Chapter 10: The Lonely Persistence
“However, the most pressing matter at hand should be to achieve the ‘Near-Saint’ realm.”
Having sorted through his inner thoughts, Joshua let out a light sigh… Sometimes, even if one discovers the truth, it is meaningless. Without sufficient power, what use is it to analyze the nature of the Evil Gods and malicious Chaos?
A person’s vital points are the brain and heart; striking the chin causes a concussion, poking the eyes destroys the visual organs, damaging the male lower body results in a catastrophic loss of combat ability… Everyone knows these things. But if the attacker is merely a dust mite, at most it will make someone sneeze or have an allergic reaction.
One must at least be a venomous wasp, a spider, to have the possibility of endangering the other’s life.
Regarding the path to the Near-Saint, Joshua had a very clear idea in his mind. The ‘Ultra-Single World’ mentioned by the Thunder Ancient Dragon was actually a possibility Joshua had seriously considered. He felt it truly was perfect for both offense and defense, and was a path favored by both the Psionic Sage and the Sage.
But how should he put it… Such an advancement lacks ‘breakthrough’. It merely follows the predecessors… To put it bluntly, it is the old path of pioneers who have already failed. No disrespect to the Sages is intended, but choosing this path would not create much of a variable. And as for the system of an inner world, when pushed to its extreme, wouldn’t it just be another Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate?
It was beaten to the point where its form and spirit were nearly annihilated, leaving only a wisp of its original First Flame to scatter, not knowing what new world it had transformed into. Therefore, unless there was truly no other way, Joshua would not choose this path.
In fact, regarding this matter, Joshua did not shut himself away to think alone. Before beginning his Path Declaration, he had already returned to the Mycroft World and communicated his problems with numerous Legendary experts, and even the Seven Gods. When the overall structure of the Ring World was completed, and only the remaining steps of adjusting the internal structure, detailed decoration, and construction based on the data from the Sanctuary World were left, he had private conversations with each of the Seven Gods individually.
“Although it is extremely not recommended, ‘becoming a True God’ would undoubtedly be able to directly push you into the ‘Near-Saint’ realm.”
This was a suggestion that wasn’t really a suggestion, put forth by the God of Protection, Yi Zhe. He shook his head at the time, using a tone that was clearly one of denial: “Divine Power can be mixed with any Transcendent Force. Becoming a god connects one to the Great Source, allowing one to gain additional power at any realm, except perhaps when breaking through to the Sage realm. But using this method is truly a bit shortsighted.”
“With other systems, pushing power to its limit might even allow for a breakthrough in the midst of battle, just like the Sage did back then against the Plenty Evil God. But with Divine Power, pushing it to its limit is nothing short of suicide. And it’s the kind where death is certain. This imperfect high-level system excels at suppressing the weak, surpassing all Transcendent Forces in that regard. But when it comes to extreme confrontation… tsk, it can’t be said to be weak, it can even be said to be very strong. But that is completely using the future as a one-time consumable.”
“Actually, simply devouring matter and expanding your thought array could also naturally lead you to become a Near-Saint.”
This was the suggestion of the God of Life. This god, tacitly acknowledged as the most talented and powerful among the Seven Gods, no longer seemed as turbulent beneath a calm surface as before. He spoke with genuine indifference: “If the path of the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate is a kind of ‘Absolute’, then instead of creating one’s own Absolute World, devouring the existing Multiverse and dominating all things should also be a path within the ‘Absolute’ system to advance to the Near-Saint, or even the Sage.”
But this opinion was also not highly recommended by the God of Life.
“However, how should I put it… Although I think letting you dominate this Multiverse might be a bit better than the mastermind behind the scenes, this simple method is actually the easiest to be guarded against. The mastermind, as an ancient existence, its power influences the entire Multiverse. Perhaps its head lurks within everything that already exists. The more you devour, the deeper you might be influenced. Who knows, in the future, when you try to advance to the Sage, you might be affected and directly suppressed.”
“Your Emotion Force is actually a very good starting point. With your current fame and influence in the Multiverse Star River, if you continue to spread and govern the Emotion Force—not by becoming the God of Emotion to dominate it, but using it like a creator uses their creations—achieving the Near-Saint would not be difficult. However, doing so would make it problematic if you wanted to switch to another path later.”
The God of Wisdom and Choice, Ze Ming, always thought about the impact of choices on the future. But choices are inherently difficult to have both ways, so he could only shake his head: “I can only say that we still have time now, and there’s no rush to advance immediately. Joshua, you are our… no, the hope of this Multiverse Star River, and even the ‘future’. We always hope you can make the perfect choice, but we are not forcing you to do anything.”
Joshua understood the gods’ concerns very well, and he also understood the possibilities behind their suggestions and the hidden dangers.
He had thought about all these aspects, and for now, he had no answers.
That was why he had come here, to the Genesis Maelstrom. He would accumulate power here, study the enemy, analyze the problem, and sublimate himself. He had to be comprehensive, consider all possibilities, and then make the choice that was ‘least wrong’ for the ‘present’ him.
“I must seek out the best tomorrow. Even if I fail, those who come after can continue to advance on the correct path.”
Having long prepared for such possibilities, the warrior never believed that the solution to the deadlock would be so simple. Thinking this, Joshua took a step. The God of Steel entered the Genesis Maelstrom. He transformed into a silver meteor, falling continuously against the surging tide of worlds, heading downwards.
