Chapter 891: True Time and World Consciousness
“What do you mean?” Mei Linde was momentarily confused by this inquiry of mine.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because, um... how should I put it? Big Sis Mei, didn't you say the birth of a brand-new form of life requires the recognition of the Void or the world?”
“I did indeed say that to you. Do you feel that when the Fool's Dreams are recognized by the world, they can guide the attention of the World Consciousness, is that it?”
“Yes, that’s roughly what I mean.”
I nodded hurriedly.
“I didn't expect you to think to this level. Then I'll be straight with you.”
Mei Linde’s gaze lingered on me for several seconds before she couldn't help but sigh.
“This thought of yours is indeed feasible. Creating a brand-new race to be recognized by the world is indeed a method to stir the World Consciousness. Through this correlation, one can similarly trace back information related to the Umbilicus Mundi.”
“So... are the Fool's Dreams also a part of your plan, Big Sis Mei?”
“They are not.”
Mei Linde denied it quite simply.
“The Fool's Dreams were merely an accident to me. Letting a dream creature become a true life—there is no precedent for this in the entire Void. Trying to accomplish this is many times more difficult than creating a brand-new race within the Void.”
Furthermore, as newborn races are continuously born, it could be foreseen that the difficulty of creating a newborn race would increase exponentially.
Although no one in the Void could ever prove that newborn races are finite, an individual's definition and cognition of life are finite.
As for why she threw this difficult problem to Little Han back then, it was naturally because for the Little Han of that time, repaying a Grand Spellbook and creating an impossible dream life were equally impossible.
Added to the fact that the Fool's Dreams themselves were bound to the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell, she had gifted this along with it.
At the very least, in a moment of youthful arrogance, an unknown difficult problem would constantly spur the other party to work harder.
But judging from the results, the effect of this so-called “spurring” was a bit over-the-top.
“Uh... was I being self-indulgent?”
I scratched my head somewhat awkwardly.
“No matter what is said, I am merely a Transcendent Witch. Facing things that have not happened yet, we can only achieve a certain degree of prediction. So don't push every coincidence onto the Academy Head and ask if it’s part of a plan.”
“I understand.”
I nodded seriously.
“But... although it wasn't part of the plan, this method seems feasible, doesn't it? I have a premonition; regarding the Fool's Dreams, I have the confidence to make them true lives!”
“I know.”
“Uh... Big Sis Mei, don't you have anything to say? Although I cannot give an accurate time for when the Fool's Dreams will become true lives, if coordinated well, the Umbilicus Mundi could similarly take this opportunity to...”
“I naturally understand.”
Mei Linde spoke again.
“Regarding the Fool's Dreams, I indeed did not treat them as part of my plan because there are too many uncertainties. Regarding a concept like dream life, we have no way to start either... But that doesn't mean we don't have other contingencies.”
“Ah? What?”
I suddenly raised my head and looked at Academy Head Mei in disbelief, seemingly waiting for her to provide the answer.
“How could we not have such a method as nurturing brand-new life? It’s just that the cycle of this plan is too long, the results are unstable, and the expenditure is massive. But even so, we still have the 'Newborn Race Nurturing Plan' as a back-up, just to be safe. After all, no one can say for sure when it comes to luck.”
“So... although the Fool's Dreams aren't part of the plan, this plan still exists, is that right?”
“Mhm. A considerable portion of the witches in the academy use their own dungeon spaces as experimental grounds to nurture brand-new races. But this method has very slow results, and...”
“And you haven't nurtured a brand-new race until now?”
I tried to follow up.
“I’m not afraid of you laughing; indeed it is so.”
Academy Head Mei shook her head with a bitter smile and said, “However, such experiments are not without harvest. Although they aren't brand-new races, it is still possible to replicate races that once appeared in the Void's history but became extinct. However, this kind of reappearing race will no longer give birth to a Primal of that race. The Main World Consciousness merely archives such races without taking much other action.”
“Won't give birth to a Primal? Does a Primal only be born once?”
I asked curiously.
“Mhm, that's right. A Primal is a life recognized by the Void, equivalent to a racial prototype.”
