Eternal Night

Chapter 885 Keep going
Wu Pifu and his friends had absolutely no idea what the so-called "universe of neither thought nor non-thought" was.

The information in that sentence left them all completely bewildered.

Let's start with the first paragraph. It turns out it wasn't a dream after all.

Regarding the structural problems of the entire dream world, Gaia's scientists have been trying to establish a cosmological framework that can at least explain the dream world system. And all of this is a dream, the dream of an unimaginable, magnificent life form. This is one of the most popular hypotheses.

There was once a religion on Earth whose creation origin was that an unimaginable god had a dream, and the universe was a fragment born from this dream. When this god awoke, the world would be destroyed.

Besides religious myths, literary creators have also created similar worlds, but they are even more absurd and unrestrained. That universe is also a dream of unimaginable life, but it is full of chaos and all sorts of indescribable existences. In fact, this world created by many literary creators is more like a dream world, because if it were a dream, it would be an absurd, elusive, and disorderly world.

However, if it is a dream, there are two inexplicable aspects. The first is the absolute reality layer, and the second is those with the power of the sublimated body or above. Neither of these can be completely explained by a dream.

Even so, the dream world of super-beings remains one of the most popular hypotheses for explaining the dream world structure.

But whether it was a dream or not, Wu Pifu and the others wouldn't be so confused, because there's an explanation for dreams and a logic to why it's not a dream.

But what the heck is the second shortest...? The ultimate collection of the universe that is neither thought nor non-thought?
Why would such a strange term suddenly appear?

"...Isn't 'neither thought nor non-thought' a Buddhist term?" Huang Rong muttered softly.

The last individual of the contained civilization immediately said, "Yes, 'Neither thought nor non-thought' is a Buddhist term. When my civilization obtained the Buddhist secrets, we conducted a detailed search for all kinds of information about Buddhism, including its religious philosophy, its power system, and its past. In particular, when this unique fourth-stage individual appeared and said the same words, my civilization conducted an extremely detailed study of the term 'Neither thought nor non-thought'."

"Thinking" refers to thought, reasoning, logic, or consciousness, as well as concepts like "I," "self," etc.

Non-thought can be considered as a concept outside of thinking, outside of ideas, outside of logic, etc.

The concept of "neither thought nor non-thought" can be considered the highest state of spiritual consciousness as recognized by Buddhism. It is a state beyond thought, thinking, logic, spiritual consciousness, self, and ego, that is, a state that transcends all of these.

This is actually a description of the state of meditation in Buddhism, where neither thought nor non-thought is considered to be the state of meditation of an enlightened being (Buddha).

But putting this word alongside the totality of the universe makes it seem extremely, extremely, extremely... bizarre.

Xu Shilan pondered for a while before saying, "Let's not consider the meaning of 'neither thought nor non-thought' here. Since it says 'the total set of universes' later, what universes are we talking about? The real universe? The dream world universe? Are there any others? Two or three types of universes can't be called the total set of universes, right?"

The last individual of the contained civilization was silent for a moment, and then everyone heard the sound of turning pages or objects. After a while, the last individual of the contained civilization said, "Actually, my civilization conducted a lot of research and investigation on this matter back then... My civilization's scientists believe that outside our universe... not referring to the vast universe of the Absolute Reality Layer, in fact, nearly a hundred epochs ago, the Absolute Reality Layer was not a single universe structure, but had many different structural expressions, which I think you should all know."

Wu Pifu and the others nodded. According to the information collected by the Gaia humans, the absolute truth layer's cosmic framework did indeed only become stable in the last hundred epochs. Before that, there were tree-like cosmic frameworks, multi-layered cosmic frameworks, cyclical cosmic frameworks, and even round-sky-square-earth cosmic frameworks... and so on, all different absolute truth layer cosmologies.

The last remaining individual of the contained civilization continued, "Our civilization's scientists believe that beyond our universe... that is, the dual universe of reality and illusion—the absolute reality layer and the illusory bottom layer, the source of pollution—there are other types of universes. Although we don't yet know what these other types of universes are like, our universe is called the total collection of the neither-thought-nor-non-thought universes. As for why it's called neither-thought-nor-non-thought... our civilization's scientists used no fewer than a hundred types of containment items, along with their various hypotheses and inferences, and finally arrived at an answer that may or may not be correct..."

"The so-called collection of the universe that is neither thought nor non-thought may refer to the collection of all special universes other than normal and abnormal universes... This would explain why it is called neither thought nor non-thought."

Everyone was once again completely bewildered.

