Chapter 2016: Perfect Fifth Stage

Lin An was stunned.

When Number 77 suddenly spoke some heartfelt words, he actually felt a bit at a loss.

He could feel that Big Eye seemed to have thought of something, and his emotions couldn't help but fluctuate a bit.

(Repeating past mistakes? What did Big Eye do wrong before? So he...)

Quickly regaining composure, Number 77 merely paused briefly before speaking again.

"Lin An, a person's future potential is actually determined the moment they reach the Fourth Stage, and upon advancing to the Fifth Stage it becomes completely fixed!"

"That's why I'm pressing you to become Fifth Stage. Only by laying a solid foundation, only by having the greatest possibility before reaching Fifth Stage, can you go further in the future."

Lin An nodded after hearing that, and he could understand this point.

But he didn't understand why it couldn't be made up midway; in his view, isn't the path to strength just correcting mistakes and filling in gaps along the way?

Moreover..

(Isn't the Savior's path just this road? An alternative way of filling in..)

At a glance he saw what Lin An was thinking; Number 77 shook his head and said firmly:

It cannot be made up.

I know this is hard to understand and goes against logic, but I'll give you an example and you'll see.

I once saw a civilization whose power system appeared to be elemental rules, but in fact it wasn't rules—it was luck.

Luck?

Lin An raised his eyebrows, and the next second he saw Number 77 suddenly throw out a crimson crystal.

Exactly, it's luck—a kind of conceptual power, perhaps. Of course, what it is no longer matters.

Their civilization existed in a thunder world, with abundant thunder elements in the sky that often fell randomly, and their way of fighting was to chant spells and summon thunder to attack enemies.

After much experience, they summed up a complete cultivation system, even having spell incantations and techniques.

During battle they would form hand seals, and after the spell ended, thunder would fall.

This seemed fine, and they firmly believed those incantations and so-called realms determined their strength levels.

But in fact, when a group of Fifth Stage elemental cultivators entered there, that group was astonished to discover these people had absolutely no spiritual energy, not even mental power.

It's all fake.

After extensive testing, this group of Fifth Stage cultivators drew an extremely absurd, even laughable conclusion.

Those so-called thunder wielders, even if they were the strongest of their civilization, were merely ordinary people. The so-called hand seals and chants were just that, after they finished casting, thunder happened to fall and just happened to strike down the enemy.

It's just that coincidences in that thunder world were too many—so many they came to regard them as a law, a rule.

Hearing this, Lin An's eyes narrowed and he couldn't help but blurt out:

Like chickens in a chicken farm?

They took something that wasn't a regularity and treated it as a regularity?

Seeing Lin An instantly grasp his meaning, Number 77 smiled and nodded.

Exactly, they thought they had figured out their own power system and used it to reason out much cognition, but in reality it was merely coincidence.

After learning the truth, their civilization's strongest repeatedly tried to summon thunder in the outside world, failing each time, eventually going completely mad and choosing suicide.

Although extreme, behind this actually lies an unsettling truth.

That is, the rules we firmly believe in, the cognitions we hold, might be just like that—like a Fifth Stage observing their star system's sun, deducing a set of energy rules, and firmly believing that, in the end, they would surely obtain endless energy like that star. Then one day the sun ran away. The way they observed the sun's motion was merely a 'heater' of some higher civilization.

Do you think he would go mad? Would his cognition collapse?

Saying this, Number 77 let out a sigh.

Lin An, the stronger an existence, the firmer its belief in its own cognition. But our cognition is probably wrong most of the time.

This is a near‑unsolvable dead end.

If we don't trust our own cognition, how can we reason about what comes next? Without a way forward, how can we grow stronger? Especially since we struggle to judge which part is right and which wrong—everything might just be local coincidence.

All we can do is constantly remind ourselves never to believe in so‑called truth, and to accept any path as much as possible, otherwise the day of cognitive collapse will surely come.

And this is the greatest value of the Skull Mission. Having experienced the Skull, this will be like a seed buried in your heart, so you will always remember it.

The words fell, and Lin An couldn't help but recall Number 77's first extremely solemn admonition to him.

(Lin An, never trust anyone, including me!)

So that's how it is...

Once one believes in the existence of truth and thinks they have glimpsed the ultimate, they will only die miserably.

Truth is unknowable; what is knowable is certainly not truth...

In the brief silence, Lin An also let out a quiet sigh.

The reason is nothing else; at this moment he also recalled the Second Will.

(That guy could be so clearly aware of this, to the point of directly seeing through the Skull—essentially he must have collapsed too many times...)

(He believes in nothing now; as long as he can stay alive, he can use anything and discard anything at any time.)

And this is also the root of the Second Will's complete eradication of all emotion.

After a while, Lin An looked at Big Eye with a somewhat complex expression.

Overseer, does this mean I cannot make up my power through other Awakened Ones? I cannot learn from them, and the system's rules cannot be exchanged either.

Or perhaps the only way to make up is the Savior's path—without absorbing, but using?

And moreover...

I actually have my own cognition too... could my understanding of electromagnetic rules also be wrong?

How hard it is for a person to make it to the end!

If from now on all paths must rely on oneself, with no one to learn from.

For a moment Lin An felt somewhat lost. Moreover, upon deeper thought, is the Savior's path actually correct? He has many Rule Fragments exchanged from the system. Thinking this way, hasn't he already limited himself?

But not exchanging? No, I should say it's impossible to have cognition that doesn't receive information from the outside and then creates something from nothing!

However, contrary to Lin An's expectations, he saw 77's eyes focus, and then he actually scolded the others:

"Lin An! Have you forgotten again? No one's path is correct! Those saviors, a bunch of lunatics, seem to be doing the right thing, bypassing this point. But they're still stuck at the final step!?"

"You don't have to worry about being limited. The Four Great Powers are the basic rules; this framework is the closest to the ultimate. Moreover, you can learn from others, but you must understand it yourself and forge your own path. Don't doubt yourself, don't be misled by beings stronger than you! Your basic cognitions are all different; blindly imitating others makes it impossible to get the same result—it will only destroy you!"

Mid-sentence, 77 waved a tentacle and pointed directly at Lin An:

"Kid, you haven't realized that you actually have no power system at all, have you?"

"The 'power' you possess is only one kind: how to use various powers to fight! You don't even have a proper skill! Your future holds infinite possibilities!"

After he finished speaking, Lin An only felt a sudden flash of insight pass through his mind!

At that very moment, he truly understood why 77 had chosen him!

He has no 'skills' at all!?

That's it! His talent has only one effect: combat instinct!

Besides that, all of his skills and abilities come entirely from equipment and various props! Even exchanged skills are the Omniscient Eye!

"All right, kid, go redeem the reward."

"After redeeming, I'll tell you how to become Fifth Stage!"

"A perfect Fifth Stage!"