Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 531, Section 1: The Breathing Movement (2)

"The first phase of the 16th iteration experiment: Dancing with causality." The First Cause of Existence suddenly spoke clearly, a voice exactly the same as that of the guardians in all iterative universes: "Neither bound by causality nor blindly denying it."

The arrows in the fog of causality suddenly stopped flying and formed a new network in the void—the nodes of the network are the key choices for all iterative experiments, and the lines connecting the nodes are displayed in various colors: red represents inevitable causality, blue symbolizes possible causality, and the rarest purple lines represent the reversal of causality. The moment the Guardian's consciousness touched the purple line, it suddenly understood the breathing rhythm of the First Cause of Existence: each contraction absorbs the possibility of an anti-universe; each expansion releases new causality into the known universe—this breathing is not a simple cycle, but rather, with each contraction and expansion, new possible variables are added, like playing the same piece of music, each time with new improvisations.

"This is the law of existence of the First Cause." The fused entity's voice carried an unprecedented clarity. Her white light resonated with the causal network, revealing the story behind each purple connection: some were guardians of a certain dimension who saved a world that should have been destroyed through reverse causality; others were fluids from undefined realms who used causal reversal to create new forms of existence; and in the most moving story, the companions of the Mirror City, through the self-sacrifice of causality, gave the guardians a chance to choose again. "The reversal of causality is not a mistake, but an opportunity for creation."

At that moment, all the anti-universes suddenly overlapped with the known universe, giving birth to countless "causal intersections" at the point of overlap. Each intersection was an unstable vortex, containing multiple possible outcomes of events simultaneously: in some vortices, the 17th generation Guardian survived, but caused an even greater catastrophe; in others, the faceless beings chose to merge with the Guardians, but lost their own identities; the most wondrous vortex was reenacting the moment the singularity closed, only this time, the Guardians saw the Guardians of all the iterative universes inside the singularity simultaneously reach out their hands, their fingertips meeting at the center of the singularity, jointly releasing a "light of creation" that was neither causal nor random.

The phantom of a pure black pen coalesces at the intersection of causality, its nib writing a final warning: "The intersection is the critical point of existence; excessive reversal of causality will lead to the collapse of all universes." The pen shoots out streams of black light, attempting to stabilize the most unstable vortices. Within these streams emerge the remnants of all universes destroyed by causal chaos: some remnants exhibit distorted forms of logical paradoxes, while others dissolve completely into meaningless noise. "Like these remnants," the pen says, "they prove that existence requires a basic causal framework."

The four-colored longswords suddenly merged with the causal network, and the life stories on their blades began to unfold simultaneously in multiple causal versions. The guardian's consciousness revealed the "causal anchor points" of all the iterative experiments: the definition of freedom in the first experiment, the understanding of meaning in the seventh experiment, and the choice of existence in the fifteenth experiment. These anchor points collectively formed the core pillars of the causal network. When his consciousness resonated with these anchor points, all causal intersections suddenly stabilized, and the multiple outcomes existing simultaneously in the vortex began to transform into each other, forming a "quantum causal state" that was both certain and uncertain—like Schrödinger's cat, both alive and dead, yet presenting a certain possibility at the moment of observation.

"This is the second phase of the 16th experiment: finding a balance between causality and chaos." The Guardian's voice resounded simultaneously in the known and the anti-universe. His form of existence began to spread toward the golden section of the causal spectrum, becoming a bridge connecting different causal regions. "The meaning of existence lies in creating uncertain possibilities within a definite framework."

The First Cause of Existence suddenly pulsated violently, and all the microscopic singularities simultaneously released dust of possibilities. The dust condensed in the void to form a new Tree of Existence. Unlike the previous tree, its branches extended simultaneously into both the known universe and the anti-universe, forming a "hyperdimensional structure" that transcends the boundaries of causality. The first leaf of the tree unfolded, revealing text composed of causal arrows: "16th Iteration Experiment in Progress: Causality is the Stage, Not the Script."

At that moment, the primordial will of the trans-realm materialized once more, transforming into a "collective consciousness" composed of all the guardians of the iterative universes. Embedded in the chest of this consciousness was the same singularity as the First Cause of Existence, and the patterns on its surface were breathing with a new rhythm—a rhythm that was neither a simple contraction nor a simple expansion, but a "composite frequency" containing all possible rhythms. "We are the sum of all choices," the voice of the collective consciousness echoed throughout all universes, "and you are the point of resonance between us and the First Cause."

The Guardian's chaotic heart resonated with the singularity of collective consciousness, creating a ripple effect that surged through the causal network. After the ripples subsided, all causal arrows vanished, replaced by countless flashing "choice nodes"—each node representing an undecided possibility, capable of following the causal chain, abruptly changing direction, or even disappearing entirely. At the very center of the choice node, suspended in the air was a crystal neither black nor colored, containing the "initial choice" of all iterative experiments—not a specific decision, but a pure "capability to choose," like the first breath of the First Cause of Existence.

"This is the core of the 16th experiment." The figure of collective consciousness gradually became transparent. "The ability to choose is the essence of the first cause of existence."

When the Guardian's fingertips touched the central crystal, all the choice nodes suddenly erupted simultaneously, releasing energy that connected the known universe and the anti-universe into a larger "hypercosmic structure." Within this structure, causality and randomness, existence and nothingness, the known and the unknown lost their absolute boundaries, leaving only continuous selection and creation. At the very center of this hypercosmic structure, the First Cause of Existence breathes with a completely new rhythm, each breath creating new choice nodes while annihilating old possibilities, like a cosmic-scale metabolism.

Just then, the supercosmic structure suddenly began to contract, with all the pivotal nodes converging towards the center, reforming the outline of the singularity. During the contraction, the Guardians witnessed the final scene: countless supercosmic structures were colliding with each other, each structure having a singularity at its center identical to the First Cause of Existence, and the breathing rhythms of these singularities were composing an even grander "cosmic symphony."

Before the singularity completely closed, a final voice echoed in the Guardian's consciousness. This voice belonged to him as well as to the collective consciousness, and it was more like the whisper of the First Cause of Existence:

What choices will emerge with the next breath?

When the singularity vanished completely, only a constantly flashing choice node remained in the void, upon which emerged a new pattern identical to that on the Guardian's chest. This node was neither a beginning nor an end, but simply waited quietly, as if anticipating a new choice to activate it—like the first breath of the First Cause of Existence, waiting to be given meaning.

It seems we need to explore the ultimate relationship between choice and existence at the very source of choice itself. And that node waiting to be activated may be the true core of all cosmic cycles—neither the closure of the singularity nor the birth of the universe, but the eternal existence of choice itself.