The exit was already within his reach, but Niu Chang wasn't in a hurry to use it.
In his extensive experience as a reader, he found one thing that he hated the most—don't ask how many 'mosts' he had.
'In those stories, the main characters or side characters, when they encounter something similar or beyond comprehension, they hastily leave it. But as a reader, I don't care about their lives or safety; I want to know what was there, what that place was, what secret it held.'
So, Niu Chang planned to stay a bit longer in this place to satisfy his insatiable curiosity.
His perception spread slowly as he pondered where to start.
'This place is a good one. Only in the contradiction of white and black can the difference be easily perceived.'
Just like white and black, existence and nonexistence were counterparts of each other. If someone only lived their life in the white area, it would be hard to imagine what black is, and vice versa.
Time passed, and Niu Chang found himself drowned in countless attempts to prove something he didn't even know.
'Is it the truth? The truth?'
Niu Chang believed there was only one truth; everything else was just a derivation of that truth.
'Following this logic, whether it is existence or nonexistence, they were below the truth in the hierarchy. Using the top-down approach made it easier to understand, but using the bottom-up approach to reach the truth… aaaagggghhhh.'
Niu Chang groaned in frustration as he tried to comprehend the truth based on his unique situation right now.
The more he tried, the more he lost himself.
It wasn't the truth that was harmful or forbidden, but the attempt to reach it, filled with precarious danger that lurked in every direction.
Falling into doubt about everything and thus losing the sense of self, which is the definition of death itself.
Losing control, losing sanity, no longer having the ability to discern the self, becoming nothing.
'So,' Niu Chang muttered, a minor headache forming as he changed his approach. 'The good old way?'
'Ignorance to the boot!'
Taking everything at face value and defining everything on whims.
He didn't focus on anything in particular, which was his goal.
Just like plucking stars from the sky with his wandering mind alone, 'time' passed unbeknownst to him.
Perhaps another eternity passed, but he truly didn't know.
One thing always bothered him when he read stories about someone's journey to attain the highest power in their reality.
Becoming the ruler and using other fancy words to describe their ascent.
In that position of power, naturally, they could control everything, right?
So, was it the future self who actually safeguarded the past self during their journey, seeking death left and right?
The plot armor was not a mere device for the author to protect their main characters, but instead it was deus ex machina in the first place.
The reasoning was simple to follow.
As long as magic existed, mortal limits could be breached, and eventually, someone would ascend to the highest throne of power.
Because of this, Niu Chang always asked himself, 'What about me?'
'If I succeed in the future, will everything become meaningless? By that point, my future self would have detached from everything, becoming a self-defined concept that no longer had a connection with me—even if I somehow fail. He wouldn't suffer anything.'
A notion of failure existed, but even for Niu Chang, failure would mean his journey was simply short.
Nothing to care about; after all, he would be dead. What else could he do?
'The other possibility would be that I've already succeeded before, thus having eternity in boredom. Naturally, I'd seek joy, right?'
'For instance, creating various incarnations to experience new lives.'
Whether it was in the future or the past, where he had succeeded in attaining immortality, there would be no real impact on his current self.
This kind of thinking was common in his attempt to unravel the truth.
While Niu Chang was engrossed in his thoughts, he suddenly moved, extending his hand to reach for something.
In this void of emptiness, something finally changed.
The plain consciousness, which Niu Chang only had, now had a hand!
Frowning at his success, Niu Chang once again performed the same trick, and now he had a body.
The body wasn't made of flesh and blood or anything tangible. It resembled a glimmering light, taking the shape of his previous body.
'What an odd realization,' Niu Chang mused as he finally grasped something about the truth.
'I possessed knowledge about it, yet I am unable to construct any words or descriptions for it. It's not something that can be explained; it requires self-realization to understand.'
Existence, nonexistence, truth.
It was actually very different from his earlier thoughts. Even his two theories about the nature of existence and nonexistence were no longer valid.
He had elevated his state of mind to that of a higher level.
Although he couldn't directly convey this knowledge, he would still be able to guide someone to catch a glimpse of the true nature of truth.
Of course, the other person would need a deep comprehension and a fair amount of luck to be truly enlightened by it.
'I can describe it to others in countless ways, answering their questions. But ultimately, whether they understand it or not depends on them….'
'Wait… wait… hold on,' Niu Chang suddenly realized something.
'Isn't this… this kind of thing!'
'Isn't this the vague discourse that is usually found in xianxia novels?'
'Explaining something in the most ambiguous way, lacking any real substance, like "the great dao is endless and so on." "The dao is everywhere and so on."'
'Oh no, I'm actually becoming something that I truly despise the most.'
'The truth, the dao, or any word for it. I couldn't fathom them before, but now that I've gained a foothold in this realm, I'll call it nonsense!'
The reason was simple: although Niu Chang had realized something and achieved enlightenment, he discovered that this was not what he desired.
This kind of knowledge he possessed was wrong!
'This isn't the truth! This is incorrect! Everything is wrong!'
However, he wasn't angry; instead, he found it oddly enjoyable to make such a mistake.
'If not for the low-quality literature I read in my first life, I might have been condemned to follow the wrong path. The path of ignorance, the path of heresy—many words could be used, but none of them would ever lead to the path of truth.'
'I comprehend something and can influence the void? I can present it to you in countless ways and offer explanations full of empty words. And if you fail to grasp its only mean you lack talent'
'Heh,' Niu Chang playfully snorted. 'How can the grand truth be treated like the ramblings of an old man on one occasion and profound speech when uttered by a person of high status on another?'
If the truth was different from person to person, having more than one standard, what is the difference between that and an opinion?
My 'opinion' of the truth is this, your 'opinion' is wrong. How could someone discuss the truth like that?
'How can my grand aspiration for the truth be interpreted in various manners? If it has more than one definition, how can it truly be called truth?'
Niu Chang's eyes flashed with a madness he wasn't conscious of. He gazed into a place beyond his dimension—a place where time and everything else were mere playthings. Beings resided there, capable of observing every reality.
Not only him, but also his previous world and even the various worlds depicted in the stories he had read. Every single thing and nothing.
A higher realm of those who had advanced a step beyond him in understanding the truth.
'I know you exist, and I'll be there, no matter how long it takes.' Niu Chang declared. But the sound that arose from his thoughts materialized through his elevated state of being—a wrong truth, a low-level concept that had been learned in a higher life form. It was an incoherent growl, a screech akin to metal grating against metal, an explosive roar reminiscent of a volcanic eruption. It defied explanation, for everyone would interpret it differently.
Yet, they would all agree that they had heard something they shouldn't have.
For those who uttered these words were no longer human.