Chapter 2156: Chapter 2104: Immortal Medicine

“By the way, what exactly is that 'realms across the universe, worlds within the heavens' thing you always talk about? Are there still many other worlds?” Zu An suddenly asked.

“The universe is extremely vast with countless civilizations. Those civilizations often attempt to surmise what the universe is really like, but they haven’t been able to reach an answer even now,” Mi Li explained with a respectful expression. “Even so, there are some common beliefs that have received the recognition of many people. Some believe that there is only one universe, but there are many parallel universes. There is a version of you in every single one of them, but because of various factors and events, your fate also becomes different in each one.

“Another viewpoint suggests that the universes are all different, and every single one is like a bubble. There is an immeasurable distance between each bubble, and a vast amount of void matter in between. Indescribably powerful void monsters divide these universes, making it impossible for them to converse with each other. These barriers are really difficult to break down.”

Zu An nodded to himself. The science of his previous world also had a lot of theories regarding this topic.

Mi Li continued, “But the more mainstream viewpoint is that there is a world tree in the void, and this tree is large beyond imagination. It is limitless in size, with every main branch representing time, and every other branch representing different directions of the world. Every leaf represents a world or universe.”

“A tree?” Zu An repeated, now completely shocked. He had never expected the universe to be patterned after a tree! If every single universe was on top of that tree, just how big would it be?

“That’s right. Almost all of the universe’s civilizations have records of an ancient tree. People of later worlds eventually discovered these records and wondered if the entire universe was on this giant tree. That was how this explanation recieved more and more acknowledgment,” Mi Li replied.

Zu An was really moved. There seemed to be many civilizations in the past that had never communicated with each other, and yet they all had a great tree in their legends. For example, there was the Yggdrasil of Scandinavia, the World Tree of Persian mythology, and Rabbinical Judaism’s Kabbalah tree of life; even Chinese culture’s ancient mythology had the Jianmu, a tree that served as a stairway connecting the mortal world to the heavens above, the mythological Fusang tree, and others. But it really was still a bit hard to imagine for the entire universe to be on a single tree.

“Didn’t I mention to you previously that the first appearance of primal chaos in the universe might have been from a lotus? To a certain extent, that's similar to a tree as well,” Mi Li continued. “But in the past, there was someone who told me that the so-called World Tree wasn’t actually a single one, but rather two.”

“Two?” Zu An’s eyes widened. Just one tree like that was already unimaginable.

“That’s right. That person deduced this from some phenomena. For example, the silicon-based binary digits 0 and 1, carbon-based DNA’s double stranded helix, the yin and yang of cultivation... Almost all civilizations and universes are connecteded to the number two. That was why he suspected that the world tree might actually be two trees.”

“It is a logical deduction," Zu An said with a nod. He was now really amazed by Mi Li’s knowledge. At first, as a transmigrator, he'd felt a sense of superiority in terms of knowledge, but now, he learned that there were many beings across the cosmos who knew about the existence of science. He didn’t dare to look down on them anymore.

Blindly believing in science was also a kind of superstitious belief in itself. After all, the world was too large, and the understanding of science was actually just a drop in the ocean. The different civilizations all used their own ways to understand and research the principles of the universe. All that meant was that the appearance of the method was different, but in reality, they were all different routes to the same destination.

“It seems you respect that person a lot, right?” Zu An couldn't help but ask when he noticed Mi Li’s expression each time he saw her mention this person.

Mi Li gave him a deep look and said, “He is indeed worthy of my respect, as well as the most important person in my life.”

Zu An asked to test the waters, “Then how should I address him? Martial father or martial ancestor?”

“You can give up on trying to find out my relationship with him. Once you reach that level, you'll naturally understand.” Mi Li immediately saw through his tricks.

Zu An chuckled in embarrassment. He could only change the topic and asked, “Apart from the science and technology-biased, silicon-based life-biased, and cultivation path-biased, are there any other similar civilizations?”

“Of course. There are magic-biased, mystery-biased, supernatural-biased, card-biased, beast taming-biased... There are countless types of civilizations,” Mi Li replied.

“Which type is stronger?” Zu An quickly asked.

A smile flashed across Mi Li’s face. She said, “I asked this question in the past too. Who would have thought that you would ask the same thing? Let me explain it like this. The way each civilization uses its power has its own respective advantages and disadvantages. There is no strongest civilization, only the strongest individuals.”

