Chapter 333: The Formalized Process and Result (8)

"You've fallen into the trap."

The youth used the plainest tone to say the most shocking words: "The moment you fell into the trap, your past experiences were already stripped bare by Omniscience. Moreover, the Superego Mental State can reflect players in Distance-Free Technique. Omniscience can perfectly reflect a Chen Ran in her Distance-Free Technique. That Chen Ran has the same thoughts, same memories, and same logic as you. The only difference is that he is fake, and you are real. By using him to deduce your thoughts, she can achieve a hundred percent accuracy. In other words... even your thoughts have been stripped bare. You trying to act as a Wallfacer to hide your thoughts simply won't work."

"This isn't a novel where the protagonist can defeat an old monster who's cultivated for tens of thousands of years after cultivating for a few hundred years. This is Hell. Any old monster here is the culmination of thousands of years of human wisdom. Omniscience and Omnipotence have ruled Hell for centuries. They can launch a dimensional strike on you from any angle."

It was very strange. Both the perpetrator and the victim were very calm, as if this were an ordinary conversation; both of their emotions were very stable.

Perhaps this was Heart Cultivation. If anyone else had been in Chen Ran's shoes, they would have either collapsed in fright or turned hysterical long ago.

Seeing Chen Ran about to light a cigarette again, the youth considerately handed him a Lighter.

Lighting the cigarette, taking a deep drag, and exhaling thick white smoke, Chen Ran pondered, "So this is the trap of Heart Cultivation."

"Correct. Heart Cultivation can allow a player to stand in a state of absolute rationality, but your opponent can also stand in a state of absolute rationality. Simply put, the two of you are thinking about the problem from the same angle. You arrive at an answer beneficial to you, and your opponent arrives at an answer beneficial to him."

"However, he can also arrive at an answer beneficial to you, and you can also arrive at an answer beneficial to him. This is the biggest trap of Heart Cultivation: the assimilation of thought. The Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment is equivalent to a set formula, allowing different people to arrive at the same answer."

"In this regard, Veteran Players with abundant experience have an absolute advantage. Your tier before death might be very high, which is perhaps more than enough to deal with Three-Star players. But you will find it strenuous to deal with Four-Star players. And against Five-Star players, there is basically only a dead end."

Chen Ran nodded. In this instance, there had been two Immortal-Slaying Traps. One was the Ice Room, which only killed two Slaves. The other was the joint layout, and among the Four-Stars, only Han Bing died. From this, it could be seen how hard it was to kill Three and Four-Star players.

Simply put, once Heart Cultivation is involved, what's being competed over is experience, life experiences, and knowledge. A player who has lived longer will definitely be stronger than a player who hasn't lived as long. Just like a sixth-grade student will definitely know more words than a kindergarten student.

But thoughts have infinite possibilities. Even a mere ant has the possibility of turning the tables against the wind; a high and mighty superior could also be pulled down from their horse by a nobody. This is the uncertainty that thoughts should have, rather than certainty.

Chen Ran pondered deeply.

'According to my years of experience writing and reading web novels, the Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment is the limit. It is a dimensional strike for any high-IQ person.'

'The reason is simple: without Heart Cultivation, one cannot jump out of the confinement of their thoughts.'

'But if everyone undergoes Heart Cultivation, then everyone's thoughts will become formalized and arrive at the same answers, making it difficult to determine a winner.'

'At this time, a new Heart Cultivation system is bound to be born.'

'The reason is also very simple. It can be summarized by a sentence from the Tao Te Ching: Reversal is the movement of the Dao, weakness is the application of the Dao.'

'The development of anything will go through a process of unity of opposites. When anything develops to its highest peak, The Extreme Leads to Reversal, and it will once again walk to its unity of opposites.'

'Simply put, Hell didn't have Heart Cultivation at the very beginning. There was a player who wanted to launch a dimensional strike on all players, so he created the Mental Cultivation Method of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment.'

'But when everyone cultivated their hearts with Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, everyone returned to the same starting line. At this time, if someone wanted to launch a dimensional strike on Heart Cultivation players, they would definitely create a new Heart Cultivation system, namely The Highest Goodness is Like Water.'

'When everyone cultivates their hearts with The Highest Goodness is Like Water in the future, if someone wants to launch a dimensional strike at that time, they will create the Heart Cultivation system of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment.'

'An infinite loop!'

'The Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment is a pole, and the Heart Cultivation of The Highest Goodness is Like Water is also a pole. It's just that the two are opposed to each other. The Higher They Rise, the Harder They Fall; when decline reaches its extreme, prosperity returns. That is exactly the principle.'

Thinking up to this point, Chen Ran looked suspiciously at the youth, feeling somewhat uncertain.

'The Superego Mental State, which is the Third Realm of Lingtai Heart Cultivation, can reflect players in Distance-Free Technique and deduce the players' thoughts.'

'Distance-Free Technique is a product of the Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. In other words, the youth making me deduce Omniscience and Omnipotence is completely blocking off my path of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment Heart Cultivation.'

