"Transcendence is an extremely counterintuitive concept. To understand these questions, you must first abandon the notion in your mind that 'I can understand what transcendence is.'"
The Shadow Cat curled its tail around itself, sitting where it was. It spread its two forelegs wide, its two fluffy little paws held far apart, as though they stood at opposite ends of a great river:
"Like the Ancient Wizards of our world, who are true higher-dimensional beings. Besides existing in the present world, their true forms grow and spread along the Time Dimension Line. They exist in the present, the past, and the future. Just as their names suggest, the farther upstream along the River of Time you trace them, the closer you get to the birth of the world; the more ancient they are in terms of time, the more powerful they become... But I need to emphasize one thing here: it is not that the more ancient ones are more powerful, but that the more powerful ones are more ancient."
That last sentence was somewhat convoluted, and rather subtle.
As the black cat pondered this, the Shadow Cat abruptly changed the subject and returned to the questions he had just raised. "You asked what collecting the Origin of different worlds has to do with transcendence. Then I need you to think from the position of a true transcendent being. One day in the future, when you have become the most ancient being occupying the source of time, what are you, as you look downstream at your present self?"
The black cat lowered his head, extended a claw, and drew line after line on the ground:
If his future self transcended, then after tracing upstream, his present self would become his future self. What he did now seemed predetermined because of