Chapter 271 Beyond the Chessboard (Two in One)
Gu Fangchen finally understood the true meaning of this sixth ending.
In "Mirror in the Dust", up to the time he traveled through time, there were a total of six endings for the entire achievement.
[Eternal Imprisonment] is the worst ending. It requires all main quests to fail, enter the ending early, and the character dies directly.
Of course, all subsequent events have nothing to do with the players. It is a matter of "I don't care about the flood after I die".
[A Thought of Compassion] is the arrival of evil spirits. You need to complete the Jiuyou branch quest and cooperate with the "Extermination" operation to turn the world upside down and disrupt the order of yin and yang.
This "one thought of mercy" refers to the massacre of the entire family in the Galan Temple. This one thought left the evil spirits unchecked, leading to a catastrophe.
If you show a bit of mercy to evil spirits, all you get is rivers of blood on earth. It's pure mockery.
[Eternal Sky] Needless to say, it was all led by Xie Qian.
[People's hearts are in turmoil] is about fighting for supremacy.
【Demons Descend to Earth】is the Demon Sect line.
And [Six Dusts Return to the Truth] is to find the final hidden boss [Master Hengchang], end the cycle of dynasties, and establish a new order.
Among the six endings, the literal meanings of the other endings are easy to understand.
But only the last ending, relatively speaking, seems to be a witty remark, leaving a mystery.
The "Six Dusts" are all physical and mental sensations. [Six Dusts Return to Truth] means returning all physical and mental sensations to reality... right?
If this is a true ending, then this understanding is correct.
But Gu Fangchen already knew that this was also a fake ending!
The player who finally returns from the underworld, as a member of "Tan Yuan", as a member of the force serving [Master Hengchang], consolidating his rule, and helping him to establish new dynasties again and again in reincarnation, will once again become the container of "Hengchang".
"Tao" is eternal, and the player himself is also a part of "Heng Chang". How can he escape from reincarnation?
So, the answer is already on the surface of the riddle.
[Six Dusts Return to the Truth] is a false ending, and this method is of course also a false method.
The roles played by "players" have never transcended reincarnation, but have eventually become containers and puppets of "Heng Chang".
So, can Xiao Zhenwu, who has walked the same path and practiced the way of "Heng Chang" over and over again during these millions of years, be able to transcend?
Don’t forget that Xiao Zhenwu, the [Ancient Human Emperor], is also a “sage”!
There are many stars in the universe, and the furnace of heaven and earth has no Tao. The "Tao" in him has also been polluted!
Gu Fangchen remembered that there had been some speculations about the six endings in the game forum.
——Although no one had been able to get the sixth ending at the time, because the achievement had not been unlocked, players could guess that there was a final true ending, so some people gave many guesses about the sixth ending.
Among them, there was one guess that had caught Gu Fangchen's attention for a long time and seemed very reasonable to him.
That conjecture is called the "Six Paths Theory".
Its content is speculation, and the six endings actually correspond to the six realms of reincarnation.
[Being imprisoned forever] is the animal realm.
[A thought of compassion] is the Shura path.
[The same sky for all eternity] is the way of humanity.
[The human heart is in a state of great anxiety] is the realm of hungry ghosts.
[The demons descending to the mortal world] is the hell.
And the final ending corresponds to the way of heaven.
At that time, Gu Fangchen also liked this post and agreed with the author's opinion.
Now, Gu Fangchen already knows that the final ending is called [Six Dusts Return to Truth].
And he really saw the Way of Heaven, but at this moment, it should be called the Way of "Heaven".
These six endings are still within the six reincarnations and have never deviated, which also proves Gu Fangchen's idea.
[Six Dusts Return to the Truth] is a metaphor and also a clear indication.
The reincarnation controlled in the game is a small reincarnation.
Outside of the game, the six endings that players can see are the real cycle that keeps rolling forward without stopping.
After going through hardships, players who thought they had reached the end abandoned their original intentions and actually made wedding dresses for others and became containers of "Heng Chang".
Unknowingly, I stepped into the beginning of another great cycle of reincarnation!
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Xiao Zhenwu noticed that he had stopped and asked slowly, his expression remaining unchanged.
