Above The Sky

Chapter 2111 - 52: The Tree of Endless Shattering

[Similarly, when we still need the process of sleep to restore the body and soothe the spirit, we never think about the question ’why do we need to sleep?’]

[This is because our bodies are frail, our souls easily perishable. To extend the absolute usable time of the body and soul, we must sleep, wandering in darkness and dreams.]

[Thus, we follow human instincts and sleep in dreams.]

The Duke of Steep Ridge calmly expressed his thoughts. He raised his hand, gazed at his already rusted body, and sighed: [If there’s a need, then do it.]

[If there’s a desire, then act.]

[If there’s no need, then don’t do it.]

[This is humans.]

[Whether it’s eating, mating, or sleeping, I no longer need any of them, so I don’t do them.]

[If this is the case, it cannot be considered human... such a narrow definition, surely the mistake is yours.]

"But you’re wrong."

The Heart of Terra said: "It’s not about the trivial matter of the definition of humans—your mistake lies in that you haven’t successfully ’unified’."

"Or rather, your ’one’ is too vast, your self is ’scattered’."

"The infinite energy and essence transcending space-time of the Star God lineage rely on the immortality to permeate all parallel universes where ’self’, all of ’me’ are ’me’, even if located in different parallel universes, different timelines, there’s a consensus among ’me’, all being one, so it can borrow power infinitely, forming an infinite loop."

"But you’re different. Boka, you don’t have ’immortality’, there is no ’consensus’ between all the ’Duke of Steep Ridge’, in other words, your self, in essence, is really just a series of independent yet similar existences."

"However, you are truly a genius—even without immortality, ’you’, in realizing the inability to identify with ’yourself’ in other parallel universes as ’yourself’, chose the most inconceivable step."

Even the Heart of Terra’s tone at this moment was almost emotional: "A part of the Duke of Steep Ridge in infinite parallel universes shattered his self using the True Aether Furnace, dividing it into infinite portions and sent them to other new space-times."

"That part of the Duke of Steep Ridge in infinite parallel universes did the same — hence, all the Dukes of Steep Ridge who shattered themselves still remain a complete ’Duke of Steep Ridge’."

"A mirror complete although made of countless mirror fragments. A person infinitely fragmented yet infinitely whole."

Everything, the involvement of infinity becomes inconceivable.

The Dukes of Steep Ridge who chose to shatter the self in infinite parallel universes are actually very few.

But even if they are very few, in infinity, they are still infinite.

Thus, after splitting himself, the Duke of Steep Ridge divided out 99.99...% infinite looping of himself, also receiving the 99.99...% infinite looping self sent by other infinite parallel universes.

He turned himself into an ’infinitesimal’, and then, again became ’one’.

In this way, even without immortality, there are ’infinite Dukes of Steep Ridge’ in agreement with each other—because they are ’the one in the set of Dukes of Steep Ridge who infinitely split themselves’!

But here lies the problem.

Such reciprocal sharing, rather than ’borrowing power’ loops, are too difficult to construct into a true ’perpetual motion machine’.

Infinite numbers of infinitesimals are certainly not necessarily infinitesimally small, but neither are they infinitely large. The simplest example is, when N approaches infinity, the sum of N’s Nth part is 1.

This precisely describes the current state of the Duke of Steep Ridge: although he penetrated infinite parallel universes with the peculiar essence of the True Aether Furnace, due to lacking immortality, lacking the consensus transcending space-time, his true strength remains below the Fifth Energy Level, dependent on the Apocalypse Armament.

He took the wrong path, unable to become a true Star God.

He is even lost within himself, unsure of what he has become—he believes he is still human, but cannot determine his state, whether he’s alive or dead, complete or fragmented.

This is why, knowing better than anyone that Ian is on the right path, the Duke of Steep Ridge yearns so much for Ian’s answers.

[What exactly should I do?]

With a bitter smile, the Duke of Steep Ridge self-mocked: [Even Inega II has no solution, he granted me the Inheritance of the Terra Dragon, hoping to unify the countless versions of me using the essence of the ’Dragon Soul’.]

[This method doesn’t work, because I am already an infinitely complete ’one’, I am already a ’whole transcending space-time’.]

[It’s just that this ’whole’ of mine cannot think. Now I am like a brain existing simultaneously in infinite parallel universes, already a whole, but each neuron is segmented into different space-times.]

[Compared to my whole, that is, the ’Realm of the Star Gods’ that Ian Silverpeak once achieved, I am essentially a brain-dead imbecile who is mentally split to the extreme, but the wisdom of the Star Gods is so profound, even one of their most extreme imbeciles can grant me wisdom beyond ordinary humans, allowing me to communicate with you.]

"If a ’Star God’ is an ’infinitely looping ring’, then your current state is more akin to an ’infinitely extending tree’."

The Heart of Terra evaluated succinctly: "Indeed, you possess an infinite body extending throughout infinite parallel universes, which is the set of ’Dukes of Steep Ridge who infinitely split themselves’. But in a specific timeline, universe, you are just ’a leaf’ on this infinitely grand tree."

"You are independent of your branches and trunk, unable to leverage the power of the trunk and branches, leaves are at the mercy of the wind."

"A loop can infinitely expand, eventually becoming a true ’Great Aether Circulation’ transcending the set of infinite parallel universes. But a tree cannot. It can only infinitely extend until..."

[Until what?]The Heart of Terra elongated the tone, while the Duke of Steep Ridge asked without hesitation.

"Until ’The End’."

"Or perhaps ’The Origin’."

The Heart of Terra revealed the final answer: "Only at the end of the universe, or its demise, can the infinitely fragmented you possibly unify as one."

"Duke of Steep Ridge, Bokang Elster, this is why I have come here."

"Because Father believes your current form of life has similarities with the great enemy of the Star Gods, the terror sealed on Dragon Island, and the warden outside the Cradle."

"An existence named ’The End’, perhaps exactly opposite to you, spreading from the ’End of the Universe’, infinitely proliferating, infinitely splitting ’fragments’."

"The difference is that compared to your infinitely splitting ’1’, ’The End’ might have been ’infinite’ from the start, so even fragments hold an incomprehensible essence."

"However, the principle is the same, which may also be why ’The End’ lacks an identity."

"In summary, from you, perhaps Father and I can find the true essence of ’The End’."