this infinite world

—This moment is just like that moment back then.

Upon hearing Chu Xuan's words, Yang Yun couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Chu Xuan in his room after returning from the alien world.

—As expected, it really is the same person. But speaking of which, if the clone Chu Xuan had not undergone my "correction" and had followed the original plot, then even with the impact of the defeat in the final battle, his mental state should have been closer to that when he first entered the God Space.

...Well, at least he's very different from the clone Chu Xuan who lost twice to the real Chu Xuan and obediently relinquished control.

Putting aside the scenes and memories he witnessed during his final battle, Yang Yun cleared his throat and, instead of answering directly, tackled the question with a question: "Um... first of all, who do you think I am?"

"An intruder who shouldn't be in the Arctic team, nor in the Main God Space."

Of course, the clone Chu Xuan didn't show any other extra emotion in response to Yang Yun's question, but rather took it for granted. After all, this kind of dialogue, which others might perceive as a kind of "witty banter," is a common practice among intelligent people... or rather, among wise people of Chu Xuan's level.

Wise men, nine out of ten are riddle tellers, and the remaining one is a riddle teller who doesn't speak human language... What's that saying again? If you don't understand my words, then it proves you're not qualified to stand before me and speak with me as an equal. Let's understand the hidden meaning in my words first before continuing this topic.

However, as the strategist of the Demon Team, the clone Chu Xuan was quite familiar with Yang Yun's way of speaking. Sure enough, this former strongest strategist, now "gender-changed," opened with a riddle-filled atmosphere: "In my script, you don't exist."

"Or rather, the fact that you were able to appear in this place and see through my true identity proves that you are no ordinary person."

Being able to stir up trouble in the third-generation God Realm and remotely manipulate events from thousands of miles away, the clone Chu Xuan naturally had prepared countless contingency plans. With the Investiture of the Gods, he had also calculated almost every aspect to the last detail. It could be said that, aside from being the victor of the final battle and possessing the strongest "power" in the entire God Realm—the Central Continent Team—nothing could escape his predictions, and there shouldn't have been any unexpected events…

...Then, an unexpected event occurred right before his eyes.

From Chu Hao to Ling Xin, from the Arctic Continent team to the Celestial God team, from the beginning to the end of the Lord of the Rings battle, unexpected enemies, the personal intervention of a Saint… everything was beyond the expectations of the clone Chu Xuan. Furthermore, Yang Yun's subsequent return to the Main God Space with the Arctic Continent team, and even his tracing back to the location of the Celestial God team's Main God Space through some mysterious causal connection, was even more unexpected by the clone Chu Xuan.

As a former member of the reincarnation team whose true self was actually dead and did not belong to this era, no one understood the power of the main god better than the clone Chu Xuan; nor did anyone know better the difficulty of "smuggling" into the main god's space.

Although the clone Chu Xuan, with the help of the Investiture of the Gods, managed to place a piece in the Heavenly Gods team despite being half-crippled, and hid his consciousness within the body of a female spiritual controller named "Heaven's Will," his actions were still greatly hampered. He could never truly touch the core power of the "Main God"... Otherwise, the clone would not have adopted a wide-net approach, having his C and X organizations launch large-scale attacks on the corresponding planes, thereby deepening his contact with the third-generation reincarnation team.

Now, Yang Yun's appearance signifies something.

There is indeed a road ahead, perhaps even more than one. It's just that all along, I've either used the wrong methods or haven't been able to find the right way in.

"A member of a reincarnation team from the future God Realm, who doesn't belong to this era and comes from across timelines?"

Of course, no matter how much thought one has, it is only a fleeting moment in the spiritual world. After a moment of contemplation, the countless thoughts of the cloned Chu Xuan coalesced into a rational judgment, giving its own answer.

In the clone Chu Xuan's expectations, this conjecture belonged to the category with the highest probability... Of course, the other party could also be a member of the reincarnation team who entered the Main God Space before him and survived for a long time.

However, in the eyes of the clone Chu Xuan, if the other party were truly a "veteran" who was much older and more ancient than himself, then they would not be so familiar with him... From this perspective, if they were truly an existence from the future, then all the reasons would have a relatively reasonable explanation.

"...Is this considered path dependence?"

Upon hearing the answer from the clone Chu Xuan, Yang Yun's expression immediately became somewhat subtle. Even out of the corner of his eye, he unconsciously glanced at Chu Hao, who had finally managed to calm the extremely excited Ling Xin down and was now whispering something to his brother.

After all, Yang Yun knew that in the Terminator 2 storyline that the Arctic team experienced, Chu Hao called himself a "future warrior"; and in the Transformers storyline that the Central Continent team experienced, Chu Xuan had given the same explanation... Hmm, could it be considered a continuation of the "Chu Xuan family"? Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe it as a "family tradition"?
What? You're saying Yang Yun used the same reason?

Impossible, absolutely impossible! If Yang Yun used that, would that be called path dependence? That would be called "fully learning from the excellent practices of predecessors," okay... Although for Yang Yun at that time, Chu Xuan from Transformers couldn't really be considered a predecessor.

"It seems this is not the right answer."

Generally speaking, the so-called "highest probability" does not mean absolute "correctness".

Regardless of what Yang Yun was thinking, when the clone Chu Xuan saw the unchanging smile on Yang Yun's face and the evaluation he gave, he realized that his guess was likely to be far from the truth.

Of course, the reason why the clone Chu Xuan spoke so simply was because he knew that even if he gave a wrong answer, it wouldn't lead to any disastrous consequences, after all, this wasn't the Sphinx's riddle.

Moreover, the clone Chu Xuan understood that the other party's question was likely a way of conveying information to him. This information, he believed, could only be considered valid if he deduced it himself—the same words he used when he touched upon forbidden truths but couldn't reveal them to his teammates: "It's not that I don't want to say it, it's that I can't say it..."