Gu Fangchen put down the [White Horse] in his hand, turned his head, looked at him, and said:
"Nothing, I just think you're really smart—'Master Hengchang'."
Xiao Zhenwu shook his head and sighed:
"Why are you saying that suddenly? Even though we don't have a father-son relationship, we are still father and son after all. Why do you have to disgust me with such a name?"
Gu Fangchen curled his lips:
"Disgusting? Not necessarily."
"If you truly wished for the Dao to no longer intrude upon this world, you would not have set traps for me along the way, deliberately leading me down the wrong path."
Xiao Zhenwu let out a long breath, put his hands behind his back, raised his head and looked at him, and said in a deep voice:
"Wrong path? Tell me where I went wrong."
"The matter has come to an end, and there is only one final step left. What on earth were you thinking? What misled you to have such thoughts?"
His tone gradually became serious and a little anxious, but soon he took a deep breath and calmed down again:
"I believe you can understand everything. Don't worry, there is still time. We can continue to talk."
Gu Fangchen made a sword flower, then sat cross-legged in mid-air, holding White Horse across his knees. He nodded and said:
"Okay, let's talk then."
He gestured forward with his hand.
Xiao Zhenwu stared at Gu Fangchen's expression closely, but Gu Fangchen's face was calm and he could not tell anything.
After a while, he walked forward and sat down.
"Okay, let's talk."
The two sat opposite each other high in the air, and all time and space seemed to suddenly freeze, waiting for their discussion to decide the end of the entire world.
Xiao Zhenwu asked directly:
"What makes you suddenly feel that I'm leading you down the wrong path?"
Gu Fangchen looked at him and said:
"Those causal lines are not deduced from me at all, because I am 'Infinite Void'. No causal techniques can predict my future."
This is a conclusion that comes from triple certification by the State Master, the "Six Star Gods" and the [Conch Book].
The future with Gu Fangchen involved will definitely be uncontrollable and unknowable.
Therefore, in the plot, Gu Fangchen can only be a cannon fodder who dies early and cannot have any influence on the subsequent plot.
"so."
Gu Fangchen said firmly:
"Those causal lines are all fake."
“Only in this way can I judge whether the things I experienced and the people I met after I actually participated were absolutely real.”
"Each of them must have been modified by you, more or less, to make you appear to be a villain on the surface, but in reality, like those self-sacrificing people, you are determined to fight against the Tao, so that I can trust you. What you want to hide is your true purpose."
Xiao Zhenwu smiled and said:
"What makes you so sure? This is just your guess."
Gu Fangchen said:
"I said, it's a game. All games need a protagonist."
"And the causal line you deduced was naturally based on your causal anchor point, creating a character as the person who experienced all of this."
"This person's identity is that he is a member of 'Tan Yuan' and one of your subordinates."
"If everything is true and credible."
"Then, at this moment, he should exist somewhere in this world."
"How about you let him appear in front of me right now, and I'll overturn all my previous inferences, admit that I was wrong, and continue to sever all causal relationships?"
Xiao Zhenwu's face twitched.
He seemed a little shaken and clenched his fists, as if he wanted to take action and prove to Gu Fangchen that all this was true.
But in the end, he just slumped his shoulders as if he was relieved.
Perhaps he could fabricate such a person right away.
However, Gu Fangchen is the bearer of both "truth" and "falsehood".
All falsehoods are visible in his eyes.
The smile that Xiao Zhenwu had been trying to maintain on his face gradually disappeared, and he said expressionlessly:
"I have nothing to say."
Gu Fangchen raised his eyes:
"Before, you said you were curious about what the future would look like in my eyes. Were you trying to test me?"
"Because from the moment these causal lines fell into my world, you lost control of them, and you had no way of knowing what they would become, or whether they would reveal your true colors."
"The answer, unfortunately, is yes."
Xiao Zhenwu sighed:
"This world is always unfair."
"The world you created must be far more wonderful than I imagined, beyond my comprehension. The flaws are definitely not within the causal lines I modified, but rather the discrepancies that appeared when these causal lines fell into your eyes and were supplemented by the rules of your world."
"Those changes are beyond my control."
The biggest factor that determines winning or losing is never on the chessboard.
Victory or defeat is determined outside the chessboard.
The causal line given by Xiao Zhenwu has been modified by him, so naturally there will be no problems.
