Mythology: Ragnarok

Chapter 328 Essence

After lunch, Agreed invited Xuan Yuan Muze, saying, "If you're free this afternoon, why don't you come with me for a home visit? A new student recently transferred to my class, and I've decided to check on their family situation, as well as the quality of their education before the transfer and whether they need any special attention."

By this time, Xuan Yuan Mu Ze had finished his lunch. He wiped his mouth and said, "Sure, I'm bored anyway. But why are you going to do a home visit?"

Agreed smiled and put down his cutlery, explaining, "Moral education is only taught by teachers in the first and last years of compulsory education. Moral education in the Kingdom of All Races is not a long-term process. After all, you know that some things are tiresome to repeat over and over again. This transfer student is a third-grade student, and the transfer itself is intriguing. Therefore, I need to observe the child's family situation and the child's mental and physical health to determine whether the child needs further psychological counseling and moral education."

Xuan Yuan Muze said, puzzled, "Aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill? Since your educational resources are equally distributed, don't you trust the educational level of other schools? Besides, what problems could possibly arise? Don't you have confidence in your own teachers?"

Agreed shook his head and said, "My friend, you've guessed wrong. I have no confidence in anyone involved in the management system except myself, from the captain down to the officials, and even every ordinary citizen. I will never believe that they will always be calm, rational, and without any evil thoughts."

Let me give you a word of advice, my friend. If you ever have the chance to rise to a position of power, then as someone who's been there, I have a piece of advice for you: never trust human nature. Always think of your subordinates as a bunch of useless, incompetent, and scheming beasts, and think of your people as jackals who will rebel if you don't feed them. This will make you always prepare for the worst and allow you to withstand any crisis.

You might not understand this statement, so let me put it another way: If everyone in the government performs their duties properly, and the people are exceptionally rational and of extremely high moral character, wouldn't they have already achieved a perfect society of universal harmony? What would be the point of having a ruler, or even me?

Because they cannot do it, I have appeared. Because there are shadows in this world, I, the King of Shadows, have been born. My value is to carry all the shadows on my back and let all the light shine on this land that longs for light!

It is precisely because I have never had any expectations of humanity that I have developed this country to this point.

Xuanyuan Muze sighed helplessly, then asked, "Aren't you tired doing this?"

Agreed chuckled and replied, "From the moment I decided to establish a nation, I was prepared. Many things were strictly managed at first, but they got better and better over time. In fact, many planets in the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races have already achieved self-management. Even though I often send avatars down to inspect and investigate, I can't find any problems. So gradually, they no longer need me to help them adjust and maintain things. I'll be busy for a while and then it will be fine. Don't let my playful nature fool you; I still have a sense of responsibility."

Xuan Yuan Muze's lips twitched as he thought to himself, "Your sense of responsibility is quite something." So Xuan Yuan Muze began to re-examine Agreed in front of him. He understood this man less and less. This emperor of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races was really different from the impression he had of emperors.

"May I ask if I may? Why did you... establish the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Races? I've heard that someone like you doesn't really need to waste your time governing a country, right?" With these questions in mind, Xuanyuan Muze finally mustered up the courage to ask Agreed.

At this moment, Agreed looked behind Xuanyuan Muze as if lost in memories, and then he slowly said, "For a promise, my friends, I once promised them that I would create a free and equal country without slavery and oppression. For this promise, I am willing to keep striving until the day I can no longer hold on, because this is my promise to them!"

After listening, Xuan Yuan Mu Ze said with some emotion, "For the sake of a promise, your motive is surprisingly pure, which is good. However, I still disagree with your theory that human nature is inherently evil. There are still parts of truth, goodness, and beauty in human nature."

Agreed shook his head and said, "When you get to my age, you'll understand. In the universe, the most fundamental laws are actually the two most basic laws on a macroscopic level: 'killing' and 'devouring.' These are rules that no life can escape, or rather, the meaning of the existence of lower life forms is for these two things. We cannot escape these two logics because we are still lower life forms."

Just as Agred finished speaking, a gigantic, ethereal eye appeared behind him. Agred sensed something and turned around to look, but saw nothing. Agred looked around suspiciously, and finally shook his head, thinking that his senses were malfunctioning. After all, with his current cultivation level, no one in this universe should be able to detect his existence without him noticing.

But what Agreed didn't know was that when he comprehended these two laws, he was already being targeted by a group of terrifying beings!

Xuanyuan Muze looked at Agreed, who was behaving strangely, and asked with some concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Agreed shook his head and said, "It's nothing. Maybe I'm just being too sensitive. Lately, I've been feeling like something's watching me, but... never mind, it's probably just a minor problem with my soul perception lately. It's nothing. Where were we?"

Xuanyuan Muze then said, "You mentioned 'slaughter' and 'devouring,' two fundamental laws of the universe that lower life forms cannot escape."

Agreed nodded and continued, "Yes, the two laws of killing and devouring have always surrounded us. You need to understand one fact, my friend: life has never stopped devouring and killing since the moment it is born. It's okay for low-level plant life forms; they just live by devouring the basic matter in the universe. But slightly higher-level animals, even single-celled organisms, are different. The higher the level of life, the more inseparable it is from the influence of the basic law of killing."

From the moment of birth, life, regardless of the method, grows by consuming the nutrients initially provided by the mother. After life is fully developed and separated from the womb, it begins the next stage of growth. In the process of our growth, we kill and devour every moment, and then grow and eventually evolve.

You might think I'm talking nonsense, but think about it carefully: isn't the food you eat, the land you live on, and everything around you something that our ancestors stole from animals through killing? And to fill our stomachs, we directly or indirectly kill those animals and plants for our survival and growth!

You might say that you are very kind or that you have never killed any living beings in your life. I can only say that your idea is ridiculous. Life is life, my friend. Plants, animals, and even microorganisms are all life, just at different levels. Every second you live depends on killing other lives to maintain your survival. The only time you can truly escape the law of devouring and killing is the moment you die!

Even at my level, where I no longer need to eat and am already secure in my survival, I still yearn to kill other gods and devour them to advance further. Even the gods haven't escaped this law; do you think you can do it?