Chapter 540: I Am the Firewood

What is the Unknown?

Chaos? Endless darkness? The indescribable?

In fact, these three states are merely one facet of the true Unknown, not its actual essence. Take the indescribable, for instance: the Unknown can manifest as the indescribable, but the indescribable is not necessarily the Unknown.

Take the Cthulhu Mythos from Li Heng's past life as an example.

The worldview of the Cthulhu Mythos posits that the truth of the universe, all of True Reality, is unknowable, dominated by gods that transcend mortal imagination and are thus indescribable.

Therefore, in such a worldview, groups unable to touch the World Truth—fools and ordinary people—can live better lives. Conversely, those geniuses who can touch the World Truth will go mad from perceiving these indescribable things.

The foundation of the worldview is built upon an unknowable Abyss.

But the Unknown is the Unknown, and the indescribable is the indescribable; who decreed that the Unknown must be indescribable? Is a book you have never read not also unknown? Does that also count as indescribable?

Broadly speaking, there is no rule that everything unknown outside of the known must be indescribable. After all, if one were to strictly define it as indescribable, then the Unknown at that point would be much the same as the known.

Therefore, all the Unknown outside the known Great Void, that infinite and boundless territory awaiting exploration, does not have a concrete definition; it seems all states may exist.

Even, if one had the ability to observe the Unknown as the known, perhaps the Unknown would truly collapse in the direction of your perception.

If you believe the Unknown harbors indescribable Great Terror, perhaps Great Terror will truly appear. If you believe the Unknown contains glorious civilizations and worlds, perhaps a civilized world could truly appear.

Of course, the prerequisite is that you have the ability to twist the Wuqiong Weizhi.

However, it is quite clear that the Heavenly Emperor, who has already delved deep into the Unknown Realm, cannot do it, let alone the Heavenly Court Immortal Gods who follow in the Heavenly Emperor's footsteps, seeking a way to save the Great Void.

Somewhere in the Unknown Realm.

Ten Immortal Gods are trapped here, their expressions vacant.

Although each of them possesses a powerful aura and is even ranked among the Sacred, capable of creating the world in a single thought and becoming a supreme creator, they have delved too deep into the Unknown Realm. They have long been obstructed by the Wuqiong Weizhi, like being stuck in a quagmire, unable to move an inch.

"We cannot hold on much longer."

An Immortal God speaks in despair.

"Indeed, so many set out at the beginning, and now only ten of us remain, and now we too are about to sink and merge with this Wuqiong Weizhi; perhaps that is something to be happy about?"

Another Immortal God speaks; the words seem somewhat coherent, but the content sounds mentally deranged.

"We cannot give up. Although the path back is severed, His Majesty is still advancing, and the path ahead is undecided. We only need to follow the path left behind to find His Majesty."

Yet another Immortal God speaks in encouragement. But there is not a trace of emotional fluctuation in the words, as if they were a cold machine; one can hear neither a shred of hope nor a shred of despair.

"Are you still deceiving yourselves? We are already unable to move an inch having walked this far, let alone continue along the path left by His Majesty. You must know that we are still able to stay here safe and sound only because of this pile of firewood."

The leading Immortal God, a Sacred, speaks calmly.

The other Sacreds cannot help but shift their gaze here, staring at this pile of firewood that emits a faint light, the weak flame illuminating the surrounding Unknown, allowing them to linger on, not to be assimilated by the Unknown.

It is just that the flames of this pile of firewood are getting smaller and smaller, the light growing weaker, and the ground beside it is scattered with black, unburnable ash; it seems there is no fuel left.

"Indeed, we rely entirely on this pile of firewood."

The other Immortal Gods speak with complex emotions.

This pile of firewood was obtained inadvertently when they were exploring the Unknown in the past, not a gift left by their own Majesty. Furthermore, when they discovered this pile of firewood, there was a white skeleton assimilated by the Unknown beside it, seemingly a predecessor who had explored the Unknown.

Extremely Ominous.

Back then, they still had the strength to spare and did not want to use this Inauspicious pile of firewood, but now, they have no other choice.

"The fire is small; I will be the Firewood. I have had enough."

An Immortal God speaks calmly.

The other Immortal Gods do not reply, nor do they stop them, watching with vacant expressions and no emotion as this Immortal God slowly walks onto the pile of firewood, letting the flames ignite them, turning into Firewood.

"Lao Zuo, I actually envy you quite a bit."

The leading Immortal God looks at the Immortal God named Lao Zuo, who has turned into Firewood and is burning himself, and suddenly speaks.

Lao Zuo's vacant expression squeezes out a faint smile and nods. Subsequently, under the burning of the pile of firewood, they are completely reduced to ash, using their entire being to brighten the light of this pile of firewood.

The other Immortal Gods reveal looks of envy.

They know they will all die; lingering on is useless, and it is only a matter of time. Now, continuing to live is merely suffering in vain; it would be better to just die. That fellow Lao Zuo left so gracefully.

These Immortal Gods think this in their hearts.

"You do not need to envy him; one day it will be your turn," the leading Immortal God says calmly.

The other Immortal Gods fall into silence, then suddenly speak.

"Taiyin, it has been hard on you. You are the strongest among us; you will live until the end. We can only apologize that you will be the last one to die; this is also something that cannot be helped."

The Immortal God named Taiyin falls into silence.

This is indeed something that cannot be helped. As the current strongest, they are the most qualified to preserve the results of this exploration of the Unknown; even if they die, they must be the last to die.

But trapped deep in the Wuqiong Weizhi, does this really have any meaning?

They do not know.

They only know that they will eventually die, and all the results obtained from exploration will eventually be submerged in the Endless Unknown, becoming a part of the Unknown; everything has no meaning, it is all just Emptiness.

There is no time in the Unknown.

So, not knowing how much time has passed—or if the concept of time passing even exists—the fire of the pile of firewood has grown small again, the light once more weak. Without need for words, another Immortal God voluntarily turns into Firewood.

After this repeated eight times.

Taiyin sits alone by the pile of firewood emitting a faint light, staring fixedly at the flame before them that is constantly leaping, flickering, and seems as if it will extinguish the next moment.

They suddenly understand why a white skeleton appeared beside it when they found the pile of firewood. It seems that the predecessor who turned into bones and explored the Unknown was in the same situation, right?

Sighing slightly, they intend to voluntarily burn themselves.

Since everything will eventually return to Emptiness and has no meaning, let this process be more thorough and swift. I am already dead; why leave a corpse behind?

They take a step forward, arrive at the pile of firewood, make contact with the flames, and their body begins to burn from top to bottom, just like the Immortal God Sacreds of the past, turning into a Firewood torch.

And at this very moment, the light of the Present World Lighthouse arrives.

Taiyin is suddenly startled, stiffens, full of joy and disbelief, but their entire body is already covered in flames.

It seems everything is too late?