Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

[Once I realized this revised version of 'disciplinary power,' and proved my own correctness, then Luo Ye's goal was already achieved.]

She blinked.

The instant she reached her conclusion, she knew the true motive behind Luo Ye's previous actions—Luo Ye had done it on purpose, deliberately provoking her to question, deliberately indulging her in breaking the rules, deliberately waiting for her at the origin of time, and punishing her by forcing her to make a 'tool against tool' decision. And Luo Ye's purpose finally reached its conclusion at that moment.

[Luoye guided me, inspiring me amidst the war between the little devil and Satō Aika.]

[Luo Ye guided me, allowing me to reach my own correct conclusions without being influenced by her.]

Ugh, seriously, I'm stuck with an older sister like this... I don't even know what word to use to describe her. If I didn't have a past life, I'd suspect I saved thousands of worlds in my past life. And now...

[...just one last thing...no, everything is almost there.]

Alice withdrew her gaze and thoughts, feeling the gentle breeze from her side and the soft hand that had once again taken her arm.

"Alice, I've figured it out." She heard Patchouli's voice and sensed a significant change in Patchouli, much like herself. She turned her head, watching the opening and closing of those lips, waiting for the concluding words to come.

“There is nothing beyond the Way.” Patchouli responded to her gaze, uttering what she understood: “Sister, you went to great lengths to show us how to reach such a realm, didn’t you?”

Alice smiled but did not answer.

Then Patchouli continued her story.

"We need to see through everything in the past, and the most correct way is to redefine what is correct. We need to prove that our beliefs are more correct than all the beliefs imposed on us by outsiders. And this process can perhaps be seen as another kind of 'proof' different from breaking through inner demons, right?"

Alice still didn't answer, but simply reached out and hugged her tightly.

Patchouli's voice continued to whisper in her ear.

"Mediocre and foolish people can only seek temporary gains and losses, while heroes and fools can only seek lifelong gains and losses."

"The extraordinary are foolish and can only scheme for gains and losses over a hundred generations; the gods and demons are foolish and can only scheme for gains and losses over an era."

“They see too close, so they are wrong. All words, all ideas, all civilizations, all knowledge are wrong. And we… ‘I’ see further than any of them.”

"Therefore, 'I' am right, therefore 'I' am correct. So, the only thing needed to see through everything is to redefine 'I'!"

“Then,” Alice asked softly, “what are ‘you’?”

“‘I’ am the keeper of secrets, the containment and preservation of knowledge,” Patchouli replied. “Therefore, everything in the world that I observe is of no use to me. Its only purpose is to be recorded and preserved by me as knowledge. Apart from that, even if it were destroyed the next moment, it would be none of my concern—there is only one exception for ‘me’.”

"Alice, and what are 'you'?"

“‘I’ am change, the development and transformation of things.” Alice also concluded: “Therefore, in the world I observe, only things that change are good and right. Everything that stagnates, everything that degenerates, everything that is slow, everything that is frozen is wrong. Apart from that, everything is worthless to me—but there is one thing that is an exception to ‘me’.”

Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

Since one is right and everything else is wrong, all the complexities will naturally be seen through in an instant. It is not difficult to think of this point; the difficulty lies in proving it.

And they proved it at that moment, because they possessed a vision that surpassed all that had been before.

—Something seems to have changed, yet nothing seems to have happened at all.

"Get on the bus first, buy the ticket later. Working backward from the result—sister really went to great lengths to help us get to this point." Alice sighed softly. At this moment, she realized that everything was predetermined from the beginning, because Luo Ye had shown her the ending from the very first step.

This scene was inevitable.

Because Luo Ye showed her the gaps between diversity, took her on tours of many individual places and left her with traces.

In other words, they were already beings of transcendence, existing in name only, when they entered this world. And everything they did under Luo Ye's guidance was merely a process of supplementing and proving conclusions that had already been answered.

This was truly a lesson, a lesson as risk-free and with a predetermined outcome, like feeding fledglings.

Although the story of this world is not yet over, it has already reached its end ahead of schedule.

“Let’s go find my sister. We should thank her properly,” Patchouli said. She now naturally regarded Luo Ye as her real sister.

Alice nodded.

"Yes, that's necessary. And I also have some things I'd like to ask her."

“After all…” She turned her head and glanced at Ainz Ooal Gown, who was being teleported to the vicinity of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

"My sister said this lesson is about wars that transcend species. But I think it might not be the kind of war we imagine."

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Sky of Displacement - Part Six

The location of Luo Ye was farther away than Alice had originally expected.

When Alice found the message that Luo Ye had left at the origin of time, she realized that Luo Ye had already left this world.

For the first time, she had to use the authority of her superhuman species, voluntarily diving down into the Abyss and rising from the inside of the Abyss to the surface.

When she arrived at the surface, she finally gained an independent understanding of this vast and endless multi-dimensional blood.

The Abyss actively recognizes every individual attempting to enter, perceiving them as the weakest and most harmless form in their life journey. The only way to survive in the Abyss is to perceive it in reverse, correctly understanding it as a world where even the weakest life form can survive safely.