Zu An had a pensive expression.

That’s true. It's just like the various factions in the world of cultivation. Who can say for certain that their cultivation is really the strongest? In the end, it's dependent on the cultivator.

For example, Zhao Han had been faster than his peers using the same cultivation techniques, and he had been stronger than others as well.

“Then how do I go to these different worlds?” Zu An asked.

Mi Li nodded slightly in approval. Zu An hadn’t lost himself in this overwhelming amount of information, and instead quickly focused on the most important point. She said, “There are several ways, but the simplest one is for you to become strong enough yourself, and shatter the void to open up a spatial path into another world. Or, you can travel through the void using your physical body.”

“The simplest method? I feel as if you’re mocking me," Zu An replied. He naturally couldn't open up a spatial path. Even so, with his current strength, his flesh could just barely enter the void. But without knowing the position of the other worlds and with how far they were, he definitely wouldn’t be able to last for very long in outer space.

“I’m not mocking you. That's just how things are,” Mi Li said, chuckling. “Another way is to borrow space shuttles, spaceships, and other transportation devices, but this world is a bit special. There are no space travel routes here, so there's no way of finding such means of transportation.”

“What do you mean, special?” Zu An asked, keenly identifying the main point she was talking about.

“It's special in every way,” Mi Li said seriously. “Ever since I awakened some of my memories, I’ve been secretly observing this world. Normally, with the degree of advancement of this world, it should have already made contact with other civilizations a long time ago. But judging from their history, it seems the only instance of contact was several thousand years ago when those monsters invaded, and recently. Apart from those instances, this world hasn't interacted with other civilizations at all. It's almost as if this world was blocked off by some being.

“Apart from that, there's a problem with the upper limits of power of this world. I’ve seen many extraordinary geniuses whose strength shouldn’t only have been at the level they are at, and yet their cultivation ranks were much lower than equivalent geniuses in other worlds.”

Zu An was startled. Even the incredible Zhao Han had been stuck at the peak of earth immortal for many years, unable to make any progress at all. He was now the same as well. He was supposed to have already made a breakthrough through the power he absorbed from several powerful beings. He asked, “That seems to be because the source of this world isn’t strong enough, right?”

“But that’s where the issue lies. Normally, the source of a world like this shouldn’t be weak at all,” Mi Li said with a frown. “Your world seems to have secret dungeons all over the place, and those secret dungeons are all connected to some special places. That shouldn’t be something a weak world should contain at all.”

Zu An also couldn't help but smile, saying, “Now that we’re on the topic, I met you in one of those secret dungeons too.”

When she remembered how they first met, Mi Li’s face suddenly became a bit red for some reason. She quickly changed the topic. “So, this world is definitely hiding some secret. Right, I recall you mentioning that you were searching for the secret manuals of the twelve Unknown Regions?”

Zu An nodded and said, “That’s right, and I barely survived every experience. But I don’t have any information on the remaining Unknown Regions, and don’t know where to look for them at all.”

“As the regent of both the humans and fiends, the resources at your disposal have actually already exceeded those of the late Zhao Han or Fiend Emperor. You can use these resources to carefully search for clues,” Mi Li said. “If you can gather all twelve Unknown Regions’ skills, you'll probably be able to unlock the secrets of this world. The benefits you will receive will definitely be great.”

Zu An shook his head and said, “Compared to those unknown regions that are so mysterious, I'm currently more interested in saving Chuyan and Honglei’s lives.”

When she saw the firmness of his expression, Mi Li was a bit hesitant. In the end, she could only say, “Chuyan’s current state might only be reversible if we find another piece of the Nature Jade Plate. As for Honglei, I did think of some ways to save her.”

“What ways?” Zu An asked as he grabbed her hand excitedly.

Mi Li glanced at his hand, and then continued, “There are a handful of immortal medicines across the realms, and every single one can bring one back from the brink of death. However, every single one is protected by an extremely powerful individual. Obtaining one is extremely difficult.”

“Immortal medicines?” Zu An asked with a frown. “I recall that there were rumors regarding immortal medicines in the secret dungeons I went to in the past. Back then, an honest and sincere deity was almost killed by a deity named Wei. Then, in order to save him, the Celestial Emperor had him eat an immortal medicine, but even though he was revived, he became the Yayu monster.”

He definitely didn’t want Honglei to become something like that!