The purple sphere proposed another possibility—could it truly be captured?
The methods of hyper-civilizations were beyond their comprehension.
The spheres had previously developed two hundred and seventy-three tracking technologies in an attempt to locate where the human child had vanished, but all these methods were erased.
Some spheres theorized that he might have transcended the universe. In many hyper-galactic clusters, extraterrestrial civilizations held dominion. If within the confines of this universe, tracking methods would be difficult to render ineffective.
Only another universe would be beyond the detection range of higher civilizations.
"Transmit the information to the Master."
"This individual is beyond the resolution of us machine intelligences responsible for surveillance."
The blue sphere made the decision.
This was only fitting.
As machine intelligences tasked with surveillance, they would resolve issues within their capabilities.
However, matters involving hyper-civilizations were beyond their independent resolution.
Otherwise, should any errors occur during execution, they would face annihilation.
After assessing the gravity of the situation, they would report to their Master—the higher civilization that created them, bestowing upon them their bodies and intellect.
They would await the higher civilization's decision.
...
In the depths of space, a conversation unknown to most was taking place.
Two individuals from higher civilizations were conversing.
"Signs of a hyper-civilization detected?"
"Shall we proceed with confirmation?"
"Confirmation of their material composition, cellular structure, and even finer particles, revealed fundamental differences from this universe, belonging to no known matter within it."
"This alone is sufficient to prove they originate from outside this universe."
"Not a parallel space within the universe, nor a multi-dimensional space within it, but another universe entirely."
"They resemble a human? A human from that primitive civilization?"
"Yes, but their cellular arrangement and material composition differ from that of primitive human civilization."
"Shall we investigate their memories?"
"The investigation of their memories indicates they originally came from Earth, but clearly, it was another Earth."
"Meaning, they are human, yet simultaneously not a human from this universe."
"A visitor from beyond the membrane, a visitor from another universe. Is this the first instance?"
"Yes, no instances of visitors from beyond the membrane have been discovered prior to this."
"From a material perspective, after disappearing from this universe, they reappeared in another world. We deployed numerous consciousness civilization information packets onto them, following them to other universes, but during this period, we could not probe into those universes. Information could only be transmitted once they returned to this universe."
"In other words, cross-universe communication requires them as an intermediary, rather than being independently achievable by us?"
"Yes, the universe is composed of space and time, as well as matter and spirit. With our technological means, we cannot observe outer universes. We can only gain understanding of outer universes through the information transmitted between the consciousness civilization information packets they carry."
"In that world, intelligent probes explored the entire realm and discovered that it differed completely from here, possessing beings recorded as 'immortals' within the primitive civilization of humanity."
"Oh, are other universes perhaps not materialistic?"
"Can we confirm the authenticity of their memories?"
It was no wonder the higher civilization individuals expressed such doubt.
Whether a universe is materialistic or idealistic, or does not adhere to the rules of this universe, leading to the appearance of supernatural beings, is quite normal and explainable within the theory of alternate universes.
Because traversing one universe is something even higher civilizations as a whole cannot achieve, they could accept it even if another universe was not a world of pure technological development.
However, the perplexing aspect was the existence of "immortals" in that world.
Immortals, cultivators—what were they? These were not ordinary supernatural beings, but rather concepts generated by the primitive human civilization's ancient religious understanding.
In essence, they were merely spiritual constructs, figments of imagination created by a primitive civilization due to their inability to cope with too many things due to insufficient productivity.
In the greater universe, such spiritual constructs, along with their cultural heritage and history, existed for every primitive civilization.
Why, then, did the civilization from a star less than one in ten trillion in a hyper-galactic cluster, specifically Earth, manifest true immortals in another universe?
The higher civilizations calculated two possibilities.
They had now identified two alternate universes: one was a world of Xianxia as perceived by Earth civilization, and the other was a cosmic expanse containing another Earth.
The former was referred to by the human child as World One, while the universe containing the other Earth was the Zero World in the child's mind.
