487 What Is Humanity

Ye Qingxuan thought he was dreaming.

First, Ludovic, the pope who would be crowned tomorrow, had come to eat lunch with him. He had treated Ye Qingxuan like a filial son and then gave him titles and wishes. He wanted to help Ye Qingxuan create a great world and future where he would become rich and powerful.

Then, the future pope had confessed that he was the incarnate of Hyakume…

Was this a f*cking joke?

"Ahaha, so funny." Ye Qingxuan plastered on a trembling smile. "That's a good joke. I'll give you ten points." And I'll keep the remaining ninety points so you don't get too proud, he thought.

"Try making sure your legs aren't shaking when you say you don't believe me, Ye Qingxuan." Ludovic shook his head and looked at him with pity. "Or do I have to take you to the abyss for you to believe me?"

The scenery outside the window became the dark abyss to suit the conversation.

Ye Qingxuan fell silent.

Hyakume—the source of all evil, the most powerful of the natural catastrophes, and one of the three pillars. Different from the Holy Cauldron and Silent Moon, it was the only one that had a true conscience and tangible existence. He had countless natural catastrophes under it, known as the dark followers. He controlled the uppermost core of the aether world and used the abyss to control the entire Dark World.

He was too big to easily pass through the aether world and descend into the material world. Otherwise, there would be no room for humanity in this world. Now, one of his nine incarnates was right before Ye Qingxuan? And it had the face of Ludovic?

Ye Qingxuan's head hurt. It did not seem right but one of the countless strands of thoughts had somehow connected and pointed to the truth. But he still could not believe it. He had once seen one of Hyakume's incarnates. It was the Dark Sovereign who had descended into Avalon. The sight was earth-shattering. Ye Qingxuan could barely fight back against the terrifying aura, even using the enchantment of Avalon's Shadow.

Ye Lanzhou was the most well-versed of the demons and natural catastrophes of the world. After being modified by moonlight, Deva's blood had become extremely sensitive to auras from the abyss. Even if Hyakume's incarnation had come, he would not be able to hide his identity. The moonlight should be able to feel the aura even from thousands of miles away.

But now, Ludovic was right in front of Ye Qingxuan and yet he could feel nothing.

This was the most terrifying part.

To Hyakume, the incarnation was a part of his existence. It was even more important than his body; it was a projection of the source. They were like different images observed from different angles. Some were large, some were odd, some were eerie, some were terrifying, some were wild… They all contained a characteristic of Hyakume. That was why there were nicknames like the Dark Sovereign, the Source of all Evil, and the Cunning Spider. They were all parts of Hyakume but could operate individually.

To Hyakume, these nine incarnations were his most important limbs. If one was hurt, it would affect the entirety.

Hadn't he prepared for so many years in Anglo just so he could pull Anglo into his control after letting the Dark Sovereign descend? For this, he had made an elaborate plan and used more than a century but still failed at the last moment.

He had been hurt gravely.

According to calculations, he would not be able to affect the material world within seventy years. However, Ludovic was now right before him in his glory.

What it signified went without saying!

This meant that not only was Hyakume able to cast his power into material world at any time, he could even personally come through the aether world with his abyss? In the past, the abyss was just a legend to humans.

But now this terrible legend was about to become reality… The entire world would be upended.

"Don't be scared, Ye Qingxuan." Ludovic smiled mockingly. "This incarnate was once just a regular human. As you can see, you're still okay."

Hyakume's incarnate expressed the true essence of the deep abyss. It was a terrifying reality that humanity could not understand. Merely witnessing it would make someone break down and die. However, Ye Qingxuan was still alive. He did not feel any discomfort or hurt and did not discover the abyss from Ludovic.

"See, I'm just a regular person." Ludovic shrugged and smiled. "Are you shocked? How can Hyakume transform into a man?"

"Man?" Ye Qingxuan sneered. "You're just a demon with human skin."

"Oh?" Ludovic's mocking smile deepened. "Then, please tell me what the requirements for a human are? What counts as a human? Let's chat, Ye Qingxuan. Tell me, a natural catastrophe and Satan, what exactly a human is." His eyes were curious.

"According to biology, humans are just something close to apes. Sure, you aren't covered in hair and have ten agile fingers. You walk on the ground and have great intelligence. Now, you can even communicate with aether… But if I find a hairless monkey, give it intelligence, make it speak a human tongue, and even help turn it into a musician, does it count as a human?"

"Do you think that's possible?" Ye Qingxuan retorted. "Monkeys are monkeys. No matter how similar it is to a man, it's still a monkey. If you think monkeys would work, why don't you turn yourself into one?"