“Then where is the prototype branded in the Void? Since the prototype has its uniqueness, there must be a record of it, right?”
I asked in confusion.
“I don't know, nor can I research concepts of that level. Many witches guess it might be branded within the Void Earth Vein.”
“Branded in the Earth Vein? Is there any conjecture or basis for this?”
“You've heard of Earth Vein Life, right? I remember mentioning it to you.”
Mei Linde spoke.
“Mhm, naturally I remember.”
I nodded.
After all, when I was busy with Earth Vein energy back then, I learned about lives that wielded Earth Vein power; there even seemed to be Earth Vein Life-type transformation spells...
Through this transformation spell, one could temporarily transcend the regional nature of Earth Veins and wield Earth Vein energy.
“Earth Vein Life... is a very general way of putting it. To put it another way, Earth Vein Life can be any form of life that has appeared in the Void's history. Even life that has gone extinct might descend into the Void again in the posture of an Earth Vein Life.”
“Descend? That word...”
“It's strange, right? Earth Vein Life has no parents, or rather their parent is the Earth Vein, or the Void itself. But none of these claims can be verified. Even Earth Vein Lives themselves do not know how they were born.”
“I see. Because of this characteristic of Earth Vein Life, more people lean toward the idea that the brand of Primal lives is within the Earth Vein, right? Then... has anyone confirmed it within the Earth Vein River?”
“I don't know. Maybe there are, but people of that level would absolutely never say.”
“Why?”
“Because not everyone is as selfless as you, Little Han.”
Mei Linde said with a light laugh.
“Uh... fine then...”
I touched my nose somewhat awkwardly.
Sure enough, I had taken many things too much for granted.
If it were the past, for many questions, I only needed to ask and others could easily give me the answer.
But as the level I came into contact with became higher, those unknown concepts would not be so easily known by me.
This intelligence could not be made public for free, and it certainly couldn't be inquired about casually.
“This topic is considered over here, Little Han. Did you come here this time just to ask about this? If it's only because of this... there shouldn't have been a need for your clone to make a trip.”
“Originally, this matter indeed wouldn't have been necessary...”
I said with some hesitation.
But this matter involved the Fool's Dreams.
In fact, I just wanted to use this topic to further understand things concerning the Fool's Dreams.
If this truly were part of Academy Head Mei's plan, then perhaps the Academy Head would master some kind of crucial means.
But unfortunately... there were none.
“So... have the Fool's Dreams encountered some problem again? Otherwise, I don't feel there is anything worth you personally making a trip so seriously for.”
“Big Sis Mei is truly amazing; you guessed it in one go.”
“Ask away If I know, I will say. However, in the field of dream life... I truly can't say much. Besides... you discovered Dream-state soul-substance recently, right?”
“Mhm. I've been busy lately and didn't tell Big Sis Mei directly. I didn't expect Big Sis Mei to already know?”
“It's already about to appear at an academic tea party. If I as the Academy Head didn't know, wouldn't it be quite embarrassing? Let's not mention that; just tell me your question.”
Mei Linde spoke to me.
In her view, since Little Han had already completed the purification and refinement of Dream-state soul-substance, then that meant Little Han had taken another large step forward in the field of dream life, so encountering problems was certain and logical.
“Um...”
I organized my thoughts a bit, but in the end, I still didn't directly ask why the Fool's Dreams would fall into a “slumber.”
After all, Academy Head Mei herself said she didn't have much experience creating new progenitors, so she naturally couldn't resolve my doubts.
Therefore, it was better to ask questions the Academy Head might know.
This way, combined with my conjectures, I might be able to derive some different answers.
“Big Sis Mei, tell me... exactly what kind of existence form is the World Consciousness?”
“Oh, asking me this?”
Mei Linde looked at me with some surprise.
“However, if you ask me this, I actually find it hard to answer you. World Consciousness is a general term for the act of a mature world performing subjective intervention upon itself. Therefore, it is often personified and used as a metaphor for consciousness.”
“Then is it a type of consciousness? Or is this just a title?”
I asked further.
“I lean toward it truly being a type of consciousness. After all, for a concept widely recognized within the Void, there is basically no possibility of it being misnamed.”
