Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Turn back time and become young again?”

Li Yao chewed the words over and over. Then he thought of the trick that Hong Chao had played with the sound of glass. He was greatly alarmed and immediately realized what was going on. “You—you are going to perform a super large-scale ‘reboot’ across the universe and reset the entire timeline to a time billions of years ago when nothing happened?”

“Yes.”

The flood’s voice was deep, but the silver surface of the tide was surging with the souls of the deceased who had been stranded on Earth billions of years ago, the war between the ‘superhuman civilization’ and the ‘Primeval civilization’, and the entire process of the flood’s control over everything from the three-dimensional universe to the three-point-five-dimensional universe and even the march toward the four-dimensional universe. “You were right. In the beginning, I was indeed made of billions of ordinary people who had been abandoned on Earth. When I, or rather, ‘we’, were reborn in the solar storm, the waves that we released had no room for anything except the roars of fury and revenge.

“After we defeated the ‘Primeval Civilization’ as a ‘superhuman civilization’, the fury of revenge had subsided. We were indeed thinking about how to connect everyone’s thoughts and emotions and ensure the absolute peace of the entire Universe Ocean in such a way.

“However, the more we explore, the more we learn about the universe and the universe above it, and the more we are enveloped in darkness, desperation, and regret. We can destroy our enemies, but we cannot revive the dead. We can create an incomparably beautiful world, but we cannot repair yesterday’s evilness and ugliness. We can control matter and energy at our will, but we cannot return to the past, to the time when the ‘origin earth’ had not been destroyed, when everything was so beautiful and vibrant.

“The river of time is always flowing toward the deep sea named ‘Obliteration’. We are like old men who have endless wealth and power. We are tired of everything, but we can only watch the years cut us into pieces and leave indelible marks on our faces, bodies, and souls.

“So what if we control the universe? So what if we dominate the sea of stars? Age is our inevitable destiny. Destruction is our only destination.

“You said that, if there was a way to reverse the flow of time in the entire sea of the multiverse and return every drop of water in the flood to the past when everything had yet to begin, wouldn’t such a thing be worthwhile for us to pursue at the cost of all our energy?

Li Yao did not know what to say.

He had never felt so terrified or so angry.

“No matter how much you yearn for your lost childhood, if billions of years are reset, what do you think we, who were born in billions of years, are?

Li Yao gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists so hard that they looked like two black holes. “Are we all plain words that can be erased by an eraser at any time?

“No. Time cannot be reversed. We can only march forward!

“Advancing forward? Hehe. Hehehehe. You don’t understand at all. There’s no way forward. If you don’t want your head to bleed and your soul to scatter, you can only turn back!”

The silver ball’s expression flooded Li Yao with endless information again. This time, the content of the information was even more terrifying than the deepest level of hell.

“Do you think that the Universe Ocean is the cruelest battlefield? Do you think that there are warm and friendly god-level creatures in the real four-dimensional space? Do you think that the so-called ‘god-level creatures’ are really merciful gods who will be moved by your prayers, your hot blood, and your so-called justice? How hilarious!

Hong Chao roared in a low voice, “You dust-like human beings know nothing about the real danger. Do you know what the ‘Great Purging Agreement’ is? Do you know what the ‘Fast Child Collapse’ is? Do you know how many universes and dimensions the rage of ‘Lord Singularity’ can affect? Have you ever seen the ‘Ancient Devourer’ awaken from the ‘Black Hole Abyss’? Even ‘Lord Singularity’ has to shiver in fear. Countless civilizations have sacrificed their futures just to seal the ‘Ancient Devourer’ for one more second?

“No. You don’t know anything at all. You are just a tiny cockroach. Bacteria and viruses are even smaller than cockroaches. You have no idea how terrifying the real hunters and prey are in the universe!

“Dark forest. Hehe. Hehehehehe. You guys love to describe the vastness and horror of the universe with the words ‘dark forest’. But I have to tell you that the most terrifying thing is not that you are living in a dark forest, but that the so-called ‘dark forest’ is actually a ‘biological reserve’ in the eyes of a higher existence, or even a weed in a zoo of a higher existence. You’ve finally ignited the ‘dark forest’ and escaped from it, only to find countless pairs of mocking eyes staring at you!

