Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 302 Enlightenment Through the Great Ring (4k)

What kind of days are considered good days?
Without the Trisolaran crisis, without the devouring crisis, humanity on Earth is just going through the motions of involution, going to work as usual. Is this a good life?
Having resolved the devouring crisis and the Trisolaran crisis, humanity has become the dominant species in the solar system. Full of confidence, we convene the Extraterrestrial Conference. Is this a good day?
Is there really any good life to be had in this universe?

Do humans really have a good life?
Luo Ji has been thinking about this issue all day.

After bidding farewell to Karl, Luo Ji declined all the companionship from the dinosaurs and humans, and unknowingly walked into the depths of the Great Ring.

The nuclear fusion sun had gradually dimmed, its golden halo replaced by a moon-like silver light, and the great ring of night had arrived.

Carl had already left the Great Ring in his spaceship and was heading towards Jupiter's orbit to attend the conference. The only individual with whom he could discuss the universe was gone, leaving him alone in the entire world once again.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the nuclear fusion sphere in the sky completely dimmed into a blurry silver disk, until Luo Ji could barely see his own shadow. Suddenly, Luo Ji stopped. He looked up and saw a wooden sign with names written on it in both human language and Devourer's language.

[Anvil Plain]
This sounds familiar... Oh, this is where Shanqing and the Devouring Empire's army fought, the border between District 4 and District 5, which was reported in the news before.

The dinosaur surrender ceremony was also held here.

We've gotten this far...

Luo Ji sighed. He looked up, and the excellent vision extended his gaze for hundreds of miles, revealing the Iron Anvil Plain bathed in moonlight.

However, this Anvil Plain is no longer the vast steel plain of history, but a grassland.

The grassland beneath my feet is more expansive than any other grassland on Earth. The grass is a deep green, with stems thicker than ordinary grass, and the edges of the leaves reflect a faint silvery halo. It seems that these super grasses have adapted very well to the Great Ring, and they are growing directly from the steel. Even the nuclear radiation remaining on the Anvil Plain seems to have been absorbed by these grasses.

The wind blew from the inner ring of the Great Ring, carrying the scent of damp grass. Waves of grass rolled out in the wind, and occasionally the figures of Stegosaurus or Brachiosaurus, fast asleep in the grass, would appear. In the sky, two or three Pterodactyls gently glided across the night sky, but they did not notice Luo Ji.

Luo Ji stood there for a long time, watching this scene.

It wasn't until the wind-blown waves of grass spread across the gentle slopes several kilometers away, then plunged down and rushed right up to Luo Ji that the cool, refreshing air awakened the wall-faced man.

Luo Ji sat cross-legged.

Luo Qing told him that when he had nothing to do, he should meditate more, absorb the zero-point energy of the vacuum between heaven and earth, and then refine it into spiritual power. By repeatedly letting the spiritual power circulate in the meridians in a predetermined order, he could level up and become stronger.

However, Luo Ji still couldn't understand what "absorbing vacuum zero-point energy" meant. Luo Qing taught him several times but still couldn't teach him. Luo Qing was so angry that he cursed Luo Ji, saying that Luo Ji was hopeless. Luo Ji also failed to learn the spells that Luo Qing taught him.

He had originally intended to take advantage of this scenery to deeply contemplate the "principles of heaven and earth, the laws of nature" that Luo Qing spoke of, and to seek a state of "following the way of nature." But for some reason, Luo Ji, who was meditating cross-legged, could not calm his mind. It was as if there was a blockage in his chest, and it was that blockage that turned the natural beauty in Luo Ji's mind into a cold universe.

The Tao follows nature, but is the universe truly natural?

Luo Ji didn't understand what kind of immortality Luo Qing was cultivating, but he was certain of one fact: he couldn't continue cultivating this kind of immortality.

Cultivating immortality cannot save humanity.

Conversations with Karl, researching the history of the Devouring Empire, understanding the actions of the Risk Takers, sending spells to star system number 187J3X1, and conversations with Ye Wenjie…

Scenes flashed through his mind one after another.

Luo Ji felt his mind gradually becoming clearer, as if everything had become transparent. He grasped the only thread, and the threads intertwined, quickly stitching together a clearly defined universe.

The history of those who vanquished danger and devoured empires gradually intertwined into a bright ocean.

The destruction of Earth 187J3X1, along with the destruction of Earths 2 through 5, created a dark forest.

The two are not in conflict, but coexist and together form the rules that make up the world.

In his theoretical world, a being named Pangu appeared. With a single swing of his axe, the clear and pure things rose to become "heaven," while the thick and turbid things sank to become "earth," and the universe was encompassed within this vast expanse of heaven and earth.

This should be the way of heaven and earth.

Luo Ji realized that Ye Wenjie's understanding was not comprehensive. The logical basis of the Dark Forest Theory is two clear "cosmic sociological axioms", which are the premise of the entire theory.

