Douluo Continent: Gretchen at the start, empowered by the Star God.

Chapter 108 [Cause and Effect]

These past few days, while Lang Lei's body has stopped moving in bed, his mind has certainly kept working.

"El-Lita? El-Lita? Are you there?" Unable to figure it out, Lang Lei summoned El-Lita.

"Hmm... I was sleeping, what's wrong, Master?" Elita rubbed her eyes and flew out of Lang Lei's body.

"Why are you still sleeping in the middle of the day..." Lang Lei complained. "Besides, take a rest. Except for the first time we met, you always look so drowsy whenever I see you."

"Okay..."

"I have a question to ask."

"Master, please ask whatever you wish. I will answer whatever I know." Elita patted her chest.

"Little Gretchen and Alicia..."

"Where did they come from? And how were they summoned?"

"Hmm...asking such a difficult question right off the bat..." Elita seemed a little troubled.

"Can't I say?" Lang Lei's tone was somewhat indifferent.

"It's not that I can't say..."

"But—it's not the time to say it yet."

"When can you tell me?"

"That's an answer! When the master finds out!"

"..."

"I met a star god a few days ago," Lang Lei dropped a bombshell.

"Huh? Really!" Elita, as expected, didn't know about this and looked puzzled. "Hmm... that shouldn't be the case. They shouldn't be paying attention to Master at this time..."

"Is it a star god dressed in a black robe, soaking in water, and entangled in many threads? Do you know him, El'yta?" Lang Lei pressed.

"Hmm? That's it..."

"Hmm, Master, don't worry, they're our own people." Elita seemed confident.

"Alright." Lang Lei nodded. "Do you know about that star god's fate?"

"That's something I can say!"

"It's about cause and effect! That's amazing!"

"[Cause and Effect]? This is truly an unheard-of destiny..."

As is well known, a Star God is an existence that has practiced a certain philosophical concept to the extreme, and the strength of a Star God can be defined by the breadth or narrowness of one's destiny.

And [cause and effect]...

It can be described as an extremely broad concept.

Cause and effect are ubiquitous in our daily lives; they are like an invisible thread that closely connects our every action with its consequences.

The concept of "cause and effect" was proposed in the ancient philosophies of some civilizations, which held that everything is governed by cause and effect, and every action produces a corresponding result, which in turn becomes a new cause, triggering even more results. This concept emphasizes the close connection between personal behavior and destiny, and encourages people to improve their fate by accumulating good deeds.

In life, the cause-and-effect relationship is particularly evident. For example, if a student studies diligently, they are likely to achieve good grades in exams. This is because their diligent study has planted the "cause," and the good grades in the exams are the "effect" brought about by this "cause." Similarly, if a person is full of hostility and malice towards others, they are likely to encounter interpersonal relationship problems and isolation. This is because their unfriendly behavior has planted a negative "cause," and the interpersonal relationship problems are the "effect" brought about by this "cause."

What troubles Lang Lei is that he can see the "effect" of his relationship with Alicia and little Gretchen, but he cannot find the "cause".

This is the root of Lang Lei's distress.

However, cause and effect in life are not always so simple and clear. Sometimes, an action can produce multiple different results, and these results can be intertwined and influence each other. For example, success in one's career may bring wealth and status, but it may also bring greater pressure and responsibility. In addition, cause and effect can be changed by other factors.

The complexity of causal relationships is also reflected in their multi-layered nature. Many people divide causal relationships into three levels:

Related, intervention, and counterfactual reasoning.

At the very bottom is correlation, which is what we usually understand deep learning to do: finding correlations between variables through observed data.

This cannot determine the direction of mutual influence between events; it only tells us that the two are related. For example, we know that when event A occurs, event B also occurs, but we cannot find out whether the occurrence of event A caused the occurrence of event B.

The second level is intervention, which means we want to know whether event B will change when we change event A.

The highest level is counterfactual reasoning, which can also be understood as "reasoning from effect to cause." In other words, we want to know whether we can change event A if we want event B to change in a certain way.

It sounds simple, but achieving the position of a Star God through cause and effect is not an easy task.

At the very least, you need to understand cause and effect, right?

There are many ways to understand causal relationships. Comparative experiments, logical reasoning, time series analysis, and correlation regression analysis are commonly used tools.

Comparative experiments explore causal relationships by repeatedly operating and observing the subjects under different conditions.

Logical reasoning rules involve analyzing the attributes or states of known things, summarizing and finding their inherent patterns, and then inferring unknown things.

Time series analysis and correlation regression analysis determine the correlation or causal relationship between events by collecting, organizing and analyzing data.

In short, causality is a very broad and difficult concept to grasp. It is an important tool for understanding the world and our own behavior. Through the exploration and application of causality, we can gain a better understanding of the world and more wisely guide our own behavior and decisions.

All of this tells Lang Lei that this [Cause and Effect] Star God is definitely not simple!

Moreover, Lang Lei had a premonition that all his questions could be answered by this Star God.

After all, what he was looking for was the "cause," and the other party was the Star God of Cause and Effect.

"Master, is there any other question...?" Elita looked at Lang Lei, who was deep in thought, and yawned widely.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. You should go and rest."

"Okay, Master, you should get some rest too~"

As she spoke, Elita flew into Langre's body.

"Cause and effect, cause and effect..." Lang Lei murmured, as if he had grasped something, yet also as if he had grasped nothing at all.

It's truly a tangled mess that's impossible to unravel.

"Ugh, never mind, let's draw cards!"

Unable to figure it out for the time being, Lang Lei simply put the matter aside and opened the system's lottery page.

(End of this chapter)