Chapter 707: The Conditions for Breaking Through to the Mahayana Stage
“How did I die? Where was I before I died?”
Jiang Li discovered he could remember every single detail of his previous life, except for the events right before his death, which were extremely blurry.
“Did something happen?”
Jiang Li used a spell to restore the contents of the verdict. The court had sentenced him to undergo treatment at a mental hospital.
“I have a mental illness?”
Following the verdict, Jiang Li came to this mental hospital. Walking through the corridor, flipping through the medical records, sealed memories flooded his mind like a tidal wave.
Finally, Jiang Li stopped before an ordinary hospital bed.
This was the bed he died on.
Absurd, ridiculous, pitiful… a complex mix of emotions that defied words surged in his heart.
The corner of Jiang Li’s mouth gradually lifted, eventually turning into a loud laugh.
“I remember now, so I was sick!” Jiang Li covered his face, throwing his head back and laughing, the sound desolate and helpless.
“So I was sick! I’m a lunatic!”
His laughter echoed through the abandoned mental hospital, startling crows into flapping their wings and flying about in panic.
“How utterly absurd, how utterly ridiculous!”
“So I was the only one who thought energy was infinite!”
Jiang Li’s laughter gradually subsided. Then he squatted on the ground, no longer making a sound, silent and motionless like a clay statue.
“No wonder when I explained to Bai Hongtu and the others how to break through to the Mahayana Stage, I thought it was simple, but they couldn’t understand. It turns out there was a cognitive gap between us.”
“I believed energy was infinite, but Bai Hongtu and the others all believed energy was conserved.”
“My illness made me think others also believed energy wasn’t conserved, so I never competed for resources and could never understand the mindset of those who plundered resources.”
“My illness also made me lose the memories from the mental hospital, making me think I was an ordinary person.”
“It wasn’t until I revisited this place that my memories were awakened.”
Jiang Li finally completely understood all the previous feelings of incongruity.
As he meticulously analyzed the matter, his eyes gradually brightened, regaining their former brilliance.
This matter didn’t have a huge impact on Jiang Li. If something of this level could defeat Jiang Li, then the Inner Demon Tribulation wouldn’t have found him so difficult to face.
The Inner Demon Tribulation knew the secret Jiang Li had sealed away. It knew this was hardly a tribulation for Jiang Li, incapable of defeating him.
The firmness of Jiang Li’s Dao Heart left the Inner Demon Tribulation at a loss.
“But am I really sick?” A stream of spiritual energy appeared out of thin air in Jiang Li’s palm, clearly violating the law of conservation of energy.
The spiritual energy of the Nine Provinces couldn’t nurture a Mahayana Stage cultivator like Jiang Li. The fundamental reason was that the energy Jiang Li used when cultivating to the Mahayana Stage all came from himself.
Therefore, Jiang Li could cultivate anytime, anywhere. His cultivation simply didn’t depend on the concentration of external spiritual energy.
“Perhaps there are two conditions for breaking through to the Mahayana Stage. First, believing the Mahayana Stage exists. Second, believing energy is not conserved.”
“That would make sense.”
“I didn’t know the Mahayana Stage was fabricated by Immortal Elder Changcun. After crossing over to the Nine Provinces, others were skeptical about the Mahayana Stage, but I firmly believed it existed.”
“At the same time, I also believed energy was not conserved.”
“Fulfilling these two points, breaking through to the Mahayana Stage happened naturally.”
“The collective will of all living beings didn’t know how to break through to the Mahayana Stage, but knew I could save the Nine Provinces, so it pulled me here.”
Jiang Li stood up, full of vigor and vitality, a completely renewed person.
“What’s past is past. What I need to do now is establish order, resist the Black Tide. With luck, I might even go directly to the Convergence of Possibilities and solve the problem at its root.”
“Speaking of which, why does energy not become conserved just because I believe it isn’t?” Jiang Li frowned, unable to figure out this question.
“Whatever. Immortal Elder will give me the answer.”
Jiang Li pushed this question to the back of his mind and returned to the Nine Provinces, ordering the Human Sovereign Hall to conduct emergency rescue operations in the Zhou Tian World.
“I’ve already issued that order.” Commander Liu said expressionlessly, though a closer look revealed a trace of resentment.
