Chapter 30: Daytime in the Astral Realm

Chapter 30: The Daylight of the Astral Realm

The Astral Realm knows no daylight. In the night sky, the Milky Way gradually ceased its flow, and the stars twinkled in silence, as if they were a rival camp standing in opposition to the countless campfires scattered across the vast desert.

"So, the world I traveled to is not a fictional one as Roland claimed, but another three-dimensional world—a parallel world that truly exists." Fang Xiaoling closed her notebook, which was filled with dense scribbles, and gnawed on the tip of her pen. "If there were an ant on a two-dimensional plane, it could hardly jump to a sheet of paper above it unless someone from my three-dimensional world picked it up and placed it there. In other words, someone in a higher dimension is gripping my soul and placing it into someone else's body, which is why the travel occurred! Roland was misled! This isn't some curse at all; we are being toyed with by someone from a higher dimension!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"Knowledge is power!" Francis Bacon shouted, taking the lead, and the entire assembly followed suit.

The duo formed by Fang Xiaoling and Jung had, at some point, ballooned into the largest group in the desert. This completely derailed Jung's original plan to discover the truths of the Astral Realm alone, as passersby continued to join out of sheer curiosity.

However, those who remained were undoubtedly renowned scholars from history, high-level intellectuals, and the titans of the academic world.

Jung had to allow them to join, as he needed Fang Xiaoling—who had been inside the "deflated bottle"—as his assistant to gain any chance of breaking through his research impasse. Yet, he found that the prerequisites for Fang Xiaoling to serve as an assistant were daunting.

Jung could not imagine what this young woman had been through. She was intensely curious about everything—the space, time, and dimensions of the entire universe. She was foolish yet studious, ignorant yet diligent, much like an encyclopedia of "Ten Thousand Whys." Whenever she encountered something she couldn't grasp, she would dig until she found the root, which at times felt like torture to Jung.

"Knowledge is power!"

Everyone cheered and embraced, many shedding tears of joy. This was not just for Fang Xiaoling's sake, but for their own—for the academic fruits they finally witnessed after long, painful struggle and perseverance.

"Thank you all! Thank you!" Fang Xiaoling bowed deeply to the crowd, as if she had just received a prestigious award. "I will definitely study even harder!"

"Perseverance and patience are always rewarded." Einstein walked up to her and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, child. As long as you were able to enter from the three-dimensional world, you will certainly be able to return to your place of origin. It is ordained in the shadows; God does not play dice."

"God dragged her in and then arranged for her to find a way out? Mr. Einstein, is God just idle?" A path cleared through the crowd, and Hawking appeared in his wheelchair. "God doesn't just play dice; He throws them where we cannot see."

"It's you again, you cripple. Why are you everywhere?" Einstein lunged forward irascibly, grabbing Hawking by the throat. "I admit that my conclusions are wrong ninety-nine times out of a hundred, but the conclusion that you are a moron is absolutely correct!"

"You madman! We are all astral entities here, products of human thought; you cannot harm me." Hawking pushed him away. His neck, usually crooked, suddenly straightened. He planted his feet on the ground and stood up straight from his wheelchair, adjusting his collar like a high-spirited youth. "To be or not to be, that is the question. Did human thought exist first, giving rise to us in the Astral Realm, or did the desert of the Astral Realm gestate us, allowing humans to perceive us through thought? Who can prove that I was born after the Hawking in the real world? Perhaps he is merely my projection? Perhaps this is the real world?"

Fang Xiaoling was no longer the same person she once was. After long sessions of being tutored by these figures, she was no longer the simpleton who would confuse "planes" with "noodles." Complex equations flooded her mind, and after precise calculation, she said, "Mr. Hawking, I think I'm even more confused now."

When many teachers focus on a single student, the student's opinions seem to carry significant weight.

Einstein stepped forward, hooked Hawking’s neck with his arm, and dragged him back into the crowd. "Let's go, let's go. Don't embarrass yourself."

Hawking shouted, "Girl! Perhaps you don't need to go back at all. You... wuu—wuu—"

His mouth was covered by Einstein. Everyone agreed that while Einstein’s actions were ostensibly to maintain order, they were, more or less, fueled by personal grievances.

"I have one more question." As soon as Fang Xiaoling spoke, the crowd fell silent. It was as if they were participating in the most authoritative academic quiz, and the girl standing in the center was both the questioner and the judge.

