# Chapter 4: Challenge and Doubt 5200
At first, many people didn't quite understand what Joshua was talking about. Except for a very few individuals, even legendary experts fell into a brief period of confusion when suddenly hearing a warrior explain the origin of transcendent power.
For the vast majority of civilizations and experts, all kinds of transcendent power were like gravitational force, electromagnetic force, and the speed of light—universal constants that were natural principles of heaven and earth. Without them, the entire multiverse would be completely transformed in appearance, or even cease to exist. Could principles even have an origin? For beings born into this multiverse, this was a massive cognitive barrier.
However, for Joshua, who came from a world without miracles, the existence of transcendent power was inherently unique, an extraordinary exception and "miracle." When he approached these powers, his direction of thinking was naturally completely different from the natives of this multiverse. The only individuals who could keep up with his train of thought were a few who vaguely knew of the Sage's existence, or had sensed that transcendent power might be an "additional power" that appeared later in the multiverse.
But this confusion only lasted for a short time. When Joshua began to ignite transcendent power stars one by one in the void, forming a massive "Tree of Life Totem," almost everyone began to understand the context and relationships between these powers.
The first layer, the most fundamental point: "First Flame."
The second layer: "Divine Power" originating from the "First Flame," with paths connecting the two.
The third layer: "Arcane Power" and "Life Energy" originating from the First Flame, and "Psionic Energy" originating from Divine Power. Arcane Power and Life Energy shared the same origin as Divine Power, but were not derivatives of the same level.
The fourth layer: "Elemental Force" and "Aether" derived from Arcane Power and Life Energy, with paths connecting them, allowing smooth conversion.
The fifth layer: "Holy Light" derived from the First Flame, Life Energy, and Elemental Force.
The sixth layer: "Shadow Essence" derived from the First Flame, Arcane Power, and Aether.
The seventh and eighth layers followed: these were the numerous secondary transcendent powers produced by the mixing of these upper-level transcendent powers, such as Nature's Force, Divine Energy, Emotion Force... And the fragmented manifestations of various transcendent powers, such as the "Superpower" system born from the "Authority" derived from Steel Force, were relatively independent branches located at lower levels, forming the boundless branches of the transcendent tree, extending endlessly.
These complex systems and relationships were displayed by Joshua in the simplest, most obvious way. One by one, transcendent power suns burned in the void, giving birth to light paths that were imprinted in the darkness. All the experts watching the broadcast stared without blinking. They hadn't taken wrong paths or missed anything; they simply hadn't tried to organize the relevant context. For them, all transcendent powers were equal, all equally great forces.
Without knowing the Sage's source, except for a small number of geniuses, it was truly difficult to explore in this direction... And now, Joshua had organized these foundations for them, making their paths more solid, allowing them to see more clearly, and enabling them to go further in the future.
But this was not the end. Soon, Joshua extinguished the stars in the void. The world in his right hand began to grow, becoming distinct, while the shell of this newborn world simultaneously became transparent, allowing everyone to clearly see the violent evolution of heaven and earth within.
Everyone saw that, under Joshua's great power, this world that had just been created began to rapidly solidify and take shape, as if time were accelerating. They could also see with extreme clarity what effects the various transcendent powers had during the world's formation process, how gently they treated all things in the multiverse.
"Oh heavens... So that's it. Without the cycle of 'Aether,' our world's unique structure could never have produced a complete energy cycle, let alone give birth to stable order, earth, and life!"
"If the concentration of 'Arcane Power' were even slightly thinner, our race would be destined to remain mere beasts, forever unable to produce souls and wisdom... Not to mention if 'Arcane Power' didn't exist at all!"
"I simply cannot imagine—so 'Psionic Energy' is the source that gave birth to the 'Earth Mother Goddess.' Although it is now sleeping, without its careful nurturing back then, could we fragile beings have truly multiplied to this day?"
Elemental Force divided heaven and earth, Life Energy promoted growth. Many races and civilizations, in the mysterious evolution of the world in Joshua's palm, glimpsed a corner of their own world's origin. They understood their good fortune, comprehended the gifts of their predecessors, and finally knew how deeply transcendent power influenced all civilizations and intelligent life in this multiverse.
As for how many methods of using power they understood from those mysteries, how many profound techniques they grasped—those were minor matters.
In the hearts of those without power, gratitude filled them.
In the hearts of those with power, desire was born.
They began to wonder—wonder about the source of these powers, about what kind of heart the predecessors who created them possessed, that they would apply such great power to this multiverse with such goodwill. They began to desire, to desire to explore the truth, to explore why the names of these great beings had faded into darkness, remaining unknown until now.
And this was precisely the purpose of Joshua's sermon, what he wanted them to understand. He wanted to display truth and great love, to sow seeds of light in the dark multiverse.
