Answers | Origins

Back in his room, Lu Feng inspected the sets of materials and added or removed botanicals as per his modified recipe.

He was unsure of how many sets the system would be able to process at a single time or how long it would take. After making some final changes to the recipes, Lu Feng decided it was time.

'System. Creation'

Slots Available - 5

All Slots Currently Free.

Would you like to use the available slots?

'Yes!'

Information and Intent deduced. Auto-assigning items.

Slot 1 - Ninefold Nirvana Pill.

Slot 2 - Core Perfection Pill.

Slot 3 - Essence Nourishing Pill.

Slot 4 - High-grade Berserker Pill.

Slot 5 - (Free)

Items matching the recipe were detected, all conditions met. Begin production?

'Yes!'

ETA 6.5 Hours. Estimated Success rate - 92 Percent. Current Production Per Unit Time - 3 Sets Per Slot.

Going through all this information in his mind, Lu Feng was satisfied. Since the production time was short, he could have a high turnover as subsequent batches would produce more pills.

Before exiting the System, he remembered something.

'Achievements'

Reward: Might of the Divine White Tiger. Bloodline Atavism- Reform and purify the bloodline. Merging - 2 Percent. ETA 28 Days.

Despite the process having started, Lu Feng didn't feel anything amiss or changed.

'Wait and See, I guess...'

'Exit'

With the Auction being held three days later, Lu Feng had a good amount of time to churn out pills.

***

Lu Feng took a long bath and lay on the bed.

"Time to find some answers" Lu Feng muttered to himself.

'System. Knowledge Base'

You've unlocked the Knowledge Base. Puny Human, brace yourself, for here lies the answer to your questions. Find meaning to your worthless existence and cherish the knowledge that's known by but a few.

Open?

As Lu Feng looked at the edgy and denigrating text floating in his vision, he couldn't help but mentally face-palm.

'Whoever coded this must've been underpaid and hangry...'

Lu Feng decided to ignore it and continued, 'Yes'

Knowledge Base is now open. You can ask your queries and you will receive an answer if it's recorded in the database.

'Are we in the matrix?'

The System stayed silent for a while as if it was disappointed by Lu Feng's question.

Only after a long pause did it break its silence.

No.

'That's it?... Hmmm, are we in a simu—'

Lu Feng was cut off by the System's response.

No.

'This System is quite sassy—'

Lu Feng's thoughts about the System were interrupted by the System's response.

NO.

Lu Feng rolled his eyes and decided to move on, "What's your origin?" Lu Feng was so curious that he said it out loud.

Checking Authorization. The user has sufficient Authority.

The System was developed by the Supreme Hai civilization. The Supreme Hai, are descendants of the Human species, being far ahead in the evolution line.

Being a multiversal civilization, the Supreme Hai conceptualized project "Chronicle" to survey and collect the diverse knowledge of Humans across the multiverse and parallel worlds.

Lu Feng was speechless for a while. He expected it to be of some alien origin but what he found out was beyond his imagination. Composing himself, he decided to proceed.

'Does Earth exist in this world?'

All this time, the user has been moving through neighboring parallel worlds. These worlds happen to be under the purview of the Administrator, Miss Iris.

Due to the restrictions of multiversal travel and limits on foreign entities directly interacting with distant worlds, the System has randomly identified the user from Earth to get around this limitation.

'Why Earth?'

Earth is a pivotal convergence point — A shared dimensional branch where the timelines of the Supreme Hai and the Cultivation worlds intertwine.

Lu Feng got up from the bed and began to pace around the room as he pondered the implications of this information.

After settling his thoughts, Lu Feng proceeded with his queries.

'Are there aliens in this world? Are they advanced?'

Yes, most universes have some form of life. The current universe the user resides in, along with previous worlds, including Earth are all branches of a stable universe and are likely to be teeming with life. Alien civilizations can be diverse and varied along with their progress on the technological scale.

Lu Feng began to sweat. This new information unnerved him.

'So there have always been aliens?'

Yes.

'How does this world even work?... It's... So supernatural'

Being divergent from the world Earth was in, the laws of the world are slightly different in cultivation universes. The Supreme Hai were also fascinated by this, and this, in fact, is what led to the creation of the project "Chronicle."

A plausible hypothesis stipulates the presence of some as-of-yet undiscovered forces and fields that interact with the consciousness of sentient life and affect changes to the world.

'How come you're able to travel to this universe but unable to do anything without my help?'

All cultivation worlds recorded in the Knowledge Base are known to be "bounded," with foreign entities unable to directly interact or penetrate the world. The user acts as a medium.

'This is getting crazy... What are you? A program, a being... What are you even made of?'

The System is classified as a low-dimensional information aggregate, that has set functions and abilities but is not sentient.

'What about Iris?'

Miss Iris is a System Administrator, she's a high-dimensional consciousness that's sentient. She was assigned to survey and sample this group of cultivation worlds. The System is a tool used by an Administrator to accomplish their task.

Lu Feng's eyes fluttered for a moment.

'So she's real? And where is she now?'

Yes, she's real, but she doesn't take on a biological or tangible form that the user could perceive or interact with. Miss Iris is on her way back to Condor, the home of the Supreme Hai.

'Can I travel to a different universe?... Maybe even meet the Supreme Hai?'

Biological entities cannot traverse to a different universe, unless in the form of an Information Entity, like a soul. Even then, only high-dimensional Information Entities can travel between distantly related universes.

'Is it possible to find a way?'

Highly unlikely.

'Could the alien technology of this world be advanced enough to figure out a way?'

Highly unlikely, but there's a miniscule chance.

'Do you have any details of the alien civilizations of this universe and how can I contact them?'

No records found in the database. Hypothetically, the first step would be to overcome the "boundary" of this planet. It not only prevents foreign entries from entering in, but it also prevents inhabitants from leaving.

'How can I get past it?'

The boundary is managed by the semi-sentient entity known to the user as Heaven's Will. The user has to be acknowledged by Heaven's Will or surpass it.

With a deep sigh, Lu Feng sat on the bed as his thoughts wandered.

The unimaginable vastness of the world scared him, and at the same time sparked curiosity and anticipation.

After the extremely monotonous routine of his past lives, even though Lu Feng wanted to walk the path of cultivation in his ninth and final life, he wasn't too excited in reality.

With eons of exploring, thieving, and running around, there wasn't much he didn't experience. But now that he came to know the extent and vastness of the world, he was strangely excited to tread this familiar journey, and maybe one day he could witness with his own eyes, everything he just heard.

A glint of excitement flashed across Lu Feng's eyes as he resolved himself.

'How do I get the acknowledgment of Heaven's Will?'

As the user might've guessed, it's through conquest. No matter the method, be it violent or diplomatic, conquering the world will likely enable the user to exit the boundary.

Lu Feng expected this answer. He closed his eyes and after a deep breath, decided to properly organize his thoughts and figure out some stuff.

'That is everything I would need to know for a long while... Exit.'

The System disappeared from his vision.

Seated on his bed, Lu Feng recalled the science fiction stories back on Earth. Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune. He chuckled. The information he learned now reaffirmed the idea of reality being stranger than fiction.

He burst out laughing as he realized he was thinking about Iris, 'Looks like I'm a victim of Stockholm syndrome...'

Lu Feng rationalized by telling himself, that it's only natural that he has a fondness for Iris, as she was the only companion that accompanied him throughout his tumultuous journey— Though Lu Feng didn't realize that his mildly masochistic tendencies played a role in this.

Covering himself with the quilted blanket, Lu Feng lay on his bed, ready for some lucid dreams.