Chapter 668: Dramatic Change!

In a dreamlike, dark, and desolate universe, planets floated, forming a sparse ring that orbited a central star.

"Data is being computed—"

"Forty-seven planets in the ring are orbiting orderly within the planetary belt. Their rotation speed, orbital speed, and planetary gravity require further adjustment!"

"Revising now."

"The internal magic core system of each planet is fine-tuning its self-operating parameters."

"Correction complete."

Caroline's expression calmed as she observed the virtual planetary landscape, having thoroughly fine-tuned the model data.

Forty-seven planets already represented a relatively moderate level of balance, and some surplus had to be maintained. Excavating more soil from the central star to create new planets could lead to instability.

"After all, the remaining cosmic matter must be reserved for future planetary repairs to prevent war... Not to mention other asteroids, even the massive central star could experience a major conflict, with many continents shattered. Therefore, at least double the land must be kept to heal war wounds and prepare for thousands of years of future wars and technological advancement."

She looked at the planets. "But no matter how much surplus is kept, it will gradually be destroyed in future eras. Without adding new mass, this small universe will eventually face its own demise."

She had already calculated the future. Although mass is conserved in absolute theory, it will eventually dissipate outwards or be partially annihilated.

"This small universe has just begun its glory, yet I already see its death."

With a solemn gaze, she lowered her head, looking at the starry sky with a scientifically rigorous attitude. "All things have a beginning and an end, being born, growing, and perishing like humans... It's just that planets have a much longer life cycle than ours."

She looked up, her gaze full of longing towards the distant, fiery red sun in the small universe.

The sun naturally has a lifespan. However, it was currently in its prime. Like all stars, their incredibly long lifespans are measured in hundreds of billions of years; even the existence of a typical ninth-order world is but a blink of an eye for them.

The universe, of course, also has a lifespan. This true, grand universe, just like the small universe, will also reach an end to its life, though that future is so distant as to be beyond their reach. Among the hypotheses researched by the Ishdarians, there was also the theory of a Big Bang for the universe. The universe began as an extremely dense and hot point that instantly exploded, and even to this day, countless planets are still expanding outwards. However, in the distant future, as planets completely age and continuously expand outwards, the entire universe will consequently reach an end of absolute coldness.

"What is the end of the universe?" Caroline smiled. This was one of the Ishdarians' most important subjects. "Is the end a great collapse, complete destruction? Or does the universe restart, rapidly contracting back to a single point from the Big Bang, and then explode again?" She was more inclined to believe the universe was cyclical.

Honestly, what was the most shocking scene she witnessed in that cycle of the underworld? It was the words spoken by the Creator God to Emperor Qi after His arrival:

"The Dao is the beginning; from the Dao, One is born. This is the Primordial Beginning. The Dao, as One, transforms into myriad things, encompassing all phenomena and holding heaven and earth."

This single sentence profoundly shook her mind at the time! This sentence clearly described the primordial state of the universe! That chaotic point, a primal state of extreme density and temperature, generated the entire universe through a Big Bang so beautiful it was beyond description. That point was called: Dao. It was the primordial, from which all things transformed and all phenomena were encompassed.

And who was the Dao? The Creator God. He was the conceptual embodiment of the Dao, the physical manifestation of cosmic laws. He Himself was that initial chaotic point, the very concept of all rules, laws, and everything; after the Big Bang, He evolved into all the myriad worlds. Given humanity's insignificance, it was almost impossible to have a complete understanding of the vast universe. Yet, at this point, Caroline had almost achieved a true understanding of that mysterious existence.

And the next sentence was even more terrifying.

"All the myriad worlds, 129,600 great worlds, among which are 3,900 holy grotto-heavens and sects."

This described the entire celestial chessboard, encompassing the vastness of all myriad worlds, illustrating that the universe was unimaginably immense and awe-inspiring. And the next sentence?

"This number is eternal. Worlds have birth and death, maintaining this constant number. Therefore, 129,600 constitute one Yuan, which can be called an epoch. Within an epoch, there are periods of rise, decline, and destruction."

This sentence sent massive waves crashing through Caroline's mind! It revealed the truth of the universe: every cosmic era was an epoch. And combined with the Big Bang...

—His opening and closing of an eye marked an epoch.

"This is exactly like the path we Ishdarians envisioned initially! The Grim Reaper's eternal life, a spiritual universe, creating a cosmos within one's own mind, where an opening and closing of an eye signifies a universe's birth and death, a Big Bang's beginning and a cold collapse's end... It's an astonishing coincidence!" Caroline's expression was far from tranquil. "We Ishdarians still have cause for pride! We, who call ourselves a divine race, have astonishingly and coincidentally embarked on the most terrifying path, directly pointing to ultimate truth."

"In the future, our divine race is bound to become one of the most powerful transcendent civilizations in all the myriad worlds of the universe."

Now, understanding the true laws of the entire universe, she was naturally shocked.

