Chapter 432: The Starry Sea From Ancient to Modern Times

The Tianji Year was followed by the Yuanjun Year.

It was now November, and the mother planet's orbit had just brought it past Yuanjun Star.

The Dark Lord had silently illuminated Yuanjun Star.

Just as Ning Changjiu was about to kill the Sword Saint, Yuanjun appeared silently in the great abyss that had formed after the collapse of Guhuang, blocking their path.

Dense gases sprayed like fountains from the abyss, and the earth's crust below constantly heaved, splitting into pieces.

At this moment, they didn't seem to be underground; rather, they appeared to be standing on a sky island filled with clouds.

Ning Changjiu stared at Yuanjun and asked, "What... are you talking about?"

Yuanjun gradually transformed from his goat form into a human. He had a long beard, dark brown goat horns still adorned his head, and he leaned on a wooden staff, looking like a kind and benevolent old monster.

In mythological records, Yuanjun was originally a kind and benevolent god. Suzaku's allegiance to the Dark Lord might be explained by ambition, but Yuanjun's rebellion had always been an unsolved mystery.

At this moment, the mystery seemed about to find its answer.

Yuanjun looked at Ning Changjiu but didn't explain directly. Instead, he asked, "The four floors of the Central Realm each preserve a thousand years of history, totaling four thousand years. Even including your era, that's only a little over five thousand years. Do you know where the history before that went?"

Ning Changjiu's brows furrowed sharply, and his sea of consciousness suddenly ached. The logic of his memories collapsed with Yuanjun's words, and the already incomplete part of his memory concerning Di Jun became even blurrier.

"I don't remember what happened before that," Ning Changjiu said.

Yuanjun nodded and said, "You couldn't possibly remember, because human history from earlier times is blank. The history from four or five thousand years ago wasn't obscured; it simply didn't exist. As for this planet, your civilization appeared out of thin air."

In his mind, Liu Xiwang spoke up to remind him, "He is very likely lying to us. All the divine lords are our enemies. Don't let a few words disturb your mind!"

"Mm," Ning Changjiu closed his eyes briefly, and his mind returned to peace.

He gripped his sword tightly, gazing at Yuanjun, and continued to ask, "So, what's your explanation? What exactly do you want to tell us?"

Yuanjun said, "Back then, the Evil Poem descended from the sky, expelling me, and then created you all. The nearby starry sky is obscured by the Dark Lord; otherwise, you would see the stars of Tianzang, Zhulong, and Xuanze. You would also see a Dead Star Domain floating outside this galaxy."

"You gods and immortals, you all came from the Dead Star Domain. You, including your names, all came from a civilization that was destroyed in a galactic 'derailment' one and a half billion years ago."

Yuanjun's words echoed in the abyss of Guhuang, as the still rough spiritual energy erupted like molten lava.

Ke Wenzhou, in his youthful form, slowly crawled out, tearing through his skin. He held a black sword, and his skin was still covered in blood.

"One and a half billion years ago..." Ning Changjiu gently shook his head and said, "Even the most powerful cultivators cannot fathom such a span of time."

Yuanjun nodded and said, "Indeed. This galaxy has gone through a long period of time and has long since been reshuffled. The surface of this planet has also been covered with a layer of rock, and after being filtered by the rock layers, these primordial gases can become the spiritual energy for cultivation. In the distant past, gods and cultivation were merely figments of imagination."

Yuanjun's words were too shocking for Ning Changjiu to discern their truth or falsehood, but his mind raced, and he quickly found a point of doubt, asking:

"How do you know these things? Logically speaking, it's impossible for you primordial deities to have existed for so long. In one and a half billion years, any information left from back then would have long since been obliterated, right?"

Yuanjun didn't hide it and said straightforwardly, "I obtained this information from the Dark Lord."

"The Dark Lord?" Ning Changjiu's mind jolted. "How could it know?"

Yuanjun said, "Because the Dark Lord is the soul of a star."

Ning Changjiu blurted out, "Which star?"

Yuanjun slowly said, "One and a half billion years ago, it was once nestled between Tianzang Star and Zhulong Star: a star that once had a glorious civilization, named Earth."

