TOMWDET Chapter 217

Final Chapter (9)

It was like a dream.

Remarkably similar to the beginning of that dream from long ago.

Was the world essentially a world, or was it more like the CG production that strategists often participated in?

This was a question that needed philosophers to contemplate. What Su Li was concerned with was that the “World Consciousness” that had never shown itself before, or rather had never truly faced him directly, had finally appeared.

It was extremely similar to what he had thought not long ago.

Humans were essentially nothing more than “monster beasts” with shorter lifespans and initially unable to cultivate elements. The World Consciousness was also just another, more powerful type of human.

He stood before Su Li. Unlike the young man’s face that still carried some childish features, the person before him, the Him before him, was like an enlarged version of Su Li.

In the stopped world, the only sounds that could be heard were the World Consciousness’s footsteps and the sounds brought by His breathing.

Light and faint, indistinct.

When he discovered that figure drawing closer and closer to him, Su Li’s face showed nothing else, no other concern, only understanding.

Su Li knew that He was just another enhanced version of the body he was using.

Were human memories stored in the brain or in the soul?

Judging from the fact of transmigration, memories were definitely stored one hundred percent in the soul.

But human bodies would also have physical reactions that transcended brain consciousness.

But the body he was using didn’t have these.

The testing method was simple – he only needed to imitate Cyril, who had been closest to him at the time and was also of the same age as a youth.

After all, they were both people from this strange fantasy world.

When there were no physical reactions, when all action patterns were identical to his past habits, he should have considered whether the body he was using was himself from a parallel world.

But denying this question was also simple.

When it was clear that the body he used wasn’t native, the conclusion became simpler.

——A manufactured product.

“You’ve come, the creator of my body, excluding my soul,” Su Li raised his left hand.

His gaze couldn’t express emotional changes like the people of this world could at the drop of a hat. And without deliberately amplified body language, even He couldn’t clearly see that the current Su Li was merely expressing “novelty.”

The man before him had green eyes identical to Su Li’s.

He looked at the youth and nodded lightly.

Though His actions and movements weren’t stiff, they always had a sluggish, slow appearance.

Su Li watched the man walk step by step to a place three to five meters away from him. Around the youth were various allies and enemies frozen in place in rigid postures.

This wasn’t the method he used when manipulating elements to directly control other humans and monster beasts.

He had simply stopped the time of this entire world.

Except for Him and him.

“I guess you chose not to stop my time, allowing me to still maintain bodily movement, because you have something you want to say to me, right?”

The question slipped out, and even though the other party seemed passive, the current Su Li didn’t feel he had seized the initiative in their conversation.

“Yes.”

A simple reply, but the voice was different from the previous ethereal coldness. That voice sounded merely more mature than the current Su Li.

“I want to know, you, why, did you choose to resist.” At first that voice was still somewhat stiff, like someone who hadn’t spoken in a long time.

But shortly after, everything became smooth and natural.

“Whether it’s you, or monster beasts and humans, none of you have the power to resist me.”

“Choosing to be peacefully killed by me and welcoming the world’s end would be the best choice for humans and monster beasts.”

He was genuinely puzzled.

Su Li was genuinely amused.

“Have you heard this saying?” The youth raised his eyelids, his lashes curling upward. “The prerequisite for so-called tempering is necessarily the action of entering the world.”

“You don’t even understand why monster beasts and humans choose to oppose you, yet you arbitrarily decide that your choice is the best for them…”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Moreover, do you think that my world before transmigration had no World Consciousness?”

“But is this absence your self-righteous judgment, or was it that from the beginning, your inferiority and weakness simply couldn’t detect the other’s existence?”

Su Li could see the Him not far away, whose body stiffened instantly.

“Countless experiments, choosing to drag souls from other worlds’ humans into this world, yet ultimately only I succeeded… In your view, this only proved that my world had no World Consciousness, so it couldn’t provide corresponding protection for me?”

“But this is too straightforward, isn’t it?”

The country before his transmigration had too many things that could only be understood but not expressed in words.

Su Li could only use some explanations he could think of to briefly describe them.

“When the result of something goes from A to Z, it needs to pass through countless things in between, and whether those countless things will include other elements like A, B, C, D, and Arabic numerals – these are all uncertain things until seen.”

