Chapter 562: Honeycomb

The evening breeze blew silently on the nameless ridge, blowing away the residual warmth on the two hundred corpses, and also blowing away the temperature in the Demon King's smile.

Luo Yan stood on high ground, his gaze crossing the corpses all over the ground, falling on that old face that looked kind but was actually crazy.

"What should I call you?"

A trace of an arc appeared at the corner of his mouth, his voice calm, unable to hear joy or anger.

"Is it the Graveyard Keeper of the Silent Mountain Mausoleum, or the shadow behind the Ryan King, or perhaps—Your Excellency Ma Lusi, the 'Hand of the Former King'?"

The old man whose identity was exposed had no stiffness in his smile; he clapped his hands elegantly, as if applauding this accurate intelligence.

"As expected of the Demon King, a big shot from Hell, it seems your intelligence network is even more profound than I imagined... I really didn't misjudge you."

The playfulness hanging on Luo Yan's mouth did not dissipate.

Not misjudging is fine.

He discovered that his vest had another function, which was to act as a touchstone to test the depth of the other party's cognition of him.

Still using the name "Prince Luo Ke-Sai Prince Kelin," that meant this guy actually didn't know anything, just making inferences based on limited clues.

But it had to be said, he guessed very accurately.

This guy was also a master of chess.

Seeing the Demon King standing on high ground not denying it, Ma Lusi smiled faintly, looked at the corpses under his feet, and continued to say with that whistling voice like a leaky whistle.

"As for these... please take it as a small gift for our meeting. Only the dead can keep secrets, and only the dead will not leak tonight's conversation to that bunch of fools in the Academy who only know how to read."

"Are you not afraid of the Academy's blame?"

"Haha, Your Highness Prince, you're joking," Ma Lusi laughed lightly, as if hearing some funny joke, "It's not like you haven't been to the Academy, how could you not know what status the apprentices have?"

That's true.

The old farmers of the Aosi Empire, the magic apprentices of the Academy, the goblins of Hell... strictly speaking, they were existences in the same ecological niche.

Luo Yan was not surprised by Ma Lusi's answer, but seeing that cold-blooded smile, he still felt a trace of emotion in his heart.

That understated tone was like wiping dust from the corner of his clothes.

This guy was truly decisive in killing, and for the Ryan people to encounter such a Transcendent, it was also eight lifetimes of bad luck.

Although the Demon King was also a decisive person, unless it was someone who was unforgivable and seeking death, he generally laughed it off, not bothering to be the same as those weaker than him.

Such talent was actually missed by Hell, letting him go toward the "Fifth Chaos," no wonder Hell was getting worse day by day.

"Why do you think I am the Demon King?" Luo Yan asked calmly, his tone carrying a trace of interest, "Just because I have a few alien subordinates?"

"This is one of the reasons, but it is not enough for me to confirm my conjecture, after all, there are quite a few nobles who sold their souls to demons, and they also have subordinates from Hell... and what really made me confirm my conjecture is you yourself?"

"Me?"

"That's right."

Ma Lusi stepped over a corpse, his pace as light as a ghost. His face carried a gentle smile as always, saying softly.

"I don't understand Hell, but I understand the nobles of the Empire. Those arrogant guys only have their eyes on the power of the Shengcheng and the gold of the New World. With my understanding of them, even if you add up the east of the entire Old Continent, it wouldn't be as important as a Brass Pass in their eyes... what Holy Light, what faith, they had long since thrown them behind their heads."

The old man stopped his steps, looking at Prince Kelin standing on high ground with burning eyes, and continued to say.

"And only demons from Hell would be interested in the 'barbarians' living here. Because to you, even if it's an ant, it has the value of being squeezed... isn't that right?"

"That's an interesting theory," Luo Yan's mouth curved slightly, "Unfortunately, it's all your conjecture."

"But my conjecture is very reasonable, isn't it?" Ma Lusi said with a smile, "Campbell family defeated the Demon King, this is a fairy tale the world is willing to believe. But in my opinion, the other side of the story is more in line with the logic of reality..."

He looked at Prince Kelin with the appreciative gaze of a "peer," that look just like an experienced hunter seeing another highly skilled predator in the forest.

His voice became low, carrying a trace of twisted appreciation.

"It was you who corrupted Campbell."

"You didn't choose slaughter like those low-level demons, but chose a more brilliant conquest. You used power, wealth, and those pleasures that mortals cannot refuse to weave a huge honey pot, turning that young and vigorous Grand Duke, the innocent and brave Princess, and those citizens who thought they controlled their own destiny into your puppets."