"I see……"

Thinking this, a hint of understanding flashed in "Heaven's Will's" eyes, and a similar glint appeared in the eyes of Chu Xuan, the clone in a petri dish, located countless dimensions away. The next moment, despite being in different spaces, the two spoke simultaneously, their words seemingly overlapping—

"Did you and 'him' come from the same place?"

—"He" naturally refers to the box maker, whom Chu Xuan had long suspected.

Of course, "his" existence wasn't exactly a secret for the Central Continent Team and the Demon Team, who had experienced the final battle... plus Adam.

After all, once Adam activated the Tree of Life array, absorbed many members of the Angel Alliance's reincarnation teams, and completed the Human Completion Project, he, as a "False Saint," naturally came into contact with a part of the world's truth, namely the "message" that Adam and the Central Continent Second Team heard during the final battle...

"This world... To create a world, you first need to construct the entire worldview, then the power levels, then the biological system... and most importantly, history."

"Well, in an ordinary universe, the life forms are somewhat different from reality. The earliest life forms possessed extremely strong power. That was in the early days of Earth, earlier than dinosaurs and giant insects... These life forms were very powerful, but they gradually disappeared due to changes in Earth's environment. The remaining life forms either went into slumber or evolved. These were the most powerful life forms. The evolutionary levels of ordinary life forms are the same as in reality."

"By the way, evolution... let's change the power levels a bit, making evolution the main power. First gene lock, second gene lock, a total of six gene locks, the fifth level is the highest level, the sixth level... let's just set it up as one level, impossible for any living being to come into contact with, but it can attract readers and fill them with imagination. As for the setting, the sixth level can break through the cage of this world, as for where to go... I haven't thought about it yet."

"Then came history. First, those powerful creatures disappeared, some went into slumber, and others evolved, or rather, degenerated. And just like that, the world entered the Age of Dinosaurs. Uh, next, the first humans appeared, sometime between the early and middle stages of the Age of Dinosaurs..."

From Adam's perspective at the time, he naturally believed the message from the "box maker." From Adam's perspective—having completed the Human Completion Project and become the ultimate life form, the so-called "god"—he had already touched the boundary called truth, which he could easily cross with a single leap. After all, the information he had obtained with such difficulty must be true. And this conclusion was accepted not only by Adam, but also by the two Chu Xuans…

...Then, they stepped into the ditch.

Well, this statement about the "underlying logic of the world" is, if not terribly wrong, at least quite absurd. But we can't really blame Adam, since he only arrived at the so-called "truth" from his own perspective, and was even silenced by someone using a clone of him, Luo Gandao, because of it... Of course, this silence actually confirmed the correctness of the information he received, thus leading the two Chu Xuans astray and deviating from the truth of the matter, but that's another story.

How should I put it? While an individual's struggle is important, we must also consider the course of history... no, I mean, while an individual's wisdom is important, we must also consider the actual situation. If the direction is wrong from the very beginning, then no matter how much effort is put in afterward, it will only lead us further and further down the wrong path.

So when Yang Yun saw the "Heaven's Will" before him reveal an extremely serious, perhaps even the most solemn, look in his eyes, and told him his conjecture, he not only did not give a definite answer, but shook his head again and said, "No, I do not come from the same place as 'him'... uh, or rather, my existence should be slightly higher than his."

This is not a lie. After all, Yang Yun already knows the true nature of "Zhang Heng, the Good One," who was the "world's largest inner universe fragment" that the Three Sovereigns and others fought against in the past. And if that's the case, then in every multiverse where a "world" exists, there should be a similar or identical "Good One."

...Furthermore, even if we concede that the fragments of the world's inner universe are only differentiated by size, not by quality, and every person named "Zhang Heng" should be a fragment of the world's inner universe. Even the "comedic killer" Zhang Heng from the Arctic team that Yang Yun had met before left a similar impression on him as the positive characters before their awakening...

...And from this perspective, the positive side isn't really that great. After all, rounding up, "Comedy Killer Zhang Heng" doesn't seem to be much better than an ordinary, even somewhat kidney-deficient, "Homebody Zhang Heng."

“I think you don’t need to worry too much about it. After all, the ‘box maker’ in your eyes may be a little bit different from the real him.”

As he spoke, Yang Yun added a sentence, while simultaneously making a gesture resembling a "fingertip universe" image.

But after Yang Yun casually uttered those words, the clone Chu Xuan's pupils dilated in shock.

Although Yang Yun knew that the so-called "box maker" was just an "ordinary" positive agent named "Zhang Heng"... well, not exactly ordinary, but a positive agent who could be pulled into the main god space was still worlds apart from a true "sixth-order" being.

What's that saying again? The height a person stands at determines the difference in their perspective. And no matter how intelligent a person is, they cannot understand concepts they have never known before. Even Chu Xuan, the clone, a wise man who stands in the Main God Space, and may even stand at the pinnacle of this multiverse, is no exception...

In other words, the "clone Chu Xuan" standing before Yang Yun was far ahead of his own homologous alien in terms of perspective. The news Yang Yun brought him even caused this cold, bespectacled beauty to momentarily freeze, as if steam were rising from her forehead…

—Did I say too much?
When Yang Yun saw the clone Chu Xuan fall into a brief, unprecedented state of confusion because of his answer, and even begin to doubt his own life, he couldn't help but touch his chin, a somewhat impolite thought popping into his mind...

How should I put it... In a sense, wouldn't this be considered that Adam finally won a round against Chu Xuan after his death?

The strategist (Adam) enters the game himself, managing to outmaneuver Tian (Xuan) by half a move? (End of Chapter)