Chapter 762 Read, But No Reply (8200, Seeking Monthly Tickets~)

To explain in detail... well, even if it's a detailed explanation, what exactly should be explained?

Kastellaros found it difficult to explain the current predicament of Yuheng Dao to others… especially since this matter concerned the deepest hidden plans of Yuheng Dao, secrets from ancient times. And behind these things, there were many obscure and unclear points. To have Him candidly explain everything to a group of strangers from another world?

How could that be possible!

Aside from the fact that even He Himself wasn't very clear about it, these outsiders might not even be able to understand the grudges and entanglements between the Ten Heavenly Gods.

Of course, if He were to speak, Su Zhou would definitely understand – if he didn’t, wouldn't the overloaded passengers on his body understand?

They could even spill some old gossips that would leave all the world's dependents dumbfounded.

However, before the silver-haired deity could righteously refuse, Su Zhou preemptively understood Kastellaros's thoughts.

He laughed heartily: "Indeed, you and I haven't come to a mutual understanding yet. I don't know how your Ten Heavenly Gods rule this world, nor am I clear about the past history of your pantheon. Asking you to explain everything clearly now is indeed forcing your hand. I was being presumptuous."

Having said that, Su Zhou didn't mention the matter again.

He changed the topic to thanking Kastellaros for lending a hand, saving the Flying Rainbow and the Divine Wood Warship from fire and water. As the team leader, he wanted to repay this kindness. If there was anything needed, please feel free to ask, and he would not hesitate to help.

In this way, Kastellaros couldn't refuse.

【This…】

The silver-haired deity looked around. He saw that everyone present except Su Zhou was someone He recognized.

Not to mention that friend from the Pioneer Space, Dechimus.

The Chengdao Dragon who was being hunted down, and the entire high-level of the Xiguang Torch who were on the wanted list, seemed to be all here… no, missing an Ant-Man Lich, but most of them were indeed here.

Then, there were the Awakener siblings who were being chased by that group of heretics… ha, they hadn't given up on that crazy plan yet! Artificial Dao-born life, even if it really succeeded, wouldn't it herald the prelude to destruction?

They were all acquaintances, people He knew.

Therefore, it was also very clear that these guys were all having a hard time protecting themselves, and there was no way they could break the predicament.

Thinking like this, He could only sigh: 【There is nothing I can help with for the time being. Please rest here for a while.】

【No matter what, you have already been involved in the internal strife of our Yuheng Dao… In this way, your future travels to the outside world may be a little troublesome. Those heretics will chase after your traces and aura. No matter where you go, they will…】

【?】

Halfway through speaking, Kastellaros suddenly stopped talking. His mouth was slightly open, and he looked blankly in the direction of Su Zhou and the others.

"Take a good look. This is the 'Aura Reconstruction Method' that I just conceived. It can use the aura of other great existences to transform your fundamental aura, confusing most tracking spells on us."

At this moment, Su Zhou was distributing the aura concealment method that he had just pieced together to everyone, eliciting cheers and gratitude from the crowd.

And his own aura did indeed transform into several completely different types in an instant.

At first, it was Zhuzhou.

Then, it was An Yuan Dao and Niepan Dao.

Immediately afterwards, even the aura of Tian Qi Dao and Lunzhuan Dao appeared, and there was even an abnormal vitality, just like the origin of the universe.

And the most outrageous thing was now.

【Stop!】

With a loud shout, the deity's voice was clear and solemn, but everyone could hear the panic and disbelief in Kastellaros's words at this moment.

At this moment, He was reaching out, pointing at Su Zhou's direction, almost trembling: 【You, how did you simulate the aura of 'Wanxiang Burial Ground'!?】

"Maybe it's because I really understand Dusk better," Su Zhou said.

【??】

Su Zhou understood very well why Kastellaros had a ghostly expression. After all, theoretically speaking, the aura of Wanxiang Burial Ground could not be imitated no matter what. That autistic, manic-depressive, nihilistic weird taste was very unique. If you had to say it, it was like a durian popping out of a group of sweet fruit fragrances.

Although durian is also a fragrance for some people, it is indeed very unique.

As for how he did it, it was actually very simple – who told him to have the Heavenly God Scale on his body, and he had indeed seen many great existences in person?

Just, just imitate it.

