An Jing could see through all of this because he too had found this path.
Xuantian Ji's path was to unify all individual wills beneath a single swarm, with himself—or an extension of his will—as its absolute core, forging an order of iron severity.
The Grotto-Heaven Method, on the other hand, made everyone into an independent little world. Though individuals would still be connected, at its core, it hoped that each person would remain different, using the Martial Dao practitioners' Fate Grids of "each unlike the other" as its foundation to prevent the heavenly demons from corrupting one person and thereby corrupting all.
In truth, An Jing had thought of a possibility—and its parallel.
If it were anyone else, they would probably still be pondering why Xuantian Ji had wanted to turn himself into a swarm—was a swarm really that useful? A hive mind should not be all that powerful, should it? With everyone connected, shouldn't it be all too easy for heavenly demons to corrupt them?
But An Jing truly understood what Xuantian Ji had been thinking back then.
Xuantian Ji's true goal was to use the Da Chen Imperial Dynasty to completely alter humanity's mode of existence: to turn all humans into offspring possessing semi-independent wills... just like the Registered Heavenly Officials. Everyone wielded his power, and he was also everyone's power. After death, everyone would return to him.
It sounded rather strange.
But in truth, this was the relationship between "Heaven and man."
Everyone wielded the power of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, and after death, they too returned to heaven and earth. It seemed like a hive, but Xuantian Ji had truly regarded himself as a "new Heaven."
And that was not all.
An Jing also saw Xuantian Ji's true purpose.
Under the system of the "Registered Heavenly