Chapter 472: Qingqing and Qingqing

Chen Shu could not help but pinch her cheeks, falling into deep thought.

There is indeed more than one transmigrator in this world.

Chen Shu knows of three.

The first is Shengzu.

It is highly probable that Shengzu comes from the same place as him—originally it was one hundred percent certain, but the theory of Spiritual Power confused him, making him feel that there is a negligible probability that Shengzu comes from a world that is exactly the same as his, yet not the same world, so he lowered the probability of Shengzu coming from the same world as him from one hundred percent to something very close to one hundred percent.

Let's be precise.

The second is the New Saint.

That is the deity who pulled back the curtain on the new era, and also the person who enlightened the old gentleman Ouyuan Gong on the theory of Planes; legend has it that he went to other universes, witnessed the vast and boundless sea of universes, saw different universes and rules, and later disappeared, with no one knowing where he went.

This person is highly likely a local who transmigrated outward.

It is very likely that he has something similar to the Crystal in his possession, but with higher performance than the Crystal, or he found some way to recharge the Crystal, which is why he was able to support himself transmigrating out, back in, and out again.

But what Qingqing said clearly did not mean this...

Chen Shu pondered, having many doubts, but not much anxiety or sorrow.

Just as it is with Qingqing toward him—

Because the two grew up together, their entire growth process was full of traces of the other; naturally, the way they grew up was also familiar to the other, so what they did not understand were actually just some inconsequential exteriors, while the interior was incomparably familiar.

At least love is very familiar and certain.

Time passed bit by bit.

In between, the silly group friends popped out from various places from time to time, accompanied by Daoist Huang and Senior Sister Jin; some were open and aboveboard, others were sneaky, and they even teamed up to come up once, saying they wanted to blow the night wind, but actually wanting to peek at them dating.

Chen Shu ignored them all.

This group of people was destined to be disappointed; throughout the night, Chen Shu only held Qingqing, and Qingqing only leaned on Chen Shu's shoulder; the two did not say a word, nor did they have any unnecessary small movements, which made the few people and monsters who had activated their Wind-Following Ear and Wu Eiwei, who was pretending to cultivate on the opposite peak but actually watching from afar, somewhat disappointed.

Until the night gradually deepened.

Chen Shu looked up; the waning moon was like a thin hook, but the world was always permeated with a layer of faint golden light, obscuring the starlight.

"..."

The person beside him moved, opened her eyes, and moved her head away from his shoulder.

Chen Shu said to her, "Good evening."

"Water."

"..."

Chen Shu took out a bottle of sea salt lemon water and unscrewed the cap before handing it to her.

Under the faint moonlight and golden light, her appearance was clear and beautiful; she took the water and drank a few sips slowly, her expression as usual, and handed the uncapped bottle back to him.

"Did she tell you?"

Her voice had changed slightly compared to usual.

"She did."

Chen Shu answered honestly.

Ning Qing squinted at him: "Are you anxious?"

"Anxious about what?"

"That the cold girlfriend you raised since childhood is actually an old witch at heart." Ning Qing paused, gauging his mood, "Thinking you were playing a raising game, but not expecting that you were the one being raised."

"Cut the crap."

"..."

"Speak quickly."

"Let me think, you relax a little."

"Okay."

Chen Shu assumed a waiting posture.

Ning Qing pursed her lips and sensed for a moment, knowing no one was watching her and him, but she also casually pointed at the ground, constructing a Soundproofing Array.

"I will speak from four aspects: this universe, the previous Plane, this Plane, and me and her. You can chime in and ask appropriate questions, but it is best not to steer the topic too far away; wait until I finish speaking, then you can ask the questions you want to ask."

"How logical."

"..."

"Please begin."

"Our universe has been born for eighty billion years; in its long lifespan, perhaps it once gave birth to a World Will like the Plane Will, perhaps not; in any case, it derived some very strange mechanisms."

"What mechanisms?"

"You have peeked at A Book of mine, 'Conjectures on Twin Planes and Transmigration'."

"I read it openly."

"You flipped through it openly, but as soon as I left, you read it very carefully." Ning Qing glanced at him faintly, "Do not think you can hide it from me."

"So the Twin Universe is correct?"

"Yes."

"Is there a memory of you from the other half of the universe inside your body?"

"More or less."

"Is the you from that universe still my Secretary Ning?"

"That is the Secretary Ning of another Chen Shu."

"As long as it is not the Great Demon King, that is fine."

"That was just a mistaken guess by the World Will."

"Continue."

