Chapter 374

Obstacle of Knowledge and View.

Ji Jue fell into deep thought, confused and unable to speak.

"Seems to be a religious term from before the Chaos Era?"

Ji Jue's history was not very good: "According to my understanding, it should mean—the more you know, the more confused you become, making it difficult to reach the essence of things?"

"Indeed, understanding it that way is not wrong, but what I am referring to is something entirely different."

Ye Xian weighed the disc in her hand and tossed it casually onto the table, "Seventy years after the destruction of the Eternal Empire, in the early days of the establishment of the Federation and the Empire, when all parties were fighting to the death, under the coordination of the first generation of Heaven-Overseer and Earth-Governor, they rarely joined forces to complete a revision that covered the entire world.

Many Heart-Pivot and Ether-type Heaven-Humans participated in it, using many works such as texts, stories, music, and paintings as carriers, and after consuming many blessings, they constructed a meme that circulates in all surviving souls, adding an insignificant corner to the complex subconscious.

Calling it a virus or a vaccine doesn't matter; its name is called the 'Obstacle of Knowledge and View,' erecting a barrier before what the human heart sees and knows."

"Just this?"

Ji Jue subconsciously looked down at the disc, shocked and speechless.

He was not shocked by such a strange existence, but equally horrified that his own vision was so short-sighted—why did it look like a disc no matter how he looked at it, and he couldn't see anything strange about it?

Ye Xian glanced at him as if looking at a fool.

"The Obstacle of Knowledge and View has been completed for over four hundred years; in four hundred years, its power has circulated and been inherited through who knows how many works, words, music, and even spiritual qualities and genes, and it has long since been ubiquitous.

You must know that the suggestions of the Heart-Pivot can even be transmitted through the pauses in tone, and the revisions of the Ether can even create something out of nothing; how could it be so small?

This disc is just a catalyst used to temporarily strengthen the effect."

She paused and suddenly asked: "Surely, as a Chosen who 'awakened autonomously' as an ordinary person, you have also experienced it before, right?"

Ji Jue understood: "You mean, the isolation between the Chosen and ordinary people?"

Before the Chosen summons, Ji Jue had never thought that he could one day become a Chosen, and he had rarely even heard of any similar news.

But after pushing open that door, everything strange and bizarre in the world of the Chosen quickly rushed toward him.

Even now, he had not yet adapted to this change.

But looking back, he felt it was strange—the Chosen and ordinary people clearly lived in the same world, and the connections between them were intertwined, but at the same time, they were clearly separated.

This is the so-called Obstacle of Knowledge and View.

Formless and imageless, it is like a wall, dividing the two worlds in two.

Even if this wall is not airtight, and one could even open a gap by kicking it twice with force.

But this suggestion, which acts on the lowest level of ordinary people's consciousness, makes them subconsciously avoid these things, and even, unknowingly, take them for granted.

Even if they know some corners, they will subconsciously ignore them.

"Is this to prevent the Chosen from disturbing the present world?"

Ji Jue was puzzled: "But is it really necessary?"

In the world inside the city, the Anquan Bureau maintains stability, so naturally, there won't be any problems.

But in the chaotic wilderness outside the city, where is there any order or rules to speak of? Not to mention, this is within the Federation, on the thousands of independent islands on the Endless Sea?

Not to mention the war that never ends in the Central Plains today... the existence of the Chosen is simply not a secret.

Moreover, how could unilaterally restraining the cognition of ordinary people stop the wanton behavior of the Chosen?

"That is, of course, because that is not the point."

Ye Xian sighed mockingly, "The isolation and stability between the Chosen and ordinary people are just one of its incidental effects. Its true point is not to hide the existence of the Chosen, but something more fundamental..."

At that moment, the falling of the sand in the hourglass suddenly accelerated, and the ticking sound became frequent, so harsh, as if it wanted to cover up her words.

In this "secret room" outside the induction of the Obstacle of Knowledge and View, Ye Xian said slowly:

"—Do not let the Supreme Good and the Great Sin be easily known to the world!"

Pop!

At that moment, one-third of the sand in the hourglass suddenly disappeared, consumed without a trace.

In his shock, Ji Jue finally realized the truth.

This is the true Obstacle of Knowledge and View.

Hiding the existence of the Supreme Good and the Great Sin, erecting invisible high walls and barriers, covering the entire world, isolating the induction between souls and the mortal world, thereby maintaining the stability of the present world to the greatest extent.

Even though there are still countless ways to bypass its existence, the obstacles and walls always exist, obscuring the firmament and the abyss.

From then on, neither the Supreme Good nor the Great Sin can be seen.