The existence of Earth in both the Zero World and World Two indicated a special nature to Earth, perhaps more than just a primitive civilization. In World One, immortals from the culture of Earth's Dragon Country appeared.
This further solidified this point.
This was one possibility.
The other possibility was that the child's memories were fabricated.
Given the child's differing material composition from this universe, it could be concluded they originated from another universe. But was this an "misdirection" specifically manufactured by an alternate universe for this universe's higher civilizations?
Perhaps the so-called Zero World, World One, and the world with immortals were all false, a form of memetic deception, an information fraud perpetrated by the technological civilization of another universe.
All these were possibilities.
A primitive civilization individual might overlook these doubts and not overthink them.
However, higher civilization individuals who had reached their status in the vast universe would consider all possibilities, leaving no stone unturned.
"Regarding the authenticity of their memories, our technology can determine they are real, but when it involves a civilization capable of traversing alternate universes, it becomes difficult to guarantee their veracity."
The logic was simple: a civilization capable of traversing alternate universes clearly possessed superior technological prowess. If they surpassed them in the technology of memory concealment, then they would have no way of knowing if it was true or false.
Higher civilizations could perform many feats that primitive civilizations considered divine, but when it came to matters of alternate universes, many things could not be definitively confirmed.
Even if some individuals from higher civilizations followed the fundamental particle composition of that human child and traversed to other worlds, then returned, it could not be guaranteed that they were still the same individual.
This was because the memories of sentient beings were not sacred; they were merely things that could be easily fabricated—in the face of super-civilizations with capabilities beyond the universe, higher civilizations were no different.
"Are the talents in that human child's memories their individual talents?"
"We have employed various means to analyze their body and consciousness, but we cannot determine if this originates from a higher technology or their individual talent."
On the very first day the human child arrived in this universe, they were detected by the civilization's surveillance intelligent machines and reported to the higher civilization.
Higher civilizations possessed countless methods to analyze the child's body down to the fundamental particles, without harming their consciousness, memories, or body, and without being detected by them.
Higher civilizations did not need to cause harm or perform dissections; they could understand the child better than anyone, including the child themselves.
Therefore, while the child remained unaware of the existence of higher civilizations, they had already been comprehensively analyzed, and their various personality traits and emotions were thoroughly understood.
"It's truly troublesome. When it involves higher technology and super-civilizations capable of escaping the cycle of the universe, many things cannot be confirmed."
"However, this individual's appearance is still good news."
"We can treat them as someone who has inherited part of the legacy of a super-civilization, yet possesses no armed forces."
"While we, with the collective might of our civilization, cannot rival a super-civilization, an individual who inherits their legacy without their armed forces is, under current circumstances, someone we can deal with at will."
In the grand universe, the extinction of a primitive or lower civilization was commonplace. Weapons like the two-dimensional foil or light particles were sufficient for such purges. These were merely the tasks of cleaners. If higher civilizations were to truly exert themselves and wage war, they could even annihilate a hyper-galactic cluster.
Locally reversing time, causing the temporal flow of trillions of star systems to rewind, was also common.
If they were to go all out, all higher civilizations in the universe could even reverse the time of the entire grand universe—though this would still not alter the fundamental lifespan of the grand universe, and in essence, would be a waste of the universe's lifespan.
Facing such power, even the immortals detected in World One were insignificant in the eyes of higher civilizations. With such power, higher civilizations could naturally deal with the child at will.
Higher civilizations would naturally consider the preciousness of a single specimen.
This human child was exceptionally valuable. Within higher civilizations, no individual would harbor destructive tendencies towards them. If they could traverse universes and worlds, then the infinite worlds would clearly present a vast treasure trove for higher civilizations.
No higher civilization would harbor destructive tendencies towards such a treasure, given the uniqueness of their "world-traversing talent." This was the only example in the entire universe.
Of course, through the modification of consciousness and will, while maintaining their personality, they could be made to feel affinity towards higher civilizations, even controlled by them. This had already been achieved.
The human child would subconsciously ignore the existence of higher civilizations and their influence, and would not develop any aversion towards them.
"Within the civilization, plans for escape are being formulated."
