Chapter 386 - 380: Idealism and Materialism! The Trial of the Upstream River

Chapter 386: Chapter 380: Idealism and Materialism! The Trial of the Upstream River

Inside a grand hall built of flesh and blood, Fang Can sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed.

All sorts of sounds from every corner of the world flooded into his mind.

This was the Third Turn inheritance he had just finalized: "True Name Echo."

The inheritance’s effect was that once activated, anyone who spoke Fang Can’s name would be perceived by him, no matter who or where they were.

This was the limit of what Fang Can’s Third Turn mind’s light could achieve. On its own, the ability seemed to have no practical application. Aside from letting him know whenever someone spoke his name, it appeared utterly unremarkable.

But Fang Can didn’t intend to rely on this ability alone for combat. It was merely one link in a chain he was setting up for future inheritances.

When he reached the Fourth or Fifth Turn, this ability would truly show its power by leveraging the effect of "founding a divine court."

This was because, unlike superpowers, inheritances had a clear evolutionary path.

In other words, this was the key difference between idealism and materialism.

What is materialism? It is the principle that reality does not bend to one’s personal will.

You often see all sorts of questions and debates on online forums.

For example: "If you had the superpower to bend spoons at will, what could you do with it?"

Then, countless smart-alecks would jump in to argue semantics.

They’d say things like renaming "omniscience" to "spoon," or arguing that if a spoon couldn’t be bent into the "shape" of omniscience, then it didn’t count as controlling spoons.

This is just a way of twisting definitions and renaming things to make any ability fit the parameters of the prompt.

But the superpowers in reality were like apples or bananas on a tree. They were what they were and wouldn’t change based on human will.

In the materialist world of superpowers, language and concepts are merely constructs to help humans comprehend their reality; they have no inherent existence.

Thus, superpowers are like the laws of physics. For example, on Earth, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at one atmosphere of pressure.

No matter how you redefine "water" or "boiling point," and no matter how eloquent you are, nothing will change in the physical world. That is objective truth.

But the idealistic Martial Dao was different. As long as your mind was firm enough, you could distort anything.

In essence, a Martial Artist’s mind’s light exists to distort reality. If your mind’s light is strong enough, you can even seize the power of definition itself.

Take, for example, a Martial Artist whose inheritance is Fire Control.

If his cognition were to be scrambled, confusing his concepts of "fire" and "water," his ultimate move, "Scorching Prairie Fire," might instead produce the effect of a "World-Drowning Deluge."

Moreover, this effect grew more terrifying with each Turn in Realm. At the Third Turn, Fang Can could sense anyone who called his name within the same universe.

By the Fourth Turn, he might be able to perceive those chanting his true name in other universes.

Further on, as his Realm continued to rise, he would be able to sense not just his true name, but also puns on his name, his titles, or even the mere concept of him in someone’s thoughts.

He slowly opened his eyes and deactivated the inheritance. The cacophony of voices from far and wide vanished instantly, leaving only the sight of a stunningly beautiful figure with brilliant eyes.

Looking at the beauty before him, a wry smile touched Fang Can’s otherwise calm face. "Ning An, you’ve been here the whole time."

"Not the whole time," she said. "While you were in seclusion, I gathered all the female players together."

A smile flickered in Ning An’s eyes. "We agreed, didn’t we? Once you finalized your inheritance and came out of seclusion, you’d take them all into your harem. Don’t you dare go back on your word."

"Of course I won’t..."

Fang Can wore a strange expression. ’This is the first time anyone’s ever rushed me to build a harem.’

"Then hurry up. I’ll call them in..." Jiang Ning’an subconsciously clutched the corner of her dress.

"Wait!" Fang Can held up a hand to stop her. "There’s no need to be in such a hurry."

"Then... what do you want to do?" Jiang Ning’an asked, puzzled.

"It’s simple. They don’t need to see me in person for me to satisfy them."

"That won’t do," Jiang Ning’an instinctively retorted.

’If Fang Can doesn’t meet them, how am I supposed to get my sense of involvement?’

After a moment of thought, Fang Can said, "Alright, go have them come see me. I’ll stay right here. If any of them can make it to where I’m standing, I’ll give them some ’intimate contact.’"

"Okay! Ah Can, you can’t take it back," Jiang Ning’an said joyfully, then immediately left to make arrangements.

As Jiang Ning’an left, a faint smile touched Fang Can’s lips. ’It won’t be so easy to reach me.’

The moment the thought crossed his mind, an invisible AT Field flowed out from him like a river.

Two hours later, outside the great hall, millions of players had gathered in response to Jiang Ning’an’s call.

A long time had passed by the time Feng Qiaoyan received the news and arrived, and she silently cursed her own slow reaction.

She pointed to a line drawn on the ground. "This line is the boundary. The moment you cross it, you’ll be assaulted by intense pain that only grows stronger the closer you get to the hall."

"In other words, this is a trial!"