Ning Changjiu's lips pressed tightly together. Before his eyes, the past of a civilization so ancient it was untraceable seemed to slowly unroll before him like a scroll.

In the Golden Crow Divine Realm, Yuanjun's words also reached Lu Jiajia and Siming's ears. As they heard these ancient tales, their emotions wavered between shock and a sense of inexplicability. But they quickly gripped their swords and calmed their minds. No matter how bizarre the past, it was history, and the enemy was already before them.

Ning Changjiu said, "Are you saying we are the continuation of a civilization from a star named Earth?"

Yuanjun nodded and said, "If the information provided by the Dark Lord is true, then that is indeed the case."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Why were the stars destroyed, yet the seeds of civilization preserved?"

Yuanjun said, "Because it was a brilliant and powerful civilization, many of them left before its destruction and preserved much information. If one day you can step into the Dead Star Domain and see the withered star at its center, perhaps you will still see traces of that time."

The Dead Star Domain…

Ning Changjiu once again remembered the lightning tribulation in the imperial city of Zhao. His past self seemed to tell him in a dream that they were all stars in the sky, and most of them had already extinguished. They needed to emit light and heat to re-ignite that star field.

Was that... their original home?

A sense of immense time and change arose in Ning Changjiu's heart. They had actually long since died, and their rebirth was surprisingly because the Dead Star Domain had, outside this galaxy, lonely watched for one and a half billion years...

"Why are you telling me all this?" Ning Changjiu asked.

Yuanjun said, "Because I do not see you as my enemy. On this planet live ancient gods, demons, and humans, but I do not care. I only wish to expel the Evil Poem."

Ning Changjiu said, "Why should I help you?"

Yuanjun said, "Because expelling the Evil Poem is the only way to prevent the Dark Lord's destructive descent and stop the Black Sun from appearing!"

Yuanjun looked directly at Ning Changjiu and continued, "The Evil Poem is stored in the Dead Star Domain; it is the seed of your human civilization. And the Dark Lord is its guardian, as well as the grave keeper of the Dead Star Domain. Now the Evil Poem has escaped on its own. Protecting the seed of civilization is the supreme directive etched into the Dark Lord's sea of consciousness, while its other intellect has long since been worn away by the passage of time. In other words, it has long since lost control, becoming an existence like a vengeful spirit or malevolent ghost in the cosmos! We cannot truly communicate with it. It is a stubborn vengeful spirit; it only wants to retrieve the Evil Poem and take it back to the Dead Star Domain! It doesn't care if it destroys everything in the process!"

Yuanjun's voice echoed deafeningly in the gushing spiritual energy.

This was a secret known only to the Six Primordial Deities.

Now, among the Six Primordial Deities, only he and Suzaku were still alive.

Ning Changjiu then asked, "What about my existence and Chang Xi's? Don't we exist because of the sun and moon?"

Yuanjun said, "The moon used to be smooth; it only started becoming scarred in the last thousand years. You know that, right?"

"Mm," Ning Changjiu nodded. Ye Changong had explained to him that the craters on the Moon Prison were the result of her grafted injuries.

"The ancient moon wasn't like this..." Yuanjun stroked his long beard, paused, and then gently shook his head, saying, "But it's harmless; they are all just stars orbiting the mother planet."

Ning Changjiu no longer pondered the profound implications of Yuanjun's words. He calmed down again and said solemnly, "The Evil Poem is the new master of this star. If it is handed over to the Dark Lord, then life on half the star will disintegrate and be destroyed."

Yuanjun didn't hide it, nodding and saying, "Before that, we can use the Heavenly Tablet as the center and evacuate the surrounding residents to the edge of the Central Realm..."

Ning Changjiu shook his head directly, interrupting him. "I once saw the tree connected to evil on the Heavenly Tablet. It is a tree deeply rooted in the star. If it is uprooted, the earthquakes, tsunamis, and lava unleashed would be enough to destroy everything. Let alone the edge of the Central Realm, even the ends of the earth wouldn't escape!"

