Calamity of Tomorrow
Chapter 681 - 679 clues

Chapter 681: 679 clues

Zhou Bai nodded, finally encountering a Dr. Zhuang who seemed willing to engage in a proper conversation, and he immediately couldn’t help but ask curiously, "I’ve met several of you outside, don’t you remember me? Can’t your memories be shared?"

Dr. Zhuang patiently explained, "We are clones from different periods, and because the time and place of cloning are different, our subsequent experiences and, naturally, our memories are different as well. Therefore, as clones, our understanding of the world and our own plans can also vary."

After thinking for a moment, Dr. Zhuang said, "The most likely reason I don’t remember you is that your encounter with my other clones must have occurred after this clone was created, so I don’t have any memories related to you."

Zhou Bai then asked, "The Original Scripture 06 is still here, right? Are the abnormal phenomena here caused by it?"

Dr. Zhuang laughed, pointed behind Zhou Bai, and said, "The Original Scripture 06 is right behind you."

Zhou Bai was startled, turned around again, and saw an enormous white tree, so vast it made them seem like ants, suddenly appearing before them.

Zhou Bai exclaimed in surprise, "Where did this tree come from? There was clearly nothing here just a moment ago..."

Dr. Zhuang: "To me, the Original Scripture 06 has always been here. But to you, the Original Scripture 06’s location is unknown."

"However, when I tell you that the Original Scripture 06 is right here, it becomes present for you as your consciousness changes,"

Zhou Bai could not understand, "How is that possible..."

Dr. Zhuang: "There’s nothing impossible about it. The Void is a world of spirit and consciousness where many laws of the Material World do not apply. The concepts of time and space change with the shift in consciousness, and everything is chaotic and fragmented. The human brain, upon entering the Void, can become mad due to these changes."

"Our fragile consciousness and rudimentary senses simply cannot grasp the immense changes and information in the Void in an instant."

"Only certain special Daoist arts can allow us to barely understand some aspects of the Void, but it’s still very dangerous."

"However, this place is a bit better. Although it is constantly nearing the Void and gradually acquires its characteristics, it still maintains some attributes of the Material World, allowing our senses to receive some scenes we can comprehend, rather than pure chaos and madness."

"But to discern which sights are real and which are false, to maintain one’s sanity, still requires a strong mental fortitude."

Zhou Bai said in amazement, "Are you saying... the true Void is a world beyond human observation, understanding, and description. But this place isn’t the real Void; it’s just because of the distortions caused by the Original Scripture 06... So, although it possesses some characteristics of the Void, it also has sights from the Material World, things we can understand and see."

Dr. Zhuang smiled again, "Exactly, you catch on quickly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Bai only felt his head grow bigger, "That’s too idealistic... too mysterious..."

He thought about his previous experience of entering the Void: ’In the truly pure Void, my star-dot ability brought about by Heavenly Dao’s Nine Calamities seemed to have no effect, and it was only difficult to move through the Void. But in these distortions, where one can still see various scenes that humans can understand, they influence me even more.’

Dr. Zhuang: "But the reactions in the Void are just natural phenomena. It has no malice towards humanity, changing only because of the changes in your consciousness and spirit. It is us who are too foolish and fragile in comparison to the Void."

"When you first came in, you must have seen a lot of things, right? All of that was the Void’s response to you, but because of the distortions, this response still retains some aspects of the Material World, and you can understand it."

Having said that, Dr. Zhuang smiled softly, "You seem to have many questions. Since you can cultivate the Original Scripture and haven’t gone mad in this environment, we must have a connection. Ask whatever you want, and I’ll do my best to answer."

"Of course," Zhou Bai said, clenching his fist, "Firstly, what’s the difference between the Original Scripture and the scriptures currently used by the Dao School? Why did cultivating the Original Scripture first, then practicing the school’s scriptures, actually lead to distortions?"

