Chapter 2416: Not a Riddler Anymore

"What do you mean?" Zu An's brain was truly overloaded at this point. Words like "yesterday, today, tomorrow," "past, future," "watches, clocks," and a series of similar terms flooded his mind. Shouldn't the continuity of time be a given?

Mi Li hesitated, then explained, "The concept of time is merely an idea that ordinary beings naturally form. But for certain transcendent entities, time actually holds no meaning. They can simultaneously observe every time node – past, present, and future – in a single instant."

Zu An nodded silently. This was also how humans imagined some deities.

"For those entities, if they wish, the past can become the future, and the future can become the past. So, you shouldn't worry too much about whether you'll change history. As long as you follow reasonable rules, even if you change it, it won't matter much."

A thought stirred in Zu An's mind. When he saw the phantom of Yu Men Beiqing in the sealed land, was what she said, which was so vague and confusing, similar in spirit to what Mi Li was saying?

"But in that case, wouldn't history truly become like a young girl adorned by anyone? If anyone could change it, wouldn't the myriad realms fall into chaos?" Zu An felt an itch on his scalp, as if his mind was expanding.

"What you said isn't entirely accurate," Mi Li corrected. "History is indeed like a young girl who can be adorned by anyone, but not everyone is qualified to change it. Those who can manipulate history are, by definition, figures who can influence it."

"Furthermore, to prevent the kind of chaos you mentioned – and it's unclear whether this is a private agreement among those transcendent entities or a fundamental law of the universe – some important historical event nodes are fixed. Once fixed, the history of that specific space-time cannot be altered; only minor adjustments can be made within the principles I previously mentioned to you."

Zu An nodded, half-understanding. He wanted to ask more, but Mi Li stopped him. "This concept is still too advanced for you. It's not something you should be concerned with right now. Going too deep will cause you to completely lose yourself in the confusion of time."

Zu An's heart tensed. The other party seemed to have also used a calming and restorative spell, as his mind indeed felt much clearer.

"Thank you, Master Empress!"

Zu An wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He often complained that Mi Li spoke in riddles, but today, when she wasn't cryptic, he found himself even more confused.

It seemed that, just as she said, the time was not yet right. Knowing these things now would be useless and only bring danger.

"It's not easy for me to awaken like this," Mi Li said, seeing that he understood her well-intentioned warning and nodding with satisfaction. "Do you have any other questions, aside from those related to time?"

Zu An pondered for a moment, then remembered something else. "Right, when Mogade fought me earlier, he mentioned the 'Path of Oblivion' and the divine beast Taotie. I've heard 'Taotie' from others before. This shouldn't be the kind of monster I saw in the Yin Ruins secret realm, right?"

"Oh, he actually knows about that," Mi Li said, her expression turning serious.

Zu An's heart stirred. "He shouldn't know about it?"

"His current strength isn't enough to qualify him to know such things, but there are too many variables in the myriad realms of the universe. Every being has their own unique encounter, so it's not impossible for him to know," Mi Li murmured. "Since you've already naturally learned about this from others, me telling you more shouldn't have any impact."

Zu An blinked, waiting for her to continue.

"These two are actually part of the same issue," Mi Li said, not answering directly but instead asking, "How do you view gods?"

"Gods?" Zu An never expected her to ask such a question. "Gods are likely a concept from stages where human civilization wasn't developed enough to explain certain natural phenomena, so they imagined these were the work of deities."

"As various civilizations' beliefs continuously evolved, they gradually perfected their own mythological theories and created all sorts of gods..."

Mi Li smiled. "Having experienced so much by now, do you still believe gods are merely superstition?"

Zu An took a deep breath. "Indeed, originally I thought it was superstition. But now, it seems plausible that they are exceptionally powerful beings whom ordinary creatures have come to regard as gods."

He couldn't help but recall what he had seen in the Demon Race Imperial Tomb secret realm, where there was not only the Witch Mountain Goddess but also the concept of the Heavenly Court.

"Both right and wrong," Mi Li said gravely. "Many deities initially were indeed just powerful beings, but the faith of ordinary creatures isn't merely superstition; it can genuinely provide the corresponding gods with the power of belief, allowing them to break through to higher realms."

Zu An wasn't surprised; having read so many web novels in his previous life, he often encountered similar concepts.

"Of course, while they gain benefits from faith, they also have corresponding restraints: they cannot deviate from their believers' faith," Mi Li paused, then added, "You can understand it as: their actions will be constrained by what ordinary beings believe they should or shouldn't do. While not an exact match, they cannot stray too far from those beliefs."

"For example, if a benevolent god from a righteous sequence were to commit evil acts daily, or an evil god were to consistently do good deeds, it would cause significant problems for them."

Zu An nodded. Explained this way, it was indeed much easier to understand.

Mi Li continued, "And a 'Path' can simply be understood as a type of faith."

Zu An's heart stirred. "So, the 'Path of Oblivion' that Mogade mentioned is a path of oblivion itself?"

Mi Li didn't answer him directly. Instead, she spoke slowly in an enigmatic tone:

"There are countless faiths in the world. Some civilizations are monotheistic, others polytheistic. How many gods do you think there should be in the world?"

Zu An frowned slightly. "Probably countless."

He thought of how many myths and legends existed on Earth alone, let alone within the myriad realms.

"Exactly. The kind of gods you imagined earlier, there are indeed many, many of them across the myriad realms. But those can only be called 'gods in a narrow sense.' In a broader sense, there are only..."

She paused here. "Actually, I don't know the exact number, but it's roughly around ten, certainly not more than twenty."

"So few!" Zu An was shocked. Considering how many worlds and civilizations exist in the vast universe, and even how many universes there might be, such a small number of true gods was indeed astonishing.

"There are countless faiths across the myriad realms, yet there are quite a few commonalities among them. Beliefs that are conceptually similar and share common points are unified into one grand 'Path.' And the entity at the culmination of such a Path is a true god in the broader sense."

Zu An's heart trembled. Many previous confusions finally became clear to him.

"Wait, then the 'Path of Oblivion' that Mogade mentioned, does that refer to one of these true gods?"

Mi Li nodded slightly. "That's why I was curious. This shouldn't be information he'd have access to at his stage."

Zu An's mind was in turmoil, as if a tiny figure inside his head was violently churning with a stick. He looked at Mi Li, opening and closing his mouth several times, wondering, *Is this really something I should be hearing right now?*

Mi Li seemed to guess his thoughts and said with a hint of exasperation, "Before, you always complained that I spoke in riddles. Now that I'm telling you, are you scared?"

Zu An wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with an apologetic laugh, "Didn't you say before that mentioning certain things might attract the gaze of some unknown entities? *Big sister, let's be a bit more cautious. I feel like you're delivering your last words. We have a long future ahead of us!*"

"It's fine," Mi Li said, unable to resist a smile at seeing him, who was usually fearless, so nervous. "You naturally learned this concept from others. I am merely explaining it to you; it won't trigger any corresponding rules."

Zu An finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then realized that she could only reveal certain information once he had already encountered or understood something related to it.

"Oh, and by the way, the Doomsday Beast that destroyed the demon world earlier was merely a minor subordinate of the entity associated with the Path of Oblivion," Mi Li paused, her expression turning grave as she warned, "That entity is destined to be your enemy. Before you grow stronger, stay far away from this Path."