After Shiller's explanation, Xi Wana finally understood that firstly, there are very few people in this world who possess magic talent, and secondly, he was lucky not to have any, for if he had truly entered the mainstream magic realm, he would have definitely not survived the last catastrophe.
"You should be thankful for the old man's unimparted grace," Shiller said with a raise of his hand, "If he had chosen you as his heir so early on, and brainwashed you with his foolish thinking over these years, making you believe that the power you possessed was invincible and came with matching responsibilities, then you would have probably died long ago."
Xi Wana's facial expressions were a colorful display, and suddenly he revealed a barely there smile and said, "But now he still has an heir."
Lucky for him, he perfectly avoided the incident of the vampire invasion; not just anyone could play the hero under those chaotic circumstances.
Shiller crossed his fingers and propped his chin on them, then said, "Setting aside the power, do you agree with his philosophy?"
"In fact, I don't know what his philosophy is."
"You know at least one thing: he believes that those who cannot resist the temptation of power are bad people," Shiller pondered for a moment before saying, "Fundamentally, this is a form of bloodline theory."
Xi Wana grew interested and said, "How so?"
"Do you think there are people in this world not tempted by power? Let me put it this way, does being attracted to letter cards in kindergarten count as being tempted by power?"
Xi Wana's brows slightly furrowed.
"You see, kindergarten children can't read, so letter cards represent a formidable power to them because if they learn to read, they can identify a lot of information through words, and the world would appear different in their eyes."
"They can also use words to express themselves, having mastered a new skill, elevating themselves to a new level. Doesn't this count as possessing a new and powerful force?"
"What's more interesting is that children's interest in letter cards does not come from the actual letters, but from the shapes, colors, or even the teacher's movements when handling them. Don't you think this process is very similar to how you were tempted?"
"When you wanted to reach out and touch The Eye of the Seven Deadly Sins, did you truly understand how powerful the Seven Sins were? Did you really foresee how this power would elevate you to a new level, bestowing upon you new skills?"
"Of course not, I knew nothing at the time."
"So then, what tempted you?"
"They kept nagging in my ear, and I felt a bit annoyed," Xi Wana pursed his lips but still voiced his true thoughts, "They always told me to touch it, I just wanted them to shut up, so I thought I'd give it a try."
"Exactly, this process is not called being tempted, but rather being curious. The difference between them is that the former clearly knows what they will gain after obtaining something, while the latter is completely in the unknown, driven by the human race's most instinctual curiosity and desire for exploration to touch something."
"And to delve deeper, curiosity and the desire for exploration fall within the scope of the Self, are subconscious instincts, climbing for survival, acquiring skills, and perspectives necessary for existence in the real world are within the realm of the Superego. Being lured by benefits to the point of disregarding morals is Greed is a manifestation of Superego disbalance."
"And the bloodline theory I mentioned is exactly about confusing them," Shiller tapped his fingertips on the table lightly and said, "They refuse to distinguish whether the actions of inferiors are prompted by the Self's curiosity, the Superego's need for survival, or a true imbalance of the Superego lacking moral control which leads to the desire for new powers."
"Perhaps they deliberately avoid distinguishing these, lumping them all together as moral disregard. Essentially, they don't see those beneath them, particularly those under their authority, as complex sentient beings like themselves, but merely as tools."
"Therefore, they could never put themselves in your shoes to inquire why you stepped into a new level and sought new powers, because in their eyes, they are human and you are not—how could you possibly be like them?"
"If it were they who gained new power, they would start analyzing whether this occurred out of curiosity, necessity for survival, or moral obligation led them to do so."
Xi Wana scoffed and said, "The old man said he sought an heir to prevent the powerful forces he possessed from being lost, wishing others to bear this strength and save the world."
"How come he has moral obligations now?" Shiller said, "How has he never considered whether bringing you to that place by such brute force was ethical?"
"Why is it that when he talks about the world's people, his Superego reacts, but when it comes to you, it doesn't function?"
"Whose world is he trying to save? Is it your world? I think probably not," Shiller shook his head and said, "In his view, you don't exist in this world, for you are not human."
Xi Wana's expression grew increasingly grim.
"This is the terrifying aspect of bloodline theory—if someone with authority believes that all those beneath them have no soul, do not feel pain or joy, should not have desires, then in their eyes, all your efforts to clamber to new levels and obtain new powers are utterly abhorrent."
"Then, the situation will ultimately evolve to the point where teachers and flashcard manufacturers are not allowed to do anything to attract the attention of young children, because if they are born weak, they should be content with their lot. Any attempt by anyone to expose them to new levels and new powers is despicable,"
"Only those who are naturally big shots, born with a rich and full psychic_battlefield, can flexibly use their Id drives, self-control, and superego demands as reasons to obtain all the power they can, to scale new heights and create more brilliance."
"And when they really reach a higher position, more people will be categorized by them as tools of unrest and non-compliance; they will stand on the moral high ground and continue to criticize these people, wantonly suppressing and persecuting them."
