A Terrifying Truth Upon Closer Thought: Schrodinger's History

Su Qing'an understood what the other party meant.

From a practical standpoint, the Sea of Quantum is currently the optimal solution to satisfy the appetite of a Planet-class Honkai Beast.

This does not mean that there must be a large number of Honkai Beast inside, but rather that, ignoring the limitations of the current era, the Sea of Quantum, which is filled with countless World Bubble, has far more value to explore and holds more potential hope than the Proper World.

Those worlds that were selected as World Bubble by the Honkai mechanism from the Leaf World eventually settled in the Quantum Corridor and slowly condensed into an endless Milky Way. Occasionally, some of the accomplices that were selected by the mechanism would remain in it, even though with the passage of time, not even one ten-thousandth of the original ones remain.

However, the entire Sea of Quantum must contain enough demons to satisfy Su Qing'an.

However, just as Fu Hua said, the Proper World has undergone 50,000 years of development, giving birth to a brand new civilization, the First Flame, and the human race. The facilities preserved from the previous era are fossil-level antiques. Without the relevant technology to test and repair them, the risk of using them rashly is too great.

Fu Hua is fairly confident that she can return to her Proper World from the turbulence of the Sea of Quantum, but how long it will take is completely unknown. It is possible that by the time she makes the round trip, all the people she knows will have passed away, and her hometown will have changed beyond recognition.

If the original goal has not been reached and all efforts have been in vain, it would be even more unwise.

Moreover, given that he can only use [Stigmata] and his Manas consciousness is locked, he may not have the ability to find the path to the end in the Sea of Quantum.

This means that if things break down in the middle, it will lead to disaster.

Therefore, Su Qing'an did not question Fu Hua's judgment; he simply asked:

What exactly happened at that time?

"The information provided in your Heart Seal is insufficient."

Upon hearing this, the girl glanced at the Heart Seal slowly fading from her palm, and her lips curled slightly.

If, at this moment, he were to state directly that it was because of that action that the other party couldn't glean the complete information, what kind of expression would he show?

Fu Hua suppressed the occasional whimsical glint in his heart and explained earnestly:

"That was a war that took place during the Warring States period, later known as the Battle of Changping."

Su Qing'an was able to recall this horrifying period of history that remained familiar to people thousands of years later.

The boy vaguely remembered that during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the governor of Shangdang in the state of Han discovered that the area under his jurisdiction had been ceded to the state of Qin by his ruler. Because he was unwilling to surrender to Qin, he offered the city under his jurisdiction to the state of Zhao.

Having gained this advantage, the State of Zhao was naturally unwilling to easily cede the city back.

Therefore, the Qin state dispatched a general, ordering Lord Wu'an — Bai Qi —to lead an army to conquer the enemy, which led to the later famous Battle of Changping.

The final result was that Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, massacred approximately 450,000 Zhao soldiers, while the Qin army also suffered heavy losses, losing about half of the enemy's casualties.

But why is this war, which has gone down in history, associated with Honkai Phenomenon that transcends the scale of its time?

The immortal read through the memories within the Heart Seal and recounted them in detail:

"As I said before, the existence of that place was due to an inexplicable accident."

"And before the accident happened, the war itself actually involved things that required my intervention."

Su Qing'an guessed:

"Did either the Qin or Zhao state use the Honkai to wage war?"

"Before the earth's veins cracked and the sky became colorful, those soldiers may have already been uncontrollably turning into Zombie. The only reason for this outcome is that one or both sides utilized the Honkai itself to create such a result."

Fu Hua nodded and said:

"At that time, Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, was a natural holder of the Stigmata. His Stigmata ability was very special. He was born with the ability to accumulate spiritual power that was almost a materialized form of killing intent through killing, and gradually permeated it throughout his body, eventually spreading it to the Heaven and Earth Qi that he controlled."

"Whether or not Bai Qi's soldiers possessed the aptitude for Qi cultivation, they could quickly gain control of the Heaven and Earth Qi on the battlefield."

"Therefore, in that era, the army led by Bai Qi was virtually invincible."

Born with Stigmata, Bai Qi?

Su Qing'an suppressed his doubts for the time being and asked:

"If that's the case, unless the Zhao Kingdom also had a naturally born Stigmata holder at that time, the battlefield couldn't have been so devastating."

The girl stated:

"In fact, the Zhao state did indeed force Bai Qi into that situation. They were at a disadvantage, on the verge of being surrounded and annihilated, but at the most critical moment, they used forbidden methods."

