Chapter 2103: Laws of Time and Space
Zu An was still really confused, asking, “Even so, if you traveled through spacetime, wouldn’t that mean that you could change history? There could be even more theoretical paradoxes. Wouldn’t this world collapse?”
“How can changing history be that easy? The natural laws within the river of time might be the ones that are the most mysterious and hardest to come into contact with. There are countless taboos associated with them. For example, if you even attempted to change the pieces of history that everyone is familiar with, no matter how powerful you were, you would still be erased by the laws of time,” Mi Li replied, seemingly enjoying his dumbfounded student-like appearance as she explained patiently. She continued, “Apart from the famous pieces of history, you can't change anything related to yourself either. If you create some chaos in time, you'll be eliminated by its laws.”
“You can’t even change things that happen to yourself?” Zu An asked with a frown.
“That’s right. The only reason you still exist is because of the things that happened to you in the past. If those things disappeared, the basis for your existence would be flawed. The laws of time would be in disorder, and it would attempt to erase you, the anomaly,” Mi Li explained. “Additionally, there's another ironclad rule in the laws of time. Two instances of you at the same point in time can't meet each other. Otherwise, the laws of time will erase the time traveler, and they might even erase both individuals.”
Zu An nodded. That wasn’t too hard to understand. If several versions of you appeared at the same time... Just the thought alone was scary. He remembered how even though Chuyan and the Snow Lady existed in the same timeline, they had been in different conditions, and had never met each other. That was how they had been able to avoid being eliminated by the laws of time.
“As for the world collapse you spoke of, there's no need for you to worry about that. Even though there are some unimaginable beings in the universe, almost none of them have the ability to travel through time, so they practically all rely on some special treasures to do so. Meanwhile, these treasures are all things that have existed from before the formation of primal chaos, so they're all rare and precious,” Mi Li added.
Zu An asked seriously, “But the stronger the being, the easier it is for them to collect those treasures, right? For example, the one that appeared after Dance Offering to the Universe. I refuse to believe anyone could seize those things before him.”
Mi Li shook her head and said, “Treasures on that level aren’t things that you can seize just by relying on power. What becomes most important is luck. Not only do people choose the treasure, the treasure chooses the person too. Only if you shared destiny with it would you have a chance to obtain it. If there was no karma between you, no matter how strong you are, that treasure wouldn’t even appear, and you wouldn’t be able to obtain it.
“For example, the White Jade Sect’s Nature Jade Plate Fragment. There were so many seniors much more powerful than Chuyan who had examined it, and yet they'd gained nothing. But when Chuyan came into contact with it, it was activated, showing that she shared affinity with that treasure.”
Zu An sighed and said, “I would much rather that she didn’t have such an affinity.”
“You can’t think like that. This might seem like a disaster for her in your eyes, but if you look at it in terms of the future, it might be a tremendous opportunity for her. She might actually be thankful for this chance,” Mi Li said with a gentle voice when she sensed his sullen mood.
Zu An couldn't help but give her a look, saying, “I didn’t expect you to be someone who could comfort others.” Still, her words did indeed improve his mood quite a bit.
When she saw his expression change, Mi Li grinned and replied, “I'm merely speaking the truth.”
Zu An then asked, “But after the passage of countless years, there's no way those most powerful beings wouldn't have found even a single treasure of this type, right? As long as one of them found one, wouldn’t it easily cause the collapse of a timeline?”
“There aren’t many treasures capable of crossing time to begin with, so it is normal for them to not find one. Also, even if they did find one, they wouldn't be able to use it,” Mi Li replied.
“Why?” Zu An replied, stunned. He had never expected to hear that reply.
“That's because they're powerful, far too powerful.” Mi Li’s expression became grave as she continued, “They're strong to the point where everything they say and do becomes history. They involve too many people and things, and the karma they bear is too great. If they crossed through time, they wouldn't even be able to move quietly and would definitely cause the timeline to become largely chaotic, which would kill them as a result.”
Zu An nodded as if he finally understood a bit. He began to think to himself. A while later, he suddenly said, “If history is destined to be unchangeable, what meaning is there left in traveling through time?”
With a wave of Mi Li’s hand, a book-like object appeared in her hand. She asked, “What does this look like to you?”
Zu An gave it a look and said, “Those are the Meng Dynasty’s historical records.”
