Chapter 460 - 457: Vine Pattern

Chapter 460: Chapter 457: Vine Pattern

Li Luo didn’t press the button. Instead, she started observing her surroundings.

She took a spherical detector from her bag and tossed it into the air.

Once it reached a certain altitude, the detector hovered in midair. Li Luo picked up an electronic display and began to view the feed.

The very first glance at the intricate pattern stunned Li Luo, but she quickly began searching the database for information on it.

To her surprise, there actually was information about the pattern.

She tapped on one of the entries and began to read...

The pattern originated from certain civilizations within the Abyss. Despite having no contact with one another, they had all independently proposed the exact same theory and drawn the same pattern to illustrate it.

This strange phenomenon of multiple species proposing the same theory caught humanity’s attention, leading them to take notice of the pattern as well.

The "Perception Evolution Theory" is the most common translation for its name.

The species that proposed the theory all believed that all things possess sentience and wisdom, but that this sentience and wisdom came not from the brain, nor from the soul or anything similar.

But from—perception.

"The more one sees, the higher one’s wisdom."

Animals see more than plants, so their wisdom is greater than that of plants.

The wisdom of higher organisms is greater than that of lower organisms not because they have evolved for longer, but because their senses are more acute. Higher organisms possess sight, touch, hearing, and smell, while lower organisms might only have a simple sense of touch. This is what creates the gap in their wisdom.

It was a very strange theory. The conventional view was:

"Because it is a higher organism, it has complex senses and superior wisdom."

But the "Perception Evolution Theory" reversed this:

"Because it has complex senses, its wisdom is superior, which is what allows it to become a higher organism."

This "cart-before-the-horse" theory fascinated human researchers. As they studied the "Perception Evolution Theory" proposed by many different species, they discovered that all versions had a striking similarity.

Multiple species, separated by vast distances and with no history of contact, had somehow managed to propose the exact same theory.

Moreover, they had all drawn an identical pattern to illustrate it—the Vine Eye.

The very pattern now etched onto the surface of the mirror.

After communicating with these species, human scholars came to understand the pattern’s meaning.

To their surprise, the pattern actually depicted a myth.

A myth describing the birth of an Evil God.

...

A plant’s wisdom is exceptionally low, and a vine is a plant.

But vines steal nutrients from other living things.

One day, a vine stole a creature’s eye, and as a result, its wisdom soared.

Having gained wisdom, the vine realized that its newfound intellect came from the eye. It therefore decided to create more eyes.

And so, more eyes began to sprout from the vine.

These new eyes, its very own, made its perception increasingly sharp, and its wisdom grew in tandem.

However, all perception has its limits. A pile of eyes clustered together couldn’t see any farther. The growth of its perception slowed, and the vine’s intellectual ascent hit a plateau.

The feeling of its wisdom being constrained was unbearable to the vine. So, it came up with a solution: acquire more eyes.

As a plant, perhaps due to a certain inertia in its thinking, the vine didn’t choose to seek other forms of perception. Instead, it concluded that it simply didn’t have enough variety in its eyes.

Upon devising this solution, companion vines sprouted from its thousands upon thousands of eyes and began to plunder the eyes of other creatures.

And so, the plant that had stumbled upon wisdom slowly transformed into an Evil God, one that invaded other species to plunder their eyes...

This myth not only illustrated the principles of their theory, but also served as a cautionary tale. It reminded believers not to limit themselves to a single type of perception, nor to fall into the cage of desire in their thirst for wisdom.

"Perception is infinite, and so is wisdom. One must make perception worthy of wisdom. Use your finite wisdom to create sufficient perception, then use that perception—now under your control—to nurture your wisdom in turn, thereby achieving balance."

Though the "Vine Eye" pattern depicted an Evil God, its underlying message was a positive one.

What puzzled human scholars was how these species, having never met, could create the same myth and draw the same mythical pattern.

"Could the vine Evil God actually exist?"

Because of this, humanity began searching the Abyss for traces of the vine Evil God, investigating its existence.

However, aside from a few similar organisms and some vague, ethereal records, there was no concrete evidence to confirm the vine Evil God’s existence.

Humanity’s research into the "Perception Evolution Theory" and the "Vine Eye" pattern thus stalled. They could only classify it as a piece of Abyssal culture, a reference point for their studies of the Abyss...

Li Luo stared at the description in the file, her mind reeling for a long time.

When she snapped out of it, she found that the Block had moved up behind her and was also intently studying the information on her display.

"Do you think this theory is real?" she asked the Block on a whim.

An electronic screen promptly extended, displaying two large words:

"It’s real."

...

Meanwhile, inside the Block, Mo Ling was mulling over the contents of the display.

’Perception determines wisdom?’

Mo Ling glanced at the metal walls inside the Block.

He didn’t know if perception determined wisdom, but he did know that it determined the size of the Block Space.

The wider his field of view, the larger the Block’s space became.

’That should count as a form of perception, right?’

’If perception can affect space, then it must be able to affect wisdom too.’

’But my wisdom doesn’t seem to have been affected.’

Mo Ling was very self-aware. He’d always been completely ordinary, aside from being handsome, highly adaptable, kind, optimistic, a good sleeper, and a hearty eater... he really had no other strengths.

Wisdom was not his strong suit.

When he played hide-and-seek as a kid, he was always the first one to be found. The other kids would all be hidden, but he would still be trying to figure out where to go. By the time the seeker finished counting, he’d still be standing there foolishly.

The girl who was "it," her face blushing, would ask him why he didn’t hide, and he’d have no idea how to answer.

Having no other choice, the girl would take his little hand, lead him to a hiding spot, and personally teach him how to hide.

It was the same now that he was in the Abyss.

Feeling perpetually disoriented, Mo Ling often had no idea where he was or what he should be doing.

The bizarre phenomena in the Abyss kept his brain constantly spinning. Even now, on the third level, nothing had changed.

His wisdom hadn’t changed one bit.

But Mo Ling understood one truth: in the Abyss, anything was possible.

Any theory, no matter how ridiculous it seemed, could prove to be true.

’Maybe the vine Evil God really does exist, just hiding somewhere...’