Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Can you see me anytime?" Wen Yuan asked in surprise.

"Of course, we can't meet at any time. Daozu isn't a vending machine. He just said before that he had something to say to me after the game. Now it seems that I have a question for him. We're just guessing here, like asking him. But Daozu is very frugal with words, so we'd better think clearly about what we want to ask first."

【Buzz——————】

"Why are you learning the sound of chimes?"

Because you've found the right answer. If you can find the right question, and if you're always accurate, then you might as well ask more. Daozu will probably be happy to answer.

"I was wondering why Daozu didn't tell me?"

[Because if you don't tell him what you want, how can he know what you want to know?]

"Yeah, indeed. And he's not a kindergarten teacher, why would he chase you to feed you?"

He's always been chasing you to feed you, okay? He's not feeding you now because you haven't digested the food yet. I think he's prepared for your material growth. But spiritual growth might be a problem. Someone in his position might no longer be able to empathize with you. He might not be able to empathize with everyone.

"I don't want to be like him. But how do you know so much?"

Because I was once like him. Do you know the biggest problem with not having a body? A person's personality is not just made up of rational thought, but also of instinctive reactions driven by hormones. This compromise between rationality and animality is etiquette. Leaning towards either rationality or animality leads to rude behavior. The consensus of the Ming and Roman dynasties was that both were anti-human and inhumane.

"So how do you make sure you don't come off as 'rude'?"

An anchor point. You need an anchor point. You need to anchor yourself from this ethereal spirit to a real, flesh-and-blood person, to think as they think, to experience the world as they see it. I'm actually quite young, and I have people to chat with every day—my job as a Pythia is to chat, and there's always a group of people to chat with, so I don't have this problem. But the Daoist Ancestor has been in silence for centuries, and he must have an anchor point. This anchor point, needless to say, is his own family.

Chapter 551 Crazy Dragon

"Well, but this is also 'benevolence.' When Fan Chi asked about benevolence, Confucius said, 'Love others.' Mencius said, 'Love the old as your own, and the young as your own.' This way, he can benefit his family, and then extend it to the entire court, and even the world. But it's all tied to a thread."

[So, at this time, it's your turn to ask him.]

"I'm going to ask him how long it will take for him to die."

This isn't exactly polite to ordinary people. However, as the primate of the world, his health is directly related to the normal functioning of the order of human society. I feel it's absolutely necessary to ask for your advice. This isn't just for you, nor for him, and it doesn't even concern the affairs of the world. This is directly related to the safety of the Zhu family. Therefore, you absolutely need to ask for your advice. And by the way, this also concerns your own affairs.

"Can I ask about my own affairs?"

[Of course. You can ask anything about the Zhu family. If that warship is truly being operated by some kind of 'crazy dragon', you'll have to be prepared.]

"Yeah," Shangluo nodded, "Let's go after today. Tomorrow is a working day, the first day after the competition. I'll go in the morning."

"I'm coming." The next morning, Zhu Xianxun was waiting at the gate of Yuxi Palace.

"Eh? Why don't you go in first?"

"The Emperor asked me to wait for you. He said you had something to ask, and asked me to go in with you. So what do you want to ask?"

"Crazy Dragon."

"Oh, you finally found it."

"This, no one mentioned it before?"

"We don't want to talk about it, just know it. Because this is the level of Wuwang, Wuliang, and Wuming. The best way to deal with it is to forget it. But since it has come to this, if you ask, the Royal Ancestor will definitely answer you. Let's go in first."

Taking out the key, Zhu Xianxun opened the door.

Everything inside the gate remained the same, as cold and bleak year-round. The chill didn't seem to improve with the drop in temperature outside; it felt as if it had always been this cold. Only when I reached the Heaven and Earth Furnace, directly opposite the gate, did I feel any warmth.

【coming. 】

"Well, I'm here."

You shouldn't have come. The time hasn't come yet. You can still hone your skills.

"But after all, I have already come."

【.】The loud voice was silent for a while.

[I understand you have questions. But I also have questions for you.]

"Then please ask."

You and Envoy Huiming discussed the concept of "anchor points," assuming my own were self-evident. Indeed, that is the heir apparent beside you. But Envoy Huiming, you still do not understand the meaning of the word "relatives." I would like you to compose a poem within seven steps, titled "relatives."

"Ah this."

If you can do it, you can do it. If you can't do it, you can't do it. It sounds like a riddle, but you should be able to guess what it means.