Starting from the plot of the game itself, no matter how Gu Fangchen deduced, he could only deduce that the final boss, [Master Hengchang Dao], was actually using his own methods to fight against the "Tao" that was eroding the world.
Everything he did was to clear the pollution of "Tao" to the world.
But when Gu Fangchen jumped out of the game plot, saw the game itself, saw the cycle composed of the six endings, and saw the original protagonist who did not exist.
They also discovered the loopholes left by Xiao Zhenwu.
Gu Fangchen asked:
"Why?"
"Before that discussion, you truly intended to do what you said, to save the world from the gaze of the 'Tao'. But after that, you clearly found a way, but instead succumbed to the 'Tao' and became their puppet."
Xiao Zhenwu looked at him, suddenly laughed and said:
"It's too late... it's too late!"
He looked up at the sky and muttered to himself:
"If it were the ten thousandth year, I would have scoffed at the temptation of those silverfish."
"If it is the hundred thousandth year, I will still be steadfast and vow to persevere in the endless cycle of reincarnation, to find a way for everyone in this world to escape being devoured by the Dao Fire."
"If it's the millionth year, I still hope to find a way to redeem myself, even if it means sacrificing my life."
"But now, it is the 4,697,332nd year."
He remembered better than anyone else exactly which year it was since he discovered the truth and joined forces with Ning Caiyong to seal the entire "Honglu World".
He witnessed with his own eyes that there were fewer and fewer "enlightened people" and the change of countless dynasties.
He thought that as long as he eliminated the last "enlightened person", everything would stop, but by then, "constancy" had become the iron law of this world.
The "Tao" continued to increase, and Xiao Zhenwu was in a dilemma. He finally realized that he had stepped into a trap.
If he moves forward, "Heng Chang" will occupy the whole world. He has tried his best but in fact he is making wedding clothes for others.
If he retreats, once he dies and his Tao disappears, the "balance" will be broken, and then other "Tao" will come back and continue to invade this world.
Moreover, because of his constant suppression in the past, there are no practitioners in this world who can compete with "Tao".
Only then did Xiao Zhenwu realize that it was his decision that had led the entire world into a real dead end.
As he himself said, the long years can take a terrible toll on people, and even the strongest will can be tortured to madness.
Just when he was wavering and his mind was completely occupied by "Heng Chang", Ning Caiyong told him that she had found the two paths of "truth" and "falsehood".
As long as we can find a container to integrate the two and create a new world, everything will be solved.
"So, you pretend to still be determined to save the world, because you realize that this is an opportunity to truly eliminate the trouble forever and completely take over the entire world."
"The Heavenly Dao is your competitor, so you told her that if she waited a little longer, everything would be over, leading her to choose to seal herself."
"Or, it became sealed by you forcefully."
Gu Fangchen sneered:
"You tricked me into severing cause and effect, simply to shatter the vessel, master the two paths of 'truth' and 'falsehood', and seize the true foundation of this world."
Gu Fangchen is a container that should not exist, and is simultaneously in two worlds: the real world, and the fake world, within him.
When he left the false world, all his causes and effects had fallen into this real world.
After cutting off the cause and effect here, he will never return to the false world.
Because the false world will disappear with him.
To cut off cause and effect is tantamount to suicide!
"Therefore, I shouldn't sever cause and effect... but rather, I should bring cause and effect together!"
Gu Fangchen raised the [White Horse] in his hand and suddenly swiped it towards the sky behind him.
“Klang!”
It was as if an invisible shackle was cut off.
Countless strange sights appeared in the sky, day and night kept changing, stars flickered and faded, and as the sky and the earth were spinning, Gu Fangchen turned around and flew away.
But Xiao Zhenwu raised his hand and said:
"stop."
Then everything froze, and Gu Fangchen's movements also became still.
The "Balance" accumulated over millions of years was like the heaviest shackles, locking Gu Fangchen's existence.
But the next moment, the night came gently, covering Gu Fangchen's body like water, dragging him in and completely drowning him.
Gu Fangchen’s eyes went dark and he fell into a pitch-black space.
He blinked and was just wondering when he felt a pair of familiar, gentle hands gently caressing his cheeks from behind.
"Chen'er..."
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(End of this chapter)
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