Eternal Night

Chapter 843 Infinite Paths, I'll Only Choose One
Before starting the thought, Wu Pifu would at most feel that he was thinking too much, or that his associations were too rich and he thought of many other things.

But at this moment, when he first had this thought, the immense burden was lifted by a tiny, insignificant strand, which made him feel extremely sharp. The whole world felt incredibly clear, and as soon as this thought arose, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

This is not his idea!
He really didn't know how to describe it, because the thought had sprung out of his mind, but it wasn't his own idea; a message disguised as his own was misleading him.

At this moment, Wu Pifu clearly sensed the difference between his own thoughts and the thoughts that suddenly burst forth that did not belong to him.

But his question remained unanswered. The thought that had just surfaced began to transform into a kind of emotion, trying to overshadow his original idea.

However, Wu Pifu's personality is simple and pure, which is the result of countless personality iterations. If he doesn't realize it, that's fine. But once he does, he is immediately unaffected. Although he keeps thinking about the power of developing countless Nen abilities, the power of having countless extraordinary paths, the absolute top, the inevitable invincibility in the future, etc., Wu Pifu completely ignores them.

"...It really wasn't a coincidence; someone was plotting against me."

Wu Pifu muttered this sentence, and he already had the answer to the coincidence of obtaining the Thunder Pool and the Super-Light Speed ​​Divine Word at the same time.

But... why force him to have this idea at this time?
Wu Pifu began to ponder the reason why this thought had arisen.

As he was thinking, Wu Pifu suddenly clenched his fist and clapped his hands. That's right, he'd gone mad…

"Kura, Jin, please help me figure this out, wait a moment."

After saying this, Wu Pifu walked directly to the big fly, flicked his finger at it, and a buzzing sound appeared a moment later.

"...Can't eat..."

"Stop talking in your sleep, get up."

Wu Pifu picked up the fly and shook it twice, and the fist-sized fly slowly began to rub its little feet.

"...Where is this place? Aren't we in the middle of nowhere?" Beelzebub had just woken up and was completely bewildered.

Wu Pifu was too lazy to explain and said directly, "You were affected by negative influences and have been asleep for several months. It took me a while to remove the negative influences from you... Okay, wake up quickly, we have a meeting."

"What kind of meeting?" Beelzebub was still confused.

A moment later, Gin, Kurapika, Gon, Killua, and Alluka all stared at the fist-sized fly perched on the table with strange expressions...

No, the partner you're talking about is a real partner!?

The five people from this world were all speechless, they really didn't expect that Wu Pifu's so-called partner was actually a real "partner".

At this point, Beelzebub spoke first: "First, I must confirm one thing: can you distinguish whether this thought is actually your own? This involves the most fundamental philosophical questions, such as 'Who am I?'..."

"It wasn't my own idea."

Wu Pifu immediately interrupted Beelzebub, saying, "After opening my mind, I feel that I am one step closer to the perfection of my sublimated self. In particular, the feeling of having a little burden lifted when I first opened my mind makes me very certain that this thought is definitely not mine."

Beelzebub remained silent.

Because Wu Pifu is right, for mortals, countless contemplations about "self" are actually unanswerable, including who I am, where I come from, where I am going, and so on. This is because mortals do not have a core, perfect "self" in their thinking, which is why mortals cannot survive in the endless cycle of the root. Mortals cannot even distinguish whether they are living in a brain in a vat. As long as thoughts about "self" are involved, mortals are easily controlled, distorted, and changed.

However, the sublimated form is different, a fact that Beelzebub was well aware of.

At the same time, Beelzebub also knew that Wu Pifu was indeed very close to the self-perfection threshold of the sublimation body. If he hadn't been an extreme seed with multiple extraordinary paths, he might have already begun to condense his self-core and undergo perfect sublimation.

"...If what you say is true, a thought that wasn't originally yours suddenly appeared, disguised as yours, trying to overshadow your original thoughts and subtly intending to make you choose another path, this tactic feels very, very familiar to me."

Beelzebub rubbed her little feet, pacing back and forth unconsciously as she did so, while King and the other four watched with strange expressions as the large fly crawled around on the table.

After walking around for a while, Beelzebub suddenly exclaimed, "I remember now, Wu Pifu! I remember now, this is the method of that being! Yes, it must be Him, only Him could do this. Yes, yes, it all connects, it all connects! You just mentioned that you found a faster-than-light divine word, which requires sufficient Nen or pure electricity to replenish, and you just happened to obtain the Thunder Pool, right? You think it's a coincidence, and then with your current performance, I'm sure it must be Him!"

"Who?" Wu Pifu asked in a deep voice. Beelzebub stammered for a long time, but couldn't say the name or the symbol of that being. Frustrated, she crawled more and more frantically. After a while, she gave up and lay back on the table, saying, "I don't remember the specific name or what it is, but I know it's Him, it must be Him... a very terrifying and dreadful source in the Heavenly Court, known as the right and left hand of the Primordial Immortals, and also the greatest assistant to the Primordial Immortals in enabling them to attain enlightenment. Only Him can do this!"

