- 161
- 32
So chaos is a story, as the basis of existence (unreality), existed before being separated into the three planes, thus gaining logic, law, history, form, change, and direction.
- Does that qualify as a plot/narrative force?
- Does the history revision done by the Immortal Beast under the Plane of Qi possibly qualify as plot manipulation?
“What do you think chaos is?”
“When I saw it in his memories…it seems to be the medium of creation, but honestly I do not really know. It just seems like a substance where the three planes are mixed…”
“Chaos is a ‘story’.”
“A story…you say? This thing where the three planes are mixed together…?”
“Yes. To begin with…what are you made of?”
“Well of course…”
I immediately understand what they are trying to say.
Every existence is made up of the planes of Qi, Soul, and Fate.
In that case, chaos in which the three planes are mixed together can also be seen as a kind of ‘existence’.
“Are you saying this too is some kind of existence?”
“Wrong. All existence in truth is chaos. But then why is existence divided into chaos and existence that is not chaos.”
Following their words, I operate the chaos according to the formula and can feel many things.
“It is something that has not been refined into a proper story. Something that only changes from moment to moment without any rules or laws. That is chaos. If you compare it to human consciousness, chaos is ‘creativity’.”
“Hoh…”
“If you polish that creativity and turn it into a story, you can even call it into reality. But until then, creativity is nothing more than delusion or a mere scrap of a dream. Something that has been refined out of chaos, turned intoa story, and has acquired reality. That is exactly what ‘existence’ is.”
---
“When rules arise in chaos and logic accumulates layer upon layer, that itself is History, and it is Qi which governs the laws of the physical world.
“If, while the workings of chaos are endlessly changing, the shapes of those changes split apart one by one, those split fragments are emotions, and what makes those emotions gather and change into countless forms is exactly Soul.
“Lastly, if the flow of chaos is given a direction, that direction is Fate.”
Logic and laws are Qi.
Form and change are Soul.
Direction is Fate.
On the basis of that logic, I treat chaos as unrefined creativity, and I handle it as a story.
“The realm called Supreme Deity is the realm where one inhales chaos, refines it into story, and grants it to the countless living beings and material spirits that come to live within one’s consciousness. One grants the countless living spirits the diverse changes of emotion. One grants the countless material spirits bodies made of law. One grants many beings a direction to chase after.”
I look alternately at the planes of Qi and Fate from within the Plane of Soul.
The Plane of Qi is explosions.
Explosions of countless time and space, creating each moment and flowing them away in an ever-changing world.
---
A certain diagram unfolds before my eyes.
It is an explosion.
A certain [force] is continuously exploding, advancing toward somewhere.
And the remnants of that explosion spiral backward in a helix.
The endlessly spiraling Taiji.
The [river of scenes] flowing within it.
I clearly defy the course of that [river of scenes] with my will.
---
: : Though the past does not change, the [past remembered by an individual] can change as much as one desires. Just as one person may remember a ruler as a wise king, while another sees them as the worst of tyrants... Just as one woman may cherish the time spent with her beloved as the most affectionate moments, yet by the other as a tedious extension of work... The [truth] of what happened in the past is absolute, but its [interpretation] belongs solely to the individuals...! : :
In an instant, Glass Peacock's rotating tail feathers explode.
Within that explosion, I witness a certain scene.
Kwarurung!
That [scene] is a kind of story.
Within the tale of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's technique, [Sword-Guided Star Rain], Glass Peacock has now added this 'background setting'.
The tale of the Sword-Guided Star Rain now contains a new premise of [from the moment it enters Glass Peacock's sight, the 'foolish aspect' within it increases to an extreme degree].
Jjeoooong!
And the moment that tale is added, Sword-Guided Star Rain, struck by Glass Peacock's tail feathers, is foolishly and helplessly sent flying.
Pasasasasa!
The sword of Sword-Guided Star Rain turns into silver-white light, crumbling away without having any effect.
I widen my eyes at Glass Peacock's power, which has now neutralized not one but two strikes of Sword-Guided Star Rain—an attack that, in a single blow, could suffocate Blood Yin and collapse a corner of the universe.
: : Interesting. [I don't want to hurt them]... Such a sentiment coexists within the sword. Normally, deflecting this technique would have been impossible, but because such a foundation existed, I was able to amplify the contradiction and nullify the attack. : :
Glass Peacock lifts their gaze toward the direction where Sword-Guided Star Rain had flown.
: : Immortal Beasts are, in the end, beings who read stories and add background settings to them. That is why it is called history revision (改竄), not history rewriting (改變). Even if one reads history through the eyes of the Earth Tribe, the history they perceive is inevitably narrow and limited. Within that limited perspective, they impose their [own thoughts], force them upon history, and create connections between historical events. That is...what history revision truly is. : :
---
It is the direction where the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's Sword-Guided Star Rain had flown from.
And within that direction lies the [branch of history] that led the Sword-Guided Star Rain to reach this place.
Glass Peacock flies towards that [branch of history] of the Sword-Guided Star Rain and collides with it.
The branch of history is [interpreted] in a slightly twisted direction.
They search for an even earlier point in history.
They resist an even earlier branch.
Within the explosion, they [interpret] history through their own perspective.
However, by applying subtle 'interpretations' to the great river known as history—
Those faint currents merge, and merge again...
Until at last, they become a massive wave that twists the flow of history.
The interpretation of history that Glass Peacock accumulated and accumulated again has...
Kugugugugu!
...At some point, reached reality, and is reflected according to the interpretation.
The three Sword-Guided Star Rains, which had fallen to just above my head, crumble just like that right before they can strike me.
Last edited: