Chapter 676
However, these "minions" share a common trait: they have no idea which world line's Xia'er is the real one.
Conversely, the current Xia'er possesses the ability to pinpoint at least one of these "minions."
As long as she returns to that world line, back to the moment of summoning Sadana, and gets her to reveal the crucial information, a "minion" will appear to stop Xia'er.
She could use her ability to erase Sadana... but that ability surely has distance limitations.
Xia'er can bring Sadana into the other realm the moment she reveals the information.
If the minion wants to pursue her, it can only chase her into the other realm...
Even if it doesn't follow her into the other realm, Xia'er has a way.
That is the anchor point.
She can set the anchor point right at the moment before Sadana is erased, giving Xia'er a multitude of opportunities to locate that minion.
As long as she can pinpoint it, Xia'er can find a chance to inflict damage, marking it with the "Kiss of Time Erosion."
Then, Xia'er can repeat this operation in that world line, branding the same mark on that minion in both the past and future of that world line.
Once three marks are branded, that minion... will be directly erased by Xia'er, and to it, it will seem as if it merely endured an attack.
Xia'er's feather quill hovered above her notebook, and after a long while, she finally made up her mind to write down this plan.
Whether she wrote it or not, this plan would inevitably be known to the future "God of Existence."
As long as the thought of this plan surfaced in Xia'er's mind and she successfully implemented it, the future "God of Existence" would surely be aware.
Because there would be a future in this timeline where the "God of Existence" fails to be born, and the manner of that failure would be the death of a minion.
Whether it would send minions to deal with itself... that was the key to whether this plan would succeed.
After jotting down all her speculations, Xia'er waited in the room for a long time.
No response.
Had she failed?
No.
Not necessarily.
It might be that merely thinking about it wouldn’t open a new world line for this future to be observed.
Something must actually happen.
For instance, if she truly gained a new ability through the pocket watch, only then would various possibilities and world lines emerge...
Xia'er set down her pen.
In the remaining days, she turned the New World upside down, yet still found no more handwritten manuscripts or information. Reluctantly, she boarded the ship back.
On July 3rd, Xia'er visited Windsor Palace and entered a room, solemnly placing the notebook containing all her speculations on the table before her.
On the table, besides the notebook, there were also piles of experimental data and two vials of potions.
She sat on the sofa, gazing at the table, silently reciting in her heart.
You can do it, can't you? The real me.
As soon as she arrived, a dazzling silver light flashed before Xia'er, and she instantly lost all perception and awareness. Even her "calm thinking" failed her in that moment, leaving her unable to maintain a state of contemplation.
As the silver light gradually faded, Xia'er’s red hair vanished, replaced by long, straight black-blue locks, and she felt a certain languor wash over her.
The black-haired Xia'er stretched and yawned, then picked up the notebook. After glancing at it, her expression grew serious.
This method...
Might be worth a try.
---
**Chapter 345: The Ascendant, Salas**
The speculations left by the simulated Xia'er lingered in her mind.
While examining other experimental data, she continued to ponder these matters; looking at the data was merely a way to record new progress.
Before her lay another difficult question that she had no immediate answers for.
How should she find that "Time Jumper," the ascendant of the Witch's Association?
Or rather, how could she make it locate her?
If this ascendant was indeed cultivated by Remedais after the second Old Days simulation, there was no doubt that its power was formidable.
It could jump to the timeline where Xia'er existed, one that had not yet entered the Old Days, leaving behind a calling card as a hint. This indicated that it had once visited the timeline where Xia'er resided.
But it didn’t know which timeline's Xia'er was the real one; it could only cast a wide net, hoping that Xia'er would discover it sooner.
However, when Xia'er received that calling card, it was July 19th. At that time, she knew nothing of the Old Days or the "God of the Future." Even with the card in hand, she had no idea how to proceed.
The minions of the God of the Future were still hunting her down, and surely, shortly after leaving the information, it had already departed from the timeline where Xia'er existed.
Returning to reality to find it was unlikely.
But...
The current Xia'er had found a way to locate it.
That was through the Past Simulation, returning to July 19th, when it accelerated the time of Horatio Marlin. Xia'er could find Horatio Marlin ahead of time, and perhaps she might encounter it.
This was one method, but it was too much of a gamble, entirely dependent on whether the system would grant her the chance to randomly select July 19th for the Past Simulation.
Moreover, this method of returning to a fixed timeline in the past could very well expose Xia'er’s whereabouts.
The timeline of the Past Simulation was fixed; what happened in the past would also determine what would happen in the future.
At the moment she found that ascendant, it might also be the moment the minions pinpointed the real timeline.
Was there any other way besides searching for that ascendant on the July 19th timeline?
Xia'er paused her reading of the experimental notes, lost in thought, unable to focus on recording her findings.
Timeline... searching... leaving hints...
Leaving hints...
World lines...
I can also leave a hint.
But not on the timeline, rather on the world line.
As long as Xia'er returns to reality and leaves a thought behind to directly create a "Witch's Association"...
Then, countless new world lines and possibilities would emerge, and in those futures, the Xia'er acting would be the one from the simulation; the real Xia'er would never directly establish the Witch's Association.
Although this would expose her world line to some extent, it was still the best option so far compared to directly seeking that ascendant in the Past Simulation.
Thus, in the next anchor point cycle, Xia'er would see a world where the Witch's Association was founded, and during the hundred-plus days she spent in the simulation, she could wait for that time traveler to come knocking.
Xia'er was also taking a gamble, hoping it could jump to this world line and find the simulated Xia'er.
Once again, the tasks for the next cycle had multiplied...
Xia'er temporarily halted her thoughts, focusing her attention back on the experimental data before her.
In this new year, the continuation of the previous research results in "Flesh Alchemy" had hit a bottleneck...
This was a problem Xia'er had not anticipated.
That was the limitation of experimental instruments.
Mobilizing personnel took time, creating new experimental instruments took time, and those researchers needed even more time to learn and understand the knowledge Xia'er had left behind.
They were not like Xia'er, who retained prior knowledge to begin research; each cycle of research became increasingly profound, meaning the learning costs for those researchers would rise.
More complex and precise equipment, more difficult knowledge points, and experimental accidents arising from a lack of practical accumulation... all of these led to a noticeable slowdown in the experimental progress during this cycle.
It was predictable that the further into the simulations they went, the less room there would be for technological advancement in these three hundred days...
The anchor point cycle also had its limitations; it wasn’t simply 1+1+1.
If this continued, the speed of experimentation would surely fall behind the progress of the late Old Days, let alone help Sadana improve Flesh Alchemy.
The research direction must change.
What advantages does the simulation possess that the Old Days do not?
In terms of extraordinary materials, precision of instruments, quality of researchers, and experimental time, the Old Days were undoubtedly superior.
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