"Currently, many civilization individuals lean towards using this child to escape to other universes during the great cosmic cataclysm. What do you think?"
The higher civilization individual paid no mind to other matters, redirecting the conversation back to this point.
Individuals who ascended to higher civilization status in the universe had already reached the true pinnacle in terms of material and spiritual enjoyment, requiring no further pursuit.
However, there was one matter that higher civilization individuals themselves could not ignore, and that which they pursued: the great cosmic cataclysm.
The matter within the universe must return to nothingness; this was the law of vacuum conservation. Even escaping to a pocket universe constructed by higher civilizations could not evade this.
At that final moment, no matter how brilliant a civilization, there would be no sentient life to appreciate it, rendering it meaningless, leaving only void.
Therefore, the pursuit of eternity had always been the aspiration of sentient life.
Lower civilizations extended lifespan through genetic technology; middle-tier civilizations transferred consciousness and souls to achieve immortality.
Higher civilizations transferred consciousness and souls, while also preserving their soul's will from becoming that of another sentient being over extended periods, allowing them to survive eternally.
Every individual in a higher civilization was capable of living until the great cosmic cataclysm, meaning they were immortal unless the universe itself perished.
However, true eternity, eternity that transcended the cycle of the universe, could not be achieved.
Thus, numerous higher civilizations were searching for so-called seeds of hyper-civilization.
They hoped to transcend the cycle of the universe.
A method to elevate civilization above the universe.
Now, it seemed they had found a method: utilizing the child's world-traversing talent to journey to other universes.
Since they would no longer be within this universe, vacuum energy conservation and cosmic reset would naturally not affect individuals in alternate universes.
Only...
"In that case, it would merely be escaping from one cage to another."
"Escaping from one universe to another is a method of escape, not transcendence."
"Would the Zero World in that other universe not encounter the cataclysm?"
"In alternate universes, encountering the great cosmic cataclysm would still be an unsolvable problem, and extinction would be unavoidable."
"This is not the right path."
"If our universe were on the verge of extinction, I would naturally choose to escape. But with countless astronomical numbers of years remaining until the great cosmic silence, choosing to flee now would not be a wise decision."
Upon hearing this, another higher civilization individual said, "Your choice is also valid, but if the child's memories are true, then other alternate universes may not necessarily have the cataclysm. Take the Xianxia world, World One, for example. According to the instruments sent there, there has never been a great cosmic cataclysm."
"The rules governing it are more like 'heaven and earth are round'..."
The higher civilization individuals were discussing.
Although the composure of higher civilization individuals far exceeded that of primitive civilization individuals, as sentient beings, they naturally possessed their own emotions and personalities.
The sentiment of joy still existed.
Since the child's numerous microorganisms, cells, clothing, and even some talismans and weapons they carried could traverse worlds, higher civilization individuals could transform their own civilization into fundamental particles and have them carried on their clothing. They could then traverse worlds along with the child's world-traversing talent.
This was not difficult—a speck of dust attached to clothing, which no one could sense. Then, for fundamental particles countless times smaller than a speck of dust, it would naturally be even less perceptible.
There were clearly no issues with world traversal, and the human child's will would also be entirely inclined towards the higher civilization.
Whether it was higher civilization individuals who felt it was not yet appropriate to travel to other worlds, or those who leaned towards the possibility of traveling to other worlds, they all agreed that having this additional channel to other worlds was absolutely great news.
Naturally, the mood of the higher civilization individuals was filled with joy.
Because the human child's own protective capabilities were too weak, even some weapons from primitive civilizations, such as Earth's missiles, could inflict fatal damage. Not to mention star-annihilation cannons or light particles.
Higher civilizations had equipped them with a personal defense system to ensure their lifespan—interdimensional traversal was extremely risky, and higher civilizations did not wish to wait only to receive news of the child's death in an alternate universe.
No, they wouldn't even receive news.
Until the world-traversing talent was fully deciphered and popularized, the human child's life was clearly extremely precious.
Higher civilizations would do their utmost to protect the child's life—of course, without letting them discover it.