Fu Hua's face showed a complex emotion, and she sighed:

"The humans of this era allowed me to witness the innate creativity and potential of this race. Even though I did not spread the relevant knowledge, the Zhao Kingdom at that time still had talented individuals who created methods to utilize Honkai Energy."

"Although it's crude, it is indeed a crystal extracted from a large amount of the Heaven and Earth Qi, refined using some unknown method. Most importantly, it combines biology and chemistry, and contains viruses specifically targeting the human body."

"When the Zhao army was driven to the brink of despair, they used this bio-weapon from the Honkai side. As a result, except for Bai Qi, all the other soldiers were killed shortly after I arrived."

"And what happened afterward was somewhat similar to the myths that Dan Zhu had spread before, as if it meant that too much killing had brought divine retribution. First, there was a sense of tearing apart dimensions and spacetime, then the tributaries of the Sea of Quantum fell like rain, and then the earth dragon happened to turn over."

"Finally, within the tributary of the Sea of Quantum that cascaded down like a waterfall, a nearly decaying, broken World Bubble was also carried along. Together, they fell into the cracked abyss, along with the corpses of the soldiers, forming a deadly pit that resembled an insurmountable chasm."

There's a lot of information in those words.

Looking at the whole event, the Battle of Changping itself and the sudden appearance of the Sea of Quantum have no hidden logic that can be deliberately figured out or even connected.

The two are completely unrelated, and no matter how you look at them, you can only arrive at an unexpected conclusion.

As a result, the World Bubble and the tributary of the Sea of Quantum were embedded in a corner of the Proper World, transforming into a special zone.

Su Qing'an thought for a moment and said:

"This shouldn't be the end yet, and judging from your entry into the Ascended State, you've probably omitted a lot of the process."

The girl agreed and continued her statement:

"Yes, the dimensions and spacetime of the Proper World were disrupted in that instant. If I hadn't intervened then, a vast area of Shenzhou would have been swallowed up by the unstoppable influx of Sea of Quantum, and the World Bubble would have spread as well. It's really hard to predict what the final consequences would have been."

"In that situation, I only managed to save some of the survivors and Bai Qi."

"Many soldiers in the rear who were not yet affected by the biological weapons were unfortunately caught in that World Bubble, and their fate is unknown."

"After the dimensional disorder ended, the tributaries of the World Bubble and the Sea of Quantum were cut off at the bottom of that abyss, forming an outer space independent of the Proper World. For nearly a thousand years thereafter, most of the primordial Heaven and Earth Qi of the Shenzhou Continent would converge on this space."

"By the end of the Warring States period, the Heaven and Earth Qi had been completely exhausted, and the warriors of that time believed that the end of the Dharma era had arrived."

"Lord Wu'a Bai Qi suffered a major backlash from his Stigmata abilities during that battle. Under the original circumstances, he should have passed away naturally not long afterward, but the change in the overall environment altered that outcome."

She paused, looked up, and said:

"I just said not long ago that those in power don't approach Mount Taixu. Is this the reason for this tacit rule?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qing'an connected the dots and arrived at the answer:

"Is that person surrounding your mountain gate Qin Shi Huang?"

After receiving Fu Hua's confirmation, he continued:

"If it were during his reign, Bai Qi would have been dead for a long time. The decline of the Heaven and Earth Qi and the passage of time would have likely caused all the martial artists who knew Qi techniques to disappear completely."

"During those decades, because demons ceased to be born, you had no reason to leave the mountains and remained completely hidden. With the entire Shenzhou no longer in Honkai, it's not impossible for him to develop a disbelief in immortals and gods."

The immortal didn't care about the distant past; she simply continued:

"That space continuously absorbed the Heaven and Earth Qi until it gradually stopped a few years ago during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the demons in the Shenzhou began to swell back in rebellion. I often went to the Great Wall to help the soldiers there clear out the demons attacking the city. During this period, the space had no effect on the Proper World and was in an extremely dead state."

"I used my Gene Ability to block the abyss with mud and rocks, and spent some time creating a miniature mountain range above it, while also leaving a passage for entry and exit."

"I entered once during that period, and after confirming that it would not pose a threat to Shenzhou, I chose to leave."

Su Qing'an asked:

"Hua, have you ever thought about the reasons behind that accident?"

He preferred the other perspective to one that was purely accidental and without any reason.

After successfully ascending to a higher dimension, the boy's perspective and very existence made his vision and perception completely different from before. He could not only easily step out of the Leaf World and walk freely between the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quantum, but also easily glimpse the prosperity or decline of the other Leaf World that were far away.

Although it was only for a few moments, he did see many civilizations struggling under the Honkai, just like the Proper World.

