Lee observed all the changes.
The dream world now has many sub-timelines and sub-realities due to its adoption of the new formation.
Every time someone uses their ability, new sub-realities and timelines come into existence.
"Now, we just have to wait a few million years!" said Rachel with a sigh.
"Really? Only a few million years?" Lee asked in doubt.
A few million years seem so short.
"Yeah! The formation you added is called the 'Fill in the blank' formation. As with the 'alternative reality' formation, it's all about quickening the process of the dream world becoming reality," Rachel said.
"Hey, Rachel, can you explain to me in detail about the dream world's process of becoming reality?" asked Lee.
"No, that's top secret," said Rachel.
Rachel's incarnations could not spread sensitive information regarding the creation.
An illusion is the dream of the universe and has nothing to do with the people and intelligent beings living in it.
A dream world, however, is the people's dream and has nothing to do with the universe.
But, the word 'dream' in the dreamworld must be construed liberally; Belief is also a 'dream' in this context.
People simply believing in something can cause a dream world to appear.
This principle holds up in the whole universe and maybe all universes, although that is impossible to verify.
However, in nearly all worlds coded by almost all civilizations, the coders would restrict 'dream realization' because it has a destabilizing effect.
Why do mortals believe something can make it real?
It has to do with how creation works.
Creation is everything that exists and does not exist, everything that can exist and cannot exist.
If a child imagines a world of candies, that simple imagination is enough to make that dream world genuinely appear.
However, the weight of one person's imagination is far from enough to make that dream world traceable. And, as noted, in nearly all worlds, the coders would restrict it, so the specific world's laws would automatically dissolve any dream world that appears.
To form a detectable dream world, at least trillions and trillions of people must believe in it.
The more they believe, the more visible it gets.
One should not underestimate mortals.
Every mortal, no matter how insignificant, has a soul.
A soul is directly from the creation; even rank 14 civilizations cannot create a 'true soul.'
A true soul is a recognition of the creation, different from the outer soul.
The true soul is not resilient and will dissipate after a person or thing's death.
There are two layers to the soul.
The creation grants the true soul and withdraws it in death.
The outer soul, which can have memories and, in some worlds, can reincarnate, is dependent on universal laws and the laws of each world, which may vary from universe to universe and world to world.
The outer soul can be strengthened and weakened depending on rank.
For example, a rank 10 mage's outer soul is far stronger than a mortal's outer soul.
Only rank 14s and Rachel even know about the distinction between the inner and outer soul; rank 13s don't know it, let alone rank 12 and below.
For the purposes of dream worlds, the outer soul is not important.
The inner soul, however, is critical.
As the creation grants it, its strength is fixed and cannot be improved.
It has few practical uses at low ranks.
However, for reaching rank 12, those who don't have true souls have no chance.
Now, a complicated question.
What is the truth?
Why is this world real and not a dream?
It is reality and not a dream because molecules, atoms, and all existence operate in this order and shape.
A dream is not real because it is the imagination of a person or thing; it has nothing behind it.
But what about from the creation's perspective?
The creation contains all that exists, can exist, and even those that cannot exist. For the creation, a dream is no different than reality.
What determines that the Alex Kingdom is a dream and the Clear Water Sect is real?
What determines that Candy World is not real, but Rachel is?
The true souls! Or, more accurately, the collection of true souls.
The true soul is the one thing the creation grants and recognizes as determiners of the truth.
The belief of those holders of the true souls determines everything. But, contrary to expectation, the truth is not singular.
There can be multiple truths contradictory to each other.
In a world, there are truths and falsehoods.
For example, 1 + 1 is two; that is the truth, and anything suggesting otherwise is false.
But from the creation's standpoint, it's more complex.
Why does 1+1 equals 2? Why is it not 3?
It sounds ridiculous, but from the creation standpoint, why is it not 3?
The creation is infinite energy, infinite knowledge, all that is, will be, and even those that cannot be are within it.
1+1= 3 sounds impossible, but with the creation, nothing is impossible.
What determines the truth of how everything should work?
For one, within each universe, universal laws determine outlines.
But such vital things as 1+1 are beyond even universal laws.
If 1+1 equals 3, it would cost infinite energy because it signifies something was added to the original two from nowhere.
Universal laws don't have infinite energy.
Universal and complete laws can set math laws, but they must make sense.
They can destroy worlds and even universes if they don't make sense.
But, with infinite energy, nothing must make sense for the creation.
There is no true or false from its perspective.
So, how does the creation distinguish between different charges of reality?
True souls.
Most of those with true souls believe 1+1 is two, so the creation takes their side.
If most believe 1+1 becomes 3, it will actually come to reality.
However, the creation is infinite, which means there are other charges of reality in which the answer of 1+1 might be unreasonable for those who live in this charge of reality.
For all Rachel knows, 1+1 might be -1 negative or anything on those other strange charges of reality.
On this charge of reality, however, most believe 1+1 is one., and so it is.
It is not that this world is exceptional.
There are endless changes in reality; until now, Rachel only managed to confirm their existence and never actually traveled to any different charge.
Technically, even Alex's dream world is a different change of reality. Still, it is so close to its surrounding environment that it might as well be the same, so Rachel doesn't count dream worlds and illusion worlds as truly different charges.
When dealing with infinities, everything becomes weird.
Now, who receives the true soul?
Everything that perceives the creation will receive a true soul.
As the creation is everything, that means that in practice, even mortals will receive a true soul.
Even robots with AI have inner souls.
What is perceiving the universe?
Anything that wonders about the creation is perceiving it.
