The Undying Who Do Not Eat

Zhu Zhengwei fell into brief contemplation.

In his view, these three questions were remarkably bold. As a self-proclaimed Roll King who had participated in several debate competitions, he had some experience answering questions—but faced with something like this?

He could only say they had no martial virtue.

He had to admit, every single question was carefully considered, striking straight at the core.

These were the three hardest fundamental questions in civilized human history, no less than the legendary ultimate philosophical trio—"Who am I?" "Where do I come from?" "Where am I going?"—and perhaps even surpassing them.

Soul, body, world. Although he could understand these three great "Heavenly Questions" of the Blessing Shaman Dynasty, and if it were him, he would have asked the same, how to answer them was an entirely different matter.

As for the first question: What does a god eat? What kind of being is a god? What makes it a god?

To this, Zhu Zhengwei's first instinct was to answer: Gods reap the leeks and mine, eating Brain Coins.

Of course, he couldn't actually say that. He couldn't spout such nonsense to the emperor of a dynasty within his own constructed world—it would cause a huge disaster.

Besides, that wasn't the correct answer either. That was his path, or rather, the path of the "Creation God" who built this four-dimensional world—the peculiarity of his own ability.

So, what exactly was a god?

If his world truly had gods, what would they be like?

Zhu Zhengwei began to think.

After all, he was someone who had weathered the explosion of online knowledge, sharp-minded, and moreover, he had personally experienced the entire creation and foundational structure of the four-dimensional world, seeing things from a very high level. After serious consideration, he quickly arrived at his own answer—a bold one.

Zhu Zhengwei took a sip of tea and spoke calmly: "The first question touches on matters too deep. The Blessing Shaman civilization's scale is too low; a detailed answer would be useless. Since you wish to complete the All Living Beings Scripture, I shall add the final passage on 'Divine Diet' at the end of the general outline."

"Please, God, grant your guidance."

Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng held his breath, his face full of anticipation.

This was already far better than he had expected.

Everyone said that the All Living Beings Scripture, compiled by all the scholars and sages of the entire dynasty, was a monumental work encompassing the universe, heaven and earth, and all living things—the eternal foundation of humanity, containing truths pointing directly to the root of life, never to become outdated no matter the era.

But only he knew that one final piece was still missing.

And now, at the brink of death, a god from the heavens had come in person to complete his final sage's work—this was the greatest happiness of his life as the Human Emperor!

His life was now utterly complete.

Under Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng's expectant gaze, Zhu Zhengwei slowly spoke, directly completing the final line of the general outline:

"Those who do not eat are immortal and become gods."

The words were brief, yet they struck like rolling thunder, each syllable crashing into Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng's heart.

He felt his mind surge like a Huge Wave—within those few short words lay infinite mystery, each character a pearl of wisdom. Chewing on them revealed endless worlds, countless seas of knowledge bursting forth, myriad interpretations.

And within them, the basic characteristics of the "god" class were already subtly described—the root of becoming a god: not eating. The significance could not be overstated.

Now the general outline could be linked together. The final few lines became:

"Those who eat meat are brave and fierce."

"Those who eat grains are wise and skillful."

"Those who consume Qi are divine and long-lived."

"Year Consumers absorb evil and become demons."

"Those who do not eat are immortal and become gods."

As if the final piece had fallen into place, the entire general outline of the Dao of all living things in the world was now complete, perfectly natural!

And the last line was the finishing touch.

The preceding lines all began with "eat," dividing all beings into nine classes by what they consumed—yet the final line flipped it all around!

It used "do not eat" as a reversal, expounding upon a tenth class of beings transcending the nine: the divine class!

Gods and mortals were also distinguished by eating, fitting the general outline perfectly.

"Those who do not eat are immortal and become gods! Those who do not eat are immortal and become gods!"

Under the Tea Shed, the old man Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng suddenly burst into laughter: "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Nine classes by eating, not eating makes one a god!!"

"So that's it, so that's it!!" A knot of doubt in this old sage's heart was untangled, all kinds of thoughts erupting, inspiration gushing forth. He could not help but exclaim loudly: "The nine classes of the world have intake and output—they are the mortal class! And the divine class is a leakless body, a naturally cycling form—those who do not eat are immortal and become gods!"

With that, he bowed deeply, utterly convinced and sincere.

"Thank you, God, for your teaching."

This answer was perfect in every way. In his eyes, the general outline was now fully complete, and it had shown him an incredible future for living beings.

"Those who do not eat are immortal and become gods!"

And in the distance, the Immortal Herbs were stunned, listening to the dialogue between the god and the human emperor, speechless with shock.

This last line was simply too brilliant.

What was a shocking reversal?

What was a stroke of genius?

It made them cry out in their hearts—terrifying!

The myriad beings of the mortal world live by eating!

But to eat not and yet not die—that is to be a god!

A creature that can go without food forever and never starve is a deity.

This is like a strange form of living toward death, a vast and terrifying existence of eternal longevity, standing above the clouds to gaze down on the mortal world, watching the seas turn to mulberry fields.

These lines of dialogue, this question and answer—the depth of their meaning, the depiction of a god conversing with a mortal emperor—left them utterly stunned.

It made them wonder even more: could this really come from a Wallpaper Scenery Game?

At that moment, Zhu Zhengwei merely smiled.

But in his heart, he mused silently, speaking plainly:

"This is exactly the kind of god I want to see—an internal cycle, a self-contained world. After all, if a god truly existed, they'd probably be a massive consumer, madly devouring my Brain Coins. As the Creation God, I naturally hope they 'eat not,' be frugal, and demand less salary from me. 'He who eats not and dies not is a god'—that's my own expectation."

After all, creating a "Mobile Dream Network" on his own left him a bit strapped for cash; he had to save where he could.

And as everyone knows, starting a business is tough!

That was his first answer.

It was also the hardest question—the one about the soul.

The remaining two questions, though difficult, were no longer such huge problems.

Flesh and environment—in the technological society of the twenty-first century, there was already plenty of explanation and understanding. After all, Earth's human civilization, perhaps due to the path of its Technology Tree, had mainly focused on two of the three major directions: flesh and environment—"cell engineering" and "aerospace technology"—without delving too much into metaphysical consciousness.

With that, Zhu Zhengwei breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Of course, the fundamental realm of human consciousness and the soul was indeed too mysterious. For people in the Three-dimensional world, researching it was far more difficult.

If not for the peculiarity of this "Four-dimensional world," where threads of Aura drifted faintly, it would have been hard to explore the truth of the soul and consciousness, or to walk the unconventional path of Wind Swallowing and Qi Consuming.

For the next two questions, Zhu Zhengwei already had a direction in mind.

But how to answer them perfectly still required careful deliberation.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhu Zhengwei took another sip of tea, his voice like a sage's utterance, ethereal and serene: "The second question asks about the cultivation of the fleshly body. Your choice—is the path below the neck correct?"

"The answer is: yes, and also no."