From this point on, even though the boy could not immediately replicate the grandeur of a higher-dimensional life form, he still possessed insights and understanding surpassing his previous abilities. He attempted to analyze:

"World Bubble are Leaf World that withered after being filtered by the Honkai. They sank to the bottom of the Imaginary Tree, disappeared into the Sea of Quantum, and became abandoned wandering bubbles."

Why would such a bubble crash into the Proper World, which is still connected to the Imaginary Tree?

"Theoretically speaking, unless there is Quantum Anchor Point in the area of Battle of Changping, or it is truly just a dimensional disorder that connected some of the water flow of the Sea of Quantum with a World Bubble to the Proper World."

"The most likely possibility is that another civilization exists within that World Bubble itself. They know that the World Bubble, drifting in the Sea of Quantum, will eventually wither away completely, so they are trying to push their World Bubble back onto the Imaginary Tree to avoid disaster?"

"During this process, the trajectory deviated, or perhaps the plan itself intended to use this as a substitute for the real cause, which is why this unexpected event occurred."

The immortal remained silent for a moment upon hearing this, then replied:

"I can't say for sure that you're wrong; in fact, your speculation is quite logical, but it's most likely just an accident."

"That space was just a sea of Honkai Beast. I tried to find traces of civilization there and did get some results, but apart from being able to determine that this civilization probably did not belong to the same race as humans, I could only get fragmented clues."

"There are no living beings inside besides those in the Honkai, nor are there any similar facilities operating. There is only endless desolation and mottled ruins. What you described is unlikely to be true."

Su Qing'an murmured:

Was it purely an accident?

Bai Qi's possession of innate Stigmata was something he cared about a lot, and this detail itself might even be the key to the breakthrough behind the [accident].

The boy asked:

"Hua, is Bai Qi a male?"

Fu Hua paused for a moment, then replied:

"Yes, is there something wrong?"

Su Qing'an rubbed his temples and explained:

"The essence of Stigmata is that it gives humans an innate ability to control Honkai Energy. In my memory, the reason why humans in later eras possess Stigmata is because Dr. Mei modified and adjusted the genes of humans in later eras at the end of civilization."

"Given the sheer number of individuals, even if the technology isn't perfectly refined, it's still possible for exceptional individuals like Rongyue to emerge."

"The problem is that, in my memory, in the original and initial trajectory, Dr. Mei, because she habitually experimented on her own body, first adjusted the female gene pool. When the Finality, she didn't have time to adjust the male gene pool, and the era was forced to end."

"In other words, according to the normal course of history, Lord Wu'a Bai Qi should not have awakened the Stigmata. He was merely a top-tier general, not a warrior capable of defeating ten thousand men."

The immortal wanted to refute this, because it contradicted his long-held common sense and memories.

However, upon closer examination, she suddenly realized that the memories from other timelines differed from her own original memories regarding this detail, and were even somewhat ambiguous.

The girl frowned, somewhat doubtful.

"Dr. Mei has successfully modified the gene pool of post-modern humans. Regardless of my own memories, the fact that both men and women have been born as Stigmata holders in Shenzhou over the past thousands of years proves that this is true."

"But why are my memories of this so hazy? When did it start? And why is that?"

The immortal suddenly realized that the Tome of Cangxuan had inexplicably regained its power, and that he had gained several more world line memories. He looked into the boy's deep eyes, his thoughts swirling, and came to an unbelievable answer.

Her expression was one of surprise, her lips moved slightly, and she murmured:

"Could it be... because of dimensional ascension?"

Upon hearing the answer the other party had received, Su Qing'an remained silent for a moment before saying:

"We still need to confirm. Besides the two of us, Xiao Xi has recorded everything, can provide more memories for comparison. I'll just have her come over."

In the instant of Manas consciousness, the invisible and colorless link tightened and pulled, and the red rope with the copper lock fell onto his wrist, then dissipated into thousands of starlight, transforming into a lovely White Sparrow.

It flew onto the boy's hair, tilted its little head, and asked:

"What's wrong, Xiao Su?"

Su Qing'an said frankly:

"We need your recorded memories to corroborate some truths."

"Xiao Xi, in your memory, was the timeline of the previous era restarted immediately after my death? Or did it extend into a much later future?"

Su Muxi replied:

"Not long after Xiao Su left, Xiao Fu was packing up her things and found your diary. Only then did everything begin to restart."

"For me, it was like taking a short nap, and Awakened, it was already this dynasty."

Su Qing'an thought for a while. If it was a direct restart after death, it could be considered that the subsequent world line would not continue to have another ending on its own, but would directly arrive at this world as if the file had been deleted and then reloaded.