That means people who live in Alex and Star dream worlds have true souls.
They are only dreams created by Lee with dream energy, but from the creation's perspective, they are only on a slightly different charge of reality.
For the creation, whether a dream or not, is no different.
People in those two dream worlds are, in the eyes of the creation, no different from a rank 14 mage.; both have the same true soul.
Then, who made up those rules that the creation follows?
Rachel guesses no one.
The creation has endless possibilities, and Rachel just happens to live in this charge of reality.
There are surely charges of reality in which rules are totally different.
Anything one can imagine and not imagine is in the creation.
That is, in theory, as for what complications the creation's incompleteness might cause, she has no idea.
Unfortunately for Lee, Rachel couldn't tell any of these to her.
But there is something she can tell.
"Lee, do you know why we are adding all these alternative realities and timelines?" she asked.
"I have some ideas, but not really," Lee answered.
"Look, it's because the Alex and Star worlds are not enough," Rachel said.
Lee looked confused and nodded doubtfully.
Rachel sighed and stopped talking; she couldn't reveal the underlying details.
Everyone who can wonder will receive the world's recognition.
That includes anyone in alternative timelines and realities; even if they exist only in dreams and for moments, they will still receive the same true soul everyone else will.
The whole population of the combined two worlds is less than a billion.
It's far from the trillions needed for the most basic realization.
So, the best way is to create alternative realities and timelines, artificially increasing those who can wonder.
When the total number reaches trillions, the creation will recognize them more.
However, having another charge of reality recognized is bad for the universe, so as the operation of universal laws is set up, they start moving the Alex and Star dream worlds to the charge of the surrounding universe.
Ultimately, both the Five-Star world and the Alex world will become a rank 10 world with complete laws specifically custom-made for them by universal laws.
They will become just another world wandering around in this universe in the same charge.
Both dream worlds would most likely be placed in the same world.
But it's also possible that they will be separate.
This way of creating a world costs far more than the conventional means of creating a world.
But this is an experiment.
The end goal is to make Alex a reality.
Alex was Karl's most lasting dream, which Lee feels owed to.
The dream of a rank 13 is far more powerful than a mortal's.
That's not because the creation is partial; it's just that a rank 13 has far more personal strength.
The next step is trying to replicate the same process and coerce the universal laws of the world to move Alex, the lasting dream of Karl, from dream charge to reality.
Lee has to observe and realize how the process works.
She sighed and looked at all the timelines of the dream worlds. She frowned.
Alex there acted very evil in every single one of them.
"Why is he so cruel?" she wondered.
...
Alex III looked at Dave, who didn't speak.
"Answer me!" Alex shouted.
Dave remained quiet.
"Jack?" Alex called.
"Yes, your honor!" he responded loyally.
"Get him to do what we asked before the end of today!" Alex ordered with his kingly tone.
Dave was so miserable he couldn't even talk.
"Yes, Your Highness!" He took out the torture medicine.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" As Dave saw it, he began screaming uncontrollably, with saliva dripping down his mouth.
...
Alex III left the room and returned to his temporary office.
He sighed deeply and wanted to complain about his subordinates' incompetence, but nobody was there, and in any case, nobody qualified for his companionship.
He read a book for a while and felt bored.
He was excited about what Jack was going to bring later tonight. He did not want to read a book, so he called a servant and ordered them to get one of his concubines.
Soon, a beautiful girl looking 18 years old entered and bowed.
Alex went forward and started the act.
He has a harem like all kings before him.
It's just that he only engages in the act once a week or even once a month.
It's not that he doesn't have sexual needs, but in his opinion, wasting time on these affairs is useless.
It seems unbelievable, but at one point in his life, he considered castration.
In his view, sexual matters were all distractions from important matters. But, realizing all the health and political consequences, he dropped that plan.
As a result, even though he thinks it's all a distraction, he still has to fulfill some needs as a mortal.
But, he is careful not to be indulged in it.
...
Just before the night ended, a knock came, and Jack asked for permission.
Alex III granted permission; his concubine had already left.
Jack came and bowed; he was holding a bottle of water.
"Did you get it?" asked Alex with expectation.
"Yes, your majesty!" he said with a smile.
"Hahaha!" Alex started laughing and took the bottle of water excitedly.
This excitement was unusual for him.
After the torture, Dave said all that he knew. He also talked about his ability to make any medicine as long as people believe in it.
'What about a medicine that can make me immortal?' he thought.
An immortality medicine!
"What about other bottles?" he asked.
Jack said with shame, "That traitor's mental state has reached the point that he no longer responds to torture, Your Majesty! Please forgive me! I only managed to force him to create an immortality medicine and a time travel medicine," he said.
Alex waved his hand and said, "Where is the time travel medicine?"
Jack took out another bottle and handed it to Alex.
"Anything else?" Alex III asked.
"Nothing, Your Majesty!" he said.
"Okay, go and get 1,000 gold coins as a reward; now leave me alone!" he said.
Jack left with a smile.
In the room, Alex opened the immortality medicine, poured a bit into a cup, and took a sip.
The next moment, he dropped to the ground and lost consciousness.
...
He woke up and looked around; it was still night.
"Finally," Alex laughed.
He didn't have any doubt.
Now, he is immortal!
He took a knife and slashed at his hand vigorously.
In case the immortality medicine didn't work, his hand might be crippled forever from the strike!
The knife hit and bounced.
It couldn't cut even his hair.
"Hahaha!"
Then, he took the time travel medicine.
He poured it into a cup and took a sip!