Chapter 923: Human war

Chen Ang looked at his subordinates around him.

As a Fourth-Grade Mortal, he was responsible for this war zone, coordinating the battles below, commanding his subordinates, and occasionally personally engaging in combat with Shamanes.

To be honest, these subordinates actually did not meet his requirements.

Because they relied too much on him.

As long as he was present, they could endure misfortune and hardship, persevere, and fight like humans.

However, if he disappeared, they would become timid and disperse; if he was not there, then facing the Shamanes' offensive, the war would end in less than twenty days, and everyone would be annihilated by the enemy.

They firmly believed that following him would lead to complete victory.

But—

As 'humans', this was truly too weak.

The so-called Dao Orthodoxy means that even if only one person remains, they will never be discouraged.

Because whether it is the journey of pursuing Dao or traversing this world, it is destined to be lonely, just like the source of his reality.

Chen Ang deeply understood one point: all living beings are destined to be lonely. Although Dao Orthodoxy advocates teamwork, every practitioner of Dao Orthodoxy understands that the premise of cooperation is that everyone pulls their own weight.

The journey of pursuing Dao is bound to be a dark one; everyone is a solitary boat on a dark, stormy sea, constantly swaying, liable to sink at any moment.

This journey through the storm is destined to be boundless; even the most farsighted person cannot see the end, and those who learn lessons best cannot look back to where they came from. The lonely small boat can only drift alone in the wind and rain.

Desperate and helpless, with a bleak future.

The external world is inherently despairing; nothing can become hope, and all hope is destined to perish. This is not alarmist talk, but a factual reality.

Rely on parents, and parents will leave.

Rely on a Spiritual Artifact like The Axis of All Realms, and the Spiritual Artifact will malfunction.

If hope is placed in great people, what happens when those great people pass away?

If hope is placed in gods, what if prayers go unanswered?

If hope is placed in companions, what about the path ahead when companions turn their backs and leave?

Who can one ultimately rely on?

With the passage of time and changes in the world, what is eternal and always reliable?

Like these subordinates of Chen Ang before him, they place their hope in Chen Ang. When Chen Ang leaves, will their Dao Heart also collapse?

For Dao Orthodoxy, nothing is reliable; the human world can only be maintained by humans.

People in Dao Orthodoxy have trust and cooperation with each other, even to a degree that other Dao Orthodoxys find hard to comprehend. The unity of Dao Orthodoxy is unbelievable.

But hidden behind this unity is that each 'individual human' is highly self-reliant; even if only one person remains, Dao Orthodoxy will never be discouraged, never give up.

Therefore, Chen Ang actually didn't think much of these subordinates who followed him. They placed their hope in him, treating him as the source of all possibilities. This was wrong; if they maintained this perception, they would never become true humans.

To become a true human, one needs to get rid of all dependence on the outside world. To conquer the world, one must, in mindset, equalize oneself with the world, otherwise, one is merely a slave to the outside world.

However, now that it was time to leave, he still couldn't help but sigh.

Even such people were very few; at least they were willing to take control and transform this world.

In the entire war zone, among the more than twenty million superclusters he occupied, Chen Ang only conscripted less than one hundred thousand star systems willing to take up arms and fight to transform and control this world.

Only a very small number of lives could serve Dao Orthodoxy; although these worlds were generally stronger, the numerical disparity was still overwhelming.

Clearly, this was because the ideals of Dao Orthodoxy could not yet penetrate the hearts of those Mortals, nor could they make their hearts burn. They indulged in the weakness of the Shamanes, indulged in their primitive instincts, unwilling to abandon the various impulses brought by decadent, backward genes.

They interpreted their primitive impulses as 'love' and mistook the pleasure brought by genes as what they truly wanted to pursue. What difference is there between such lives and animals?

This kind of ignorance was intolerable to Dao Orthodoxy, but Shamanes would condone these lives.

This condonation led to even more occurrences.

