"And then, I was reincarnated into an alraune by that goddess, and the rest is history."

Mei Wu could only look at Kasumi Ai who had given her a very, very short summary of the alraune's story of being reincarnated, which involved an arguably long talk about the history of the former human's universe and its history.

Somehow, Mei Wu managed to only listen as Ai kept explaining what she knew about how her universe came to be. A very summarized explanation, yet it still took more than half an hour to finish the whole thing and get to where Ai died then got reincarnated as an alraune.

The pink-haired woman would have been fascinated if she wasn't so utterly baffled and slightly horrified at the 'science' facts that the alraune kept bombarding her with, and it was honestly surprised she did not experience Qi deviation from the sheer absurdity of it all!

"The hell do you mean, the rest is history!? Why are you finishing it like that as if it was so obvious!? What you had just told me would be counted as utterly forbidden knowledge, and in your universe it is treated as obvious!?" and thus, Mei Wu yelled, pointing her finger towards the alraune who winced at the volume.

"I mean, it's not like I have much more to say, I explained -or quickly summed up- my universe's history from its creation -as far as I know- to how I finally bit the dust as a human and got reborn here. I even gave you a visual show..." Ai muttered, though Mei Wu heard it regardless since they were close enough for their superhuman ears to capture any phrase spoken by either of them.

"I very much get that, trust me. You don't need to do anymore visual explaining. Especially with you telling me this world is made in the image of a fictional story in your universe or world." Mei Wu rubbed her throbbing forehead as the headache she was having threatened to give her some serious Qi deviation that was barely halted as she moved her Qi in her body to stop that from happening.

She tried her best to ignore the panic she had at the prospect of how she is supposedly living in a world/universe that was apparently created by some omnipotent deity- and one that is apparently, truly omnipotent and yet even the goddess who reincarnated Kasumi Ai was apparently a 'novice.'

The implications are horrifying in the sense that there are entities like that for real. That there are entities so powerful, so skilled and so varied in their powers they can basically do whatever, and it's only the fact that said gods might have their own hierarchies and rules that even they follow, and might or might not have some limits on how much they can interfere with the progress of other realities.

'Damn it, Ai'er! You don't just drop the fact that one's existence is so insignificant like that! Even if we ignore that this world is based on some story, it is just way too horrifying and too vast for one to just wrap their heads around!' she thought as she tried to catch her quickening breath.

It is one thing to think of the existence of something so powerful, and a completely different thing to know for certain that they exist. It was even worse to accept it as a cultivator.

It was easy to state that one wanted to defy the heavens since it was mostly an abstract concept, but it was a lot more difficult when said vagueness vanished, especially when the gap between the challenger and the challenged was way larger than imagined.

And regardless of how much she changed, Mei Wu's mind was still not really capable of comprehending the sheer scope of what she was being told, especially since she was raised in the rather violent warriors' culture of this world from birth.

The idea that there are entities that are so strong, so omniscient, and so utterly above anything else was, to many cultivators, a depressing and cruel one. What's the point of defying or surpassing the heavens when the heavens themselves don't seem to even give a damn?

And that was what Kasumi Ai was telling her, whether accidentally or not.

"... han! Wu-chan! Calm down! Your Qi is becoming unstable! Wu-chan!!"

Taking a sharp breath as a vine stabbed her back, pumping healing nectar in her body, Mei Wu shuddered as she relaxed just slightly, the touch of her lover's hands on her shoulders calming her slightly.

Mei Wu could almost taste the relief that Ai felt when the pink-haired woman's Qi calmed down just a bit. She was still very much shocked and didn't have enough time to just comprehend the amount of relevations she was dealing with.

'Breathe. In. And out. In, and out.' her eyes shut as as she tried her best to relax and control the flowing energy inside of her. There would not be a Qi deviation right now, and it was better for both of them if she calmed down for now.

This will not be where she dies, confused and unable to comprehend the truths she was bombarded with.

"Okay, okay. I'm calm, and very much relaxed." it was a lie as much as it was true. Her mind was still in chaos, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Fuck. How can one just handle this knowledge? The alraune herself didn't seem to think too much of it, though whether that was because she didn't really care from the start or learned to just accept the situation and get used to it was not determined. And neither did Jiko Ai care too for that matter, and in fact the alter ego seemed almost amused from what Mei Wu was feeling, even if she was worried for the pink-haired woman's sanity.

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Wiping out the sweat on her forehead, the woman tried her best to calm her mind once more. "Ai'er, you idiot. You just can't shove facts of such magnitude like that! What you told me is- that knowledge- it's just-" she tries to articulate her thoughts, yet words fail her.

Truly, a few minutes are just too short to get used to what Kasumi Ai had told her (The hell is a light year? How did they measure it? What does it mean that a galaxy is over a hundred thousand light years? And what the fuck does it mean that a universe contains billions of them!? The sheer scale alone is depressing! And every cultivator wants to control that when they can't even control a single world (or planet)? How!?), and she would really need a lot of introspection for the next years to wrap her head around it.

(On the plus side, she might have a breakthrough after she gets to focus on cultivation later with her mind clearer?)

Honestly, she did not expect this bout of existential crisis today...