In appearance, and in the child's own self-perception, they remained as fragile as ever, as if no modifications by higher civilizations had ever occurred.
There were seventy-two higher civilizations in the universe, and currently, only one had discovered the child's existence. The only higher civilization aware of the true existence of alternate universes had also set up numerous measures to prevent other higher civilizations from learning of the child's existence.
They knew that if other higher civilizations were to learn this information, it could lead to unpredictable consequences.
...
In the Hall of Myriad Realms.
The woman glanced at Fang Ming.
"Your clone's consciousness has been modified by the higher civilizations in the game. Do you believe this chess piece still has a purpose?"
The chess piece had been modified to this extent.
According to the woman's thinking, this chess piece should have already met a disastrous end.
However, Fang Ming had not yet conceded.
He continued to gaze at the Myriad Realms Chessboard.
Without power, even with a cheat, many situations were unreliable.
He finally understood the consequences of lacking protagonist's luck.
Even though his clone had not encountered any accidents in the first world, carefully blending into the White Cloud Sect and surviving in the Xianxia world.
But this unconscious, step-by-step traversal, directly into a zombie world—a world that was ostensibly a civilization ruin, but actually contained numerous alien civilizations from the entire universe—led to their consciousness being modified.
Although not truly annihilated, they had ultimately become tools of higher civilizations.
This was perhaps the fate of lacking protagonist's luck and protagonist's destiny.
In unconscious world traversal, many things were uncontrollable—directly traversing to a higher world and being discovered by powerful beings who overlooked spacetime, or being found by civilization monitors of higher technological civilizations, were highly probable occurrences.
The safety was not that high.
But he had not conceded this game of chess.
After all, if consciousness could be modified, it could also be restored.
It could also be awakened.
This was not an irreversible operation.
Conceding at this point was too early.
As long as they were alive, as long as their bodies and souls were not destroyed, and as long as there was not complete hopelessness, this game of chess could not be considered over, and there was no need to start the next game.
If the world-traversing talent could lead them to irresistible situations, directly discovered by higher civilization monitors and have their consciousness altered, then if higher civilizations continuously had the clone activate this world-traversing talent, they would eventually encounter worlds that even higher civilizations could not resist.
They would encounter powerful beings that even higher civilizations could not resist.
At that time, the clone would also have the possibility of their consciousness being restored and reawakened.
As long as there was a glimmer of hope, there was a possibility. This was a belief Fang Ming had always held.
Therefore, he would not concede this game of chess.
Fang Ming thought, "However, even though I say this, and even though I don't concede, if even consciousness is controlled, it will be difficult to turn the tide of this game."
"The cheat I gave the clone is not really good; it's completely random."
"If there's a next game, I should consider other types of cheats."
"As for now—since things have come to this, let's treat a dead horse as if it were alive and learn from it."
"Accumulating experience for the next game."
Fang Ming's refusal to concede was not just for this game, but also for the next game and countless games thereafter.
Indeed, in this Hall of Myriad Realms, ordinary powerful beings, upon seeing themselves defeated by natives before even encountering the enemy, would likely deem this game lost and, after weighing their options, abandon it to quickly start the next game.
However, Fang Ming would not do so.
Because he was a "newcomer" in the Hall of Myriad Realms who had not yet completed a single game.
As a newcomer, it was acceptable to fail sometimes; he was not fixated on victory or defeat, but rather on absorbing experience from this and subsequent failures.
His current persistence was to avoid future defeats.
Fang Ming maintained this mindset.
It was about treating a desperate situation as a chance to learn and accumulating experience.
The woman also recognized Fang Ming as a newcomer and knew he was absorbing experience from his failures to avoid future defeats.
That was why she advised Fang Ming to concede—but if Fang Ming refused, she could do nothing but maintain her stance.
After all, she could not change Fang Ming's decision.
She could only decide on her words to shake Fang Ming's resolve, but if Fang Ming remained unwavering, she could do nothing.
"Since you refuse to concede, the game shall continue."
Sensing Fang Ming's determination, the woman said so.