Chapter 957 — The Corpse-Walkers of the Great Void
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"Though they are dead, their consciousness is undying; their thoughts remain in the state they held while alive. Even now that they have died, their consciousness still runs on, and should their flesh be damaged, their consciousness repairs it."
Shen Mu worked out the principle of it. But why these corpse-walkers marched unceasingly toward one place, he had no way of knowing.
Shu Jun's voice came to him: "Let me commune with their consciousness and see what they lived through!"
"They have not even a soul or spirit. Can you still commune?" Shen Mu asked in astonishment.
"Naturally. Among we Creators, death is no bar to communion. So long as one's consciousness is strong enough, one may even draw from the void the knowledge of Creators dead through the ages, gathering the wisdom of all."
Shu Jun said: "You petty creatures must study before you can master the knowledge your forebears handed down, whereas a newborn of our Creator race need only touch its brow to an elder's and all knowledge is had. You see how coarse and backward you are."
Shen Mu said doubtfully: "If knowledge is not studied but simply poured in, how do you correct your errors?"
Shu Jun was taken aback. "Correct errors? The knowledge of our forebears contains no error. Why should it need correcting?"
Shen Mu shook his head. To learn with questions in mind, to discover the mistakes of one's forebears: only so can the Way, the arts and the divine abilities advance. But if knowledge is poured in directly, what is poured into a child's mind becomes truth taken for granted, needing no thought.
And so the errors in the knowledge handed down by one's forebears would never be found.
All reform comes from the foundation.
The Jingping Reforms began with the fundamentals, the fundamentals of the sword, of the saber, of the runes, and went on to change the very foundation of the realms, the Divine Treasury; and as for the daily needs of the people, all were fundamentals.
And the smashing of the god within the heart was, above all, a fundamental of the mind.
If all knowledge came by pouring in, how could the foundation ever be changed?
This way of learning among the Creators was faster, but it easily brought the foundational arts and divine abilities to a standstill, until knowledge hardened.
Shen Mu opened the eye in the center of his brow, and at once sensed Shu Jun's consciousness surging out of the Primordial Stone. Shu Jun's consciousness was strong enough to touch the consciousness of these Creators' corpses.
Following Shu Jun's consciousness, a vast world suddenly opened before Shen Mu's eyes: blue seas, high mountains, plunging waterfalls, white clouds; Creators of enormous bulk walking among the great peaks and towering ranges, wading through jade-green oceans.
Some giants envisioned wings for themselves and flew among the blue sky and white clouds.
Some envisioned plants of every hue, and dense forests sprang up without cease, turning from their imagining into reality.
Some of the stronger Creators flew into the starry heavens, and there many Creators gathered to create the sun, the moon and the stars.
This was a new world they had opened; they meant to withdraw from all strife.
Their clothing was plain and simple, without any ornament of splendor, and thus they lived, unfettered and free.
From the consciousness of these corpse-walkers Shen Mu sensed that the world they had come from could no longer sustain them: besides the killings and quarrels among their own clans, mighty ancient gods sought to wipe them out.
They envisioned a new world. This new world held nothing at all and still needed building by their hands before it could be made perfect.
Suddenly a majestic, looming figure descended upon the world they had envisioned. Terrible waves of consciousness swept the void, and the void began to collapse!