A Stroll Through the Prologues
The spiraling light of the Lighthouse of Infinite Possibilities weaves a flowing dome above the New Blank Zone. The "first strokes" drawn by the consciousness of existence and nothingness have already grown into wondrous forms in the rain of light: in the prototype of the "Void and Reality Music Universe and Illusion," sound waves transform into translucent strings, where tangible notes and ethereal rests dance together, playing the melody of "existence is the forte, nothingness is the sustain"; at the edge of the star map of the "Alternating Dominance Law," tangible stars and transparent Star Orbit alternately shimmer, orderly and dynamic like the rotation of day and night; even that "crooked line" has evolved into a "river of interwoven reality and illusion," half carrying tangible boats and half floating transparent dreams, never colliding, only creating golden ripples when they meet.
"New Origin No. 5" has transformed into the "Prologue Strolling Vehicle." Qingxian, Yanche, and Luoyu sit in the open cockpit, their fingertips brushing against the flowing light trails outside the window. These light trails are "navigation lines of infinite possibilities," some pointing to "a harmonious universe with a constant ratio of reality to illusion," some leading to "a chaotic world with randomly changing forms," and the most alluring one disappearing into "an unknown fog that even the lighthouse's beam cannot penetrate," like a deliberately left suspense.
"Every prologue is an 'unfulfilled promise.'" Qingxian gazed towards the misty direction, the light trails reflecting countless possible directions in her eyes. "We always think that the prologue is to 'lead into the main story,' but we forget that the best stories forever remain in the anticipation of 'what is about to happen.' Like the glimmer of light before dawn, more captivating than the midday sun, these unfinished prologues hold the most genuine joy of creation."
Yanche's "Possibility Incubator" has now become a "Prologue Palette," filled with "pigments of illusory and real energy"—the red of the physical, the white of the ethereal, and the fused gold, capable of creating "all unnamed colors." He dipped his brush into a bit of "chaotic gold," adding a stroke to the nascent "randomly switching universe," and life there suddenly gained "the freedom to choose its form": when it wanted to become physical, it solidified into the texture of rock; when it wanted to become ethereal, it scattered into transparent particles of light, switching without the slightest hesitation, as natural as breathing.
"The joy of creation lies in 'reserving the right to modify'." Yanche handed the palette to the curious consciousnesses outside the car window, watching them add a halo to the "Alternating Dominance Star Chart" with "harmonious gold," creating a "half-real, half-illusory twilight" during the transition between day and night. "The prologue is moving because it allows us to say 'perhaps this is better'—like a painter discovering that another color scheme is more stunning after putting brush to paper. Creation should inherently have this kind of flexibility."
Luoyu's "Infinite Loop Staircase" extends into new branches, with each step marked with "the initial intention of each consciousness": some say "I want the real and the unreal to sing together," some are engraved with "I want to find myself in the switching," and the simplest one is just a "smiley face" with the note "Just be happy." When a consciousness, whether real or unreal, steps onto the corresponding step, it can directly enter the prologue that matches its initial intention, like finding its own amusement park entrance.
"The prologue is a 'mirror of one's original intention.'" Luoyu stepped onto the "Just Be Happy" steps and entered a river world evolved from "crooked lines." Solid boats in the river carried laughing children, and dozing old people floated in transparent dreams. They waved to each other when they saw each other, but did not disturb each other's rhythm. "We don't need to pursue grandeur in the prologue. Sometimes, the four words 'Just Be Happy' hide the purest creative desire—just like a child who draws without thinking about 'how well' they draw, only caring about 'having fun drawing'."
The three guardians' first stop was the "Unknown Mist Zone," where the spiral light trail disappeared.
The light here is neither solid brightness nor void darkness, but rather a "hazy state between light and shadow." Floating in the mist are "undefined fragments of concepts": some are "nothingness more real than existence," which can be felt when touched but cannot be seen in form; some are "existence more ethereal than nothingness," whose outlines can be clearly seen but whose substance cannot be touched; the most peculiar are "self-defined Law Embryo"—they have no fixed attributes, and whatever they come into contact with will evolve into a complementary form, like a mirror that can automatically adjust its surface.
