"Wait, I have a question." Huo Yuhao watched impassively as the Tide of Darkness besieging the Core Sacred Hall gradually receded with the formation losing its controller, interrupting Kaecilius's preaching.
Kaecilius pursed his lips. "Go ahead."
"Earlier, you asked whether I remembered why I entered the Sacred Hall. Now I want to ask you the same thing. Why did you enter the Sacred Hall in the first place?"
Kaecilius fell silent for a moment before saying, "Back then... I lost my wife and daughter in a disaster."
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. "So, you said you defected to Dormammu because you saw the Dark Dimension Mark on Venerable Gu Yi's head. Then let me ask you—can Dormammu bring your wife and daughter back to life?"
"Didn't you join the Sacred Hall to resurrect your wife and daughter? How did that change? Do you really think that letting Dormammu in and allowing him to devour reality will bring your wife and daughter back?"
"It can't." Kaecilius answered calmly. "But after devoting ourselves to the Dark Dimension, we witnessed more and came to realize how ignorant we once were. We are no longer limited by the pursuits we once had."
"Dormammu is a generous and selfless savior. What The Ancient One was stingy about giving us, Dormammu will bestow upon us generously!"
A fervor appeared in his panda-rimmed eyes, and his voice unconsciously rose. "The pursuit of eternity is an instinct of life. But the cruelest thing about reality is that life struggles to become eternal. Even the world will one day come to an end!"
"What has already passed is difficult to recover, but so many things that still exist can be saved!"
"Turn the majority into the minority! Turn the minority into the one and only!"
Kaecilius looked at Huo Yuhao with a sincere gaze and said earnestly, "Dormammu is the one and only! And the Dark Dimension surpasses time and death! It is a realm of eternity!"
"We aren't trying to drag everyone to their deaths! We're turning the Universe into a part of Dormammu, a part of eternity! When that time comes, everything will exist eternally! Everyone will attain everlasting life!"
"We aren't evil, nor do we wish to destroy the world. On the contrary, we're trying to save this world, which is destined to be destroyed by time, and the lives destined to face death!"
At this point, Kaecilius struggled to put a kindly expression on his cold face and extended a hand toward Huo Yuhao. "Master Huo, join us! Let's save this Universe together!"
"Wait, I have another question." Huo Yuhao rejected Kaecilius's proposal and asked, "You think the past can't be recovered. Have you ever considered the path of becoming a God or an immortal?"
(Note: The Three Ghosts wrote Only I Am Immortal, and the existence of cultivation has also been mentioned in his other books. All the worlds he wrote about share the same cosmology, and the immortal realm is roughly equivalent to the Divine Realm.)
"As far as I know, Gods and immortals are both eternal. With your abilities, ascending to godhood shouldn't be difficult, right? Why go to such extremes? Perhaps some beings in the Universe don't want eternity?"
Kaecilius stared at Huo Yuhao for several seconds before suddenly saying, "Master Huo, your strength and talent are truly absurd—so absurd that I forgot you've only been a newcomer in the Sacred Hall for a year."
"Your focused studies have left you unfamiliar with some things that are practically common knowledge..."
"The so-called Gods aren't truly immortal. They can be killed, and their lifespans also have an end."
At this point, Kaecilius recalled something and said, "Master Huo, you're from that planet called Dou... Dou Po, right?"
Huo Yuhao corrected him. "Not Dou Po. Douluo."
"It doesn't matter." Kaecilius snorted. "To the mortals on that planet, becoming a God means attaining immortality. But in reality, one day in the Divine Realm is one year in the lower realm. The flow of time is different between the two sides. Ten thousand years can pass in the lower realm while less than thirty years pass in the Divine Realm."
"A God Level being in the lower realm can live for a thousand years. A powerful Mage can also live for a thousand years without using spells that require a price. They merely keep wearing down their lifespans because they have to protect this Universe."
"Gods who ascend to the Divine Realm gain lifespans of ten thousand years. Ten thousand years in the Divine Realm are equivalent to several million years in the Mortal World, so from a mortal's perspective, those so-called Gods seem immortal."
"Besides, do you really think the so-called Divine Realm is a good place?" Kaecilius revealed a mocking smile. "I can tell you that it's a barren, lonely prison!"
"I've seen the Divine Realm that rules over Douluo Star. Ninety-nine percent of its territory is made up of silent Ruins. The only source of water is in the Divine Beast Forest. Have you ever seen so-called Gods fight desperately for a drop of pure water or a bite of food?"
Seeing Huo Yuhao's surprised expression, Kaecilius took out a cup, and a cup of clear tea appeared inside it from thin air. "Gods who are almost omnipotent in the eyes of the world actually have trouble even eating and drinking in the Divine Realm. Isn't that laughable?"
"They can't even use their divine power to create a drop of pure water or a serving of edible food." As Kaecilius spoke, a fragrant Roast Chicken Leg appeared in his other hand.
After finishing his demonstration, Kaecilius casually threw away the tea and chicken leg in his hands and asked, "Master Huo, do you think Gods like that, and immortality like that, have any meaning?"
"Oh, right. In that Divine Realm, I also saw a God who seemed to be related to you by blood. His name was Dai Mubai."
"Every day, he painstakingly dug the soil and planted vegetables in the Divine Realm. Then, for a little water to irrigate them, he went to the Divine Beast Forest to fight Divine Beasts, and in the end, he had to seize water mixed with feces and urine..."
"There was also someone called God of Food Oscar. He had already sealed himself away because he could make sausages. Gods from all over kept seeking him out, threatening and bribing him for his sausages. He couldn't take it anymore, so he chose to seal himself away."
"Actually, many Mages and I find it strange. What were those people cultivating so painstakingly and ascending for? To go up there and suffer for ten thousand years?"
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Fine. Even so, the Sacred Hall has ways to extend one's lifespan. Why did you choose to devote yourself to the Dark Dimension?"
"Kaecilius! Look at your face, like a rotten eggplant. Do you think you're normal? Letting Dormammu swallow you whole and then digesting you—is that the eternal life you're pursuing?! Can't you choose a normal method of achieving longevity?"
"What do you consider a normal method of achieving longevity?" Kaecilius asked in return, unmoved.
Huo Yuhao said, "The Sacred Hall has many Secret Tomes. Perhaps one of them contains a method to extend your lifespan. Failing that, you could at least use the Eye of Agamotto to alter your own time!"
"You think I never considered that?" Kaecilius sneered. "But The Ancient One guards the Eye of Agamotto more closely than anything! I couldn't break through the protective spells she had set up at all! She also refused to let me read the books in her collection!"