This chapter does not bind itself to the main tale. It stands apart—an unveiling of the hidden structure of reality. If you wish to walk only the path of story, you may turn away. But if your heart longs to know what lies beneath the skin of existence, then remain.
Here begins the cosmology.
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The Mortal Realms: Foundation of Existence
The Cosmos
Outside.
A cosmos is like a bubble—fragile in form, eternal in essence. Each bubble is one cosmos. Yet there are not a few, nor many, but an infinity of bubbles, drifting endlessly in the void.
Each cosmos is so vast that words such as infinite and boundless collapse beneath its weight. Even the higher orders of infinity fail to measure it. A single cosmos stretches beyond all qualification.
But infinite cosmoses together form a Great Cosmos.
And still, this is not the end. For there are not one, nor a thousand, nor a million—but an ℵ₀ (aleph-null) multitude of Great Cosmoses, unending and uncountable.
Inside.
Within each bubble lies a theatre of wonder. Countless galaxies, stars, and worlds float like sparks upon an eternal sea.
Each cosmos is not merely a vessel of matter—it is a continuum of space and time. Within it stir all forms of energy: qi, spiritual essence, mental power, physical force, mana, and the breath of world-energy itself.
Here, existence is conceptual, where thought, matter, and spirit merge into a single weave.
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The Universe
The Great Cosmoses themselves are contained within the Universe.
The Universe is not a place that can be described by the language of "boundless." It is absolute infinite. Beyond the measures of mortals, beyond the grasp of philosophy, it transcends every notion of scale.
The Universe is a sea of infinite timelines. Every thread of choice, every divergence, every whisper of possibility—each births a new reality.
Here, all disciplines converge:
Divination, which touches the hidden future.
Ontokinetics, which shapes the essence of being.
Philosophy, which questions the root of all thought.
Pataphysics, which dreams beyond the dream of physics.
Theology, both theoretical and applied, where the mortal mind strains toward the divine.
The expanses of the Universe are uncountably infinite, stretching into uncountably infinite dimensions.
And dimensions are not measured by the simple sequence of 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D… Instead, they are ordered by infinities themselves: ℵ₀D, ℵ₁D, ℵ₂D, ℵ₃D, and onward without end.
The Universe contains every concept, every paradox, every truth. Within it lies an infinite fractal hierarchy of space-time and mass-energy. Each level is layered with planes—physical, mental, spiritual, and conceptual.
The Universe transcends duality itself. Each Universe possesses its own will.
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The High Universe
Beyond lies the High Universe, a plane of existence that contains infinite Universes in their entirety.
The High Universe possesses its own law, its own governing Dao. This Dao is not mortal law but a Platonic concept—perfect, eternal, untouchable.
The High Universe is endlessly layered, a tapestry of realities woven above and below one another. Within it, the laws that govern Universes themselves are forged.
And there are countless High Universes, each as unfathomable as the last.
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The Above Universe
Still higher lies the Above Universe.
Here, all limits break. The Above Universe is an infinite recursion of High Universes—all possible High Universes housed and contained within it.
What is vast beyond measure in the High Universe is but a single point within the Above. To anything below, the Above Universe is inaccessible, unreachable.
It possesses its own World Dao, vast and ineffable.
And here ends the Mortal Realm.
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The Immortal Realm
The Immortal Realm unfolds in three layers:
1. The Star Universe
2. The Starry Heaven
3. The Vast Expanse
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The Star Universe
The Star Universe is a container for infinite Above Universes.
Here, all Above Universes are compressed into lower realities, layered upon one another without end. To each Above Universe, the one before it is but a canvas, a surface upon which its being is painted.
The Star Universe is infinitely layered by infinite layers. Its governing force is the Heavenly Dao, its will made manifest.
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The Starry Heaven
To the Starry Heaven, the Star Universe is but an illusion. No matter how many infinite Star Universes may exist, they are mere illusions reflected in its vastness.
The Starry Heaven is a higher realm, appearing like a planet—but in truth, each Starry Heaven contains all the structures of existence that came before it, compressed into a single dot.
Its vastness cannot be measured, not even by the concepts beyond absolute infinity.
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The Vast Expanse
Beyond lies the Vast Expanse—an endless ocean where infinite Starry Heavens drift like islands.
Here, the distinction between reality and non-reality dissolves. Time and space themselves lose all meaning.
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And yet—even the Vast Expanse is not the final word. There are realms higher still, but their mysteries are not to be revealed here. They shall be unveiled in due time.