And during this descent, amidst this cycle of life and death for all things, Joshua closed his eyes, preparing to execute the first ‘plan’ he had in mind.
At that very moment, throughout the entire Multiverse Star River, all beings using the ‘Magic Net and Psychic Terminal’ felt an unprecedented lag and stutter from the server… But soon, the server returned to normal, and even the inexplicable delay from before disappeared.
“What just happened?”
People, ignorant of the reason behind it, thought blankly.
And at this moment, Joshua had already packaged all the data related to the game ‘Continent of Strife’ that he was linked to, all the information, and channeled it into his thought array. He was also connected in real-time to the Psychic Terminals of all ‘Continent of Strife’ players across the Multiverse Star River. His computational power supported the entire Magic Net. At this moment, he was one with the Magic Net.
Then, around the God of Steel, the phantom images of one world after another began to appear. Tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. Utilizing the incredibly abundant resources of the surrounding Genesis Maelstrom—resources so plentiful they overflowed into the entire Star River—he triggered the genesis of countless worlds in an instant, and with his own power, completely controlled them in the palm of his hand.
And within these worlds, just as Joshua had demonstrated during his Path Declaration, brand new worlds began to be born, and races, indistinguishable from being virtual or real, were conceived and born within them.
What Joshua was doing was actually very simple.
He was merely taking the game ‘Continent of Strife’ and, using individual worlds, faithfully recreating it in reality. From the creation of spores to the subsequent evolution and development of civilizations, everything was accelerated. Everything was deduced under high-speed computation, using reality and worlds as the stage, simulated by the lives and souls Joshua himself created.
In other words, relying on ‘Continent of Strife’, Joshua used the simulated civilization data of billions of people from the Mycroft Civilization, plus the data from countless other races and lives across the Multiverse Star River who had played the game recently, as his foundation. He began to replicate ‘virtual possibilities’ into ‘real civilizations’ in reality, making them manifest within the Genesis Maelstrom!
And then… came destruction.
Expressionless, the silver world shone with radiance, and a faint, almost imperceptible trace of darkness was refined from within his body… That profound, deep gloom, the dim light like a nebula, was precisely a wisp of aura from an Evil God, the Chaos Evil God.
A wisp of aura deliberately left behind by Joshua during his battle with the Evil God. It contained various auras from different Evil Gods. For every Evil God imprisoned by the Ultimate Sublimation Aggregate, he had left behind a trace of its aura before destroying it.
And now, this wisp of aura was catalyzed, activated, and then sent into these ‘real virtual worlds’, inducing the seeds of destruction. One could see that under this artificially catalyzed Evil God power, the accelerated civilizations were mowed down like straw, extinguished like dry grass meeting fire, inducing various possibilities of destruction.
But how vast was the civilization information Joshua possessed? Not to mention, he could also imagine. His experimental materials were nearly inexhaustible. The warrior had plenty of patience to experiment (fight) with Chaos.
“Creating things artificially, inducing taboos like Evil Gods… A good person like the Sage wouldn’t do this, right? This kind of evil that requires ‘destruction’ to be nurtured, this material that requires ‘slaughter’ and ‘despair’ to be born, is completely incompatible with him.”
“But I will.”
Because, this is the kind of person I am. A guy who craves slaughter, destruction, death, and battle.
Creating virtual worlds, creating virtual Evil Gods. To analyze the essence of the enemy, Joshua chose to step into the role of the mastermind, the side of the Evil Gods, to experience what kind of existence and phenomenon the ‘Eternal Death’ truly was. In short, to seek the path ahead, to defeat the enemy, what the warrior was doing now was this kind of ‘evil’ deed.
One could see that although the destruction of virtual worlds, virtual races, and civilizations did not give birth to the anticipated virtual Evil Gods, Joshua did not mind. The beginning of an experiment is always difficult. A temporary failure proves nothing. Rather, if it succeeded immediately, that would be the strange thing.
So the next experiment began again. This was destined to be a long-lasting battle, an incredibly lengthy process. During this time, how much matter, how many worlds, how many civilizations and races, and how many intelligent lives would be consumed?
“What difference is there between me doing this and Emperor Amos, who played the ‘Civilization Game’, treating the entire lives of the Amos people, all their blood and tears, love and hate, as mere playthings? What difference is there between me and Fatlervi, who toyed with possibilities, turned worlds over and over, using the lives and souls of others as raw materials to pick and choose the ‘past’ he desired?”
In truth, no difference is needed. The arrogance of the strong is like flowers of similar colors, gems of similar hues—different, yet alike.
Even if it is evil, he will do it. Even if no one understands, he will do it. Even if the cost is a self-imposed sealing within the Genesis Maelstrom, far away from all familiar people, all familiar things, endlessly destroying and creating, treating all things as playthings, Joshua would still do it.
Destruction… and salvation.
Ah, is this how the relative divinity of the gods came to be?
Within the vast, nearly infinite threads of thought, a single droplet of thought splashed up, letting out a sigh.
This contradiction, this relativity, this battle with oneself… Such arrogance is the root of their ability to withstand the erosion of the Great Source, isn’t it?
[To seek the future, he continues the battle. The lonely Steel persists within the Maelstrom.]
[To save the unknowing masses, with unceasing destruction, comes unceasing salvation.]
Since that is the case, he will not stop. The warrior will never stop. The enemy always exists, right ahead, within the ‘future’ that is within reach.
Therefore, he must take a step, without hesitation.
Because if he does not take a step…
Even this unnecessary apology would cease to exist.