Chapter 535 The Human Reasoning Continuation Plan (Part 2)

"Thought."

Liu Ju's clear voice rang in everyone's ears.

"Excellent!" Xiao Ji's eyes shone brightly, and his clapping and laughing gesture was exactly the same as Liu Che's usual demeanor. Even his voice was tinged with a hint of imperceptible pride. "Ju'er truly deserves to be the chosen successor of destiny that I have selected!"

He poured out countless starlight from his sleeves, which transformed into radiant words, weaving a breathtaking panorama of thought in the air.

The warm golden light condensed into the two characters "仁" (ren, benevolence) and "礼" (li, propriety). These two characters, as if possessing life, slowly flew into the ancient bamboo slips of the Analects. The bamboo slips emitted a soft light, and phrases such as "Governing with virtue is like the North Star" and "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you" appeared faintly, as if Confucius was standing on the Apricot Altar, explaining the way of benevolent governance to his disciples.

A flowing blue light transformed into the characters "Tao" and "Nature," gently merging into the yellowed silk scroll of the *Tao Te Ching*. The scroll instantly illuminated, with phrases like "The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things" and "Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish" appearing and disappearing in the blue light. In a trance, the figure of Lao Tzu riding a blue ox out of Hangu Pass seemed to emerge in the halo, revealing the profound mystery of governing through non-action.

A sharp purple light burst forth, and the three characters "law," "technique," and "power" surged into the dark bamboo slips of the Han Feizi like thunder. The slips trembled violently, emitting a dazzling purple light. Words such as "The law does not favor the noble, and the rope does not bend" and "When the world changes, things change; when things change, preparations must change" flickered within, as if a stern Legalist strategist was speaking eloquently in the court, expounding his strategy for ruling the world by law.

More and more starlight continued to surge, and the Mohist school's universal love and non-aggression, the military school's ingenious strategies, and the strategists' art of diplomacy... all transformed into magnificent words and merged into their corresponding classics.

Countless pages fluttered and danced in the starry sky, the light of the words reflecting each other, forming a dazzling galaxy of thought, illuminating the entire tower as if it were a fairyland, fully demonstrating the profundity and brilliance of the thoughts of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

"It is thought that has freed mankind from ignorance, from drilling wood to make fire to writing books, from slash-and-burn agriculture to roaming the world—the Hundred Schools of Thought are a collection of all kinds of ideas in this world. The prosperity of the Hundred Schools of Thought is the prosperity of thought, and also the prosperity of dynasties!"

As Xiao Ji spoke, he suddenly waved his sleeve, and the ancient books in the air exploded with a bang, with starlight falling like rain.

A sense of melancholy arose in everyone, and they couldn't help but reach out to catch the falling starlight, as if they could catch the thoughts of a hundred schools of thought.

"The Hundred Schools of Thought made my emergence possible, and my emergence has been an effort to maintain the transmission of the Hundred Schools of Thought."

After Xiao Ji's passionate narration, Liu Che understood the relationship between Him and the various schools of thought. He remained silent for a while, then asked, "What about the chaotic era? What does it have to do with the chaotic era?"

This question had been lingering in his mind for many years, and now he couldn't help but voice it.

As if triggered by some keyword, Xiao Ji instantly quieted down, and the stars around him stopped moving.

Everyone in the tower held their breath, their hearts pounding, as if they were about to hear some earth-shattering secret.

The stars surrounding Xiao Ji slowly transformed into a gentle silver glow, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Your Majesty, before I appeared—" He traced a line through the air with his fingertips, and the phantom images of the Qin Palace and the Weiyang Palace overlapped in the starry sky, "How does the Han Dynasty compare to Qin? And how do you compare to the Qin Emperor?"

Liu Che straightened his back and declared loudly, "The First Emperor swept across the land, and I too have expanded our territory. The Han Dynasty has never been weaker than Qin!"

The students behind him roared in response, their voices shaking the starlight within the tower, "The majesty of the Han Dynasty is unprecedented!"

"What ambition!" Xiao Ji clapped his hands crisply, like tearing silk, but the smile on his face grew increasingly desolate. "The Qin dynasty's glory lasted no more than two generations before its demise." He flicked a stream of light from his sleeve, and a historical scroll unfolded before everyone's eyes: the fall of Shang Tang, the eastward relocation of the Zhou dynasty, the fall of Xianyang... "And how long can the Han dynasty last?"

Liu Che's pupils contracted sharply, his throat bobbed, and he said in a deep voice, "What do you want to say?"

Before he finished speaking, the temperature inside the tower plummeted again, and countless shattered phantoms of dynasties appeared behind Xiao Ji. The bronze tripods of the Shang Dynasty, the chime bells of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the halberds of the Qin Dynasty all crumbled into dust.

“Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, powerful Qin, prosperous Han,” Xiao Ji raised his hand to catch the dust of history drifting in the air, and a dim star map appeared in his palm. “It looks like dynasties have changed, but in reality they are trapped in the same cycle.”

His gaze toward Liu Che was filled with sorrow and abyss. "Dynasties may seem different, but they are all the same. Why, by what right did I come into being in the Han Dynasty?"

Amidst the bewildered and confused gazes of the crowd, Xiao Ji continued, "Because this world has reached its end, the Han Dynasty will come to an end, and there will be no new ideas or civilizations."

Xiao Ji spread his hands, the lines on his palms transforming into a flickering candle flame, "And I am the last hope for this world to save itself..."

Liu Che staggered half a step, and heard the gasps of the students rising and falling in his ears.

The splendor of Weiyang Palace, the camel bells of the Hexi Corridor, and the resounding sounds of students reciting their lessons in the academy—all vanished in Xiao Ji's words. He murmured, "The Han Dynasty ends here..."

A silent sorrow descended upon the crowd, and in the stillness, Liu Ju's voice boomed like thunder.

"Is this a lie?"

Liu Ju looked up at Xiao Ji and said, "If the Han Dynasty is to perish, why did you go to such lengths to build the Jixia Academy? Didn't you appear for the sake of preserving the Hundred Schools of Thought?"

Upon hearing this, everyone raised their heads thoughtfully. Indeed, if there was truly no way to retreat, then what was the meaning of the Great Han's consciousness?

Thinking about it this way, there's still hope for the Han people! There's still hope for them!

Seeing the crowd regain their spirits because of Liu Ju's words, Xiao Ji smiled and said, "You're right. I came for the sake of the inheritance of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and also for the sake of the Han Dynasty."

"The world recognizes the dominant position of human beings and what it recognizes is human thought. Therefore, the world's final self-salvation is to give everyone the opportunity to save themselves through the flourishing of a hundred schools of thought."

Liu Che recalled the initial notification from the system, "The Human Order Continuation Plan?"

“Yes, the continuation of human reason is of paramount importance in preserving the brilliance of human thought. This also means,” Xiao Ji’s gaze swept over the crowd, tinged with reluctance, “that if you are unable to save yourselves, if necessary, I can simply record the thoughts of the Hundred Schools of Thought and abandon humanity…”