"Being able to master the essence of Chunjun shows that your understanding of the Ether Dao has already entered the hall; you should understand the importance of 'Knowledge,' 'View,' and 'Name'."

Ye Xian said slowly: "But what is seen can be known, and what is known can be sensed—the moment any intellect and soul appears to have perception, all that remains is the distance."

Metamorphosis is the nature of all intelligence, so how can it be blocked?

Sometimes, ignorance and lack of perception are actually a good thing.

Instead, it is like an antibody, creating isolation between ordinary people and the Great Sin.

You must know that both the Supreme Good and the Great Sin possess power...

But if ordinary people knew, how would they choose?

Even without the Supreme Good and the Great Sin, there are so many people who get rich overnight, and people in high positions are never rare, so why are villains who wallow in luxury and act recklessly common, while good people who build bridges and pave roads to benefit the world are so few?

Not to mention the Chosen, are the Heaven-Humans all incarnations of virtue?

Heroes like Tao Gong who spared nothing of themselves are ultimately in the minority.

It is not hard to imagine that once the existence of the Supreme Good and Great Sin can be felt by everyone... at that time, which side would have more people, those turning to the Supreme Good or those embracing the Great Sin?

To achieve something, time, opportunity, resources, investment, and even determination are all necessary, but if one wants to destroy, it is too simple.

Behind metamorphosis is the abyss; falling is far simpler than rising.

There are simply too many people who are at the end of their rope, full of resentment, or frustrated and unappreciated.

If they don't have a game experience...

Then, others shouldn't have one either!

It is foreseeable that if the existence of the Great Sin were known to everyone, then in a few years, the ones sitting in the Central City holding meetings would probably be the Sin-Tainted Cult.

At that time, what is right?

And what is evil?

Ji Jue thought silently for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask: "But cutting off the Great Sin is one thing, why shield the Supreme Good as well?"

Could it be that it's really just like that old bastard Lord Tianlu hinted to me?

The Supreme Good and the Great Sin...

"..."

Ye Xian was silent for a moment, looking at him, as if she vaguely understood the guess he hadn't spoken, but she neither confirmed nor denied it.

She just smiled mockingly: "In today's world, aren't there more disasters caused by the Supreme Good?"

Ji Jue was speechless, but he wanted to say something and stopped.

"I understand."

Ye Xian sighed, as if she had suddenly found the blind spot in Ji Jue's cognition and saw the root of the problem: "You are still too young."

"What does this have to do with being young?" Ji Jue was puzzled.

"It has nothing to do with being young, but it has to do with age; because your years are too shallow, you will habitually take everything you are familiar with for granted. Just like you can't feel that there is anything wrong with the supermarket welcome sound effects and songs on this disc, because you are already accustomed to them."

Ye Xian suddenly asked: "What does seawater taste like?"

"Uh..."

Ji Jue was stunned, and after thinking for a moment, he answered: "Salty?"

"But what if I tell you that seawater was originally fresh?"

Ye Xian sighed: "At the end of the Chaos Era, in the early days of the establishment of the Eternal Empire, someone beheaded a great snake in the sea; the snake died but its body remained stiff, repeatedly setting off tidal waves, until the snake's corpse was cursed and turned into salt, and so, from then on, all four seas became salty."

In the silence, Ji Jue wanted to speak but stopped, unable to believe it.

Teacher, are you really not bluffing me?

But before he could reply, Ye Xian asked again: "What color is fire?"

"This... generally speaking, it should be red, right? Yellow and cyan also exist?"

Ji Jue naturally had no problem answering such physics questions; he could even discuss the relationship between flame temperature changes and color in detail.

"What if I tell you that flames were originally pure white?"

"Ah?" Ji Jue was stunned again.

"In the early stages of the Chaos Era, the 'Fire Thief' among the kings intended to monopolize the embers, so he searched the world for fire seeds, and the world was plunged into a long night for fifty-one years.

The final result was that the Fire Thief played with fire and burned himself.

From then on, the color of fire is red, because there is blood in it."

"One hundred and ten years after the Fire Thief burned in the fire, the Weaver among the kings intended to incorporate the entire world into his own script and control, thereby transcending destiny.

In the end, he could not bear the heavy pressure of the world's fate and spun a cocoon around himself..."

"This is the origin of the two idioms 'playing with fire and burning oneself' and 'spinning a cocoon around oneself,' both coming from the deaths of two Chaos Kings, heh.

At that time, the Great Sin had not yet formed; wasn't everything that led to this caused by the Supreme Good?

