# Chapter 23: The Soul's Ultimate Essence That Belongs Only to 'Me' 6000
Because he had challenged it in his previous life, Joshua knew that the entity who left behind this massive and bizarre Divine Calamity Mist, the Commander of the Sky God, 'Ge Er', was a Winged Human with enormous wings.
Not only that, but from Ge Er downward, all of His priests, high priests, followers, and subjects were all members of the Winged Human race with wings. This race, capable of free flight and always facing the future with the most optimistic attitude, had always followed their god, dwelling on the peaks and in the skies of what was once Mycroft. They revered towering, sharp, magnificent architecture, and like the Elves, they loved exquisite art and poetry. Without a doubt, the existence of the Winged Humans was a very important part of the Mycroft Continent during the Era of Radiance.
But they were extinct. Several hundred years ago, to be precise, over eight hundred years ago, the last remnant tribe of Winged Humans living in the Western Mountains was unfortunately and completely wiped out after being drawn into a racial war that swept across the entire continent at that time. In that war which established the Era of Falling Stars calendar, a war between intelligent races and savage magical beasts, the last Winged Human warrior was burned to ashes by the flames of a Primordial Realm Dragon, dissipating into the sky of the Xibaner Mountains.
The reason Joshua couldn't initially determine that the divine imprint within this Divine Calamity Mist belonged to Ge Er was because the Divine Calamity Mist of this Sky Lord was vastly different from his previous life.
In his previous life, the descent of a main god-level divine imprint should have occurred around the year 839 of the Era of Falling Stars. That was precisely when the Great Expansion Era was in full swing. As the Great Magic Tide further intensified, adventurers' footsteps covered the entire Mycroft Continent, and the powerful Primordial Realm ancient beasts in the Central Black Forest began to stir. Just as intelligence was about to clash with savagery once more, the stars fell and the sky tilted — the Boundless Heaven fell from the Void.
At that time, all minds couldn't help but look up at the originally azure sky. The firmament of the entire Mycroft World began to ripple violently like an ocean. Though it was broad daylight, stars appeared one after another. Not only that, but dozens, even hundreds of stars detached from the distant celestial dome and fell into the mortal world.
The gods of this era descended together with the imprints of the ancient gods. What they brought was denser arcane power and countless precious inheritances that even an empire would value.
Leaving other matters aside for now, the Divine Calamity Mist of the Sky God, Storm Lord, 'Ge Er', was originally named [Heaven's Wild Storm]. Its true form was a city suspended entirely above the clouds, surrounded by countless materialized wind elementals. Sixteen wind elemental giants supported its edges, and a massive tornado piercing through the sea, clouds, and Void served as a pillar, lifting it high into the sky. Besides these calamitous obstacles, the city also contained phantoms of the High Priests of the Sky God from past eras. Only by defeating over a dozen experts of the Era of Radiance could one enter the Great Temple at the city's center, touch Ge Er's divine imprint, and receive His inheritance.
Interestingly, although it was His Divine Calamity Mist, from beginning to end, Ge Er never appeared. At the deepest part of the Great Temple, there was only a massive mural of a Winged Human with an indistinct face, and the inheritance imprint located at the mural's heart.
Now, it was different. Not only had the main god-level mist appeared early, but this time, Joshua was fortunate enough to witness Ge Er's form — He was indeed standing right there. Although His face had been completely eroded by the Evil God, and the originally majestic suspended city had become a ruin on the verge of collapse, about to fall into the sea, this didn't matter, because everyone had already felt the boldness and sacrifice of the former deity.
His thoughts turned back.
"It really is speaking to me!"
The moment she heard these words, the Artificial Intelligence Girl, Number 3, who should never have wavered, began to waver completely. The girl's magic projection immediately showed large patches of snow-like static, as if from poor contact. Meanwhile, in the suitcase Joshua held in his right hand, Number 3's main body also emitted unusual magic fluctuations. Without a doubt, Ge Er's words caused Number 3 immense confusion and shock: "No, although I also have wings, I'm an Artificial Intelligence from the Carlis World... Not to mention the difference between worlds, I'm actually not even..."
Contrary to the still-muttering girl, Joshua was not surprised by this. Long ago, when he was in Carlis, he had already learned that the Winged Humans of the Mycroft Continent and the Winged Humans of Carlis were of the same origin. After all, the relationship between these two worlds was extremely close, even having several natural space-time tunnels. Not to mention that the highly developed Mycroft Civilization of the Era of Radiance couldn't possibly have failed to discover this neighbor; even natural exploration would certainly have caused racial migration.
As a main god-level existence, Ge Er must have known the origin of the Mycroft Winged Humans, so it wasn't strange for Him to call the Carlis World their homeland.
"My kin..."
The hoarse, slightly echoing low voice came again. Ge Er's residual imprint stood at the top of the central tower, looking down at Number 3, who was still in a daze. The Sky God spoke slowly, as if confirming something: "You are right..."
"I am not."
Joshua shook his head. His expression was so serious that Number 3 couldn't utter any words of rebuttal or persuasion at that moment, and could only watch as the warrior continued forward, walking to stand before Ge Er, almost face to face with this Lord of the Sky.
"Human, your body carries a familiar aura. As for your question."
Ge Er didn't mind Joshua's approach. He replied in a calm tone to this human who dared to face His disfigured visage: "Do I want to dissipate like this? Of course not. I have waited a thousand years, not to fade away like this in the wind. But since there are no more Winged Humans in the world, my existence has lost its meaning. According to the agreement with the Sage, I will leave behind my inheritance."
"Then." Ge Er paused, speaking softly: "I will depart together with my people."
"Your last subject stands before you." Joshua said this.
