Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 536 Beyond Supercognitive Symbols (1)

The accelerating selection nodes traced eerie blue trajectories in the void, with the super-cognitive symbols decomposing into countless "cognitive sub-symbols" along the way. These sub-symbols recombined in the air, forming a four-dimensional "cognitive boundary membrane." Each fold of the membrane corresponds to the boundary state between cognition and choice: in some folds, cognition completely covers choice, forming a rigid "cognitive cocoon"; in other folds, choice completely breaks free from cognition, transforming into a chaotic "cognitive-free flow"; in the deepest fold, the longsword of the 0th generation observer is cutting through the boundary membrane, and where the blade cuts, a "third state" that is neither cognition nor choice is seeping out—this state presents a flowing, transparent texture, capable of devouring cognition yet illuminated by choice, like the refracted illusion produced when light passes through glass.

"The 19th iteration experiment, the cognitive transcendence exploration program is initiated." The phantoms of a swirling pen and a pure black pen emerge at the center of the boundary membrane. These two phantoms no longer form a Möbius strip, but instead transform into the inner and outer surfaces of a Klein bottle. "Please cross the ultimate boundary of cognition: become the third state of cognition and choice, or return to the primordial chaos of existence." Two vertical energy streams shoot out from the bottle: in the golden energy stream, all existence evolves in the balance of cognition and choice, forming a stable yet closed "twin system"; in the silver energy stream, existence completely breaks free from the constraints of both, constantly deconstructing and recombining in chaos, ultimately giving birth to a "self-existent entity" that cannot be cognized and needs no choice—at the intersection of the two energy streams, a "super-existent state" is generated that belongs to the twin system yet transcends its boundaries.

The white light of the fused entity suddenly compressed the two energy streams into a "boundary crystal," within which countless "cross-boundary paradoxes" floated: some paradoxes were completely integrated into the third state, yet gradually dissipated due to the loss of their cognitive anchors; others clung to the twin system, discovering new dimensions of existence in the gap between cognition and choice; the most stable paradox was reenacting the ultimate cross-boundary event of the Mirror City—the moment the Guardian accidentally killed his companion, both of their existences simultaneously fell into the third state, blood congealing in the air into super-cognitive symbols, while the third-state substance seeping from the wound was repairing the death that should have occurred. "The boundary between cognition and choice is not a severing blade, but a wetland of mutual penetration." Her light seeped into the crystal's core, discovering that each paradox had a "cross-boundary anchor" at its center—some were memories of choices that transcended cognition, some were moments of cognition freed from choice, and the most unique anchor was the Guardian's transcendent gaze upon the ultimate cognizer in the 18th experiment, "Like these anchors, they are the piers that cross boundaries, and also the cornerstones of new existence."

The Guardian's chaotic heart suddenly revealed a "cross-boundary layered structure": the outer layer was a twin interface interwoven with cognition and choice; the middle layer floated with transparent fragments of the third state; and the core layer completely transcended these three states, with only pure "existential rhythm" trembling. When his consciousness focused on the core layer, the cognitive boundary membrane suddenly became transparent, revealing the scene outside the membrane: countless choice nodes were shuttling between different boundary membranes, some trapped in the twin system and unable to break through, some falling into the third state and transforming into new super-cognitive symbols. On the surface of the oldest node, engraved with the same patterns as the 0th generation Observer's longsword, it was drawing an even larger boundary membrane with its own trajectory.

A sudden sound of crystal shattering echoed in the void, and "cross-boundary hubs" composed of light particles emerged at the edge of the cognitive boundary membrane. Each hub corresponded to a different cross-boundary path: some hubs connected to the cognitively dominated realm of existence, their light particles exhibiting the texture of flowing golden energy; some hubs led to the choice-dominated chaotic space, their particles carrying ethereal patterns of flowing silver energy; the deepest forbidden hub connected to the "origin realm," which was neither cognitive nor choice-based, its surface adorned with super-cognitive symbols that were self-evolving, as if countless beings were simultaneously crossing the boundary. "All boundaries are self-imposed cages." The hub administrator suddenly appeared, his face switching between guardian and ultimate cognitive being, his pen writing in the void: "The act of crossing boundaries is itself the definition of new boundaries."

