Chapter 377

So, you think it's because the people of Great Shun didn't learn your stuff?

After listening to the long-winded speech of the wheelchair‑bound, tilting‑head man, Li Ziliang took a long time to digest it before finally understanding what he meant.

Lin Liu nodded.

"Sorry."

This Tai Bai Star Lord's eye twitched:

"Although as your ally I really want to believe you, these things…… are really hard to convince any sane person."

Frankly, if we weren't allies, Li Ziliang would surely storm off in anger, not wanting to say a word to this lunatic.

Because this is pure nonsense from a mushroom‑eating lunatic! Things like "Dare to call for the sun and moon to change heaven," "Material solar nuclear fusion," "The people of Great Shun destroyed my sun dream"……

Moreover, to try to gain his trust, the mad Lin publicly revealed his reincarnator identity, spouting outlandish "subspace rhetoric" that made Li Ziliang's sanity plummet, his eyes glazing over……

Under these circumstances, Li Ziliang could of course not believe a single punctuation mark from the madman's mouth; after hesitating a moment, he chose to take his leave:

"I really find it hard to believe."

【A wheelchair‑bound, tilting‑head man who looks abnormal at first glance suddenly launches into a worldview‑shattering "cosmology," spouting "sun," "science," "spacetime," "time travel"……】

【The crucial point is, you don't bear the surname "Huo," nor does your name contain "Jin"—with such a setup, how could you possibly have the authority to earn others' trust?】

【Li Ziliang's skepticism is actually completely justified; if he didn't question, that would mean he'd been afflicted by the Blood God Son……】

【And you, right now, are indeed impatient and want to directly use the Blood God Son on him, to cut the Gordian knot!】

【Damn it, an NPC even has hammer‑human rights! Just kneeling on the ground shouting "favor" and "loyalty" would be enough, yet you dare to question the great Lin Su Dan—clearly you just want to eat "warm‑heart dumplings" and "dragon fruit."】

【Little Li! You can eat the Blood God Son!】

【When the evil urge surged, you almost pulled out the Blood God Son……】

【But you ended up restraining that evil fire, because you had long decided never to abuse the Blood God Son again, and Li Ziliang has always been your ally, with feelings between you.】

【So you are unwilling and unable to use violence against him.】

【But if you want to achieve your goal right now, you must gain his support… Thus, seeing him about to rise and leave, you finally spoke.】

【"If I obtained the Heavenly Emperor's edict, could you believe me?"】

【He paused, shook his head, and said: "I cannot be certain of the authenticity of the Heavenly Emperor's edict……"】

【If you could obtain the missing Heavenly Emperor's decree, he would naturally believe you, but all you can produce now is the edict, since Xue Xuan has long been sent by you to the eternal wilderness……】

【Imprisoned Xue: "Children, I can't come back."】

【"Then how can you make me believe you!"】

【You're a bit exasperated: why is everything hard without using the Blood God Son? Everyone doubts, everyone opposes…… Perhaps the original master of the Blood God Son invented it precisely to avoid having to argue with these people, so he could make others shut up……】

【"I……"】

【After a moment's hesitation, he finally spoke in a low voice: "Actually, I don't care about the Heavenly Emperor."】

【"So, no matter what token you bring, I won't agree to you……"】

【Good, good, good!】

【You finally relaxed and smiled: trust the wisdom of the ancients! For those ignorant peasants who don't understand human speech, just feed them their favorite Blood God Son!】

【Blood God Son, activate!】

【But before you could tear your face apart to feed him the Blood God Son, you heard him solemnly say: "I don't care about the Heavenly Emperor, nor about whether what you say is true or false…… I only want to ask you one thing: do you truly wish to do good for mortals?"】

【"As an immortal, exalted true god, do you really from the bottom of your heart want to secure a peaceful, prosperous age for all beings?"】

【This seems like an ordinary question, yet it also touches the soul; if you are to answer sincerely, you will inevitably face an interrogation from your own heart.】

【This sudden question leaves you stunned……】

【Yet he continues speaking.】

【"I've seen too many fickle people, each of whom once boasted grand ambitions."】

【"To set the heart for heaven and earth, to establish destiny for the people, to continue the learning of the sages, to open an age of peace for all generations…… share wealth, share land…… equal riches, exempt miscellaneous taxes…… open the gates to welcome the king, the king pays no grain tax……"】

【"There are far too many; each of their slogans is utterly just, yet among these people some are sincere, some are pretenders, and those who shout slogans while actually seeking to satisfy private desires make up the vast majority."】

【"Only a small fraction truly wish to do something for everyone, yet most of them fail to persevere to the end…… they have a beginning but few see it through, becoming the very people they once despised, and they mingle with the pretenders until there is no difference, both sinking together into ruin over the years."】

【"The remaining last group harbor grand ideals, possess the ability to realize them, and moreover have persisted with those ideals to the very end!"】

【"For example, me."】

【Li Ziliang calmly pointed at himself.】

【"But what can I do? To labor for the world for one hundred twenty years, and then what? Is the result of realizing my ideal that I become the slaves of the people?"】

【"I cannot bear such a result, and thus ultimately I inevitably abandoned this path……"】

【"Now you have come again—can you forever serve everyone as a slave? Can you accept that outcome?"】

【His gaze fixed tightly on you, as if trying to see through any subtle change in your emotions……】

【This is an interrogation, also a trial…… He also knows you have the means to kill him, yet he still spoke.】 【But you scratch your head: "Why must one be a slave? Shouldn't an ideal be to let everyone be self‑sufficient?"】

