Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

"Yes." Ji Chaoge nodded and said, "I thought of her from the beginning, but now I am also an ancestor and have inherited the power of the ancestor. I also know more about the ancestor than you do. As for Hongyan's abilities, they may not be as domineering as you imagine. As for directly resurrecting people or returning to that era, she probably cannot do it."

"Why do you say that?"

"If she could do that, where do you think you would be right now?"

"...behind the door."

"Exactly."

Ji Chaoge nodded, acknowledging Cain's answer.

"But that doesn't mean she can't go back in time. At least on July 30th, she should have activated her ability once. She shouldn't have just watched me become the progenitor. There's only one explanation: she came, and then she lost."

“I escaped on July 15th, only a dozen days later. Couldn’t she have done that?” Cain said. “Back then, she traveled through countless years, bringing the God of War to kill me.”

Cain didn't know exactly how long that time was, but he was certain it was more than just these ten days.

"Now that I've become the progenitor, I dare to say a few words about these things."

Ji Chaoge sat down to the side, pulled over a small blackboard, and began to scribble and draw on it. There were some things he had no right to comment on, even if he had studied them. But after becoming the progenitor, he naturally understood many things.

"First, regarding the ability to travel through time, it doesn't matter what's consumed—internal energy, magic power, physical strength, mental energy, soul, life—let's just assume it's magic power. Right now, I have one hundred magic power. I want to go back three days. Three days ago, my magic power was also one hundred. Let's say going back three days requires ten points of magic power—don't be too serious about the numbers, just assume that's all it takes. Cain, how many points of magic power do you think I would have if I went back three days?"

"It should be ninety, otherwise, wouldn't that mean there's no consumption?"

“Then let’s assume it’s ninety.” Ji Chaoge shrugged and drew a line on the blackboard, marking two points, a and b, with point a marked with a number 100 pointing upwards and 90 pointing downwards, and point b marked with a number 100 pointing upwards.

"If this time reversal is aimed at the whole world, reversing the time of the entire world, it sounds very domineering. But in fact, it can be understood as a kind of prophetic ability, which can be understood as the future self passing on memories to the past self. In other words, it is a prophecy, and I have paid a certain amount of magic power for this prophecy. So, in my opinion, this so-called time reversal is just a more advanced prophetic ability."

"Ah...of course, this is just a simple explanation for the skill of 'rewinding time around the world'. Actually, she has a second timeline, which is a bit more advanced. We'll talk about it later."

As Ji Chaoge spoke, she casually circled point A with chalk.

"But this more advanced claim of prophetic ability is based on a major premise, which is that 'I' do exist at point A."

"What do you mean? I can go back in time to three days ago, assuming that I was already in this world three days ago. But what if I wasn't here three days ago? For example, if I, Ji Chaoge, wanted to go back to forty years ago, could I do it? Let's not even talk about whether I could or not, the me of forty years ago probably didn't even exist."

"If I truly possess enough magic power to travel back forty years, then what I return to must be the 'present' version of myself, because forty years ago I was nothing. Applying this question to 'three days ago,' it's the same: is the 'me from three days ago, merely consuming a portion of my magic power,' or is the 'me from three days later, having not only consumed my magic power but also forever lost three days of my lifespan, as well as everything from those three days'? The answer is, of course, the latter, because if it were the former, 'I' would be unable to travel back forty years."

Cain understood, and after a moment of thought, he said, "But your guesses are based on a major premise."

"Actually, there are two... It's okay, tell me what the one you found is first."

"First, there's the issue of the upper limit of time travel. You believe you can break through this limit. But currently, we don't know what determines the upper limit of this skill. Perhaps it's the time when you acquire this ability, perhaps it's the beginning of your life, or perhaps it's determined by your maximum magic power. In short, we don't know."

