Norton stared silently ahead, his expression indifferent, his golden eyes unfocused.
Within his sublime will, all sorts of memories came rushing in, layer upon layer, from the origin of the universe to its final heat death.
He saw the beginning of the birth of Kuba, Shenyin, Jonah, and he also saw the end of the decay of all things.
He saw his past progress, and he also saw his future stagnation.
One Gore of the universe (10 to the power of 100 years) – everything that happened during this period became Norton's memories, almost completely filling his mind. In addition, the endless emptiness he experienced after the heat death of the universe also became memories, washing over Norton's already precarious sanity.
As his body disintegrated and his will soared into the sky, the passage of time and eternal solitude were but fleeting moments to him; he had no concept of time whatsoever.
But now that he has reformed his body and gained desires and emotions unique to humans, the endless loneliness is like a real butcher's knife, tearing his flesh apart bit by bit.
Even now, the mere thought of the endless silence within those endless memories fills Norton with dread and a deep sense of resistance.
This is different from what's written in the novel!
In most cultivation novels, the protagonist always surpasses the Heavenly Dao, transcends life and death, and can do anything in an instant.
How wonderful it is to enjoy unparalleled happiness and do whatever you want.
But this godforsaken place was completely different. Advancing from the Fourth Stage to the Fifth Stage meant that life had completely advanced, from flesh and blood to soul, and even the individual dimension.
Norton's flesh and blood transformed into particles in the universe, and his soul into the thoughts of the entire universe. He could see eternity, the beginning, and extinction. He existed in every single thing, and everything in the entire universe, even the vacuum, could be seen as Norton's body.
He transcends time; he can freely alter his past and observe the future that will end.
But all of this, when he has emotions and desires, he can clearly say that this is not the godhood he wants!
Norton had struggled alone in the Southern Continent for so many years. He Norton painstakingly planned and schemed, using various means and conspiracies to carve out a path to the top, all in order to avoid the life of fear and anxiety he had lived in the Holy Norton Holy Lord Church in the past, and to pursue true freedom so that he could completely let down his guard and enjoy this wonderful life.
Now that Norton has reached the pinnacle of success, he has even lost his humanity and desires. What was the point of all that effort?
Norton was in a state of extreme panic, even more so than Abraham.
He was terrified of returning to that state of being one with everything in his memory; he feared falling back into true detachment and returning to the state he remembered.
Moreover, he felt as if he could become that state at any moment. His current existence in this Garden of Eden was merely due to a certain pulling force that was guiding his thoughts, allowing him to locate the Garden of Garden of Eden.
Alternatively, it can be described that his current physical body (the physical body, the reality) is still integrated into the reality created by God, but his soul (the illusory world) has resonated to a certain extent, thus drawing his soul to the Garden of Eden.
Norton, drawing upon his memories sealed away for billions of years, felt he could give this pulling force a more modern name: Anchor.
"Is it because the excavation of ancient ruins has excited human society throughout the Garden of Eden, creating a vibration at the soul level to attract my soul in resonance? To form Anchor at the soul level, and to rebuild my soul, rejected by God, into this Garden of Eden?"
After being dormant for millennia, Norton's thoughts and humanity had long since decayed, and even upon his recent revival, he was completely unable to recover.
Now, as his flesh and blood coalesce and his mind begins to function, strands of humanity become increasingly active along with his thoughts, finally bringing life to his body and allowing his illusory form to gradually solidify, thus allowing him to fully descend into the world.
How was Norton able to guess this?
Because his return was not a return of flesh and blood, but a return of part of his soul.
As for his current body, it is merely a new physical form created by randomly extracting a portion of particles from his soul power.
Norton's soul is like a source of pollution; the more souls or matter he inhales, the more he pollutes, thus maintaining his Existence Level. The physical matter that pollutes countless souls is the foundation of his Existence Level, and in doing so, it is also a theft of God's authority.
But the souls and matter that are corrupted are ultimately God's creations. Even if they are corrupted and controlled by Him, they are still God's creations.
Therefore, God will not reject this part of the corrupted soul, but will only reject Norton's essence, which is the nature of his soul.
Although Norton had no desires or emotions at the height of his achievements, he could sense a powerful force that was pushing him away.
He might not have cared when he didn't have flesh and blood, but now that he has flesh and blood, and has thoughts and desires, he can perceive the problems involved.
Therefore, Norton's resurrection, in essence, was nothing more than the soul's essence being excluded by God, while the ancient ruins unearthed in the Garden of Eden provided his soul with an Anchor at the same level of the soul, allowing his soul to return and his flesh and blood to coalesce.
Therefore, his return as Stage 4.5 Norton is thanks to the people of Garden of Eden!