1. First axiom: Survival is the first need of civilization.

The primary goal of any civilization is to ensure its own survival. All actions, including expansion, concealment, and aggression, ultimately serve this core need. This is the fundamental assumption about the nature of civilization—regardless of its form or moral concepts. "Survival" is the most fundamental driving force.

This axiom can explain the invasion of the solar system by the Devouring Empire and the Trisolaran world.

2. Second axiom: Civilizations continue to grow and expand, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains constant.
Civilizations instinctively seek development, including population growth, resource consumption, and territorial expansion. However, the total resources of the universe are finite, a fact confirmed by risk avoiders. This leads to a fundamental contradiction among civilizations: limited resources cannot satisfy the unlimited expansion needs of all civilizations, inevitably resulting in competition and even conflict.

Based on these two axioms, and combined with two key concepts—the chain of suspicion—civilizations cannot eliminate each other's hostile suspicions through communication because of a lack of trust, extremely high communication costs, and technological explosion. A civilization's technology may make leaps and bounds in a short period of time, turning it from "weak" to "threat," ultimately leading to the "dark forest state."

The universe is like a dark forest, and every civilization is a hunter with a gun. Once it discovers that another civilization has exposed its coordinates, in order to avoid being destroyed, it will choose to shoot and eliminate the other party immediately. This is because "not taking action" may mean being killed by the other party through technological explosion, while "taking action" is the safest option. However, the existence of a chain of suspicion limits communication between different civilizations.

Even the Trisolarans, who have been dealing with Earth for 200 years, cannot trust each other. Dinosaurs, who share the same lineage, still have to undergo harmless modification by humans instead of being fully integrated into the human world. The concept of "those who are not of our kind are sure to have different hearts" is universal throughout the universe.

The first and second axioms ensure that civilizations, especially those that have developed into interstellar civilizations, are naturally in a state of hostility, while the concepts of chain of suspicion and technological explosion greatly amplify the threat posed by other civilizations.

Eliminating you is the best option that has emerged from the context of cosmic sociology.

The Dark Forest Theory was first understood by Luo Ji in a dream 185 years ago during his hibernation. Casting a spell on 187J3X1 was simply a successful practice of this theory.

至于是如何在咒语发射的30年的时间，就摧毁了50光年外的187J3X1星，则衍生出了另一个技术前提。

That is, there exists a universal faster-than-light communication method in the universe.

Einstein's special theory of relativity includes two concepts: mass cannot reach the speed of light, and information cannot exceed the speed of light. However, theories are constantly evolving, and Einstein was, after all, a man from two centuries ago, not to mention that he had never been exposed to quantum mechanics. This evolution began from the moment sophons achieved faster-than-light instantaneous communication through quantum entanglement.

The conclusion of special relativity that information cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light is already flawed.

Humanity has not yet developed long-range communication similar to that of the Sophons, but that doesn't mean that hunters in the dark forest don't possess it. If a hunter's ship intercepts a spell halfway through its journey, for example, when it is 10 light-years away from the solar system, it can report it to the mother civilization tens of light-years away through faster-than-light communication similar to that of the Sophons. Then, the probability of the nearest ship of the same civilization to 187J3X1 launching a cleansing strike on the target star system is entirely possible.

And this is probably the truth behind why the 187J3X1 star system was destroyed before the spell arrived.

This is not good news. It means that the environment of the universe is more severe than Luo Ji imagined. Civilizations with advanced communication methods can destroy a target star system before it even reaches it, without needing to use spells to reach it.

Before Luo Ji went into hibernation, he originally thought that the spell would only take effect after it flew over... The Dark Forest became even darker.

After awakening, he was blinded by the power of humanity and the destruction of the Devouring Empire, especially by the emergence of the Risk Remover civilization and the fact that the Devouring Empire had wandered for 6500 million years without incident.

Luo Ji once thought his Dark Forest Theory was a joke, but now it seems that the entire human civilization, including Luo Qing, is the joke.

A universe where a single exposed location could cause the destruction of a star.

The civilizations that developed on Earth-like planets two, three, four, and five were all destroyed because their locations were exposed.

Earth No. 1 hid extremely well and thus escaped disaster, but the other side clearly knew the location of the solar system and could even carry out interstellar refugee migration across tens or hundreds of light-years, which means that the other side's technological level was no lower than that of humans.

As for the Solar System Fleet, the Devouring Empire, and the Trisolaran Fleet, they are nothing more than infants just learning to walk in this universe...

Thinking of this, Luo Ji's forehead...

Dinosaurs were absolutely aware of the Dark Forest theory, yet they were fearless.

It's uncertain whether the Trisolaran civilization knew about the Dark Forest Theory, but given their advanced technology in creating sophons, they most likely did.

There is only one truly stupid baby.

That is humanity, which is consolidating its dominance in the solar system and convening a conference of intelligent life.

Oh no, if we consider humanity as infants, then the Eridanus civilization, the Light-Speaker civilization, is like an embryo that hasn't yet left its planet. An embryo naturally couldn't possibly know the Dark Forest Theory…

According to the Dark Forest Theory, unless constrained by advanced civilizations, peace talks between different civilizations are impossible. The Earth and the Trisolaran worlds are in a standard Dark Forest state, with mutual suspicion and technological breakthroughs. This state will not be resolved by humanity giving up Mars or Venus.

