Chapter 1243: The Origin of Contradiction
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“The origin of their legends?”
Meng Chao thought for a moment and said, “I know that the Turan people believe that their ancestors came from the sea of stars. They descended to this land on a burning fireball that crossed billions of stars and pierced through the vast sky.
“What is the legend surrounding the Holy Light humans’ origin? Does it contradict that of the Turan people?”
“Of course it does. The Holy Light humans don’t believe in the existence of the sea of stars at all.”
Ice Storm told Meng Chao, “The Holy Light humans believe that the sky is above the earth and the ocean of light is above the sky. The ocean of light is the limit, the end, the destination, the origin, and everything. There’s nothing outside the ocean of light, and there’s no need for anything else.”
Meng Chao was stunned for a moment before he asked, “If there is nothing outside the ocean of light, what about the scorching sun hanging high in the sky, the scarlet full moon, and the billions of stars that we see at night?”
“The so-called sun and moon are the waves that rise in the ocean of light, and the billions of stars that shine are just the sparkling waves in the ocean of light.”
Ice Storm shrugged and said, “As for all living things in the world, they are all small particles of light that are slowly condensed after the holy light permeates the sky and falls to the ground like raindrops.
“All in all, all living things in the world are Holy Light. There is nothing else besides Holy Light.”
Meng Chao rubbed the space between his eyebrows slowly.
Ice Storm’s words were like a sharp steel rod that pierced through the impenetrable memory seal deep in his brain.
“I… I think I’ve heard of it…”
Meng Chao tried his best to capture the mottled light shadow of the memory fragments as he muttered, “Does the sacred light temple think that everything in the mortal world is an illusion? It’s just the reflection of the ocean of light. All the activities of the human race are just illusions that are projected into the mortal world by the surging waves in the ocean of light.
“Therefore, all the fame and wealth in the mortal world are not worth pursuing. In any case, they are just like the moonlight reflected in the lake. They look beautiful and vivid, but in reality, they can be shattered or even untouchable at the first touch.
“The human race can only break away from the illusory mortal world and return to the real ocean of light if they serve the Holy Light wholeheartedly with a hundred and twenty thousand percent devotion.
“I guess that’s what you mean?”
“That’s right.”
Ice Storm looked surprised. “That’s the idea of the most radical Reflection faction in the Holy Light Temple. Not many people in Picturesque Orchid Lake know about it. I didn’t expect you to know all about it.
“The ordinary Holy Light human race isn’t so extreme, but they all believe that they are the creations of the Holy Light. No, it should be said that everything in the world is the creation of the Holy Light. However, they are the most holy, purest, and most condensed creation. Some other creations have been unfortunately contaminated.”
Meng Chao asked, “Like advanced orcs?”
“Especially advanced orcs.”
Ice Storm gestured. “According to the legends of the Holy Light human race’s origin, we can imagine the sky as the bottom of the ocean of light. Since it has been enduring the ocean of light’s powerful pressure for billions of years, many crisscrossing cracks have gradually appeared in the sky. Lightning is the flash of light and shadow that appears when these cracks burst open.
“Through these gaps, the Holy Light slowly seeped into the entire human world like raindrops.
“If these ‘raindrops’ were sprinkled on places that were relatively clean, holy, and illuminated by the Holy Light all year round, they would become the various races of the Holy Light faction—humans, dwarfs, elves, and so on.
“However, if these ‘raindrops’ were sprinkled on the edge of this world, the places where the Holy Light have yet to reach would be contaminated and turn into filthy, stinky sludge. That would be the orcs, the undead, and the abyssfolk.
“As the purest creation of this world, the human race of the Holy Light naturally has the obligation and the right to purify the ‘sludge’ that has been unfortunately polluted. While eliminating the deformed and ugly bodies of the sludge, it will also free their souls. Perhaps, these unfortunate souls will have a chance to return to the ocean of light?”
“I see.”
Meng Chao continued to capture the mottled fragments that flashed in the depths of his brain as he patted his thigh. “No wonder the Holy Light humans, who usually look as docile as lambs, are even more ferocious and brutal than advanced orcs on the battlefield. It turns out that in the eyes of the Holy Light humans, they are not fighting at all, but ‘purifying’ or even ‘saving!’”
“That’s right. Such faith is enough to support the majority of the Holy Light humans. They will devote their entire life, including their own lives and the lives of their descendants, to the prolonged, miserable, and fruitless wars of purification. More importantly, have you noticed that the legend of the Holy Light humans’ origin and that of the advanced orcs are totally contradictory?”
Ice Storm said, “The Holy Light humans believe that there is an ocean of light beyond the sky, and there is nothing beyond the ocean of light. There is no sea of stars, and there is no universe. Whether it is the sun, the moon, and the stars, or all the changes we see in the night sky, they are all the waves created by the ocean of light, and the bright bubbles created by the collision of the waves. That’s all.
