Chapter 646: Knowledge of chatting

Zhongwei Birds can easily pass through human bodies, buildings, and even worlds, making them difficult to observe and generally unable to affect other matter.

Thus, combined with their bird-fish-like appearance, they were named Zhongwei Birds.

It’s actually quite casual, but naming civilizations has always been like this.

Many worlds, you know, don't even have names; they're all just numbers.

Yan Cong continued to explain the Zhongwei Birds to the rest of the team.

Li Qi was also listening intently.

However, as he listened, Diviner Youxiong Gong suddenly asked, "Why are so many of these habits speculative? Don't we understand them yet?"

Yan Cong, the technical expert, shook his head, "Of course not. To be honest, communication with Zhongwei Birds has been extremely difficult and abstract so far. Both sides find it very hard to understand each other, and can only communicate through complex mathematical language. After all, no matter what, mathematics is universal, but even with mathematics, it’s very difficult to convey true messages."

"Why?" Even Li Qi was curious now.

Yan Cong continued to explain, "Because they are truly completely different. A Second Grade world definitely has its own unique aspects. The Zhongwei Birds' way of thinking is fundamentally different from ours, making communication impossible."

"Initially, we thought it was a language barrier. In fact, we collaborated with the Spirit Dao and found a Third Grade Spirit Dao Grandmaster, hoping to establish a mental link with the Zhongwei Birds through their mastery of pure thought, bypassing the differences in our material worlds, directly breaking through sensory perceptions and the five aggregates to have a complete spiritual dialogue."

"This wasn't difficult; in fact, it was quite simple. But, once the spiritual dialogue was established, we discovered that even with pure mental communication, we still couldn't understand each other."

"Mental communication, yet still unable to understand?" Li Qi was astonished.

The others also showed surprised expressions.

Everyone around was Fifth Grade, so they naturally understood what this implied.

For example, the word 'apple' has three different pronunciations in Chinese, Japanese, and English.

The languages are different, but if there's telepathy, a linguistic consensus can be reached because, although the languages differ, the underlying thought is the same, and the referent object is also the same, ultimately allowing the concept to materialize as 'apple.'

Because the languages are different, but the thoughts are the same.

However, if even the thoughts are completely different, then true communication becomes utterly impossible.

This level of difference means that even if you are telepathically linked with the other party, all you can perceive is complete杂念, truly impossible to understand. It's not just a species difference, but a difference in the fundamental architecture of thought.

"Completely different thoughts... that's really hard to imagine." Youxiong Gong pondered for a moment, then ultimately gave up.

It's hard to imagine what completely different thoughts would be like.

"It's very difficult to imagine, but it's not entirely different. At least mathematical language is the same. As long as the calculations are proficient, then relatively simple communication can be achieved through calculations," Yan Cong said.

"However, beyond that, it's impossible to understand. We'll talk about the specifics when we get there." He shook his head.

Li Qi nodded.

He was already beginning to look forward to it.

A race with a completely different way of thinking—what would that even be like?

Li Qi had never forgotten his original aspiration. From the very beginning of his cultivation, he had wanted to experience more Dao Orthodoxy. Even though he had now seen the Great Dao of the world, the various Dao Orthodoxy from beyond the Domain were also very interesting.

Now, a Second Grade world, an ally of Shaman Dao, and such a strange existence…

It was truly something to anticipate.

"Oh, right, Second Grade worlds... are they all this strange? I'm still young, and you are all older than me. Have any of you encountered higher-grade worlds?" Li Qi asked the others around him.

Zong Ren Shao Chi replied, "As for high-grade worlds, they all have their own unique characteristics... Bah, that was a useless statement. Without unique characteristics, they couldn't become high-grade worlds at all. But if you're talking about encountering high-grade worlds, it should be you Invoker who have more experience, right? Why are you asking us?"

Li Qi gave a wry smile, spreading his hands, "That's why I said, it's because I'm too young..."

Yes, generally speaking, it's the Invoker who are responsible for communicating with these worlds, but... Li Qi is an exception.

