leonardwarren #379 - Case solved
#379 - Case solved
"That was an act of deceit and betrayal."
The ancient remnant spirit, He Ruli, sighed softly:
"No conscious entity can resist the erosion of time. Where there is birth, there will be an end."
"After that great war, I was the only one left, watching this withering city, the corpses strewn across the ground, two civilizations utterly collapsed…"
Wang Jixuan suddenly asked, "Two?"
"Yes, the powerful civilization from outside the star system also suffered great losses due to this invasion, heading towards their end."
Hearing this answer, Daoist Wang suddenly smiled.
Wang Jixuan looked at He Ruli and said slowly:
"You know, lying has different forms, but telling the truth can also convey incorrect information, such as only telling half the story."
"The fall of this ancient civilization doesn't seem to be just about external enemies invading and opposition factions staging coups, right?"
"Let me think… This is your mother planet during your heyday. You were eventually forced to hide the City Above the Clouds… Was there a rebellion?"
"Your civilization had only a few million people at its peak. It's impossible to rule such a vast territory with that population. You were doing the same thing as the Spirit Cultivation civilization: herding planets and ruling over other, weaker civilizations."
"Your final decline was due to the great damage suffered in the war between the opposition and the invading enemies, and then various races seized the opportunity to revolt."
"I've read the history of the Spirit Cultivation civilization. They also had hundreds of thousands of years of development. The first batch of Spirit Cultivators frantically retaliated against civilizations everywhere, probably to avenge your destruction."
"Am I wrong?"
He Ruli slowly nodded: "What Pioneer-sama said is not wrong, but there is no problem in attributing the destruction of the civilization to that decisive battle."
"Such a civilization doesn't qualify as advanced."
Wang Jixuan shook his head, his expression seemingly carrying a hint of regret.
He Ruli's expression clearly became somewhat gloomy.
"Angering me will not benefit you in any way," He Ruli said in a low voice.
Wang Jixuan smiled without saying a word.
His gaze flickered slightly.
The opposition faction must have won the war initiated by the external enemies and the opposition faction. So, what was his, the Pioneer's, fate?
It seems that the statue outside that is leaning and no one is helping to support has already explained everything.
Wang Jixuan said simply: "You painstakingly schemed and patiently explained all this to us, surely you also have something to gain from me. You are trying to make me understand you… Angering me will also not benefit you in any way."
A few traces of helplessness appeared in He Ruli's eyes: "Every time I communicate with you, it is so frustrating."
"That's all thanks to you," Wang Jixuan pointed to his brow, "Originally, I was just a naive little cultivator who believed in love and justice, but you forced me to become this great Demon Lord."
The corners of He Ruli's mouth twitched constantly: "But in the books and civilization memories I know, it seems that this is your true nature now."
"Impossible, I am a righteous cultivator."
"You had a ridiculous experience when you failed to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation."
He Ruli couldn't help but laugh:
"At that time, in order to please you, we prepared the most beautiful and pure women from more than a dozen races for you. You spent wonderful ten years with them, gradually cheering up."
"Your name at that time was Sanjie Langlangzi, and you only later called yourself Wang Jixuan."
Amina turned her head and glared at Wang Jixuan.
Daoist Wang raised his hand and scratched his forehead.
No wonder;
Even Lingtong, a girl from the Fortress Era, was surprised by how many tricks he knew.
"Continue to the main point," Wang Jixuan said, "Starting with their first contact with you, did you give them the Blissful Heavenly Curtain technology?"
He Ruli shook her head.
She sighed softly, her whole person becoming somewhat颓废, and said in a low voice:
"Our civilization is not just the relic of the City Above the Clouds."
"The rebel army of that year plundered this beautiful planet. Our outposts on other planets were also looted."
"In the end, only tens of thousands of people retreated to the City Above the Clouds, and only women. The rebels killed all of our men."
"We tried to reproduce through asexual reproduction, but the genes were collapsing. We induced male reproductive cells, but the civilization was shrinking."
"We hid in the City Above the Clouds, eking out an existence for thousands of years. At that time, the core circuit we released had not yet fully functioned. The Spirit Cultivation civilization was still in its embryonic stage, and we could no longer support it."
"I was the one who held on to the end. I used all the methods I could think of, including creating a man, but the final result was still destruction."
"I sacrificed my soul to this city that can exist forever."
Amina asked, "You have mastered the power of time, can't you still achieve asexual reproduction?"
