Chapter 860 A Boring Game (5600)

Dong—

Dong—

The crisp sound of the bell echoed throughout the city at the break of dawn, illuminating the deep night. Bathed in the light of the gradually rising sun, an ancient city was awakening.

People walked between the tall, ancient buildings. A square, encircled by stone pillars, was covered with flagstones, where young martial artists were training under the guidance of instructors from the martial arts school. Their parents watched from the sidelines, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The sound of the bell was loud and clear, reverberating throughout the city. The shouts of the martial artists also shook the heavens and the earth. Faintly, one could see the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth swirling directly above the square, forming a vortex. A stream of spiritual energy, like a tornado, descended and, guided by the city's grand formation, converged into the entire city.

Ziguang City was the most ancient city in the Chuanque Realm, and one of the cities with the longest martial arts heritage. It was where the Martial Ancestor attained enlightenment and spread martial arts to the various countries under heaven, and it was the most revered 'One Sacred Ground' among the one Sacred Ground, three Teachings, nine Sects, and seven Families of this realm.

Under the protection of the formation, the entire Ziguang City was enveloped in dense spiritual energy. When illuminated by the sunlight, one could see from afar a rising purple aura, which, compared to the surrounding mountains and rivers, looked like a celestial realm in the clouds.

The Chuanque Realm now had 130,000 martial artists, several thousand Xiantian martial artists, and nearly a hundred who had entered the Xuanguan realm. Even the 'Heaven and Earth Furnace Realm' pioneered by the Martial Ancestor had twelve individuals. This was already considered incredible for a small world, especially since it was only a continental world about the size of a planet. To have twelve hegemonic earth immortals could be described as a prosperous and flourishing era.

However, within the 'Tianxia Hui' (World Association), where the twelve Furnace Realm experts gathered, there was an atmosphere of gloom and silence, almost as if overshadowed by dark clouds.

Having already attained the power of immortal divine abilities, capable of transforming their bodies into a Heaven and Earth Furnace, coexisting with the heavens and earth, they had long begun to explore the void beyond the world. Recently, their joint research had made a significant breakthrough.

They saw that beyond the world, there was indeed not just a void, but also a vast turbulent flow of time and space, and within that turbulent flow, there were worlds and shining stars, one after another, rising and falling.

If that were all, they would never have been silent… What truly silenced them were the other things they saw in the void.

It was a hand.

A giant hand that was raised upward, but whose palm and the gaps between its fingers were filled with shimmering starlight. Within that giant hand, endless light flickered, all of which were like the world they inhabited, tiny yet full of life spacetime bubbles!

The vast world was nothing more than grains of sand piled up and falling from a giant hand in the void… How could such a reality not silence these powerful individuals who thought they had reached their limits and were full of vigor and ambition, and even make them feel depressed and lost?

What could be more painful than this?

Of course, there was.

That was, all of this was false.

No, it shouldn't be said that way… It should be said that although the living beings of the Chuanque Realm were real, everything they took pride in, whether it was civilization or history, martial arts or beliefs, was, in essence, false.

Because the entire Chuanque Realm world was one of the many worlds that had been converted from the 'Great Dao Virtual Realm' to the 'Real World' just seconds ago.

The moment it transformed from the Great Dao Virtual Realm into reality was the moment the Chuanque Realm was truly born. But in the illusory memories, in the consciousness of everyone, their civilization had spanned thousands of years, and the history of their world was even tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years long. All archeology and experiments could prove this point.

Although strictly speaking, all the living beings of the entire Chuanque Realm were peers who were born at the same time, in memory, in the world's false records, they still had a complete history, memories and interpersonal relationships that they believed to be real, and an orderly inheritance.

History, memory, time, the past, and the future derived from these, were all false, and all real.

Just like the Furnace Realm experts in the Chuanque Realm who were currently depressed, they thought that they had conducted hundreds of years of observation and research on the heavens and the sea of void, but in reality, they had not studied it for even a second, only having related memories and illusions in their minds… But because they had become real, this false origin was also real for others in other worlds.

Reality and falsehood were originally just illusions, just like time and space.

For the Hedao experts who were gradually approaching their limits, dreams and reality, spacetime and mass-energy, were just things that could be twisted at will, and altered with a wave of their hand.

"Let's call a truce."

[Let us halt for now.]