Even if just a little, it was enough.
However, on the Mycroft Civilization side, there were slightly different discordant notes.
—Joy, delight, doubt, confusion.
Like other civilizations, the people of Mycroft Civilization watching the broadcast felt roughly these emotions. They were joyful and delighted because they could glimpse a corner of truth, yet also confused because they doubted whether this was real. But besides this, many people's hearts also gave birth to a faint bitterness.
Was it jealousy, or some unwillingness? Or perhaps a bit of indignation.
Joshua van Radcliffe was undoubtedly a Mycroftian. He was an expert of their civilization, and everyone felt proud of this. He had grown powerful enough to preach to all civilizations and life in the entire multiverse, just like the Sage of old who raised the pure white holy flame to illuminate the starry river heavenly path. How admirable was that... But why? It wasn't that they couldn't share this knowledge with other civilizations in the multiverse, but why couldn't he first explain it within Mycroft Civilization?
Why couldn't he teach them first, and then go preach to other civilizations?
This wasn't something particularly difficult. Mycroftians didn't insist on understanding everything themselves before opening up to other civilizations. As inheritors of Radiance, they had the magnanimity to believe that even if other civilizations mastered the same knowledge, they couldn't surpass them... But treating all civilizations in the multiverse so "fairly" was precisely "unfair" to Mycroft Civilization!
After all, at the end of the day, Count Radcliffe, the Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Force, that man named Joshua, was a Mycroftian expert, wasn't he?
But gradually, as the world in the warrior's palm evolved, the slight bitterness in most Mycroftians' hearts slowly disappeared.
—Because it was meaningless.
Faced with the truth that the God of Steel silently revealed to the world, all mundane emotions were meaningless.
They saw a world in Joshua's hands grow from tiny to enormous. Its mountains and continents, seas and skies were destroyed and created multiple times to display the various details of transcendent power. They saw stars condense from nebulae, forming galaxies one by one, then burning in explosions in turn, becoming white dwarfs and black holes, causing hot fluorescence to spread with stellar gas.
They saw "World" itself being kneaded and shaped by the God of Steel, sometimes becoming a continental world, sometimes a galactic world, and even transforming into a "Mountain World" composed entirely of solids, or a "Hollow World" with an empty core. Thousands upon thousands of common, extreme, bizarre, and magnificent worlds were generated and extinguished in a short time, like the most magnificent and vast poem.
Until finally, endless power silently performed, transforming into the world's most primitive runes manifesting in the world. Joshua spread his five fingers, opened his palm, and displayed the details of the world in his hand. It was a super continental world, a continent larger than a star floating on the Aether Sea. The sun of Holy Light and the moon of Shadow Essence alternated in rotation. Elemental Force and Arcane Power transformed into all winds, rains, and thunder, creating all things together with Life Energy.
And all the experts saw that in the center of that world, on the highest mountain range, a primordial world spirit was gestating. This soul, which could be called the ancestor of all things, gradually came into being with the cycle of the world's transcendent power, and finally condensed into form due to "Primordial Divine Power," becoming a "Primordial God" or "Original God" in the common sense.
"This is the origin of everything. The race of the Psionic Sage, the 'Founders,' discovered transcendent power by excavating the remains of the 'Primordial God,' creating the source of 'Psionic Energy.'"
Joshua withdrew his hand, but this vast super continental world, a medium-sized world by any measure, remained in place and even gradually drifted away into the void. The world's barrier also gradually became less transparent, beginning to shield the world from external contact, fulfilling its original function, becoming a normal world.
And in that world, there was a gentle, temperate world, and a "God" that had just awakened, born, and was hazily looking around the world.
Everything had just been born. Everything was slowly gestating. All hope was waiting to bloom. All futures were sailing into the distance.
—He had created a perfect living world, and even a flawless God.
"Creation God..."
"...Creator!"
"Forger of Worlds, Maker of Deities!"
"Father of Worlds, God Above Gods!"
Everyone who saw this scene woke from their shock. Only then did they realize what kind of great power Joshua had just displayed. After a moment of slight fear due to the excessively vast power gap, greater joy and reverence descended upon the hearts of most living beings. Although most experts were determined to catch up to Joshua's current realm, this didn't prevent them from feeling reverence for this power.
But Joshua didn't care about those praises, those honorific titles and revered names imposed upon him. The four-armed War God simply raised his hand again, conjuring a hazy star map before him.
"The Extreme Crisis brings destruction and death, fear and confusion. They will undoubtedly attract countless Evil Gods."
He said calmly, expounding on a reality that people were unwilling to face. "War, Imbalance, Plague, Famine... Eliminate one, and the next will come. Whether you call them 'World Devourers' or 'Final Darkness,' or any other name, they are coming, in the near future."