"It's not us who mastered the power of time," He Ruli looked at Wang Jixuan, "It's the Pioneer. Pioneer-sama did not share the principles of this technology with us."
Wang Jixuan leaned back.
Isn't it;
Is this poor Daoist so fierce?
Shouldn't the Great Dao of Time be something that only immortals can comprehend?
He Ruli finally got to the point.
She said in a low voice:
"After I sacrificed myself, my consciousness has been in a state of chaos, on the verge of collapse at any time, until one day… according to the calculation method of the surface human civilization, it was probably more than 7,000 years ago, I heard a call, it was the call of the core circuit."
"I thought it was the Spirit Cultivators we created who finally discovered this place."
"After knowing that our civilization could not continue to exist, we pinned our hopes on transforming the Spirit Cultivators into us."
"I responded to the call of this Spirit Cultivator, gave him guidance, and let him arrive here. He took away some technology and promised to take the revival of civilization as his responsibility."
"The Blissful Heavenly Curtain technology was taken away by this Spirit Cultivator at that time."
Wang Jixuan asked, "Is this Spirit Cultivator that something-or-other婆娑?"
"No," He Ruli shook her head, "The first one who contacted us was a man, and the name he told me was Obsidian."
"Obsidian?" Nielda Tamon frowned tightly.
"Someone you know?"
"Mortal enemy," Nielda Tamon said in a low voice, "He is a wanted criminal in our civilization."
He Ruli continued: "About a thousand years passed, and Obsidian brought six Spirit Cultivators, including that something-or-other婆娑 you mentioned. They took away the second batch of technology and really brought thousands of souls."
"Souls?" Wang Jixuan asked, "You asked them for souls?"
He Ruli lowered her head and sighed: "Yes, the City Above the Clouds can produce all kinds of energy, but only one kind of energy cannot be created, and that is the power of the souls of intelligent beings."
"What do you want souls for?"
"To support myself for a longer period of time, and by the way, to awaken the sleeping souls of the Pioneers."
Wang Jixuan was silent.
He Ruli said: "I am an opposition faction. The destruction of the civilization originated from our opposition, which made me very guilty, and the only way to save our civilization is to ask the great Pioneer to lead us again."
Amina asked, "Did you tell Obsidian and婆娑about this?"
"Yes," He Ruli said, "At that time, I trusted them very much, and took them to see where you were."
"Interrupt for a moment," Wang Jixuan asked, "Can I know, what did I suffer back then? I remember you once said that Sanjie Langlangzi broke through the void and went to other worlds."
"That was my lie, because I couldn't explain all this to you at that time."
He Ruli apologized:
"In fact, the reason why we opposition faction dared to launch a war in conjunction with external enemies was, in the final analysis, because of your weakness."
"After you led us for a long time, you returned to the peak of the Mahayana stage again."
"At that time, you tried to tear open time and space, using the method we used to summon you, to open the barrier of time and space and return to your own world. We were very grateful to you, and then started the experiment."
"However, the world presented by the opened barrier of time and space was not your original world of cultivation."
"You were very disappointed, but you didn't go to that strange world, but started preparing here to overcome the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation… You failed."
"The second failure."
"You made sufficient preparations this time. Although you failed, you were not struck to death by the Heavenly Tribulation, but only your Dao body and cultivation were mostly destroyed. You fell into self-doubt and quickly collapsed, and the powerful you was left with only a wisp of soul, falling into eternal silent slumber."
"And your failure also completely shaped the ideas of our opposition faction."
"Whether it is collective ascension or individual ascension, it is something that can be hoped for but not sought after. Our civilization's development has reached a bottleneck, so let's increase the breadth of civilization, instead of having to pursue the height of civilization, paying attention to the interests and rights of each individual in the civilization, and striving to improve their own cultural heritage."
"That's about it."
"And your followers, that is, most individuals in our civilization, are already irretrievably on the path of pursuing individual ascension."
Wang Jixuan objectively said: "In fact, the ideas of your opposition faction are not bad."
He Ruli closed the Book of Civilization.
Wang Jixuan roughly sorted out the timeline.
[The Ina civilization tried to use energy to open the barrier of time and space. He, who failed to overcome the tribulation, fell from the void and became the Pioneer of the Ina civilization;
He shared a bunch of cultivation tips, and the Ina civilization began to transform;
He recovered to his peak, returned to the Mahayana stage, failed to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation, his self-will declined, and then his remnant soul fell into slumber.
