Above The Sky
Chapter 1030 - 1030 118 The Dao Lineage of the God Slayer Added for Alliance Leader Ji Sansui!

1030: Chapter 118: The Dao Lineage of the God Slayer (Added chapter for Alliance Leader Ji Sansui!) 1030: Chapter 118: The Dao Lineage of the God Slayer (Added chapter for Alliance Leader Ji Sansui!) It seems that what the Forest Ocean Spirit wanted him to predict was whether there would be any issues if it expanded beyond the South Ridge, whether it would attract others—such as a strike from the strong individuals of Terra.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Forest Ocean Spirit can almost dictate the growth and withering of all plants in the South Ridge; at the end of the day, it’s at most a Fourth Energy Level entity.

Truly angering the Humans?

A few Grand Knight Order expeditions would be enough to drive the Forest Ocean Spirit away.

Killing it would surely be difficult; if it truly sought to flee, it would be impossible to kill.

But expelling it?

That’s another matter entirely.

The Forest Ocean Spirit was an “alien species” recovered by the Redwood People from the Sparks.

Realizing the exceptional psychic capabilities and immense potential of this being, the Redwood People did not abandon its cultivation even after leaving their base.

This indeed brought them abundant rewards: the Forest Ocean Spirit, assimilated with the South Ridge Redwood Forest, helped the Redwood People grow and thrive, predicting numerous disasters and opportunities for them.

In return, with the help of the Redwood People, the Forest Ocean Spirit smoothly weathered its initial development period, eventually spreading throughout the South Ridge jungle and slowly becoming the hidden ruler behind the ecosystem.

The Forest Ocean Spirit could almost be called the plant deity of the South Ridge.

But even such a powerful Forest Ocean Spirit, at some point, chose to fall silent, concealing its presence and no longer interfering in the conflicts between the Redwood People and the Imperial People, leading to the first decline of the Redwood People.

Ian could quite understand this choice.

Without a doubt, the Forest Ocean Spirit had made the wise decision to lay low and develop itself only after realizing the power of the Empire and the chaotic, inexplicable demons and monsters on Terra.

At that time, the Forest Ocean Spirit was at most Third Energy Level, while outside the Empire had multiple Fifth Energy Level individuals.

Various Great Demons emerging from labyrinths started at Third Energy Level, with no shortage of Fourth Energy Level Beastmasters… What could they do?

Of course, they were afraid!

In this ghostly place presumed to have hundreds or thousands of Sparks, the Forest Ocean Spirit, as merely a derivative alien lifeform of a single extraterrestrial Spark, was far too common, far too ordinary.

As for why the Great Shaman couldn’t predict himself back then… Ian thought it probably still came down to the issue of the predictive ability itself.

Yes, using big data for predictions, as long as the data is sufficiently detailed and computational power sufficiently great, you could indeed achieve something akin to prophecy.

But even a supermassive quantum computer could not deduce a Prophet whose specific abilities were not yet known beforehand!

Prophets acquire information without needing any action; in other words, they don’t provide the external world any data and simply suddenly obtain vast amounts of information, operating in ways completely divergent from the existing data… This kind of reverse-temporal trial-and-error is totally unreasonable.

To give a simple analogy: Predictive modeling is like writing a novel; no matter how bizarre the plot, it needs prior setup to progress—it needs to be “logical.”

But a Prophet is like a glitch in reality.

Someone with Prophet Psychic abilities doesn’t need logic to take the correct actions.

How on Terra could a predictive model account for that?

However, the fact that the Forest Ocean Spirit realized early on that he was a Prophet suggests that it had actually been observing him for quite some time…

“Wait.”

At this thought, Ian raised his head, somewhat startled: “The song Elan heard from the plants… You were already paying attention to us back then?”

[The wilderness is everywhere.]

The Forest Ocean Spirit did not deny it, smiling calmly: [Our power is weak within cities; individual plants can’t transmit much information.

To monitor specific targets, special methods are required.]

Ian nodded slightly, not minding this detail.

After all, this was simply the Forest Ocean Spirit’s way of life.

As for how much the Forest Ocean Spirit knew of his secrets, Ian felt it wasn’t much.

Given that many of his outward behaviors—especially those related to the Silver Chip—were just glowing eyes, how could big data possibly deduce the connection to the Silver Chip?

No.

The Forest Ocean Spirit probably didn’t even know what the Silver Chip was!

And this highlights the gap between big data prediction and a Prophet: Prediction requires the predictor to understand what’s happening in order to utilize data, whereas a Prophet does not.

Moreover, it seemed like Elan’s psychic gift had probably been hinted at since that time—it’s just that he hadn’t noticed.

Compared to being approached by the Forest Ocean Spirit as a Prophet, the fact that Elan could hear an extraordinary melody from plants suggested that he was most likely the type of person referred to in the legends around Harrison Port as “chosen by the Forest Ocean.”

“My prophetic abilities cannot foresee a very distant future.”

