Chapter 944: Time and space map

Dipamkara Buddha and Demon of Death had been confronting each other for a very, very long time in the past.

No one knows how long it has been.

Sentient beings are like dust, one dust, one Kalpa. According to the Buddhist calculation, one Kalpa is about 1.2 billion years.

Then, one sentient being is one 1.2 billion years, and they will also undergo Reincarnation. Every sentient being has been subjected to hundreds of thousands of millions of Nayuta Asankhya Kalpas by the Demon of Death.

How many sentient beings are there in the Universe?

One sentient being, hundreds of thousands of millions of Nayuta Asankhya Kalpas. It is imaginable how long this past struggle lasted.

"What's the point?" Dipamkara Buddha smiled. "In the past, I transcended the sea of life and death in eight Kalpas. Now, repeating it many times over only wastes your time."

"Time? As long as you retreat, I can immediately return to the time point I want to go to, without a single second's delay," the Demon of Death said.

"That's not necessarily true. Humans, Shamanes, Gods, and the four sides of the Celestial Evolution will not let you go to that time point. It was not easy for them, suffering such immense losses, to finally push the current situation to this extent. You want to change it? It's not that simple," Dipamkara Buddha replied casually.

"Oh, so you mean they did make progress, right? You're blocking me here just to create a fait accompli? Then aren't you going to deal with the Heavenly Demon?" the Demon of Death said.

As they spoke, countless, inexpressible 'events' were occurring around them.

These events contained eternity, and also contained true infinity.

But within eternity, there were also many distinct temporal sequences.

All time appeared within eternity, infinite power, perfect and flawless, even having achieved the complete creation of all possibilities.

This is incredibly inconceivable, because unless an infinitely absolute spirit conceived and executed this entire series of creations in a finite, temporary creative mode, none of this would be possible.

But it did happen. For creation, the eternal and infinite spirit added time within eternity, encompassing this long series of creations.

Such a beautiful reality, yet...

Destruction is also descending.

All 'events' were isolated, like stones that could not influence each other.

Because all change had stopped, the strictly defined time on each barren Universe also stopped.

This should be the static, eternal end, even eternity would be exhausted.

Unimaginable, unfathomable power.

What kind of existence could possibly give rise to such a scene?

Death?

Impossible. How could mere death create such infinity? The Demon of Death's power is definitely not death.

Or rather... the Demon of Death's goal is death, but its existence is not sustained by death.

Death is merely a small footnote to him, by no means his true Dao foundation.

What about Dipamkara Buddha? Where does his power come from?

Difficult to understand, impossible to imagine.

But it genuinely exists and affects a sufficient number of things.

However, at this moment, Dipamkara Buddha's power gradually faded.

Silent death swallowed everything around.

There was no fanfare, no loud sounds or bright lights.

There was only... one after another falling into a dazed confusion, and finally, without exception, entering sleep, which is what we call death.

The Demon of Death was freed.

He left the past and returned to the 'present'.

Although for him, he merely moved from one place to another.

For existences above the Third Grade, there is no such thing as time in the Universe; there are only independent events existing one after another. Although these events are related, there is no fixed Karma sequence.

Something happened in the past, and I know the coordinates of that event, so I will go to the place where that event is located.

The so-called 'time' is merely an axis on a spacetime map.

Knowing the spatial coordinate axes and also the temporal coordinate axis, then one can directly go to that place, just like going to a certain shop when shopping.

Go there, then do what you want to do.

It's that simple. The so-called Transmigration through time and space is not at all mysterious. If drawn as a map, it's just a map with an additional T-axis.

It's just adding a time axis to the coordinate axes, no different from the previous XYZ three axes, and different events are distributed on this spacetime map, defined by different points on the four axes.

Going to a certain point allows you to witness what happened at that point, and then when you act, you change that event.

Since you have already made changes, corresponding changes will naturally occur, just like when you push a cup off a table, the cup will naturally fall and break. It's very natural, everything follows logically.