"Twin Universe is not accurate; the later New Saint called it the Form-Shadow Twin Universe," Ning Qing said in a cold and professional tone. "This twin universe is composed of a Pre-Universe and a Post-Universe. The pre and post universes are exactly the same, only one walks in front and one walks behind. Naturally, every plane in the universe is also composed of a Pre-Plane and a Post-Plane. At the same time, any outsider arriving in this universe will also be divided into two identical parts, just like a transmigrator such as yourself. But there are also things that cannot be separated or replicated, such as the Crystal in your hand, a type of Space-Time Item for traveling through the universe."

"So there is also a part of me there."

"Yes."

"Alright, continue."

"You know the characteristics of Spiritual Power, and you know that the closer to the world, the stronger the Spiritual Power. At the same time, because the two universes are exactly the same—from historical development down to microscopic choices and changes—everything is about the same. Added to the fine-tuning of Spiritual Power, the historical development of the pre and post universes is like a person and their shadow, so we call it the Form-Shadow Twin Universe. The former is the Subject Universe, and the latter is the Shadow Universe. The planes in the Subject Universe are Subject Planes, and the planes in the corresponding Shadow Universe are Shadow Planes." Ning Qing paused slightly. "Under the condition that the Zhu Ti Wei Mian is operating normally, we and our entire plane will forever follow the trajectory of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian."

Chen Shu's eyes widened instantly.

As if he already knew the ending.

Ning Qing was also quiet, waiting for him to digest it.

After a moment, Chen Shu asked, "The other Zhu Ti Wei Mian, is it just because they walk in front in terms of time?"

"Yes, and not only that; there is also a series of mechanisms that define their 'subject' status."

"For example?"

"For example, the Crystal in your hand. Since the Crystal cannot be divided into two, and the universe cannot replicate another true Crystal, in the two parts of the universe, only the former's Crystal truly possesses the ability to travel to other universes; the latter's Crystal is merely a replica. When someone wants to travel through the universe—for example, in our plane, the New Saint of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian uses his Space-Time Item to go to another universe in the year 4704—when the Shadow Plane reaches the year 4704, the New Saint will also use his Space-Time Item to leave. But because his Space-Time Item is fake, he simply disappears from the Shadow Universe where the Shadow Plane is located; only the New Saint of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian can truly leave this universe and reach other universes. At the same time, when he returns to the Subject Universe and the Zhu Ti Wei Mian in the year 5026, when the Shadow Plane progresses to the year 5026, he of the Shadow Plane will also return carrying his changes. In this universe, there is a complex mechanism to support the operation of all this."

"It sounds like we are fake."

"Do you think you are fake? Or am I fake?"

"Emmm..." Chen Shu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is this mechanism to prevent the universe and the planes from suffering destruction?"

"Perhaps. Once the Subject Universe or a plane within the Subject Universe faces a fatal crisis, the Shadow Universe or the plane within the Shadow Universe will replace it. Under the influence of the World Will, it possesses a certain possibility of avoiding the crisis. If the avoidance is successful, after passing the timeline of the Subject Universe's destruction, it will gradually become the Subject Universe or plane, and over the long years, it will gradually gestate its own shadow."

"Seems like there are some loopholes."

"It is not a loophole, it is an objective problem." Ning Qing pursed her lips. "Indeed, because of the existence of Space-Time Items, some problems may arise."

"Alright, and then?"

"The part about this universe is finished."

"Continue to the next chapter."

"The other plane."

"You are reading the title again."

"Bang."

Chen Shu took a hit; his brain was storming, but he had already completely relaxed:

"Okay, you continue."

"You also know that we have clearly broken away from the constraints of the previous Zhu Ti Wei Mian, which also means that the previous plane has already perished." Even while saying these words, she remained very calm. "I will roughly tell you the similarities and differences between the previous plane and this one."

"Good."

"Our neighboring plane was on the verge of exhaustion due to the invasion of an indescribable force. We confronted and resisted that plane for tens of thousands of years, and finally waited for their destruction a few hundred years ago," Ning Qing said. "Because the gods lacked an understanding of this force, they roughly had two ideas. One was to believe that the war had ended and they could relax, needing only to be vigilant for a few more years before returning to the planet. The other was to be more vigilant, feeling that they should be wary of the cause that led to the destruction of the other plane. But regardless, they all chose to continue staying there, enduring ten times the time flow rate, and continued to stand guard."

"Did the two planes not communicate?"

