Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

Bound to the Heavenly Dao, living in harmony with Heaven and sharing its lifespan, beings in this realm will gain supreme and absolute power, but will also be completely confined to this realm.

This matter has both advantages and disadvantages!

The advantages are obvious, but the drawback lies in what happens if the world encounters a massive crisis that is difficult to counter...

He could not remain uninvolved, no matter what.

He couldn't even escape; he could only hold out until he died.

And such a thing is possible.

Based on the information we have, there are other unknown worlds and universes beyond this one, and no one can guarantee that those worlds won't suddenly launch an invasion.

Just as the lower realm erodes the middle and upper realms, it's possible that the lower realm might also be eroded at some point.

But even with its significant drawbacks...

He Li would not, and could not possibly, refuse or oppose the actions of this world's will, after all... his interests are inextricably linked to those of this world.

Everything he has comes from this world.

For example, strength, or those familiar people...

He had every reason to protect it.

For He Li, being bound to the Heavenly Dao simply made him more resolute in making the choices he would have made anyway.

Therefore, He Li did not have much emotional reaction to Wa revealing the plans of the future Heavenly Dao. He only said, "I should have been just an unknown person..."

"I was chosen by the will of the world."

"That's what gave me an extraordinary life, and besides, everything I have is in this world."

"I have every reason to accept this!"

"Is that so?" Nuwa composed herself.

"If all living beings were like you, that would be wonderful."

"It's just a pity..." she sighed.

As for He Li, since he already had a general understanding of the basic situation regarding the reduction of spiritual energy and the situation of the Heavenly Dao in later generations, he had no intention of continuing to talk about this topic.

He changed the subject, asking, "What exactly is this aggregate of evil thoughts and the calamities that followed?"

"Is this a retaliatory act of Heaven?"

"You could say that!" Nuwa replied.

Seeing He Li frown, she explained, "The aggregate of evil thoughts is indeed intended to counteract all living beings."

"It is to accelerate the return of the Way to Heaven."

"But it's not just for suppression. The existence of the collective of evil thoughts originally had a guiding role, guiding all living beings to worship the world and provide more power to the Heavenly Dao."

"Or guide all living beings, enabling them to gradually develop more power through conflict..."

"This can make up for the error of returning the Way to Heaven."

"And also guiding all beings toward goodness..."

"The kindness here is not just about having a kind heart."

"It also implies the natural order of things, and extreme, negative, and disorderly behavior all fall under the category of evil thoughts."

The strength of an aggregate of evil thoughts is actually unrelated to whether it is a force of Heaven's retaliation against all living beings, because the power of this thing actually depends on the living beings themselves.

The more evil thoughts there are among the living beings in this world, the stronger the collective power of those evil thoughts will naturally be.

Conversely, the collective effect of evil thoughts is weaker.

So theoretically speaking...

As long as living beings maintain their original intentions and do not excessively pursue things like power and the path to immortality, then the collective evil in this world will be so weak that everyone can expel it.

Unfortunately, intelligent beings will not abide by the natural order.

They will give rise to all sorts of evil thoughts.

This is an unsolvable problem.

"What about the calamity?" He Li pressed.

He had no expectation that the beings of this era could resolve the collective evil within themselves.

Therefore, he had no interest in asking any more questions. Compared to the evil aggregates that had almost disappeared in later generations, he was now clearly more concerned about the calamities of later generations.

And when Nuwa heard his questioning…

She shook her head slightly: "Calamity, judging from the situation in later generations, is very different from that of a collection of evil thoughts."

"It is certain that the catastrophe is a countermeasure mechanism."

"But normal countermeasures shouldn't be like this."

"If I'm not mistaken... the initial calamity should be a countermeasure by the middle and upper realms of later generations against the beings of this era, intended to restrict their path of growth."

"It even caused them to return to heaven prematurely, but there must be something wrong with this mechanism."

"That's what made things so strange!"

She paused for a moment at this point.

After a moment's thought, Nuwa continued, "The calamities of later generations will turn Qi cultivators into bizarre monsters, but these monsters will be more powerful and have longer lifespans, which will not benefit the Heavenly Dao."

"So no matter how you look at it, this couldn't possibly have been something that the Middle Realm and Upper Realm of later generations did on their own initiative."

