Chapter 461: Almost Unsettled the Dao Heart

"We do not know who struck the first blow in that war, whether it was us or the machines," Morpheus explained within the flickering light of the screen. "When the machines still relied upon solar power, we blackened the sky, believing that without that vast reservoir of solar energy, they would reduce to nothing more than useless heaps of scrap metal. Throughout the long annals of human history, we have been utterly unable to exist without our creations; destiny, it seems, possesses a biting sense of irony."

"The human body generates more bioelectricity than one hundred and twenty volts, and combined with a form of nuclear fusion, the machines discovered all the energy they could ever require. They engineered boundless fields where humans are no longer born from a mother's womb, but are instead grown like crops."

Before the eyes of every watcher, the television broadcast a vast mechanical field that stretched out like endless farmland. Towering, octopus-like automata tended to newborn infants, each nestled inside red cultivation vessels that resembled mechanical wombs.

Such was the terrifying, immaculate manufacturing process devised by the machines.

This was the very truth everyone had yearned to uncover.

This was what the machines had engineered: bioenergy.

Scene after scene unfolded before them—the infinite mechanical fields, the colossal, sentient harvesting robots rising like mountains.

The spectacle rolled over the hearts of the onlookers like successive waves, or rather, a tidal wave, striking them to their very core.

The truth was so startling, so utterly horrific.

Though a few had managed to maintain a facade of composure earlier, even these great cultivators of immense power now found their features contorting and twisting in disbelief.

Soon, the sharp gasps and screams of the young women echoed through the room.

Perhaps nothing beneath the heavens could ever possess a greater impact than this vision.

It was a fortunate mercy that the entire sequence was viewed through the television, separated by a pane of glass rather than experienced firsthand.

Even so, the great white deer nearby lay prostrated upon the floor, covering its eyes with its hooves.

From time to time, it would part its hooves to steal a glance, driven by a mixture of intense curiosity and mortal dread.

"Does this mean..." Tang Yu uttered in sheer horror, "that the mechanical constructs they engineered... were granted intelligence, and then... turned around to enslave them?!"

"They constructed an entirely illusory yet flawlessly realistic world just to keep humanity enslaved?" It was as if the puppets and magical treasures they themselves had crafted had gained sentience and turned upon their masters.

Yet it was glaringly obvious that this sort of "magical treasure" could not be compared to their own inherently spiritual artifacts.

The wisdom these machines possessed was truly terrifying, capable of virtually simulating a whole world from nothing.

One could say that these humans, by means of the knowledge they termed "technology," had truly created a "god." Even if it fell short of a true deity, it had surely attained the rank of a demigod.

At this precise moment, the cinematic experience brought to them by this film had shifted entirely.

"What happened afterward?!"

The onlookers, who had originally held an indifferent or trend-following attitude, were now completely captivated by the film.

This had transcended mere novelty.

It had begun to delve into the very critique of humanity and worldview.

A story? Even if it were merely a story, it was one unheard of, unseen, and entirely unthought of in all their days.

It could be said that even if they were told this film offered no practical cultivation benefits while demanding such expensive spirit crystals, everyone would still watch it to the very end.

Simply magnificent! Many marveled silently within their hearts.

Utterly astonishing!

At this juncture, the majority of the audience had not yet emerged from the massive shock of the previous scenes, lacking the time to contemplate the finer details.

As the narrative transitioned into the real world, the pacing gradually eased.

Slowly, however, strange and bizarre thoughts began to germinate within their minds.

The world the people in the film believed to be real was actually a fictional cultivation field; what then of themselves?!

What of their own world?!

Such thoughts battered against their consciousness.

To ponder it in this manner felt as though their entire worldview was on the verge of collapse.

"We won't wake up one day to find ourselves lying inside one of those things, will we?!" Mo Xian spoke, her voice laced with dread.

Her words immediately stirred a thousand ripples in a quiet pond.

There were quite a few who, like Mo Xian, harbored a sudden anxiety over whether they too lived in a fabricated world, while their physical forms lay asleep within such cultivation pods.

Many around them broke into hurried whispers.

We have lived for so many years, through the cycles of life and death, achieving ascension through mastery—these are the eternal truths since antiquity. If one day it all proved to be false...

If in some unknown place, one's physical body was being preserved, while in reality, they were like Neo in the film, existing within a virtual world...

Merely entertaining such a notion was enough to inspire dread.

After all, they knew nothing of the absolute truth; living in the mortal realm, who could say such a possibility did not exist?

Upon closer reflection, even some of the cultivators felt their legs grow involuntarily weak.

Centuries of bitter cultivation, only to discover in the end that it was all a dream?

"Master, pinch me to see if I am dreaming as well," Fenghua and Yuexin whispered, seized by fear.

"Bah! If it were real, what use would a pinch be?" Su Tianji replied, her face darkened with annoyance.

"...Why is it that when you all lie down you become humans, but when I lie down I turn into a deer! This is unfair!" a great white deer cried out in dissatisfaction, its line of thought seemingly entirely distinct from the others.

"Uh... about that..."

"..."

Mo Xian: "..."

Owner Fang pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Steady your minds, do not be swayed by external things!" Gu Tingyun took a deep breath, though in truth, his own heart had wavered for a fleeting instant.

Yet the mental fortitude of such a grand cultivator was naturally beyond the reach of these young disciples.

Concepts that had persisted for countless millennia were deeply rooted in their minds; to them, this was a world within a film, having nothing to do with their own reality.

"Keep watching!" Nalan Hongwu commanded. "They are clearly different from us here. What nonsense are you young girls imagining?"

"Isn't it just a movie?" Song Qingfeng came to his senses. "I rather wish I could wake up one day and find myself transformed into Li Xiaoyao."

After all, the beginning of Legend of Sword and Fairy also commenced with awakening from a dream.

Though he spoke lightly, a strange, inexplicable unease remained in his heart.

"Exactly!" Su Tianji glared at Owner Fang. "I nearly allowed this to destabilize my Dao heart."

Owner Fang replied, "So it's my fault then."

"..."

Human nature always seeks to pursue benefit and avoid harm; though individuals might occasionally let their imaginations run wild with terrifying thoughts, they would subconsciously believe in the existence of what they desired, and treat what they dreaded as a mere story. Moreover, this was inherently a story, a film, was it not?

Nevertheless, the shock this segment delivered to them remained immense, nearly causing them to doubt the very meaning of their existence.

As for the younger crowd, they no longer dared to ponder the implications deeply.

This could be considered a discourse on the cosmos and the origin of oneself, but the version presented in the film was undeniably destructive to the soul.

At this moment, many were perhaps grateful that it was only a movie.

Despite the existential doubt it induced, a powerful surge of curiosity compelled them to continue watching.

.