【Background Setting】: Narrative-Level Civilization (Overview)

[Setting of Civilization and Cosmos]:

The cosmic civilizations had clear hierarchical divisions. From low to high, they were: Primitive Civilization, Planetary Civilization, Galactic Civilization, Star Cluster Civilization, and Narrative-Level Civilization.

The term "narrative" originated from: the Grand Narrative.

It was a concept proposed by the French thinker Jean-François Lyotard: scientific knowledge, by suppressing and excluding narrative on one level, thereby relied on a higher-level narrative to obtain legitimacy.

In other words, the Grand Narrative was a primary means by which a culture or group obtained rationality through the suppression and exclusion of micro-narratives.

Such explanations could be too obscure and difficult to understand. Simply put: the Grand Narrative could be understood as an abstract collective existence that determined the influence and changes on individuals in a specific historical context.

The establishment of Narrative-Level Civilization was precisely due to their suppression and domination over individual civilizations, achieving cohesion beyond traditional forms of civilization. In Narrative Civilization, history was no longer an ethereal story but an objective presence that could be extracted, detached, and reproduced at any moment.

The strength of the "narrative" of Narrative-Level Civilization lay in its core [Inherent Time Domain] space zone.

The Inherent Time Domain allowed Narrative-Level Civilization to incorporate vast territories into a unified historical dimension.

In the Inherent Time Domain, when the sun rose on the mother star, even on the farthest planet at the edge of the Inherent Time Domain, one could bask in the same glory.

This ability significantly enhanced the influence of the narrative on individuals. In Narrative-Level Civilization, almost everything about people's lives was bound together. It was impossible to live a secluded life outside of the narrative. At the same time, Narrative-Level Civilization dared not arbitrarily abandon any citizen.

On the other hand, although individuals enjoyed a very high treatment, if they lacked talent, it was difficult to stand out in Narrative-Level Civilization. Narrative-Level Civilization was an absolute epic of heroes and dominated by the elite class. People, like the words and punctuation in an epic, had no meaning in themselves. Only by uniting could they form a historical epic.

In essence, Narrative-Level Civilization was not an isolated individual civilization but an ultimate amalgamation transcending history, religion, economy, culture, and species.

Its existence was independent of spacetime, able to coalesce thousands of scattered civilizations in the form of "grand ambitions" and "ultimate ideals."

Narrative-Level Civilizations were incomparably grand and extremely powerful. They existed independently of spacetime, forcibly eroding material civilizations with their Inherent Time Domain in the form of a civilization, eventually dragging the entire material world into their narrative.

Narrative Civilizations were the rulers of the cosmos. There were a total of 13 Narrative-Level Civilizations distributed among the Six-Layered Starry Abyss:

[Primordial Abyss]:

Narrative No. 1—"Source Starry Abyss"

"The origin of all."

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[Nether Abyss]:

Narrative No. 2—"Darkstream Settlement"

"Coexist with darkness, no need for light."

Narrative No. 3—"Immortal Royal Court"

"Almost undying and everlasting."

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[Mass Abyss]:

Narrative No. 4—"Beautiful World"

"Transform the real world through artistic creation."

Narrative No. 5—"Eternal Corridor"

"Solidify historical nodes. Sell them as commodities."

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[Zhou Abyss]:

Narrative No. 6—"Void Kingdom"

"Nothingness yet filled with fear and evil power."

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[Border Abyss]:

Narrative No. 7—"Soul Hometown"

"The souls of the deceased shall arrive here."

Narrative No. 8—"Endless Garden"

"This place connects to any future."

Narrative No. 9—"Collapsed Homeland"

"This place connects to any past."

Narrative No. 10—"Crimson Blood Alliance"

"This place is the present, the present eternally."

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Narrative No. 11—"Union Group"

"Everything can be bought with money."

Narrative No. 12—"Obliteration Sanctum"

"Faith is everything."

Narrative No. 13—"Empire of Heralds"

"Every mortal has the right to ascend to godhood."