"There are barriers between planes, and gods cannot leave. They didn't even meet; except for the period of the Shengzu, at other times they only conducted power confrontations from a great distance." Ning Qing paused. "But this is complicated to explain. Perhaps some gods have already realized these things, but that plane did not send any movement for the time being, and they could not go over to check. Considering everything, the level of importance was not fully maximized."

"Continue."

"The god who attached the most importance was the New Saint."

"How unfamiliar."

"Because he, like you, had a Space-Time Item. After becoming a god, he discovered that the other plane was exhausting, so he became highly vigilant about the reason behind it and believed that our plane did not have the ability to resist it, so he left the universe again to head to other universes to find answers."

"He eventually came back, right?"

"Of course."

"Did he find it?"

"He found many methods; one could say they were useful, or one could say they were useless."

"I roughly know."

"There was also this group of people in the Zhu Ti Wei Mian, gifted and talented. In the hundreds of years of boredom without confrontation, the gods had leisure time to research methods to interfere with the Plane Will and create peerless geniuses. On one hand, they couldn't hold on anymore and were preparing to choose successors; on the other hand, they also wanted to gestate more powerful gods through these successors who were more excellent than them to face potential crises. But in the Zhu Ti Wei Mian, because taking a wisp of the Plane Origin and turning it into a mark was one of the technologies the New Saint brought back, and its preparation required time, the appearance of the mark was many years later than it is now."

"..."

"Therefore, in the Zhu Ti Wei Mian, everyone cultivated slower, far slower than now."

"Later, that force invaded?"

"Yes. After the neighboring plane completely lost its vitality, it seemed to have a spirit and began to spread to the surrounding planes. The birth of this force is very likely related to the special mechanism of this universe, but we can no longer verify the specifics. We only know that it is ancient, powerful, and highly contagious. Its existence among the planes of this universe is like an infectious disease acting upon the planes; it brings danger, but also promotes the replacement of old and new planes in the universe and constant evolution."

"What happened later?"

"When we noticed it, we realized that only gods could stop it, but thirty-two gods were far from enough. Therefore, the gods made a very bold and correct decision: to open a space channel and, taking advantage of the fact that that plane had lost its vitality while the origin still existed—and the dead plane no longer had a binding effect on the origin—seize its origin."

"Did it fail?"

"This idea coincided exactly with another plane—that plane, which could be considered our neighbor's neighbor; they also suffered a fatal threat."

"It sounds like they were stronger than us."

"Yes, otherwise our neighbor would not have set their sights on us instead of them," Ning Qing said. "Finally, because the gods were bound by the origin and could not leave, and that dead, silent plane could not withstand the arrival of gods, this was destined to be our war. Roughly 67 years after today, we of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian entered the other plane to compete for the origin, and finally were defeated."

"Continue."

"Following that was the time waiting for the crisis to arrive, but everyone did not give up. After the research and preparation of the world's geniuses and gods, at the moment of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian's destruction, they utilized your and the New Saint's Space-Time Items, and someone traveled from the Zhu Ti Wei Mian to the Shadow Plane."

"You were in the middle of the travel?"

"It was her, it was her, and you of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian."

"Then what about me?"

"It was him."

"Alright, alright, then what about him?"

"Because this travel could not be rehearsed and there was no experience, there was only one chance, so mistakes were inevitable. Therefore, the only one who arrived here was her, while you of the Zhu Ti Wei Mian were annihilated in the process of traveling."

"This..."

Chen Shu could not help but frown.

These two people seemed to be him and her, yet they were clearly themselves.

They had the same experiences, the same memories, the same way of thinking, and even came from the exact same place; if they encountered the same situation, it was only natural that they would make the same choices, so how could one say they were another person?

Chen Shu only felt a sudden tightness in his heart.

It was as if he had died once.

But one must know, death is not terrifying, yet after dying, another Ning Qing was left to come here alone.

How sorrowful must she be?

At this moment, he heard the clear, cold voice beside him continue to sound: "Due to a series of mechanical limitations, after she arrived here, she could not exist simultaneously with me. Between completely replacing me and merging with me, she chose an option similar to the latter—she existed within my body. At first, I did not know; she would only occasionally borrow my body to do some things. As I gradually grew up, I learned of her existence, and then, her memories became like a library in my mind, gradually opening access permissions to me. Sometimes, we would even engage in a certain amount of communication."

"Is she still there now?"

"She is not."

"When did she stop being there?"

"When I was in university."

"Then... where did she go?"

"..."

Ning Qing turned her head to look into his eyes, unable to resist reaching out to pinch his face, her brows and eyes so gentle, as she whispered: "She went to find her lover."