It's truly irritating.

However, despite the irritation, Chen Ang would not be swayed by it.

Looking at his subordinates below, he said to them, "Don't rely on me. My departure is for better combat. This is not abandonment; you should understand that I will not give up."

His subordinates instinctively nodded.

Indeed, Chen Ang would not give up; they had witnessed it countless times.

He possessed various noble qualities, outstanding talent, immense bravery, great fortitude, and profound wisdom. Chen Ang would strictly demand from everyone, but everyone had no objections.

Because, after spending some time with Chen Ang, one would discover that his demands on himself were the strictest, reaching a level incomprehensible to ordinary people. He seemed to never relax, always full of vitality, and every word he spoke exuded courage, strength, fortitude, and an invincible confidence.

"You must learn to fight for yourselves. Only then can you truly become independent. I hope to see you in Chang'an next time, not still here."

"I have taught you everything I can. You need to grow up yourselves. Now, you have cast off the reliance on primitive instincts and have acquired noble virtues. There is only one last thing you need to remove; once this final goal is achieved, you can honorably join our ranks."

Chen Ang said to his subordinates.

"What is it?" his subordinates immediately pressed.

"I have already said it." Chen Ang did not give an answer, merely a reminder.

Because he understood that these subordinates actually knew what it was.

What they needed to eliminate was dependence.

Humans do not need to submit.

Everyone is unique, their own master.

Entrusting oneself to others is wrong, it is both disrespect to oneself and a burden to others.

Dao Orthodoxy encourages everyone to pursue their own Dao, rather than following others step by step. They must be independent from the heart, bravely stand in this world with their own strength, not relying on others for courage.

Courage and will should well up from within one's own heart, not be given by others.

Upon hearing Chen Ang's words, his subordinates fell silent.

They actually knew, but sometimes, knowing is not enough to overcome it.

They looked at each other, exchanging glances, a group of Fifth-Grades huddled together, looking at one another. In their hearts, they understood that their expressions were very comical, but this only made them more embarrassed.

They could barely speak, as if their vocal organs were glued shut by Chen Ang's words. Thus, they could only stammer a few incoherent words, trying to persuade Chen Ang to stay, but they all knew that these weak words could not possibly have any effect.

At this moment, they realized they were indeed timid. They would rather throw themselves into the most intense battles, fighting desperately face-to-face with terrifying enemies, than stand here face-to-face with Chen Ang; that would be much easier.

Chen Ang looked at them, sighed, and said, "Do you know, if you keep relying on others like this, one day you will find that it will become your biggest obstacle. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you directly."

This was a secret about reality, one of the sources of Chen Ang's reality.

Imagine a game where you can customize the protagonist's name.

There are many such games, right?

But clearly, the protagonist has family in the game, so after you customize the protagonist's surname, it's easy to understand that the whole family's surname will change with the protagonist. The protagonist's father will always keep the same surname as the protagonist.

Although in the plot, that is, in the 'manifestation of reality', it shows that the protagonist inherited the father's surname, in reality, the player knows that it is actually the father who follows the protagonist's surname.

Because the protagonist's surname is Wang, the father will also be surnamed Wang. It is the protagonist's surname that determines his family's surname.

Because of the protagonist's existence, the father has meaning in his existence.

The protagonist is the real one; the protagonist's existence establishes the existence of other characters. Without the protagonist, the existence of other characters would disappear. Other characters exist by relying on the 'player', and the player's projection in this game world is the protagonist, so the protagonist's surname determines the surname of the protagonist's parents.

This is a manifestation of reality.

Parents exist because the 'protagonist' exists, not the other way around.

Self-sustenance, and then through Karma, drawing others, one can exist independently in the world, and thus achieve Fourth-Grade.

If you even rely on others for the hope in your heart, how can you achieve self-sustenance? Such a mindset will hinder the recognition of inner reality.

It's very difficult.

Chen Ang hoped that these subordinates would one day mature, rather than remain in such a muddled state.

