CHAPTER 748: 688 MILLION ITEMS, TWO

"Bait?" Yong Ling didn’t seem to care at all. Though it was a question, her tone was affirmative.

"Tian Ju Pavilion is so arrogant and conceited. A Tianhong, a Heavenly Eye, and now there’s even a Tian Xuan... they truly don’t know what they’re doing."

"Whether it succeeds or not, we must always try. Although it’s slightly worse than anticipated, I believe that stopping you here for a period of time while waiting for backup is feasible," Tian Xuanzi said with a smile, "What do you think?"

Yong Ling scoffed and slowly walked forward, heading straight towards the other person.

The colorful disc of the Evil Flower behind her also began to accelerate in its rotation.

The twelve flowers soon transformed into a ring of colored light, floating behind Yong Ling.

*

*

*

In a blind spot inside the underground garage,

Xie Rong’s expression paused slightly.

"They’re here."

He pointed a single hand at the ground.

Time suddenly accelerated.

Time here sped up to countless times that of the outside world.

A second outside, here it was endless.

A hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, or even more.

Under such force, no matter how much information there was, it could easily be absorbed completely.

So for the Omniscient, what hindered them was never the amount of information, but the difficulty and restrictions of the information.

Like forbidden knowledge.

"Let’s continue. Understanding All Phenomena may be difficult, but Yong Ling has arrived, and your opportunities are dwindling," Xie Rong said solemnly.

Li Chengyi also felt the threat from the outside world.

Although he couldn’t see the opponent, his consciousness could sense an uncomfortable feeling as if the tip of a knife was hovering in front of his nose.

"He has stopped. He’s not coming any closer."

For him in the Blind Spot, time in the outside world seemed to freeze, becoming extremely slow, almost to a standstill, and he could sense it with ease.

"Someone has stopped him. But it won’t hold for long. Yong Ling is different from the other Omniscients..." Xie Rong seemed convinced that no one could stop the First Generation.

"Now, let’s continue discussing the relationship between dimensions and the Omniscient." He steered the conversation back on track.

"Please do," said Li Chengyi, who also felt the urgency. Although time had accelerated a lot, the First Generation was also a powerful being capable of retracing time. He could enter here at any moment, because he too could accelerate his own time.

"Dimensions truly measure all things. After incorporating all things into your Dimensional Realm, your consciousness can truly find the opportunity to enter the Omniscient," Xie Rong spoke.

"You must realize, why, being all Omniscient, there are still strengths and speeds that differ.

Why do some Omniscients act faster and more powerfully? It’s precisely because their foundational dimensions differ from others."

"To fully realize the essence of the Omniscient, two steps must be completed."

He held up a finger.

"First, construct all things, measure and incorporate them into your consciousness to form a Dimensional Realm unique to you. Usually, it is necessary to encompass all known realms."

"Second, realize infinite energy."

Xie Rong said seriously.

"Your Consciousness Power is now strong enough. Next, you’ll have to complement the step of constructing all things.

After that, you must understand the logic and conceptual rules behind the appearance of all things. Then, with your powerful Consciousness Power and energy, you’ll be able to leverage these appearances to cause various changes. This is the realm of All Phenomena."

"Then comes infinite energy. You must understand that energy only transforms, it doesn’t disappear. So, the so-called infinite energy is actually because we, the Omniscient, can maneuver it with the lightest and most minimal consumption, no matter what form it transforms into. That is the true nature of infinite energy," Xie Rong explained.

"Thus, rather than infinite energy, it’s more accurate to say we still need to consume Consciousness Power. But when the Consciousness Power we consume is far less than what we replenish and recover, it becomes the so-called infinite energy."

Li Chengyi instantly had an epiphany.

The principle was simple, but how to operate and realize it was the most difficult part.

To be Omniscient first, understand how to utilize all forms of energy, so no matter into what form the energy transforms, it could all be used.

This was the true realm of All Phenomena.

"So it seems, the realm of the Omniscient, in essence, is the natural evolution of various abilities after the strength of Consciousness Power is intensified to the extreme?" he quickly responded.

"Precisely so. Just as I just accelerated time here, it’s because I can provide the massive energy needed for the acceleration. The source behind providing this energy is still the consumption of my Consciousness Power," Xie Rong nodded in approval.

"Additionally, what fundamentally is Consciousness Power, what are our hearts, what is the subjective in essence, the source of these remains unknown, no Omniscient understands that," he sighed, "We understand all things, but we uniquely fail to understand ourselves. This is also why all Omniscients desire to pursue their limits."

"So that’s how it is!" Li Chengyi realized.

"What follows is for you to understand the essence of all things," Xie Rong continued.

"What else could the essence of all things be?" Li Chengyi frowned.

"Third Generation, you must be clear. Why we can’t understand the essence of our own selves. It’s precisely because for any object, its essence is actually beyond our understanding," Xie Rong’s words seemed to contradict what he said before.

His body began to emit tiny purple light spots, as if gradually disintegrating.

"Are you talking about... the essence beyond cognition?" Li Chengyi instantly reacted.

