Eternal Night

Chapter 868 Morality
The cloaked man was actually helpless.

He was originally a prodigy of a certain civilization, but unlike the other prodigies who came to the vicinity of the Gaia human civilization this time, he was a "true" prodigy.

This is not actually a written rule, nor even an unspoken rule, but a very vague consensus: those who rise from the bottom through their own strength and fight their way to the status of a prodigy are the "true" prodigies.

The truth is quite simple: people have varying degrees of closeness or distance. No sentient being can escape this. You can't possibly favor outsiders over distant relatives; that's simply unreasonable.

If resources are extremely abundant, then it is possible to treat everyone as equally as possible. For example, if the civilization is still in the True Era, or its True Era has just ended, and there are still a lot of resources that can be distributed to most people, then this kind of "morality" still retains its inertia. The so-called prodigies may really be the group with the strongest potential in a civilization or a race.

However, as time goes on, and as the true era ends, the amount of reality generated within the civilization decreases while the amount consumed increases, gradually leading to a deficit. In this situation, even the most powerful individuals, those who occupy the management and leadership positions of the civilization, no matter how selfless or reasonable they may be, will subconsciously prioritize resources for their own factions, their own power, and their own subordinates. Gradually, this will change to prioritizing resources for their own clansmen, family members, and offspring...

As I said before, this is human nature, and any sensible person would do the same. However, those who can truly practice self-discipline and consider others' feelings are one in ten thousand, and almost all of them are great people.

Over time, the civilizations that came to an end in the true era naturally formed comprehensive civilizations with various factions, sects, and forces. As a result, most of these so-called prodigies were born into illustrious families. They naturally had the advantage of abundant resources and were protected by powerful clans, making it difficult for them to perish. In addition, they had the assistance of their clans' cultivation techniques and information, as well as family secrets. Their starting point was often the end point of the lower-level extraordinary beings.

In this way, "prodigy" has almost become synonymous with these Nth generation individuals. Very few lower-level extraordinary individuals can stand out. Not to mention anything else, the problem of serious injury alone stumps almost 99% of the lower-level prodigies. A serious injury caused by a single martial arts competition, an adventure, or a challenge can ruin their future. Only those lower-level extraordinary individuals who possess both extremely strong luck and talent can become prodigies, and this type of prodigy is considered a "true" prodigy.

The cloaked man is a true prodigy, but he was a former true prodigy...

He was incredibly lucky, had immense potential, and was quick-witted. After rising from the bottom, he felt that the Dream World was vast and he could go anywhere he wanted. He even wanted to revitalize his race and civilization and bring it back to its peak.

Such individuals have appeared in many civilizations and are generally referred to as the restorers of a civilization, standing as equals to the original ancestors who were the children of the first era.

Unfortunately, the cloaked man underestimated the wickedness of human nature...

Reviving civilization is good, becoming the ancestor of a revived civilization is even better, but it would be better if this title and this person were me, not you.

So he was ambushed, not just once. At first, he escaped thanks to his immense luck and turned danger into safety many times, which actually brought him great benefits. But as the saying goes, you can't walk in the dark forever. An ambush, a betrayal, and betrayal by his closest friends led him to ruin. Although his past strength prevented him from dying immediately, he was trampled into the mud.

The reason why the powerful clan members who plotted against him and suppressed him did not kill him was simply to establish a reputation—not for mercy, but for the inviolability of the clan's authority—and at the same time, to vent their anger by watching him behave like a dog.

If it were just him, then he could die, but before he died, he could use his trump cards to drag the other side's key figures down with him, thus preserving his former reputation.

But he also had relatives and family. Even if he was crushed and reduced to ashes, leaving only his young brother, he was still family...

He came here at great risk, because his civilization had also sent people to the Dream World, led by an Ascended Being and accompanied by three Prodigies. He could not let the Ascended Being and the Prodigies know of his arrival, because to his civilization, he would be a traitor, and it would inevitably lead to his death and the death of his brother.

But he still came. He had read in many ancient books that a true civilization of an era had a very high moral standard. The higher the level of the dream world where the civilization was located, the higher the morality. It is said that the Gaia human civilization is still at the absolute truth level, so there is enough truth and the morality is high enough. So he came to take a gamble.

Clearly, he won his gamble.

Although he didn't know how much "ten thousand" meant—after all, every civilization has its own measure of "truth"—he knew it was a considerable amount, since it was in the tens of thousands. Even if the exchange rate with his civilization's measure of "truth" was ten to one, it was still equivalent to ten thousand "truths" in his civilization…

You should know that at his peak, when he was a true prodigy who dominated the world, even the most extraordinary duel or exploration would only yield a mere five to ten thousand in real rewards.

So he was satisfied.

Of course, if there were more truths, he could not only heal his brother's corruption and distortion, but also possibly heal his own hidden injuries. So he was so excited that he was panting heavily. After a long while, he said, "Then I'll tell you the second piece of news."

"I have some secret channels, secret relationships... In short, I have some reliable intelligence sources. I can't prove it, but it's definitely true... The Heavenly Court, the ancient civilization's Heavenly Court, has awakened some of its allies and supplicants from the last few eras. They have set off from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Heavenly Court, secretly heading towards the middle and high-level dream worlds. At the same time, some civilizations have contacted them and informed them about the Gaia human civilization of this era. They may be carrying out decapitation tactics."