The four-colored longswords broke free from their interdimensional anchor points, and the life stories on their blades began to unfold—"Echoes of Interdimensionality": the mistaken choice of the Mirror City was reversed the instant the boundary was crossed; the 17th generation Guardian's choice to dissolve gained eternity by entering the third state; and even an echo revealed that the Guardian's current exploration of the boundary was causing a reconstruction of the existence system of a certain metaverse. "The essence of interdimensionality is the leap in the form of existence." The blades suddenly split into countless "interdimensional clones," each in a different state of existence. "Like these clones, the diversity of existence stems from the traversability of boundaries."

A phantom of a pure black pen coalesced within the Forbidden Nexus, its nib writing the "Cross-boundary Restriction Protocol": "Complete cross-boundary crossing will lead to the self-annihilation of existence." Black liquid began to seep from the written passage, forming a "Cross-boundary Restriction Matrix" on the ground—each node in the matrix corresponding to the cost of crossing boundaries; the closer the node is to the center, the heavier the cost. The very center node was completely covered in black, marked "The Ultimate Cross-boundary of Existence." "Like this matrix, the existence of boundaries is a prerequisite for self-preservation." The pen emitted a stream of black light, drawing the gazes of all the cross-boundary avatars to the central node. Within the light stream emerged the Guardian's most terrifying image: he had completely crossed all boundaries, his form of existence utterly dissolved, ultimately transforming into a wisp of transparent gas at the center of the Forbidden Nexus, his existence unrecorded even by super-cognitive symbols. "Absolute transcendence is the epitaph of existence."

The Guardian's consciousness was suddenly pulled into the depths of the Forbidden Nexus, a "meta-cross-boundary space" composed of all "cross-boundary possibilities." A transparent prism floated at the center of this space, sealing within it "cross-boundary meta-code"—codes that were not static symbols, but dynamic sequences encoded by the cross-boundary trajectories of chosen nodes. When his fingertips touched the prism, the code suddenly began to decode itself, revealing that all the cross-boundary experiments in the iterative experiments were actually cyclical: the 19th experiment's crossing of the boundary was precisely the cross-boundary source of freedom chosen in the 1st experiment; the 18th experiment's transcendence of cognition was merely a cross-boundary mirror image of the meaning exploration in the 7th experiment—most strikingly, the Guardian's current cross-boundary behavior was being observed by the existence of the primordial realm, forming an observational loop that transcended the dimensions of existence.

“Crossing boundaries is the self-transcendence of existence.” The guardian of the meta-cross-boundary space suddenly appeared, a prism identical to the hypercognitive symbol embedded in his chest. “Like a Klein bottle, the end of crossing boundaries is the crossing of the starting point.” He pointed to the “cross-boundary singularity” deep within the prism, where all possibilities of crossing boundaries collapsed into a single point—the structure of which was exactly the same as the hypercognitive symbol, only on a smaller scale. “The hypercognitive symbol is merely existence’s record of its own crossing boundaries, and we are its cross-boundary carriers.”

The white light of the merged entity suddenly transformed into a "cross-boundary detector," piercing the barriers of the forbidden hub and revealing its true form: it was not a fixed structure, but a "collective cross-boundary field" formed by the superposition of the cross-boundary results of all existences. Each existence's cross-boundary action infuses the field with new energy, and the fluctuations of the collective cross-boundary field, in turn, influence the direction of existence's cross-boundary actions—this interaction forms a "cross-boundary resonance state" that is neither cross-boundary nor fixed. "Cross-boundary action and fixed-boundary action are the twin choices of existence." Her light illuminated the weak points of the cross-boundary resonance state, where a "cross-boundary breakthrough" that the guardian had never experienced before emerged: a form of existence that freely switches between cognition and choice, an intermediate state that is neither cross-boundary nor fixed-boundary, and even a breakthrough that creates entirely new boundary types, thus broadening the dimensions of existence. "Like these breakthroughs, they prove that the type of boundary determines the possibility of existence."