"I- I'm just so mindblown, baffled, terrified, and utterly confused all at the same time." Mei Wu finished, taking her time to speak, her body almost falling from mental exhaustion as her eyes closed. Her lover was also pumping some nectar with calming proprieties to help her as well.

"... Sorry. I might be too used to these facts to see them with the same importance as you do. Still, sorry for the existential crisis I unleashed." came the soft apology from the green-haired alraune.

Mei Wu would have really liked it if the alraune wasn't so serious and honest in her regret. It was just so hard to feel angry at her that way when she was so sincere.

Well, no- she is angry. Very much so. She doesn't feel resentment or hatred towards her lover, but she is upset by the knowledge she was exposed to, so suddenly and without any proper preparation.

"Apology accepted, Ai'er. I don't blame you, but I'm still really pissed about this." Mei Wu stated, shaking her head, noticing the wince that appeared momentarily on the alraune's face.

She didn't hate Kasumi Ai. She couldn't hate her. Not even over this, when Kasumi Ai genuinely believed that this is what Mei Wu wanted to know and gave her exactly what she asked for.

Mei Wu would have preferred a lie, that Kasumi Ai simply say that she was a low-level warrior who died then got reincarnated as an Alraune without her memories being erased. She would have liked to hear that lie instead of the revelations she had gotten.

But she knew very well that she without hindsight, she wouldn't have been happy by the lie and she would end up asking about it again; so ultimately what her Ai'er did was the best choice, notwithstanding them both deciding to just ignore the whole situation and to simply act normally until the subject became necessary to discuss in the future.

'In the end, discussing it now was the right choice... I think.' the woman sighed to herself, plucking out the vine pumping the healing and calming nectars in her body.

"Think you will be alright?" Kasumi Ai asked her, retracting her vine as her worried expression was still on her face. "I really didn't expect this to happen."

"Of course you didn't you idiot. Ever since I met you, you kept breaking my common sense." Mei Wu was both miffed and happy about that. Not that she minded. "I will just need some time to adjust to this... cosmology knowledge. By the heavens, you nearly gave me a heart attack- or death- from the sheer suddenness of this all. Just prepare me next time, will you?"

Ai blinked at that. She knew that this discussion was not over, just for the moment, but at least Mei Wu seemed to take the relevations very well, all things considered. It was enough for her to be beaming into a smile had she not heard the last sentence.

"Wait, next time?" she asked, tilting her head questioningly. "You want to know more about my otherworldly knowledge? I mean, I don't mind telling you but..."

She doesn't want her lover to get a heart attack or be struck by lightning due to that, now that she saw what might happen.

"Ai'er, I know. I was just not ready. It is foolish, but I am admittedly curious about that knowledge." Mei Wu admitted with serious expression. "I was only so shocked because I wasn't prepared and I didn't expect the scope and scale of what your story would talk about." and ain't that an understatement?

Mei Wu looked at her, scowling slightly in irritation, "It seems to be a theme with you. I so need to find a way to make you pay for all the headaches you've given me..." she lowly mumbled the last part, as Ai chuckled nervously.

Standing up, Mei Wu stretched for a moment. Hearing her bones pop was satisfying in a way after this conversation, and it helped her focus on her body rather than the information swimming in her mind right now.

"That's better~!" she sighed contently, feeling the power in her body. She was certain that she was rewarded after that battle, but she was too tired afterwards to check up on it via her Grimoire, and she doesn't think attempting to see it right now would be a good idea with the state of her mind. Instead, she looked at her lover.

"So we actually won, huh?" she questioned, somehow looking both awed, baffled and yet as if she was speaking a matter of fact.

It was still hard to believe that yes, she and Ai did actually defeat Xie Xiu and Xie Yao. The two elders seemed so powerful before in Mei Wu's eyes, and they still are, really.

But defeating them was still something she didn't imagine herself seeing or even being involved in. Yet, that was the truth.

Ai grinned at that. "Yeah, yeah we did it. On our own and some help my new split personality that only appeared just a few hours ago." she gazed momentarily at herself with a frown before smiling again. "But we did it!"

Mei Wu absently wondered if Ai not stating how the Protector Bees worked to block the escape routes of Xie Xiu. 'Maybe she's still upset that the Queen Bee and her servants embarrassed us while we were...?' she immediately cut out that train of thought. Better not think about that now. Maybe later at night when they get to discuss Jiko Ai's existence?

Thankfully the Queen Bee gave them this day to relax.

"So... want to have a walk with me in the hive's nest for now? I so need to take a walk to calm my nerves and just relax." Mei Wu asked as she was about to leave the room they were in.

"I definitely won't say no to that. I'd love to!" Ai immediately accepted it with a smile. "Would it be possible to kiss you and hold hands while at it?"

The request was rather cute with how shy the alraune looked.

'She's really insatiable when it comes to affection, it seems...' smiling wryly, Mei Wu only gave a small laugh. Somehow, this felt so natural and right.

"Fine, I'll accept, but only because we won and we both deserve some good time for now."

Ah, the feeling of Nature and the sensation of the Narcissism both looking excited at that was strong and pure. She will need to talk about Jiko Ai later at night, preferably, but that can wait.

For now, it's time for some good relaxing hours with her lover and friend.