Cain's words weren't fundamentally wrong; there's definitely a limit to time travel. But what exactly is that limit? For example, if someone steals a woman's ability, what is their limit? Is it when the woman survives her tribulation and becomes the progenitor, or when they steal her ability themselves, or is it determined by what's consumed? It's hard to say. But regardless, only the woman can draw this conclusion. Ji Chaoge, on the other hand, directly uses the fictitious "consumption" of magic power as the limit condition, which is clearly wrong.

"Well, that's one... The other major premise is much simpler, which is that I assume that all time travel is based on the same mechanism, but in reality, going back to 'the years you once lived' and going back to 'the years you didn't exist' may be two different mechanisms."

"Is there something else...? But if you already know that, why are you saying it?"

"As for the latter, I cannot prove it; it's just a guess. But for the former, I have a rough proof that can demonstrate that Hongyan's life ended after yours. However, this proof goes back to the original question: just how strong is Hongyan's ability to rewind time, and..."

Ji Chaoge paused slightly and said, "What variables will affect it?"

"Back then, she traveled through countless years, bringing the God of War to your era to defeat you. There are two questions about this, so please remember them."

"First, how was she able to span so much time?"

"Secondly, since she traversed so much time, why not go back a few decades further and nip you in the bud? I don't know how strong you were back then. But the fact that you managed to escape with a remnant soul from those two suggests you weren't weak. Logically, wouldn't it have been better to go back even further and kill you?"

"First, regarding the first question... it brings us back to Shenzhou-9. You know Shenzhou-9's ability; it can observe the future. But the future is full of variables, making observation extremely difficult. This concept of variables can also be applied to Hongyan. If we rewind time, would history still proceed in the original direction? The answer is, of course, no. The number of variables affects Hongyan's magic consumption and its upper limit..."

"If we use this explanation, it's easy to find the answer to why the beautiful woman was able to travel through so much time to return there and find you."

Cain remained calm, touching his chin.

"The more variables, the greater the consumption... If that's true, the reverse is also true: the fewer variables, the less consumption. So, the reason she could traverse so much time is because there were so few variables. Why were there so few variables...?"

He suddenly realized something and revealed a sunny smile that could make any young girl's heart flutter.

"Ah, because I destroyed the world, there are fewer variables..."

Saying such things with such an expression is truly a scene that makes one feel like their worldview is collapsing.

Ji Chaoge, her gaze deep and unfathomable, calmly said, "You destroyed the world, leaving it a scorched wasteland. As a result, the variables in the world are extremely limited. That's why Hongyan was able to rewind time so easily... Following this, the second question arises: why didn't Hongyan rewind even further, for several more decades, until you were powerless to resist? The answer is also obvious: at that time, the world still held enormous variables. Therefore, even with all her strength, Hongyan could only return to that point in time."

Cain nodded and said, "From a mystical perspective, that is indeed a reasonable explanation."

"We don't know the truth, so we can only discuss the most likely possibilities. Of course, it's possible that our arguments could be overturned at any time, but since they haven't been overturned yet, let's continue as they are," Ji Chaoge said. "Considering what we've just discussed, the answer to the question of the 'upper limit of the beauty's time travel' is naturally clear. If the beauty appeared before you, then without a doubt, she could easily return to when you were powerless and kill you. Therefore, her era must be after yours, but she can still activate her ability to reach an era before she appeared, and before this ability existed, so—"

Ji Chaoge calmly said, "Your idea must be wrong. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have already proven that you are wrong."

"Alright...alright." Cain was no match for Ji Chaoge and could only surrender. "Then continue, it's not over yet."

Chapter Sixty: Nowhere to Escape

"Then let's go back."

Ji Chaoge said, "Where was I? It seems to be... about her state after rewinding time. Her rewinding ability may have a dual mechanism, returning to a time when she existed and a time when she did not exist. The mechanisms are different, but I think this is unlikely. I personally believe that she only has one mechanism for going back, which is that she goes back to her current self, along with the current consumption."

Ji Chaoge explicitly stated that there was no evidence to infer this point; it was merely a conjecture. Who knows what mechanism Hongyan's ability is?