“You didn’t even consider the possibility that the World Consciousness of my world wasn’t worried at all that my life and death after transmigration would be held in others’ hands. That you don’t understand why humans and monster beasts resist you no longer seems so ridiculous.”

His figure seemed to grow even more rigid.

What was growth?

It was the instant after reaching the extreme of pain.

It was a thought that suddenly became clear while basking in the sun on some afternoon, stroking a cat’s fur.

“This world has one very interesting point,” Su Li curved his lips. “Everyone thinks that the amount of elemental power is the most direct manifestation of growth.”

“The weak possess few and low-level elements, so they don’t have ‘growth.’ Among humans, elemental affinity directly defines so-called growth. Strange plant-based class divisions, deep-rooted noble rules – these are all laughable.”

Beyond humans, monster beast society was even more excessive. When transformed monster beasts possessed human thinking and consciousness, they gained some growth potential that traditional monster beasts lacked. This growth potential masked the step-by-step cultivation methods that traditional monster beasts had developed through generational evolution.

Ultimately, transformed monster beasts possessed growth potential, while traditional monster beasts, having no new changes, became fixed objects in a civilization that should be destroyed.

“This is really, very interesting.”

That slight, excessively direct mockery finally reached His heart.

Suffocating, uncomfortable, distressing.

With various emotions overlapping, He still wanted to maintain His concept and style equivalent to the world, speaking word by word: “But you will die.”

“Just as those Ji Xings couldn’t defeat you, you also cannot defeat me.” He looked at Su Li, and where contempt should have appeared in His gaze, there was inexplicably the same emptiness similar to Su Li’s.

But the emptiness in the youth’s gaze was the transparency of knowing everything and not taking all things to heart, while also being clear about everything and having all things at ease in his heart.

His emptiness, however, was truly having nothing at all.

“No created thing can defeat its creator.”

“I want to kill you, as simple as crushing an ant. You shouldn’t resist me, nor should you provoke me.”

“A weakling without self-awareness, no matter what flowery words they can speak, is merely death throes produced by fear of death.”

His gaze was like ice.

But Su Li laughed. “See, you again didn’t think that when people are about to die, they don’t necessarily only choose death throes, but will also choose to use their own death to inflict damage on the enemy.”

“You can’t see other possibilities. You and this world are the same as before – even if there’s the slightest thought of wanting to ‘evolve,’ wanting to ‘grow,’ you only treat it as unnecessary and then decisively abandon it.”

“The world doesn’t need World Consciousness, doesn’t need humans or other creatures. The world is just the world – a blank, formless concept that cannot be accurately defined.”

“And you, someone who was born in the distant past and possesses the ability to understand any event that has occurred on this planet, yet arrogantly considers yourself to be this world’s consciousness.”

“Why? If you are, then can’t I also say I’m the World Consciousness of this world?”

Su Li could visibly see that the man before him was no longer just rigid, but confused.

What was Su Li’s domain?

It was the strange thinking that as long as he was given a chance to speak, he didn’t need to pause and could directly construct an entire world in his mind.

He liked to view problems from too many angles, and different angles would infinitely expand everything that originally only needed to be superficially presented on paper.

Everything that Elvi had experienced, He should have “seen.”

But He still didn’t think that communicating with Su Li was a very risky matter.

Then, the initiative in conversation was naturally transferred. The youth, who was a head shorter, didn’t even need to look up to be sufficient to pull Him down from the high platform.

“Angry? Furious?” Su Li’s tone was gentle and soft, at one point like telling a bedtime story. “Probably neither.”

“Because if you had such emotions, you would have long ago learned to think about why you would be angry and why you would feel angry because of it.”

“You haven’t grown, you’re stuck in your ways, keeping yourself in place.”

“You’ve even tried to drag down the two races living in this world and two different civilizations.”

“Whether the destruction of monster beasts is natural environmental evolution and the trend of the times – these cannot be determined without accurate research. But forcibly pulling humans who don’t possess elements into an existing system and rules, and preventing them from establishing new rules… do you know what this kind of action is usually defined as in another world?”

The confusion in the person before him deepened further.

Su Li couldn’t feel any strength from the other party.

Not strength in terms of power, but another kind of spiritual strength.

Those who love to cry not crying isn’t strength – it’s endurance. Those who love to cry choosing to still be able to cry freely when it doesn’t affect others, to vent their emotions, and after emotional release ends, being able to return to rationality to think about why they cried – this is strength.