"Then what is the nature of a man?" Ludovic's expression grew more taunting. "I've heard that there's a foolish natural catastrophe who wanted to become a man and have a human's soul. He abandoned his power, status, and even his immortality. He willingly fell from the heavens… Does he count as a man?"

Ye Qingxuan was silent.

"No, right?" Ludovic answered his own question. "Just as how monkeys would never turn into a man, he is different from men as well. Then, what is that difference? Awareness? Cognition? Or that nonexistent twenty-one gram soul? Ye Qingxuan, answer my question. What counts as being a human?"

Ye Qingxuan remained silent. There had never been an accepted answer for this question. Countless people had pondered this question throughout history but there had never been a perfect answer. Even if there was one, it was just the wishful thinking of some crazy person.

To nobles, only those who had a good education, graceful movements, noble lineage, and an attractive face could count as a human. To them, the beggars in the dirty alleys were no different from cockroaches.

To the lower class, the lords up above were nothing but organisms obsessed with their own interest, zombies who chased after money and face, and idiots who could not even explain why they were noble.

But what exactly was a human?

There had never been a standard that qualified to rate humanity.

By skin color? Black, white, or yellow people?

By bloodline? Deva's blood, descendants of glory, or the common men?

In India, life was divided into six stages. Which stage counted as being a human? Those lowly ones who should not even be mentioned or the elite lords?

Or should humanity be rated by morals? Kind men were men and the evil ones were not? Patriotic men were men while the traitors were not? The noblemen were men while the shameful were not?

By beliefs? Deciding by asking if one liked sweet or salty tofu? If they liked cats or not? Or maybe by gender where men were humans and women were not?

Gays were not human, bisexuals were not human… Were answers like this correct?

Ye Qingxuan's mind spun uncontrollably. Under Ludovic's guidance, his mind was like a derailed train. It charged forward without any control. In an instant, he was drenched with his sweat and his head pounded. However, he could find an answer.

"Ye Qingxuan, what is humanity?" Ludovic tapped the table with his finger and said indifferently, "Humans are just an organism. Humans, beasts, birds, fish, and those things you call demons actually aren't too different. They are all just organisms. You may even have more flaws.

"You fear cold, heat, hunger, night, fire…you even fear yourself… So why do you think it's so hard to become a human? Where do you all get the confidence to be the soul and spirit of all, the unique existence of this world? You do not even belong to this world…"

Ye Qingxuan's headache intensified until he could not even speak.

"Sadly, I thought you would say something constructive but it seems that I had expected too much." Ludovic sighed. "It would be great if I could have a nice and long chat with Ye Lanzhou. I'm sure he would give me the answer I want. After all, he helped me so much. I should thank him. If not for his research material, I wouldn't be able to humanize my thoughts so quickly and come to the material world."

With that, he reached out and patted Ye Qingxuan's shoulder like an encouraging senior. He said benevolently, "Your father was a great man. Ye Qingxuan, you should look up to him."

Ye Qingxuan froze. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Even among the upper level of the natural catastrophes, not many had human characteristics. The three wise men were known as such because of their human-like characteristics. However, Hyakume was the convergence of all darkness in the Originator. He was the source and true nature of all evil. He was a terrifying entity that humans could not understand. Even his appearance could drive someone crazy. Communicating with him would cause one's mind to become muddled and tainted. When one met eyes with him, the man would fall into the abyss.

Hyakume's mere existence created the abyss. Compared to it, humanity's mind was as insignificant as dust.

He had a strong attractive force. He could distort, assimilate, and encroach anything close to it… Thus, the dark musicians who interacted with him were all somewhat inhuman. Those who received strength from him would become something nightmarish.

He had a vast yet turbid consciousness but it did not contain the so-called insignificant 'humanity.' One hundred people saw him in one hundred different lights.

Humans could only see the tiny part that they could interact with. No one had ever seen Hyakume's true and complete form. How terrifying would it become if such turbid darkness was controlled and manipulated by a single human personality?

Ye Qingxuan processed this in an instant. To Hyakume, it was meaningless to have a human personality. No personality could control and contain such darkness. Hyakume had just created his own personality and transformed it into the core of this incarnation.

This meant…

A light bulb went off in his mind. This meant that Ludovic was the product of Hyakume becoming humanized?

This made much more sense but now there were more questions. Humanizing natural catastrophes was a technique Ye Lanzhou created through the Sacred City's secret research. How did it fall into Hyakume's hands?

He froze.

Looking up, he stared at Hyakume and uttered, "Was the natural catastrophe experiment...your idea from the start?"

And so Ludovic smiled. "Good job."