"Does a time technique even exist in the lower dimension?"
[THEY DO EXIST. THERE IS A SPECIES IN THE LOWER DIMENSION WHO ARE BORN TO CONTROL TIME. THEY OCCUPY THE 1ST POSITION IN THE RACIAL COUNCIL.]
"That is classified information. Even from my archive, I couldn't retrieve the name of the species."
[THAT RACE IS CALLED UNIGEN. THEY ARE A RECENTLY CREATED RACE. BY CREATED, I MEAN BY THE UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS. FOR WHAT PURPOSE? IF I TELL YOU, YOU WILL EXPLODE.]
A trace of fear flashed in Regillia's eyes.
[UNIGENS ARE VERY FEW IN NUMBER IN THE LOWER DIMENSION. AT MAXIMUM, THEIR POPULATION CONSISTS OF JUST 70 TRILLION UNIGENS. THEIR RACE ALSO HOLDS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF EXALTED REALM INDIVIDUALS.]
Regillia suddenly dropped to one knee, her body vibrating intensely. It felt like the gravity of the planet she was on had increased tenfold in an instant. She gritted her teeth through the pain.
[THE PROBABILITY OF YOU DYING JUST HIT 70% FOR 10 SECONDS. IT WILL LAST FOR 10 SECONDS. HOLD YOURSELF TOGETHER.]
[THE NAME OF THE EVENT YOU JUST EXPERIENCED IS CALLED INFORMATION HIERARCHY.]
"Ughhhh..."
[AS I WAS SAYING, THE UNIGENS DO HAVE A TECH—]
"NO! STOP! I need some rest."
"How do you even know this information?"
[YOU WILL DIE IF I TELL YOU.]
"Fuck!!!"
after taking care of the pain she started to stretagise
"I need a plan. A thousand years is far too short to achieve Mortal Perfection. Can I extend the time limit to 20,000 years? There's too much to accomplish."
"First, I need to create a custom cultivation technique for all three paths—something unique, something beyond existing methods. That alone will take time."
"As for the succession war… it's the least of my concerns. If my calculations are correct and I successfully seal my talent, the war will unfold while I'm still under the seal's effects. I'll deal with it when the time comes."
"My priority is the Unigens. I need to locate them, study their anatomy, understand their cultivation techniques—everything. Only then can I develop my own technique based on their insights."
"For that, I need a lab. A space to conduct experiments, analyze data, and refine my methods. The best location would be one with significant time dilation, allowing me to maximize my gains."
"And while I'm at it, I should exploit the inevitable conflicts. If I position myself correctly, I can profit from the rebels."
"Now… what else?"
[WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, YOU SHOULD ALSO AIM FOR THE RACE IN THE SECOND POSITION. THEY CONTROL THE SPACE ASPECT. THEY ARE BORN TO CONTROL SPACE. THEY DO HAVE TECH—]
"EVEEE!!! I TOLD YOU TO STOP THIS EXALTED-LEVEL INFO DUMP!!"
Saying that, she immediately lay on the floor, waiting for the pain to come. This time, the information hierarchy lasted for 15 seconds.
"Did the duration just increase by five seconds?" she asked Eve, panting.
[YES. TIME WILL INCREASE IF YOU KEEP ADDING EXALTED-LEVEL INFORMATION. THIS 15 SECONDS WAS THE TIME TAKEN TO ADD THE INFORMATION TO EXISTENCE, AND THE INFORMATION WAS JUST ABOUT TO SEEP THROUGH WHEN THE TIME LOCK ACTED ON IT.]
Regillia clenched her fists, her body still trembling from the lingering aftershocks of pain. Her breathing was uneven, but her mind remained sharp.
"So… the more I accumulate Exalted-level knowledge, the longer the pain lasts," she muttered, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Fifteen seconds now… If I keep pushing, how long until it kills me?"
[THAT DEPENDS. IF TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE ATTEMPTS TO INTEGRATE AT ONCE, YOUR EXISTENCE WILL COLLAPSE.]
Regillia's expression twisted in frustration. "Damn it… so I have a limit to how much I can hoard at a time. But…" A slow smirk formed on her lips. "If the time increases every time I gain new information, that means there's a pattern. A threshold I haven't reached yet."
She pushed herself up onto her elbows, ignoring the soreness in her limbs. "Eve, is there a way to manipulate this? If I control the influx of information, can I extend the duration at a steady rate without risking collapse?"
[THEORETICALLY, YES. IF YOU SPACE OUT EXPOSURE TO HIGHER-LEVEL INFORMATION AND GRADUALLY ADAPT, YOUR EXISTENCE MAY BECOME MORE RESILIENT OVER TIME. BUT YOU ARE TOO WEAK. STRENGTH HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE DECIDING FACTOR.]
"But the time lock will erase it all eventually," she finished, scowling. "So unless I can anchor the knowledge in some way, I'll lose everything when the seal lifts…"
She fell silent, gears turning rapidly in her mind. If she couldn't retain the information directly, she'd have to work around it—embed it into something else, externalize it in a way that allowed her to reclaim it later.
Her fingers tapped against the floor as a slow grin spread across her face. *"Then I'll just have to be smarter than the damn lock."*
After she analyzed all the information
"Back to the matter. So you're telling me there's an entire species designed to control time, and they just happen to be in the lower dimensions? I remember you informing me that the lower dimension is the cradle of the Supreme Nexus, but created for what purpose? No—don't answer that. I'm not ready to explode just yet."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You also said they have the largest number of Exalted Realm individuals. That means either they have an insanely high talent ceiling… or they have a way to force breakthroughs. Which is it?"
[THAT INFORMATION—]
"Will kill me, yeah, yeah."She waved a hand. "Then tell me what I can know. How do they cultivate? What's different about their bodies? If I can't get my hands on a Unigen immediately, I at least need to think like one."
[UNIGENS DO NOT CULTIVATE LIKE HUMANS. EVERY 3D BEING SHARES THE SAME CULTIVATION PATH. THE PATH AND DESTINATION ARE THE SAME, BUT THE MEANS OF GETTING TO THE DESTINATION ARE DIFFERENT.]
Regillia's thoughts clicked together.
"A thousand years is too short, so I need to expand that time. How do I increase the lock period? And don't give me the 'you'll die' answer again. There's always a loophole."
Regillia opened her laptop and started sketching her new lab, hiring companies to manufacture the necessary components.