As long as one doesn’t stop thinking, then life is always in the concept of growth.

But He…

Didn’t think.

Even rebuttals and displays of powerful strength were all like those among humans – those stupid nobles who had been hung on lampposts by the Dark Pope countless times.

“This is dictatorship, deciding alone. You can’t hear others’ voices, always thinking you are correct.”

“Of course you can’t possess ‘growth,’ of course you can’t obtain growth, and…”

Su Li’s peaceful voice disappeared.

Or rather, it was still peaceful, just that the peace was mixed with too much cruelty as he said, “You should also rightfully die.”

“Because you’re simply not needed. Whether humans or monster beasts, your appearance only makes them worse.”

“What meaning is there for an existence that isn’t needed?” Su Li seriously played the role of a true villain.

The World Consciousness was like a child learning to speak who was then bullied by a cruel great wizard.

He felt wronged.

“Why?”

“Humans and monster beasts are clearly just not needed by me, so I wanted to kill them. Things not needed by the World Consciousness should rightfully be destroyed. Moreover, if I’m not needed by humans and monster beasts, then… then why can’t I, who need myself to live, produce ‘need’ for myself?”

“——Your words are wrong.”

“You’re deliberately expressing negation to me, trying to influence and manipulate my thinking.” The more He spoke, the more determined He appeared.

“So, have you been influenced? Have you been controlled?” Su Li looked at Him, bit by bit watching Him fall into his trap.

“No. Because you also have a mouth, you also know how to speak, you also have a brain, and you understand that you should think.”

“Then what right do you have to influence the humans and monster beasts of this world, making them forever stuck in their ways? When a very small portion finally breaks through that strange influence, they always encounter rejection from the entire world?”

Those people were incompatible with the entire world.

They suffered for this, hated for this, but because the entire world was different from them, they ultimately died from “not growing.”

“Thinking that what I do is wrong, thinking that I who try to influence you am a disaster – then you, whose existence has actually influenced monster beasts and humans, what right do you have to think that you’re not wrong, that you’re not a disaster?”

During battle, all kinds of bloodiness still made Su Li nauseous.

But from a power level perspective, it was indeed true – Su Li couldn’t win.

Su Li couldn’t defeat Him.

It wasn’t that so-called created things cannot resist their creator.

This was simply the final conclusion reached after weighing various factors.

Reality was this cruel – it wasn’t that one could break through limits and create miracles countless times by relying on courage and will.

But if one relied on wisdom and thinking, one could create possibilities.

For instance, the current Him was thinking about whether his actions were correct.

This didn’t even count as any scheme.

It was even beneficial to Him, because this way, He could truly grow.

But the cost of growth, whether happy or painful aspects, would all have places where thoughts conflicted.

Su Li was just watching to see whether He cared more about himself.

If He wanted to grow, then He absolutely couldn’t destroy monster beasts and humans.

That would be equivalent to Him actively choosing death.

Monster beasts that committed suicide were proof of clarity; those that lived on were chaotic and obsessively mad existences.

So would He choose to give himself growth potential, or let himself go completely mad until death?

The multiple choice question Su Li presented was placed before the World Consciousness, and regardless of which He chose, Su Li could ultimately gain the advantage.

Living meant that He who needed to grow absolutely couldn’t harm humans.

Although this “couldn’t harm humans” scope might temporarily only designate him alone.

And if He went mad, preparing to drag both humans and monster beasts down with Him, then the mental state he would need to face was that “He was about to choose suicide.”

Was there a third choice?

Yes.

But He wouldn’t know it.

There still existed in the world…

Heretical growth – killing one person, then thinking about what exactly was destroyed.

In cultivation world terms, this was called proving the Way through killing, the Way of Slaughter.

Su Li knew this.

It was precisely because he knew this that he could create this binary choice for Him.

He had to see farther than Him, had to see more than Him.

He had to create a space where He could act, yet couldn’t discover the larger box in the short term.

Because only this way could the life inside the box grow peacefully and, in the rapid development of peace, truly discover the existence of the box and break through the concept of the box.

“Do you acknowledge it? Or deny it?”

“But before you make your choice, you might also consider new possibilities.”

“For instance, if the World Consciousness of the world where my soul resides truly exists, are you prepared to face the situation where, the moment you harm, attack, or even kill me, you’ll suffer destruction from a more powerful existence? And at that time, you also won’t be able to achieve your goal of killing monster beasts and humans.”

