This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 367: Observing Reality and Fundamental Reality

Chapter 367: Chapter 367: Observing Reality and Fundamental Reality

"I understand. When a person travels through time... his past and future are corrected by the universe, becoming a different person." Chen Ke said.

"Yes, exactly." Lin Yaying nodded.

Chen Ke couldn’t help but ponder, this statement effectively negated the existence of parallel universes, affirming there’s only one timeline.

Combining Xu Jing’s interpretation of time, the subjective reality within the beads can be replaced and altered, and the removed beads will gradually fade away...

Does this mean that a person who traverses time will eventually be abandoned by time itself?

However, there was a significant difference in what Xu Jing and Lin Yaying said; Xu Jing initially clarified one point: Time does not exist.

"The factor of ’time’ does not exist in the universe; the universe only involves matter from birth to demise, and time is a summary of human experience of the universe."

But Lin Yaying never mentioned that "time does not exist."

"Is it still possible for the Time Primordial Man to return to the past timeline?" Chen Ke asked.

"Impossible, the universe will correct any loopholes left when the transmigrators depart, once you leave, you can’t return." Lin Yaying replied.

"There’s a flaw in that reasoning. If people who travel through time cannot return, how then can you return to your foundation? I presume a new ’you’ would replace your position there, right?" Chen Ke said.

Xu Jing had proven himself with the foundation’s gun, while Lin Yaying had not, so Chen Ke didn’t completely trust Lin Yaying’s words.

"You’re very astute, just like Li Moyang, you’ve noticed this point. And this brings me to the second concept I wanted to discuss, observed reality and foundational reality." Lin Yaying said.

Here it came...

Chen Ke rubbed the corner of his eye, what Lin Yaying said was totally different from what Xu Jing had described...

Xu Jing had talked about objective reality and subjective reality, where the subjective reality involved past events represented by numerous beads... these beads strung on a thread that represented objective reality.

But can time truly be described in terms of subjective and objective?

Objective existence is something that exists independent of consciousness, does not rely upon the spirit for its existence, and is not subject to human will. It’s the original face of matter, unrelated to any conscious thought or idea....

Subjective existence is something that resides only within human consciousness and spirit, as a sensation or intention.

For example, a blue flower is objectively existent. Yet a "beautiful" and "fragrant" blue flower has a subjective existence.

However, for Chen Ke, time was an objectively existent entity, always present in the upper right corner of his field of vision, ticking away, reminding him that his life was running out.

Now, Lin Yaying had introduced Chen Ke to two completely new realities, and in just one day, Chen Ke felt his understanding of the universe and time had been completely overturned.

"Observed reality and foundational reality are both constructed upon time, time marches forward, and you are my history," Lin Yaying chuckled.

Lin Yaying’s statement implied she acknowledged the existence of time, and time even became some sort of fundamental element.

"What exactly are observed reality and foundational reality about?" Chen Ke asked.

"I’ll just give you a simple example, then you’ll understand what this universe is all about, and why we do what we do." Lin Yaying replied.

Chen Ke glanced at Li Moyang, who was leisurely nursing a drink, appearing quite smug, probably already familiar with these theories.

"Imagine three things on a table: a television, a video camera, and a stack of videotapes. The video camera plays the videotapes, and the TV displays the images. This is our universe," Lin Yaying said.

"That sounds a bit vague," Chen Ke replied.

"The videotapes represent the observed reality, and the video camera is time. You exist within these videotapes. Got it?" Lin Yaying explained.

"Where are you in all this...?" Chen Ke felt unease, sensing as if being watched.

"I’m in front of the TV, and beyond the TV is the foundational reality," Lin Yaying smiled.

"This is too far-fetched..." Chen Ke was somewhat frustrated, not understanding why, but this reasoning gave him a sense of immense helplessness.

"It’s the principle of the universe. The videotapes will fill up and then be replaced by the universe with new ones, and as I watch you from in front of the TV, someday, someone will also watch me..." Lin Yaying explained.

"Are you saying that foundational reality and observed reality... are fluid?" Chen Ke asked.

"Exactly, what do you think? The foundation cannot observe the future, only the past. The foundational reality is at the end of time until one day, it is filled to the brim and replaced with a new videotape," Lin Yaying replied.

It sounded very despairing, but on the other hand, it was somewhat good news; after all, the future was unknowable.

"Why don’t you just drag the progress bar to the critical moments and intervene directly?" Chen Ke asked.

"Let me ask you, if you bought a movie DVD home, could you change the plot yourself?" Lin Yaying countered.

Chen Ke scratched the back of his head, which was clearly not quite feasible, though not entirely impossible, like cutting film clips, redubbing, changing subtitles, then replacing the same segments in the disc... many online comedic videos were made this way.

"It’s troublesome, right? And if you watch it again from the beginning, it would feel very jarring," Lin Yaying said.

That was for certain, even though movie files were in the user’s hands, the elements they could alter were just audio and subtitles, at most adding some simple effects, similar to those tacky variety shows.

"Altering the past is similar; the Time Primordial Man directly intervening to alter the world could have significant impacts, but the outcomes are unpredictable, for almost every alteration prompts the universe to initiate self-correction and balance. However, it’s much easier if it’s done by someone from that era," Lin Yaying explained.

"That makes a lot of sense..." Chen Ke nodded.

"It’s as if I’m dissatisfied with a movie. I wouldn’t edit the original file but would rather go directly to the original film crew and ask them to reshoot it for me," Lin Yaying said.

Chen Ke looked at Li Moyang, understanding Lin Yaying’s intention.

It seemed Li Moyang was to cooperate with the foundation to redo parts of history they were dissatisfied with, and Chen Ke himself was just a safety measure in this reshoot.

"The more reboot tapes we shoot, the greater the impact on the foundational reality, and thus we can achieve our goals," Lin Yaying smiled.

"But what about the people in those altered tapes... what happens to them...?" Chen Ke couldn’t help but ask.

"They become corrupted. But Chen Ke, don’t worry about yourself, because you are part of changing history; you won’t just disappear," Lin Yaying reassured.