Chapter 45 - Heaven Sent Terms of Service
The golden screen hovered in the air for every cultivator in Riverside.
Possibly every cultivator on Earth.
[WORLD STATUS: PRE-ASCENSION]
[SPIRITUAL DENSITY: RISING]
[INTEGRATION WINDOW: 365 DAYS]
Then came a button.
ACCEPT HEAVENLY OVERSIGHT.
Another button.
DECLINE.
Eli looked at Maya.
“Why does Heaven have terms of service?”
“Do not click anything.”
Trevor whispered, “I already clicked decline.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” he said. “I don’t read terms.”
Nothing happened.
Then Trevor’s screen displayed:
[DECLINE RECORDED. INDIVIDUAL CONSEQUENCES MAY APPLY.]
Trevor went pale.
“Okay. That sounds bad.”
Eli’s system opened a hidden overlay beneath the golden interface.
[EXTERNAL SYSTEM DETECTED.]
[COMPATIBILITY: HOSTILE]
Elias spoke quietly.
“The Black Lotus built us to resist this.”
Eli stopped joking.
“Heaven?”
“The cultivators who founded Black Lotus believed ascension had become centralized. Controlled. Taxed.”
“Taxed?”
“Everything gets worse when accountants discover it.”
Professor Bell would have opinions.
The golden network offered bonuses for acceptance.
Instant cultivation stabilization.
Technique libraries.
Sect registration.
Protected status.
Eli’s own system offered nothing.
Just choice.
Mr. Zhou stared at the screen for a long time.
Then pressed decline.
Maya followed.
Jace followed.
Lucas hesitated, then followed.
Eli smiled.
He pressed decline.
His system erupted.
[GLOBAL DEFIANCE EVENT]
[UNBOUGHT TRAIT EVOLVED]
The sky above Riverside turned gold.
A single bolt of lightning formed directly over Eli.
May you like
Maya whispered, “You had to be dramatic.”