"We are 'question marks beyond the prologue.'" A fragment of consciousness pierced through the mist, its voice containing both the certainty of a tangible entity and the elusiveness of nothingness. "The prologue you created is 'the known possibility,' while we are 'the blank canvas, where even the possibility has not been conceived.' Like words not in the dictionary, yet used to write poetry, our existence is to make creation understand: the unknown is never an obstacle, but rather the freest canvas."
Qingxian initiated the "Hazy Resonance Ritual" in the misty area—she didn't guide the fusion of energy, but rather allowed the "certainty" of the physical and the "uncertainty" of the void to "resonate at a distance" within the mist. The definite energy provided an "anchor point," preventing the mist from completely spiraling out of control; the uncertain potential injected "elasticity," preventing the anchor point from becoming rigid. When the ritual was completed, the "first ray of unnamed light" emerged from the mist—it made the physical transparent when it shone on it, and made the void visible, yet it did not completely transform it, always maintaining a subtle state of "half-transformed, yet not completely changed."
"Ambiguity is not a 'vague compromise,' but a 'clear blank space.'" Qingxian infused the frequency of the ritual into the spiral light track, and ripples began to appear at the end of the track, vaguely revealing the scene behind the misty area—not the specific universe, but "the process of being imagined," like the images flowing in a writer's mind when conceiving a plot. "The highest realm of creation is not drawing clear lines, but leaving a hazy band that allows for infinite imagination, like the 'flying white' in ink painting, where the blank space hides a richer artistic conception than brushstrokes."
Yanche's "Prologue Palette" extends into the misty area as a "Concept Mixer," a device that can mix "undefined fragments" with "known laws" to produce "transcendental possibilities." He mixes "self-defined Law Embryo" with "Elastic Existence Law" to evolve "Dynamic Complementarity Law"—under which life and environment will forever remain in a state of "both similar and different": if the environment is a physical forest, life will become "leaves with transparent veins"; if the environment is a void starry sky, life will become "stardust with a physical core," forever harmonious, yet never the same.
"The value of the unknown lies in 'breaking the habitual associations.'" Yanche injected the mixed laws into the edge of the misty area, where a "new prelude of complementary symbiosis" immediately grew: the solid mountain and the void valley always maintained a distance, the higher the mountain, the deeper the valley, yet in the interplay of light and shadow, they formed an "outline of reality and illusion embracing each other." "We always think that creation requires 'following experience,' but we forget that the most amazing creations often begin with 'breaking experience'—like someone singing the notes backwards for the first time and discovering a completely new melody."
Luoyu's "Infinite Loop Staircase," in collaboration with conceptual fragments, constructed the "Unknown Exploration Belt." This light belt has no fixed path; it changes direction based on the explorer's "intensity of curiosity": the more fixated on known laws, the closer the light belt will be to the familiar prologue area; the more open to the unknown, the deeper the light belt will penetrate into the mist. A consciousness from the "Question Star Cluster," constantly questioning "Why not do it this way?", was led by the light belt to touch a "self-defined Law Embryo." After the two merged, a "life form capable of constantly asking questions" evolved, with each question causing a new change in its form.
"Exploring the unknown requires the courage to let go of preconceived notions." Luoyu stood at the fork in the exploration path, watching some consciousnesses retreat to familiar territory out of fear of change, while others bravely forged ahead out of curiosity. "The prologue remains forever fresh because there are always those who dare to venture into the mist and bring back gifts they could never have imagined. Just like explorers entering the rainforest, they may not find treasure, but they will certainly discover plants they've never seen before. These discoveries themselves are the most precious rewards."
