Eternal Night

Chapter 908, Category Six: Assistance
Chapter 53: Category VI and Assistance
Wu Pifu immediately looked at the huge broken sword.

The entire world was utterly silent. It was a complete and utter remnant of the world, devoid of even the slightest spark of light. If Wu Pifu were to perceive it, he might not even be able to sense its existence, because among countless fragments and remnants of the world, its color was completely black.

All the fires burned to ashes, leaving only embers.

This is the remnant of the world left behind by the extraordinary path of the Zanpakuto that Wu Pifu was searching for, and it is also the first gift that the three nightmares gave him.

Wu Pifu looked at the broken sword with its remaining flames, while the three sublimated beings were still lost in endless fantasies and fears about fish. These fantasies and fears even made them subconsciously move closer to Wu Pifu.

Because when the fish first appeared, that world... let's call it a world for now, only the concepts of fish and Wu Pifu existed. They didn't even have the concept of existence. This means that Wu Pifu is special. When the fish reappear, perhaps only Wu Pifu can save them.

They keenly sensed, through their perfect characteristics, that space and time meant nothing to the fish. They followed the bait, had become tainted by its scent, and no matter where they went or when they existed, the fish could easily rise to the surface and swallow them whole.

They had nowhere to escape except to Wu Pifu's side.

"My lord, what is that? What exactly is a fish?" An ascended being, unable to bear the fear any longer, followed Wu Pifu toward the broken flames and shattered blade, and still couldn't help but ask.

Wu Pifu actually had no idea what the fish was, but he still had some guesses. Considering the origins of these three volunteers, he said, "I personally suspect that the fish is a concept... To explain this, I need to ask you some questions. Are you familiar with the four concepts of existential life, existential non-life, non-existent life, and non-existent non-life?"

Two of the three ascendants looked bewildered, while only one suddenly looked up, his face filled with horror. Wu Pifu and the other two ascendants then looked at him, clearly indicating that this ascendant knew something.

"...My lord, my civilization is called the Scroll Civilization, one of many magical and spell-based civilizations. Its unique and extraordinary ability is a miracle magic called the Ascension Grand Magic, but it's nothing particularly remarkable. What my civilization is characterized by is its exceptional sensitivity to knowledge and information. At the height of our civilization's power, we constructed a magnificent miracle structure in our mother world called the Great Library. This structure automatically collected numerous scattered pieces of information from the dream world, and it was the greatest pride of our Scroll Civilization. At that time, we were so excited, believing that with the miracle of the Great Library, we would eventually change everything and save everything..."

This sublimated being seemed to have its deepest secrets touched, and it began to recount its past.

Wu Pifu arrived at the Broken Blade of Remnant Fire at this moment, but he did not touch it immediately. Instead, he turned his head and listened carefully to the words of the sublimated being.

"...It's all in the past. My civilization has vanished, my people have perished, and apart from me, the entire civilization probably only has scattered remnants lingering in the dream world, just like countless civilizations in the past...My lord, the four things you mentioned are actually four derivative forms of the same thing, and this thing is called 'reality,' right?"

It seems this sublimated entity truly knows these things. Wu Pifu nodded approvingly, saying, "Yes, the four true derivatives, and when they mix with pollution, they transform into..."

"The extraordinary path, the dream world framework, the weekend, and the primordial evil."

The sublimated being immediately said.

Wu Pifu nodded again, while the other two sublimated beings immediately realized and pricked up their ears.

Such secrets are among the most precious information in the entire dream world. It would be fine if they didn't have the chance to know them, but now that they have the opportunity, they naturally won't let it go.

Wu Pifu nodded again, confirming the identity of the ascended being. With a sorrowful expression, it said, "...This information only surfaced in the Great Library at the very last moment before my civilization was about to end. At that time, my civilization was suffering from the cataclysmic disaster of knowledge, so not many people knew about this information. I was one of the very few who knew about it at the last moment. However, because the Great Library and my civilization were destroyed and ended soon after, I was unable to verify the authenticity of this information. Moreover, this information did not possess or bring any power, so I forgot about it for a long time. Only now am I repeating what I obtained dozens of eras ago."

Wu Pifu sat down and asked, "Tell me, what else has your civilization gained?"

The other three ascended beings also sat down. They had begun to understand Wu Pifu's character. He was not lacking in killing, but as long as he didn't kill, he wouldn't humiliate anyone. So, they didn't need to be careful at this time.

