Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 440 - 410 Eve 3

Chapter 440: 410 Eve 3

After thinking, Weichi said: "First of all, you have a misunderstanding. Impermanence doesn’t necessarily form more connections the longer it lives. Because Impermanence is a solitary and sacred existence, there aren’t many qualified to form bonds with it in the first place.

"This is similar to the upper echelons of secular society. The higher the status and greater the power, the harder it is to form genuine friendships. Power twists people’s emotions like a vortex. Even if bonds are formed in this state, they tend to be shallow and fragile, difficult to become the force that anchors Impermanence in itself.

"Rather, as time goes on, the connections of Impermanence become fewer. Precisely because of its long lifespan, the people around it cannot keep up, and thus the deep bonds formed in its growth period gradually disappear. Once all worldly connections are severed, Impermanence becomes solitary."

Mr. Zhu never told me about this... but then, although the Zhu family had an ancestor who became Impermanence, Zhu Yi didn’t live long. Shortly after becoming Impermanence, he, along with other Liangyi inheritors, challenged Shan Liangyi and was defeated and died.

I turned to ask: "Then... what about the god marriage ritual? I heard that a god marriage can allow Impermanence to form bonds with the opposite sex and share the connections possessed by the partner... Is this not feasible either?"

"In a god marriage ritual, the women offered to the God, rather than being the God’s wives, are more like living sacrifices. There is often a huge gulf between them. Of course, your situation might be different." Weichi looked at me curiously, "Do you want to marry Zhu Shi from the Zhu family? If you regard her as an equal, then the god marriage ritual could be quite useful. But other Impermanence may not share your mindset."

"So, ordinary Impermanence will ultimately fall into a state of forming no bonds?" This statement seemed unreliable to me, "But doesn’t Impermanence still have strong ties with its believers? Even though the anchoring provided by believers may have some unreliability, Impermanence should have a few reliable bonds, right?

"Moreover, historically, Impermanence surely did not solely rely on the power of bonds to anchor themselves. Regarding their anchoring state, I think they could certainly find more ways to anchor themselves in this world. It can’t be that so many Impermanence throughout history fell into despair due to lack of bonds, can it?"

Weichi sighed: "You’re right, but as they say, ’A thousand precautions are no match for the inside thief.’ No matter how many methods Impermanence employs to anchor itself, it can’t prevent itself from actively entering a state of despair."

His words stunned me: "What are you saying?"

Actively entering a state of despair... Is this something Impermanence would do? And from his tone, it’s not just one or two Impermanence doing this... but many?

Instinctively, I glanced again at the dark Black Forest of Towers in the distance.

"Have you heard of the concept of ’yàn lí xīn’?" Weichi asked.

I nodded, suddenly understanding.

What Weichi brought up is a Buddhist term; ’yàn lí xīn’ signifies a heart of detachment and indifference towards the worldly. Buddhism preaches detachment from the world, urging its followers to forsake material desires of the mundane world, with ’yàn lí xīn’ considered the first stage of seeking the path.

To stimulate ’yàn lí xīn,’ some Buddhist scriptures attempt to describe to followers the ugliness of worldly material. If a follower harbors a desire for beauty, they should be told the principle of the painted skeleton. Some do this not with words, but with pictures, revealing the ugliness of the flesh, letting them see the terrifying process of the body rotting to bare bones after death. The famous ’Nine Stages of Meditation’ works similarly. Followers, after seeing this, naturally develop ’yàn lí xīn’ towards their bodies, aspiring for a spiritual realm.

With ’yàn lí xīn,’ only then can arise ’outwardly detached heart,’ and from there, ’Bodhi heart.’ It’s a gradual process of spiritual cultivation.

And through this insight, I perhaps also understood what it means for Impermanence to actively enter a state of despair.

Impermanence is the pinnacle existence in this world, with a lifespan that seemingly has no end. Violence, power, wealth, fame... most things desired by ordinary people are easily attainable for Impermanence.

The legendary Shakyamuni Buddha, before renouncing his worldly life, was a prince of the Kshatriya caste in ancient India. After witnessing the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, he developed ’yàn lí xīn’ towards the mortal world, feeling an impulse to retreat into monastic life. Some suggest that Shakyamuni could abandon status and power so fully because he had enjoyed all worldly luxuries and no longer clung to material desires.

With desires being repeatedly satisfied, Impermanence naturally begins to feel boredom towards the external world. Few stand as equals, and most enjoyable things have been experienced. The world feels like a nearly completed single-player game, and it’s time to graduate. Although there might be a few rare things yet undone, the world’s allure to them undoubtedly diminishes rapidly.