He had actually secretly preached many times, but this kind of thing could not be made explicit; if it were, it would easily form a mental barrier.

So, he could only sigh again, seeing those pitiful subordinates who stared at him, and said, "Then, before I leave, one last time, I will preach to you."

Chen Ang sat down.

At the same time, another voice echoed in his mind.

It was the voice of another Fourth-Grade Daoist.

"Hey, Chen Ang, staying to preach now, the Dao sound vibration will be risky. You'll be marked by the Shamanes. The terminal message has already come through; a new Third-Grade has joined the battle and is very likely to interfere with our war zone. Be careful." His friend reminded him, "Withdraw quickly."

"If I leave just like that, I can't bear it. They are only one step away." Chen Ang shook his head, "Even if I can't personally see them succeed, I want to help them one last time."

"Only one step away? It's not incomprehensible. Then hurry up. We have already withdrawn. The appearance of the new Third-Grade has brought too much risk. Life is precious, don't waste it." His friend said.

Chen Ang nodded, "I have had The Axis of All Realms calculate it for me; my danger of staying here is less than thirty percent. My threat is not the greatest."

"As long as you have a sense of proportion, the arrival of the Third-Grade will not only kill you but also the lives within those wombs. Before they hatch into humans... forget it, you have a sense of proportion. In this situation, staying is wrong, and leaving is also wrong. You can take a gamble."

Then, the other party cut off the communication.

Chen Ang continued to preach as if nothing had happened.

As said before, in the current situation, staying is wrong, and leaving is also wrong.

If he stayed and something happened... the consequences would be unimaginable. But if he left, and they caused great disaster due to their reliance on him, he would also feel heartache.

So, it's better to take a gamble, finish preaching and then leave, giving them a chance, gambling that he won't be caught by the Third-Grade.

These people loved him, so even at risk, he had to give them one last push.

If someone could succeed with his help, that would be the best. The brand new birth of a 'human' is indeed the fortune of Dao Orthodoxy.

Creatures dependent on primitive genetic instincts are fixated on Bloodline reproduction, but Dao Orthodoxy is different; the reproduction of Dao Orthodoxy is the birth of new humans.

Chen Ang continued to preach.

Time slowly passed; his preaching lasted for fourteen days.

However, at this moment, the terminal suddenly emitted violent fluctuations!

advanced alert!

The power of a High-Grade existence had spread over!

Chen Ang immediately interrupted his preaching, his figure flashed, preparing to withdraw!

But the power of the Third-Grade had already appeared.

Reality was being eroded, the surrounding physical Laws began to distort, Universe constants collapsed, space-time dimensions became chaotic, and a shattered dimensional labyrinth sealed everything here. Within the dimensional labyrinth, the fundamental Laws were already in disarray.

Chen Ang gave up on escaping.

No chance left.

He sighed... no choice, he lost the gamble, so he could only accept it.

The probability of survival was zero, and other probabilities around him also began to be modified.

The future was gradually locked, and his cultivation began to become chaotic.

There is an extremely small probability for a person's cultivation to have problems, caused by the randomness of matter, just like a Mortal directly passing through a wall.

Quantum tunneling indeed has a chance of occurring, and the fluctuating probabilities in the Void Realm can indeed cause such things to happen, but the probability is very, very low. A particle can rarely undergo quantum tunneling, but how many particles are in a wall and a human body? The probability is so low that under normal circumstances, a Fourth-Grade would not self-detonate.

But the probability had been changed.

Even the lowest probability, at this moment, became 'one'.

One, that is, one hundred percent occurrence.

The terminal's calculation would not be wrong, because the The Axis of All Realms behind the terminal was a Second-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

However, at this moment—

Probability... twisted.

Another Third-Grade Daoist appeared.

"Chen Ang, take them and go." The Third-Grade said.

There's a double monthly pass at the end of this month, so everyone can save theirs and vote then.