Outside.
The silent purple godfiend fell silent once more.
At the same time, the tribulation clouds filling the sky gradually calmed, and even their oppressive pressure weakened somewhat.
"Th-—the hell is going on?
Things were still falling apart just now. How did everything stop like someone unplugged the damn router the moment your—your stupid ranking board lit up?"
Zhang Jie dropped onto the ground, turned to look at Chu Xuan, and asked with an incredulous expression.
Chu Xuan adjusted the dust-covered glasses on his nose before beginning his explanation. "If we regard this world as an independent living entity, then the brain determining this entity's behavioral patterns consists of two parts."
He raised one finger.
"First, the Heavenly Dao.
It governs this world's objective laws—for instance, water flows downhill, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and cultivators die if they fail their tribulations.
You could call it 'Gaia': the physical laws and natural will of the planet, or rather, the world."
He raised a second finger.
"Second, all intelligent life—primarily humanity—and their collective subconscious.
Love, hatred, jealousy, hope—this torrent formed by all such subjective emotions and desires determines the direction of civilization and, in turn, influences the world's development.
You could call it 'Alaya': the planet's humanistic will."
"So?"
Zhang Jie irritably tossed the cigarette that refused to light onto the ground and ground it beneath his foot. "Speak human."
"Adam's Human Instrumentality Project is, in essence, an attack directed at Alaya."
Chu Xuan finally glanced at him and continued, "Through the terminal that is Unit-01, along with the Tree of Life Formation Diagram left behind by the White-Skinned Saints, he forcibly integrated the subjective will of every human on the planet, merging countless individual 'selves' into one immense 'us.'
In other words, he awakened