In the void, the two intertwined rivers ceased their flow. At the same time, Su Zhou and Hongshi stopped attacking—They trusted that the other would also stop.

Su Zhou took a step back. He raised his hand. The young man lowered his eyes. In his palm, there was a mass of sand, grains of sand piled up like starlight dust, leaking from between his fingers. Then, following the turbulent flow of time and space, it drifted towards every corner of the multiverse, as if being blown by the wind.

But each of these worlds was undeniably real. They were born into the world because of the collision of the Great Daos of the Hedao experts, and they were given real mass-energy by the power of the Hedao experts, thereby gaining the possibility of reaching the future.

Su Zhou gazed at the sand worlds in his palm as they scattered with the wind, remembering the direction in which each grain of sand drifted. He sighed softly, as if laughing, "This is an accident, but also a necessity. They were born because of us, so we must be responsible for them."

[Is this your responsibility?]

Hongshi's tone was calm, with a hint of indifference. The Great Emperor's palm also had sand, but He held it with both hands, as if holding a treasure, not letting any grain of sand drift away with the turbulent flow of time and space.

Incorporating these sand worlds into the scope of His own Great Dao's control, Hongshi raised His head and looked at Su Zhou. His expression revealed obvious confusion: [You are simply abandoning them, letting them go free—what about this can be called responsibility?]

"Look what you're saying." Su Zhou shook his head slightly: "Didn't I give them blessings? At least the turbulent flow of time and space and the disasters of the void cannot affect them, and there are also the legacies of you and me within. That's already enough."

"Even parents have to learn to let go. No child wants to be controlled like this."

[Those are all trivial matters.] Hongshi said: [How many people will die because of this? Since they are already real and want to live, we have to let them live. That is our obligation.]

"You're right."

Su Zhou never denied what Hongshi said: "But they also want freedom. They may like having a strong person to protect them, but they definitely won't like having a strong person forcibly dictating how they should live—Hongshi, why not learn from me? We are Hedao. As long as problems arise, we can descend with our incarnations. We can appear when they voluntarily make a wish, wanting us to come and protect and arbitrate. Wouldn't that be great too?"

[They are not mature and will think they are right. They will never make a wish until the last moment.]

Hongshi turned His head and looked at the many sand worlds that Su Zhou had 'set free'. This Hedao expert reached out His hand, wanting to gather those scattered worlds back into His own palm.

He said calmly: [Children always have many fantasies, always arrogant and conceited. They won't turn back until they hit a wall. They always have to pay a bloody price to temporarily learn a little bit of reason—and then forget it.]

[They think they have too many good things. They all think they can solve those troubles, but in reality, most of them can't solve them. Many, many people have to die before they regret it. But if they had known this earlier, why did they do it in the first place?]

[They all need to be saved.]

However, at the instant the man reached out His hand, Su Zhou raised his index finger and pointed it at Hongshi's hand.

Thus, the giant hand that seemed to be reaching into the depths of the multiverse void stopped in place. An invisible force prevented it.

Hongshi slowly turned His head. He looked at Su Zhou indifferently and coldly: [Don't stop me, Zhuzhou. Otherwise, what difference is there between you and me?]

"I will stop you." And Su Zhou said firmly: "Not because I want to forcibly impose my will on you, just as you forcibly impose your will on mortals."

"Hongshi, I just want to ask, are you going to save those worlds like this, forever? Is your ultimate goal to place the entire multiverse under your protection, bringing absolute peace and tranquility to all living beings?"

[Of course.] Hongshi replied slowly: [I have always been doing this.]

"Why not try to believe in their possibilities?"

At this time, Hongshi had once again begun a secret contest of strength with Su Zhou, but in order to avoid affecting those small worlds, neither side manifested their power in the outside world.

For a time, both sides' bodies began to burn, emitting light, and releasing surging heat. Both sides' hair began to rise, like long algae floating in the sea.

In a corner of the multiverse, a conspicuous bright spot appeared. Many civilizations capable of observing the void noticed its existence and then changed their expressions drastically, hurriedly moving all their instruments, formations, and all their observation facilities away.

Some things, even gazing upon them was forbidden!

[Why should we believe in mortals?]

Hongshi's will came silently, with the purest doubt: [Although you are very young, excessively young, if you were a human, you should have offspring in your twenties.]

