Chapter 386: Sunset, the Victory of Materialism!

Lin Liu's old age grew increasingly severe.

In just a few short years, he went from being able to zip around in his wheelchair to the point where he could only lie in bed, unable to get up on his own.

The monkey sat beside the bed, looking at him, eyes full of sorrow:

"Benefactor..."

A few years ago, he could barely use his invisible divine big hand to eat and drink, but now he needs someone to carefully attend to his bowel and bladder, for fear of hurting this old Pasha in the slightest...

But Lin Liu still smiled at it and said: "How come? You're unwilling to let me die?"

The monkey finally couldn't bear it:

"Benefactor! Actually you can issue a special order to the common people, letting them retain you, letting them deliberately believe you can live forever in the material world!"

"Now the ancestral master's authority has waned, the decision over heaven and earth lies in the hands of all beings, so as long as they are united, they can forcibly keep you alive, even if all of heaven and earth becomes materialized, you will still be immortal!"

"This is what you deserve!"

But Lin Liu narrowed his eyes:

"Was it Bodhi who had you say this?"

The excited monkey immediately fell silent, lowering its head:

"Yes..."

Lin Liu laughed:

"I knew that only Bodhi, the master of the dream, would know this; if He didn't say it, who could think of it?"

"But Bodhi says this because He thinks that after I die, the anchor point will disappear, thereby affecting the survival of the dream and the Primordial... and what I want to tell Him is that I truly don't know how to save the Primordial, but my death will certainly not destroy the dream; it will only make the dream eternal."

"I can't explain the specific reasoning to Him, but just ask Him to rest easy."

After hearing Lin Liu's explanation, the monkey, half-understanding, scratched its head in confusion: "But if you, benefactor, could live forever, wouldn't the dream also be eternal? Then why would you choose to die?"

"Could it be that Lin Pasha has come down with a case of the jitters?" The monkey thought more and more, growing confused...

Lin Liu shook his head: "To end it."

"As the protagonist, if I don't die thoroughly, my fate won't conclude, and I'll continue reincarnating life after life until the perfect ending!"

"This was originally a good thing, giving me infinite trial-and-error opportunities; as long as the probability of clearing the level exists, no matter how small or hard to grasp, I will eventually seize it!"

"But... I have already seen the road ahead clearly..."

Lin Liu said bitterly: "The clearer I see the road ahead, the more disappointed I am; I have absolutely no chance of success, not even a shred, and the very idea of turning false into true is itself false."

"In that case, what was originally a good thing of infinite reincarnation becomes the greatest bad thing, for I can only become stuck in this infinite reincarnation, just as I am stuck between the dream and the Primordial..."

"To live is to be forever unable to transcend; to live is to let 【another me】 never finish the game... My life is both a torment to myself and a torment to 【another self】."

He sighed bitterly: "The experience of being stuck, preventing others from advancing or retreating, once is enough; if it happens repeatedly and makes others suffer, then it's all my fault."

"Given such a situation, why wouldn't I choose to die?"

After a detailed explanation, the monkey finally understood, but this only made it more sorrowful.

Because it doesn't want to see anyone die, especially you, its benefactor who gave it a second life...

"Furthermore..."

Lin Liu sighed helplessly: "Since I have already promoted materialization, to make heaven and earth completely a material world, I should uphold and practice it, even if the result is my walk toward death, I have no regrets."

"This life of mine is no longer just my own; it is also the offering and sign of heaven and earth's march toward materialization. If I do not die, heaven and earth cannot be called truly materialized!"

"To hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening is enough! Moreover, I am not merely hearing the Dao but verifying it; even if I die, it is worthwhile."

Having said that, Lin Liu no longer wanted to continue on this topic, and he turned to ask the monkey another question: "My death is not important... What matters is that the number of people with cultivation aptitude in the world is dwindling; does this indicate that the materialization process of heaven and earth has reached an extremely high level?"

The monkey held back its sorrow and nodded:

"Yes..."

