Endless Debt-Chapter 796 - 257: Revealing the Essence of the World
Duwa crouched like a zealot ready to sacrifice himself at any moment, covering his cheeks with both hands, peering through the gaps in his fingers at the original object, his body trembling violently from time to time. Bologue could faintly hear his heartbeat and quickened breathing.
Bologue didn’t understand what was happening, nor could he comprehend Duwa’s ramblings. His knowledge of alchemy was only at an entry level, and he had no idea what it meant to be a cornerstone that subverts frameworks.
A strange atmosphere filled the surroundings. Bologue turned around to look at Mamo and Nesanel. Their eyes also shimmered with a faint light from the Spirit Vision Liquid, their expressions solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Judging from the attitudes of these two Seekers of Glory, there was definitely something wrong with this original object. Thinking about the Zongge Orchestra’s pursuit to the death, Bologue calmed himself, and while the effects of the Spirit Vision Liquid were still ongoing, he looked at the original object again.
The original object appeared quite ordinary, but if there was something special about it, it carried a simplistic, square feeling, with a surface smooth like a mirror, and Bologue’s face was blurredly reflected upon it.
The containers around emitted the peculiar dull white glow of the Cold Iron Soul, a light perceived through the Spirit Vision Liquid which did not exist in reality, thus it was not reflected by the mirror-like surface of the original object...
At a certain moment, Bologue’s thoughts froze, as if thunder had struck through his mind, his whole body losing sensation, leaving him rigid in place.
It was in this moment Bologue realized one thing: the original object had no color, and it lacked the glow of a soul.
Does this... does this prove that the original object does not possess a soul? Knowing that everything has a soul is one of the most important cornerstones of the extraordinary system.
But if the original object has no soul, by the classification of the inanimate, it should have disintegrated into dust, so why does it still maintain its original form and structure without collapse?
No soul, yet it has not died.
Bologue’s gaze moved with difficulty to Duwa, who slowly stood up, as if staring directly at the blazing sun, tears welling in his eyes.
"Reveal the essence of the world."
Duwa murmured, this was King Solomon’s interpretation of the original object.
"Teda is right," Duwa continued, "this is how he explained his own ether tide theory. As time progresses and exploration of the Secret Source advances, the concentration of ether is continuously rising in the entire world.
The two complement each other, until the extraordinary power of ether completely warps this world."
Bologue suddenly recalled when he was at the Wind Source Highlands, witnessing the storm above the Angry Sea, where an ethereal vortex point created this "natural" extraordinary phenomenon.
At that time, Bologue had fantasized, if the ether tide theory was correct, with the continuous increase in ether concentration, would it create one terrifying extraordinary phenomenon after another, perhaps even tearing the entire world apart.
"Continue."
Bologue signaled Duwa to go on; the shock brought by this ordinary metal cube was somewhat overwhelming. The intense impact dulled Bologue’s mind, making thinking difficult, so he simply listened to Duwa’s report.
"Teda actually, in his own research, subjectively believed that the ether tide indeed existed. What he wanted to figure out next was whether ether had been present in this world from the very start or whether it appeared abruptly in some past epoch."
Duwa laughed hoarsely, "Haven’t you noticed? Bologue, even the oldest families and secret societies can’t say for sure when ether appeared, and in the grand history of humankind, humanity’s history is far longer than the appearance of ether.
So what about before then? In those even more remote ages, can we say that ether did not exist in this world?"
"Teda cannot prove that ether does not belong to this world..."
Bologue murmured, ether is closely related to this world, something every Condenser cannot escape, the crystallization of every human soul.
We can say that ether is as important to humanity as air, and from the moment everyone is born, they are influenced by ether... No, even in the embryo stage, ether has already accompanied them.
"Yes, Teda could never solve this riddle, but King Solomon did," Duwa said reverently, "He didn’t know where he acquired this piece of metal and created the Constant Metal to protect it."
"Think about the properties of Constant Metal, rejecting all external forces... What it rejects is the ether. Enclosed within the Constant Metal, it itself would form a microcosm of an ether vacuum."
Duwa’s speech sped up, then he began to cough violently, his chest heaving with rapid breaths.
This was probably the happiest and most exhilarating moment of Duwa’s life, seeing him this way, Bologue was genuinely worried that Duwa might suddenly die.
Mamo walked slowly over, standing by Bologue’s side. He blinked, and the golden shimmer in his eyes vanished.
"We have posited a hypothesis that this world originally had no ether, no so-called extraordinary power..."
Bologue softly repeated, "No extraordinary power..."
Bologue recalled memories of his previous life, an absolute material reality with no extraordinary ether, no diabolical Devils, only the cold reality and the mechanics that drive all things.
The world became elusive in Bologue’s eyes, and from this moment, he began to find it difficult to comprehend the world before him.
"Then, under this hypothesis, can we understand that the birth of our souls and extraordinary power is all influenced by ether, which is the Secret Source.
At some point in the past, the Secret Source suddenly appeared in our world and brought a constant flow of ether."
Mamo continued to explain, "Ether transformed us, transformed this world, and as ether concentration rises, this transformation becomes more and more penetrating, until it gave birth to our souls and the emergence of Alchemy Matrix technology... We can’t predict what the world will become."
The original object quietly floated within the container, this soulless cold metal, just by its own existence, thoroughly shattered the extraordinary system accumulated over the past century, destroying the foundational cornerstone completely.
This was King Solomon’s revenge. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Bologue stared at it blankly; he had always been a practical person. Mamo and Duwa’s theories didn’t impact Bologue, what truly impacted him was the existence of the original object.
Data may be incorrect, theories may be falsified, but objective reality is absolutely indisputable.
Now, a soul-less metal cube was placed in front of everyone, this was an irrefutable reality.
Bologue couldn’t describe his current mood, merely murmuring to himself.
"Reveal the essence of the world."
