In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had passed.
When Lin Ke completed a full circulation cycle, he discovered that the fat Lin Ke was already sitting before him.
Only now, the fat Lin Ke was thin as a rake, his face sallow and gaunt.
He looked dispirited, like an eggplant wilted by frost.
The first thing he said upon seeing Lin Ke awaken was, "Tell me, why did it turn out this way?"
"There is no harm in the world, no war, no conquest, and no suffering."
"Vast houses shelter all the people, and the stored grain is enough to last a hundred years."
"The mountains and rivers are beautiful and wondrous, every landscape a masterpiece."
"Mineral deposits are abundant, and the forests are lush."
"There are countless schools and private academies."
"Why, after hundreds of years, can they still compose nothing but verses of orioles and swallows?"
"The whole world knows only wind, flowers, snow, and moonlight, groaning without illness."
After listening to the shadow of his deluded thoughts finish its complaints, Lin Ke smiled faintly.
"Jade becomes a fine treasure through grinding and polishing; a sword unearthed from its long burial can tower against the heavens."
"Your world has no suffering or tempering, nothing sufficient to carve and polish fine jade."
"Everyone lives and works in peace, without conflict or confrontation, so naturally they have no drive to develop any profound learning."
"They have no need for strategy, political maneuvering, or contests of wits."
"Everyone is prosperous and content, free from hunger and poverty, so naturally they have no need to study the ways of commerce."
"With no need to exchange resources, transportation and cultural exchange cannot arise, and the arts of governing and practical application naturally languish, useless."
"So, however wonderful this illusory realm