After a pause, Hunji continued, "Simply put, the so-called Main Dao is a power that all living beings can cultivate, but it turns that power into something meant solely for its own cultivation. Because it is the strongest, it suppresses that power, ensuring no living being can surpass it in that regard. Even if someone creates something new, it will be taken away."
"For the countless living beings in the universe, this is a tragedy. Their freedom to comprehend and cultivate the universe is shackled. In the end, everything they cultivate is offered up to the supreme Main Dao. They either submit or die."
Lu Yin blurted out, "Have the Nine Fortresses always been creating powers beyond the ones controlled by the Main Dao?"
Hunji sighed. "If Time, Karma, and the like all have limits, then you create new powers. That was the prototype of Invincible Skills, and one of the reasons humanity's Nine Fortresses were wiped out."
"Because you humans wanted to defy heaven."
Lu Yin stared at him in shock. Had the Nine Fortresses really sought to create powers beyond the Main Dao? Some had even succeeded. What an audacious undertaking.
"Defying heaven may be giving those Main Daos too much credit, but we have to admit that they are the heaven under which all living beings in the universe cultivate. Unless they are defied, living beings will never be free. Cultivation will always have an endpoint, and life will eventually become an offering."
"Have you ever treated an Eternal Life Realm cultivator as a resource?"
Lu Yin's body shuddered at the question, and he looked at Hunji.
Hunji stared back at him. Their eyes met.
"At your level, and having led Human Civilization this far, you couldn't possibly never have thought of it. That's right, life is