Mundus was like a small bubble floating in Oblivion. The Leviathan moved silently through the space of Mundus, which was filled with Demonic Energy—even purer than the energy on Nirn. There were no chaotic wills to interfere, giving it a sense of calm like deep water flowing silently.
Sheogorath took on the responsibility of navigator. This Mad God, who had lost his divine realm, remained a high-level entity of the third layer. After his current body died, his divinity would sublimate once more and return to the second layer. Although he was no longer omnipotent, his will, which permeated the Universe, could directly mark the coordinates of the Eight Stars.
"We have to search them one by one! If that brass hunk doesn't start up, I can't find it! I'm telling you, this is going to be a tough battle!" Sheogorath cried out loudly, using his most exaggerated and attention-grabbing tone to speak discouraging words.
Simon narrowed his eyes. A star deep in space was calling to him; it was the star representing the sky goddess Kyne. His heart power vibrated slightly as Kyne's divinity began to boil.
He was no longer the green youth who had first arrived. Simon already knew the ultimate form of the path of heart power, which was to distort the world—replacing the will of Heaven with the human heart, turning his thoughts into reality. Whether it was becoming a god or achieving transcendence, it was all within a single thought.
Back when he became the champion of the Ten-Blood Tournament, he had asked Boethiah a question: What is the ultimate mystery of the Universe?
The Prince had replied: "The ultimate... is unknowable to Mortals, and unknowable to gods. One can only seek that path... a slight misstep and one will return to it. The world is man, and man is the world."
Clearly, even such a powerful Et'Ada was nothing more than an explorer on this path.
In this sentence, the most useful part was "The world is man, and man is the world." Here, "man" referred to an intelligent individual—humans, elves, and even animals were the same.
The world is man, and man is the world; in other words, man and all things are one.
This was one of the ultimate answers to this Universe.
Simon once didn't understand, but since entering the third layer, he could understand much of the gibberish knowledge within Apocrypha, including the notes of Vivec, one of the three gods of the Morrowind Tribunal.
Vivec was no ordinary person; he was the Warrior-Poet of the Dunmer, the guardian deity of the Holy Land of Vvardenfell, hailing from the gates of Hell, and the watcher of the dark god of Red Mountain. Although his past was blurred by time and many of his controversial decisions were questioned, he still often represented the spirit and duality of the Dunmer—just like his appearance, half Dunmer and half Chimer.
For thousands of years, he lived in a small spire of his palace in Vivec City, attracting thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day. He guided and protected the Dunmer until around 3E427, when he lost his Divine Power and disappeared—a sacrifice he accepted and took responsibility for performing.
"The secret Tower within the Tower is the shape of the only name of God, 'I'."
—The 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 21, Paragraph 8
This sentence was the only one in the twenty-first lesson unknown to the world. Its divine and extraordinary language could not be borne by any mundane medium like books, paper, bamboo, stone, or tile, nor could it be inscribed in the memory of a Mortal. Since its appearance, it had slowly dissipated into the dust of history, circulating only within the deep spaces of Apocrypha.
The name of the True God: I, One, Me.
Simon originally guessed it referred to a high god existence above Anu and Padomay, but such words have multiple interpretations. It could also mean that God is Me and I am God, or refer to the oneness of all things, where all things return to One.
After all, if the name of God truly were "Me," then there would be too many True Gods in the world. The True God is unique, the collection of all things, the collection of the Universe, the source of the world's birth and destruction, the existence of the first layer's superior affinity.
Just like the Dream of Brahma, the world originates from One and evolves into infinity, but any person is actually all things themselves. The One and the Many are fundamentally no different.
Therefore, when the Universe returns to One, God appears, and the "dream" of the Universe wakes up. This period of superior affinity reaches its end, and the next Reincarnation begins.
However, the correctness of this theory is still debatable. Although Vivec was powerful, he did not represent the absolute truth.
What Simon could be certain of was that the path of "CHIM" that Vivec had always promoted was precisely the path he himself was walking.
The word CHIM originates from Ehlnofex, meaning "Royalty, Starlight, High Splendor." The Ehlnofey were degraded Et'Ada and the ancestors of all living beings in the world.
CHIM is a path to godhood. Literally understood, it is a state of existence that transcends all known laws and limitations—a process of comprehending the essence of the Universe and then taking it for one's own use, which simultaneously leads to the understanding of the oneness of all things.
Stepping onto the path of CHIM, the first step is realizing that the individual and all things are one, that one is the world, and the world is but a great dream. This is an objective fact, but it is too cruel. The weak cannot bear such an illusory reality and are forced into "Zero-Sum." This state can be understood as being swallowed by nature, or "Dao-ification," "Ascension," and so on. The strong, however, can maintain their self-cognition within the torrent of the world, becoming masters of the rules, capable of modifying principles, making water flow backward and turning heaven and earth.
When the Dwemer collectively disappeared, it was said to be during the Battle of Red Mountain. High Tonal Architect Lord Kagrenac struck the Heart of Lorkhan with the tuning fork and hammer. At that moment, the entire Dwemer race had some connection with the heart of this god. In the vibration of the heart, their wills were forcibly elevated, and they were forced to see the truth of the world. They immediately fell into "Zero-Sum," becoming the divine skin of the Brass Tower.
Wanting to complete the first step of CHIM is not just about hearing or realizing the principle of the oneness of all things. Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives spread this sentence widely, there would soon be no intelligent creatures left in the world; everyone would be Zero-Summed back into the Universe. That would be too absurd and logically unsound.
"A simple test shows it's impossible." — Simon.
Simon knew that this path could only be opened by entering the second layer. Only by entering the second layer through one's own power can one truly see this ultimate truth and withstand the impact of Zero-Sum.
Through CHIM, one sublimates the human essence and nurtures one's own divinity. In this way, one can obtain the power to distort reality with heart power, transcend the shackles of the Universe's cycle, and become an "unfading flower."
A rather curious point is that compared to Mortals trapped by life and Death, it is actually those naturally divine Et'Ada who find it harder to step onto the path of CHIM. Because they are trapped in a cycle of "flux" more terrifying than life and Death, the price of transcendence is even greater.
Besides CHIM, there are five other Walking Ways to godhood circulating in the world: Mantling, the Soul Stack, the Ancestor God, the Proving, and Death.
Every single one is dangerously unpredictable and strangely bizarre.
The so-called Mantling is "walk like them until they must walk like you, so that others cannot distinguish you from them." This path can be understood as cosplay or role-playing. In short, it is playing a specific target (person or god) until no one can distinguish the difference between the two of you, while you maintain your own will—this counts as successful Mantling. The "mantle" here is an identity, which can be understood as Iron Man's armor; when you put it on, who can tell the real from the fake from the outside?
This path is one of replacement and consumption, requiring the support of faith—that is, the recognition of the mantler's identity by others. Once faith is missing, it will cause a collapse.
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