Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Wan Xiaotian was completely dumbfounded. Every brain cell of his was dumbfounded. He subconsciously uttered, “Huh?”

“Like this, you want to capture the existence of space ripples by measuring the curvature of the rays of a star. It is a great idea, but you cannot calculate it with ‘dense clouds’. If it is ‘discrete clouds’—

Old Li stuffed the leather duster into Wan Xiaotian’s hands and dipped himself in the mopping water. Then he started writing on the wall smoothly. Very soon, he had written a wall of formulas and algorithms that Wan

Xiaotian had never heard of or seen before. But when he focused his eyes, he was greatly enlightened.

“Can you understand 10% of it?”

Old Li asked as he wrote.

“More or less.”

Wan Xiaotian was greatly shocked, not just for the mysterious algorithm that Old Li wrote, but also for Old Li himself. His voice was shaking, “Old Li, how did you… who are you exactly?”

“Is it important?”

Old Li said gloomily, “As far as this world is concerned, I may be a stranger or a passer-by. It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is who you are and what you are chasing after. Tell me, young man, why are you

studying ‘superspace’? Is it just to achieve a four-dimensional space jump? If I tell you that a four-dimensional space jump is absolutely impossible in this world, are you going to continue your research at the risk of

your life?”

“Four-dimensional space jumps are absolutely impossible.” This conclusion had been spoken by many seniors and experts of the academic world. Even Wan Xiaotian’s professor had spoken resolutely and resolutely,

but Wan Xiaotian had never believed it.

However, Old Li’s deep and deep voice contained a special charm. Wan Xiaotian could not help but waver.

But he felt that there was more to Old Li’s words than met the eye. What Old Li said was ‘impossible’ and what his professor said was ‘impossible’.

“No. It’s not like that. I don’t just want to realize a space jump. I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth of the universe!

An inexplicable strength suddenly rose up from the bottom of Wan Xiaotian’s heart. He clenched his fists and bellowed, “Isn’t it our noblest mission to find the true self, to prove the essence of the world, and to explore

the universe beyond the universe? Since the universe is right there, we must study it, conquer it, and surpass it, just like climbers conquering the highest mountain in the world. ‘The mountain is there’ is the only

reason!

“So that’s how it is. I didn’t misjudge you. You are indeed… a very interesting young man. You are worth me passing on these algorithms and formulas to you.”

Old Li’s eyes bloomed with a gorgeous brilliance. There was no trace of the naivety of a mentally disabled person on his face. He smiled and said, “Then, if I tell you that, even if you have the correct formulas and

algorithms, you will only get the wrong or even hopeless answer in the end, do you still want to continue?”

“What do you mean?”

Wan Xiaotian clutched his leather duster. “Old Li, do you know the mysteries of hyperspace or the truth of the universe?”

The assumption was too absurd.

But everything that happened to Old Li seemed to be far more than ‘absurd’.

Wan Xiaotian felt that an earthshaking secret was being unveiled in front of him.

“Time is infinite, and space is infinite. There is a universe beyond the universe. No matter how many times stronger I seem to be than you, we are equally ignorant and insignificant when we are faced with an infinite

universe. Therefore, how can I know the ‘truth’? Even the existence of the ‘truth’ is a big question mark.

Old Li said, “We, the self-proclaimed spirits of all living creatures, are like blind men and horses running on the cliff of evolution. The only thing I can do is to run in front of you and show you the way with my hoofs

before I fall off the cliff.

“No. I don’t know the truth. But we can make some interesting or terrifying assumptions about the ultimate picture of the universe as a little mind game.

Wan Xiaotian was fascinated. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you suggesting that you’ve guessed the truth of the universe, at least part of it?”

“Maybe.”

Holding the mop, Old Li mumbled, “Maybe the universe we are in does not originate from the big bang before the ancient era. Or rather, it is a controlled, premeditated, and purposeful big bang, a virtual world created

by an existence in a higher dimension.

“The existence of the higher dimension did not create just one virtual world but hundreds of thousands of them. With enough computational ability and energy, he could even create countless virtual worlds and form a

certain concept of the ‘multiverse’.

“Well”

Wan Xiaotian thought for a moment. This kind of “high-dimensional creation theory” was not new in the academic world. It had been touched upon in many cutting-edge theories. He believed that what Old Li was

going to say was not so simple. “Why? Why did this high-dimensional existence create so many virtual worlds?”

“For training, or rather, for his evolution, for the search for his true self.