One could see on the bright star map that excessively vast darkness was descending. Countless dark cracks eroded relentlessly, cutting the magnificent light cluster into pieces.
"These dooms that chase after memes and eternity will ignore all differences in civilization, race, and even thought patterns among living beings, applying destruction equally to all life. I don't think for a moment that the civilizations of the multiverse can unite to confront them with collective strength. But I still warn you to prepare for the worst, because the war between Order and Chaos has arrived. Its prelude has been drawn."
Urgency rose in the hearts of all living beings. It was an instinctive threat, a hostility from the source of existence. They sensed the sorrow from the depths of that darkness, from the civilizations that had been destroyed, and the indifference of Chaos carrying finality and destruction.
"Become stronger. Become even stronger. You don't need to fight for Order, or for the multiverse. You only need to fight for yourselves, for your worlds, your civilizations, your own lives, and your descendants and offspring."
"But from this moment on, I will prohibit all 'civil war among Order races.' I don't care what hatred, resentment, unwillingness, or dissatisfaction you have with my orders. From today until the day the Evil Gods retreat, I will prohibit all meaningless battles. You can certainly question, curse, and pour out your reasonable or unreasonable reasons. But I don't care. I will directly suppress those who attempt to provoke conflict."
The four-armed God of Steel calmly stated his requirements. His tone carried neither threat nor arrogance. Joshua gazed at the void before him, as if simultaneously watching all civilizations in the entire multiverse, all life watching this sermon. The warrior's tone was flat: "I know this requirement is unreasonable, but the Evil Gods are even more unreasonable. I have just defeated Emperor Amos. So, if any of you think you are stronger than Emperor Amos, you can come challenge me, or point out my errors and debate with me."
"This is the only means. Beyond this, you can offer opinions. I will listen, but I won't change."
Silence spread throughout all civilizations in the entire multiverse that could see and hear this scene.
They hesitated, frowning. The extreme "arrogance" and "condescension" were coming from the distant reaches of spacetime. But they also understood that the "arrogance" and "condescension" were essentially an illusion. Joshua had never ignored them. In fact, this was essentially a challenge, a challenge from a single individual life to all experts in all civilizations of the entire multiverse.
But this didn't mean everyone was qualified to face this straightforward challenge.
After a long time, hearing no response, Joshua couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow. There was some confusion in his gaze.
—What's going on? Where are the people?
—Question me. Doubt me.
—I'm not the truth, not the real Sage. My sermon is just my personal understanding. It's definitely not the real truth... Isn't there anyone who doubts? My subsequent demands were so strong, yet they can't stir up your hearts to challenge? Can't ignite your anger and unwillingness?
He looked around the void in confusion, as if looking at all the civilizations that had been listening to his sermon. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to continue speaking.
Why believe so easily? Where are the doubters? Where are the questioners? No matter how ridiculous the question, how pale and weak, as long as there's doubt in the heart—then speak up and ask! Even if it's just because of displeasure, simple provocation, simple nitpicking, that would be a good thing. Because true truth fears no peering eyes. This is exactly what he needs!
Inheritance is not about force-feeding, believing whatever is said. That's called brainwashing! It requires questions and answers, doubts and explanations, challenges, denials, and verification. Don't just simply "listen"—try to "doubt"!
Joshua believed that in this multiverse, there were definitely those who understood a single transcendent power more deeply than he did.
He didn't think he had already grasped everything. Joshua believed that his sermon to all individuals in the multiverse was equivalent to all individuals in the multiverse preaching to him. In the warrior's conception, this should have been an exchange of exposition and questioning, of answers and verification. Under his strong declaration to all civilizations in the multiverse, this sermon would enter a grand and intense challenge phase, a long debate and argument. Truth would become clearer through mutual exposition and confirmation, becoming mutual nourishment.
Not like this sudden silence.
It shouldn't be like this.
The silence lasted a long time. The light of the Magic Tide carried pale dust, drifting like mist through the void, sweeping past billions upon billions of worlds.
Until even Joshua began to feel somewhat disappointed. Suddenly, from the distant reaches of spacetime, a voice sounded.
"I want to challenge you."
It was a rough voice, coming from the center of a star river. At the same time, a powerful aura crossed spacetime, causing the elements of all worlds to tremble. One could see an amorphous, illusory shadow condensing across spacetime, surging with surging power, carrying boldness and delight.
"I also want to challenge you."
"You made an error in your exposition of the Aether path just now—"
"Who do you think you are?!"
Following that came another voice.
And another, and another, and another.
"Good."
In an instant, one could only hear thousands upon thousands of challenges and questions, countless provocations and denials. But the warrior showed no anger. He gazed at the void, at the entire multiverse, as if meeting the gaze of all those challenging him. Then he revealed a sincere smile.
"Good."
He agreed, laughing happily.
Good.