He was too young and hadn't encountered those things yet...

In a sense, Li Qi had very rich experiences, as not everyone could interact with Second Grade and Third Grade beings.

But in reality, his experience was still too meager compared to Invoker of the same rank.

Invoker of the same rank had seen far more of the scenery beyond the Domain than Li Qi, which was experience accumulated over time.

Moreover, it was difficult to make up for, because those were things that happened before the Human-Shaman War.

After the Human-Shaman War broke out... many civilizations might never be seen again. A new pattern, a new appearance, would develop then.

However, at this moment, Yan Cong spoke.

As the second Invoker there, he said, "Actually, high-grade worlds won't change much. Their ability to maintain themselves is still very strong, so it's fine to see them later. I have indeed encountered some high-grade worlds, and I can only say... they are all quite strange."

"How strange?" Li Qi asked curiously.

Yan Cong recalled, "Hmm, civilizations that can stand firm in the Universe on their own definitely have some tricks up their sleeves. One that left a deep impression on me is the Myriad World. The reason it's named this is because this race is somewhat similar to Star Officials, but not quite the same."

"The Myriad World is Third Grade. There is only one type of life there, a symbiotic species. Each individual contains a complete ecosystem within them, and they don't possess 'sentience,' meaning they are all unconscious entities like savage beasts, yet they have still developed a high-level civilization, with very powerful technology and cultivation methods."

"No sentience, yet they can develop civilization and technology? How do they do it?" Including Li Qi, the other team members also grew curious.

"Sentience isn't a prerequisite for development. For them, self-awareness is a hindrance. They possess extraordinary instincts, capable of communicating with all species and developing technology purely based on instinct, finding optimal solutions to problems based on instinct. If you talk to them, they can reply to you, even lie, and assess your danger level, but they actually have no consciousness at all, just like an automatic answering machine."

Li Qi found it somewhat incredible and asked, "Then without consciousness... where does their subjective initiative come from? What motivates them to pursue the Dao?"

This is a very important question. The subjective will required to pursue the Dao—if it's absent, how can they even move?

"It's very simple: living. Their instincts are entirely derived from the ultimate goal of 'continuation.' If higher cultivation or stronger technology is needed, their instincts will drive them to try. You see, they just lack sentience and self-awareness; they aren't without high-level intelligence. In fact, the creatures of the Myriad World are terrifyingly smart. They can easily understand most technologies and have mastered intricate and complex methods."

Li Qi listened, then nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, he was Fifth Grade now, so he could understand such an existence.

To illustrate with an example, it's like the human body.

The human immune System is exquisite and complex, capable of dealing with all viruses in the Universe, but it doesn't require an extra 'self-awareness' to operate this System; everything runs on instinct.

These immune Systems are extraordinarily efficient. All their actions are top-tier strategies for survival and species continuation—intelligent, flexible, and even advanced. Their complexity surpasses everything created by human self-awareness, yet they can function effortlessly with just instinct.

Perhaps some might wonder how they communicate with other life, or even converse and learn, without self-awareness. But don't forget, people can still talk and even walk when sleepwalking. Where is self-awareness at that time?

It's sleeping.

Therefore, self-awareness is not necessary.

By removing self-awareness, there will be no selfish desires like greed or selfishness, and even emotions like happiness or joy will not interfere. They simply drive their bodies purely by instinct, perceiving this Universe with extremely high intelligence, just like a super ant colony.

Ants are very organized, ants are very smart, and ants even herd aphids and build complex ant nests that conform to aerodynamics and mathematical structures.

But ants don't have self-awareness; they don't know what they're doing. Everything is just instinct shaped by natural selection.

"Such a civilization can actually develop to Third Grade?" Li Qi shook his head. Indeed, the world is vast and full of wonders.

"It's truly incredible, but they did it. And there's another one I find very impressive, the Jisu Realm. This name was personally given by Ordained Invoker, a Second Grade world," Yan Cong said with a smile.

"Extreme speed? Are they very fast?" Youxiong Gong expressed confusion about the name.