If death leads to a different ending far in the future, it suggests that... there is a possibility that another timeline exists, and the god's talk of a reboot is just a deception.

Being located in the middle only suggests that one's death was exceptionally unusual.

Perhaps because I lost my own personality and was unable to make my own choices, the timeline was extended for a longer period before it was restarted, resulting in such discrepancies.

Now that the consistency of the world lines has been confirmed once again, the only question left is about the discrepancy in memory.

"Xiao Xi, you should have memories of Hua in ancient Shenzhou. In your memories, did Bai Qi, the Lord Wu'an during the Warring States period, awaken the Stigmata? Did the Battle of Battle of Changping present a crisis that Hua had to face only by entering the Ascended State?"

Su Muxi checked the information in the record and replied:

"Dr. Mei did not have time to compile the gene pool of post-era men, Bai Qi did not meet the conditions for awakening the Stigmata, and in his memory, Chi Yuan's intervention in the Battle of Changping was limited to the aftermath of the biological weapons, and there was no crisis that required entering the Ascended State to deal with."

Su Qing'an looked at the pensive girl and asked:

"Hua, based on Bai Qi's existence, the gene pool has theoretically been fully perfected. The male-to-female ratio of those who have awakened the Stigmata in this era should be roughly equal. Can you name any other males who have awakened the Stigmata besides Bai Qi?"

Fu Hua recalled her memories, starting with the most recent figures, saying:

"Li Yuanba is Stigmata Awakener."

The girl frowned as soon as she uttered the man's name and said:

"No, he shouldn't be. Zhuge Liang, Gai Nie, Jiang Ziya... it seems like he is, but it also seems like he isn't."

"... Yue Fei should be... wait, this should be something that happens in the future."

Su Qing'an took a deep breath, stopping the other person from continuing to think, and said:

"In the previously rebooted timelines, the fixed paths were all due to the male gene pool not having had time to be modified. Regardless of whether other possibilities exist, whether Yue Fei was Stigmata Awakener should not be an answer you know now."

"Hua, you have a problem with your memory."

"Simply because of my existence."

The girl completely emptied her mind, dispelling the vague anxiety and confusion she had felt earlier, and regained her composure. She said:

"Only this reason can explain it."

"From the moment you appeared in this world, Qing'an, all sorts of illogical things have been happening. It's just that initially everything was limited to our immediate surroundings. The power of the Tome of Cangxuan and my memories were the key factors that made us notice these things at first."

"You said that gods can truly restart timelines, and even things on a much larger scale— the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quantum."

"Although this is just speculation, the fact that you still cannot perceive His existence even if you reach a higher dimension is enough to explain a lot."

"The ability to ascend to a higher dimension is not meaningless; this transformation drastically changes the path you were originally on to restart your life."

"If I had to describe it, you were like a player who would have their save data wiped upon death and be randomly placed in any timeline within the world."

"But after ascending to a higher dimension, your experience becomes an integral part of you. Even if you go to a completely rebooted world, it will spread its own color like a drop of ink in a bucket."

Su Qing'an stated:

"Therefore, you Karma most deeply connected to me in this timeline, will be affected, even causing you to regain memories from previous timelines."

"My Personal Record not only interferes with people's memories, but also with the past of this world itself. For example, the gene pool of post-humans is intact, which is as if my original influence on the previous era has been continued in a mysterious way."

Fu Hua responded:

"But since my memories contain vague flaws, and the awakening of the Stigmata of Lord Wu'a Bai Qi is a unique case almost unparalleled in history, it illustrates a very subtle issue."

"That means there's a limit to the level of detail your records can cover."

Recalling the details of what had just happened, she sighed:

"You changed the world indirectly, but you didn't completely change it."

"This is a very distorted situation. History, the past, and even the future are becoming blurred under the interference of this Personal Record. Many things may therefore generate two completely different logics, yet they can still operate in a bizarre way."

Su Qing'an completely agreed with the other party's speculation.

Because the logic of this analysis perfectly matched the flaws he had previously discovered.

And... does this mean that the reason the Battle of Changping caused a dimensional shift, indirectly allowing a tributary of the Sea of Quantum and a World Bubble to remain in the Proper World, is because their very existence caused errors in the records of how the world operates?

Wrong.

The boy believed that the so-called "Personal Record" was most likely to interfere with and change Fu Hua's memories and Heart Seal, rather than a logical correction that had spanned thousands of years.

He said earnestly:

Even ignoring my need for demons, we still have to go there.