Internal divisions appeared in the Ina civilization. His failure caused the opposition faction to rise, which eventually evolved into a war;
The opposition faction brought wolves into the house. The Ina civilization suffered heavy losses, and the opposition faction's ideas took over;
The various races ruled by the Ina civilization revolted. The Ina civilization was destroyed, and the City Above the Clouds was hidden.]
Regarding the Spirit Cultivators:
[Seven thousand years ago, a degenerate Spirit Cultivator named Obsidian arrived here and took away a batch of technology.
Six thousand years ago, Obsidian brought his companions here for the second time, took away the second batch of technology, and learned about the so-called Precursor, which is the existence of Wang Ji Xuan.
"And then?" Wang Ji Xuan asked, "Tell me about Obsidian and his gang."
"Yes," He Ru Li used a respectful tone very naturally.
She whispered: "The souls that Obsidian brought were absorbed by me for their power, and this power was used for three purposes: one was to keep me stable, one was to try to awaken the past Precursors and leaders in the Hall of Slumber, and the other was to replenish the sleeping Great Precursor."
He Ru Li lowered her head and sighed:
"Obsidian and his companions participated in this process from beginning to end.
"I didn't tell them the history of civilization because I was afraid they would have malicious intentions towards this city. I deliberately exaggerated your glory.
"I told them that this is the Precursor who led the Ina civilization to glory. He is not a life form from this world, but comes from a world of immortals. His technology is the origin of our Ina civilization's psionic technology.
"If the Ina civilization is the father of spiritual cultivation civilization, then he is your grandfather.
"Then I found that they showed great interest in you.
"Since then, they have maintained a frequency of coming here once every thousand years, sending a total of more than 100,000 intelligent life souls, and I have recovered some of my strength as a result."
Aemina, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked: "The method they used to get here, is it by releasing their core circuits?"
"Yes," He Ru Li said, "With my guidance and imprint, they release their core circuits, and the core circuits can reach here."
Aemina asked again: "The last one who came, was it just a spiritual cultivator?"
"Yes," He Ru Li said, "The last one to arrive here was that P婆娑 you mentioned. This was her third time here, and she also brought soul energy that could sustain my thinking, so although I was puzzled as to why she came alone, I didn't suspect anything at first."
"How long ago was that?" Wang Ji Xuan asked.
"Twenty-six years and three months ago."
He Ru Li said: "After that, she stayed here for a few months, always wandering outside the Palace of the Sleeping Precursor. I asked her, and she excitedly said that she could hear the call of the Precursor, and then... the bold her suddenly attacked me. I easily defeated her with the power of the City Above the Clouds, but what I didn't expect was that she actually chose to kill herself."
"Suicide?"
"Yes," He Ru Li closed her eyes, "She shattered her core circuit, using a technology that had been taken out of here... I still can't forget the smile she showed at the moment of her impending death. That smile was extremely strange and extremely ironic."
He Ru Li was silent for half a minute, seemingly to stabilize her emotions.
"After that, her soul entered the Precursor's Chamber of Slumber, and the entire City Above the Clouds began to tremble constantly, and the operation of the formations everywhere was hindered.
"She was like a virus, a plague.
"She tried to seize control of the city, but I stopped her. Similarly, I almost exhausted my strength. Just as I fell into weakness, three meteors left here.
"The Great Precursor, the soul of a leader I awakened, and the soul of that madman, left the City Above the Clouds at the same time."
Wang Ji Xuan asked: "Twenty-six years ago?"
"Approximately."
Daoist Priest was immediately uneasy.
If you count the ten months of human pregnancy, that's about the same number;
Mu Liang was actually him, but his previous life memories only began to awaken when Mu Liang committed suicide.
Wang Ji Xuan's long-standing doubts;
He, Gao Hua Ting, and Ye Zi appeared in the same fortress at the same time, was it a coincidence or some kind of arrangement?
Now the case is finally solved.
Now, the only thing Wang Ji Xuan is wondering about is why he doesn't have the Ina civilization and Three Realms Prodigal Son part in his memories after this awakening.
However, the answer should be close at hand.
Wang Ji Xuan stood up and said directly: "Take me to the place where I used to sleep."
He Ru Li's eyes flickered slightly.
"This is the Precursor's order," Wang Ji Xuan looked down.
He Ru Li's eyes flickered, and she lowered her head and said, "Yes."