Nexus Ascension: My Comprehension Defies the Heaven-Chapter 322: Neostar and Mana particles

[The Aeonic Barrier of Time has thinned following the nirvanic rebirth of the gods. The future, present, and past are no longer strictly linear.]

[Your comprehension defies the heavens. By observing a Future One, you have gained insight into the ’Future One Physique’.]

"..."

Grey fell silent as the notifications faded.

Should he make a shocked Pikachu face, or should he simply stare at the person in front of him with a deadpan expression?

Someone from the future.

Someone who had defied the logic of time itself and walked into the past.

Just what kind of absurd era was he living in now?

And more importantly...

Why did she feel so familiar?

Grey narrowed his eyes slightly.

That faint, inexplicable sense of recognition refused to fade. It was subtle, like an echo buried deep within causality itself.

Could she be his daughter from the future?

Or some descendant tangled up in a temporal paradox?

Did he... marry a blonde-haired beauty?

Grey coughed violently, nearly choking on his own thoughts.

Get a grip.

"You..." Grey finally spoke, his tone oddly restrained.

"Yes, Chief Grey?" Jasmine replied with a bright smile. "How can I help you?"

"You are from the future...?" Grey asked, the corner of his lips twitching uncontrollably.

"..."

The smile on Jasmine’s face did not fade.

Instead, it widened.

Widened far too much.

A huge, unrestrained, almost unhinged grin stretched across her face.

"My my. Should I say, as expected of Chief Grey, the man who conquered the southern region in just a few days?" she said in a singsong voice.

Then she burst out laughing.

The sound was loud, carefree, and borderline maniacal, making her resemble an eighth-grade syndrome chuunibyou who had just discovered forbidden lore.

After laughing for a good while, she finally stopped, wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and coughed lightly.

"But how did you figure it out, Chief Grey?" Jasmine tilted her head, curiosity and interest flickering within her beautiful eyes. "I do not recall telling this to anyone."

"So you really are from the future, huh?" Grey muttered, genuinely surprised.

Then his expression hardened slightly.

A barrage of questions erupted from him without pause.

"How did you even come into this world? Did you wake up here one day?"

"What happened to the future of Blue Star? Was it destroyed? Did everyone die?"

"Did aliens descend on Blue Star again?"

"Did I exist in the future? If I did, was I strong?"

"Then what about my death? Was it heroic, or stupid? Do not tell me I slipped on a banana peel."

"Wait. Did I even have a wife, or did I die single and bitter?"

"Did my name appear in history books, or was I just a footnote no one remembers?"

"Did humanity finally unite, or were they still stabbing each other over resources?"

"Tell me this first. Was I famous, or was I just strong but unlucky?"

"And most importantly..."

Grey leaned forward slightly.

"Did I ever get rich? Interstellar-level rich."

"..."

Jasmine was dumbfounded.

What the hell?

Why was he firing questions like a machine gun?

"Hold on, Chief Grey." Jasmine giggled helplessly, raising her hands. "I might be from the future, but I am not from Blue Star."

Grey froze.

"What?"

"I am from Neostar," she said calmly. "A planet roughly ten times the size of Blue Star combined, and several times more technologically advanced."

"But," she continued after a brief pause, "if I am not mistaken, this is not even the universe I came from."

Grey’s pupils shrank.

"What do you mean?"

Jasmine’s expression grew serious.

"While crossing over, the interdimensional coordinates were altered. Reality itself is constantly moving toward finality, so fixed coordinates do not truly exist. In simpler terms, I missed my intended universe."

"You are saying..." Grey frowned. "You are from a different universe?"

Jasmine nodded.

"In my universe, cultivation as you understand it does not exist."

"There are no multiple paths, no dao branches, no body refinement or soul ascension."

"There is only one absolute path."

"The path of magic."

She paused, then corrected herself.

"More accurately, modern magic."

"Modern magic?" Grey’s interest was instantly piqued.

"That is right." Jasmine nodded.

Abruptly, a floating blackboard appeared in front of her, accompanied by a white marker held between her fingers.

"In our universe, humans were incapable of sensing energy naturally," she explained. "Unlike the humans here, who can guide qi, essence, or other forces instinctively, we lacked that privilege entirely."

"The only true energy in our universe was mana particles. Yet no human could perceive them."

"Neostar was once an ordinary planet," Jasmine continued. "Until one day, a scientist experimenting with particle colliders attempted to create a miniature black hole."

"He succeeded."

Grey raised an eyebrow.

"And that success gave birth to mana particles," Jasmine said. "Or rather, revealed their existence."

"The scientist soon discovered something extraordinary. Mana particles could respond to human intent. Not emotions, but intent. Structured desire backed by will."

"They could make the impossible possible."

"However, humanity initially lacked the means to control them."

"Until another genius emerged and created the first-generation HexCore."

"A stabilizing device," she continued, tapping the blackboard. "It allowed humans to interact with mana particles without self-destruction."

"With HexCores, humans could absorb mana and construct mana cores."

"Reality began to change."

"Fireballs, lightning, water manipulation, light projection. What you would call magic emerged."

"But eventually, humanity reached a bottleneck," she said, her tone turning solemn.

"Mana manipulation required immense computation. At a certain point, the human brain alone could no longer handle it.

"The system completely collapsed as a result."

"But just as all hope was lost, another genius emerged." Jasmine smiled faintly. "The creator of the second-generation HexCore."

"An integrated computational core capable of using mana itself to enhance processing power."

"The one who introduced it was named Tian Yuan."

"Tian Yuan restructured the entire system," Jasmine continued. "He opened a new path."

"The path of transcendence."

"From that point onward, humanity advanced rapidly. Technology and magic merged. The world went interstellar."

"Beings capable of destroying planets emerged one after another."

"Eventually, the cosmos fell entirely under humanity’s control."

Jasmine looked at Grey.

"And I come from the planet where it all began."

"Neostar."