"This..." Felix was left startled.

Just earlier, he was seeking a reason that would help him come to terms with such a drastic change in his destiny...Now, he was given a reason to not do it!

Felix took a deep breath to calm himself down and asked for some details.

"What do you mean exactly by simulated reality? Is it something like the UVR, an illusion with realistic properties?" In his view, if it resembled the UVR, it might not be so bad since he could perceive everything and everyone as mere numbers.

"Ilusion is one thing and simulated reality is another...At least for you."

With a faint smile, Supreme Azzorus crafted a miniature universe and enlarged it until Felix's face was a mere inch from Earth, his home planet.

Then, he zoomed through the atmosphere till Felix saw himself sitting on a bench in Central Park with his wife. They were chatting and chuckling as they watched their son playing tag with other kids.

Felix felt his heart gripped tightly in dread as he remembered this exact scene. It was a memory of last year when he took his wife and son out for some fresh air in his day out in months.

He remembered it vividly because it was one of the few memories he cherished close to his heart.

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes, what you are seeing is an alternative version of you in the miniature real universe that I have just created in this exact second." Supreme Azzorus spoke casually, "Everything and everyone in this universe are living their lives just like how you are living it now. They have souls, they have thoughts, and the universe is also following my established rules and laws."

Before Felix could react or respond, Supreme Azzorus snapped his finger and the entire universe collapsed into a pool of white mist that fell through Felix's fingers and returned to the lake underneath.

As Felix gazed at his trembling hands, feeling like his accelerating heartbeats were starting an engine, many thoughts coursed through his mind at this cruel situation.

He had just witnessed the creation and erasure of an exact copy of their universe like it meant nothing to Supreme Azzorus.

Although he wasn't the one pulling the trigger, he still experienced sick to his stomach.

Supreme Azzorus watched as Felix held onto his stomach, trying his best to steel his emotions and not make a scene.

His reaction was more than comprehensible as Supreme Azzorus made him feel like his reality was extremely fragile.

If he could create and erase an actual universe without the knowledge of its dwellers, then, why couldn't it happen to his universe?

Previously, Felix lived his life like any other human, finding purpose in his ambitions, protecting his family, and simply striving to achieve his goals for happiness and pride.

But now? As he watched how his alternative version died an early death without a single thought going through his mind, his entire frame of what life was had changed.

In a single second, Felix's view of life was altered forever, leaving him doubting his own existence and its value in the eyes of Supreme Azzorus.

'Value...What value.'

Felix soon laughed in self-derision at the idea that anyone's life had value in the universe.

He was shown before that Supreme Azzorus was kind and seemed to care about the life of the habitat in his body, but now, he understood that they were naive.

The universe's consciousness didn't believe in kindness or evil when dealing with any kind of lifeform that wasn't in the same rank as him.

In other words, his guiding moral compass was on a different plane of understanding that he would never comprehend unless he wore his shoes.

Seeing that Felix was engulfed in his thoughts, Supreme Azzorus pulled him out with a straightforward question.

"What's life?"

Felix woke up from his daze with a surprised look.

"Life?" He asked, "What do you mean?"

Felix knew that this question was still being queried by every single lifeform in the universe and each race had its own philosophy for treating it.

Dragons believed that life was an endless pursuit of dominion over one's surroundings, which in turn translated to pride and respect.

Elves believed in living harmoniously with nature, nurturing beauty, and seeking enlightenment.

For humans? It was the pursuit of purpose, ambition, and self-realization that gave it meaning.

Even Orcs believed that life was a buffet of food and only the strong had the right to sit at the table and enjoy the feast.

So, how could such a question have a singular answer?

This was Felix's answer to Supreme Azzorus.

But, Supreme Azzorus merely smiled and said, "I understand that each person experiences life based on many reasons. But for me, your life is nothing but a string of information."

"String of information?" Felix frowned.

"Yes, in my eyes, everything can be narrowed down to a string of information."

For some reason, Supreme Azzorus patiently demonstrated his philosophy to Felix using his celestial consciousness pool.

He crafted a clone of Felix and then he broke it down into many different colored lines of information written in a language that was unfamiliar to Felix.

"Your memories, your thoughts, your body structure, your ideals, your personality, your past, present, future, everything is produced by those instructions." He said with a faint smile, "Once those instructions combine, a film of your entire life from birth to death is created."

"This process is similar to rocks, planets, stars, black holes, everything that your mind can think of."

"This is how Supremes perceive life." Supreme Azzorus leaned closer and added, "Thus, we have no trouble with creating millions of miniature universes and erasing them as everything is mere information to us."

Felix proceeded silent, having no idea how to react to such a callous way of looking at life. In his eyes, life was supposed to be pure, free, and unique. Yet, here he was being told that he was nothing but a bunch of letters stuck together.

For Supremes, it made sense to feel this way since they were the creators, who used their brush to write everything...But from the perspective of a mortal, it was the same as being called a toy.

Felix refused to have his mind polluted with such thoughts, understanding that Supreme Azzorus was helping him to see less value in life.

By doing this, he would have an easier time in the Trial of Ascension in case he failed the first time.

"I understand that you are the all-knowing creator and arguing with you is beyond foolish." Felix smiled bitterly, "But, I know that I won't be able to handle the truth of me being the cause of the destruction of an entire universe even if I tried to see them as a bunch of letters."

"Why would you struggle?" Supreme Azzorus smiled, "Weren't you fine just now by their death if they were made with a bunch of numbers?"

"Yes...But, that's different." Felix replied.

"How so?"

"Lives of people crafted out of numbers in a virtual space or an illusion can't be equal to the lives of the ones born under the laws of the uni..."

Before Felix could finish his sentence, he experienced a chill course down his spine as he gazed at Supreme Azzorus' widening smile.

"Haha...ha, I see now."

He realized that the moment he defended his view of virtual people being unequal to real people, he was supporting Supreme Azzorus' view of life.

While he saw virtual and illusionary existence as something that could be erased without too much emotional connection, the Supremes saw them in the same manner.

In other words, life to them was nothing but a program, which they could create and erase with the button of a finger.

"My advice to you, little child." Supreme Azzorus smiled as he patted Felix's head, "If you are serious about becoming a Supreme, you need to start thinking like one before becoming one."

"Otherwise, you won't make it past the first universe."