“Lean toward?”
I caught the keyword.
“Yes. I have come into contact with many worlds, but those worlds possess a World Will, whereas the Main World is called a World Consciousness. If there were no difference between the two, there would be no need to distinguish them. But in the final analysis... I cannot give a definite answer either. However, sometimes, experience is more meaningful for reference than an answer.”
“Thank you for telling me this, Big Sis Mei. I... uh, let me think.”
Originally, I wanted to ask Academy Head Mei how to meet the World Consciousness, but then I thought that if Academy Head Mei truly had such a method, she wouldn't be unable to even locate the Umbilicus Mundi.
Therefore, I intended to change the way I asked.
“Does Big Sis Mei know where the World Consciousness is? Or how can one meet it? Does it exist... in the depths of True Time?”
“Where the World Consciousness is... this question is very abstract, just like asking where a person's consciousness is. But consciousness does not exist at a specific location upon the body. World Consciousness is the same; it does not exist in a certain place in the world. Wanting to meet it depends on luck and opportunity. As for your guess that its consciousness exists in the depths of True Time...”
“Is that statement incorrect?”
I asked with some hesitation.
If the path to the depths of True Time was impassable, then even if my Floating World-level Spirit Vision was completely adapted to and dominated by me, I wouldn't be able to solve the problem Fool's Luck was currently encountering.
Because the very first conjecture would be wrong.
“I didn't say it was wrong.”
Mei Linde shook her head and said to me, “For ordinary small-scale worlds, or unformed worlds, the will of that world is still shallow, and a life promoted to Transcendent is qualified to converse with it. Therefore, theoretically, the claim that World Consciousness exists in the depths of True Time cannot be disproved by anyone.”
“I understand. Thank you...”
I expressed my heartfelt gratitude.
Advancing to Transcendent grants the qualification to “converse” with that kind of World Will, so that means the qualification for “conversation” is True Time.
Therefore... the path of True Time was not wrong.
At the very least, it was a path worth my trying.
“Still saying words of thanks to me? I don't think there's any need for that, is there? Although I'm not quite sure exactly what kind of help what I've said has brought you, it's fine as long as you feel you've gained something.”
“Don't worry I've gained a lot.”
“Then I have no choice but to believe you when you say that. Actually, every time you encounter a problem, you can ask me directly through the Great Tree of Knowledge; there's no need to personally run over and ask face-to-face.”
“It's fine coming personally can be treated as my respect for the answers to these questions and the insights.”
“I always feel like you have some inexplicable persistence in strange places, Little Han. However... that's up to you as well. As long as you don't bring some huge trouble every time you come, you are always welcome.”
“Isn't that a bit too blunt to say to me!”
“Why can't it be you being more restrained yourself?”
Mei Linde responded to me with a teasing tone with a laugh.
“Alright, joking aside, let's get to the proper business—regarding the matter of those three Body Cultivation witches just now.”
“Oh, that. There's no hurry for that.”
Mentioning those three Body Cultivation witches, I naturally knew what Academy Head Mei was going to say.
It was naturally about the experimental arrangements for the Dream Domain.
“Before mentioning that... I have one more question I want to ask the Academy Head.”
“What else?”
“It's... about the Game World. What does Big Sis Mei think...”
“What? You still have free time to worry about this?”
Mei Linde’s hand movements stiffened slightly upon hearing me mention this matter, and only then did she ask.
“Just asking out of curiosity didn't Big Sis Mei say before that you wanted me to harvest this world? Now I don't even see those players jumping around in the Main World. I feel if we don't act, this world might run away.”
“Rest assured, it won't run, nor can it. It’s still a bit early to talk about this.”
“Still early? I feel if we delay any longer, I'm going to advance to Transcendent.”
I said jokingly.
But... saying this was actually correct in a certain sense?
“If you truly advanced to Transcendent that quickly, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep. Let’s not talk about that; the time has not yet arrived for the Game World side. Let's discuss the proper business first.”
“Alright”
I nodded and did not dwell on this topic further.
After all... suddenly mentioning this matter this time was merely wanting to see the Academy Head's attitude.
As expected, it was the same as before...