Without hesitation, the ascendant said, "Reality and illusion are the most basic structure of our entire universe. The four derivatives of reality and illusion constitute all life and non-life as we know them. However, there are some exceptions. These are pure reality, which is the absolute reality layer, and pure illusion, which is the source of pollution. The source of pollution can generate tentacles of pure illusion, which is the nightmare. Only absolute reality has no tentacles. Therefore, above the four basic structures, there are three special categories: absolute reality, absolute illusion, and nightmare."

At this moment, another sublimated being couldn't help but ask, "What about the fish just now?"

The ascended being remained silent, looking at Wu Pifu, who paused for a moment before saying, "A creature of the fifth category, this is the origin of that fish." The three ascended beings were all taken aback, then simultaneously seemed to understand something.

If the intersection and derivation of reality and illusion gave birth to the dream world framework, the extraordinary path framework, the weekend source, and the primordial evil that has always been mysterious to the world, then the fifth category... could it be that something else exists outside of reality and illusion?
This cannot be described as different life forms, different civilizations, or different dream worlds. Reality and illusion are equivalent to positive and negative universes, belonging to the most basic underlying structure. Could it be that there is a third dimension outside this binary underlying structure?

If this can be proven, it will truly overturn all existing knowledge about stocks.

Wu Pifu did not continue to explain, but he knew that there really was a fifth category. At least the space he was in before belonged to the fifth category. It was the pollution brought by the nightmare and some kind of rule on him... He suspected that it was a space formed by the fusion of negative influences.

Since there is a fifth category, it is not incomprehensible that fish would be the sixth category.

In conclusion, the discussion about the fish ends here, because that thing is just too bizarre. All the information they have combined doesn't tell them what the fish actually is. Moreover, the fish already knows the bait; it just hasn't swallowed it immediately. Just like fishing, sometimes the fish will circle around the bait, bump into it, and even swallow and spit it out. But as long as it confirms that this is the bait and there is no danger, then it's only a matter of time before it eats it completely.

Wu Pifu put aside all his speculations and worries about the fish, and said to the three sublimated beings, "Now you are free. You can leave whenever you want."

After saying that, he stood up and looked at the broken sword with flaming flames not far from his side, and walked towards it.

The three ascended beings had long seen through Wu Pifu's intention: the extraordinary pathways carried on this broken sword. Anyone with eyes could see it. At the same time, they also knew about Wu Pifu beforehand... This was an ultimate seed, capable of learning an infinite number of extraordinary pathways, so it was not limited by the number of extraordinary pathways.

The three ascended beings looked at each other. They had no intention of escaping now. Having experienced the presence of the fish, they knew that if they dared to leave Wu Pifu, they might be instantly reduced to ashes and vanish into nothingness. So the three ascended beings immediately and enthusiastically followed behind Wu Pifu.

"Does Your Excellency wish to obtain the extraordinary means contained within this relic?"

Seeing Wu Pifu about to reach out and touch the broken sword and the remnant flames, an ascended being couldn't help but ask.

Wu Pifu paused for a moment, then turned to look at it and said, "Speak plainly."

The three ascended beings simultaneously bowed and said, "My lord, we have been targeted by that fish, or rather, it doesn't care about us at all, but we can't escape and can only follow you."

One of the sublimated beings said, "But we are not useless. If you want to obtain the extraordinary path left behind by the remnants of this world, you certainly cannot do so through ordinary methods."

Another ascendant immediately took over the conversation, saying, "But we are different. After all, we have lived longer and know a lot of knowledge, rituals, and the understanding of extraordinary paths. We can help you obtain this extraordinary path called Zanpakuto."

The third ascended being concluded by saying, "Please, sir, do not abandon us."

Wu Pifu was indeed troubled about how to obtain this extraordinary method. His original idea was to have the mainframe determine the broken sword, but a certain intuition prevented him from doing so immediately, and the reason was that fish...

The fish was observing him from below the surface. When he tried to use his brain to judge the broken knife, either the brain wouldn't appear, or the fish would cause some kind of fatal damage to the brain. That was his feeling.

But if there were other ways...

Wu Pifu reached out to the three ascended beings and said, "Alright, I'll give you this chance. Help me obtain the extraordinary path to the Zanpakuto, and then I'll acknowledge that you are individuals between humans and non-humans."

"Now, tell me what to do?"

(End of this chapter)