"The ancestral master said that everything in the dream is modeled after the Primordial, including people."

"But the shaping of people is the most difficult, with an extremely low success rate, so some people resemble Primordial beings, but most people do not resemble Primordial people... If those with aptitude are becoming fewer, it shows that under the influence of materialization, the people here are becoming less and less like Primordial beings."

"Like?" Lin Liu pondered: What is the difference between resembling and not resembling? He knew little about Primordial beings, having only heard a bit when he once dreamed into the Primordial: aside from the Wu Clan, all Primordial beings consist of a fleshly body wrapping a soul, which in turn wraps a true spirit—three layers together make a complete being.

"Could it be that the people of the dream are not like that? Indeed, they are not..."

Lin Liu carefully considered his own observations: the beings of the dream seem to lack the core of a "true spirit," and even their "soul and corporeal" are unstable; when an ordinary mortal dies, their soul and corporeal dissipate instantly, making reincarnation impossible!

However, a mortal with cultivation aptitude, after practicing the Contemplation Method to cultivate a "Dharma Appearance," can extend the existence of their soul and corporeal to seven days; although they still dissipate after seven days, if reincarnation is carried out within that window, a kind of immortality can be achieved.

In that case, the "Dharma Appearance" is closer to the Primordial's "soul and corporeal"...

But it is ultimately not the Primordial concept of "soul and corporeal," for the true "soul and corporeal" is innately immortal and undying; thus we can only say: compared to the soul and corporeal of ordinary mortals, a cultivator's Dharma Appearance is closer to the Primordial's "soul and corporeal".

Only when a cultivator becomes a god does the "Dharma Divine Body" reach the Primordial's "soul and corporeal" standard in terms of lifespan...

Wait a moment!

Lin Liu felt a sudden inspiration:

"From not resembling the Primordial's soul and corporeal, to closely resembling it... from the dream, to the Primordial..."

"Could this be a form of cultivation?"

The monkey nodded: "To let the benefactor know, the practice of the Divine Way is indeed a kind of cultivation, but... the essence is different, and no matter how much you cultivate, it's useless." "Even if the dream's Divine Way is cultivated to the extreme, one can only become a true god, with no further path ahead... and the reason there is no path is precisely because one cannot break through the barrier between truth and falsehood."

Lin Liu frowned:

"What if cultivation succeeds, then what would happen?"

The monkey thought: "It should be exactly like the Primordial beings, possessing not only soul and corporeal but also a true spirit and a fleshly body... just like those you have liberated, when they ascend to the Primordial at that moment, they gain everything a Primordial being ought to have... this is truly a cultivation, and indeed a true cultivation."

"However, such great power is not something we can master..."

As for this power that can at will turn false into true, not only the monkey, but even sages can only envy it...

Yet these words, originally just the monkey expressing its feelings, caused a hard-to-describe gleam to burst forth in Lin Liu's turbid eyes!

He began to mutter to himself inexplicably:

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is..."

A sudden information clue appeared, connecting all the past information he had never noticed: since the game system can directly liberate those trapped in dreams by turning false into true, it can actually use the same power to create a new protagonist anchor, because both require the power of 'turning false into true'! And according to earlier information, a world must have an anchor to exist stably, so there is no stable world without an anchor; therefore the 'ending world' actually does have an anchor.

The two pieces of information corroborate each other, which is enough to prove that the system has always been creating new anchors!

But why did the previous 'ending world' always seem to lack a protagonist?

Under what circumstances does something that is clearly special appear ordinary and unremarkable, making people think it isn't special? The answer is simple: because it's everywhere! Since rarity gives value, when special things pile up, they cease to stand out at all……

Lin Liu understood!