On the first day of your initiation, I remember Ah Chun told you that the Supreme Good never wavers because of human likes and dislikes, right?"

Ye Xian blew on the steam rising from her cup, unable to hide her mockery: "Not to mention the last emperor of the Eternal Empire, who exhausted the country's strength, wanting to use the Yaoyuan to hold the Supreme Good hostage, his ambition and madness...

But what did the earlier world look like?

Have you ever seen it?

Haizhou is just a corner of the Federation; when you went out for the Wilderness Rally, did you think you had seen the whole Federation? Not to mention the countless islands on the Endless Sea outside the Federation, the nineteen cities in the underground and sky of the Empire, and even the Central Plains...

This is the reason I want you to go out.

Sitting in the workshop, even if you are lucky enough to become a master, you are just a frog in a well.

If you ask me, your current idea of taking everything for granted is the greatest arrogance!

Even looking at history as a whole, everything you are accustomed to is just a reflection of flowers in a mirror, a dream bubble, a flash in the pan in four hundred years of hard-won stability.

Who can guarantee that one day, after the sky collapses and the earth cracks, this common sense will still be able to continue?"

"You have only taken a few steps on the path belonging to an artisan, yet you want to peek at the scenery of the peak; for you, it is too early.

And it is too ambitious."

Ye Xian shook her head and finally sighed: "Keep moving forward, Ji Jue, there are still long, rugged roads and scenery waiting for you."

In the silence, Ji Jue finally let out a long breath.

He lowered his head.

He felt a long-lost sense of frustration and regret.

For some reason, he felt a little lighter, relieved—or perhaps, under the teacher's head-on blow, he realized his own insignificance and cast aside the bit of arrogance and self-satisfaction that had existed in his heart.

It is nothing more than a long road; since he has already stepped onto the starting point, the future is naturally something to look forward to.

However, associating it with the hints and words of the old bastard Lord Tianlu before, and now seeing the "Obstacle of Knowledge and View" appear before him in the form of a small disc, his thoughts could not help but surge.

Is this the 【Lock】?

No, not just that, right? But it should be considered part of the lock...

Lock.

"But what is the lock?"

Amidst his scattered thoughts, Ji Jue spoke to himself, whispering softly.

The moment he heard the confused whisper, Ye Xian's expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously stood up.

Immediately after, Ji Jue felt it—at this moment, within the domain of the hourglass, the moment his words were spoken, it was as if the meaning of the void also changed slightly, and following his consciousness, it vaguely pointed to some behemoth.

It was as if he had some insight.

And that magnificent, vast, and surging grand rhythm was reflected in his consciousness in an instant, and a violent tremor rose from the void, rolling toward him!

Bang!

Before Ji Jue could even react, his thoughts were suddenly cut off, his eyes went dark, and he only heard a series of hissing sounds as if chemical agents were reacting.

In the hourglass, the light boiled, rolling continuously, trembling violently.

Cracks quickly appeared on the container and body of the hourglass, as if it would explode completely in the next moment.

Fortunately, Ye Xian reacted in time, took over, and then forcibly suppressed it; she heard a crackling sound in the study, and ancient scrolls shattered one after another, turning into dust.

The sand inside the hourglass also evaporated by more than half in an instant, with little left, but even what remained was rapidly dissipating...

From beginning to end, that magnificent object that Ji Jue had not been able to fully perceive did not even notice this tiny peeking, and there was no reaction at all.

What had nearly swallowed him whole was just the residual tremor naturally generated during its operation!

However, what made Ji Jue's hair stand on end even more than that... was Ye Xian's expression.

Furious and annoyed.

Looking down at the few remaining crystals of silence in the hourglass, how could she not understand what had just happened?

If she hadn't been cautious enough and habitually taken out the Hourglass of Silence when discussing secrets, the shielding and hiding of the lock within the Obstacle of Knowledge and View would have almost been disturbed!

At this moment, she raised her head expressionlessly and looked toward Ji Jue.

Ji Jue, feeling that he had poked some hornet's nest, subconsciously shrank his head, gave a flattering smile, and remained silent as a cicada in winter.

But that gaze was not directed at Ji Jue, but toward some dog who, after secretly digging a pit for her on her grand-apprentice, held back laughter and walked away...

Hmm, I'm really looking forward to it; what kind of expression will she have when she receives this gift?

It must be very interesting, right?

"I should have followed Jianyuan to stab him twice back then..."

After a long while, Ye Xian squeezed the sound out from between her teeth: "Why hasn't that old bastard died yet?"

In the end, it's just that Jianyuan is incompetent!

But it doesn't matter, my sword is not necessarily blunt!