"So, under this premise, let's introduce a second timeline... The power of the beauty is a bit difficult to understand, so let me put it another way. Suppose there is such an ancestor whose power is to stop time. If he stops himself as well, Cain, would the world stop like that forever?"

"..?"

This idea of ​​exploiting a bug gave Cain a slight pause. Stopping time, stopping himself too—how stupid... But it wasn't a matter of stupidity; the real question was, if he stopped himself as well, then the consumption of magic would also stop, and would the world remain frozen indefinitely?

"Without a doubt, no."

Ji Chaoge waited only a short while before giving his own answer: "The world will not stop indefinitely, because in addition to the world's timeline, there is a second timeline, which I also like to call the real timeline, which records the true consumption of those beings that can travel through time and space."

"Time stops, but the real timeline does not stop. On that timeline, the 'magic' used for consumption still disappears little by little. Similarly, this principle can be applied to Hongyan. She reversed time. But what she lost will not come back; it was also consumed on that real timeline."

Cain felt a chill run down his spine; Ji Chaoge had finally gotten to the point.

He knew before that Hongyan couldn't go back in time that much. But he only knew the answer, not the reason why. Now, Ji Chaoge provided the answer with a self-coined term. Because of the existence of the second timeline, Hongyan's "magic" wasn't infinite, so naturally she couldn't go back in time that much.

If Ji Chaoge wants to use the power of the beauty to revive Shenzhen, she must overcome the obstacle of the real timeline... How exactly can she do that?

“The real timeline is by no means insurmountable, but before we cross it, we need to understand one thing first,” Ji Chaoge said. “That is, will the 'magic power' that has been consumed be replenished?”

"Magic" is just a euphemism, because they don't know what the beauty consumes. True magic will naturally regenerate, otherwise what's the point of magicians?

"Without a doubt, the beauty's magic power will also recover. But the recovery speed will definitely not be fast... For example, if she goes back to three days ago and consumes ten points of magic power, will she be able to recover ten points of magic power by three days later? I think under normal circumstances, it is impossible to recover ten points of magic power. Otherwise, she would become a perpetual motion machine. But is this absolute? I think there are exceptions, for example, during that period."

This time, without Ji Chaoge's prompting, Cain naturally arrived at the answer.

"The time that was traversed in the world I destroyed."

“That’s right, it was during that period.” Ji Chaoge snapped his fingers. “A long period of time, crossing it with the lowest cost… there’s a high probability that even if you cross the longest period of time with the lowest cost, the magic power that slowly recovers won’t be enough to keep up with the consumption. But if you can keep traveling through time at this cost-effectiveness, you can return to that chaotic era… and see the gods.”

If you can't maintain the minimum cost-effectiveness, a ridiculous scene will unfold, like a snail climbing five centimeters, only to fall six centimeters down overnight, eventually drifting further and further away until it becomes unreachable, a star in the distant sky, invisible during the day, only visible in the quiet of the night when you look up at the sky, its bright light piercing your heart.

“But…it’s impossible,” Cain murmured. “The low cost back then was likely because I destroyed the world, leaving a blank slate in history. Therefore, the mana cost was minimal. Now, how can we maintain such a low cost? History isn’t a blank slate…”

As he spoke, he suddenly froze.

"So you've finally found out, Cain?"

Ji Chaoge smiled with satisfaction. "A person is dead, but she can be alive. History is indeed not a blank. However, it can also be considered a blank. The greatest significance of the mysticism lies in deception—deceiving life and death, deceiving history, making it appear as a blank..."

He paused slightly.

"Besides, at this stage, there will be many choices. Perhaps the Beauty's abilities contain many other mechanisms, some of which I am unaware of but could be useful to us. For example, sending others back would have different costs depending on settings like 'racial stats.' Sending an ordinary human back would have very little cost. If such a mechanism exists, perhaps I could shed my ancestral form, start over, conquer the world again, and then destroy it, turning history into a blank. Then, you could borrow me again, send me away again, and so on, until the entire history is destroyed..."

