Chapter 867: Divinity
"Logically speaking, your thinking is correct." Bai Yang nodded at me. "The reason we two can stand here conversing, looking into each other's eyes and listening to each other's thoughts, is that all of this is predicated on us believing we are human."
"So... we are human... therefore we have shackles?" I asked.
"We are 'human,' which inherently limits our ceiling. We believe we will die from lack of oxygen, die from hunger, die from injury. Many common ways of dying in games actually can't kill us. In the end, it's always us killing ourselves," Bai Yang said. "Even if we push our subconscious to its extreme, it relies on using thought to control the subconscious. And thought and the subconscious are precisely what mark us as human."
"It's a bit abstract, but I barely understand..." I nodded. "Brother Yang, are you saying... that if you want to obtain the strongest 'Resonance,' you can't rely on controlling your 'subconscious' from the very beginning? We have to forget that we're human?"
"Yes, communicating with you is truly smooth." Bai Yang showed a rare look of approval, then continued. "These so-called 'divine powers' are things they bestowed upon us..."
Bai Yang pointed a finger at the sky and continued, "Can a beggar use the money a rich man gives him as charity to buy the rich man's estate?"
I nodded, but my expression remained grim: "But there's still one thing I don't quite understand."
"What?"
"'Human' is already the most intelligent lifeform we know of. If we don't regard ourselves as human... wouldn't that just turn us into beasts without reason?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Yang said, "That's why I said earlier, 'Logically speaking, your thinking is correct.' Unfortunately, in 'The End,' this concept needs to be revised... There truly exist beings here that surpass 'humanity.'"
I was stunned upon hearing this, and my lips trembled slightly.
Bai Yang continued pointing at the sky and asked, "Why do you think they are so strong? Do they consider themselves 'human'?"
I understood...
To become the most powerful 'Resonator' here, to become a being that can transcend everything, it was never about relying on your subconscious from the very beginning.
Although 'controlling the subconscious' and 'not seeing yourself as human' seem similar, they are fundamentally wrong from the starting point.
The reason 'Heavenly Dragon' is so powerful is not because his subconscious is strong enough, nor because he is crazy enough, but because he knows he is not human.
He believed from the very beginning that he could do things humans cannot.
And when we activate our transcendent abilities, we always remember in our hearts that we are human.
What a deeply hidden paradox this is...?
It's like a stock investor trying to get rich by trading stocks.
Stock trading itself is a paradox. To know whether a stock will rise, you need to understand business operations, economic laws, market trends, and international directions to accurately judge if a stock will go up.
But if a person could simultaneously understand all this theoretical knowledge, they wouldn't need to rely on stock trading to make money. If they fully understood the laws of business operations, the value of doing just about any business venture would far exceed the profits from stock trading.
This is the fundamental logical difference that exists from the very start.
"So you've already figured it out..." I murmured softly to myself. "Relying on 'controlling the subconscious' to become strong... is precisely what ordinary people do."
"Yes, ordinary people rely on constantly controlling their subconscious to become strong, but eventually, they will go completely insane," Bai Yang said. "They haven't analyzed why those above them are so powerful. Although those above also seem crazy... it's not the madness of losing reason, but the madness of a human being able to converse with an ant."
"So you're going to..."
"I am going to forget that I am human," Bai Yang replied. "Consider myself something else."
He looked up at the sky with an indifferent gaze: "At least something similar to them. That way, where my heart desires, my body can go; I will be omnipotent."
Hearing these words, I felt the same as before.
This path is simply too difficult.
"Then how do you plan to do it...?" I asked again.
"That brings me back to the question I asked you earlier..." Bai Yang said. "I've flipped through so many books and still haven't found a suitable motive."
He looked at me with a slightly helpless expression: "These things aren't even written in books... How can a person, knowing full well there's no way out of here, still be hell-bent on escaping?"
I understood the feeling Bai Yang was describing.
It's a motive that defies common sense, like a beggar knowing the impossible yet still striving with all his heart to become the world's richest man.
For such a person, the simple motivation of 'wanting money' is completely insufficient.
But before voicing this thought, I first needed to confirm whether Bai Yang was the same kind of person as me.
"Brother Yang, do you love yourself?" I asked.
"Love myself...?" He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "I suppose not. In the past, it seems I've always been running around and risking my life for others."
"Excellent. You and I are not the same kind of person," I said. "Then escape for the sake of others."
"For the sake of others? Ha..." Bai Yang sounded as if he had heard something extremely ridiculous, then shook his head. "I've been alone and miserable since childhood. Now you're telling me to escape for someone else...?"
"Alone and miserable since childhood...?"
"Do you know why I've always been running around and risking my life for others?" Bai Yang asked again.
"No," I answered directly. "For me, no one in this world is more important than myself. I only love myself, and I would never take any risks for anyone else."
"Then I guess we just chose different paths," Bai Yang said. "After coming here, I found that not everyone deserves to go to hell, and not everyone deserves this damnable cycle. I can't bear to see good people suffering and struggling here, nor can I bear to see evil people committing evil for eternity here. So I intend to liberate these people by my own strength."
From this moment on, I seemed to see a divine quality of humanity in Bai Yang.
It was a transcendent, ultimate, and beautiful spiritual value rooted deep within his heart.
I began to understand the 'karma' that Jiang Ruoxue insisted on. Perhaps it was because Bai Yang was this kind of person that I chose to help him.
"Brother Yang, in that case... is there someone you love?" I asked.
"Someone I love...?" He looked at me, as if he didn't immediately grasp the meaning of those four words.
"Yes, Brother Yang," I nodded. "Is there a person in this world... who has endured hardship for you, suffered on your behalf, and is your sole thought and longing in this life?"
The atmosphere fell silent for a full ten-odd seconds.
"Unfortunately..." Bai Yang looked at me gloomily. "This exceeds the scope of my knowledge."