Chapter 1768: A Free World

Central Command Rood, Cultivation Room:

A couple of Yuan Epochs have passed, and Wang Wei has absorbed all the Refining Path Stones, completing his third and final Transcendent Foundations. Such achievements should have been the cause for celebration, but he was instead depressed for two reasons.

Firstly, he felt his Dao of Freedom might not be as beautiful as others’. After all, he saw so many brilliant people whose idea of freedom is the liberation of all other sentient beings. Compared to him, who only wants a selfish version of freedom, he felt he might not deserve the word freedom and should choose another one. However, this hesitation was only for a brief moment. After so many years, Wang Wei has already accepted the kind of person he was. He knew what path he was walking on, and this brief moment of hesitation was probably because of how many stones he refined in a short period.

The true cause of his dissatisfaction was the Freedom Seed’s final result. His three foundations were superb, allowing him to reach the limit of assistance the Saint Foundations can provide in the sanctification process. However, only the [Perfect Foundation] granted Wang Wei additional benefits, such as the ability to survive the process and try again. Dissatisfied, Wang Wei sought to upgrade the [Fate-Freedom Foundation] to gain more blessings.

His approach was direct and straightforward: since the Fate Seed used the River of Fate created from the [Causality Feedback Technique] as nourishment, he would use something similar for the Freedom Seed. Wang Wei could be described as an expert in the creation of these unique dimensions that could almost be described as [Minor Constructs]. In the lower dimension, he has created the Book of Destiny and the River of Karma, and, recently, his version of the [River of Fate].

For the creation of the Scroll of Freedom (Wang Wei refused to use the word river), his approach was also straightforward: he took one of the most powerful worlds floating in Primordial Chaos — well, at least, from the one not already taken for repairing the array — and used it as his experiment. The premise for the entire plan was a single question: what would happen if everybody in the world were born free?

After forcefully replacing the Heavenly Dao of the Boundless Heaven Continent, exiling all the [Immortal Tier] powerhouses, and isolating the world from the influence of Timeline NP89076H with the power of the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array, Wang Wei started his crazy plan. He severed all the influence the River of Fate had on the world — especially the limitation of talents on cultivation. The distribution of a person’s talent became random, but everyone had a talent to cultivate.

Without the machinations of fate and the shackles of cultivating talent, he wanted to see what would happen to the world and the people. The result disappointed him. Many people, without the shackles of fate, started acting out of the "established script." Countless new powerhouses rose, and a period of chaos reigned throughout the world. However, after only a few thousand years, everything returned to its previous state.

A new order and hierarchy, including a few new faces, were established. Meanwhile, in every corner of the world, there are [mortals] who die because of starvation. The worst part is that talent wasn’t what held these people back; it was their mindset. They still blame the world, society, and even fate for their current situation. Wang Wei could accept the ones who had no ambition about cultivation and had their own pursuits and dreams, but these people were the minority among these mortals.

"Let’s try Phase 2," Wang Wei commented after observing for a while. One day, every sentient being gained a bit of wisdom: they all understood that fate does not exist, and everyone in the world had the power to determine their destiny by working hard enough. They all know they have a talent for cultivation, and with enough determination and willpower, power, longevity, and even immortality might be theirs for the taking.

"Now that you cannot blame fate, what will you do?" Wang Wei muttered. Another bout of chaos started. With this innate wisdom, more people indeed chose to defy their fate, but they encountered a stumbling block: society. The previous generation from Phase 1 already experienced their revolution and would not allow others to rise.

The Phase 2 inhabitants did not accept this. Now that they knew for a fact that their fate was in their hands, how could they accept others imposing such shackles on them? The war lasted for a couple of millennia, but eventually a new order emerged, with people from Phases 1 and 2 standing at the top. Then, the cycle repeated itself: these people used the excuse of limited resources to control the world and block all access to cultivation.

Although this method was not absolute, there were people whose talent was so high that they could cultivate without methods, by absorbing only the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth; they were still the minority. Most people used this as an excuse to accept their current miserable life or their status in society.

"Does [Fate] exist to rule the chaos and establish a form of order?" Wang Wei asked him. Order is always established after a brief period, which forced him to ponder whether the existence of the [River of Fate] was to skip the chaos and directly establish the order.

"Another possibility is that [Fate] is inevitable. Even without someone controlling or establishing it, it will appear in the form of Societal Order, Rules, and Restraints," Wang Wei muttered, his eyes shining with the light of wisdom and enlightenment.

With a thought, he started Phase 3 by placing a Lifespan limit on all cultivators, no matter what realm. In the face of death, can the [Fate] established by the ones at the top of the pyramid last? The answer he received was the cyclical nature of [Fate]. While people will die and a period of chaos will ensue during the transition, a new order, like the old, will always rise.

Some cycles were more peaceful than the others; the people were freer, and there were fewer shackles, but overall, things never stray too much from the old ways and order. Most people have accepted their place in society despite the innate wisdom or knowledge that Wang Wei has engraved in everyone’s soul. Many people even rejected this knowledge and developed philosophies asserting that [Fate] is real and that no one is truly free.

"Humans are truly a wonderful race," Wang Wei muttered as he glanced at the "Fate is real movement." The cognitive dissonance these people suffered from was enough to twist reality.

"The first three phases were heavily influenced by the already existing cultivation civilization of the Boundless Heaven World. So, let’s see what will happen when everything has to start from scratch," Wang Wei muttered. Under his guidance, Phase 3 ended with everybody dying of old age, but no newborn appeared in the world.

Once the oldest creature in the world died, Wang Wei erased all signs of civilization from the world, returning everything to a primitive state. Then, he purified the souls from the previous phases and created a group of humans: a total of 129,600, to be exact. He also created animals, who also had freedom, meaning the possibility of demons being born was high. And, just like the previous phases, he instilled in them the innate knowledge that they were born free and that their destiny was in their hands.

The development of Phase 4 was unlike the others. The people established a [Purpose Society] in which everyone had a role and a purpose. Men hunted, women gathered herbs, and the elderly watched and raised children. Of course, it was an oversimplification of the situation since these roles were not purely gender-based. It was better to say the strong hunted and provided food, the weaker individuals cooked and gathered herbs, while the old and injured raised the young.

As time passed, more roles became available: chief, priest, warrior, doctor, healer, and so on. No matter who it was, they would be designated a role or purpose in the world with the sole intention of serving humanity as a whole. However, things began to shift after humans had successfully conquered nature and established a decent system of cultivation. For a moment, signs of the old system of hierarchy appeared, and Wang Wei thought the new order would resemble the old ones.

However, this downward trend immediately stopped when the first Demon Emperor appeared, leading an army to attack the humans. With a natural enemy, the humans were forced to continue their close-knit society of support and stability. Resources were controlled and distributed according to a person’s talent, but that did not mean these people had special privilege or status. On the contrary, the more resources someone receives in this society, the higher their responsibility.

As such, the most powerful and talented warriors, healers, and priests were the ones stationed at the frontline against the might of the Demon Army.

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