Yuanjun said, "But you cultivators are immortals; you can save them. Even if we take ten thousand steps back, at least you can survive! You are Di Jun, she is Chang Xi. In the myths of the ancestral humans, you were originally the first generation of gods. Now you can fulfill that ancient myth: raise children on a brand new star, pioneering and expanding for civilization. You have this ability."

Listening to Yuanjun's words, Ning Changjiu suddenly realized that destiny had already, unbeknownst to him, given a premonition.

During the heart-demon tribulation in the imperial city back then, to find the hidden white fox demon, he pierced through all the people in the illusory city with his sword. At that time, the white fox demon had said that although the illusion was fake, everyone in it felt they were living beings. "You killed them, you are a devil, a ruthless killer," it had said. "One day, when a true choice is placed before you again, you will still become a devil!"

The sharp shriek of the white fox from the heart-demon tribulation still echoed in his ears.

Ning Changjiu, however, gently shook his head. "I will never become a devil."

He looked at Yuanjun and said, "They all regard my master and me as sparks of hope. If this so-called fire of hope is a fire that burns everyone to ash, then... how disappointed they would be. I am not qualified to make choices for billions of lives. Likewise, they are not Suzaku; they will not be reborn after Nirvana's flames."

Yuanjun's goat horns twitched slightly, and his long robe lightly fluttered. He stood amidst the endless primordial spiritual energy, like an immortal truly standing in a divine realm.

He looked at Ning Changjiu and said earnestly, "Yi, you must understand that the difference between the benevolence of a sage and misplaced kindness is often just a single thought. Handing over the Evil Poem is the only choice. Even if this choice is cruel, there is no other option. It's still an eclipse now, and Immortal Lord Heng'e's spiritual power is weak. I could have seized this opportunity to act, but I am willing to tell you this because I believe you will make the right choice."

Ning Changjiu said, "Why can't we join forces to kill the Dark Lord?"

Yuanjun gave a bitter smile and said, "The reason is simple: because it is too powerful, more powerful than all of you combined!"

Ning Changjiu remained silent.

Yuanjun looked at the bowed head of young Ke Wenzhou behind him and said, "Look, this is just the tip of the iceberg of the Dark Lord's power, yet you used all your strength and only barely managed to kill him. You represent almost all the power of the human realm, but you might not even have moved one of the Dark Lord's fingers."

Ke Wenzhou listened to their words in silence. He seemed to have been completely swallowed by the Dark Lord's will. However, at this moment, what Yuanjun said was in favor of the Dark Lord, so Ke Wenzhou did not intervene to disrupt the situation.

Ning Changjiu took a deep breath. He naturally knew this fact, but he was still full of doubts: "The Dark Lord... why is it so powerful?"

Yuanjun said, "Because that deceased civilization was so powerful before its destruction. The Dark Lord, as the 'grave keeper' of that civilization and an unbeatable existence, is merely a manifestation of the tip of their civilization's iceberg from back then."

Ning Changjiu was silent for a moment, then said, "But they still perished?"

Yuanjun said, "I said they just left. Earth became uninhabitable, so they went to a broader universe. What happened after that, no one knows. They might still be alive, or they might have perished."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Will they ever return?"

Yuanjun said, "The path to the sea of stars is one of no return."

As Yuanjun sighed deeply, the fragile crust beneath their feet completely tore apart, and their figures fell with the entire space.

Yuanjun extended his hand, holding it vertically before him like an immortal forming a seal. The surrounding spiritual energy dispersed like parting clouds and waves, revealing an even vaster space beneath.

Ning Changjiu lowered his head and glanced. A huge pile of enormous white skeletons burst into his view, causing his pupils to contract sharply.

It was an unparalleled skeleton, so vast and long that it surpassed the most expansive mountain ranges in the human world. The bones were not bone-white but gleamed with a metallic luster. They were like steel blades horizontally inserted into the vast space, dense and orderly. The ribcage and limbs of the bones' owner could faintly be seen. If it were still alive, what kind of roaring deity would it be...

"The legend of Guhuang was true after