Wu Pifu was stunned for a moment. The first person that came to mind was Wang Wudi... the one with whom he had an unresolved feud, who had taken away the souls of some of his friends who had fought alongside him.

Thinking of this, Wu Pifu narrowed his eyes, but he did not show any murderous intent. Instead, he calmly said, "Alright, no need for verification. Including the first piece of information, I will give you two hundred thousand for both pieces of information."

The cloaked man didn't speak, but simply sat quietly.

Just as Wu Pifu was about to silently recite the mastermind's instructions, a question suddenly occurred to him.

Points are the reality of Gaia humanity, but they exist as digital currency. The use and trading of points in Gaia civilization are all conducted through the mainframe—between individuals, and between governments—there's no physical form. You can't expect the mainframe to make a judgment on the cloaked figure before directly transferring the points, can you?

Wu Pifu had a headache. After thinking for a moment, he took out a gold brick from his personal space. This was a habit he had kept for a long time, as a universal currency for entering the unknown dream world. At this moment, Wu Pifu silently instructed the main brain to transfer 200,000 points to the gold brick.

In an instant, the gold brick shone brightly, and then naturally split into gold particles the size of a little fingernail, each of which gradually turned from gold to pure white.

This is what brings authenticity; gold is the carrier, and this pure white is the addition of authenticity.

The man in the gold cloak didn't care at all; it was mortal currency, and many mortals didn't even use gold as currency. But he was knowledgeable and immediately recognized that the white light was real. He felt relieved, but as the white light increased, his eyes widened in surprise.

"...So...many?" the cloaked man said with difficulty.

The Gaia humans provided far more reality than he had expected, and it wasn't a one-to-ten ratio at all, but rather the opposite—ten to one. This reality was equivalent to a million units of reality from his civilization!

To be honest, isn't this the foundation and confidence that comes from being backed by the Absolute Truth layer?
Just two pieces of information, and they've already thrown out two million real ones!?

Even his entire income as a true prodigy wouldn't amount to two million real points. Such a high amount of real points would tempt even the advanced ancestors of civilizations, who would be willing to accept life-or-death mercenary battles, and they might not even be able to obtain that many real points!
Wu Pifu sincerely pushed the gold particles in front of the cloaked man and said, "It's not much. The last words you brought are much more important than these... because they were the ones who went to their deaths, and what they left behind is priceless."

Never before had the cloaked man understood so clearly what "morality" meant.

His civilization, or rather, the civilization he knew, eked out a living in a dream world, having long forgotten the word "morality," worshipping only power and forgetting virtue, sacrifice, and heroes...

The cloaked man struggled to suppress the urge to take it all. He selected the ten gold pieces with the most real substance from the crowd and put them into his pocket, saying, "My cloak can't hide so much substance. If I take so much out, I'll surely die... so..."

His eyes still couldn't help but linger on the remaining reality, the total amount of reality he had taken was equivalent to about fifty thousand of the civilization's true value...

"Take it all. Since I've already given it to you, I've already considered the potential predicament of carrying such a large sum of money. Don't worry, I've got everything covered."

Wu Pifu didn't care. He pushed all the gold to the cloaked man, and without waiting for the man to speak, he flipped his hand and drew his death-defying broadsword.

"No need for further words, follow me. I want to see whether my blade is sharper or their bones are harder!"

With a tug from Wu Pifu, the cloaked man couldn't even resist and was pulled into a pillar of light. When he reappeared, he was outside the dream world. Then Wu Pifu reached out and threw him, and the cloaked man was carried by a small pillar of light to the lower level of the dream world.

"What a disaster!" the cloaked man cried out, but he didn't dare to delay. He grabbed the gold and began to crawl down into the lower level of the dream world.

Just then, several sublimated beings suddenly exerted their power to intercept, and one of them roared in surprise and anger: "Hu Zongheng! It's you!?"

Several prodigies nearby roared, "Look! He's...so much truth on him! That bastard, he must have betrayed our civilization!! Take him down, Ancestor, take him down!"

Without saying a word, the sublimated entity reached out and transformed into a golden circle to encircle Hu Zongheng. Not only him, but the other sublimated entities were also not polite. Seeing these real beings, their eyes turned green, and they each acted fiercely, grabbing and pulling at Hu Zongheng.

Suddenly, at that moment, a dazzling blade of light burst forth, and a golden pillar of light flashed, spanning hundreds of dream worlds and appearing behind the ascended being who had made the first move.

Wu Pifu slashed out and then withdrew his sword. Behind him, the sublimated body that had formed a golden circle with its outstretched hand stood silently, while the surrounding prodigies, stunned, gradually crumbled, their perfect characteristics completely annihilated.

After delivering the first strike, Wu Pifu sheathed his sword, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and addressed Hu Zongheng, who was now free from any further attacks, in a loud voice: "I am Wu Pifu. I thank Brother Hu for conveying the dying man's last words! I have met you here!"

"Farewell. As for the obstacles and enemies you may encounter, today..."

"I'll kill them all for you!"

The next second, the prodigies scattered, their ascensions crumbled, but in an instant, the world turned black and white...

(End of this chapter)