi."

"What are Type-1 living beings? Are they the most basic kind of creatures?" Tian Ming asked.

"Type-1 living beings only possess the most basic neuron structures and lack central processing capabilities. You can understand them as creatures without brains, low-level organisms that can only passively receive stimuli and react, such as bacteria, snails, earthworms, and most plants, etc.," Xiao Zhi explained.

"Then can my ability work on Type-2 and Type-3 living beings?" Tian Ming asked again.

"As mentioned before, the release of rules takes time. Even a fully-powered Xin Xin cannot control all living beings. The Yuanchu God's restrictions on her will also be applied to you."

Tian Ming stood up and asked, "So, you mean that even if all the rules are released, my control over elements within living beings won't work on humans or zombies?"

Previously, the Yuanchu God, in order to maintain the fairness of the game, restricted Xin Xin from harming the main participants of the game. Now that Xin Xin has transformed into his heart, while inheriting her abilities, he also inherited her restrictions.

Soon, Xiao Zhi's reply came from his mind: "Your understanding is perfectly correct. Besides humans or zombies, you also cannot directly control the elements within other primates on this planet that are similar to humans. However, you can use your Nanometer Avatar to deal with the zombies."

A wry smile appeared on Tian Ming's lips, and after a long silence, he slowly asked, "So, Xin Xin… she's gone then!"

Tian Ming felt a sense of melancholy. An consciousness that had existed for so long had just disappeared like that, and he felt somewhat uneasy about it.

Xiao Zhi replied, "Xin Xin has not disappeared. Her rules have returned, and her consciousness has fallen into nothingness. According to your human understanding, it can be defined as hibernation or shutdown. Unless your consciousness disappears, or you yourself possess the ability to separate rules, you can reawaken her."

"I understand. You mean she lent the rules to me. Either I die, or I gain the ability to separate the rules and return them to her."

"You can understand it that way. Your understanding is correct."

"I have a question that has always puzzled me. Could you please help me answer it?"

"Certainly, please ask."

Tian Ming paused and said, "Whether it's the Yuanchu God or Xin Xin, they are so generous as to bestow rules and divine power upon me. What exactly is the purpose of these gods? Is it just to play what they call a game?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot answer that question. But I can tell you that Xin Xin told me that bearing rules is a burden. And my existence, besides storing civilized information and knowledge, also stores a large amount of Xin Xin's redundant memories."

"Can memories also be stored?"

Xiao Zhi nodded slightly and said, "Yes, they can be stored. The stronger an consciousness, the longer it lives, and the more it experiences, the more memories it accumulates. These memories, for gods, are precious treasures, symbols of wisdom. Therefore, they are willing to store these memories. However, these memories are also the source of their pain."

Tian Ming asked with some confusion, "Pain from what? Don't gods have no emotions or desires?"

"You are mistaken. Alright, our conversation ends here. I will appear again when you next advance."

"Hey, wait, how do I advance?"

This time, Tian Ming received no further response. And the surrounding ruins told him that he had been unconscious for a long time.

The Su Yuan Base had been destroyed, and all the zombies in this area had vanished. Tian Ming stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff body.

Tian Ming spread out his palm and began to reshape his Nanometer Avatar. Unlike his first time controlling elements, Tian Ming now found that his control ability had made a qualitative leap.

Originally, with microscopic particles, Tian Ming controlled molecular bonds, for example, extracting elements based on existing ones. But now, his consciousness could directly penetrate into the atomic nucleus, and by adding or subtracting, he could arbitrarily change elements.

Before, changing elements basically relied on fusion or radiation. Now, the underlying principle has completely changed.

For example, previously, to turn hydrogen into helium, one needed to perform fusion step by step from low to high levels to obtain it. And it required elements with adjacent atomic numbers.

It's different now. Now, he can just grab a bit of matter and obtain the substance he wants by controlling the nuclear charge number within the atomic nucleus.

A bright silver light appeared in Tian Ming's palm. The light gradually condensed into a Nanometer Avatar, followed by replication, exponential replication. After more than ten minutes, Number One reappeared before Tian Ming.

Number One slowly opened his eyes, looked at Tian Ming, and bowed: "Master!"

"You, you still have your original memories and consciousness?" Tian Ming was stunned, finding it incredible. He had originally thought that if the Nanometer Avatar was destroyed, it meant starting over, but he hadn't expected Number One to actually return.

"Yes, Master. My consciousness and memories are stored within your spiritual consciousness. As long as you exist, I will always exist," Number One explained.

Tian Ming was somewhat disbelieving and asked, "You mean, Number Two, Number Three, Number Four, and Number Five can all come back?"

"Yes, Master. However, the Red Crystal Core energy within me has dissipated, and I need to absorb Red Crystal Core or other forms of energy again to reduce the drain on you," Number One replied.

Tian Ming was silent for a moment and said, "You can absorb other forms of energy?"

Number One nodded: "Your ability has improved. The composition of each Nanometer Avatar can also absorb surrounding matter and change its own elements, but it requires your guidance."