In Ma Lusi's cognition, the Demon King of Lei Ming County was like the shadow he controlled under the Ryan King, hiding behind the scenes, manipulating the entire Duchy with sweet poison. Aaron Campbell won everything on the surface, but actually lost everything.

This sounded like looking in a mirror.

Sarah's face showed a surprised expression, and her expression gradually became solemn.

The Stigma Organization had always thought the Graveyard Keeper was a dagger under the Ryan King's cuff, but never expected that this poisonous snake raised by the King himself had actually wrapped around the King's hand?!

This was really... beyond her expectation.

Luo Yan showed an interested expression, didn't refute this "unique misunderstanding," just felt it was interesting.

Because at any time, the action of force is mutual.

The Demon King was not always leading Irene's decisions, occasionally he would be occupied by the latter and make choices that hadn't been conceived.

Another layer of meaning of win-win is just like this, Luo Yan was of course clear about this point. He was just a master of playing dumb, but not really dumb.

The two hands held together gradually grew together, just talking about the influence of one side on the other, it was like a tyrant's thinking about himself.

What must be said is that although tyrants in the feudal era always refused to admit that they were actually being influenced by the serfs under their rule, that was just them refusing to look in the mirror.

The coldest physical laws never shift with anyone's will, and they are of course in accordance with the iron law that "the action of force is mutual."

The result of fooling people as fools is ultimately a group of fools fooling a big fool, and then holding hands and jumping into the septic tank together.

The current Luolan City is roughly like this, even if their King tells them the sky is green, the people there will only suddenly realize—

Damn, so I'm colorblind?

"I don't deny your statement, but is that all you want to say?"

"Of course not."

Ma Lusi shook his head lightly, that pair of gentle pupils like spring breeze gradually no longer concealed the greed in his heart, and a trace of greedy madness flowed out from the bottom of his eyes.

"Since we are of the same kind, why should we fight to the death for a group of mortals, we can completely join hands and cooperate together."

"Cooperate?"

"Yes, joint development."

Ma Lusi cast his gaze toward the north, which was the direction of the Ryan Kingdom, and his gentle voice gradually carried a trace of disgust.

"The 'veins' of the Ryan Kingdom have dried up. Although those mud-legged people look like humans, their souls are as weak as wild grass in autumn, and as inferior as sand on the river beach."

"Those guys are either crazy people with chaotic logic or illiterate people who think they are knowledgeable... although the mages of the Academy say it doesn't matter, I still can't help but worry that long-term absorption of soul essence from this kind of trash will make our nobles become as dull as them."

This kind of worry is not without reason, after all, the rejection reaction between people is the lowest, and some people are slowly becoming less like people.

Luo Yan smiled, asking knowingly.

"Oh? Then, how did those guys you mentioned become this ghost-like appearance?"

"There are many reasons, but these are not important, what is important is that we need more high-quality raw materials." Ma Lusi smiled and brushed this question aside, just like waving away a fly.

Subsequently, he turned his head, and his gaze fell to the south of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, which was the direction of the Campbell Duchy, downstream of the Running River.

"Campbell Duchy is different."

"Thanks to your careful feeding, the people there are full of spirit, their souls are pure, and they are full of hope and vitality... I have no doubt that their spirit is not inferior to the people of the Shengcheng, those are all top-tier materials, we can completely develop this rich mine that has not been picked together."

While saying this, he took a deep breath, as if he had already smelled the fragrance of souls drifting with the wind from hundreds of kilometers away.

That morbid expression made even Alakduo feel a trace of chill, and his walking feet moved uneasily. If it weren't for the Demon King suppressing him, he would have slipped away long ago!

Luo Yan sighed lightly.

"Saint Saint Xisi above, this is too blasphemous."

"But for the Demon King, it's just right, isn't it?"

Thinking that his olive branch had been favored, a smile appeared on Ma Lusi's face, continuing to add chips to the table.

"Consider it carefully, I can even 'persuade' our Majesty to let the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng to you. When necessary, we can also cooperate with you to perform a few war dramas to consume those useless burdens."

"Besides that, there is the 'Holy Water' you care about most, I can persuade the Academy to let you participate, and let you occupy a 30% share! Don't underestimate this 30%... it can not only make you as strong as me, but even become a demigod!"

Ma Lusi was full of confidence in his proposal, letting a half-way ally share 30% was already a very sincere proposal.

And for the interests he might give up, he didn't feel it was a pity. Because as long as he could pull the Campbell Duchy onto his chariot, they would not only get a soul raw mine that hadn't been exploited, but also eliminate the hidden danger in the south.

