Chapter 918: Sanpin’s broken heart

If the environment is too cold, even breathing will turn white.

However, if the cold continues, the exhaled air will instantly freeze, which is the current situation.

A temperature of minus seventy degrees is already the limit for life to exist; any lower and it would be very difficult to survive. Fortunately, this planet has warm geothermal heat, and the ocean itself has good thermal insulation properties.

Presumably, if one were underwater, the water temperature there might rise to zero degrees, which could even be considered warm water.

This is the ice age of this planet.

The cold environment led to the formation of massive ice sheets covering the planet, extending from the poles to the equator, coldly enveloping everything in their path.

The land became cold, rivers froze, and all weather turned into blizzards, freezing rain, and hail. Rare sunny days would not see temperatures rise above minus fifty degrees.

Plants, wildlife, and intelligent civilizations would face endless severe cold, suffering direct harm from extremely low temperatures or starving to death due to lack of food.

A large body is beneficial for keeping warm, but it requires a lot of energy, so only creatures at the top of the food chain or large, bottom-dwelling filter feeders have the chance to grow large.

However, even the simplest lichens and mosses, or low-level life forms like insects, only those most suited to living in extremely cold regions have survived until now.

They must possess great adaptability and creativity to have a chance to survive the cruel screening of the ice age, which could last for hundreds of millions of years.

Li Qi was still chatting idly with the Parent in front of him, just a somewhat boring daily conversation. No, not even a conversation; just being by each other's side, the two Third Grades quietly stayed there, not doing anything superfluous.

When the Parent spoke, he was also polishing his spear.

It was an extremely rare metal weapon.

In this dark and cold world, metal weapons actually do not exist. The hunters here use stone or bone weapons, or simply their own flesh.

However, the Parent seemed to have forged a metal weapon using his own methods.

His craftsmanship was excellent; as he sharpened it, the spearhead hummed softly.

This was a sword hum.

From the perspective of a Mortal Refiner, a sword hums only when the weapon's internal structure is completely integrated, its rigidity uniform, the blade's weight precisely balanced, the hilt tightly fitted, the edge sharp, and the heat treatment's microstructure even.

If the Refiner's skill is insufficient, any crack, uneven thickness, fitting gaps, or non-uniform strength will increase vibration dissipation, preventing a sustained sword hum.

This Third Grade had hand-forged a top-grade Mortal weapon; it was not just sharp, but also represented uniformity, reliability, and stability. On this primitive and backward planet, this was a Divine Weapon one could entrust their life to; no animal's skin could withstand this spear.

This made Li Qi somewhat puzzled.

Because although this spear was excellent, it was actually just a Mortal weapon, of no real use to a Third Grade. Perhaps it would be very comfortable for Mortals to hunt with, but… was there any point?

If it was about integrating into the segment and living among the Mortals, there was no need to use this special metal weapon; a bone spear could just as easily pierce through this galaxy.

So, Li Qi asked, "Why make such an anachronistic weapon? If you want to integrate into this world, you don't need to do something so conspicuous, do you? Is there some special meaning? My deductions don't seem to detect anything amiss; this weapon should be dispensable to you."

Li Qi's deductions had reached the other party's situation, but he found nothing special about this spear.

"I wanted to do it, that's all," the Parent said.

Looking at the other party, Li Qi nodded thoughtfully: "It's not just a matter of freedom, is it? Your Dao Heart has collapsed, hasn't it?"

Li Qi gazed at the other party; this was not the first time he had seen someone on the verge of death.

Especially for cultivators, so-called life and death are not merely about losing the ability to interfere with the world and its possibilities; there are many other forms of death in the world.

Just like the Zhongwei Bird in front of him, his Dao Heart had already died long ago; he couldn't escape, so everything that came after in his life, and even all his future time, was merely to construct a superficially beautiful, yet actually empty, tomb for his dead heart.

"Yes, but I don't regret it. Although I have lost those things, it's still happier this way than never having encountered them," the Zhongwei Bird chuckled.

He continued, "In the great war before, my history was murdered. In that tiny moment when I was about to escape, I almost lost consciousness. When I regained my senses, I found my history was like a pig dismembered in a butcher shop."

"If I had had a bit of backbone, I should have resisted, reducing my possibilities to zero. That way, even if I couldn't interfere with the future, at least I could preserve the present, hiding in a closed spacetime loop to continue living, hoping to gain new possibilities one day."

"But… I couldn't do it. I chose to concede, not interfering with the changes they made, preserving the possibility of continuation, but it left my past fragmented, turned into an illusion," the Zhongwei Bird said faintly.

Li Qi nodded slightly.

He could actually understand.

The war of the First Grade affected many people. From a picosecond after the Big Bang, across all timelines, all dimensions, all spaces, and all accessible places of existence, every First Grade who joined the battle was fighting against other First Grades.

This struggle was invisible, without such widespread Divine Abilities, only a cold chill like the ice sheet before them.

The ice sheet didn't harm anything; it simply existed.

Li Qi didn't say much either.

He didn't continue the conversation but returned to the snow house.

After that, Li Qi joined this Family, though he declined all invitations for mating.

At first, everyone didn't understand, but Li Qi quickly demonstrated extraordinary hunting abilities.

Once he showed his value, everyone became tolerant of his eccentricities, so Li Qi quickly integrated into the Family.

He lived within the Family for about twenty years, staying with the Parent until the Family split.

Because the population was too large, relationships became complicated, and prey became difficult to catch, so they needed to separate.

The Parent's authority was challenged several times, and eventually, this Family chose to separate, splitting into three settlements, each going their own way.

Twenty years, for a Third Grade, was but a blink of an eye.

The morning mushroom knows not the dusk, nor the cicada the spring and autumn.