"Yes...." Xie Rong nodded, "In fact, according to the division concepts proposed by many sects, beings perceive all phenomena with the five senses, while the Black Sea exists in an additional sixth sense. Saints, many dimensions, exist within the seventh, eighth, ninth senses, classified by the depth of dimensions. The Omniscient stand at a higher place, being at least the tenth kind of sensory organ, through which they understand all phenomena. Quan Li is almost like the thirteenth sense, but that is the limit."

"Actually..." He paused, "these are all secondary, subjective perceptions based on the self. We, as the Quan Li, when reaching the peak, can all feel the limitations regarding boundaries."

"Boundaries, isn’t it just the limits between the known and unknown?" Li Chengyi exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yes." Xie Rong nodded. "But... that’s only part of it. Essentially, the known and unknown, fundamentally, are based on knowledge."

"To know, first there must be ’I’, a concept of self, to then generate knowledge. So the foundation of any Omniscient entity is the self. Let’s not dwell on that for now. Back to boundaries."

Xie Rong organized his thoughts and continued.

"Firstly, you have to understand that this is an infinite world. The Black Sea is infinite, containing endless dimensions, times, and universes. But these are macroscopic observations. Have you ever considered that we’re always observing outward, on a grand scale, and rarely inward, delving into the minutiae?"

"Super microcosm?" Li Chengyi frowned.

"No.... It’s not that simple." Xie Rong shook his head, "I’ve had a conversation with Asraduni for a while, and that conversation offered me a real chance to break free from a part of The First Generation’s manipulation.

And the topic of that conversation was named: All Phenomena."

For some reason, when Li Chengyi heard this name, his heart suddenly stirred with an indescribable sensation.

"What does that mean?" he asked hoarsely.

"It’s simple..." Xie Rong continued, "Upon reaching Quan Li, any description, observation, mention or involvement with them will be sensed by them. Their consciousness reaches those who are beneath them in dimensions, and without an equivalent level of protection, one would be instantaneously manipulated, life and death hanging by their whim."

He sighed.

"This power itself is based on the Omniscient’s coverage throughout all known domains of the Black Sea. If you forcibly strip away the foundational dimension corresponding to the Omniscients, you can shield against such a threat. Like this."

He stretched out his hand, and a bright red apple appeared in his palm.

"I now strip it of its attribute of thickness."

Puff.

In an instant, the apple in his hand became flat, a picture of an apple on his palm.

"When it no longer has thickness, the apple is no longer subject to the life and death manipulation of an Omniscient who has achieved omniscience through thickness as a dimension. That is the most common shielding method used by the Omniscients."

Li Chengyi knitted his brows tightly.

"But in doing so, if some attributes are very important...."

"Yes, like your existence...." Xie Rong sighed. "If the existence is stripped away, does the object still exist? It doesn’t... that’s why the Behemoth Sect is truly insurmountable. You cannot strip away its dimensional attributes, so all phenomena’s life and death hinge upon its thought. The only way to escape is to elevate oneself, step into a dimension, and enter a different Dimensional Realm, avoiding its mental manipulation."

"....." Li Chengyi looked at the picture of the apple in his hand and felt a chill in his heart. This was the second time he felt the horror of the Omniscient so vividly.

The last time was with Brother Lan Meng.

"Let’s return to the topic of All Phenomena," Xie Rong continued.

With a single squeeze of his hand, the apple picture instantly disappeared, turning transparent.

"I now strip away its color. So it loses its color."

Again with a tremor in his hand, the apple quickly shrunk and turned into a transparent line.

"Now I strip it of its width. So all that’s left is a line. But it is still an apple, right?"

Li Chengyi nodded, without a word, his gaze fixed on the line.

"Next, I will strip away its length." Xie Rong’s palm trembled again.

Without a sound, the segment in his palm suddenly shrank and in an instant became a point.

A point so tiny it was almost imperceptible.

A transparent dot.

"Lastly, I strip away its attribute of existence," Xie Rong finally said.

The transparent point vanished completely.

As if it had never existed.

"Now, can you still sense it with your Consciousness Power?" Xie Rong asked.

"No..." Li Chengyi shook his head.

"Neither can I," Xie Rong nodded, "but now, if I grant the concept of existence to this space right here, a point would appear, then I grant this point layer upon layer of other attributes."

He opened his hand, and a transparent point appeared out of nowhere.

It then extended into a line, then widened into a transparent apple drawing.

The drawing quickly rose and solidified, becoming a transparent apple.

The apple regained the red color and reappeared before them.

"What is this? In the eyes of many beings, this is creation from nothing." Xie Rong said.

"But only we know that all things have an origin. It has always been there; we just couldn’t perceive it."

"And this... is the unknown."

He sighed deeply.

"The unknown can be transformed into the known, they are like the infinite, limitlessly numbered blind boxes; you don’t know what’s in here, nor what will appear. The boundary between the unknown and the known is actually the ultimate — existence."

"....!!!!" Li Chengyi’s mind suddenly became crystal clear, as if everything had been utterly overturned.

"Through the research of the Quan Li, we found that any object, everything we can perceive, is just from the few dozen faces we can touch.

We recognize an object with the senses we can develop, each face represents one perceptual attribute we can recognize, like length, width, height, color, aroma, hardness, and so on, that’s our limit."

"But... we have explored, and an object’s facets are actually... there are many more, even infinitely many. But the rest of the facets exist in the unknown, unreachable by us."