Conducting emergency rescues for worlds on the brink of destruction was clearly written in the “Myriad Heavens and Worlds Rescue Procedures.” Everyone in the Human Sovereign Hall knew this except Jiang Li.
Jiang Li gave an awkward chuckle.
“What happened? You look much more cheerful now than before.” Yu Yin rarely made lighthearted remarks.
When Jiang Li learned Blue Star was in the Zhou Tian World, his expression was terrifyingly gloomy. No one had ever seen Jiang Li with such a horrifying look.
“A major discovery. Come, Old Bai, Yu Yin, you two come over here.”
Jiang Li mysteriously called Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin out.
Same old place, Mount Thundercloud.
“What’s so mysterious?” Bai Hongtu was puzzled.
“I’m going to tell you how to break through to the Mahayana Stage.” Jiang Li said this with a rather smug expression.
Bai Hongtu: “…”
Yu Yin: “…”
“Let’s go back, let’s go back.” Bai Hongtu motioned for Yu Yin to return. After all, every time Jiang Li explained how to break through to the Mahayana Stage, it was always the same few sentences.
Jiang Li pressed Bai Hongtu down, making him sit obediently.
Yu Yin had been sitting all along, with no intention of leaving.
“This time, I guarantee you’ll learn it!” Jiang Li vowed confidently.
“Swear it on candied hawthorns.”
“That’s too cruel. I swear on the Ascension Tribulation.” Jiang Li showed a troubled expression.
“Alright, you two stop fooling around. Hurry up and explain.” Yu Yin wasn’t here to listen to free comedy.
She’d been listening for five hundred years.
Jiang Li explained the two conditions for breaking through to the Mahayana Stage.
After hearing it, Bai Hongtu said, “Believing the Mahayana Stage exists is easy. With you as a living example, who wouldn’t believe it exists?”
“But getting us to believe energy is not conserved, that’s difficult. For over five hundred years, we’ve always believed energy is conserved. Now you suddenly tell us that just by believing energy isn’t conserved, we can make it so.”
“If thinking something could make it happen, then wouldn’t I have succeeded long ago by thinking about defeating you?”
Jiang Li patiently explained, “Defeating me is impossible, it’s not realistic. But energy not being conserved is realistic.”
Bai Hongtu: “…Do you even hear what you’re saying?”
Despite saying this, Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin still trusted Jiang Li’s judgment.
Experience told them that as long as it didn’t involve love, Jiang Li’s judgment was always accurate.
They attempted to overturn their previous understanding, reshape their worldview, and believe energy was not conserved.
“Mahayana Stage, break!”
Bai Hongtu pointed a finger dramatically towards the sky, his momentum overwhelming, as if to turn heaven and earth upside down.
Then nothing happened. Mount Thundercloud remained cloudless for miles.
Unlike Bai Hongtu, Yu Yin didn’t shout it out loud but silently called out in her heart to break through to the Mahayana Stage.
Then still nothing happened.
Jiang Li frowned, not sure which step went wrong.
Yu Yin suddenly asked, “When did you achieve energy not being conserved?”
Believing energy is not conserved is one thing; actually achieving it is another. During their youthful interactions, Yu Yin hadn’t noticed the old Jiang Li could produce energy out of thin air.
Jiang Li was taken aback and said, “It was after I reached the Peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, when the collective wish energy of all living beings enveloped me, allowing me to achieve energy not being conserved, and then I broke through to the Mahayana Stage.”
“Breaking through to the Mahayana Stage also requires the empowerment of collective wish energy?”
Yu Yin nodded, “Very likely. However, only the Human Sovereign can enjoy the empowerment of collective wish energy. Neither of us is the Human Sovereign.”
Jiang Li revealed a smile. In terms of wish energy, he had studied it more deeply than Yu Yin, “The condition for using collective wish energy isn’t becoming the Human Sovereign, but having a heart devoted to the public good of the world.”
Yu Yin suddenly understood. Then she asked another question, “Collective wish energy needs to accumulate power. Do we need to wait for a while?”
Jiang Li extended one finger and gently shook it.
“You forgot, I forged a Bronze Cauldron specifically to hold collective wish energy, left for the next Human Sovereign.”
“After breaking through to the Mahayana Stage, I never used wish energy again. What’s stored in the cauldron now is a full three hundred years’ worth of wish energy.”