The experiment, fraught with twists and turns, was both startling and perilous. The world's most brilliant madmen, armed with cutting-edge equipment and utmost caution, approached the cerebral experiment.
However, the experiment had effectively ended from the very beginning, or rather, they had lost control.
Just a minute after the brain development commenced, the machine data surged upwards. In an instant, Bai Cha's seven orifices began to bleed. In a daze, Bai Cha felt as if her entire body had been pulverized, her brain pierced by countless needles.
At that moment, all Bai Cha perceived was white. She struggled to open her eyes, but all she saw was a hazy white. After a long while, as Bai Cha grew almost numb, she finally glimpsed a vast, indistinct world.
There stood a colossal tree, surrounded by thick, white mist. Bai Cha could barely make out the shape of its main trunk and the blurry outlines of its branches.
The tree soared skyward, its canopy lost to sight, its roots unseen below, stretching from heaven to hell. Even its innumerable extending branches seemed to reach endlessly into the mist. Luminous "world bubbles," like leaves, adhered to these branches in a discernible pattern.
Immediately after, Bai Cha sensed an overwhelming rage, an emotion akin to a giant's fury towards an ant for peeking at its secrets. Uncontrollable mental energy was instantly pushed back into her brain by this wave of anger.
That was when Bai Cha encountered the World Tree. Though the World Tree, in its anger, had flung her back to her original world, it had, in a way, saved her from the danger of her body exploding.
From then on, Bai Cha could occasionally establish a brief connection with the World Tree.
When Bai Cha regained consciousness, she found people lying around her in bizarre, contorted positions.
Yes, bizarrely contorted!
The researchers' limbs were twisted in unnatural ways, resembling smashed puppets with limbs bent at odd, random angles, a truly horrifying sight. Only Bai Cha was unharmed. Yet, only Bai Cha knew that this was the will and a warning from the world's planes.
Was the end of science fantasy? Or had science simply not yet reached a point where it could explain such phenomena?
Regardless, Bai Cha understood the price of peering at the divine throne. Moreover, she wasn't interested in the gods. She wasn't a madwoman abandoning everything to uncover the truth of the world; on the contrary, she had absolutely no interest in it.
Consequently, she and the World Tree formed a peculiar tacit understanding, through which she learned much about strange knowledge she had never known.
For instance, each branch of the World Tree represented a small world, and the world bubbles attached to them were different timelines and spatial dimensions within that small world, what were known as parallel worlds.
Periodically, the World Tree would select a few humans from different world branches and send them into different world bubbles or onto other branches to resolve various issues. In essence, it would transport a person from one time-space to another, meticulously maintaining the balance of each world.
However, Bai Cha was unique; she was the first to proactively appear before the World Tree.
"You're here again."
An ethereal voice echoed in Bai Cha's mind. Or rather, it wasn't a voice, but a mere intent that intruded into her consciousness.
Bai Cha tapped her temple. To enter the domain created by the Dragon Mother's star system, her brain had been pushed to its absolute limit. She had just managed to suppress it, but it still felt like needle pricks, rendering her unable to speak.
The will of the plane fell silent. Bai Cha had no mood to ponder why it had suddenly quieted. Compressing completely released power into a controllable range within such a short time was not easy.
A clear, refreshing power flowed into Bai Cha's mind, like a basin of cold water drenching her from head to toe. With each breath, the oppressive, thousand-pound pressure she had felt upon entering the World Tree vanished instantly, and the intense stimulation from her overstimulated brain subsided.
Bai Cha let out a sigh of relief and looked at the World Tree amidst the dense fog. She actually sensed the world plane extending a gesture of goodwill towards her.
"Apologies, there are times I am indeed not omnipotent. I cannot bring you before me at will, so I could only have you enter that demiplane domain first as a stepping stone."
The will of the plane explained gently.
"I have minimized the domain's impact on you as much as possible. Originally, the demiplane was intended to send you to a more brutal timeline; I chose a comparatively gentler one."
Bai Cha looked before her. She had just emerged from a world bubble that had stopped right in front of her. Within this world bubble, she could see her younger self, Bai Cha, looking bewildered and uneasy at the strange actions she had taken due to soul transmigration in the future.
Evidently, upon Bai Cha's entry into this world bubble, the original Bai Cha within had not vanished, but was merely in a deep slumber.
Currently, the "Bai Cha" within this world bubble frowned, calmly contemplating what had just transpired. Bai Ze, who had just left the room, also appeared somewhat bewildered and even inexplicable.
Bai Cha found it amusing. Even she probably wouldn't have imagined that she herself would end up soul-transmigrating into herself. If possible, this seemed like excellent material for a novel.
"This time it's very tricky. We need some cooperation," the World Tree said.
"Even you find it tricky?" Bai Cha exclaimed, looking around. Thousands upon thousands of world bubbles were neatly arranged around her, and Bai Cha could clearly see the scenes unfolding within them.
"I have already selected the problematic world bubbles. This demiplane with strong hostility has done this before, so I know the quickest way to handle it," the World Tree said. "Do you see that small, pure black world? That is not my world bubble. Its concentrated power has locked up your dragon, and that is very troublesome."