There's absolutely no mystical element.

All 'events' are simultaneously distributed on the same spacetime map, and each event stands alone, just like a cup and a table.

The cup is on the table, so aren't the cup and the table independent of each other? I don't think anyone would say that a cup cannot exist independently of a table, right?

Although, if the table disappears, the cup will fall and break, but this event also exists independently. No one would think that 'the cup broke', so the complete cup no longer exists, right?

Every event exists independently, and this is also a way of existence, especially for existences with substantiality.

The Demon of Death returned to this world again.

She looked at her hands.

Delicate and fair.

Then she looked down at her Physical Body.

The Physical Body of a Human Race, only twelve or thirteen years old, looked pitiful, as if about to cry at any moment. However, combined with the Demon of Death's indifferent expression, it gave off a unique feeling.

Her relationship with the Heavenly Demon was not good, but the Heavenly Demon offered a very tempting condition: as long as she wore this Physical Body, the Heavenly Demon would help her.

It was practically a free gain.

The Heavenly Demon always did these inexplicable things, but it didn't matter. The Demon of Death didn't care about its affairs.

The Demon of Death itself felt that there was nothing meaningful in this world.

Emptiness, nirvana, these are the true essence of this world.

What's the point of contending over good and evil, right and wrong, Dao and non-Dao? It's all meaningless.

Without a stance, there is no distinction between right and wrong, good and evil. Nothing is inherently right or wrong, good or evil. But with a stance, there is right and wrong.

Things simply exist. To say whether mountains, water, wind, stars, or the sun are good or evil? Good or bad?

It's meaningless.

Everything in this world is meaningless.

Meaning is given to things by subjective will, and subjective will is the source of everything.

The Demonic Dao has many ways to prove that this world originates from subjective will itself, and the Demon of Death is naturally the same.

All meaning in this world is given by 'I', so what's the point of pursuing the 'Dao'?

If truth, or rather... the Ultimate Dao exists, then the meaning of the Ultimate Dao's existence must also be given by 'I'.

Suppose a Mortal believes that his love for his wife transcends everything, and he is willing to give up contact with the existence of the 'Ultimate Dao' for 'love'. Can you say he is wrong?

Obviously, no.

In this example, because 'meaning' is given by 'I', for 'I', the Ultimate Dao may not be more important than 'love'.

Subjective will gives value to all existence in the world. In other words, it means that everything in the world is inherently worthless.

If the existence of subjective will is stripped away, then all things are equal.

A stone may not be cheaper than a piece of gold, because the value of both gold and stone is given by subjective will. Only when subjective will recognizes value, does it have value.

Therefore, the 'Dao' may not truly be superior to other things. That is merely the value that those 'subjective wills' have given to the 'Dao', and it is not that the 'Dao' is truly very important.

So, in this situation, do all things truly have any existential value?

The answer is no.

Since existential value is given by 'I', then if 'I' believe there is none, then there is none.

If there is none, then destruction is also a matter of course, isn't it?

If there is no meaning to existence, then there is no need to exist.

For things that don't need to exist, destruction is also logical.

The Demon of Death walked in the void, looking around, as far as her eyes could see—

Galaxies withered, civilizations perished.

She did nothing, nor did she intentionally cast spells; she merely passed by.

But inevitably, the decay of all things began.

In world after world, economy and production became increasingly difficult, and population numbers had to be reduced again and again, dropping to a level insufficient to sustain their world's collective Systems.

It is well known that there is a concept called 'minimum civilization population'. To maintain the normal operation of various Systems such as medical care, energy, education, transportation, and industry, many workers are needed.

When the population is too low, the technological level of the civilization itself will not only be permanently locked at a certain level, but may even regress.

It's like the nerve center in the brain. If one link degenerates and can no longer perform its task in development, the brain as a whole will also rapidly degenerate and become demented.

It wouldn't have been like this normally; civilizations have a tendency towards 'self-sustainment' and would strive with all their might to survive.

But for some reason, they lost this quality.