Alice was perceived as a mortal, while she perceived the Abyss as an inn. She led Patchouli, who perceived the Abyss as a library, out of the room represented by the world of the Undead King, then took two steps to the side and pushed open another door next door.

Distance depends on cognition, and so does location. Even in a world that has already been cognized, generalized physical rules are meaningless.

A bustling modern city then appeared before the two visitors.

Alice blinked. She sensed no supernatural power, nor did she detect a sufficiently active energy source. After a preliminary inspection, she could basically confirm that this was just an ordinary, magic-free, mechanically-driven technological world. As her gaze shifted slightly, Luo Ye's figure appeared in her and Patchouli's field of vision.

It was a KFC located in the city center, and Luo Ye was sitting in an empty seat on one side of a four-seater table, enjoying a Pepsi with a slightly higher sugar content than similar products. When they saw her, she saw them too, so she raised her finger and waved at them.

"Sit." As Luo Ye spoke, Alice and Patchouli appeared opposite her. Although there were no supernatural forces in this world, authority still functioned.

Then Luo Ye took a sip of her favorite cola.

"Being able to find this place on your own merits shows that you have successfully mastered most of the knowledge points. How does it feel to become a transcendent species? Don't you feel more powerful than before?"

Alice's pupils narrowed for a moment, then relaxed.

Yes, the original definition of a transcendent being is a life form that can freely travel through the multiverse, establish new source world timelines, and ignore the erosion of epochal cataclysms. If one can achieve this, then that is it; and beyond that, there are far more paths one can take.

While the genetic lock is undoubtedly the ultimate path, it doesn't preclude becoming a transcendent species without following it. And my current method of advancement—which bypasses all interference and completely dismantles it… perhaps it's a shortcut strategy, a blend of innate bloodline and the path of information?

[Tsk, among the transcendent species, someone like me is probably the lowest in terms of combat power and life level. After all, I have cultivation but no supernatural abilities, not even protective methods. I advance simply for the sake of advancement, and even resort to tricks to advance by working backward from the result.]

[Well, at least we didn't do anything stupid. While it's not the optimal conclusion, it's still progress.]

Alice breathed a sigh of relief. Then she remembered something.

“Zheng Zha…” She recalled the final moments of the Moon World battlefield, Zheng Zha’s eyes, which seemed to gaze outwards into the universe. “Is he also at this level?”

“He’s a bit worse than you and Patchouli. After all, he’s the type who just recklessly pushes things forward without even realizing he’s progressed.” Luo Ye sucked on the straw and downed her Pepsi in one gulp. She reached out and ordered another identical drink for herself on the touchscreen next to her seat.

"He didn't even realize he had advanced, but that's okay. As long as he comes into contact with combat power that surpasses his level, he will instantly gain the authority he deserves. And even if he doesn't encounter it... he will soon be able to possess this power that already belongs to him."

Luo Ye shrugged.

"After all, he's cheating, there's no comparison. But you've at least caught up with and are now ahead of him. And more importantly, you, including Zheng Zha, have only obtained the lowest level of native transcendental combat power. In terms of gene lock, you're still at the level of above the middle and below the high. If you want to cross this threshold, you still need to integrate your own spiritual light, and that will depend on your own efforts."

"Even you can't do it, sister?" Alice tilted her head slightly and asked.

"If I can do it, then you certainly can too." Luo Ye curled his lip. "Let's skip this pointless guessing and probing. You and I, like all of you, are currently at the lowest level of transcendent beings. If I encounter a genuine high-level being, at most I won't die, and I can only stall for time. Winning or even a draw is impossible. The layout in the previous Moon World has already reached its limit. If you want to win even half a point, even if you traveled back to that point in time of the battle, you wouldn't be able to do it."

“I see.” Patchouli nodded from the side. “So, we should now be considered ‘strong’… ‘super-four’, possessing four high survival capabilities but whose essence hasn’t changed. In the multiverse, we can be seen as a transcendent species, surpassing the vast majority of individual universes, but ultimately, we are only skilled at surviving rather than fighting. Is that right?”

“Yes, you can think of it that way.” Luo Ye quickly replied, “Now it would be easy for you to kill a native true god. It’s not impossible to deal with a weak native transcendent species as well. But you will still be defeated by the four high ones. Although you have the protection of the main god and will not die because the source world line is erased, it is not impossible for the other side to break through all your world lines and drive you out, so that you can only live under the protection of the main god.”

The witches exchanged glances.

Well, it seems the road ahead is still long. "Beyond the Way, there is nothing else" is merely the first step on this long path of transcendence. And the journey of exploration that follows may have immeasurable length ahead.

The road ahead is still long, and stopping for a short rest would be pointless. So…

"Good day, sir. Here's your Coke." — A pretty waitress with a clear, crisp voice approached the table where the three were sitting. The familiar voice made Alice abruptly turn her gaze—Alice's pupils contracted sharply, accompanied by the waitress's indulgent emotions, because following the voice, she saw a familiar face!