The Original Scripture, as Zhou Bai’s principal method of advancing his realm all this time, its origins and essence were always of concern to him.

Dr. Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "The Original Scripture represents the power of the Void. The scriptures cultivated within the current Dao School system, on the other hand, seek to comprehend the power of Heavenly Dao."

"The power of the Void and the power of the Heavenly Dao?" Zhou Bai said with some confusion, "Are these two different?"

"The history of the Heavenly Dao is immeasurable, already beyond research. I even suspect that the Heavenly Dao is an extraordinary phenomenon that appeared with the birth of the universe."

Dr. Zhuang from the original Dao School 06 had clearly studied this topic for a long time and spoke methodically, "But the Void is different; long ago, there may not have been the concept of the Void in the universe."

"Only after the appearance of the Void did the power of the Heavenly Dao radiating the Material World get disturbed. As a result, the powers of all cultivators in the world were also affected."

"Without the interference of the Void, the power of cultivators and deities might have been stronger. The distortion of the Heavenly Dao and the contamination of spiritual essence might also be phenomena caused by the long-term mutual influence of the Heavenly Dao and the Void."

As he spoke, Dr. Zhuang laughed, "Of course, these are all my hypotheses. Whether I have verified them or gained new understandings afterward, I don’t know."

Listening to Dr. Zhuang’s exposition, Zhou Bai’s eyes flashed, and he remembered that Christina had recalled memories where the Demon Saint also mentioned that the human-demon great war that ended 500 years ago was the second human-demon great war, and the first may have been without the Void.

So, Zhou Bai directly mentioned the information about the first human-demon great war and the hypothesis that there may not have been a Void.

Zhou Bai asked, "Is that possible?"

"The first human-demon great war? There was no Void at that time?"

Dr. Zhuang thought for a moment, then shook his head, "...I’m afraid there was no first human-demon great war."

Zhou Bai asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"

Dr. Zhuang said, "Demons have great adaptability, capable of surviving in most environments of the world and using various natural forces. But they have always been unable to utilize the power of the Heavenly Dao; according to the deities, it’s because they are not favored by the destiny of the Heavenly Dao."

"But the power of the Void... after they harnessed it, they even became stronger than the deities. That is the main reason the demons could gain the upper hand during the human-demon great war... no, according to what you said, during the second human-demon great war."

"But if there was no Void during the first human-demon great war, then demons would have been absolutely at a disadvantage and faced complete defeat. Under such circumstances, they probably would have been thoroughly exterminated by the deities."

"Therefore, the era in which demons and deities existed, the Void must have already appeared. As for a first human-demon great war without the Void, the likelihood is very low."

Meanwhile, Zhou Bai’s brain began to think intensely, with bits of information flashing rapidly through his mind.

’Dr. Zhuang makes a lot of sense, but this Dr. Zhuang doesn’t know about the information from the extinction period of the Spiritual People, nor does he know that spiritual essence once disappeared for a period.’

’The extinction period of the Spiritual People was already in the presence of the Void.’

’If there were no Void during the first human-demon great war...’

’Then the so-called first human-demon great war was probably before the extinction of the Spiritual People and the resurgence of spiritual essence.’

’Deities might not have been able to completely exterminate demons during the first human-demon great war, possibly because of the peculiar decline in spiritual essence.’

’And the unusual decline in spiritual essence may have been due to the appearance of the Void. According to Dr. Zhuang, the Void disrupted the Heavenly Dao’s radiation to the Material World, causing spiritual essence to disappear for a quite a long period, and the Spiritual People, represented by deities, withdrew from Earth’s big stage and hid themselves.’

’This gave humans a chance to develop later on and allowed demons to survive a catastrophe, resurrecting again with the resurgence of spiritual essence.’

’With the resurgence of spiritual essence, deities and demons reemerged... but this time there was the Void, and demons became strong, which enabled them to gain the upper hand during the second human-demon great war.’

In that instant, Zhou Bai felt many clues seeming to connect together.