Chapter 1467: Nonexistent Prehistoric Eleventh Level

A millennium. Everyone understood they had only a thousand years.

It was a brief test of their talents and the very limits of their wisdom. Upon the millennium's end, they would return to the palace, presenting their plans for the universe's future to determine their potential for ascension to the Eleventh Rank.

This was the fairest arrangement, and everyone was convinced of its equity. It was not only a means to prove their path through virtue but also a direct test of their core talents and wisdom – the most fundamental qualities of a true powerhouse.

With that, the group dispersed.

A millennium, though seemingly vast, amounted to merely ten days in high-dimensional spacetime – a mere blink of an eye.

As everyone dissipated from the palace, Xu Zhi too rose and vanished from his spot, embarking on a stroll through the vast, empty expanse high above the universe. The grand universe in the distance receded, growing smaller and smaller.

“The universe is truly wondrous,” he mused. “Tracing its entire historical epoch, from creation to the integration of cosmic laws, to its full maturity, the Eleventh Rank then descends…”

“Viewed in its entirety, the history of cosmic development resembles the life cycle of a living being: birth, infancy, growth, maturity, and then giving birth—only to ten offspring.”

“Each Eleventh Rank individual is a 'truth-child' of the grand cosmic singularity, embodying a nascent, true singular life. These roles are filled by the universe's most exceptional geniuses, poised to develop and mature at any moment, eventually evolving into a vast, complete universe, yet one stripped of its individual will.”

“From this vantage point, birth, procreation, and subsequent demise appear to be a perfect natural law of life…”

“It's like an unseen, grand historical arc, a cosmic hymn, the outline of a novel, or a film's plot synopsis… This subtle thread weaves together the entire history of the universe.”

“This underlying current, one might call it the Grand Destiny!”

“The Grand Destiny of cosmic growth, much like human development, follows stages: infancy, growth, youth, and maturity… It would be incredibly difficult to reverse the natural laws governing human maturation, and similarly, the universe’s.”

“This, then, is the ultimate core truth of the universe’s underlying Grand Destiny.”

At this moment, Xu Zhi possessed an extraordinary understanding of the universe. Having reversed the Grand Destiny and altered the universe’s natural growth patterns, he could confidently say that no one understood the fundamental principles behind the Grand Destiny's emergence better than him.

“So then, is the universe itself a form of alternative life, perhaps akin to a plant?”

A brilliant arc curved on Xu Zhi's lips as he gazed up at the heavens.

“How truly marvelous it is to deduce the transcendent cosmic system, to unravel the supernatural mechanisms of nature itself… One could explore these mysterious laws of the natural world for an entire lifetime and still find their beauty boundless…”

Stepping into the void, Xu Zhi gazed into the distance, irresistibly spreading his arms. His eyes filled with dazzling anticipation and yearning. “It is so incredibly beautiful… so beautiful that I feel its spine-chilling, unfathomable, and profound splendor.”

“The true truths it conceals are enough to make one tremble, yet one cannot resist delving deeper.”

Xu Zhi observed the entire universe. He searched for any subtle traces throughout the grand universe. As he had become the universe itself, he ultimately confirmed the absence of any ancient relics from prehistoric universes, as well as any hidden Eleventh Rank beings from such epochs.

There were no prehistoric traces... This was to be expected. Due to the universe’s great collapse, the contraction would thoroughly reset all matter and energy, reducing them to nothingness. Any prehistoric relics would be reabsorbed and remade.

But the absence of any prehistoric Eleventh Rank life forms? This alone piqued Xu Zhi's curiosity. This would be his final query regarding the vast epochs of the universe.

“The absence of prehistoric Eleventh Ranks suggests two possibilities!” Xu Zhi calmly stated, “The first possibility is that while cosmic epochs do have cycles, we are currently in the initial phase of the first cycle. We are the first epoch; we are the beginning.”

Is this possible? Naturally, it is.

Because Xu Zhi had previously run numerous simulations, repeatedly initiating 'genesis' through the Tianyin Sect. Xu Zhi had discovered that in the initial cosmic environments generated by the universe’s singularity Big Bang, 99.999% of the Great Dao spectrum trees were 'dead trees' – cosmic structures incapable of fostering internal life. These universes were all dead. From their explosion to their eventual collapse, their entire lifespan remained an empty, desolate void. Nor was this surprising. The emergence of life is always a miracle, the culmination of countless low-probability occurrences. It demands suitable laws, fertile ground, specific environments, and intricate ecosystems. Just as an overwhelming 99.999% of the universe consists of lifeless, barren planets, humanity's astronomical technology on Earth has, despite constant observation of exoplanets, never truly found another 'Earth' capable of spontaneously generating life.

“Therefore, it’s plausible that within the cycles of countless barren universes, ours is simply the first to coincidentally produce life – meaning we are the origin point!” Xu Zhi then softly offered, “The second possibility is that we are not the first. Prehistoric cosmic civilizations did indeed exist, and those Eleventh Rank beings… they simply chose to journey to the distant reaches beyond this universe.”

Xu Zhi's gaze subtly lowered.

Once you become utterly invincible within a universe, having reached your absolute limits, would you truly linger in this domain, content to be the hidden orchestrator of future universes? After living and ruling for tens of billions of years, would you still not be satisfied, and continue to govern the next cosmic epoch after the Big Bang and Great Collapse, perpetually acting as its hidden puppet master? Do you think they would truly be content with that?