【You suddenly burst out laughing hahaha, scaring the monkey into a dazed stare, so you couldn't help but look at it blankly: 'What is this?'}】

【You, feeling happy, initially wanted to explain its wonders to it, but realized explaining it was too complex; after all, much of what you know is totally beyond its understanding.】

【So you simply stopped explaining, just letting it wait until after you die to know!】

【The monkey grew increasingly bewildered, seriously suspecting you had become senile……】

【……】

【In the following days, you, originally feeling down from being unable to clear the game perfectly, made a complete turnaround—drinking to your heart's content, eating to your fill, and wearing a genuine smile every day!】

【This unusual sign led everyone to mistakenly think you were experiencing a final burst of vitality before death, panicking and having the gods constantly prolong your life……】

【But this physical body is truly too old, so someone suggested to you: 'How about we change to a younger one?'】

【This proposal received unanimous approval, because the gods are all doing the same: the end of the Dharma age will come soon, so naturally everyone wants to seize the chance while they still have the ability to possess another body, hurriedly finding a young one to take over!】

【Although death in the future is still inevitable, at least you could truly live another life—an extra hundred or so years—something you definitely shouldn't pass up!】

【For example, Li Ziliang has already found an infant's body to take over; after you die, he will, according to your agreement, succeed you in governing the state, and when he too faces old-age death, he will simply recite the mantra you gave him to transcend to the 'Eternal Primordial Wilderness', gaining the chance for immortality and ascension.】

【Moreover, your eighteen hundred true gods under your command are also changing bodies, preparing in the next life to continue repaying Pashaa's grace, protecting his realm and people for Pashaa; once their merit is complete, they will then transcend into the 'Eternal Primordial Wilderness'.】

【Because of you, even without the influence of the Blood God Son, they are all willing to exert their remaining energy in this world once more!】

【And those unfortunate souls in the heavenly prison cry out every day for a young body, willing to do anything if they can live a second life……】

【Of course, since you have decided to let these war criminals grow old and die alongside you, there's no way to give them a chance to linger; they might as well obediently grow old and die!】

【So, you unhesitatingly refused everyone's suggestion to change your body.】

【But everyone ultimately still values greatly your role as the great sun that has illuminated all beings for nearly two hundred years in this cycle, so they thought: since sentient beings' thoughts can rewrite the world, why not have them deliberately emphasize and firmly believe that you are immortal?】

【This idea, which coincidentally matched the monkey's earlier proposal, received unanimous support from everyone: 'Pashaa is the great sun that led us to overturn heaven and earth, completely changing the fate of all people; the favor is so immense that we can never repay it!'】

【"Exactly! The great Pashaa deserves special treatment, even if it contradicts material change—it is what Pashaa deserves!"】

【"Lin Pashaa is the sun that never sets! Lin Pashaa should enjoy eternal health, and Lin Pashaa ought to be undying and indestructible!"】

【Such fervent words spread far and wide; they are everyone's boundless reverence and affection for you, and everyone feels they can distort material law for your sake!】

【But you still refused……】

【"Sunset is the natural order; without the sun setting, there would be no eternal sun, for if today's sun did not set, tomorrow's sun would not rise."】

【"I will no longer be the sun, because after I die, each of you will be a new sun, so there's no need to let me be immortal or to beg me to return, for each of you is a new me!"】

【At the final moment of your life, with the final burst of vitality, you gently comforted the crowd of weeping people filling the room.】

【"Moreover, matter is not destroyed, only shattered…… so I will not truly vanish; my entirety will remain in this universe, forever accompanying you."】

【"Don't grieve for me; be happy for me, because my death is matter's victory—it triumphs over consciousness's interference, thereby leading me toward death…… such a death is worthy of celebration."】

【Having said that, the last thread of divine power sustaining your body dissipated completely, and you left this world with a satisfied smile……】

【That day, the whole nation celebrated!】

【All beings celebrated the victory of dialectical law!】

【That day, the four continents wept together!】

【All beings mourned the victory of dialectical law……】

【In short, matter triumphed over consciousness.】

【A purely idealistic world has perished, replaced by a material world with infinite future……】

……

(End of chapter)