In the testing ground, Ronan was keeping track of three things at once. Ranked by how much attention he gave them, they were:
The progress of the "high-risk experiment";
The results of "Lao Pu's information transmission";
The state of the "dual assessment."
The first two could actually be treated as one, but Ronan's thoughts were focused more on the fundamental principles underlying both.
Ronan had been pondering "tearing" and "self-devouring." Comparing them against historical texts describing the "ancient gods," his basic understanding at present was:
The "tearing" those great existences suffered was, in essence, uncontrollable;
Their process of "self-devouring" was not a simple matter of "1 + 1," either. It was a free-for-all among countless "torn fragments," involving conflict, fusion, and digestion on the levels of matter, mind, and rules.
In the end, a "victor" emerged, becoming a true "ancient god."
Such a process originated in instinct and was inevitably chaotic, but each successful act of "self-devouring" ought to have helped them strengthen their control over themselves.
Simply put, it was a process of moving from "disorder" to "order."
This "order" was relative to the "self"—in terms of cultivation, it was still, in essence, a pursuit of "self logic," ultimately leading to "See the Self."
Judging by Ronan's own limited experience, each act of "self-devouring" had to yield "gains" and "progress," forming a new, more stable structure. Otherwise, it would be difficult to compensate for the losses and deficits on the material level, and one would only grow weaker until finally collapsing.
Of course, the "tearing" and "self-devouring" of "ancient gods" took place on a macroscopic level, routinely spanning hundreds, thousands, or millions of light-years. Whether they remained equivalent when projected onto an ordinary scale was something that still needed examining.
Ronan thought they held up so far.
The earlier