Chapter 484: Chapter 172: Time is a Perception Illusion_3
He spoke, “It’s like a story in a book. The book may not be opened, but the story is already in it. The story thread in the book is like the length of time in a particular dimension. But when someone starts flipping through the pages, the concept of time in another dimension emerges. The faster the pages are turned, the faster the timeline in the book advances. Like this ghostly train, as it accelerates, our perception of time also accelerates! And we, in this compartment, are like characters in the book, feeling our lives whizzing by as the pages are turned at a faster pace. This is essentially an illusion of cognition!”
In response to this explanation, Colin’s eyes were glowing brighter and brighter, as if he had almost completely understood it.
Catherine Carter’s eyes also shone brilliantly, as if she had caught onto something.
Leonard Churchill continued, “If we can’t break through this illusion, when the train reaches the station, it would be like flipping to the last page of the ‘book’, our story would end there. If the end is death, then the characters in the book have already died on the last page! And so shall we!”
After pausing, he continued, “But the fact is, from the moment one flips over from the first page, the characters in the story still exist! Therefore, the essence of time on the Underworld Train is an illusion of cognition. It is not the real ‘time’ itself! At least not time as we perceive it in our reality!”
“I cannot fully understand the essence of the ‘real time’ in the world we are in. But I can confirm that the time we’re experiencing on the Underworld Train is the ‘low-dimensional time’! The acceleration of time is merely an illusion of our cognition, not real time passing. Just like a dream, once we awaken, everything is illusory.”
“The key to breaking through this Catastrophe Domain is to realize that its time is a perceptual illusion!”
II II
The moment Leonard finished speaking, a miraculous thing happened.
Catherine and the others watched originally white-haired Leonard’s hair visibly darkened.
In the blink of an eye, he reverted back to how he looked when they first got on the train.
Even without looking, Leonard could sense the changes in his body.
He could distinctly feel the fine changes in the flow of time.
The panel also clearly displayed an entirely new property indication: Time Rule Affinity+18.
Witnessing this miraculous spectacle, Catherine and the others understood Leonard had truly escaped this bizarre Catastrophe Domain.
Elder Clinton, on the other hand, had a perplexed look on his face, understanding nothing.
But the domain was of no use to him, so it didn’t matter whether he grasped it or not.
Meanwhile, Colin’s eyes gradually became unfocused, evidently deep in thought.
In his mind, he was pondering the words Leonard had just said.
A few moments later, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed, “I get it too!”
In the flash of an insight, Colin had grasped something.
Then a wondrous sight occurred again.
As if the book that had been speedily flipped through was turned back to its original page, Colin returned to how he looked as a spirited young man.
With a method to crack the rules found,
The deadlock was resolved in an instant.
The atmosphere, previously so oppressive that it was hard to breathe, suddenly loosened.
However, Catherine watched them and her eyebrows furrowed more deeply.
The same words mean different things to different people due to their cognition.
While she was highly perceptive, she lacked a high affinity for the Time Rule, so her comprehension of those words was embarrassingly slow.
Gradually, time inside the compartment accelerated faster and faster,
And she started to show signs of anxiety.
Having said all he had to say, Leonard knew that no one else could help her.
Four other surviving hunters faced the same predicament.
The hunters who were already so old that their faces were covered in wrinkles watched Leonard and Colin regain their lost time. Even though they were so weak that they were trembling as they walked, they still rushed up and begged, “Save me…”
Leonard had no intention of saving these men who had shot at him before.
And he couldn’t save them anyway.
He had spared them previously to observe the effects of the Catastrophe Domain.
Now they were worthless.
Leonard said firmly, “Get lost!”
The hunters were scared and trembling.
Faced with the choice of dying now or dying later, they chose the latter.
After all, they had heard the solution too. They didn’t dare get any closer and took the opportunity to sit down cross-legged and began to contemplate the words they had heard before.
Now the three accompanying her had all resolved the situation, leaving only her.
Catherine tried to calm her heart.
But she couldn’t calm down.
She clearly remembered every word Leonard had said before.
She seemed to have caught onto something, a hint of enlightenment.
But this enlightenment was not enough for her to fully accept the concept of “time being a perceptual illusion”.
It was like a cloud floating in front of her eyes, clearly visible but as elusive to grasp as a misty fog.
Catherine was acutely aware that this was the crucial moment of her “Hero Trial”.
If she could endure, she would be bestowed with Great Fortune.
If she could not, she would truly die.
But enlightenment was something that couldn’t be forced.
With the passage of time, she felt more and more distant from that cloud.
Catherine could distinctly feel her body’s vitality peak and then started to decline.
Is she going to die…
Yet she was unafraid in her heart..