In any case, it is impossible to deduce the underlying truth of the entire dream world based on just one sentence, so everyone can only guess, imagine, and chat idly.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, a metal box covered with numerous inscriptions was placed in the dormitory lobby. "...Inside is a reader experience card."

As Wu Pifu and the others arrived in the dormitory lobby, the voice of the last individual of the Containment Civilization appeared at the opportune moment, though the voice was filled with exhaustion: "Although there is only one page, it is enough for one person to use at once. I have given it to you. Please note that this is not a useful fantasy object or tool, but a very powerful suicide tool. However, you are different, Wu Pifu. You are very special, so I have given it to you. As for whether to use it, that is up to your personal choice."

Wu Pifu no longer dared to underestimate the so-called containment object. He nodded and did not open the metal box immediately, but put it into his personal space.

After breakfast, Wu Pifu did not intend to linger in the base any longer. Encountering the base that contained civilizations was an accident in itself. Although some things happened here and he learned some secrets, his purpose remained unchanged. His primary goal was to find the extraordinary path of the Zanpakuto. This was his established objective, but now he had added a Buddhist secret to his established objective.

After resting for a while after the meal, Wu Pifu and the others left the base under the guidance of the base personnel. When they arrived outside, Wu Pifu turned around, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Then we shall go ahead. After I finish this exploration and return, I will probably begin to sublimate... The Heavenly Court's invasion is probably around that time. As for whether we can survive this Heavenly Court calamity, I don't know. But don't worry, I remember our covenant. As long as we survive this calamity, I will definitely fulfill our covenant with you, help you escape, and solve those containment objects for you."

The voice that had been sheltering the last individual of civilization rang out after a moment: "I believe your promise. Actually, I'm the one who's benefiting, only paying with some material possessions, which aren't particularly valuable to my civilization... Anyway, if the Heavenly Court really attacks, regardless of whether the Gaia humans are completely wiped out, as long as you survive, I will find a way to come and get you... Never mind that. Anyway, good luck, Wu Pifu. If it really comes to the last moment, think of me. As the last individual of civilization to survive, who knows, the Gaia humans might even be revived in your hands in the future?"

Wu Pifu didn't answer, but simply clasped his hands tightly in a fist salute, turned around, and left.

Before long, Wu Pifu and the others left this world fragment. They continued forward, stepping over more than a dozen world ruins. Apart from a few aberrant creatures or monsters, there was nothing worth noting along the way.

After arriving at a fragment of a world inhabited by life, and as everyone rested for a while, Xu Shilan suddenly said to Wu Pifu, "I think he makes sense... Although it's really not good to say discouraging things now, he's right. As long as we survive, there is hope. To be honest, this time the Heavenly Court is reviving, and it will inevitably attack. No matter how much we prepare, we've only been in the Dream World for a short time. The outside world thinks we've been here for two or three hundred years, but we know that we haven't even been developing for ten years. How can we compare to the Heavenly Court, which has dominated the Dream World for countless eras?"

Wu Pifu remained silent, but Xu Shilan did not give up and continued, "So in the end, no one can say for sure what will happen. We might win, but we might also lose. If we lose, the three of you who are most likely to survive are you, Chu Minghao, and Liang Min. If it really comes to that, Liang Min might leave. I don't know about Chu Minghao, but he can be very stubborn at times. You, on the other hand, will never back down. Wu Pifu, I hope that when the time comes, you can turn around and leave, hiding in the depths of the dream world."

At this moment, Amadeus also chimed in, "I think so too. There's a saying on the battlefield: 'If you lose the land but save the people, you'll save both the land and the people; if you save the land but lose the people, you'll lose both the land and the people.' Brother Wu, I think Aunt Xu is right. If you can escape when that time comes, maybe the Heavenly Court won't dare to exterminate us Gaia humans."

Xu Shilan kicked Amadei hard. At this moment, Huang Rong said from the side, "Brother Ant, they are right. Besides, can you travel back in time? As long as you escape, if all else fails, you can use time travel to revive us. As long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback."

Wu Pifu remained silent, sitting on a rock gazing into the distant void, yet a strange sense of enlightenment stirred within him.

Perhaps... it really will develop to the most desperate point.

If that time really comes, it's impossible for him, Liang Min, and Chu Minghao to all leave.

It would be best if the other two left, but he had to stay, because only if he stayed could the Heavenly Court prevent them from pursuing the other two. Besides...

If humanity is truly dead and Gaia is destroyed, then he must also retaliate against his enemies.

"Don't worry, I know what I should do then."

Wu Pifu stood up, and said only this one sentence.

How could the extinction of humanity not come at the cost of the enemy's agonizing cries?

It's nothing more than the return of heaven and earth to the same state.

(End of this chapter)