Mi Li flipped through the book while replying, “The Meng Dynasty didn’t exist for that long, but it did exist for over a century. Countless people and events emerged during that period, and there were millions upon millions of people under their rule, and yet all of it only resulted in this single history book of just a couple hundred thousand words. It records the lives of a few hundred people and various major events. Do you think this book can encompass everything that happened in the Meng Dynasty?”
“Of course not!” Zu An replied, stunned. He slowly added, “You're saying that...”
“That’s right,” Mi Li said with a nod. “The so-called history books are only able to record some major events. Furthermore, even these major events often only record some karma. There are many parts of the process that are unclear. Just like the boundless cosmos, the things that are recorded are like the shining stars in the sky. The things that aren't recorded are like the remaining dark void. Do you think there are more shining stars, or more dark void?”
“Dark void, of course.” A smile appeared on Zu An’s face. He now more or less understood what Mi Li was saying.
Mi Li nodded in gratification, saying, “The reason why those beings that are too powerful can't travel through spacetime is because they are those stars themselves. They can't hide themselves even if they want to, but you're different. As long as you're careful not to touch those stars, the dark void has many areas where you can do what you wish.”
“Got it,” Zu An said as he gave her a grateful look. “Why do you know so much? Have you traveled through time before too?”
A hint of a reminiscent expression appeared on Mi Li’s face. She said, “These aren’t things that I experienced myself, but rather things that someone told me before.”
“Who told you? Qin Shihuang?” Zu An reflexively asked.
“Him?” Mi Li shook her head. A hint of contempt appeared in her eyes.
Zu An began to doubt more and more whether she really was the empress of Qin Shihuang. Or perhaps that empress role was nothing more than one of the positions she had occupied in the past?
He suddenly thought of something and asked somewhat nervously, “Are you not scared that you might be discovered by someone by leaking these secrets?”
She was always talking to him in riddles as if she was scared of something in the void finding out, and yet she'd ended up saying so much in order to help him save Chuyan.
Mi Li smiled and said, “I guess you at least have a bit of a conscience, but that’s not something you need to worry about. What else do you think I wanted so much Rage points from you for? It was naturally to conceal some mysteries of fate.”
“Then in the future, I’ll earn more Rage points for you. You can tell me more secrets then,” Zu An immediately said.
Mi Li rolled her eyes. “How can it be that simple? Some of the things I told you about just now are also secrets, but once you reach a certain level in the cosmos, you'd find out anyway. They don’t involve any specific powerful being either, so they aren’t too taboo. But if I spoke about some of the things you wish to know, certain powerful beings would sense it. Then, that would bring about complete destruction.”
If it were in the past, Zu An would still be a bit suspicious, but he had just seen Shop 58 and the even more powerful being summoned by Dance Offering to the Universe, so he believed her. There were indeed some beings that, as long as you mention them, they would immediately sense it and appear.
“Then what do I need to do to save Chuyan from now on?” Zu An couldn't help but ask. Even though Qiu Honglei was in danger as well, he could still sort of understand her current condition and could find some way to heal her. But Chuyan’s situation really was too tricky.
“There are two methods. The first is to wait for what Chuyan said before. As long as the Great Snowy Mountain doesn’t disappear, she'll always exist. After thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of years, the Great Snowy Mountain will recreate her body,” Mi Li replied.
“What about the other way?” Zu An asked, furrowing his brows. That method was impossible. Forget about the question of whether he would even be able to live that long, even if he could, how could he let her spend all that time all by herself?
“The other method,” Mi Li paused for a moment, but still continued in the end, “is that whoever starts the trouble should end it. Since she was transported away by the Nature Jade Plate through spacetime, you need to find a Nature Jade Plate and follow her path, to see if there's any way to reverse this process.”
“But the Nature Jade Plate has already been brought away by Chuyan!” Zu An replied, starting to panic. He had learned from the elders that their jadestone had already disappeared without a trace.
“Didn’t I tell you before that their piece is only a very small and insignificant fragment of the Nature Jade Plate? When the Nature Jade Plate shattered in the past, countless fragments were scattered across the universe. It's entirely possible for you to find another fragment.”
Mi Li was a bit worried. There were some things that she didn’t say directly. Even though there were many Nature Jade Plate Fragments, how vast was the universe? If one wanted to find a piece... Even fishing a needle from the ocean was child’s play compared to that.
However, Zu An’s eyes lit up and he said, “At least there is a direction to work toward!”
After all, he had been at his wit’s end regarding how to save Chuyan, but now, even though it was hard, he knew where to put his efforts. That made it go from impossible to possible!
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