No one else has his conditions. Even if they were given tens of thousands of years, it would be impossible for them to come up with this simplest and most effective aura replacement technique like Su Zhou.

For a time, Kastellaros witnessed with his own eyes that the aura of Su Zhou and others turned into a circle of existences that were completely different from before.

Moreover, it wasn't just that. Because most of these people were Zhuzhou, their life forms had also been fine-tuned, and even in terms of body shape and face, they could no longer be traced.

And Su Zhou called this cultivation method 'Persona'. To maintain the full effect of this cultivation method 100%, one must 'act', that is, at least pretend to look like the other party to cover oneself with the other party's aura without any stagnation.

If it's Dusk, you have to be autistic; if it's Chaos, you have to be a contrarian. The so-called acting method is nothing more than that.

【…Can you teach me this cultivation method?】

After hesitating for a while, Kastellaros took a deep breath. He tried his best to distinguish it carefully, but he still couldn't connect the current aura of Su Zhou and others with their previous aura. Even as the aura of Su Zhou and others continued to change, his impression of the original aura became more and more hazy and psychedelic, and he was about to lose track of which was the real one.

——If I also had this method of changing aura… Although it wouldn't change anything from the fundamental situation, at least there would be more opportunities!

These visitors from another world can really help me?

Shaking his head, settling his mind, He made up his mind and directly asked Su Zhou.

And Su Zhou's answer was naturally 'no problem'.

I have to say, Kastellaros is quite easy to deal with, or is He too serious and old-fashioned?

In short, starting with this small matter, Su Zhou had now begun a normal and friendly exchange with this Lord of Yuheng Dao.

Although it wasn't to the point of revealing his situation completely, Su Zhou had roughly understood a little about the current situation of Yuheng Dao, and the young man also had time to observe the details of this huge hall.

This Yuheng Temple was extremely huge, enough to place several stars in it. In every brick and tile, every piece of ground and beam, there were tens of thousands of imprints of the will of the gods. Even ordinary iron and gravel would be indestructible, let alone the entire hall being cast from the top-level divine materials?

Su Zhou's will swept across, and he could sense that this should be the main hall of Yuheng Dao in the past. It had a space-time pool that could connect to many space-time nodes, and also a huge statue of the Balance Holy Emblem. The high platform in the center of the hall should have housed the Hedao Armament, but it was now gone.

He could sense that the hall seemed to be engraved with void divine patterns, narrating some solemn oaths.

【The existence of all beings, the future of the universe, exists because of balance, and continues because of balance.】

【We are the apostles of balance, seeking the Dao through Yuheng, our innate mission!】

Now, although Kastellaros still had a sense of distrust and exclusion towards him and others, and He Himself was quite頹廢迷茫 (tuí fèi mímáng - dispirited and confused), Su Zhou had restored a lot of the general situation through some of the information He had said earlier.

In the past, Yuheng Dao was obviously also a very orthodox 'balance' family organization. They had the ability to monitor the entire universe and space-time, and were constantly preparing to coordinate the contradictions of all parties, with the core purpose of ensuring the prosperity of the universe.

Su Zhou called himself the cosmic police, so Yuheng Dao could at least call himself the cosmic peacemaker.

However, in the past, according to the aura that Su Zhou sensed, about tens of thousands of years ago, a huge split occurred within Yuheng Dao. Some still followed the rules of the past, while others changed their minds. Although they still took balance as their responsibility, they became more proactive.

Roughly, they could be divided into conservatives and radicals.

The number of conservatives was quite small. If it weren't for the support of the Lord of the Divine System, Hengzhu (衡主 - Balance Lord) Kala, this faction would probably have been swallowed up long ago. But even so, the actions of the entire Yuheng Dao changed drastically.

Since then, the aura left in this hall had changed a lot since then.

Moreover.

Although that split did not destroy the internal structure of Yuheng Dao, one of the Ten Heavenly Gods, at that time, it did create a huge rift.

Just when the Hengzhu (衡主 - Balance Lord) of Yuheng Dao, the Hedao expert Kala, was deeply陷 (xiàn - mired/stuck) in the 'Origin of the Universe' for various reasons, the faction of Yuheng Dao gods who had become proactive completely overwhelmed the conservatives. They stole the Hedao Armament, leaving only Kastellaros alone to guard the old temple.