“You are on the ground, and he is in the sky. You are a bacterium, but he can pass through nineteen different dimensions. How are you going to fight him?

“As I said, I admire your courage and stupidity, but courage and stupidity are just stupidity. I used to be as ignorant as you, thinking that I had grasped the power to dominate the multidimensional space. But as soon as I stuck my head out, I was beaten back to my original self and trapped in this broken body in the awkward state of ‘3.5D’. If I hadn’t taken the risk to march forward and suffered heavy wounds, do you think that floating dust, cockroaches, bacteria, and viruses like you would have any chance at all?

“Do you know what the saddest thing is? The saddest thing is that, a long time later, when I inferred what had happened with all my computational ability, I discovered that the enemy was not aiming at me at all. I was merely hit by a stray bullet in a battlefield of a higher dimension. Or rather, a marmot that crawled out of a cave only to be stomped back by a soldier’s boot. That’s all! From the beginning to the end, the existences of a higher dimension did not even look at me!

“This is the gap between us. It is even larger than the gap between you and me.

“Since then, I’ve come to understand one thing. There is an end to evolution. All civilizations must behave themselves and hide in the food chain. In their place, any civilization that tries to ‘show up’ will be ruthlessly attacked, and the attackers won’t even realize that the civilization exists.

“On behalf of the civilization of mankind, I have reached the end of evolution. If I go any further, I will have to break into the four-dimensional world again. I will certainly suffer another fatal strike. Maybe it will no longer be a stray bullet but a real destruction!

“Tell me, other than ‘reversing time and returning to the past’, is there any better way to protect the hard-earned civilization?”

Li Yao was rendered speechless, not knowing what to do.

In fact, his soul had been stuffed by the terrifying information sent by the flood tide, which included the ‘Great Purge Agreement’, ‘Fast Collapse’, ‘Lord Singularity’, and ‘Aeon Devourer’. He was simply caught in a state of ‘data overflow’.

“Going back to the past…”

Li Yao mumbled, “Can everything be solved?”

“You can.”

Hong Chao said, “As long as we go back to the past, all the mistakes can be rectified, all the regrets can be erased, and all the evilness and ugliness can be eliminated before they happen. The next reincarnation will certainly be better than this one. Everything can be changed.

“What about us?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, his soul aching. “Are we going to disappear forever?”

“Not necessarily. Remember what I said just now? The universe is determined by the observers.”

“As long as your ‘obsession’ is strong enough, you will be able to interfere with part of the quantum when you turn back time. You and your loved ones will be reborn in the beautiful past in a happier way!

“But…”

Li Yao hesitated. “Even if we go back in time, we will still evolve. Ten thousand years, a million years, a hundred million years. Eventually, we will touch the barrier of… evolution that you talked about. If we break through the four-dimensional space, we will still be destroyed by the ‘Great Purge Agreement’, ‘Fast Seed Collapse’, ‘Lord Singularity’, and ‘Ancient Devourer’.

“Then let’s rewind the clock and reverse the flow of time again.”

Hong Chao said, “Reset to the beginning of everything that hasn’t happened yet.

“Well—”

Li Yao frowned and struggled to resist. “Isn’t he digging a hole to bury himself and running away without fighting?”

“No. This is the position of our civilization in the food chain of the universe!

Hong Chao said, “If we are destined to be grass, there is no need for us to grow so high. If we are herbivores, we should try our best not to make any noise and live our life quietly. This is the way we exist. As long as we do what we are told, no matter how chaotic the universe outside is, no matter how many civilizations are destroyed, we will live forever in the cycle of time!

“Eternal… Life…”

Li Yao mumbled to himself. His entire body, including his throat, was enveloped and swallowed by the silver liquid.

“Yes, immortality. I’ve spent billions of years collecting the ‘parallel cosmic chain reaction energy’. Right now, I’ve finally reached the threshold of ‘time reversal’. I only need the last step, the last bit of energy, to complete the first ‘time reversal’. When the dust has settled, you will know that I was right and that I made a choice to protect the civilization!

Hong Chao sounded as if he was crying for blood.