In the past, they had to do this in the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and didn't dare to be too blatant. But as long as everyone around was their own people, they could join hands to block the news, not only kicking the rats out of the game, but also placing the mage tower refined from souls in the Twilight Saint Saint Xingsheng, or even Luolan City and Lei Ming City!

How you look at it, this is a cost-effective deal.

After all, the breeding environment in the rat hole is no matter what not as good as a city more suitable for human survival.

Facing the olive branch thrown by Ma Lusi, Luo Yan raised his eyebrows lightly. He was not interested in the proposal itself, but read interesting intelligence from the subtext.

"Your Excellency Ma Lusi, your blueprint is indeed magnificent, even demons have to praise your efficiency. However, as the Demon King, I have to consider more long-term... if we exploit without restraint like you, once the population withers and the souls are exhausted, wouldn't we become duckweeds without roots? After all, there is a day when the mine will be dug empty."

"Exhausted? No, Demon King. It seems that when you were studying in the Academy, you didn't come into contact with the core secrets of the Soul School."

Hearing this worry full of "small-scale peasant consciousness," Ma Lusi couldn't help but laugh lightly, but the kindness in his smile didn't change much.

"If souls were really things that never changed through the ages, all races would have given birth to all the children they could in the past thousand years, where would it be our turn to waste?"

He was not surprised that Mr. Prince Kelin would think so, because that was exactly the most classic rumor in the First Epoch—the soul is something that never changes through the ages.

In fact, it is not.

It is inexhaustible.

Without waiting for the Demon King to ask, Ma Lusi raised his hand, his withered fingers pointing to the brilliant night sky, as if wanting to grab all the stars in the palm of his hand.

"Souls are never crops grown in the ground, but the projection of billions of stars, the gift from the vast sea of stars!"

Luo Yan's face showed a surprised expression, saying thoughtfully.

"This sounds like a truly interesting conjecture."

Ma Lusi smiled.

"Not a conjecture. In the Academy, the mages there call it the 'Honeycomb' theory and the 'Sea of Consciousness' theory."

Luo Yan was slightly surprised.

"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."

Ma Lusi said frankly.

"Everything outside

"And the land beneath our feet is the hive that gathers all rivers!"

"Whenever a new fleshly vessel is born, those tiny specks of light drifting in the Sea of Consciousness gather continuously like bees returning to the hive, filling the flesh and blood to constitute what we call 'Soul Substance'!"

"This is also why, ever since the fall of the Netherworld, the vast majority of mortals cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation, yet our world still possesses an endless stream of souls."

Ma Lusi did not hide anything; after all, in his view, these broad theories were nothing significant, much like the two hundred corpses at his feet.

The true core secret was the method for refining Holy Water.

However, Luo Yan was greatly shocked after hearing his account, not expecting that the seemingly generous Academy was actually not generous at all; the truly good things were not kept in the library he visited every day.

The 'Hive' theory and the 'Sea of Consciousness' theory thoroughly explained the problem he had pondered for a long time but could never figure out—

Namely, where those souls who did not go to be reincarnated had gone.

If one compares this planet to a hive, everything is easily explained.

A fleshly body is like a room within the hive.

Whenever a new life is born, an anchor point lights up in the Sea of Consciousness, absorbing nearby "Consciousness Factors" to gather and form "Soul Substance," or attracting those "Soul Substances" kept nearby by the "Reincarnation System."

When a newborn arrives in the world, opens its eyes, and establishes a connection with the material world beneath its feet, those specks of light from the universe expand like a sponge absorbing water.

And that expanded portion is precisely "Spirit Substance"!

Spirit Substance and Soul Substance together constitute the soul.

When a person's physical body perishes, the Spirit Substance naturally dissipates, returning its nutrients to the land beneath, while the Soul Substance does not disappear.

They either enter the reincarnation system on this planet, enter a higher-level reincarnation system, or transform back into tiny specks of light, launched into the vast sea of stars or even the void, to undergo a new round of arrangement and combination... just as they were when they arrived.

Originally, they were also launched from the vast sea of stars in a similar form.

Either drawn by karma or acting unconsciously.

"... This sounds like while we are looking up at the starry sky, the starry sky is also watching us," You You, floating beside Luo Yan, whispered.

Luo Yan nodded gently and replied in his heart.

'This also explains my long-standing confusion: why Chaos came here, and where they went after they left.'

Under conditions where faith is stable and there is no sharp decrease or surge in population, the vast majority of these little bees are old tenants of this hive.

They possess stable spiritual cores and faith; they return to where they died, continuing the grievances left unfinished in their previous lives into the next, and many have even reincarnated many times, having grown together with the entire hive.