Among the rows of world bubbles, the most prominent was a pure black one, dark and cold, exuding an aura that clearly indicated it was no good.
"So, you're telling me you can't handle it?" Bai Cha glanced at the World Tree with a hint of disdain. "As a complete plane, if you can't even deal with a demiplane, then in the potential plane wars that might occur later, we might as well concede defeat."
World Tree: "?"
"What! Incapable of handling that incomplete entity? How is that possible!" The World Tree practically exploded with indignation, its conveyed will becoming much clearer.
"Human, I forgive your ignorance! But you must understand the difference between me, the core of Earth's plane, and this demiplane! I am an evolving entity, requiring maintenance of all world branches and world bubbles, whereas that broken demiplane only needs to focus its full offensive power. They are not comparable concepts!"
"How can you compare a tree to a woodpecker in a fight? You possess forbidden power, and even so, I protected you. You should at least show me some respect."
The World Tree was clearly quite angry and very displeased with Bai Cha's assessment.
"Don't paint yourself as so noble; it's clearly a matter of mutual benefit," Bai Cha shrugged and chuckled. "I saved you the trouble of selecting people and have been cleaning up the borers on your world branches. To put it plainly, I am also a useful and controllable tool for you."
The World Tree fell silent. Absolute frankness and sincerity were impregnable. Had Bai Cha been indirect, the World Tree might have used human evasiveness to its advantage. However, Bai Cha directly brought up the most sensitive issue, leaving the World Tree momentarily speechless.
Indeed, without Bai Cha, it would have to choose generals from the dead to balance various challenges across different time-spaces and worlds. Sometimes, it would inevitably select the wrong person, causing greater trouble.
And Bai Cha, lacking ambition, obedient, capable, and intelligent, was undoubtedly the best choice. Calling her a tool wasn't incorrect.
"But I still have some human sentimentality. Don't portray me as so cold, okay? Even if I am a tree." The World Tree's will carried a hint of helplessness.
"Then don't act as if I'm the one who got the better deal," Bai Cha said, crossing her arms. "You merely saved me and didn't eliminate me. And even though I gained power, I also paid a considerable price, didn't I?"
"Enough. Let's talk about other things," Bai Cha shrugged and pointed at the black world bubble. "What help can you provide?"
World Tree: "..."
The sudden shift in topic left the World Tree unable to keep up with Bai Cha's leap in thought. Normally, shouldn't the weaker party ask the stronger one how they could help? Why had it reversed here?
She was too calm, much like the cunning humans it had encountered before – neither angered nor saddened, neither pleased nor fearful. All emotions were kept within a certain range. One wondered what they were truly thinking.
"I am already preparing power crystals for you to use against this demiplane, but this time, I still need your help."
The World Tree's voice suddenly lowered, and Bai Cha detected a tone of negotiation.
"That small black world cannot be opened directly; it is very sensitive. If it explodes, other nearby world bubbles will be affected. My power is too obvious, so to save them, you must use your own strength," the World Tree said, somewhat embarrassed.
Frankly, as a world plane refined by countless ages, being entangled by a demiplane and then witnessed by its own "child" was quite embarrassing.
"Is it because my power is ominous?" Bai Cha asked.
"It's not exactly ominous, but it does belong to the Yin sha category. I can only assist you at crucial moments and at the very end."
"So, thank you for your trouble."
"...Fine." Bai Cha sighed helplessly. Facing the World Tree was like facing the top figures of China for her; there was only helplessness and no alternative.
The top figures of China were her superiors, and the World Tree was the superior of all beings. Therefore, even if they did something inappropriate, Bai Cha could only remain silent. Even if they wronged her, Bai Cha could only remain silent.
They had apologized, offered condolences, and adopted this attitude. What else could she want? What else could she do?
Only silence.
With a sigh, Bai Cha felt a touch of sadness.
However, that plane was quite audacious, using the special abilities of an evil dragon to exploit a bug and infiltrate the world plane to cause trouble. If Bai Cha herself weren't also a bug, Earth's plane would have likely faced a considerable period of difficulty.
Bai Cha scanned the surrounding world bubbles. All the problematic ones were gathered here, beautiful, dreamlike, and fragile like soap bubbles.
Suddenly, a feeling of weightlessness startled Bai Cha. The scenery before her changed abruptly, and her feet suddenly touched solid ground. She found herself in a real world again.
"Don't be afraid, baby. Mommy is here." A woman, half-dragon, half-human, with one side of her face ferocious and terrifying, and the other side radiant like the moon.
Bai Qingyuan smiled and placed the necklace with the embedded crimson crystal around Bai Cha's neck, then gently kissed the crimson crystal.
"I'm sorry, baby. Mommy is from the Bai family." Bai Qingyuan smiled, causing Bai Cha to freeze in place.
A light bloomed on her forehead, and streams of bluish-green light enveloped Bai Cha's body, lifting her out of that world and back into the void of the plane.
Both Bai Cha and the World Tree felt a lingering sense of dread. The Dragon Mother's demiplane had attempted to pull her into a world bubble again just moments ago. Fortunately, the World Tree had reacted promptly; otherwise, breaking free from that state would have required considerable effort from Bai Cha alone.
"Hmph, daring to play tricks in front of me."