Once a Dark Forest relationship is established, it cannot be dissolved.

This peace talk, which Fleet International had high hopes for, was doomed to fail from the very beginning.

This pervasive darkness in the universe constitutes the entirety of the Dark Forest Theory. As for the relationship between the other civilization, represented by the Risk Takers…

The Bright Ocean Theory is a concept that Luo Ji logically deduced based on the actions of risk avoiders and the Dark Forest Theory.

Its core idea is that when civilization develops to an advanced stage, it may transcend the survival logic of the Dark Forest Law and instead form a cosmic civilization order based on trust, mutual assistance, and symbiosis.

Based on the information left behind by the risk avoiders and Karl's oral account, Luo Ji also conjectured a part of the corresponding axiomatic framework.

In low- to mid-level civilizations, in a universe where resources are scarce, chains of suspicion are unsolvable, and the risk of technological explosion exists, any exposed civilization will be prioritized for destruction.

However, the advanced civilization that acted as a risk mitigater did not participate in the attacks on the less advanced civilization. Instead, the unknown, elderly civilization chose to sow the seeds of life on six habitable planets.

In Luo Ji's hypothesis, the theory of the bright ocean must have the following two premises.

Axiom 1: Survival remains the primary need of civilization, but advanced civilizations have overcome the fundamental contradiction of material scarcity through technological means or resource integration.

Axiom 2: The ultimate goal of civilization development transcends mere survival and expansion, turning towards the exploration of universal truths, the evolution of a civilized community, or the pursuit of higher-dimensional morality.

Examples include the life of an elder who sows the seeds of life, and a risk-averse civilization that pursues cosmic thought, helping the universe eliminate the risk of destruction.

The Bright Ocean Theory needs to resolve the two core contradictions of the Dark Forest Theory: the replacement of the Suspicion Chain with the Trust Chain and the ability to withstand technological explosions.

Through sophons, we can glimpse a corner of faster-than-light communication in this universe. Advanced civilizations, through instantaneous quantum communication or advanced technologies that Luo Ji cannot comprehend, have established a credit system among the advanced civilizations at the top of the cosmic pyramid through long-term games, thus realizing the verifiability of intentions and goodwill.

The lack of fear of technological explosions is also understandable. Advanced civilizations, as the true existence of the universe, have already achieved a crushing advantage over lower-level civilizations, and this advantage will not be shaken by a temporary technological explosion. Once the lower-level civilization breaks through the dark forest and reaches the treetops, it will naturally see the ocean of light above. After realizing axioms one and two of the Ocean of Light theory, the dark forest civilization will naturally choose to join the Ocean of Light theory camp.

Thus, a world of clear and turbid waters, distinct from each other and separated by Pangu, was formed.

Lower-level civilizations fight each other, while higher-level civilizations pursue their own goals and ideals, which far outweigh the pursuit of survival and the continuation of civilization.

However, because the ecological position of advanced civilizations is destined to be limited, the Light Sea Civilization will not actively slaughter the Black Forest Civilization, but it will also not interfere with the Black Forest Civilization's normal warfare.

The risk-eliminating agents who remove risks from the universe are undoubtedly the advanced civilizations under the most classic light sea theory, and they indeed did not intervene in the war between humanity and the Trisolarans.

As for the 6500 million-year history of the swallowing empire, there is a reasonable explanation. On the one hand, it is because a civilization that enters a state of wandering does have a safe state that cannot be easily chosen.

On the other hand, it's because the Devouring Empire probably carries the beacon of the Light Sea Civilization. Civilizations that can't detect this beacon can't defeat the Devouring Empire, and intermediate civilizations that have detected the beacon dare not launch a Black Forest attack on the Great Ring.

Furthermore, the engulfing behavior of the large rings can also be interpreted as part of the Hessian state.

Only the naive human, without realizing the Devouring Empire's Beacon of Light, managed to defeat it and even bring it under human control. Meanwhile, Karl has openly declared that the Devouring Empire is backed by a god...

Humanity, the so-called ruler of the solar system, is actually in great danger.

Whether it's the complete exposure of the solar system's location, a future war with the Trisolaran fleet, or an attack similar to the destruction of the 187J3X1 star system...

Something must be done to prevent this from falling into an abyss of no return.

There's no need to hold this conference anymore. Humanity needs to calm down. Humanity has never been the dominant species in the solar system. This newborn baby should focus on finding ways to survive.

It's not too late, it's not too late!
Even though he was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Luo Ji was still clear about his position and knew that he did not have the power to bring the entire human society to a halt in its frenzy.

Only one person could do all of this.

Thinking of this, Luo Ji opened his eyes and shouted loudly in the direction of Earth.

"Luo Qing!"

"I'm here. I've always been here."

Luo Qing's calm voice resounded throughout the heavens and the earth.

(End of this chapter)