As Ji Chaoge spoke, her facial expressions gradually became uncontrollable, and she grew excited.

"Ah... just thinking about it makes me so excited! It's amazing, Cain. If, in the future, the Red Beauty's abilities really do have a similar mechanism, let's do it..."

Cain paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.

"Do you know, Ji Chaoge... I spent countless years behind that door, I've long since become a madman. If I weren't a madman, I simply couldn't have endured those long years, but you..."

"You really are... really are... the number one mental patient in the world."

"Thank you for the compliment." Ji Chaoge replied politely, "If you have time, you can visit the clown. He said he has recently encountered a series of important figures and was quite frightened. He plans to get a tattoo of 'I am here to ward off evil' on his chest."

"Is he your biggest fan?"

"I think so, otherwise he wouldn't have helped me. It's just a pity that he's a bit unreliable."

The two exchanged a smile, and after a brief exchange of jokes, they got back to the main topic.

"I think I understand now. You've been spouting a bunch of nonsense. In the end, this plan still requires killing Hongyan, seizing her destiny, and then implementing it... However, her ability to escape is quite strong, and I'm not entirely confident. How do you plan to do it?"

“This is not difficult.” Ji Chaoge’s gaze was calm. “She will have many opportunities, but she will never win. I will soon arrange an opportunity for her to fight you and leave her with nowhere to escape.”

Chapter Sixty-One: The Progenitor of Subhumans

"Darnell Adams."

"Sandy Nelson."

"Song Zhen".

"Ceronacol."

"Dawn of the Kamikaze Institute".

“Taicang Ancient”.

"Qin Zhe".

"And... the identity he's using now, Xun Jiang."

After announcing the menu to the people, Ji Chaoge, disguised, and Cain arrived at their destination. Ji Chaoge thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He had previously been unable to attend events in person due to fear of being beheaded, but now he finally had the opportunity.

They are searching for the Joker's old friend, the progenitor of demi-humans, Passerby, in a second-tier city in the Morgan Kingdom... Of course, no one has ever seen Passerby. So the name Passerby was given to him based on his demi-human characteristics; whether the other party likes it is another matter.

Judging from the fact that he could befriend the Joker, the other person is definitely not a normal person... The series of names mentioned above are all aliases he has used, and only a very small number that the Joker knows. It is said that the progenitor of demi-humans once devoured a portion of the Sky Spider, possessing the ability to ruminate on "existence," thus enabling him to adapt to various lifestyles.

The progenitors were roughly divided into two factions. One faction consisted of worldly people like the Red-faced Demi-humans, who disguised themselves as humans and experienced various aspects of life. The other faction consisted of otherworldly people like the Joker. This otherworldly aspect doesn't mean that he left the mortal world to live alone like an ascetic. Rather, it means that the Joker detached himself from the lives of ordinary people and was either causing trouble or on his way to causing trouble.

He not only messed with his enemies, but also with his teammates, and even with himself. He would choose to commit suicide for a cool entrance... But to be fair, if Shen Xin had a heart condition when he made his entrance, he would definitely have died. In the end, he was a complete failure, but his entrance was truly unique.

The contact information for the passerby was given to Ji Chaoge by the clown. After the destruction of the Jue Tian Legion, Ji Chaoge had foreseen this day. The passerby would be his third greatest help in ruling the world. The second was the anti-separation technology, which, if used properly, could directly cause the entire world to regress by two great eras.

As for the first one... Ji Chaoge, a person so confident that she is arrogant, always puts herself first.

"Are you planning to take action then?" Cain had only been in the modern world for a little over half a month, but he had already picked up some bad habits, the most prominent of which was his frequent use of this meaningless inverted sentence. "If the negotiations break down."

“Normally, negotiations won’t break down,” Ji Chaoge said. “I’m not a negotiation expert, but I’ve never failed since I started negotiating with people, otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now.”