Mythological origin

The loud noise only echoed in the deepest part of Bai Mo's consciousness, without disturbing anyone around the round table.

His gaze remained calm, and his posture did not change at all.

It was as if the massive influx of information just now was merely a gentle breeze brushing across the water's surface, creating a few ripples before returning to silence.

Bai Mo's gaze swept over the details of those moments of defeat.

He was like a calm bystander, flipping through battle reports that didn't belong to him.

These images did not move him.

Having cultivated for so long, Bai Mo, who has been seasoned by the power of Tao, has long since passed the stage where he would be moved by things like "possibilities".

What really bothered him was the final summary: "No substantial malice was found."

What is malice?
It is hatred, greed, fear, desire—it is all negative emotions or intentions directed at others that arise from the self-awareness of sentient beings.

It can be the motive for destruction, or the reason for killing.

But what if Kamikaze's pursuit has nothing to do with any of this?
However, according to the analysis of other Bai Mos in parallel worlds, their statement of "no malice" is more accurately described as having no intention of "destroying" themselves at all.

These higher-level beings may not have malicious intent, and may even be releasing goodwill, but this goodwill is distorted into an overwhelming goodwill in the face of the vast difference in knowledge and power.

Such things have happened frequently throughout Terra's history.

For example, a high-level cultivator might casually bestow a few elixirs, but the person who ultimately consumed them lacked the cultivation level to withstand the surging medicinal power and exploded to death...

No one had bad intentions, but the person still died.

……

The True Immortals of Terra, sitting around the round table, were unaware of the storm that was raging deep within Bai Mo's consciousness.

All they saw was that after Bai Mo displayed the latter half of the "Ten Immovable Places" inheritance, the council hall fell into an unusual silence.

The content of the inheritance, which was enough to affect countless people, was like an invisible pressure, making most people present feel a little breathless.

Cuomo was the first to recover from that shock.

As the discoverer of the first half of the Ten Grounds Immovable, he felt this lineage far more deeply than others.

The moment the information Bai Mo displayed resonated with the memories imprinted in his mind, he clearly felt a sense of completeness—as if a severed river had finally reconnected to its upstream source.

But at the same time, he also felt a deeper, indescribable heaviness, the heaviness of being a pawn.

After a moment, Cuomo slowly spoke: "I have retraced my steps to the state I was in when I comprehended the 'Ten Grounds of Immovability'."

"At that time, the bullet bow was about to be activated, and the entire Terra was shrouded in the shadow of the impending Black Tide, and the spacetime structure became somewhat unstable."

At that critical juncture of chaos and despair, my consciousness suddenly entered an... extremely mysterious state.

It was as if countless possibilities were unfolding before me, and I only 'saw' the rudimentary form of the Ten Grounds Immovable from one of those possibilities.

“That’s not enlightenment,” Como’s voice became firm. “That’s… being indoctrinated. Or rather, being guided to ‘see’ something that already existed.”

……

Bai Mo glanced at Como, lingering longer than before, his expression somewhat complicated.

His body still retained the unique law fluctuations that remained when he received the subsequent inheritance of the Ten Realms Immovable. These were subtle tremors that were unique to spacetime black magic, spreading outward like ripples.

In a sense, Cuomo at this moment is like a lighthouse that has just been lit and is still slightly warm—or rather, a receiving station that has just been connected.

The complex look in his eyes wasn't just because of that.

Bai Mo knew in his heart that Como was most likely someone he had chosen in a parallel world.

Perhaps it is one of them.

Ninth-Rank True Yang Star Lord.

At that level, it can no longer be measured by the mundane concept of "death".

The physical body can be annihilated, and even the true spirit can be shattered, but as long as there is still a wisp of obsession or a trace of information remaining somewhere, it is theoretically possible to return.

Based on his understanding of "himself," Bai Mo estimated that many of the Bai Mos from the parallel world were probably not quite dead. On the surface, the 108 defeats recorded in those experience packs all appeared to be "death" outcomes.

However, the definition of death becomes extremely vague at the ninth level.

To seize a body and be resurrected through a lineage.

This looks like the work of a ghost or immortal.

Inheritance itself is a collection of a large amount of information.

The thing that ghost immortals are best at is hiding in information and in concepts.

As for why Bai Mo would make that guess?
Because those are versions of ourselves in parallel worlds.

Don't you have any idea what you're thinking?

If it were him, in a hopeless situation where defeat was inevitable, in the last moments of his life, what would he do?
Will they bravely face death and accept defeat with equanimity? Or will they try every possible means, even if it's just to leave a sliver of hope or a seed, to continue in the future, on another timeline, or in some other way?

Is that even a question?

He was not the kind of person who would accept defeat with equanimity.

Those parallel world versions of ourselves are not either.

……

Bai Mo withdrew his gaze.

Do not practice unorthodox methods found on the roadside.

This is a principle he understood from the very beginning of the spiritual revival.

Whether it's watching others dig holes or digging holes myself, I've experienced far too many.

Those mysterious, unexpected "opportunities," those "sudden realizations" that appear precisely when you need them most, those "coincidences" where everything is just right to an unbelievable degree—behind them often stands something you don't want to see.

Just look at it.

Just like when he received the "Ten Immovable Grounds", he received the experience package from the parallel world and read the replays of more than one hundred battles.

But it was merely "watching".

He didn't practice cultivation; he just watched, like reading a novel where he was the protagonist.

After reading it, I put it down.

He absorbed the experiences of those who came before him. He remembered the lessons of those defeats. He digested the observations and speculations about the kamikaze.

But he didn't practice the inheritance itself—the "Ten Grounds Unmoved" technique that directly led to the tenth-order pseudo-divinization.

Because that's not his path.

Those parallel universe versions of themselves might indeed want to pass on something through inheritance.

Perhaps it's experience, perhaps it's strength, perhaps it's... something else.

But he wouldn't let anything take root in the depths of his soul until he figured out exactly what "something else" was.

……

But not everyone has this awareness.

Bai Mo's gaze returned to Como.

What will Cuomo do?
Will he just "watch"? Or will he be unable to resist "practicing"?
Bai Mo didn't know.

That was Cuomo's own choice, and also the choice of those Bai Mos in parallel worlds.

He had no intention of interfering.

He just watched quietly for a while, then looked away.

In the distance, the false sun still hung silently atop the council chamber's dome, casting its unchanging light and heat. (End of Chapter)