When it came to this point, Kastellaros stopped talking, but did He need to continue?

Su Zhou could guess that the temple itself had its secrets, and even contained some of the final cards of Yuheng Dao, so that even those radicals holding the Hedao Armament could not attack Him.

【What exactly is your purpose?】

At this moment, Su Zhou and Kastellaros were standing on the side of the hall. They both looked in the direction of the Flying Rainbow and the Divine Wood Warship. The deity took the initiative to ask the young man.

At this moment, Dechimus was exchanging the next action plan with Jiu Ming and Shao Shuangyue – their purpose was to explore the small universe 'Fen Zhentian' (纷战天 - Turbulent Battle Heaven) of 【Yuan Mie Dao】 (缘灭道 - Karma Extinction Dao), which was the territory of the dependents of 【Great Existence · Termination】.

And Fen Zhentian (纷战天 - Turbulent Battle Heaven) was quite far from the area of Yuheng Dao. Even if they had an aura concealment method that could hide from all the divine systems, they would need to plan a long journey to reach their destination.

And Xingying and Funia were communicating with the Divine Wood siblings Yin and Bai. As a Chengdao Dragon with the Key of Origin, Xingying was indeed very close to the siblings who had awakened because of the Key of Origin, and Funia was more out of curiosity.

After all, Su Zhou had planted a Divine Wood in the Aeon World. Now, she had two genuine children with the inheritance of the Divine Wood in front of her. She definitely wanted to understand from another perspective what kind of power this species, which had created the birth and rise and fall of her hometown, possessed.

Watching everyone with their own plans, who had already begun to act without Su Zhou's guidance, the young man smiled.

He answered Kastellaros: "My purpose is to witness the correctness of 'creation'. This is my true core purpose."

"In addition, there is also a retaliatory nature in it – Wanxiang Burial Ground dispatched troops to attack my mother world. I came here to take revenge. I am also very interested in the small universe 'Shiguang Tian' (始光天 - Primordial Light Heaven) of 【Chuangshi Dao】 (创始道 - Creation Dao). It is related to some of the mysteries of my mother world, and it can even be said to be crucial."

Su Zhou didn't hide anything. These were his main purposes for coming here.

Hearing this, Kastellaros frowned slightly. He also knew that Wanxiang Burial Ground had indeed launched a large-scale campaign some time ago and had a head-on battle with the Vortex of Strife. Now, the Hedao experts of both sides were still confronting each other on the cosmic barrier. He didn't expect that in this situation, the other party would still send troops to attack other universes.

【In that case, I suggest that you also cultivate the cultivation methods of our local world.】

After thinking about it, the silver-haired deity invited Su Zhou to the other side of the hall, which was full of books and storage crystals. He seriously gave his opinion: 【Our inheritance can be regarded as quite brilliant in the multiverse. If you want to know the truth of our Creation World, then cultivating this method is essential.】

【Most importantly, if you don't cultivate the Machina God Method, others will be able to tell at a glance that you are visitors from another world. No matter how well the aura is hidden, it is impossible to hide it from the real Machina Gods.】

The cultivation methods of the Creation World were quite unique.

The Machina God Path cultivates both oneself and external objects. Whether the inside and outside are united, or they remain separated, they can reach the supreme.

And the most important thing is that the Machina God Path is not just a simple cultivation method. It is also a social system, a civilization form, a world consciousness structure where humans and gods coexist.

In other words, it is a universal 'correctness'.

According to Kastellaros, no matter how the details of the cultivation methods of this world differ, the general ranks can be divided into eight realms.

The initial four realms of 'Qixin' (启心 - Heart Opening), 'Chuchuang' (初创 - Initial Creation), 'Hengwu' (恒物 - Eternal Object), and 'Dizao' (缔造 - Creation), are the ranks of the mortal world.

The Qixin (启心 - Heart Opening) stage represents the initial awakening of everyone in the entire Creation World, understanding what they want to do – it is not just a cultivation progress, but also a state. Regardless of whether they have awakened extraordinary power or not, as long as a person sincerely wants to make a career, create something of their own, whether it is painting a picture, writing a novel, or building a house themselves, let alone really inventing and creating, or manually manufacturing a rocket, it is all within the realm.

At this point, anyone can connect to the 【Divine Power Network】 that spans the entire universe, and obtain Divine Power points through various behaviors to assist themselves in further creation.