[Your child cries and wants a toy. If you don't give it, he will throw a tantrum and scream. Will you find him troublesome and buy him a toy to get it over with, or will you patiently take him home?]

[What you will do, I don't know, but I will teach him that not everything in this world will go as he wishes, and that he can't change it just by crying.]

This was the truth. Although His will did not convey information, Su Zhou knew Hongshi's meaning.

—In His eyes, mortals' desire for freedom was like a child crying and asking his parents for a toy. They didn't really need the toy, they just wanted it. Even if they really got the toy, in order to grow up normally and healthily, they would still need to rely on His protection. They might not play with it a few times and might even get tired of it the moment they bought it.

Su Zhou did not deny it. It was indeed true that humans praised freedom only because they really didn't need it. Without enough power, freedom was just a path to their own death.

Most people, rather than yearning for freedom, yearned for the power that freedom could bring, the power and enjoyment that power could bring.

Therefore, Su Zhou hadn't really let go. He had left an imprint in every world, and as long as someone called out, his Hedao incarnation would descend.

If one had to say, Hongshi regarded Himself as some kind of standard, then Su Zhou regarded himself as some kind of safety net.

"But."

Even though he greatly agreed with what Hongshi said, Su Zhou still did not release the power suppressing Hongshi's hand.

He took a step forward, his arm muscles bulged, forcibly pressing down Hongshi's hand.

In the other party's cold gaze, the young man solemnly said: "Life is not just about living for the sake of living."

"Hongshi, the responsibility of parents, besides allowing their children to grow up safely, also includes guiding them to find the meaning of their lives, making them willingly fight for it, and strengthening their hearts."

[Those are all beautiful words.] The man said lightly: [If they can't survive, all meaning is meaningless.]

"That's right too."

Su Zhou frowned slightly, but still sighed: "They are indeed all beautiful words."

He didn't continue to say things like 'living for the sake of living is also meaningless'. He himself could think that way, but he couldn't impose his will on other ordinary people—otherwise, as Hongshi said, what difference would there be between him and the other party.

Releasing his hand, Su Zhou stood aside, watching Hongshi take the many sand worlds born from their battle into His hand.

The Chuanque Realm and other worlds were taken into His palm. The Furnace Realm experts who were observing the void saw that their world was shrouded in a dazzling radiance, all the turbulent flows of time and space disappeared, everything was stabilized, and it was integrated into the protection of a giant hand.

"Such protection and salvation."

He watched Hongshi throw these worlds into the distance, that is, into the world group surrounding Hongshi's Upper Realm. The young man slowly said: "It's too peaceful and comfortable. You don't even let them observe the void."

"I dare say that you will even stop all disputes in those worlds and enforce absolute peace."

[Otherwise? Many disputes in the world are meaningless, and can even be said to be a natural mistake—observing the void is too dangerous, some things will cause unpredictable destruction just by seeing them.]

And after Su Zhou let go, Hongshi's expression was much better, and he even nodded slightly to the young man to express his gratitude.

But now, after hearing Su Zhou's words, He couldn't help but sneer: [Peace is inevitable. Otherwise, should we let them go to war with each other? Should we let them suppress each other's economies?]

[Should we let them spend three years passing a discriminatory bill, should we let them close their customs and raise tariffs for a little meaningless money, for that insignificant precious metal, hindering the flow of goods, causing a group of people to go hungry, and a group of people to be unable to use cheap goods?]

The Hedao expert did not look at Su Zhou. He raised His hand and stared at the handful of sand dust worlds that still existed in His palm.

Hongshi muttered to Himself: [Look, this world, although it seems calm, the undercurrents are surging, the contradictions between countries are heavy, and it may enter self-destruction at any time.]

[Do you want me to sit idly by and let them assassinate important scientists and cultivators, let them not share important scientific research data, let them destroy thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years of technological accumulation because of the world war era dispute, and return to the Stone Age to start again?]

The Great Emperor's hand holding the high tower clenched, as if wanting to clench a fist: [Original Zhuzhou, I have done all those things in the past. No intelligent life will learn any lessons. They will definitely hinder others from obtaining happiness because of greed, and they will definitely suppress others' achievements for the sake of a sense of superiority.]

[If you tell them equality, there will definitely be people who are more equal than others; if you tell them to work together, they will definitely create small internal factions; no matter how much you emphasize that they shouldn't be 'greedy', there will definitely be people who yearn for 'paper and numbers that they can't spend in their lifetime and are no different from garbage'.]

