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"Ah, I can’t believe we actually made it back safely." Xu Xuanling remarked with some lingering fear, "It managed to gather such terrifying Spiritual Qi; if it had wanted to harm us, we probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to resist."

"The world is vast and full of wonders," Ji Lian nodded, "This time, we really broadened our horizons."

"You guys..." Chen Xuan looked at Ji Lian and the others, somewhat lost in thought.

"What’s wrong?" The others cast questioning glances.

"No... It’s nothing." He shook his head, swallowing the rest of his words. Clearly, they hadn’t noticed his conversation with the Celestial Patrol; to them, he seemed to have returned to this world normally through the entry point.

Oh... the entry point.

Chen Xuan turned his head and discovered that the flowing light above the skywell had vanished, closing off the Erosion Zone completely.

"I don’t understand..." Honglian suddenly said.

"What?"

"I don’t understand, what’s the point of ascension? Is it worth killing so many people to pursue it?" Honglian’s eyes were filled with pain and confusion, "If there really is an insurmountable hurdle in the future, then shouldn’t we be living our present lives well?"

Chen Xuan knew she wasn’t questioning the Celestial Patrol, but the Dimensional Limit Mechanism.

So much sacrifice was made, to the point where most earthly beings perished, yet the result was this—no matter how you look at it, the mechanism seemed like a clown.

What’s more, even if ascension was achieved, it wouldn’t be much different from an apocalypse—humanity as a species would exit the stage, and human civilization would cease to exist.

"Did that world’s Earth really get swallowed by it?" Xu Xuanling asked, half-believing and half-doubting.

Chen Xuan checked the shop information, confirming the result, "Binjiang Garden Subway Station information is gone, so..."

He paused slightly here.

A new gray ability appeared in his ability column: "?? Gift".

Why the question mark?

Chen Xuan shook his head and decided not to delve into it for now, "So this future is still an apocalypse. But it is definitely not the conclusion the Dimensional Limit Mechanism wanted to see. To the people of that world, ascension was not achieved; they failed."

"What do you mean?" Honglian asked in bewilderment, "Humanity didn’t ascend?"

"Yes, even nano-living bodies weren’t created by the mechanism, so how could the mechanism pin its hopes on them for ascension?" Chen Xuan said slowly. The most despairing part was that they themselves didn’t know where things went wrong—first came the Evangelical Association, then the nano-living bodies... wave after wave of enemies left them utterly exhausted, making the grand task of leading humanity to ascension an empty declaration."

The Dimensional Limit Mechanism understands that there are many world lines.

But they don’t comprehend why these world lines exist and what the key factor is that decides the branching and continuation of the worlds.

"There are many ways to ascend; only the victor will emerge."

"The answer is in plain sight."

The words of the Celestial Patrol echoed in his ears.

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but shiver; he realized he had glimpsed the truth of ascension.

"The path to ascension chosen by the Dimensional Limit Mechanism... is external objects."

"External objects?" Honglian was puzzled, "You just said they couldn’t rely on nano-living bodies."

"No, I’m not referring to nano-living bodies, but rather a tendency towards technological development." Chen Xuan took a deep breath, "Not relying on one’s own abilities, but ascending through advanced technology, like prosthetics, spaceships, interstellar expeditions..."

"..." She was stunned.

"Ah, aren’t these things good?" Xu Xuanling murmured, "I quite like the life over there."

"It’s not about being good or bad; it’s just the name of the path." Chen Xuan raised his hand to point at her and Ji Lian, "Your path to ascension is the self!"

He then pointed at Liuli, "And your choice is transformation!"

Liuli touched the brim of her hat, innocently saying, "I didn’t choose anything, though."

The reason there are so many world lines is that the people of these worlds have already chosen their paths to ascension—whether the choice was spontaneous, forced, or unknowingly made, it makes no difference.

"Are we going to ascend too?" Xu Xuanling rubbed her nose.

"It’s not about whether you want to or not; it’s a challenge every world line will face... No," Chen Xuan corrected himself, "some world lines have already ended, like the future of the world I’m in."

"Have you ever considered where Inner Demons come from?"

Ji Lian frowned, "My brother and I have researched this phenomenon—it’s actually kind of strange; before our master taught us relevant knowledge, no one really paid attention to Inner Demons. The Immortal Alliance had so many cultivators, and what they taught was mostly the Heart Method for absorbing Demon Fiend Spiritual Qi, yet you rarely heard of anyone being killed by Inner Demons."

"Of course, back then everyone’s cultivation level was quite average, far below Immortal Master Liu’s standards. But after the Immortal Alliance disbanded, we began teaching Lotus Cloud Sect spells, and soon after, Inner Demon incidents started appearing."

"If Inner Demons are born from the impurities in Spiritual Qi, then the higher the cultivation level, the more likely one is to encounter this threshold. My brother should have been the first to produce Inner Demons. In any case... we still haven’t come to a reliable conclusion, but the Demon-breaking Method taught by our master is effective; most disciples can get through their first Heart Demon Tribulation using this Dharma Method."

Xu Xuanling asked in surprise, "Do you know the reason?"

Chen Xuan nodded, "Inner Demons are the enemy of the self’s ascension."

"Enemy of ascension?" The two repeated.

"After hearing what you said, I’m more convinced of this." He said in one breath, "Cultivation is essentially gathering power unto oneself, which is fundamentally different from relying on external objects... like prosthetics. No matter which direction you choose, corresponding resistance will form. If you can’t overcome it, there’s only one outcome—shattering to pieces!"

"And the enemy of ascension is just the name I give this phenomenon of resistance. In this world, it is the Inner Demon."

"Maybe it is indeed related to the impurities gathered in the Spiritual Qi; negative emotions might also promote the birth of Inner Demons, but these are not important!" Chen Xuan emphasized, "Because even if there are no Inner Demons, other destructive enemies will appear. You can consider it a phenomenon that naturally occurs under certain conditions!"

"What are those conditions, then?" Liuli asked on behalf of the two.

"It’s unrelated to cultivation level, nor to the choice of Heart Method..." He paused for a few seconds and then spoke with complex emotions, "It depends on people’s understanding of Spiritual Qi."

Not the understanding of one or two individuals.

But the cognitive level of humanity as a group.

In his world, that would be the rapid development of ability technology.

From this perspective, the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s plan to use advanced technology to replace Ability Users actually makes the organization the primary force breaking the world’s stability—because all this cutting-edge technology is built upon the precise use of abilities, which will, in turn, promote people’s research and mastery of abilities.

And when he and Lin Qing pushed the Dimensional Limit Mechanism from underwater to the forefront, it accelerated the arrival of this phenomenon.

Liu Shuyue then drove the development of another world’s level—when she taught advanced theory to disciples, who further refined it and taught it to other cultivators, Inner Demons turned from a rare event into a commonplace phenomenon.