"If all the phenomena of the world were books, stored away in a library, then a [Name] would be a reference—a special label. A means for you to find the phenomenon you need as quickly as possible."
Tong Ting said, "If we approach it from that angle—a phenomenon that is absolutely pure and blank, what is the difference between it and something that does not exist?
It would be even more illusory and indescribable than so-called fate.
Then how could it be summarized or described? If it cannot be summarized or described, how could it refer to anything? How could it be observed and compiled into a record?
Ether sees all things as data and information, but within existence, how could something with no information whatsoever appear?" Ji Jue fell silent, his eyes widening.
As though shocked, he stood there dumbfounded, as if he had finally realized the flaw in his own reasoning.
"A name? Referentiality..."
In a flash of insight, the opening line concerning Chun Jun from Elephant Sword Type 9 suddenly emerged in his mind. It seemed to have been quoted from some even more ancient tome or fragment, without any annotation.
"...A name that can be named is not an eternal name?"
What mattered was not blankness or existence, but the "name" written by the swordsmith—the direction it provided... From the beginning, he had gone down the wrong path!
Reference!
Referentiality was what mattered most!
"So that's it, I understand now!"
It was as though enlightenment had struck him in an instant. Electric Light flashed through Ji Jue's mind, and countless contradictory records suddenly linked together completely. Why was every sword described so differently? Why did every Chun Jun, beyond its basic foundation, ultimately produce completely different effects...
In other words, Ether's reference—no, the swordsmith's reference, the