'After all, if I continue to cultivate my heart this way, Omniscience will definitely use the formalization of Heart Cultivation to deduce my actions and thoughts, and accurately predict my future. I will have absolutely no room for resistance in front of Omniscience.'

'Then, there is one and only one path I can take: The Heart Cultivation of The Highest Goodness is Like Water!'

"Whose side are you actually on?" Chen Ran asked the youth solemnly.

The youth took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Does it matter which side I'm on? Since all the layouts revolve around you, a person like me was bound to appear so that you could be captured by Omniscience, while also simultaneously pushing you onto the path of The Highest Goodness is Like Water Heart Cultivation. This situation is something the two leaders are happy to see, and it is also the situation the other True Self players want. It's a win-win for them."

'And I'm taking a massive loss?'

Chen Ran inwardly grumbled. Seeing his expression, the youth found it somewhat amusing. "Who told you to come in last among the ten True Self players?"

"However, since the other True Self players are on 'your side' after all, I can inform you of a piece of information in advance."

"What information?" Chen Ran frowned.

"I mentioned Absolute Extinction earlier. His skill can permanently extinguish the skills of those hit. About two hundred years ago, he manufactured a massacre in Hell. Twelve Floor Masters from the two alliances died by his hands, and he simultaneously extinguished thousands of skills belonging to the leader of the Liar-Slayer Alliance. But he still lost."

Chen Ran was taken aback. "That's it?"

"Isn't that enough?" the youth retorted.

"This explains one point: the skill of the Liar-Slayer Alliance leader is not 【One】, your skill is 【One】. Absolute Extinction can extinguish the skills of True Self players, but it cannot extinguish the 【One】 among True Self skills."

"【One】 is the origin; it is the first skill born in Hell. This skill is not affected by any skill, including the other nine True Self skills. In other words, the Priority of your Eternal Kingdom is also the highest existence among True Self skills. Only your skill can defeat Omniscience and Omnipotence."

"Hell is fair. Your skill has the highest Priority, therefore, among the ten True Self players, you appeared the latest. If you had been the first to appear in Hell, all other True Self skills would be rendered useless, and they wouldn't have been able to play at all."

It was true. If Chen Ran had appeared in Hell a thousand years ago, built a system, and infinitely sustained Eternal Kingdom, the others wouldn't have had any game to play.

'No wonder their layouts all revolve around me. The skills of Omniscience and Omnipotence can only be suppressed by my Eternal Kingdom.'

'Let's re-sort the structure of Hell.'

'Simply put, Omniscience and Omnipotence, these two True Self players, are like two peerless mighty figures guarding the Heavenly Gates, trapping all cultivators in the mortal realm and establishing a cruel mechanism: either submit or die. But the end result of submitting is still death. Throughout the long years, the other seven True Self players were born one after another. Rebellion was their only way out. They fought the two peerless mighty figures countless times, but the final outcome was still defeat. Having no other choice, they placed their hopes on a certain handsome guy.'

'But this 【Hope】...'

'Needs to be put in quotation marks!'

'After all, as for me, I wouldn't place my hopes on someone else.'

'Therefore, the two leaders and the seven True Self players are engaging in a tug-of-war with me at the center, competing to determine the final victory and defeat.'

'To put it bluntly, the root cause is still the opposition in ideology. Everyone thinks they are right and fights for it.'

"Your memories and thoughts have all been stripped bare, yet you don't seem to be panicking at all?" the youth asked, somewhat surprised.

Chen Ran was acting like a bachelor with nothing to lose: "The True Self players wouldn't let me die easily. Otherwise, why would I have matched with players from 【The Underworld】 in these two instances? You'd better talk about the Heart Cultivation of The Highest Goodness is Like Water instead."

"There is no fixed method for the Heart Cultivation of The Highest Goodness is Like Water; it can only be guided. Precisely because everyone's Highest Goodness is Like Water is different, they cannot be reflected by Distance-Free Technique to predict the future."

"Then do I have to abandon the Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment?" Chen Ran asked.

This was the dilemma Chen Ran faced. There were many things he didn't know, and the people he met were all untrustworthy. The answers he received could be true, or they could be false, or even pits deliberately dug for him. He needed to judge for himself, but the power tier of those digging the pits for him was clearly much higher than his, making it very difficult to judge.

'If Chen Yang also came to Hell...'

'Uh, forget it, it's better for him to live a long life and provide for our parents in their old age on my behalf.'

'Moreover, that guy is a monster who scored a 92 on the civil service essay exam. He has faith, and his uprightness borders on the demonic. It's simply impossible for him to appear in Hell.'

"You don't need to." The youth's words pulled Chen Ran back to reality. "Comprehending The Highest Goodness is Like Water is a long process. During this period, you need the Heart Cultivation of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment to deal with the players you encounter in instances."

"Since we've finished talking, let's continue watching." The youth snapped his fingers, and the scene started moving again. "The behavior and demeanor of everyone in the scene are exactly what they should do under the condition of suppressing their Mental States. That is, the formalized process and result. This will be of great help when you switch perspectives to deduce in the future."

Chen Ran gave him a middle finger. Hitting with a stick and then giving a sweet date—disgusting.