"But she is merely man-made..." The Sky God continued to reply calmly. His form was gradually dispersing, specks of starlight-like cyan light clusters flying out from the remnant soul of this deity, merging into this illusory world. And as Ge Er's remnant soul dissipated, this illusory world became increasingly solid, as if it were about to become real.
The Divine Calamity Mist, the inheritance ground of the gods. Now, the inheritance ground of the Sky God from the previous life, [Heaven's Wild Storm], was rapidly taking shape, about to transform into its most perfect form.
And at this moment, Joshua grabbed Ge Er's shoulder. He paid no heed to the fact that the backlash of true god-level power nearly shattered his arm. A strange force flowed, temporarily alleviating Ge Er's dissipation. And just as the Sky God seemed surprised by this, the warrior spoke: "Your wish, though unspoken, I can guess easily. It's nothing more than reviving the Winged Human race, not letting the former glory of your people completely vanish."
"...Indeed it is."
A strange light flickered in Ge Er's chaotic face, as if His mood was stirred. But He still calmly refuted: "But what use is knowing this? A race that has already perished — can it reappear in the world? Man-made fakes can never continue a race's inheritance."
"Why not?"
Joshua met the chaos in Ge Er's face, refusing to yield an inch. A flame-like light flickered in his pupils. The man spoke in the most serious, most solemn tone: "Who says that what is man-made cannot be real?"
"A man-made soul is still a soul. A life conceived through male-female union and ten months of gestation — that is natural birth. But an Artificial Intelligence born from a group of scientists' decades of painstaking research — why can't it be considered life? Does the soul distinguish between natural and man-made?"
Joshua pressed down on Ge Er's shoulder. Divine energy flowed between them, maintaining the existence of the Sky God who was about to dissipate. At this moment, he seemed not only to be refuting the deity's stubbornness but also answering his own troubling questions. He spoke loudly: "Imperfect ones are one thing, but as long as it's sufficiently refined, sufficiently perfect, the man-made can surpass the natural, the artificial can rival the innate — there has never been a saying that the older is stronger, nor that the more primitive is more perfect!"
"You say Number 3 is man-made, a false Winged Human... But in my eyes, she is the condensation of countless wisdoms from your race, the last Winged Human named Number 3, born from the laboratory! She operated for a thousand years in a world on the brink of destruction, only seeking the remnants of hope. How can you say such persistence is false? I disagree with these words, and the great Alchemists of the Carlis World who created Number 3 would disagree too!"
Under Joshua's questioning, Ge Er fell silent. Several times, He seemed about to open His mouth to refute, but in the end, He remained silent.
Cyan-golden wind swirled around the entire suspended city, rumbling like thunder in the heights of the sky, as if the deity's heart was stirring.
And Joshua continued to press one hand on Ge Er's shoulder, using his own divine power to temporarily maintain the other's existence, preventing dissipation. He met the other's gaze without yielding, insisting on his view. And because of his sudden, impassioned rebuttal, a glimmer of understanding about the so-called Soul's Ultimate Essence arose in the warrior's heart.
"Soul — to put it bluntly, there's nothing particularly mystical or sacred about it. What difference is there between man-made and natural? Just like the body — since I can elevate my own life form to its current state, why can't I do the same with the soul?"
"If so, that should be the [Soul's Ultimate Essence] that belongs only to 'Me'!"
On the other side, after a long while, Ge Er 'laughed'.
His chaotic face couldn't show any expression, but a faint voice echoed in the depths of everyone present: "Heh... Hahahaha, I, the Lord of the Sky, am being lectured by a later generation in this tone... Without the slightest fear, without the slightest hesitation — such boldness, and this familiar aura, you must be the Sage's inheritor."
The Winged Human God's wings trembled. Countless light-formed feathers scattered, falling around the central tower like twinkling starlight. After laughing, Ge Er turned to 'look' at Number 3.
He spoke in a gentle tone tinged with apology: "I'm sorry."
"My last kin."
The Sky God raised His hands. A gentle yet fierce, contradictory surge of energy flowed. Accompanied by a dazzling flash of cyan light, an extremely complex 'imprint', composed of countless profound runes and appearing in the shape of a pair of wings wrapped in wind, appeared in His hands. Ge Er suspended this imprint before His chest, then spoke in a relaxed, relieved yet heavy tone: "Receive my imprint. Bear my mandate."
Having said this, He was silent for a long time. This ancient deity seemed to recall memories from the distant past: He led the Winged Human race to multiply in the mountains, fought against all kinds of magical beasts, fought against countless alien races. Thus passed hundreds, thousands of years. Through blood and fire, through pain and suffering, He finally led the Winged Human race to rise, becoming one of the most powerful races on the Mycroft Continent. The Winged Human kingdom and civilization flourished, and He thus became the Lord of the Sky.
And these memories of the past all dissipated, scattered with the wind. Everything turned to nothing in that final battle against the Abyss and the Evil Gods. Almost the entire Winged Human race fell in that blocking battle in the Void.
Did He regret it? Of course not. He only blamed Himself — as a deity, why couldn't He protect His people, so that a thousand years later, He couldn't find a second kin to receive His inheritance?
But in the end, everything found its perfect resolution.
Patting Joshua's hand, He then removed it from His shoulder. Losing the divine power from Joshua, Ge Er began to dissipate gradually. This towering deity, while fading away, walked toward Number 3. Finally, He arrived before the Artificial Intelligence Girl, who was still confused and hesitant, not knowing what was happening. Ge Er slowly crouched down in the light, then placed the imprint in His hand into the Artificial Intelligence Girl's hand.
"Whether it's a man-made soul or a man-made body... Last Winged Human, bring the Winged Human race back into this world!"