“Think about it, run your mind to its absolute limit.”

“Finally, tell me your choice.”

Su Li smiled slightly. The straight blade that Castor had forged was slowly raised behind him. The youth’s lower back leaned lightly back, his clothing creasing. In the space where the world was frozen, all He could see from Su Li was laziness.

A leisurely attitude that held neither fear nor vigilance.

His green eyes perfectly reflected Him, who looked like an enlarged version of himself.

Su Li had pointed out the direction of thinking and informed him of one possible answer.

At the same time, he was threatening that not everything would be within the World Consciousness’s grasp.

A “World Consciousness” that even He couldn’t discover.

An ordinary person randomly pulled from another world, yet able to walk before Him.

Could He really succeed?

This was a mandatory question, and definitely a binary choice.

The choice that pleased everyone was right before him.

Give up continuing to destroy humans and monster beasts, follow the youth before him, and truly master “growth.”

The other bad choice was simply being forcibly destroyed by a higher-level existence.

He was thinking – if Su Li’s soul’s world really had a World Consciousness, then why would the other party provide help to one among countless humans?

But the problem came again: assuming the other party was already so powerful that even He couldn’t detect them, what thoughts they would have, what actions they would take – no matter how He thought about it, He had no way to predict with one hundred percent accuracy.

That is to say, He still had the possibility of being killed.

What should He do?

Should He conform to the possibility of growth and explore methods that could let Him continue living from growth possibilities?

Or…

Just be completely killed like this?

He had even considered the idea of pretending to kill Su Li to test whether another World Consciousness existed.

But soon this idea was kicked away.

Because He also had no way to guarantee that another World Consciousness couldn’t perceive that He was just pretending.

At the same time, He began to think about why he hadn’t detected the World Consciousness of another world.

Not having it meant not having it; having it meant having it.

But if the other party had already found more profound answers to questions He hadn’t yet discovered through growth, then He naturally couldn’t accurately locate the other’s existence on the territory of a more powerful World Consciousness.

Su Li’s argument was brilliant precisely because He had no way to prove that another world had no World Consciousness. And Su Li had also provided Him with what seemed like a perfect choice.

But was this choice really perfect?

He finally began to think about the real trap.

And all of this was as Su Li had expected.

Su Li wouldn’t spare Him, because He had killed too many humans and monster beasts.

This youth, just as he had shown, had always been following the morals and laws of another world.

Although the unavoidable killings had already made him break through his bottom line sometimes.

But this bottom line that was forced to break through due to unavoidable circumstances could still be explained by another world’s law – so-called self-defense.

Su Li wouldn’t accept Him who killed for the sake of killing.

He suddenly began to associate – if He chose that so-called happy ending…

Then what would He face?

First, He could learn more about growth – this was absolute.

Because not killing him and not challenging another World Consciousness’s bottom line meant they were still in a position to negotiate.

Su Li didn’t want Him to destroy humans and monster beasts, and if He chose to stop destroying humans and monster beasts, Su Li would provide growth.

But whether what was provided was partial or comprehensive depended only on Su Li himself, who controlled the key resources…

What to do?

Should He choose to let the world die with himself, or gamble on the life possibilities that growth might bring?

Excessive thinking really made one feel dizzy, even nauseous with churning stomach.

He felt dizzy and disoriented.

Su Li still leaned his waist against the straight blade’s handle, peaceful and quiet. Those slightly squinted eyes, because the gaze was no longer sharp and had become gentle instead, at one point made people wonder if he would fall asleep maintaining this posture.

The World Consciousness’s thoughts were in complete chaos.

But ultimately, He chose to stop thinking, letting his brain return to blankness again, and asked the youth one final question.

“If possible, if you had absolute power, would you prioritize killing me, or would you choose to dialogue with me like now?”

“Is this question important?” Su Li looked at Him who had stepped into a deep pit without knowing it, yawned, then moved his left hand behind his back to grip the straight blade again.

He watched all these movements, but because he didn’t detect any killing intent, he maintained his unknowing posture throughout, saying seriously, “This is very important.”

“How important is it?” Su Li said with a gentle face and smile. “Is it more important than your life?”

But in an instant, it was as if His time had also been stopped.

The straight blade was unsheathed. After a flash of cold light, the blade’s edge was aimed directly at the World Consciousness’s heart.