These civilizations no longer wished to 'procreate'. They themselves didn't know why, but they simply felt that perishing didn't matter.

Thus, civilization gradually moved towards death.

In the galaxies and Observable Universes that the Demon of Death passed through, the civilizations within them, all their functions were declining, and the continuously decaying societies severely eroded their already dwindling courage.

Perhaps there were still some pioneers or leaders within these civilizations who retained vague memories of their past enterprising history.

But they could not stop any of this from happening.

Just then—

Another almost identical, pure white girl intimately hugged the Demon of Death from behind, saying happily, "Oh, you're back?"

Almost instantly, the girl's Physical Body had already begun to wither.

But it quickly revived again.

If the world has no meaning...

Then wouldn't it be enough for 'I' to give it meaning?

The meaning of this world is defined by 'I'. 'I' am the meaning of all existence, am I not?

They are both 'I'.

But the Demon of Death and the Heavenly Demon are like two sides of the same Yin and Yang.

Starting from the same perspective, they arrived at completely opposite conclusions.

The Heavenly Demon does not believe this world is meaningless; quite the opposite, she believes she is the entire meaning of this world, and she herself is certainly very meaningful, so this world is also very meaningful.

The logic is completely sound and fully consistent with the Demonic Dao's understanding.

In this regard, the Demon of Death's 'decay' could not affect the Heavenly Demon's Physical Body at all.

But it was clear the Demon of Death didn't want her to keep hugging her, so the Demon of Death pushed her away, still maintaining an expressionless face, and said, "I have been resurrected, so, next, am I to help you escape?"

"There's no need to help me escape. The one suppressing me is the World Honored One Tathagata. I can't let him leave the Heavens of the Formless Realm right now. I still have a lot to say to him~, hmph hmph~," the Heavenly Demon said happily with a nasal sound, like a cat.

"Then what do you want to do? According to your nature, I should repay you, right?" the Demon of Death said.

If possible, he didn't want to get too involved with the Heavenly Demon.

But if it was agreed beforehand, when the Heavenly Demon came to collect debt, even a First Grade would find it troublesome.

As a fellow First Grade of the Demonic Dao, the Demon of Death knew very well how difficult the Heavenly Demon was to deal with.

He had been 'killed' for so long, but the Heavenly Demon... had never died.

The Heavenly Demon is a 'Dao Enemy'.

He most enjoys attempting to obstruct practitioners' path to Dao through methods such as temptation, coercion, intimidation, and inducement.

He has infinite power, and his appearance changes endlessly. He might appear with a ferocious face, or in a benevolent form, sometimes even in a seductive posture. However, his goal, whether through threats or inducements, is always to make practitioners deviate from their own Dao and fall into the Evil Path.

It doesn't necessarily have to be the Demonic Dao; as long as it's a deviation from the original Dao, it's fine. Turning a human into a witch, a demon into a Dragon, or a Buddha into a demon, it doesn't matter.

She just finds it fun.

Although in reality, it's quite difficult to encounter the Heavenly Demon.

Non-Great Powers, those with unwavering resolve, are actually not easily troubled by the Heavenly Demon.

Ordinary Mortals, who wallow in worries and the five aggregates all day long, and who cycle through life and death, how could they provoke the Heavenly Demon's attack? It's not their turn for the Heavenly Demon to act.

To put it bluntly, the Heavenly Demon only plays high-stakes games, provoking only Great Powers.

The mere existence of the Heavenly Demon has already caused countless practitioners headaches. No one knows whether their thoughts are truly their own.

Such malicious behavior, and with an even more malicious reason, means the Heavenly Demon has made as many enemies as the Demon of Death, if not more.

But it has always lived, always stirred up trouble, and has never been killed by anyone.

This is enough to show how strong she is.

And at this moment, this Heavenly Demon, whom even the Demon of Death feared, let out a lovely laugh, revealing a mischievous face.

"Hmph hmph hmph~, as for compensation..."

"Then help me cause a big ruckus~."