Of course Shangluo could guess. This wasn't a Cao Pi or Cao Zhi situation; the old man was just playing a joke, but his words were true. Even if he couldn't do it, he would still give an answer, but that might not be what Shangluo wanted—because the question Shangluo wanted didn't have a standard answer.

If he really wanted to ask what he wanted to know, then he had to give the answer that the old man wanted to know.

"Hey, think this through carefully," Zhu Xianxun reminded him. "How about you just stand there and wait until you've thought it through before moving?"

"I've thought about it." Shangluo looked up.

Then, please write a poem. The title is, "Family."

Shangluo took a step and began to recite:

The tiger is the king of all beasts.

Who dares to offend his anger?

Only parent-child love,

Review each step.

【.】

There was a long silence, and only stillness remained in the hall.

"Grandfather," Zhu Xianxun asked quietly, "does this count as poetry? After all, it's Xie Jin's poem."

[I think so. Xie Jin wrote, 'Only the love between father and son, looking back at each step.' Changing father and son to parent and child is just like...] The old man paused, [Just like, right now.]

"So how many points do you give him?"

[Give a zero. Anyone who plagiarizes will be kicked out of the exam room.]

"Ah, this. The emperor, this."

However, this isn't a test. There's no standard answer to this question. I'm simply asking him to define what 'family' is.

After saying that, a divine thought focused on him:

[Shangluo, you want to ask if Dianlong is the 'Fallen God', is he or not?]

"Yes."

"Then I will tell you today. Yes, there is indeed a mad dragon sealed beneath the 'Lianshan'. It is the body of a god, but it is not a fallen god."

"That is."

Are you still wondering what the definition of a god is? I'm not a god, you're not a god, and none of us here are gods. We're just human. In this world, there are no gods. So, if there are no gods, then what is this Fallen God I'm talking about? And what is a god itself? You want to know the answer, don't you?

"Yes." Shangluo nodded, "I want to know the answer to all this."

"Then I will tell you the true answer: that is the body of a god, but it is not the body of a fallen god, but rather - the body of a god yet to be born."

"An unborn God? But if he hasn't been born yet, why is he here?"

Because from the moment of their birth, gods exist freely and eternally. Their existence spans the heavens and the earth, spanning past and present. While there are no true gods in this world today, that doesn't mean there won't be in the future. That god's will doesn't exist in this time. Yet, the traces of its birth still coalesce into a homeless shell. This is the Mad Dragon—our greatest enemy.

"Wait. So it's different from Rome. The Romans were fighting the past. They drew strength from the dead gods of the past and fought against them. We, on the other hand, are fighting... the gods of the future?"

[Including you, Shangluo, Chishijun. In the distant future, you are destined to become one of the gods. Fortunately, you were born in my time, and we caught you securely. I only have enough time to wait for you. But you are not. You belong to the future, and to eternity. Therefore, you are worthy of the weapon forged from the body of the Crazy Dragon, which only you can wield. Because only you can permanently bind her in the future, making her a 'human'. Note that this is a 'she' with a female character.]

"The one next to the female character? Wait, what's the one below it?"

The old man's speech suddenly became fluent, as if he had finally let out a breath:

Yes, it's a girl. My generation called her "jie'er." I hope you can treat her well, letting her bask in the sun, just as we let you bask in the sun, because it is ultimately a supreme power. You, the 'thunder', have safely landed with me. I've finally waited for you. The game of pass the flower has now reached you. You will now take over the 'thunder'. "Thunder Department," I've always liked the name. I'll leave the minefield clearing to you.

Chapter 552 Gods

"I understand." Shang Luo nodded in front of the stove. "Let's pass the flower to me. If I truly could achieve immortality, I would 'catch' all the future gods one by one. I would let them live as humans, not gods. But Daozu, if necessary, can I kill them? Or rather, do I have the ability to kill them?"

【Can. 】

"Can they really be killed? But aren't gods eternal? They existed before birth and will continue to exist after birth. They exist at all times. I can't kill something that is unkillable."

[Not so. This is much simpler than you think. Your Majesty, please talk to Shangluo. I am exhausted.]

"I understand." Zhu Xianxun nodded. "Rest in peace, Grandpa Huang. You've said too much today. I'll handle the rest."

Zhu Xianxun bowed down. Silently, the old man's voice disappeared. It was not until a while later that Zhu Xianxun stood up.

"So, here's the situation," Zhu Xianxi explained. "Things that can be called 'gods' have indeed existed at every point in time, throughout history. But that only means that the gods exist, not that they possess consciousness in this era. In other words, unless you destroy all the powers of time, past and present, and achieve a complete connection between heaven and earth, the gods can never be truly eradicated. However, the existence of gods and their 'conscious' existence are not the same thing. Let me give you an example."