【Self‑sufficiency?】

【Li Ziliang scoffed: "Even if you truly let them master the power of the sun, they are still mortals, and as long as they remain mortals, they will inevitably keep causing trouble."】

【"On this basis, you must constantly guide and control them; otherwise, the chaos of mortals will never cease……"】

【"Do you still recall Great Shun's contempt for the Western Isles? And the Western Isles' disdain for Great Shun? Yes, that was indeed deliberately stirred up by the gods, but even without the gods, there would still be countless ambitious people jumping up and down."】

【"Where there are people, there will inevitably be disputes, unavoidable…… If you ignore them, the conflicts between the Western and Southern Isles will accumulate; if you ignore them, the wealthy and powerful will run rampant; if you ignore them, the world's darkness cannot be dispelled, and justice will never be served!"】

【"But if you choose to govern, you will never finish governing, forever bound to the mortal realm as a slave without shackles……"】

【His words are filled with mockery and self‑derision, as if he were thinking of his former self……】

【But you still scratch your head, puzzled: "Why do you never believe mortals can be self‑sufficient? They inherently need neither me nor you, nor any other true god…… In this world, no one is indispensable; they merely need an initial guide to get started……"】

【You purse your lips: "Besides, who says the world can't have contradictions? The world is inherently full of contradictions, because contradiction itself is a part of human existence, the two coexist, and there is no group of people without contradictions…… If you want to create a world without contradictions, the only way is for everyone to die!"】

【"I've already thought it through: once humanity, under my guidance, steps onto the proper path, I will abdicate and live out the days an elderly person should, and as for worldly contradictions…… future generations will handle them, trusting in their wisdom."】

Three lifetimes of reincarnation brought you not just myriad experiences and information; more importantly, they let you penetrate the fundamental principle of how the world operates—something you could never learn from any sage's classic.

"Contradiction is the essence of humanity, unavoidable and need not be avoided!"

Li Ziliang was left speechless: "If you don't care, who will illuminate the darkness of the human world? I know, the people of the Western Continent all call you the sun; this is hoping you will shine..."

"To them, I am indeed the sun."

You did not refute this point.

"But, sunset is the natural law; nothing tangible should remain eternal. My sun has grown old, entering twilight, awaiting only to disperse my last lingering warmth, after which it should forever set..."

"However, the old sun will set, but each day a new sun will rise from the east; the world will never be without a sun."

Li Ziliang seemed half-understanding: "You mean... your chosen successor will continue your cause?"

"Yes, and also no."

You smiled.

"My successor will of course become the new sun, but every person in the world is actually my successor; each of them is a fresh, young sun, only suns vary in size—some can illuminate the four continents, while others can only shine on themselves."

"But no matter what, I firmly believe they are all suns; even a sun that can only illuminate itself may one day shine upon the world!"

"With them, even if the darkness of contradiction cannot truly be eradicated, under these countless suns of all sizes, darkness can only hide in the lightless sewers, and will never have the chance to stretch its wanton black hand into places that ought to be light."

"The sun is absolutely not a title exclusively enjoyed by one family or surname; it is the highest honor that everyone can share!"

"And I am now making every person into a glowing sun..."

Having said that, you harbored no ulterior motive, smiling as you reached out your hand to him.

"Old Sun, do you want to shine again?"

Gazing at your tangible large hand, Li Ziliang remained dazed for a long time.

Before his eyes seemed to appear many figures from the past; in his memory, each of them had once tried to shine, although they ultimately never truly illuminated anything, yet that was enough for him to remember for a lifetime.

Gradually, these silhouettes overlapped onto the tilted wheelchair-bound man before him, one after another...

Finally, he saw himself, saw the youth named Li Ziliang of the chaotic era.

He saw him walk toward the wheelchair-bound man before him, and merge together with all the other silhouettes...

The wheelchair-bound man gradually emitted bright light, until he became a sun.

"Come on, Old Sun!"

The sun smiled at him and said.

He involuntarily reached out his hand, and the two tangible large hands clasped together...

New Heavenly Court year 62, Great Shun year 211, the Western, Eastern, and Northern Continents' Pasha Lin Six, together with the actual ruler of Southern Great Shun, Shun Taizu Li Ziliang, reached a new alliance without distinction!

The following year, a rebel army rose in Southern Shun territory, and unexpectedly seized a batch of newly purchased Western rifles and cannons from the New Shun Army; unexpectedly, they self-taught themselves in these Western-style firearms, and unexpectedly easily trained a force of firearms elites not inferior to the New Shun Army...

Wherever the rebel army passed, the originally invincible New Shun Army suffered successive defeats, disgracefully abandoning more weapons, equipment, and grain, etc.; this caused the rebel army to rapidly swell, subsequently capturing a prefecture city and formally becoming a local force commanding a hundred thousand followers!

Upon hearing the news, the Shun Emperor flew into a rage! He repeatedly mustered large armies to suppress, yet still suffered repeated defeats...

All the restoration rebel armies watched in amazement as the Shun army fought this rebel army, for besides its extremely rapid growth and formidable combat strength, it also maintained excellent discipline—not only never harming innocents, but often helping civilians with work, resulting in exceptionally harmonious military-civilian relations, completely unlike the chaotic melee of other warlords.

More crucially, this rebel army only targets cities and people under Shun rule, never actively clashing with other restoration rebel armies, as if they had a deep Sea of Blood grudge against the Great Shun...

The curious crowd, after inquiring from many sources, finally discovered the reason: this rebel army is actually the remnant of the former 'Lord equals Six' faction; they resent the Shun dynasty's past brutalities and thus decided to take revenge on Great Shun!

And their slogan remains that same phrase.

"Lord, equals six!"

(End of chapter)