Chapter 4871: The Evolutionary Dead End THE Primordial Paradox had said there were boundless resources and treasures here, materials of incalculable value that could accelerate progression in ways that normal cultivation could never achieve. Spark Fragments containing echoes of THE First Cause. Contradiction Cores embodying paradoxes from before Paradox itself differentiated. Pure Possibility granting access to Chaos in its most fundamental state. All of these things existed somewhere in THE Prima Indifferentia, waiting to be claimed by those with the strength and fortune to find them. "Oh, THE Primordial Paradox..." In that invisible state of concealment within the proto-matter, Noah remembered the ancient Absolute and thought about where he might be right now. He had been separated from THE Primordial Paradox when the storms of proto-matter had reacted to his presence and swept him away, and he had no idea how much time had passed since then or how far he had traveled. He didn’t have to worry about the safety of such a terrifying being as much as he had to worry about his own, given that THE Primordial Paradox was one of THE Four and had survived in THE Prima Indifferentia before. But Noah also couldn’t say for sure that he had lost the trail of that terrifying Undivided One, Bazuman, whose million crimson eyes had shown such interest in prey that could fight back. For now, until he was potentially forced to end this temporal traversal early by having his body collapsed, he had to see what other opportunities were available in this region. Every moment he spent here was a moment of growth, but every moment was also a moment of danger. And for him right now, it was actually easier to navigate the idea of looking for treasures and resources than it would have been for anyone else in Observable Existence. Because at this moment, he held Infinite Undifferentiated Fate. In this unique state of existence where his connection to destiny had become paradoxical and boundless, he pulled upon that Derivative Civilization with focused intent. A silent golden light emerged from his concealed form and spread out across the waves and seas of proto-matter like ripples in a pond, except these ripples carried the weight of fate itself seeking answers to questions he had yet to ask. |Derivative Civilization of Infinite Undifferentiated Fate - Active Manifestation| |The Derivative Civilization of Infinite Undifferentiated Fate exerts its Way across the surrounding existence. What is fated and destined are now infinitely amplified and capable of being chosen by the one wielding this Way, turning destiny from something that happens to you into something you actively shape and direct.| |Your connection to fate has begun permeating across the surrounding regions of THE Prima Indifferentia. Destiny is not something that others make for you here, as you are infinitely making your own choices that inform different fates and different outcomes. The possibilities are endless, and you are selecting which possibilities become reality.| |The fates of resources and treasures are being sought through this manifestation. Your existence has found potential links to three different directions from your current position, with each direction highlighted according to the proposed level of danger that accompanies the potential reward.| |Direction One: Crimson designation indicating extreme danger. Potential reward: significant but path is guarded by forces that exceed current combat capability.| |Direction Two: Crimson designation indicating extreme danger. Potential reward: significant but path is guarded by forces that exceed current combat capability.| |Direction Three: Orange designation indicating high danger but potentially manageable. Potential reward: moderate to significant, with path containing hazards that fall within survivable parameters if approached with caution.| ...! Noah saw faint lines of golden light stretching out in three separate directions from where he currently was, the threads of fate made visible through his Derivative Civilization’s influence on the surrounding proto-matter. Two of them were surrounded with a deep hue of crimson light that pulsed with warning, the color of blood and danger and almost certain death. Only a single one shone bright orange. The two shining with crimson light emanated a great level of danger for him, the kind of danger that even his newly infinite existence might not be able to survive. Perhaps Undivided Ones guarded those paths. Perhaps Formless Terrors lurked along their routes. The one pulsing with orange light seemed to be potentially manageable but still very dangerous, the kind of danger that would test him without necessarily destroying him. The kind of hardship that Vakochev demanded for progression rather than the kind that simply ended existence. But... Everything in Existence was dangerous. Hardship and adversity were a must for growth, weren’t they? THE Primordial Paradox had said it himself when discussing the Vakochev Scales: if one’s foundation hadn’t weathered through waves of Immensity and hardship, if one’s Way hadn’t been established through genuine adversity, then the doorway to the second Scale would remain uncrossable regardless of how powerful one became. So while feeling the immense growth and Immensity of his existence expanding with every passing moment, and seeking to grow it even more while he had the opportunity in this place, Noah began to move once more. He took a step toward the orange-designated path. And even though he did so, what actually moved was a swirling storm of proto-matter that concealed his existence within its undefined currents. The storm shot forward at speeds that made the proto-matter around it blur and distort, covering distances that should have taken considerable time in mere moments. His speed was approaching the speed of his very good boy, Skoll. His speed was approaching the speed of an Absolute. ...! He had grown so much in such a short time, and he was just getting started. As he moved silently through THE Prima Indifferentia, his concealment holding even at these tremendous velocities, Noah thought about the words of THE Primordial Paradox and this place as potentially the origin of THE Entity. The one thing that stuck with him was what THE Primordial Paradox had said about THE Formless Terrors and THE Undivided Ones, the entities that represented the greatest dangers within this undifferentiated expanse. THE Formless Terrors especially haunted his thoughts, because they had lost all definition of their existence and now moved around seeking to attack anything that possessed definition. They wanted to make others like themselves, to drag differentiated beings down into the formless state they had been trapped in. And the words that THE Primordial Paradox had spoken resonated with something he had heard before. THE Primordial Paradox had said exactly: "It is not malice. It is something more fundamental than malice. It is the natural behaviour of undifferentiated existence encountering differentiated existence." It was not malice. When THE Secretive Eon had talked with him, she had mentioned how she, or they, were not doing anything overly malicious. They were simply returning things to their truest nature, helping existence achieve a state that they believed was more fundamental and more pure. And the more that others joined them, the less conflict there would be, as they would collectively focus on moving across the Scales of Existence together. THE Secretive Eon had been confident that the second Scale would be achieved rather rapidly once enough of Observable Existence had been unified under THE Entity’s influence. The philosophy was almost seductive in its simplicity. Join us. Become one with us. Stop fighting and start ascending together. But now, with what Noah had just learned from THE Primordial Paradox, a fundamental flaw in that philosophy became abundantly clear. The Vakochev Scales of Existence demanded hardship for progression. They demanded adversity and conflict. They demanded that foundations be built through genuine struggle. So THE Entity seeking to infect everyone and have all of Existence collectively move toward the goal of elevation might truly be an evolutionary dead end. For those who had been unified under THE Entity’s influence, there would be no genuine adversity because they would all be working toward the same goal without opposition. There would be no hardship because hardship required something to struggle against, and when everyone was the same, struggle became meaningless. THE Secretive Eon had spoken of ascending together. But The Scales of Existence didn’t care about collective ascension. The Scales of Existence cared about individual hardship woven into individual foundations. The actions of THE Entity, if successful, would actually halt all progression across Observable Existence. No one would reach the second Scale. No one would advance beyond where they currently were. Everyone would be unified, yes, but unified in stagnation rather than growth. "..." The thought was a heavy and deadly one as Noah moved across THE Prima Indifferentia, following the lead of his Derivative Civilization toward what should be a resource or treasure that also held a level of danger. THE Entity might not even know about this flaw in its philosophy. Or perhaps it did know and didn’t care. Or perhaps the goal was never actually ascension but something else entirely, something that used the promise of collective growth as a lure while the true purpose remained hidden behind layers of infection!