“However, the advanced orcs were quite certain that there were stars beyond the sky. Billions of stars formed the universe, and their ancestors rode on a burning fireball across the entire universe to come here.
“The advanced orcs even kept the remains of the fireball and hid it at the top of the Holy Mountain.
“Think about it. If we believe the legend of the advanced orcs’ origin, doesn’t that mean the legend of the Holy Light human race’s origin is fake? Plus, saying that everything in the world is Holy Light, and there is nothing other than Holy Light is also fake, right?”
Meng Chao suddenly understood.
“That makes sense. After what you said, there is indeed an irreconcilable conflict between the origins of the Holy Light humans and the advanced orcs. Therefore, we can only fight to the death!”
“Yes.”
Ice Storm sighed and said, “Although the east, west, south, and north that surround the Land of Holy Light are inhabited by unruly foreign clans, they are just like mud. No matter how dirty and smelly they are, they can’t affect the Holy Light for the time being.
“As for the advanced orcs, they were mud that contained plagues. If they were left unchecked, it was very likely that they would corrode the Land of Holy Light’s foundation.
“Therefore, in the past ten thousand years, the land of Holy Light has launched hundreds of purification wars. Most of them were focused on Picturesque Orchid Lake.
“Including the great extermination order era three thousand years ago, the Land of Holy Light gathered the most powerful army in the past ten thousand years and swept across the two banks of the Turan River. They almost used the corpses of the advanced orcs to build dams and completely blocked the river.
“The primary goal of this war was not to exterminate the advanced orcs but to destroy the Holy Mountain and eliminate the absurd, evil, and false origin of the advanced orcs.
“In the end, although this goal was not perfectly achieved, the Holy Light humans were unable to kill all the advanced orcs or completely destroy the Holy Mountain.
“However, the connection between the Holy Mountain and the outside world, the civilization of the advanced orcs that had existed for tens of thousands of years, did indeed suffer a devastating blow and was almost cut off. I heard that three to four thousand years ago, it wasn’t that difficult for the advanced orcs to climb to the top of the Holy Mountain and receive blessings or enlightenment from their ancestral spirits. Although they had to go through many tests and there was still a certain degree of danger, at least, it wasn’t like today. Now, they might not even be able to find the door to the Holy Mountain temple even if they face a narrow escape!
“From then on, the legend of the advanced orcs was no longer supported by strong evidence. It gradually became a true legend.
“The advanced orcs became increasingly barbaric and stupid. Eventually, they lost all the details of their origin.
“Until today, not many people believe the advanced orcs’ boasting anymore. They believed that the ancestors of the muscular, simple-minded, deformed, and stinky people had the ability to cross the sea of stars and tear the sky apart.
“In this way, the Holy Light Temple was gradually relieved.
“In the three thousand years that followed, although the two sides continued to wage war and launch wars of purification and glory, the war of national extermination that was fought with all their might three thousand years ago never broke out again.
“Of course, after the longest period of prosperity in history, the population and the number of soldiers in Picturesque Orchid Lake have surpassed anything in history. Nobody can predict whether the Battle of Glory’s scale and intensity that’s about to break out will surpass the previous era of extermination.”
Ice Storm’s words stirred waves in Meng Chao’s heart.
No wonder the great war in the Other World in his previous life would use the eastern front between Picturesque Orchid Lake and the Land of Holy Light as the main battlefield.
It turned out that apart from new and old grudges, there was also such an irreconcilable fundamental contradiction.
However, after Ice Storm paused for a moment, she changed the subject and continued. “Although the Holy Light faction almost destroyed the Holy Mountain and the Holy Light Temple bragged about the ‘Holy Light is everything’ theory for the next three thousand years, many people in the Land of Holy Light still firmly believe that the Holy Mountain was not completely destroyed. They think the huge fireball that passed through billions of stars was also real.
“As long as we can find the remains of the big fireball, we will be able to expose the Holy Light Temple’s double lies.”
Meng Chao was slightly startled. “Double lies?”
“That’s right. As long as we can find the remains of the big fireball, not only will we be able to expose the lie that the Holy Light is everything and the Holy Light is the universe, we will also be able to expose the lie that the Holy Light faction destroyed the advanced orcs’ evil civilization three thousand years ago. Now, those who live in Picturesque Orchid Lake are nothing but a bunch of wild beasts that feed on raw meat and blood.”
Ice Storm said, “To those living in the Land of Holy Light but are unwilling to serve the Holy Light and are even more unwilling to admit that they are just phantoms, what could be more satisfying than to expose the Holy Light Temple’s double lies?”