"However..." Nuwa narrowed her eyes.

"However, if the Heavenly Dao of the lower realm wants to retaliate and thus influences the middle and upper realms..."

"Perhaps this could explain the disaster?"

He Li responded and asked a question in return.

Nuwa nodded: "Yes, the Heavenly Dao of the lower realm does indeed have a high probability of actively influencing the middle and upper realms of later generations, causing the calamities that should have been countered to change."

"This has ultimately led to the current outcome."

"That calamity was too bizarre and had no discernible pattern, and the Heavenly Dao of the Middle and Upper Realms in later generations was unable to resolve it."

Even if the lower realm doesn't encroach upon the middle and upper realms...

"The result for both realms is the depletion of spiritual energy and resources, ultimately turning them into wastelands devoid of supernatural power. Therefore, it is the right thing to quickly connect with and compete with the lower realm..."

"This is what both the upper and middle realms want, which is why they didn't stop the lower realms."

Indeed, compared to slowly waiting to die...

It would be better to fight against the Heavenly Dao of the lower realm.

In that case, even if we lose and are swallowed up, it's better than losing consciousness and the world becoming a wasteland.

Having unraveled the calamities and the war between the three realms, He Li thought for a moment and couldn't help but ask another question: "The sun, moon, myriad laws... no, the cycle of life and death left words in later generations."

"He mentioned the chaos of the past..."

"It also mentions being swallowed up in the future, and that he in later generations is indeed gradually disappearing."

"How can these things be explained?"

"Explanation?" Nuwa calmly shook her head.

"You don't really need to worry about this."

No need to worry? Why not? After all, the disappearance of the future is no small matter for them.

He was somewhat confused as to why Nuwa said that such an important matter could be disregarded, until Nuwa noticed his confusion and began to explain the situation...

"It's just a matter of rise and fall!"

Nuwa said, "He controls time, but because of this, he is trapped in a terrible curse of time!"

"The curse of time?" He Li became increasingly curious.

Nuwa nodded: "When the cycle of life and death traverses time to travel into the future, it inevitably causes changes to the future that should have developed normally, thus causing the future that should have proceeded normally to disappear..."

"An abnormal future will replace it."

"But this is not the future that Ku Rong can control by traveling from the present to the future."

"Thus, the future he knew in his current memories of Ku Rong was swallowed up by unknown terrors, and when he returned to the past with things from the future..."

"The past is beginning to change!"

Nuwa continued to explain her understanding.

According to her, changes in the past are no longer recognized by the present cycle of prosperity and decline.

As a result, his memories of the past collapsed.

Furthermore, he can no longer see the more distant future or the more distant past, because both the future and the past are undergoing unpredictable changes because of him.

So, even if he wanted to travel through time again...

It can only span a more recent period of time.

His timeline is thus shrunk.

In the end, Nuwa could only sigh, "Withering and flourishing... will be trapped in the long river of time!"

"He will no longer belong to the past, no longer to the present, and no longer to the future. His traces will dissipate into the consciousness of all beings as an unspeakable unknown."

Hearing this, He Li looked up: "But...don't we still remember him?"

"Remember?" Nuwa smiled meaningfully.

"Which cycle of flourishing and withering do you remember?"

"The past? The present? The future? The unchanging rise and fall of the past? The unchanging rise and fall of the present? Or the unchanging rise and fall of the future? Or perhaps..."

Nuwa countered, "Why do your hair stand on end?"

Yes, prosperity and decline never exist solely in the known past, present, and future.

How many cycles of flourishing and decay are there...?

How many more have disappeared...?

It depends on how many times he crosses time.

But we who are living through history can only ever see the rise and fall of three timelines at most; we can never see or remember the rise and fall of other timelines that have already disappeared.

"What about us?" As if remembering something, He Li stared at Wa with a pale face and asked.

"You?" Nuwa's smile faded.

"You won't change anything."

"You still exist because...you are an integral part of the established history."

"And you will leave no trace, which is why you came to this era not in your physical bodies but in your consciousness. You also don't need to worry about your companions who were brought here."

"Because they can't do anything."

"If you don't believe me, think about it carefully!"

"Will they leave any trace of their arrival in this era, including any events that might occur later?"