Shiller's tone deepened as he went on to say, "The reason they can do this is not everyone is clearly aware that they are muddying the waters, due to people's lack of understanding of their own psychic state and that of others. If they can't even explain it themselves, how can they expose the truth?"
Xi Wana was lost in thought. In fact, he had been thinking ever since Shiller finished talking about the concepts of Id, Self, and Superego.
According to that old man, he was morally deficient and thus unable to control himself; according to psychoanalytic theory, this was a malfunctioning superego.
But Xi Wana distinctly remembered that when he first touched The Eye of the Seven Deadly Sins, he didn't consider whether it was right or wrong; or rather, he didn't know whether it was right or wrong, as he was not familiar with The Eye of the Seven Deadly Sins and naturally did not know its position in certain rules, whether it was good or bad.
This was not a case of ignorance being innocence, but rather that no one had ever established the concept of morality in his heart, never defined conscience, good and evil were naturally relative, not absolute.
Nor did he know what benefits this orb could bring him, whether it would make him rich overnight or give him great power. Those voices in his head had never spoken of this, so this was not an action he took out of a need for survival.
That left only one possibility: he was simply curious.
But that wasn't surprising, at that time the orb was closer to him than that old man, it was more pleasant to look at than the old man. And let's set aside the fact that humans are phototropic, especially children, seeing a shiny orb flitting around in front of them, not to touch it would be the odd thing, right?
And just because of his curiosity that time, that old man had labeled him immoral; isn't that the confusion of concepts that Shiller was talking about?
And just as Shiller said: even Xi Wana himself had doubted himself before because, obviously, the old man was much more powerful than he was; he spoke with such certainty, how could he not wonder if what he said was true?
With the tragedy that the accident had brought to his family, Xi Wana had reflected on countless nights whether it was because he was inherently bad that he had to experience these things.
Xi Wana felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat as he suddenly realized that when a person with a bloodline-centric view has a say, he can not only define but also educate.
When a highly respected person says you are bad, most people might think you are bad; what's scarier is that you might also think you are bad.
This would completely annihilate the desire to explore that comes from instinct, even the desire for survival stemming from the self, making people no longer dare to boldly step into new levels to grasp new powers.
If one lingers in the same place for too long, personality might regress, leading to a more unstable psyche and an even more difficult survival."
Under the rule of bloodline theory, these people could only feel that they deserved their lot in life because they were innately lowly, therefore it was only right for them to live thus.
They would even revere as God the person who made such judgments, because they believed it to be true—after all, you are unable to achieve anything, you are inherently bad, and so you have deserved your punishment.
The most terrifying thing in the world is when the fate you accept is not your own, but precisely the one your enemies have set for you.
Too many people ignore the dangers of misconceiving and confusing wrong concepts, not considering the clear analysis of one's own psyche a necessary survival skill, thus being too easily manipulated; Xi Wana considered himself to be such a person.
Therefore, he earnestly sought advice from Professor Shearer, "Professor Shearer, do you think my fate would have changed had I clearly analyzed my own motives and seen through his nature as you do now?"
After a moment's thought, Shearer answered, "Judging from your current situation, I believe you are quite resolute. If you think something is right, or at least beneficial for you, then you can persist in doing it to the end."
"Moreover, you have a streak of perfectionism—you are not someone who focuses only on the big picture and ignores the details. You want every aspect of a plan to be perfect, or perhaps you derive mental drive from perfecting these details."
"For example, becoming the principal of Gotham University was actually just a disguise for your search for great power, but once you took on the role, you wanted to do it the best you could, so you spent even more time on your duties as principal than on searching for power, and you found joy in it."
"So, if you had been able to analyze all this at the time, you would have been more resolute, instead of doubting whether you had analyzed incorrectly."
"But at the same time, you are a cautious person, prone to conservative decisions in unclear situations, so you wouldn't have argued with that old man about whether or not you were inherently evil because you would be afraid of him harming you."
"The only change would have come once you returned to the real world. You wouldn't have taken that old man's words 'you'll never be worthy' seriously because your personality also contains elements of pride, and you never take seriously the judgments of people stupider than you."
"Since there would be no psychological stimulation, there probably wouldn't be much of a reaction from you, and it wouldn't have resulted in the accident involving your father."
"However, if you had been able to analyze all this as clearly at the time, then even if your father and brother ended up as they did later, it would not have affected you."
"Because you would understand that, essentially, they were no different from that old man. They wouldn't allow you to do certain things, and their reasons for thinking you were unworthy were exactly the same as the old man's."
"Essentially, because they held discourse power, they wouldn't allow you to climb higher and challenge them."
Shearer, looking into Xi Wana's eyes, said, "And all the extreme emotions and actions that these kinds of people direct at you come from one of the most primitive human instincts—fear."
"…You're saying they feared me?"
"Of course. Don't you find it abnormal for a long-life elder who has lived through so much of the world's vicissitudes to shout 'you'll never be worthy' at you with such vehement intonation—using such extremely extreme words?"