Li Yuan sat in the Realm of Questions, surrounded by questions that now felt more urgent than philosophical.
After realizing the problem of his uncontrolled passive effects, a greater concern began to gnaw at his mind. The memory of the event six thousand years ago—when he lost control and released his fifteen understandings upon the world—now felt like a warning that had been ignored.
What is the actual range of my passive effects?
Li Yuan began to observe his Zhenjing with a different eye. No longer as a beautiful place of contemplation, but as an indicator of the potential danger he posed to the world.
The ocean of his Water Understanding stretched as far as the eye could see. There was no horizon. No visible boundary. Just a boundless expanse of water that vibrated with an ever-strengthening resonance.
Li Yuan tried to measure it against a reference he knew.
The Earth has a diameter of about 12,742 kilometers.
That number felt small compared to what he saw before him.
His Water Understanding's ocean alone stretched with a radius he estimated to be around... 100,000 kilometers. Ten times wider than the diameter of the entire planet.
And that was just one understanding.
Li Yuan looked toward the landscapes formed by his other understandings. The Understanding of Silence created a vacuum that expanded without limit. The Understanding of Sky formed a dome that continued to grow. The Understanding of Chaos vibrated with an increasingly complex and vast pattern.
They were all growing. Every second that passed, every breath he took in meditation, every moment of contemplation—all of it made his understandings deeper, and with that depth, the radius of their passive effects expanded.
100,000 kilometers.
Li Yuan felt a coldness spread through his soul despite being in the warmth of the Realm of Questions.
If he lost control now, if his Wrapping Understanding could not contain the resonance of his seventeen understandings, then those passive effects would spread within a 100,000-kilometer radius from his position.
This planet only has a diameter of 12,742 kilometers.
The entire world would be affected.
Not just one continent. Not just one country. But every living thing on this planet would be influenced by the uncontrolled resonance of his understandings.
Li Yuan imagined the consequences.
Every human on Earth would feel the gentleness of the Water Understanding, but also the doubt from the Doubt Understanding, the disorder from the Chaos Understanding, the fear from the Fear Understanding, and the anger from the Anger Understanding—all simultaneously.
No one had a Core Consciousness to filter or harmonize those contradictory effects. They would experience an incredible emotional and spiritual chaos.
And that's not even including the more sensitive souls.
Animals, plants, even rivers and mountains that have a universal soul—all would be affected in ways that could not be predicted. Some might evolve to become wiser. But others might be destroyed because they were unable to withstand the intensity of a sudden spiritual resonance.
Six thousand years ago, I only released the effects for five seconds.
And the consequences are still felt today. Five million souls were permanently affected. A resonance that lasted for five thousand years. Spiritual changes that altered the fundamental nature of many living things.
Now my understanding is ten times deeper. The radius of the effect is a hundred times wider.
Li Yuan felt the weight of responsibility crash down on him like a collapsing mountain. He was no longer someone who could live freely and spontaneously. He was a walking spiritual bomb, which at any moment could explode and change the entire world in an uncontrollable way.
And the most terrifying thing—my understandings continue to grow.
Every moment in this Zhenjing, every second of contemplation, every new insight he achieved, all of it made his understandings deeper and the radius of his passive effects wider.
100,000 kilometers today. Maybe 150,000 kilometers next month. 200,000 kilometers next year.
At some point, even other planets in the solar system would be affected by his resonance.
This is why a Core Consciousness is so important.
Li Yuan began to understand with painful clarity why every serious cultivator needed a strong spiritual axis. Not just for internal harmonization, but to protect the world from accidental destruction.
Without a Core Consciousness, he was an existential threat to all life on this planet.
But how do I build a Core Consciousness strong enough to contain seventeen understandings with a 100,000-kilometer radius?
The question hung in the air like a guillotine waiting to fall.
Li Yuan felt a bitter irony. He had spent eleven thousand years seeking understanding, chasing spiritual depth, developing wisdom. But the more he grew, the more he became a danger to the world he loved.
Maybe this is why most people never achieve high cultivation.
Not because they are incapable. But because the universe has a protective mechanism—only those who are truly ready for the incredible responsibility are allowed to reach this level.
And Li Yuan began to wonder if he was truly ready.
I have gathered five million souls in my Sea of Souls. I have accepted the responsibility of protecting them. But what if the effort to protect them actually endangers billions of other souls?
Li Yuan felt a moral dilemma that had no easy answer. Continuing to grow meant continuing to become a greater threat. But stopping his growth meant denying the fundamental nature of spiritual existence—which is never-ending growth.
Maybe the answer isn't to stop growing, but to find a way to grow safely.
Li Yuan began to consider other possibilities. Maybe he needed to find a place far from other life to continue his cultivation. Maybe he needed to go to empty space, where his resonance would not harm anyone.
Or maybe he needed to find a way to limit his own growth—something that felt like a betrayal of the basic nature of spiritual cultivation.
Or maybe the real answer was to accelerate the development of his Core Consciousness.
Li Yuan felt an urgency he had never felt before. This was no longer about a leisurely search for wisdom. This was about survival—not just for him, but for the entire world.
In the normally calm Realm of Questions, an alarm was now sounding. The questions roaming around were no longer philosophical and contemplative, but practical and urgent:
"How to build a Core Consciousness before it's too late?"
"Is there a way to reduce the radius of the effect without reducing the depth of understanding?"
"How much time is left before my resonance becomes too dangerous to contain?"
Li Yuan stood in the middle of the Realm of Questions with a feeling he had never experienced in his eleven thousand years of life.
True fear.
Not fear of death or loss. But fear of the possibility that his love for wisdom could become a curse for the world he loved.
And for the first time, Li Yuan began to consider a possibility he had never thought of before.
Perhaps there are things more important than seeking a deeper understanding.
Perhaps there are times when true wisdom is knowing when to stop.