Studying the system would be a long but ultimately straightforward affair. He would just have to slowly comprehend it in the same way he studied the Tao, and act according to what he found.

  However, on the matter of his inner world, he had bigger plans. It was evident that his current status as a god, despite how grand it sounded, was utterly powerless when it came to adequately developing his inner world.

  He had previously been able to accept that his mental realm was nothing more than a cultivation treasure that helped him gain insights into the Tao, because that was all he needed it to be at the time. However, now that it might have become one of his chances of sanctification, there was simply no way that he would continue to let it leisurely evolve out of his control.

  Avery wanted to get rid of his status as a distant creator, and become an active player. By separating an incarnation and sending it down into the world, he hoped it would become a native. Then, he would be capable of exerting some influence and guide the advancement of the world.

  This was not only to try and take things into his own hands, to take an active role in the development of his inner world, but also to resolve two of his other worries.

  The Elder was still hiding in his dream realm, a frightful creature having successfully concealed himself from the eyes of God, and who knew what he was plotting. Even more terrifyingly, he had even managed to extend its tentacles to the real world by parasitizing Avery’s mana.

  At this point, Avery was convinced that the Elder was superior to him in almost every meaningful way. Be it wisdom, experience, talent or comprehension, the Elder had it all, and his awe inspiring feats were frankly intimidating.

  The creation of the dream realm in particular still stumped Avery. It might be inferior to his inner world, but it had been a planned creation, which was completely different from Avery relying on freak accidents and a higher power. Meanwhile, Avery didn’t think he had ever intentionally achieved something the Elder wouldn't be able to do.

  Just this was enough to highlight the difference between them. The only thing the Elder might lack would be luck, but luck wasn’t something to be proud about or something one could rely upon.

  Avery obviously wasn’t comfortable with such a dreadful creature residing in his mental realm, but he had no solutions, and could only watch the events unfold by the sidelines.

  Now that he had the time and energy to come up with solutions, he decided it was time to stop simply reacting and blindly dancing to the Elder's tune. It was time to take the initiative and take a leading role in their silent confrontation.

  He wanted to try to infiltrate the dream world, and learn about the Elder's plans. Hindering or foiling them would be another matter, but for now he simply wished to be informed of what was going on in his own world. After all, how could he prepare and fight against something he did not know was happening? Knowledge was power, after all.

  The third and least important thing he wished to do was to combat his social anxiety. Even if he was to live out his eternal life as a hermit in seclusion, he wanted that to be his choice, and not merely because the prospect of holding daily conversations terrified him.

  As for why he thought descending in the inner world could help him, it was because he never considered the creatures living in it to be his equals. This was not a viewpoint born out of rationality, but it was just the way he felt. After all, he even had a tendency to think lightly of the Elder and his dream world, even while he certainly was a much greater threat to him than those villagers he had been terrified to talk to.

  Nor was it a feeling he thought he ought to have. While it was hard to classify their mostly virtual lives, the question of innate value was a complicated issue to begin with, in the end, he could see no difference between them and real-life creatures. He believed it was prudent to simply consider them complete creatures, to be treated with the same decency and respect everyone else was entitled to.

  Since they experienced the same joy and sorrow, since they could love and hate, since they had individuality, thoughts and emotions, then there was no reason they should be judged or treated differently from real world creatures.

  However, as was becoming disturbingly common, his emotions didn’t care about his beliefs. He was still subconsciously looking down upon them all, subconsciously considering them as lower beings that were not deserving of his pity or compassion.

  He was an indifferent deity, capable of emotionlessly toying with the fates of millions of innocents, feeling his actions had no consequences. After all, who could blame an author for creating a world full of misery, or a sleeper to dream up a dystopian nightmare? These virtual lives were just inconsequential things that had no weight attached to them.

  Avery hoped he could resolve this inner conflict, but for now, since that was the way he felt, was planning to take advantage of it. He might have trouble facing people in the real world, but he should be able to converse with these lower beings with no problems, and use those experiences to train up his social skills.

  Avery did not rush to execute his plans. He took his time to think things through, calm his state of mind and make sure his cultivation was stable. Lastly, he bought a lot of precious materials from the system and crafted himself a pendant infused with powerful anti-divination properties. He did not want to be disturbed, so he did his best to hide his existence from any immortals that would be curious about their newly ascended brethren.

  When he felt everything was ready, and he was sufficiently prepared, he carefully executed the Yuan Shen technique he had recently learned. This technique of the seer pathways had caught Avery's eye when he was stuck on the dragon’s back, as he had seen hope of freedom from its description.

  “Cultivate your mind into a spirit, entrust it to the Avenue and travel the Three Realms through the Dao.”

  It had been prohibitively expensive at the time, and he had never had the chance to try it, but with his current wealth, he did not have to hesitate to buy something he thought would be helpful to his cultivation.

  He no longer needed it to travel freely through the land of immortality, but he had a new use for it. He wanted to direct the skill inwards, replacing the Avenue with his position as the Tao of his inner world, and using mana that was heavily connected to his mental realm to fuel and anchor the technique.

  He believed that he would then be able to create a spiritual avatar inside his inner world, that would be capable of executing his will and stirring up some trouble for the Elder.

  Events soon showed that he was correct, and a spiritual phantom soon condensed in his inner world, proving he had succeeded. His main body would stay in the outside world, cultivating peacefully, while his avatar had an entire world to play with.

  His ghostly form was unaffected by wind or rain, floating elegantly as he wandered the endless plains, until he came across a solitary caravan. He stayed undetected, following and observing them, unsure how he should approach them.

  It was only a few days later, seeing a young hawk with a crippled wing stumble and fall, uncovering an ancient necklace, made of leather strings and decorated bestial teeth that had been hidden in the dirt, that Avery suddenly felt a mischievous whim.

  Following that impulse, his invisible form flew down, and silently entered the primitive pendant, ready to give that lucky girl a surprise that would change her life.