Aside from hints of this level, Nahida couldn't say more. Her brain, already deep in a dream state, was still being 'mined'—at this point, it absolutely couldn't receive any more direct information.
The remaining content had to be gradually explored and figured out by the Traveler themselves, so as not to damage her smooth brain.
With no other choice, the Traveler and Paimon could only go find Dehya again. Although she wasn't well-read, she was already the smartest one among them.
However, this time when the Traveler and the others encountered Dehya, they noticed something off.
[Paimon exclaimed in surprise: "Y-You… why aren't you injured this time!?"]
[Dehya said in confusion: "Huh? What do you mean by 'this time'? And why do I have to get injured? They were just some third-rate bandits."]
Clearly, in the previous cycles Dehya would always get injured—why wasn't she injured this time? Had a flaw appeared in the cycle?
No, Dehya told the Traveler the reason. During this battle, there was one thing that felt very strange to her: that greatsword.
It was clearly a new greatsword she was using for the first time, yet it unexpectedly felt very comfortable in her hands, as if she had used it many times before.
This change left the Traveler and Paimon very bewildered. What effect was this? What theory? What theorem? What conjecture?
The readers weren't quite sure either—they were completely lost in the fog, looking forward to Lucian's explanation.
However, some of the more knowledgeable ones understood: this was most likely because the excessive number of cycles had produced muscle memory.
Logically speaking, since the muscles hadn't moved at all in the dream, how could there be memory?
This was because muscle memory isn't actually the muscles remembering—it still originates from the brain.
Simply put, performing an action requires the brain to connect many 'nodes,' and muscle memory reduces the number of 'nodes' while shortening the distance between them.
When all the 'nodes' are shortened to a certain degree, a certain reaction can be made instantaneously—that's muscle memory.
So this was still a brain issue. Achieving it in a dream wasn't strange—the brain would deceive itself.
This also revealed a piece of information: this cycle wasn't a complete 'reset'—there were things it couldn't erase.
But how could the Traveler understand such things? She thought that since even the 'muscles' were remembering, did that mean they had already escaped?
That was muscle memory! If the muscles remembered, didn't that mean the cycle's memory wipe had failed?
[The Traveler analyzed: "Is it possible… that we've already escaped?"]
[Paimon agreed: "Eh! Yeah, in the previous 'Sabbath of the King of Flowers' cycles, something like this was impossible."]
[The Traveler relaxed: "We'll know once today ends."]
All that could be said was that the Traveler and Paimon never let us down—going out still required bringing an external brain.
It was fine; being silly was pretty cute too—at least they knew to run home when it rained.
In fact, many people who didn't understand muscle memory also thought they might have escaped.
However, fearing that everyone wouldn't understand, Lucian kindly explained 'muscle memory,' which ended up slapping Lumine's analysis in the face.
In reality, Lumine felt a slight embarrassment, but fortunately her thick skin held up—she just stopped her smug swaying.
From a god's-eye view, she understood more than her story counterpart and could see that she hadn't yet escaped the cycle.
The Traveler and Paimon in the story couldn't see it. They went back to share the 'good news' of escaping with Nahida.
[Paimon: "Nahida, listen to me—we discovered today that Dehya, who would always get injured after defeating the bandits each time, didn't get injured today."]
[Paimon said very happily: "Do you think the 'Sabbath of the King of Flowers' cycle might have already ended? Will Dunyarzad be saved?"]
Nahida clearly knew the truth, but facing Paimon's speculation, she neither mocked nor pointed it out. To preserve Paimon's joy, she simply said gently:
["Oh? There's been such progress—good, good. In that case, rest well today."]
Nahida began speaking in a tone like coaxing a child.
All that could be said was that she was truly too gentle. This encouraging style of education indeed caused very little pressure, but sometimes a bit of pressure should be applied.
If it were Ei's personality, she would have long said, 'Pathetic—go continue the investigation right now.'
Though that would make Paimon and Lumine feel wronged, at least it wouldn't waste time.
However, in Nahida's view, resting wasn't considered wasting time.
No matter what, 'tomorrow' would always come—whether tense and fearful, or relaxed and joyful, tomorrow would come.
Tenseness and fear had already persisted for dozens of days—relaxing a bit was good.
That's why Nahida smiled and called this 'progress'—good rest and mindset were also important.
[Nahida said: "Tomorrow will come—this is common knowledge for everyone. But in truth, whether tomorrow truly arrives is something only you, standing in tomorrow, can know."]
["How many times has today passed? Could the day after today possibly be yesterday? Has the word 'tomorrow' always been a fabricated concept?"]
["Or perhaps, the entire world is false, and the history of this continent is just one long 'Sabbath of the King of Flowers.'"]
Here, Nahida was actually secretly revealing a massive secret—extremely massive.
Though she never directly pointed it out or said anything explicitly, her words always contained some 'truths.'
The history of Teyvat, if one were to say it, was indeed one long 'Sabbath of the King of Flowers.'
It was even unknown how many times Teyvat had 'cycled' or 'rebooted.'
Nahida was quite ruthless too—casually exposing the Heavenly Principles' secrets in a way ordinary people wouldn't understand.
When Lucian wrote about it later, everyone would suddenly realize: Holy crap! So the Dendro Archon had already said it back then!
Even Zhongli would sigh upon hearing these words—the new gods were truly bolder than the last. Getting old, getting old.
One secretly exposed the Heavenly Principles' secrets, one planned to deceive the Heavenly Principles, and another wanted to openly rebel. The young really had energy—someone old like him should indeed retire.
As for the remaining old-timers: Ei was the type who didn't care at all, Furina slightly furrowed her brows, and Venti was drinking.
[Nahida smiled: "Hehe… So, for things that will naturally be known tomorrow, there's no need to waste meaningless brainpower today."]
Yes—why waste brainpower wondering if the world is real? 'Tomorrow' would naturally reveal it anyway.
However, if Teyvat were truly simulated, it couldn't be called the Simulated Universe or the Original Universe!
Wouldn't the Heavenly Principles then be the one calling people to test it?
Cough—better not ride this wave of hype.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Venti: About the Heavenly Principles
"Only 'eternity' comes closest to the Heavenly Principles, hehehe. What the Cryo Archon wants to overthrow—is it the Heavenly Principles, or her order? Ehehe."