That's... Flora's voice, Flora's face!

When she turned to look at her, the waiter gave her a puzzled yet polite look!

"You...you are..." Alice opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Would you like something, sir?" the waitress asked politely. She seemed to have no recollection of Alice and treated her as just another customer.

Alice turned and glanced at Luo Ye—who returned her a meaningful smile.

Alice shook her head at the waiter.

"No, thank you. I don't want anything." — The agreement has been settled, and now neither of us owes the other anything.

The waiter nodded, gave a slight bow, and left.

Alice finally understood what Luo Ye had been doing all that time.

She hesitated for a long time before letting out a soft breath and asking Luo Ye, "Flora?"

“Yes, it’s her.” Luo Ye nodded. “I spent four hundred years activating her dormant spiritual light, and then arranged for her to reincarnate. She was born into the Hedgehog Cat Orphanage more than ten years ago. Now, she’s an orphan, without a sister or a house, living alone and working odd jobs at KFC—a typical protagonist. And in a few weeks, when her reincarnated body’s age matches the age she was when she first met you in her previous life, her destiny and the essence of her soul will erupt—”

"This world is about to undergo a dramatic transformation. The Heaven and Earth Society will leap from a state of no magic to one of high magic, providing her with a stage for rapid growth. In the upcoming storyline, she will ascend to the position of True God as the protagonist and touch the boundaries of transcendent beings. After that, whether she chooses to transcend and abandon this world, or to meticulously cultivate this source world as her stronghold and even drive the entire world's advancement, will be her own choice."

"Is this inevitable?" Alice asked.

“That’s inevitable,” Luo Ye replied.

"Flora's rise is inevitable unless another being of a higher species or a higher level interferes with her destiny. Otherwise, she is destined to reach the position she is meant to reach."

Alice, you must have read those legendary tales. You know that the protagonists, as long as they possess some kind of cheat code, will ultimately achieve victory. Even if they fail and die once, they can simply be reincarnated and try again. And the cheat code she's about to obtain is what she already possesses, or rather, it's simply the light of her very being!

Luo Ye glanced at the waiter, seemingly unconcerned that her words had been overheard without her permission. Following her gaze, Alice glimpsed the waiter's true nature, witnessing a faint yet eternally radiant light hidden deep within his soul!

The timeline has been anchored.

Alice knew what it would become, based on the knowledge this waiter might possess in this era and Flora's creative powers. This object, seemingly a cheat code but actually the light of the soul, would most likely manifest in Flora's reincarnation's consciousness as some kind of 'system panel.' By assigning some nonsensical tasks—like giving rewards for slacking off for a certain number of seconds—the power Flora originally possessed would be gradually awakened from this reincarnation, and the process would manifest as…

Alice blinked, her powers activated, and she watched the many changes that followed.

She saw the world change drastically after several weeks, witnessed the revival of all things, the endless alien races attacking from beyond the heavens, and the myriad strange creatures born from the depths of the earth. She saw the 'Great War' begin. She saw ancient gods rise from the annals of history. Then, she saw the moment Flora's reincarnation activated her 'powerful cheat' amidst the crisis.

A very interesting cheat.

It exists in the form of a system panel, but its essence is a hidden mechanism infinitely powered by the Light of the Mind, replicating and reproducing the civilization of the Moon World. In the operation of this mechanism, she saw the 'System Spirit' transformed into... no, it should be said, the record of Ba. She saw the Heroic Spirits 'summoned' by the reincarnation. She saw the various intricate rituals developed by the civilization of the Moon World during its wandering. And finally, she even saw the civilization of the Moon World overwrite the original history of this planet, and under Flora's will, create a prosperous world where humans and Servants coexist.

Flora is destined to rise, for she has already risen. Since she will regain her power in the future, she is rightfully at her peak at any point in the past. She will endure a long and turbulent period, during which she will fulfill all the ideals of her past and present lives.

This is a bribe from the universe… or rather, an investment. By relinquishing ownership of a tiny planet, it gains a bond left behind by a transcendent being destined to rise again. Even if that transcendent being is destined to understand everything through the Dao and the Outer Realm, as long as it ultimately decides to establish this universe as its home, then this universe has a chance to one day ascend!

Expanding in scale, extending in length, breaking free from the script meme—all of this will come to this universe through Flora's management. And if Flora were to one day ascend to sainthood, then even the entire universe might have the chance to ascend to the highest heavens and become part of the primordial celestial realm!

Alice looked away.

She stopped watching when she saw Flora regain her true godhood during a star-traveling war. That wasn't where she should be focusing her attention—the agreement was settled, and further interference would be a declaration of war. And since the future Flora had clearly refused to come see her—there was no need for her to be presumptuous or rude now.

“I thought you’d keep watching.” Luo Ye took a sip of her second cola and winked mischievously. “I thought you’d try to do something, maybe even guide or give a gift to the current ‘Flora’… Looks like I was overthinking it.”