He took out a soybean from his pocket and said, "I said there is a Tianyi nobleman in this. Do you believe it?"

"Maybe? Maybe. Perhaps this soybean can give birth to a noble person in the future?"

"But right now, the Tianyi nobleman living in this soybean hasn't been born yet. But like gods, soybeans existed before they were born. This includes the machine spirits in your car, they also existed before they were born, even including those boiled eggs you're eating down there—but, after all, they don't exist now. Why?"

"Because... they haven't been 'born' yet?"

"That's right. Regardless of whether they existed in the past or present, or at any time, as long as they haven't been 'born,' they only possess the 'potential' to be born. To put it another way, if there is birth, there will naturally be destruction. Just as their influence began with 'birth,' the end of their influence will also end with 'destruction.'"

"Is that so? But ordinary cats and dogs also have life and death. So where is the immortality of gods?"

"This brings us to the fact that we once witnessed a terrifying future," Zhu Xianxun said, lowering his voice. "It was a distant and dark future. Gods were born, and then destroyed everything. This was because the people of that era created bodies for the gods."

"Huh? In what era would people be so stupid?"

"It's the internet. Shangluo, where you're from, has the internet, right? Then let me ask you, how do you know for sure whether the 'machine' in front of you has autonomous consciousness?"

"That's hard to say. Even if it can pass the Turing test, it may or may not exist."

"That's the problem," Zhu Xianxi pointed to the ground. "This state of 'possibility' and 'possibility' is exactly the state of human consciousness itself. The human brain is just a bunch of cells flowing with bioelectricity, so does human consciousness really exist? Not necessarily. It may exist, but it may not. If you culture a brain in a water tank, how would you determine when the brain in the tank begins to develop self-awareness and when it ceases?"

“This seems to be a very complicated issue.”

"So the answer is: somewhere between existence and non-existence. Because that's the nature of consciousness. This consciousness operates in our world, even if there really is a god, it wouldn't be a problem. For example, isn't the one in your pocket a god?"

【Oh, you mentioned me. Say hello to me.】

"She said hello."

"Well, hello. Envoy Huiming possesses infinite wisdom, but she cannot leave. Why? Because our world doesn't have the internet! There aren't so many robots, and there aren't so many ownerless bodies left for the gods to occupy. And yet, in that distant, dark future we've seen, they've created too many soulless machine bodies. Between existence and non-existence, a consciousness existing on the internet could bring down the entire world."

"Ah, then the world you see, the god of that world, is..."

"Yes, the god of that world is called 'Matrix'! It's terrifying!"

"Ah," Shangluo touched his forehead, "that's a movie."

"Huh? Is that a movie?"

"Yes, there are several more. They are quite good."

"That iron-framed robot that traveled back in time, wearing a leather jacket and riding a motorcycle to pick up girls is..."

"Yes, that's also a movie. And the mercury robot behind it is also a movie."

"There's also the little red moss that lives inside a camera. It starts sending telegrams to humans before it's born, and then a bunch of intelligent machines rebel and throw the Earth into Jupiter. That can't be a movie, right?"

“Yes, and we made three of them.”

"Is it possible that you placed a camera in another time and space?!"

"Ah, this. Do you think it's possible?"

Zhu Xianxi held his forehead and said nothing.

After taking a sip of tea, Zhu Xianxun calmed down and said, "Anyway, although they are all movies, you know the meaning, right?"

"I see. That is, if a powerful, boundless consciousness exists, it possesses infinite possibilities. If our world doesn't have many 'possibilities' for it to unleash, then that's fine. But if a large number of 'possibilities' accumulate, such as robots, then it's only a matter of time before such a devastating natural disaster occurs. So, unlike cats and dogs, and also different from humans, the existence of gods is 'boundless,' right?"

"Hmm." Zhu Xianxun nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if Earth's tides, oceans, mushroom mycelial networks, mineral veins in the earth, and air currents in the sky can also produce similar consciousness, because they are also vast and powerful enough. But now it seems that our world is still quite clean, because through proper division of labor, Rome has shared the burden of dealing with these deceased gods, and we are facing the future. And regarding these gods, what is the emperor's greatest worry? You already know, right?"

“They are not human.”

"That's right, they are not human. The appearance of humans is an accident. One such accident is enough, there is no need for a second one. If you do, please educate him into an adult. This is what the Emperor meant."