[If you tell them everything that is 'correct', they will definitely 'make mistakes'.]

—Yes, I know, only by making mistakes can we progress, I understand you, 'Innovation', your thoughts are also very correct, you hope that all living beings will become better.

The cyan-purple eyes met the crimson-red pupils. Su Zhou realized at this moment that under the seemingly young appearance of the Hongshi Great Emperor was an ancient being who had lived for who knows how many years, experienced countless cycles of worlds, countless destructions and rebirths, creations and destructions.

He had witnessed all the rises and falls, all the destruction and restoration—compared to everything He had experienced, his own life of less than thirty years was as short as a short sigh.

—Making mistakes, paying the price, self-correcting, and then progressing, is that how innovation works?

From those tired yet firm eyes, which could never give up, Su Zhou glimpsed a rhetorical question.

This rhetorical question was simple beyond compare, like expounding a truth.

—The problem is, Original Zhuzhou, who is willing to become the price that 'Innovation' inevitably has to pay?

[No one should become the price of success.]

"Even if they are willing?"

[Why do you have to make people willing to die? He could have been saved. No one should die, not a single one.]

In the short exchange, Su Zhou instantly thought of several answers, such as whoever caused the error should be the price; he himself could pay the price for all living beings, or use the Zhuzhou Dream as a prediction to tell them the consequences of making mistakes in advance.

But soon, he criticized these ideas of his.

No one wanted to be the price.

Even those who led the crime were unwilling.

Hongshi didn't even want to give up on those who would theoretically make mistakes. He wanted to save them all—as long as it was in His order, under His guidance, no one would make mistakes, and no one would need to be the price that had to be paid.

And his own substitute for all living beings to pay the price was not essentially different from Hongshi. Without pain, with someone to bail them out, all living beings would only become more rampant in making mistakes.

On the contrary, the Zhuzhou Dream was a bit of a possibility, but after all, the dream could not perfectly cope with all situations. Emperor Zhengde could not find a way to break the situation even after being reborn 30,000 times. If it were not for his own existence, God knows how many times he would have to be reborn to complete the plan. Other things were the same. The dream could not solve all situations.

—I should adjust the Zhuzhou Dream again after I go back. Su Zhou thought to himself, that was one of the most important components of his Dao, predicting errors, avoiding costs, and searching for a path of dreams in the dark.

[How is it, Original Zhuzhou?]

Gazing at Su Zhou, who was silently pondering, the Hongshi Great Emperor said calmly: [I will continue to fight with you—on the contrary, do you still want to fight with me?]

"Of course."

Raising his head, Su Zhou's gaze was still bright. He looked at Hongshi: "Everything you said is correct, but there is still the most important point that you deliberately ignore or have forgotten."

Saying so, the young man turned his head to look at the distant end of the void, in the direction where the 'Hongshi Upper Realm' was located: "Your correct premise is that under your order, all living beings will indeed not make mistakes—no matter what."

"Moreover, they must also believe 100% that your Dao is correct."

"Hongshi, if, under your order, all living beings still make mistakes..."

Su Zhou's words were not finished.

Because Hongshi suddenly sank, He turned His head and looked at the Hongshi Upper Realm, the direction where His old home was.

Su Zhou also followed the other party's gaze and looked at the Hongshi Upper Realm.

"It's a rebellion."

He saw the flaws in his guess, but Su Zhou didn't feel happy, but instead showed worry.

The young man shook his head and put his hands behind his back: "Hongshi, I won't fight with you now."

"Compared to the boring game of correctness between us, the struggle and competition that is only our own obsession, the safety of all living beings is more important."

[...] Thank you.

Taking a deep breath, Hongshi closed His eyes and sighed leisurely: [Only on this point do we have the same views... The struggle between correctness is the most boring and meaningless game in this multiverse.]

"Life has no meaning either." The young man said: "But everyone is still alive, and some things always have to be done."

[Yes.]

Nodding slightly, the man then took a heavy step: [Some things always have to be done.]

Recommending a friend's book "Starting from Failing to Seize the Throne"

At the beginning, my old man failed to seize the throne, and I was arrested in Dali Temple.

Seeing that the future and life were worrying, fortunately there was a data world in my mind.

With the ability to travel back and forth through the data world, Tian Zhan opened his road to hegemony.