Old Li said, “Maybe, the high-dimensional existence has evolved to the limits of his… ‘origin universe’. It has touched a barrier that is very difficult to break. It is trapped in the middle of all kinds of causes and effects

and has fallen into a desperate situation where it cannot see what is going on.

“He needs new experiences, new enlightenment, and new opportunities in order to break out of the cocoon and surpass his peak.

“Therefore, he created, or rather, made use of, thousands of virtual worlds and divided his consciousness into thousands of parts, throwing them into the virtual worlds separately. It was equivalent to using thousands

of clones to cultivate in the primordial world and the rolling mortal world.

“When a thousand clones are training at the same time, their training speed will be at least a hundred times faster, and they will be able to see every wrinkle and gap of their soul clearly in countless illusionary and real

experiences.

“No. Not just intelligent creatures such as you and me. He even turned into a butterfly or an earthworm and experienced experiences that human beings could never have experienced before. Then, he gathered all his

clones and refined a brand-new true self!

As Wan Xiaotian listened, his jaw dropped again. “That’s—that’s too mysterious!”

“Too mysterious? Then let me repeat it in a way that is easy to understand—”

Old Li rubbed his nose and said, “Just think of it as a man who is bored to death and is not ready to meet his wife for some unimportant reason. Therefore, he downloaded thousands of virtual games and played them to

his heart’s content. He also thinks that he has gained a lot of valuable experience and new life insights from the games. Wouldn’t it be much easier to understand if I put it this way?”

“Yes.”

Wan Xiaotian nodded.

“Then, the point is, how do you know that you are not a virtual character in the virtual game that this boring man is playing?”

Old Li looked at Wan Xiaotian. His eyes turned extremely deep and dark as he said, “Yes. Of course, you feel that you are made of flesh and blood and that you have passionate feelings and intense thoughts. But they

can all be faked. As long as you have a database large enough to store all the all-encompassing data and run it according to the most precise logic, you will be able to output an almost perfect answer for all the input

conditions.

“Therefore, how do you know that you are not a virtual database? What you are thinking, what you are feeling, and what you are answering are all the results of mechanical screening and reflex. How can I be sure that I

am talking to a ‘person’ and not mumbling to a virtual database?

Old Li’s eyes were half closed. He clearly hadn’t drunk any alcohol, yet he seemed to be a bit drunk. He was so drunk that his eyes were half-closed, half-asleep, half-awake.

Wan Xiaotian had never thought of that.

Or rather, most normal people wouldn’t think about such an absurd question. It would be a groundless worry.

“Hey, young man, was there an idiom that flashed through your mind just now called ‘worrying over nothing?”

Old Li suddenly asked.

Wan Xiaotian was greatly shocked. “How did you know?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I can’t read your mind. It’s just a random guess. ‘Worrying about nothing’ seems to be the most suitable description for my question.

Old Li leaned close, with a weird smile on his face. “But don’t you find it odd? In the history of the ‘Sky Sea Civilization’, there has never been a nation or a place named ‘Chi’. Where did the idiom ‘worrying about

nothing’ come from?”

Wan Xiaotian was dazed.

The question hit his brain like a lightning spell. For a moment, he felt that every one of his brain cells was divided, from which endless, glittering data was bursting out, as if he and the entire world were about to

collapse at the same time!

“Ah!”

Wan Xiaotian held his head and almost rolled over in pain.

It was quite strange. The toilets on this floor were usually very lively. There would always be people coming in to use them. However, although they had been here for a long time, the outside world was always quiet, as

if the entire world had been frozen.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel miserable or even desperate. It doesn’t mean that you are necessarily false, and 1am much more real than you.”

Old Li said, “In fact, we are in the same boat. Like you, I’m not sure whether I am virtual or real. I’m not sure whether my world was created by someone. I’m not sure whether what I’m thinking right now is really what I

want.

“For most people, such a philosophical question is meaningless and indeed groundless.

“Only a few people can’t help but ponder, think, cultivate, and pay with the most precious things in the eyes of most people. They pursue an illusory truth that may never be found. There is only one reason, which is

what you said, ‘the mountain is there’.

“You and I are the same kind of people. We are both ‘climbers’ of our respective worlds. The road to immortality is boundless, and the road to immortality is rugged. The people who are searching high and low must be

lonely. How fortunate I am to have found a like-minded young friend. That’s why I said goodbye to you before I ended my training in the ‘Three Thousand Illusionary Worlds’, my incarnation.”.