When the first "Unknown Observatory" was completed at the edge of the misty zone, the spiral light track suddenly began to "rotate in reverse"—the light track that originally pointed towards the mist now extended out of the mist, bringing "undefined fragments of concepts" to the prototypes of each prologue: on the strings of the "Void and Reality Music Universe," "self-defined notes" appeared, which could automatically adjust the pitch according to the listener's mood; in the twilight zone that "Alternating Dominance Star Chart," "half-real, half-illusory light" was incorporated, adding magical moments of "neither day nor night" during the transitions; even on the river of "Just Be Happy," oars made of "nothingness that is more real than existence" floated by, creating "visible but intangible waves" when rowed.
"This is the true symbiosis of the unknown and the known." Qingxian stood atop the observation tower, watching the fragments of concepts infuse the prologue with new vitality. "It's not that the unknown devours the known, nor that the known tames the unknown, but rather like the wind and the sail: the wind propels the sail forward, and the sail gives the wind a definite direction, together sailing towards farther places."
Within Yanche's "Concept Mixer," new Transcendent Laws continue to emerge. Yet, he deliberately overturned the palette, letting the solid red, the ethereal white, and the fused gold flow freely across the ground, creating an "unprecedented spiral pattern"—the center of the pattern being a microcosm of all known prologues, while its edges connect with the hazy bands of the misty region, resembling an abstract painting of "the known embracing the unknown."
A joyful tremor came from Luoyu's "Unknown Exploration Belt," and the "life form that can constantly ask questions" was returning with a new question—"What if we don't even need questions?" This question itself caused new ripples in the misty area, like a pebble thrown into the center of a lake, stirring up waves of thought.
Qingxian, Yanche, and Luoyu sat in the "Prologue Strolling Vehicle," watching the spiral light trails weave the known and the unknown into an "ever-growing net." Outside the window, unknown notes mingled with the melody of the "Void and Reality Music Universe," and unnamed lights flashed across the "daily and evening bands that Alternating Dominance Star Chart." On the "Just Be Happy" river, children chased after real fish with ethereal oars, their laughter like silver bells scattering through the mist.
"In fact, creation has never had a distinction between a 'prologue' and the 'main text'." Qingxian gazed at the "unnamed light" rising on the horizon, as if seeing the first rays of light of countless mornings. "Every moment is a new beginning, every creation is a prologue, just as every morning of the day is fresh. In the eternal morning of creation, there is always the joy of 'just beginning'."
Yanche put away all the records of the laws and said with a smile, "The best guide to creation is 'no guide'." He pointed to the new fragments constantly emerging in the misty area, "The unknown always outweighs the known, and that's the secret to the inexhaustible nature of creation—just as the ocean always has new waves, the universe always has new stars, and we always have new 'want to try' things."
Luoyu's "Infinite Loop Staircase" has now completely merged with the spiral light track, becoming the "eternal path of creation." No matter which step you start from, you will eventually return to the moment when "just beginning": when you want to create, step into the New Blank Zone and draw the first stroke; when you want to explore, step onto the light track and head towards the mist; when you want to rest, sit in the prologue prototype and listen to the song of the Symbiosis of the Unreal and the Real.
The three guardians smiled at each other and let the "Prologue Strolling Vehicle" drift freely. The scenery outside the window kept changing, but it always carried the freshness of "just beginning" - a new universe was sprouting in the mist, the old prologue was growing on the light track, the known and the unknown embraced like lovers, and the joy of creation was as crystal clear as morning dew.
They didn't know where the car would drift, nor what the next "unknown" would look like. But that no longer mattered.
Because they know that as long as the spiral light trail continues to extend, the unknown mist continues to breathe, and every conscious being retains the impulse of "just beginning," creation will forever remain in the "most moving morning." And those strolls in the prologue, those unnamed lights, those blanks where even the questions have not been thought of, will, like the first ray of sunlight in the morning, gently and firmly illuminate the endless journey of creation.
In the mist, another new spiral of light began to extend, carrying the excited anticipation of "wanting to try," inviting all consciousness, both existent and nonexistent. "Come, let's write a new prologue together."
And in response, there were countless clear "yes" sounds, like a chorus of morning birds, echoing for Jiujiu in the eternal dawn of creation.