Simply put, the Divine Power Network is a national system that uses Divine Power to assist all beings in creating their own things, and the Qixin (启心 - Heart Opening) realm is the minimum standard for connecting to this universe system.

And the second step, 'Chuchuang' (初创 - Initial Creation), is even easier to understand – through the Divine Power Network, or through one's own efforts, successfully creating one's first 'creation' that is recognized by others is 'Chuchuang' (初创 - Initial Creation).

This step is still not related to any power level. Instead, it is more like a social identity. Most of the people who can reach this step do not have any extraordinary power, but without exception, they are all somewhat famous in their respective fields.

For example, famous chefs who have created several new dishes, cartoonists who have drawn some interesting comics, or some writers, as long as they are widely recognized by others, they can be considered to be in this realm.

And 'Hengwu' (恒物 - Eternal Object) is a bit extraordinary – reaching this realm, one can be considered a master in the world. Their creations can be widely circulated, and even surpass their mortal lives, reaching a nearly eternal realm.

Timeless classics still have their charm after thousands of years. Being able to reach this step, if they are not extraordinary experts, then their 'creation' skills must have reached perfection, and they will be widely respected by many planetary governments.

And the last realm of the four mortal realms, 'Dizao' (缔造 - Creation), is the last realm that non-supernaturalists can reach.

The existence in this realm, if he is still a mortal, then he must have created some kind of classic work that can be used as a standard. He is a trendsetter who has opened up an era. His thoughts, his skills, his creations, whether it is a certain doctrine, a certain way of thinking, or a new mechanical prototype that can trigger an industrial revolution, are all truly creating something new.

Such an existence is fully capable of leading the times and completely changing the original way of life of a group of people, just like how mobile phones have changed human life, it is so incredible.

"A very novel, very novel system – the realms of cultivation and the status of mortals are mutually integrated. It is better to say that extraordinary power has also completely become a part of the many forces here, rather than a universal power independent of 'financial resources', 'intelligence', and 'creativity'."

Hearing this, Su Zhou couldn't help but nod repeatedly. His eyes lit up, and he was obviously very interested.

Extraordinary power is so special. It represents the ultimate violence and the most direct 'power'.

People with violence can sanction others and forcibly change the hearts of others with their own hearts. This is the original evil – in an era without extraordinary power, this violence will be suppressed by the power of the collective, and then be tamed and divided into financial resources, intelligence, power, and other forces as substitutes for violence.

But in the extraordinary era, a reckless person with absolute violence can shatter all appearances and make the rest of the power pale in comparison. One person can suppress the entire world.

Unless there is someone stronger than him who suppresses this trend, civilization can continue.

On Earth, the person who performs this duty is Su Zhou. He did it, and that was all.

But in the Creation World, the one responsible for suppression is the entire system of the Ten Heavenly Gods – and because all the extraordinary power of mortals is not worth mentioning in the face of the power of the gods, to the point that extraordinary power is not considered anything at all in the mortal world. At most, it is like being better at sports, which can be bragged about, but is not worthy of others to look up to.

In this way, one can concentrate on 'creation'.

Concentrate on the correctness of creation.

At this moment, Su Zhou was thoughtful.

In this way, extraordinary power can even be regarded as a shortcut in this system. Of course, it is also the right path. After all, power is a brush. With extraordinary power, one can naturally create more things.

Skills and power cannot be mutually exclusive. If a master has extraordinary power, he will definitely be able to create better things, and even touch the meaning of 'Dao' (道 - the Way) by this, and then try to break through the realm of the mortal world and 'ascend to god'.

Since the Ascending God Realm, there is no possibility of not having extraordinary power. No matter how superb the skills are, in the face of the Ascending Gods who are truly starting to contact the truth of the universe, surpassing the limits of ordinary life, and gradually becoming super lifeforms, they are nothing more than illusions like clouds and smoke.

In front of the Ascending Gods, whether it is the structure of machines, the inspiration of creativity, or even making a delicious meal, it is not a problem at all. They have already begun to move towards 'Dao' (道 - the Way), and are about to gradually realize the meaning of their lives.

That is, to carry out their true 'creation'.