“Uh…” Wu Pifu was speechless for a moment, then continued to ask, “How did He do that? I mean, how did He arrange the Thunder Pool so long ago, leaving behind the ancient divine characters, and now a thought suddenly popped into my head: this is the Ancient Insect Realm, a place that the Root cannot invade at all. How did He do it?”

“…I don’t remember,” Beelzebub cried out in distress.

Wu Pifu paused for a moment, then asked again, "Then why did He do this? He gave me the means to travel faster than light, allowing me to ascend to the level of absolute truth. Now He has also allowed me to develop countless mental abilities and obtain countless extraordinary pathways, increasing my strength so that I can reach the top in the future. Why did He do this? What is the reason?"

“…I don’t remember.” Beelzebub’s voice trailed off.

Wu Pifu grabbed the large fly by its wings and lifted it up, momentarily wishing he could throw it out the window.

Unexpectedly, Jin said at this moment, "Sir, I would like to ask you, do you want to know what this thought wants to do?"

Wu Pifu looked at Jin. He had a deep impression of Jin. People in this world were generally smart, and these were his external brain resources.

He immediately said, "Yes, I won't go into the specifics, but basically I'm about to undergo a qualitative leap in my life. If this leap succeeds, my future will be limitless. However, there are differences. The location of the leap determines the height and potential of my future. The leap with the highest potential requires me to travel to a location hundreds of light-years away using faster-than-light means. But I can't do that. There's no way I can do it under the current circumstances. So I had given up on the idea. But then, unexpectedly, I suddenly obtained faster-than-light means, and by sheer coincidence, I obtained both parts of it at the same time."

"Then, just now, when I activated my Nen, the thought wanted me to develop countless Nen abilities and obtain countless extraordinary pathways. Although this wasn't my actual thought, I had indeed thought about it before..."

Jin immediately asked, "Then what is it that makes you no longer think that way?"

Wu Pifu looked up and thought for a moment before saying, "Because of incompatibility... Just like I told you, I possess an unlimited memory capacity, but what I excel at most is close combat. Obtaining more extraordinary abilities, while allowing my numbers to accumulate, actually makes my fighting style seem clumsy and contradictory. My combat power does increase, but it gives me a feeling of unfulfilled progress... In short, that's it. So recently, I've indeed abandoned the idea of ​​learning all the extraordinary abilities I've found, and instead intend to integrate my fighting style, fusing it with my core... Do you understand what I'm saying?"

All five nodded, then Killua suddenly said, "So your plan is to use the vows and constraints of Nen to achieve all this, right?"

“Yes!” Wu Pifu immediately replied.

Ging, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon looked at each other, their eyes seemingly exchanging a great deal of information.

Then Xiao Jie suddenly spoke up: "Sir, I think I know what that idea is planning to do."

Wu Pifu immediately asked with delight, "What are you planning to do? Come on, Xiao Jie, speak freely."

Xiao Jie nodded and said very seriously, "The owner of this idea intends for you to give up your oath and constraints and walk the path he wants you to take."

Wu Pifu pondered carefully, then said, "If the person who conceived this idea is the same person who devised the method to help me obtain faster-than-light speed, then is this a good intention? Because the person who told me to ascend to the Absolute Truth layer is not a member of this Heavenly Court, but rather an enemy of the Heavenly Court... So, is it this Heavenly Court that is advising me? Telling me which path is the right one?"

"No!"

Beelzebub suddenly exclaimed, "I remember now, I remember now..."

Wu Pifu flicked Beelzebub's finger and said, "Is yours an old cassette tape? It only makes a sound when you tap it!"

Beelzebub ignored him and immediately said, "The person who told you to ascend to the Absolute Truth level once fought against the master who created this idea, so she has been 'changed'! Her suggestion to you to ascend to the Absolute Truth level is probably not her own idea! Yes, yes, the master of this idea has this ability, and He also, He also... He also what?"

Wu Pifu frowned; he was momentarily confused.

Unexpectedly, Gon asked again, "Sir, Kurapika said that your oath is very difficult. So what kind of constraints do you plan to set?"

Wu Pifu shuddered. Suddenly, countless thoughts and ideas burst forth in his mind—good, bad, chaotic—almost overwhelming him. However, his nature allowed him to ignore these distractions, so he spoke directly.

"The details of the oath are still under consideration, but the constraints I can impose are..."

"From now on, I will no longer be able to use any of the extraordinary methods I have learned, except for the superposition of extraordinary abilities. At the same time, I will also give up developing all Nen abilities. I will never develop any Nen abilities again."

"Of the infinite paths, I will choose only one!"

(End of this chapter)