Chapter 2100 - 560: The Hive and the Sea of Consciousness (Part 3)

"Exhausted? No, Lord Demon King. It seems that during your studies in the Academic State, you didn't come into contact with the core secrets of the Soul School."

Upon hearing this concern filled with "small-time mentality," Marinus couldn't help but smile gently, though his affable demeanor didn't change much.

"If souls truly were unchanging things, all races would have birthed as many children as they could in the past millennium, leaving no room for us to waste."

He wasn't surprised that Mr. Colin would think this way, as it was the most classic myth from the First Epoch—that souls are eternal and unchanging.

In reality, it's not so.

It is inexhaustible.

Without waiting for the Demon King to ask, Marinus raised his hand, his withered fingers pointing towards the brilliant night sky, as if to grasp all the stars scattered across it.

"Souls have never been crops grown from the earth, but projections from billions of stars, a gift from the vast Star Sea!"

Luo Yan's face displayed an expression of surprise, and he remarked thoughtfully.

"This sounds like an interesting hypothesis."

Marinus smiled slightly.

"It's not a hypothesis. In the Academic State, the mages there call it the 'Hive' theory and the 'Sea of Consciousness' theory."

Luo Yan was slightly surprised.

"Oh? I'd love to hear more."

Marinus calmly explained.

"The universe beyond the earth is all a 'Sea of Consciousness,' and the material constituting consciousness is inexhaustible, like endless stars!"

"And the ground beneath our feet is the Hive that holds all rivers within it!"

"Every time a new physical vessel is born, those tiny points of light drifting in the Sea of Consciousness gather like bees returning to the Hive, filling the flesh and blood, forming what we call 'soul quality'!"

"This is also why since the fall of the Netherworld, the vast majority of mortals can no longer enter reincarnation, yet our world still teems with ever-renewing souls."

Marinus did not conceal this, as, in his view, these broad theories were no big deal, much like the two hundred corpses at his feet.

The truly core secret is the method of refining Holy Water.

However, Luo Yan was greatly shocked after hearing his explanation. It was unexpected that the seemingly generous Academic State was not generous at all, and the real treasures had never entered the library he visited daily.

The 'Hive' theory and 'Sea of Consciousness' theory completely explained the question he had pondered for long but never understood—the whereabouts of souls that did not reincarnate.

If this planet is likened to a Hive, everything is easily explained.

The flesh and blood is like the rooms in the Hive.

Whenever a new life is born, a beacon lights up in the Sea of Consciousness, drawing nearby "Consciousness Factors" to converge and form "soul quality," or attracting those "soul qualities" collected in the area by the "Reincarnation System."

As a newborn descends with a cry, opening eyes to establish a connection with the material world beneath their feet, those points of light from the universe expand like a sponge absorbing water.

And that expanding part is "Spiritual Essence!"

Spiritual essence and soul quality together form the soul.

When a person's physical body perishes, spiritual essence naturally dissipates, returning the nutrients to the earth beneath, while soul quality does not disappear.

They either enter the Reincarnation System on this planet, ascend into a higher-level reincarnation system, or transform back into tiny points of light, shooting into the vast Star Sea or Void to undergo a new round of rearrangements... just like when they arrived.

Originally, they also arrived in a similar form, shot from the vast Star Sea.

Whether guided by karma or unconsciously.

"...This sounds like while we are gazing at the stars, the stars are also watching us," Youyou whispered by Luo Yan's side.

Luo Yan nodded gently, replying in his heart.

'This also explains my constant confusion about why Chaos came here and where they went after leaving.'

In a stable belief and without drastic population decrease or increase, the majority of the small bees are long-term residents of this Hive.

They possess stable mental cores and beliefs, dying where they lived, their past entanglements continue into the next life, with many even having reincarnated multiple times, becoming fused with the entire Hive.

Occasionally, new bees join, quickly assimilated into the Hive, becoming part of its growth and prosperity.

The strength of the Transcendents also grows stronger through this process, as they resemble the largest bees in the Hive, guardians of the entire Hive.

This is why the Transcendents of the Second Epoch are stronger than those of the First Epoch.

More rigorous religious institutions and greater cohesion are only part of the reason; the Hive they are part of is fundamentally larger than before.

Both material civilization and spiritual civilization continue to evolve along with the passage of eras.

And the civilization on the Aus Continent has gradually evolved through this process, from the medieval period to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance... and even the early Industrial Revolution.

As civilization progresses on this planet, the Transcendents it nurtures will, sooner or later, become stronger than before, possibly even giving rise to beings above the Transcendents!

However, a problem arises. Ever since the Netherworld was destroyed in the First Epoch, this world has evidently become a leaky Hive.

Whether it was Saint Sis or the later Demon God, they never truly fixed this broken Hive in the sense of belief.