Raising his head, Ian studied the wooden Madonna statue in front of him and said thoughtfully, “If the Redwood Forest’s Forest Ocean intends to present itself to Terra Humans as a ‘cluster of intelligent life,’ then undoubtedly both the Empire and other forces will feel uneasy—the world of Terra is already crowded with Alien Forms and Different Races; you’re unlikely to be very welcome.”

“But if you appeared as an ‘individual Wise Magical Beast,’ even though people might know you are the Forest Ocean Spirit and a collective lifeform, you would be received much more positively.

That way, you wouldn’t be seen as a group competing with other races for dominance, but as an ‘individual’ who can be integrated into their organizations and nations, becoming part of their power.”

“This is the art of communication… To make others feel that you are part of ‘us’—then everyone will grow tolerant.”

“But if you lead others to feel that you are part of ‘them,’ they will become wary and hostile.”

Saying this, Ian smiled, an idea forming in his heart: “I think we can collaborate… Forest Ocean Spirit, perhaps you don’t need to appear so directly before the public.”

“If you don’t mind, I can collaborate with you as the Cult Leader of the Supreme Spirit Sect.”

[Collaboration… A pact?

Supreme Spirit Sect, Prophet, are you planning for us to appear before the public as part of the Supreme Spirit Sect, or as the object of worship?]

The Forest Ocean Spirit did not immediately agree: [We once served as the ritual leader for the Redwood People.

It was an unforgettable experience, but precisely because of it, we had to retreat to the Forest Ocean, not daring to act recklessly.]

“Oh?”

For the first time, Ian’s invitation to someone else was tactfully declined—after all, in his view, the Forest Ocean Spirit’s big data predictive abilities were an excellent match for the artificial intelligence systems related to Artificial Souls.

One could even say the Forest Ocean Spirit itself was a form of collective intelligence; its consciousness algorithm could greatly optimize AI technology.

Not to mention the wealth of data it had accumulated over the years, which was undoubtedly a treasure trove.

Failing to achieve a win-win (or outright exploitation)?

What a shame!

Still, Ian picked up on some subtle cues.

Narrowing his eyes with a thoughtful expression, he mused, “So you’re saying that back then, it wasn’t by your choice to end your connection with the Redwood People, but because of external forces?”

“Interesting.” The youth offered his assessment and curiously pressed further: “What exactly happened?

We both know that the Redwood People devolved from an enclave of local settlers into Natives largely because of your decision!”

[No, it had nothing to do with us.

The Redwood People’s population was simply too small.

With the loss of high-quality individuals and their hoarding of knowledge, they couldn’t sustain the technological level they had when leaving their base; this was foreseeable.]

The massive Madonna statue shook her head: [Our original pact with the Redwood People was that they would assist in our spread across Terra’s wilderness, and in return, we would ensure their descendants’ survival, safeguarding their most crucial origins.]

[The original generation of the Redwood People foresaw the regression of their descendants.

Powerless to stop it, they sought only the continuance of their Bloodline.]

“I see.”

Ian sighed softly.

Indeed, the Redwood People who had left their base foresaw the emergence of “Natives” and thus designed various traditions and sacrificial rites from the start to preserve the most basic inheritance.

The Forest Ocean Spirit was merely a safety net, not a nanny for the Redwood People, merely ensuring they did not face complete extinction.

[As for why we dare not leave the South Ridge…]

Finally, the Forest Ocean Spirit disclosed the issue Ian was most concerned about: [The answer is quite simple: because we were warned.]

[Prophet, back in our homeland, there were many beings reliant on the wilderness for survival who called us ‘God’ or ‘Divine Tree.’ We don’t know whether your legends contain similar terms, but they likely do.]

[Indeed, we were the gods of that homeland, masters of the wilderness and life itself.

Our authority stretched across the land, reaching up to the firmament… No.

That wasn’t us; it was the wilderness of our homeland.

We were merely its seeds.]

Initially, the Forest Ocean Spirit’s tone carried a trace of reminiscent sentiment, but it quickly turned to self-mockery: [And here on Terra, we were indeed worshipped by the Redwood People, who even came to be known as the “Forest People” because of us.]

[Just as in our homeland—we fancied ourselves gods.]

[And then we encountered the Dao of God-Slaying.]

“Dao of God-Slaying?”

Ian’s eyes widened slightly.

Since earlier, he had been quietly listening.

But now, he could no longer hold back and asked, “What exactly is the Dao of God-Slaying?

Are you saying it was the strong individuals of Terra at the time who forced you back to the South Ridge?”

[Prophet, aren’t you quite familiar with it yourself?]

Yet now, the Forest Ocean Spirit seemed confused, its tone laced with bewilderment: [The doctrines of killing foreign gods have always been widespread among Humans.

They’ve left their marks in Harrison Port, Nauman City, even your Xiawei Territory—all of them have their Sacred Temples.]

[Their name is Huai Guang.]

Hearing this, Ian stood dumbfounded, while the Forest Ocean Spirit continued its tale: [The strongest god-slaying organization on this planet, annihilating all foreign gods… Your protectors of Humanity: the Light of Huai, the Light Beyond Light.]

[It was their warning at the time that made us abandon our path to becoming human deities, opting instead to retreat to the forests and become the wilderness.]