If an mayfly saw a pair of humans drinking tea and chatting together, perhaps for half an hour? That would be a very long time for it; humans spent most of its life doing one boring thing.

The same was true for these Mortals.

Li Qi and that Zhongwei Bird merely sat together, drank a cup of tea, and exchanged some idle words, but that was already an entire lifetime for these people.

Li Qi and that Zhongwei Bird hadn't even truly begun their conversation.

About one hundred and fifty years passed like this.

During these one hundred and fifty years, he and the Parent moved between various tribes, constantly living essentially the same animalistic life.

This kind of life was, surprisingly, very close to 'natural'.

Just as Li Qi had once perceived, the Universe would probably not be a dark forest; it would either be brighter or darker. Space has always been so impartial and selfless, so un-biased and ruthless, cruel and extreme, yet maintaining that subtle balance.

Genes control these so-called higher beings; their bodies, your actions, are merely vessels controlled by genes. Humans are just large paramecia.

One day, one hundred and fifty years later, Li Qi and the Zhongwei Bird had just finished hunting. They were catching a type of plump insect, a fish larva, in a crevice in the glacier.

It sounds strange, but it really was a fish larva. This fish would lay its eggs under the glacier because there were almost no predators there. The larvae hatched plump and fat, not needing to eat, living entirely off the fat in their bodies. Then they would slide down the glacier into the water, and after a period of development, they would grow other organs and become a fish.

In the water, the fish form was indeed useful; this must be the power of convergent evolution.

However, glaciers could block other predators, but they couldn't stop the local 'indigenous people.' They would chisel open the glaciers and excavate these delicious, fatty creatures.

They released half of the larvae and carried the other half out to freeze solid for the people in the settlement to take.

Then, the two of them sat under the glacier, looking up at the sky.

Above the glacier was the sky, emitting a dull glow. After the others left, only Li Qi and the Zhongwei Bird remained at the bottom of the sea. All around and above them were glass-like transparent glacial curtains, and the seawater beneath their feet was clear and translucent, with swaying seaweed visible.

Many cobalt blue and silvery-gray small fish swam in schools, brightly colored red fish darted gracefully, and some plump sea beasts were hunting.

The Zhongwei Bird silently watched all of this, seemingly enjoying the rare beautiful scenery.

Li Qi also admired this rare beauty. The glacier was sandwiched between the sky and the ocean, with the deep seawater below and the dazzling light above intertwining, appearing exceptionally beautiful, even more magnificent and grand than an aquarium.

natural scenery is always so beautiful; although not as splendid as the starlight, it has its own unique charm.

Then, Li Qi suddenly said, "Fear of death is because one loves their life very much. The most terrifying thing for a person is to lose what they love most. Love and fear are born together; even the love of a lifetime will eventually be lost, so fear is everywhere. Those who love money fear losing wealth, those who love people fear being abandoned, Dao seekers fear taking the wrong path, and those who love beauty fear defilement."

Li Qi suddenly started saying some random things.

However, that Zhongwei Bird glanced at Li Qi and already understood what Li Qi wanted to say.

But Li Qi didn't stop and continued: "But if one works harder to acquire these things, to make money, to love people, to seek the Dao, to maintain one's appearance, then having more means having more to lose. This will not solve fear; instead, it will deepen demonic thoughtss."

Saying this, Li Qi looked into the distance of the glacier.

Mortals all believed that beings like the Third Grade were omniscient, invincible, and capable of anything.

Just like the ice sheet before them, the frozen world never ceased, extending endlessly, reaching to the horizon and disappearing beneath the distant sky. Mortals could never reach that edge, while a Third Grade merely had to stand on tiptoe to reach the distant.

But in reality, how could it be that simple?

What Li Qi had just said was actually the situation faced by a small number of Third Grades.

Of course, saying 'a small number' actually only referred to this Zhongwei Bird in front of him.

If a person can easily go back on their word and start over, they will very easily become less and less appreciative of the present.

Because they are unwilling to face loss, they choose to backtrack, which then leads to more loss and more fear.

When you can search for the future you desire among infinite possibilities…

In a Universe full of infinite possibilities, are all these possibilities meaningful?

Every end is a new beginning. Infinite beginnings represent infinite ends. Infinite possibilities ultimately lead to everything being meaningless.

Because you have something you cherish, you fear losing it, thus living in fear. Once you fall into this cycle, you will fear more and more, eventually leading to a chaotic Dao Heart and even the proliferation of demonic thoughtss.

Precisely because one fears loss, one must cherish the present even more.

In Li Qi's view, he actually couldn't chase back the past or change the future. Only the present, only recognizing it, could lead to reconciliation with the past and no longer fearing the future.

Can Third Grades change the past?

Many Third Grades believe they can, because they can truly reverse everything that has happened; as long as no one interferes, they can easily make everything start over.

So… the problem arises.

Infinite possibilities will traverse all possibilities; no matter how you choose, all outcomes will appear, so your choice is actually meaningless.

One-infinity is still infinity; dividing infinity into infinite parts, each part is infinite.

In the face of infinity, all choices are meaningless. The moment you choose 'infinite regression,' your act of regression itself directly enters the stage of 'meaninglessness.'

Infinity is not a fixed number, but a trend, a continuously growing, limitless trend.

Therefore, either terminate this trend, or you must have the courage to face infinity.

Li Qi chose to terminate.

He was unwilling to face infinity. He believed that everything was real. When you regress, you are actually killing everything you wanted and then creating something new.

The Demonic Dao, however, was indifferent from the start; they calmly faced infinity.

So… what about the Zhongwei Bird in front of him?

If he couldn't establish a meaningful dialogue with the other party, Li Qi wouldn't be able to find the Zhongwei Birds' nest.

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