Chapter 1106: Candlelight World

Chapter 1106: The Candlelight World

Hearing this question, Chen Ling perked up his ears and looked at Teacher Ye again.

No one in the human realm had ever been able to clearly explain the origin of the Scarlet Star, a mystery that persisted both before and after the Great Cataclysm. Chen Ling was curious about what insights this mysterious Teacher Ye might have.

"What is the Scarlet Star... this is a question I've also been researching," Teacher Ye said. He drew a bold red line under the characters for "Scarlet Star" with his red pen, then connected it to another word.

"But to understand the origin of the Scarlet Star, one must first understand the fundamental nature of the world."

"The fundamental nature of the world?"

"What is the world? Why does time move backward? Where does the Grey Realm come from? What is the connection between us and the Grey Realm?" Teacher Ye paused for a long time, as if lost in thought himself. His gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Chen Ling.

"Chen Ling, what are your thoughts on this question?"

The next moment, all eyes in the room converged on Chen Ling, who was seated in the back row.

Chen Ling was momentarily stunned. It suddenly felt like he was back in his school days, when a teacher, unable to come up with an answer, would randomly pick a student to offer their solution. As the newly arrived transfer student, he was undoubtedly the teacher's prime target.

"Don't feel pressured, just share your thoughts," Teacher Ye said again, seeing Chen Ling hesitate.

Chen Ling frowned deeply. He had never really given much thought to what the world was; his mind was blank. Just then, the words of Dr. Lin, who had once received him in District Three, suddenly flashed through his mind.

"The world is candlelight," Chen Ling suddenly said.

Teacher Ye paused, "Oh? How so?"

"The birth of the universe is like a lit candle flame. The world we inhabit is a single ray of candlelight extending from that flame. And besides us, there are countless parallel dimensions, which are also candlelight. All these rays of candlelight emanate from the point where the candle flame ignited, extending infinitely but never intersecting." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "The Grey Realm is also one of these rays of candlelight."

After hearing this theory, the entire classroom fell into a profound silence.

Even Teacher Ye was momentarily lost in thought. He stood at the lectern for a long time, unable to snap out of it, as if he had fallen into deep contemplation.

"...A very interesting notion," Teacher Ye murmured to himself. "The so-called candle flame must refer to the Big Bang theory of the past... After the Big Bang, countless 'possibilities' for worlds were born from the candlelight, like rays of light, each heading towards its own ultimate demise... And light rays can be distorted and intersect in strong gravitational fields. If that's the case, then the Scarlet Star, which disrupts space-time, could be seen as a celestial body with a super-gravitational field, an anomaly traversing through the candlelight... In that case, everything makes sense..."

"What did you say?" a student asked, unable to quite hear Teacher Ye's mumbled words.

Teacher Ye snapped back to reality, his gaze on Chen Ling somewhat unusual.

"Chen Ling, did you come up with this theory yourself?"

"No," Chen Ling immediately shook his head. "Back when I was in the Aurora Realm, I met a psychiatrist named Lin... He told me about it. And he said that this theory had been proposed even before the Great Cataclysm."

"Before the Great Cataclysm?" Teacher Ye frowned deeply. "I've never heard of such a theory from before the Great Cataclysm... Furthermore, the convergence of the Grey Realm occurred towards the end of the Great Cataclysm. How could anyone have predicted the Grey Realm's arrival and proposed a hypothesis before then?"

Chen Ling suddenly froze.

"This hypothesis holds significant research value," Teacher Ye said, a glint in his eyes.

"And if this hypothesis holds true, the Scarlet Star might not be the only entity capable of traversing through the candlelight... Perhaps, in other candlelight worlds, there are also entities with super-gravitational fields, transcending their world's candlelight trajectory and able to freely move between different worlds."

The crisp sound of the dismissal bell rang, interrupting Teacher Ye's train of thought. Although he hadn't finished the day's lesson, he chose not to extend the class. Instead, he tapped the blackboard.

"Don't erase the blackboard today; we'll continue tomorrow. Class dismissed."

"Chen Ling, come with me."

Teacher Ye gathered his lecture notes and turned to leave the classroom.

Chen Ling didn't hesitate and followed him directly. As they walked through the tree-hollow corridors, Teacher Ye couldn't help but ask:

"That... Dr. Lin you just mentioned, where is he now? If possible, I'd like to talk with him."

"Him?" Chen Ling thought for a moment. "Unless something unexpected happened... he should be dead."

Dr. Lin was a doctor from District Three of the Aurora Realm. When District Three fell, he wasn't among the group of survivors Chen Ling brought into Aurora City. Facing the surging tide of disaster, Chen Ling assumed he couldn't have survived.

Chen Ling suddenly recalled that when he wrote to Chu Muyun back then, it was based on an address Chu Muyun had provided. Perhaps Chu Muyun knew Dr. Lin, and he could ask him later.

"Alright... that's a shame," Teacher Ye sighed. "How was your rest these past two days?"

"Very good, I've mostly recovered."

"I've been reviewing some materials these past two days and have a few ideas... Let's talk in my office."

The two walked directly into Teacher Ye's office. Only then did Chen Ling notice that the previously tidy desk was now piled high with various documents and materials. Most of them were handwritten, their surfaces a deep yellow, hinting at their unknown age.

As Teacher Ye poured tea, he spoke directly:

"In the integrationist theory, I divide the fusion of humans and disaster into four stages. Based on my analysis of your situation, you are currently in the 'Slaying the Malevolence' phase.

"The so-called 'Slaying the Malevolence' is the struggle between human consciousness and disaster. This is usually a very long process, because no matter how strong human consciousness is, it cannot defeat disaster in one go; it can only rely on constant erosion."

After pouring the water, Teacher Ye picked up his cup and stood up. He stretched his body, tired from class, as he walked to the window and looked out into the distance. "Although your situation is somewhat different from other integrators, the 'Slaying the Malevolence' phase should be common. The difference is that in others, human consciousness battles disaster consciousness, while in you, disaster consciousnesses battle each other. But there's one thing I find very strange... Logically, after surviving the first round of 'Slaying the Malevolence,' you should have gained some of the disaster's power, and even your body should have started to transform into a disaster form... But you haven't shown any of these symptoms..."

"Teacher Ye..."

"Don't interrupt my train of thought just yet. I hypothesize that the reason you haven't undergone disaster transformation is likely due to differences in consciousness frequency..."

"Teacher Ye," Chen Ling's voice was somewhat serious.

Teacher Ye, who had been looking out the window, reluctantly turned his head. Seeing the sight before him, he suddenly froze in place.

He saw that at some point, Chen Ling had pulled up the sleeves of his theatrical robe. His two fair arms had visibly transformed into red paper, endlessly extending and splitting. Even half of his face had become a flat red paper drawing, appearing utterly bizarre.

"Disaster transformation... I already have it."