No matter how fast they are, it shouldn't warrant this name, right? Can they be faster than things like Star-Mansion Array, Golden Dais, or Immortal Path?

Yan Cong shook his head and explained, "It's not about physical speed, but the speed of life itself. If they don't achieve longevity, their lifespan is only three millionths of a second. From birth, reproduction, to death, it's only three millionths of a second."

"Even if they achieve longevity, they generally only live for eight days. After eight days, they will die from Dao Heart collapse caused by excessive lifespan, just like those Seventh Grade beings who lived for tens of millions of years."

"What are they composed of? Ordinary matter couldn't be like this, could it?" Li Qi immediately realized this.

"Yes, they are born from a collapsed quasar. The matter there is different from ordinary matter, with an extremely rapid half-life. Their bodies are composed of these substances, which decay very quickly. For them, this means dying of old age."

"And precisely because of this, their development speed is incredibly fast, extremely, extremely fast. They can advance to Seventh Grade within three millionths of a second, and also die from Dao Heart collapse within eight days."

"Within eight days, they must advance to Sixth Grade. After Sixth Grade, their minds can endure for sixty days."

"It's not until Fifth Grade that they can live for about a hundred years. To truly achieve what we perceive as longevity, they need to reach Third Grade. After Third Grade, they can live for a long time, unaffected by their own rapidly moving minds."

"However, this is only from our perspective. In their eyes, existences like us are all in slow motion. Their minds far surpass ours, with extremely fast reaction speeds, giving them a great advantage in combat. They are very skilled at constructing complex and precise術法, but due to the limitations of the material Domain, it's difficult for them to break through the Heavenly Dao's limits. However, it can almost be said that their actions completely approach the Heavenly Dao's limits, making them very difficult to deal with for Fifth Grade peers."

"But combat power is secondary; the most important thing is their development speed. This is a very young civilization, having developed for only a few hundred million years, yet they are already a Second Grade world. It's truly... as fast as lightning." Yan Cong shook his head and sighed.

Their subjective experience of time far surpasses that of ordinary life. For the Mortals among them, three millionths of a second is a lifetime, and ordinary Seventh Grade beings can only live for eight days before dying from Dao Heart collapse caused by too much time.

Li Qi pondered, then gave a wry smile. For this race, it must be very painful.

Their subjective experience of time is very fast, but this world isn't that fast.

The world cannot keep up with their speed, and the same goes for their own bodies. Once they leave their world, the external matter has a limit to its movement speed. They must overcome the sense of delay brought by the Heavenly Dao's limits.

In other words, for this race, everything in the outside world comes with an incredibly huge delay. Even if they just want to control their own bodies, they will feel a noticeable sluggishness, unless they constantly maintain a state of Heavenly Dao limit acceleration, which is clearly not realistic.

They must endure the extreme disparity between their minds and reality, and the torment of extreme solitude. You know... even just waiting for a flying boat outside the Domain for over ten years is a common occurrence.

For this civilization, waiting for over ten years would be a death sentence. This also limits their range of movement, right? After all, interstellar travel often takes thousands of years.

They can hardly leave their own world. Only Third Grade and Fourth Grade beings, no longer affected by time, can possibly leave their homeland and venture into the Domain.

There are gains and losses, I suppose.

"Second Grade in a few hundred million years... that's terrifying! Does First Grade also come quickly for them?" Shao Chi exclaimed.

"I don't know about that, but I think advancing to First Grade probably can't rely on accumulated time," Li Qi speculated.

Speaking of which, Li Qi checked the time and clapped his hands, "Alright, break time's over. Let's go."

As Li Qi, the captain, spoke, the others immediately stopped their casual chat, then took their positions and set off again.

After two months of travel, they could already 'see' that super Great Void.

A massive gravitational source capable of pulling all matter within tens of millions of light-years into rotation.

It was also the nest of the Zhongwei Birds. This miraculous civilization resided on the event horizon of the Great Void.

"We've arrived. Prepare the sacrifice." Li Qi rose from the flying boat.

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