Jung, face taut, squatted on a patch of empty ground outside the crowd, drawing circles in the sand with his finger. He was exhausted from his private sessions with Fang Xiaoling and did not want to participate in the discussion for the time being, intending to wait for her to finish before seeking her out.

Fang Xiaoling continued, "I have already told everyone about my situation in detail... After I traveled into Li Mengling's body, I could sometimes hear her speaking in my ear. Does this mean her soul is drifting somewhere in the three-dimensional world? If so, could I do the same? But why am I here in the Astral Realm instead of the three-dimensional world?"

A complex murmur of discussion rippled through the crowd, but no one could step forward with an answer.

Just then, a deep, resonant voice drowned out the scholars' debate: "All formations are impermanent; all that is born must die. Where there is no birth, there is no death; this extinction is the greatest joy."

Everyone looked up at the light shining in the air. The figure within the light spoke only these words before vanishing.

The group began to discuss again; a single sentence from such a being could keep these scholars debating for a long time.

Yet, Fang Xiaoling vaguely understood the meaning. She murmured, "I was never born in Li Mengling's world, so my soul does not belong there. Li Mengling’s soul might be able to drift in that world, but I cannot; I am an anomaly to that world."

"You weren't originally an anomaly; someone made you one." Jung appeared behind her. "Your soul exists simultaneously in all three-dimensional spaces. Logically, every parallel world should have a vessel for your soul—your body. But someone from a higher dimension stole your body from that parallel world before you traveled."

Fang Xiaoling felt a chill. "This... can someone really do that?"

"Imagine you have countless sheets of paper, each with an 'A pit' and a 'B pit' drawn on it. Now, we have two ants, let's call them Ant A and Ant B. Each ant corresponds to its own pit; the pit is the proof of their right to exist on the paper." Jung crouched down, drawing with paper and pen. "One day, you take Ant A and put it on another sheet of paper. Logically, you should put it in the 'A pit,' but you decide not to. You put it in the 'B pit' instead."

"Huh? Isn't the B pit where Ant B lives?"

"Exactly. Not only that, but you erase the A pit on that sheet." The crowd had grown quiet, listening to Jung's analogy, seemingly trying to find flaws. Jung continued, "Due to your external intervention, Ant B cannot squeeze past Ant A and is pushed onto the surface of the paper. Since Ant B's pit still exists—and existence is proof—the paper allows Ant B to continue moving outside the pit. You must understand, unless your power intervenes, once an ant occupies a pit, it is very difficult for another to take it."

"I understand what you mean. I occupied Li Mengling's body, so her soul was squeezed out and is drifting in the outside world. Is that it?"

"Correct. Now, let me pose a hypothesis: what if it were reversed, and Ant B squeezed Ant A out?" Jung asked.

"Then... Ant A has no proof, so it cannot live on the paper unless I draw an A pit for it? Otherwise, Ant A would disappear?"

Upon hearing this, Jung excitedly grasped Fang Xiaoling's hands. "I am only using an example; the reality and its details are far more complex than what I've said. But none of that matters. What matters is that, through my testing, you are now fully capable of being my assistant! Come with me!"

"Why should she be your assistant? She is our student too!" The crowd grew restless. They were unwilling to let Fang Xiaoling go with Jung. Even Einstein and Hawking reached a consensus on this. "Fang Xiaoling is the fruit of the academic world's collective effort. It is unfair for Jung to monopolize her!"

"You all... can you stop talking about me like I'm a trophy?" Fang Xiaoling tried to say more, but Jung pulled her behind him.

He held his head high, hands clasped behind his back, and said unhurriedly, "I can enable her to return to the three-dimensional world, and even allow her to enter and exit both the three-dimensional world and the Astral Realm at will! If any of you can pat your chests and guarantee you can do the same, I, Jung, will absolutely not contest it!"

Silence fell.

Everyone stopped arguing, and even Fang Xiaoling was too stunned to speak. After a long while, she asked in disbelief, "Mr. Jung, is... is this true?"

Jung took Fang Xiaoling's hand, bent down, and gently kissed the back of it. "It is true. You will become the daylight of the Astral Realm."

I received notice that I've been placed on the recommendation list, and I'm very excited! I will definitely keep updates consistent. I hope everyone will support me! I'll strive to release more chapters! (End of chapter)