Take Divine Light as an example, although he still pursues the third door, it’s more of a struggle within himself. The external world offers little help, and bonds cannot strengthen him. Thus, he doesn’t care about how Extraordinaryism or the Governance Ideology fare, nor about how many demon hunters who fight alongside him die. He likely has developed ’yàn lí xīn’ towards the world, leaning towards despairing.

"Impermanence can change surrounding people and things with mere thoughts, so once Impermanence develops ’yàn lí xīn,’ no matter how many methods it has set up to prevent despair, it can’t stop the process." Weichi said, "Some Impermanence may not even consider preventing it.

"Under different value systems, the same thing can be interpreted differently. In secular society, ’yàn lí xīn’ might be seen by psychology as world-weariness, a negative and escapist emotion; from the perspective of mysticism, ’yàn lí xīn’ is the beginning of enlightenment to become a Buddha, a positive and lucid state of mind.

"In the eyes of many Impermanence believers, the despairing of Impermanence isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In ancient times, Impermanence was also called a ’human god,’ and the process of becoming a Lost Impermanence is seen as a sublimation from Personification God to natural god, a sacred evolution, or a form of divinity. They believe the disappearance of Impermanence enters a dimensional unknown, a metamorphosis from ’human god’ to a true ’Immortal God.’

Towards the end, his voice seemed somewhat sarcastic.

Perhaps what Lu Chan previously emphasized, "The problem with anchoring provided by the believer group," is influenced by this. As believers, expected to provide anchoring to Impermanence, they instead hope Impermanence loses its anchoring.

Gua Tianshi claimed he has persisted since ancient times and must have witnessed many Impermanence’s despair and demise, yet he did not fall into worldly detachment, undoubtedly due to intense commitment to the external world.

Looking at Weichi’s attitude, I asked: "Do you think differently from them?"

"I, too, once held the same thought long ago. However, my wife became Impermanence, so naturally, I wouldn’t want her to turn into a Lost Impermanence..." Weichi gazed into the distant Great Impermanence Grave Area, "But who can know..."

There was sadness and hatred in his eyes.

Afterward, the mortuary rite commenced.

Perhaps because in the abnormal world, there genuinely was a phenomenon of corpses reviving, the funeral culture of Luo Mountain also uses cremation as its basis; Considering many war dead left not even bones to retrieve, the mortuary rite altered the farewell to the body aspect. One by one, mini coffins were brought in, with most containing relics of the deceased, only a few held ashes.

On stage, Gua Tianshi praised the fallen warriors who participated in the Human Bureau’s main stronghold battle, all expressed respect and mourning towards them, before the urns were placed beneath headstones.

Though the Human Bureau was destroyed, Luo Mountain still faces three major threats. Previously, these were the Human Bureau, Taoyuan Village, and Xuanming believers, now they are the Void Realm, Taoyuan Village, and Xuanming believers.

After the ceremony concluded, Gua Tianshi departed the venue, and everyone else left in turn. In private, Weichi consoled me: "... who could have imagined that nearly half of the participants in this mortuary rite were Void Envoys."

Saying this, he glanced in the direction of Divine Light. Unseen, Divine Light had already left.

"The Virtual Realm Conference should begin soon, I’ll see you then," he said.

"See you then," I replied.

After bidding farewell to Fa Zheng and Jian Feixian, I headed toward the distant Black Forest of Towers, wanting to see the tombstones of past Impermanence. The Great Impermanence Grave Area holds supreme sanctity in Luo Mountain, even those of the Great Success Rank Impermanence have no authority to freely enter. However, since I am Impermanence, I can enter at will.

Below these monumental tombstones, as tall as skyscrapers, there are basically no actual remains or ashes of Impermanence. A Lost Impermanence naturally leaves no remains, nor do those few who died in battle typically leave any.

Among the tombstones, I also saw some renowned Impermanence tombstones. Fu Hongchen, burned by Xuanming, and Qilin, killed by Old Fist God... beneath such tombstones, there’s nothing. On Impermanence battlefields, even ashes cannot be preserved.

Some tombstones still lack owners; Luo Mountain seems to preemptively establish tombstones for Impermanence who hasn’t died yet, much like how ancient emperors would build tombs before their deaths.

Constructing tombstones in advance for the immortal Impermanence might sound like a curse, yet Luo Mountain, known for its death-centric culture, had its headquarters once situated in the afterlife, and Impermanence was once seen as the god of the afterlife. The tombstones constructed in advance, within Luo Mountain’s culture, aren’t considered curses but rather symbols of sacred reverence.

Amidst the somber tombstones, I noticed a familiar figure. Divine Light stood there, casting a mysterious gaze at the unfinished giant tombstones.

He must’ve sensed my gaze as he turned his head, looking at me from afar, without uttering a word. He glanced once more at the tombstones and then vanished again.

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