【Whether it is poetry, lyrics, painting, delicious food, or steel gears, all these objects cannot be the entirety of a 'mind'.】

As a strong person in the realm of the Machine God of Creation, Kastellaros did not have the slightest disdain for these realms lower than himself, and even had a kind of heartfelt 'love' and 'piety'.

He obviously had a very high sense of identity with the path he had taken. The silver-haired deity emphasized: 【People outside of being a chef may also be a father, a rock enthusiast who likes to sing a few songs, and people who are fond of creating poetry may not be interested in games or engineering. Before ascending to god, all the things they create are their own sides, although it may be the largest side, and also the most devout and passionate side, but it does not show their entirety.】

【In other words, they only created a part of themselves, and just this part is already so shining. If they create the entirety, wouldn't it be like a rebirth, no longer ordinary?】

【And the Ascending God Realm is for the cultivators who want to reach this step to create 'themselves' – a brand new, real, just like their past works, making them concentrate, pour all their energy and imagination into, and create 'true self'!】

【A spiritual mechanical god body that surpasses all flesh and blood!】

At this moment, the silver-haired deity was even inspired by passion, and He reached out to Su Zhou, showing a part of his body.

That was a body of light that was extremely brilliant, but not dazzling or hurtful, as if it were made of transparent crystal. Inside the body, which was made of transparent crystal, there were countless colors of light that were folding, merging, and then reaching a balance, turning into the most mellow and solemn divine power.

If these lights were taken out alone, they would probably be enough to pierce the sky and shock the planet, but in Kastellaros's body, these divine lights containing unparalleled violence were like the warm sun in autumn, giving people a warm and cozy feeling.

In Su Zhou's admiring praise, Kastellaros withdrew his hand, and his tone was firm: 【Just like the finite mortals who create eternally singing songs and statues, the finite mortals will also create immortal gods at this time!】

【Since then, he, she, or even it, will become Him, and become an existence walking on correctness.】

【The Ten Heavenly Gods and the Four Forbidden Zones are all like this.】

There is nothing to say about the realm after the Spiritual Machine God Body, it is just the most ordinary superposition of extraordinary realm power, and the continuous improvement and optimization of the true self.

Until the final Hedao Armament, creating a self that is unique to oneself, but also transcends one's own nature, the true 'Dao's 器 (qì - Vessel/Artifact)'.

And if you want to surpass Hedao, you must try to carry out the final creation.

That is… to create a universe.

The real reason why the Ten Heavenly Gods can coexist with the world is precisely because of this – in the distant past, they achieved the final creation and created ten small universes!

At this moment, Kastellaros showed Su Zhou the inheritance place of Yuheng Dao – this book area located on the side of the hall is the inheritance place of the Machina Gods of Yuheng Dao in the past.

Although it seems ordinary, this is just the appearance. Su Zhou spent a long time making his eyes adapt to the dazzling light surging in the spiritual world, so as not to be flashed by the power overflowing from these inheritances.

In the past, only the gods who had made considerable contributions could come to this place with the permission of the Balance Lord to comprehend the essence and inheritance of the previous gods.

But now, there is only Kastellaros left, and according to the principle of balance, there is no need to keep this rule so strict.

In fact, Kastellaros also had his own ideas in mind… In the final analysis, Su Zhou was also a strong man in the pinnacle realm of the Machine God of Creation. If his power could become a part of Yuheng Dao, then He could do more things.

"A very remarkable system."

In response, Su Zhou praised from the bottom of his heart, and he nodded constantly: "Using 'creation' to encompass all things and all beings in a universe, and even all civilizations, this is so correct, far beyond everything I have ever witnessed."

But in the next moment, he changed the subject: "But I don't need these inheritances here."

【Why!】

Hearing this, Kastellaros was immediately shocked.

He looked back at Su Zhou in confusion: 【Although our Yuheng Dao is now in the trough, in terms of inheritance perfection, it is by no means comparable to ordinary divine systems!】

"I know." Su Zhou nodded, and then shook his head: "But I am even more clear about how 重 (zhòng - heavy/strong) the subjective bias of you great existence dependents' inheritances is… Although it doesn't hurt to take a look, I don't accept rewards for no merit. I don't want to owe you a favor."

【Creation also needs to be based on predecessors.】 Kastellaros still couldn't understand Su Zhou's thoughts: 【Even if you are talented, how can you compare with the ideological crystallization of many gods from thousands of years ago? It is even more impossible to talk about favors. This is at most a sharing of the crystallization of our divine system.】

"That's why I want to go and see with my own eyes everything left by the 'predecessors', that bigger crystallization – your entire Creation World itself."

