49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 280: Chapter 263: Guan Tong’s Special Theory

When the students saw the words on the big screen, their first impression was that it was nothing new.

Who didn’t know about Psychic Power? Besides, *Philosophical Reflections on Psychic Power* was a required core course at the academy, and Ouyang Shanyue had already covered many of its analyses.

Now that Guan Tong was using it as his topic, the students found it cliché on one hand, but on the other, they were a little curious what new spin he could put on it.

"What I’m about to say are all inferences based on my own personal experiences. They might not be correct, so just take them as food for thought. I’ll skip the basics, as I’m sure you all understand them."

"Currently, there are two main schools of thought regarding the fundamental nature of Psychic Power. One faction believes it is an idealist medium that humans can use to reshape the physical world. They call themselves the ’Idealist Origin Sect’."

"The other faction believes it’s a special energy system created by the Fire Thief. They argue it exists solely to serve the Apocalypse Rules, much like an ’Energy Value’ in a game, and has little to do with humanity itself. This faction is therefore known as the ’Fire-Stealing Tools Faction’."

"Both factions have a similar number of supporters. The Idealist Origin Sect’s reasoning is that humans can use Psychic Power to create energy and matter from nothing, and can even interfere with or resist the Apocalypse Rules to some extent. Therefore, they argue, it couldn’t have originated from the Fire Thief. It’s like in a game—would a GM really give cheat codes to the players?"

"But the Fire-Stealing Tools Faction has a powerful rebuttal. If Psychic Power originates from humanity itself, why can the Fire Thief increase or decrease it through its rules? For the same person, what changes between the second before a rule ends and the second after? Why does failing a rule cause one’s Psychic Power limit to decrease in the very next moment?"

The students listened intently, clearly waiting to see which faction Guan Tong would support and whether he could offer any new and convincing arguments.

"I’m sure you students aren’t a monolithic group; you all have different views and positions. As for me, I don’t belong to either faction."

The students were greatly surprised to hear this. Currently, societal analysis of Psychic Power was dominated by these two factions; any others were considered fringe theories with very few supporters.

’Could it be that Mr. Guan, a teacher, actually believes in one of those fringe factions?’

A student couldn’t help but ask, "Then what are your thoughts, sir?"

Guan Tong said, "To be precise, I’m a centrist between the two, or you could say I belong to a fusion faction. I believe that Psychic Power is an idealist energy, but also that the Fire Thief can interfere with it."

The students began whispering to each other, and many shook their heads.

Someone spoke up in rebuttal, "That’s a complete contradiction. How can someone else interfere with something that’s idealist in nature?"

"Let me give you a very simple example," Guan Tong said. "You all know that some items or abilities with similar effects have a hierarchical relationship. If activated simultaneously, the user with the higher Psychic Power limit will have the advantage. Meanwhile, the one with the lower limit might find their item or ability rendered ineffective."

"In that case, let’s assume two Ascenders are both using this idealist energy. Why is Ascender A’s idealist power able to defeat Ascender B’s?"

"When we say ’idealist,’ we’re talking about imagination. I can imagine I’m invincible, and you can imagine you’re invincible. So why is it that when our two ’invincible’ idealist energies collide, there’s a winner and a loser?"

"Well... a higher Psychic Power limit must mean they’re... more idealist, right?" a student said.

"The very concept of being ’more idealist’ is, in itself, not idealist."

"..."

"Mr. Guan, could you explain that in more detail?"

Guan Tong nodded. "My theory is that this energy, Psychic Power, is a semi-idealist energy. What do I mean by semi-idealist? I mean that people can mobilize it through Telepathy, or resonance, but its existence does not depend on the existence of humanity."

"So why can the Fire Thief increase or decrease humanity’s Psychic Power limit through the Apocalypse Rules? My view is that the Fire Thief is itself an Ascender—one whose Psychic Power limit is unimaginably high. Therefore, relative to all of humanity, it exists in an absolutely ’superior’ position, allowing it to completely suppress and interfere with humanity, the ’inferior’ party."

An uproar broke out.

His words threw the classroom into turmoil.

There were many theories about the true nature of the Fire Thief. The prevailing opinions were that it was some kind of hyper-evolved creature, an AI created by a super-civilization, or even a god—quite a few people believed the latter.

But the idea that it was an Ascender was, if not completely unheard of, at least not seen in mainstream discourse.

This was likely the first time most of the students had heard Guan Tong’s theory.

Of course, this was also because it was the first time Guan Tong had mentioned it publicly. Before, he had only mulled it over himself, never publishing the results of his thoughts.

"Let’s hypothesize a scenario."

Guan Tong continued speaking amidst the students’ shock.

"In the vastness of the universe, there exists a special energy unknown to humanity. This energy is immeasurably vast, but it cannot be acquired or utilized through conventional means. The only way to use it is for intelligent beings to build a bridge or channel via Telepathy, allowing this special energy to be transmitted through a medium. Intelligent beings can then use it to reshape the physical world."

"This bridge or channel is ’Psychic Power.’ The higher the Psychic Power limit, the wider the bridge, or the thicker the channel. More energy can be transmitted, and the greater the extent to which an intelligent being can reshape reality."

Guan Tong had come up with this idea after the earthquake rule.

When hundreds of millions of units of Psychic Power flowed in and out of him through his [Wordless Book], he truly felt in that moment that his body had become a mere "channel." The feeling was indescribable, as if a crack in the great door to the truth had opened right before him.

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