“I’m probably from a different universe, so the latter is more likely to be true.”
“No, I heard what you said, but I don't understand what you mean. What do you mean you’re not from this universe? You are standing right here, and although powerful, you are far from reaching a level of power capable of traversing the void or even the higher realm. It doesn’t compute; it should be impossible for you to survive in an area of higher existence.”
“Brother, I’m not saying I casually walked over here. I have zero clue how I got here or whether I truly am from a different universe, but all the clues point towards it. One moment I was casually lying in my crooked bed, and the next I found myself on a mountain in a new world, or realm, rather. Still, I don’t think this matters much; just know that the second possibility is more reasonable than the first. Also, the individual is clearly involved in the first time reset, and he was referred to as REDACTED by the thing I obtained after the first time reset. In a few messages I was not supposed to see and that I pretended not to, it was clearly stated that I was close to remembering REDACTED, so it went to extreme measures to avoid it. A lot of things were "redacted,” but the more obscure ones were always referred to as a person. I think that person was the one I just met.”
“What are you implying? You can’t seriously be saying that knowing a person could cause the universe to shatter and reset, can you?”
“I don’t fucking know, but that is what it feels like. Whatever, it looks like we won’t get anywhere with this discussion. I need your help in reaching the Enlightenment stage safely. We can’t have things repeat themselves. Do you have any ideas?”
“No. No, I don’t. If we don’t know what caused the change and you only have suspicions that do not fit or make sense, how could I ever figure out how to safely bring you over the threshold? We need more information or a different path for you to cultivate safely, but even then, there will be significant risk. Logically, we should just do trial and error. It seems the cause of the matter is indeed related to you since you can remember the previous timeline while I can’t. Also, it does not sound like harm is being inflicted upon you by it, so... I think the best course of action is just to have you cultivate in different ways, try a variety of things, and then see whether time resets or not. If it does, then you come back and we find a different way, and if it doesn't, it'll be good to go.”
“The problem is that my power is also reset, making it a dangerous situation. In the first timeline, I was quite safe the entire beginning of my adventure, but the second I woke up in a dungeon cell, ready to be interrogated and executed for my crimes. We can’t predict how it will turn out next time.”
“Well, I could have done nicely with you telling me this before I embarrassed myself. Back to the drawing board, I guess. Hmm… I can't think of anything. You have more information and experience regarding this than I do, so I think you should figure out a way rather than me just speculating on uncertain factors. I can ask friends in the higher realms for help, but whether they can is a different matter.”
“Thank you for the help. Give me some time to think. I’ll return when you have received sufficient answers from your friends or when I figure something out. Notify me with this.” Samuel handed Mike a weird trinket that looked like a bar of soap engraved with the runes for sound and transmission on it, as well as some others. It was a communication device he thought up in the spur of the moment for them to contact each other over great distances. The material was his void qi turned solid, so it possessed countless benefits, like being able to interact with space and time naturally, meaning the communication device could cross realms and potentially dimensions. In other words, it would be quite handy.
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Mike nodded at Samuel in approval before commanding his clones, who were still approaching them at a great pace, to turn around in search of his old comrades. His hope of them being able to help was minimal, but he decided it was worth a try. He was already interested in helping Samuel before he found out he was from a different universe, much less now. If he helped Samuel reach a great enough level, then he might be able to show him the greater truth of creation. Hell, he might even help him improve above his current bottleneck in cultivation. He had been stuck for trillions of years; after all, it was about time for him to show some talent and improve.
“See ya.” Samuel did not want to stay in the house within the Knowledge Guild this time; rather, he opted to go to a place that means a lot to him: the Mountain of Transcendence. Well, means a lot to him is generous. It’s a place he knows and doesn’t dislike, so he chose to go there for seclusion. After all, the mountain was covered in abodes and caves, so it would not be difficult for him to find a place to stay. Of course, he did not know that, but he assumed it on account of the culture in the realm.
Appearing in the sky above the mountain, he did a quick scan for available places to stay before quickly entering a long abandoned cave through yet another teleport. The cave was old and abandoned, but still in good shape, so he left it as is. Samuel sat down on an old and dusty mat in the middle of the cave before closing his eyes. Before quickly opening them again.
“Why the fuck do I always close my eyes? It does nothing. If anything, it’s just annoying to have to force them closed. Now, let me think.
And think he did, for a very long time. Minutes, hours—only after nearly a day did he stop thinking so intently. Without the time sphere, he truly was incredibly stupid.
“Well, I can't come up with anything; it’s too difficult to plan for an unknown situation. Wait, that guy said that I would keep all of the rewards I received when I had the system; that should include the inventory ability that fused with me and the rewards from the last mission. Ooo, baby, let’s go. How did I not sense the fucking anchor of space inside my body? It weighs so much; it’s like hundreds of thousands of kilograms heavy, tugging on the connection between my mind and body, yet I didn't even find it weird. Goddamnit. Now, how do I open this thing?”
Samuel began to try a lot of different things, spanning from creating a dimensional tear to a wormhole to a schism in reality. Hell, he even tried to use By Creation to force an opening in the inventory, but nothing worked. He was fully unable to establish a connecting gateway between the world and the inventory. Like a child, he was about to throw a temper tantrum out of sheer annoyance and indignance when he realized that the inventory was fused to one of the REDACTED on his soul, which he assumed to be runes. He had only checked on the time rune because it was the most central in the past, so since it was inactive, he assumed all the other ones to be as well. Which was almost true, except for one, the inventory one. It was branched off from his original space rune, glowing in pure silver. With his experience from the time sphere, he realized it would most likely require an incantation to enter, which would require him to brute force himself in if it did not just magically open. Contrary to his normal luck, however, his mind was sucked into the rune upon hoping for that to happen. Once inside, Samuel was greeted by three things: a weak purple glow, completely contrary to the silver one from the space rune, a badge or crest of sorts, and a massive scroll. The scroll stood out to Samuel and seemed to call him, anxious for him to read it. A weird resonance was created between him and the scroll, almost as if he knew of it, but not quite. It was not difficult for him to realize what the scroll was, as the only logical conclusion was that it was the Path of Faith. Samuel, almost as if entranced, disregarded everything else that might matter and proceeded to open the wide and long scroll to read. We better hope there is time distortion inside the inventory because the length of the scroll was unimaginable. It was so long that if its tail began to glow, it would still take a few months for the light to reach Samuel. It was going to be a long read.