Saying this, the young man turned his head, looked at the space-time pool, and said with a smile: "Now, I plan to go to the outside world, contact the 'mortal world' you described, experience the correctness of 'creation', and then comprehend my own cultivation method..."

"Then, where are the areas ruled by those distorted Yuheng Dao gods? If there is a chance, I will help you investigate the intelligence. You can give me any tasks."

"Let's not talk about anything else, but when it comes to running away, I am quite confident that even if they send out the Hedao Armament, they will not be able to catch me!"

Su Zhou said this with full confidence.

The existence of the three passengers themselves makes all methods of void capturing ineffective against him. The powerful artifact of Truth Adjudication, which is close to the law system, has no effect on people like him with explosive immunity.

And Kastellaros frowned.

After thinking for a while, He had to admit that this was indeed the case.

Compared to Him, who could not escape from the Truth Adjudication, Su Zhou was indeed good at doing these things and could obtain more information and delve deeper into more dangerous situations.

Moreover, not wanting to owe favors…

Entrusting tasks fairly and receiving rewards is also a part of the balance.

Soon, Su Zhou obtained a star map of the entire area under the jurisdiction of Yuheng Dao from the silver-haired deity.

【Recently, those heretics have been unusually active around the 'Light Forging Star Region'... and many envoys from other divine systems have also appeared there.】

Extending his slender fingers and pointing to a spot on the star map, Kastellaros said seriously: 【I want to know the reason for their activities, and which envoys from other divine systems those heretics are communicating with… This task is very difficult, so don't worry about it. If it really doesn't work, you can give up.】

"Okay." Nodding, Su Zhou didn't have any fear. He smiled and said, "I guarantee to complete the task perfectly."

【Sigh】

Shaking his head, Kastellaros didn't really expect Su Zhou to get any results.

Rather, He hoped that Su Zhou would learn a lesson so that he could know how difficult the current situation was, instead of being so carefree, as if he didn't care about anything.

Only by being cautious can one last long.

"I'm going to the outside world to see the situation. Shuangyue, you've been escaping for so long, so rest here."

At this moment, He watched Su Zhou walk towards the space-time pool in big strides. On the way, he chatted and joked with the people from the Flying Rainbow and the Divine Wood Warship.

On the way, Su Zhou took out a few scales from his arms and threw them to a few people respectively, instructing them to be careful when they plan to act independently later, and not to rush around, lest he have to save them.

——Isn't the most careless person you?!

Hearing this, the silver-haired deity couldn't help but complain.

He watched coldly as Su Zhou didn't make any preparations and walked directly into the space-time pool, and then disappeared into the distorted phantom, heading to the other end of the universe.

After staring at the area where Su Zhou disappeared for a while, Kastellaros shook his head. He was about to turn around and look at the inheritance left by the strong people of Yuheng Dao in the past again, thinking about his future path.

For Him, only by breaking through to the Hedao realm can he break all shackles and break free from this almost unsolvable predicament… Although the possibility is extremely slim, this is also his only way out.

However, just three seconds after he turned around, the silver-haired deity received a communication from Su Zhou.

【It has been found out that the strong people who are communicating with those distorted Yuheng Dao gods are from 'Tian Qi Dao' (天启道 - Apocalypse Dao), 'Luo Tian Dao' (罗天道 - All-Encompassing Heaven Dao), 'Hong Hui Dao' (宏辉道 - Grand Radiance Dao), and 'Chuangshi Dao' (创始道 - Creation Dao).】

Kastellaros, stunned in place: 【???】

He – how did he do it?!

How could he get this series of intelligence so quickly in such a short time?!

【What exactly is going on?】

Kastellaros immediately replied, and He immediately turned around and asked Su Zhou urgently: 【How exactly did you determine it? Don't talk nonsense. This intelligence is crucial – hey, Lord Su Zhou, can you hear me?】

His soul transmission was indeed sent out, and He could clearly sense that Su Zhou had received his transmission.

However, after patiently waiting for a long time, Kastellaros did not receive a reply.

——Read, but no reply!

I won't ask for it. I heard that there is a double at the end of the month, so let's wait for the double to ask!