The universe has a lifespan. The entire universe was like a pastoral era, from its birth to its decay, eventually transforming into an old person afflicted with countless illnesses, nearing their end. At the moment of this old man's demise, countless divine-level transcendent civilizations and terrifying hyper-dimensional beings would undoubtedly seek to escape, hoping to carry their universe's matter and energy away from the collapse, return to that chaotic point, and become "epochal eagles" soaring as cosmic entities!

"Just imagine, how magnificent that would be." Caroline's eyes were filled with colorful aspirations, an exquisitely beautiful blueprint laid out before her. "Escaping the epoch's collapse, hiding in some sanctuary, and then personally witnessing the explosion of a primordial point, witnessing a dreamlike cosmic miracle!"

Even she couldn't help but wonder if such great ultimate beings, unimaginable cosmic existences that evaded cosmic catastrophes, carrying their own mass and energy, could truly exist by escaping dimensional regression and collapse. Stealing a portion of the universe's mass and energy to survive the next epoch was almost impossible; that would be becoming a thief! To become an enemy of the entire epochal universe!

But she couldn't help but laugh wryly; she hadn't even broken through to the ninth order, yet she was thinking about such distant matters. What she needed to consider now was how to break through to the ninth order, become a Dao protector for the ancient gods, and resist other potential great enemies.

At this point, she essentially had no other urgent matters. The universe's planets had been built; the rest could develop on their own. She could relax for a long time.

"But that one... it's truly marvelous!!"

"The various theories within it, no matter how many times I read them, allow me to glimpse so much—the truths of various eras, civilizations, and even the entire world. If I could see and communicate with the characters in that world, that would be wonderful!" Her eyes gleamed with the yearning of a scholar seeking knowledge. In her hands were several biographies that were almost worn out from reading, naturally including the one titled "Father's Love is Like Water." These books contained all the pursuits of her life.

***

Ancient Lava Land.

Molten lava flowed in the distance, yet the entire land was still lush with blooming flowers, resembling a tropical rainforest environment.

After completing the layout of the entire small universe, Caroline returned to the Ancient Lava Land while reading a book. This was her original homeland. Although she no longer concerned herself with the current era, she still needed to check in periodically, especially regarding the Three Pillar Gods. Though she didn't want to admit it, the Three Pillar Gods, by combining forces and boosting the computational power of all the gods in the land to collectively oppose her, now possessed the ability to kill her. While she was progressing, this formidable land was advancing even faster, having already caught up to her.

"As a prehistoric civilization, being almost overtaken by the next epoch is truly embarrassing... But it's natural, of course. The Pillar Gods are like the convergence of the entire world's destiny, all its computers, fighting against me to kill me."

"And my ability to fight them is also because I have a spiritual universe in my mind, with an ancient civilization living within it."

"Eh?"

As she walked through this city-state civilization, her eyes suddenly lit up. Then, after carefully observing the situation and gathering information, she trembled with excitement. "Changes have occurred in the Ancient Lava Land. An unknown world has inexplicably invaded. 'False Neighbor,' 'Xiao Wei'..." These terrifying entities from the stories had actually appeared alive before her eyes. "Vinachi, Accumulation of Grievances into Sickness"... These strange beings hadn't appeared in the stories; they must be new, bizarre entities born in later eras.

"Their world has opened a path to this side?" Caroline's eyes gleamed. "Then, I can truly communicate with them, can I meet Aermin from the other side? Dao Changsheng? Medusa? Dao Monarch? Earth Mother Qingteng? Allie?..." One by one, familiar names suddenly appeared in her mind.

"It's a pity I haven't seen the latest updates and continuation of the story. I don't know what happened, but it seems their world has experienced many interesting events."

"But I've also become a part of the story?" This feeling was very strange. It was like following a TV series or watching a movie, and then suddenly, one day, the characters break through dimensions and descend into your real world, causing both surprise and delight. She had long suspected that the characters in the stories were real, and now it was confirmed.

"Since a path has been opened, it means I can also go and see their world," Caroline thought, immensely excited. The Ancient Lava Land couldn't retaliate against the opposing world because they didn't know how to locate it. But she was different.

"The Three Pillar Gods couldn't locate their world. The other side must have erased the time anchors, using the Time Worm's methods." Caroline's expression grew calm. "But I... am different. I know the entire history of the Six Realms, and even within the stories, there are hints of their self-positioning, their various methods, and descriptions of their world's laws, revealing clues. I might just be able to find their spatial coordinates." Within her body, nine acupoints slowly spiraled, emitting an astonishing aura. "Because I, too, cultivate the forged... Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art!"

She began to constantly organize her thoughts. In the small universe era, she couldn't locate the other world because it was too far away. These Three Realms should be very close to the Ancient Lava World. Here, strange beings like Xiao Wei, who had descended, naturally couldn't find the coordinates of their original world because they had lost contact with it.

"Since it's close, I can use an anchor point to spatially teleport to an existence with similar positioning to me... for example, Dao Changsheng." She smiled brightly, eager to try. She sat cross-legged and began to use her formidable supercomputing power to reverse-engineer Dao Changsheng.

Xu Zhi: "???"

His face completely darkened. He secretly watched the eager Caroline, thinking, 'Are you really that ruthless!?' Indeed, if you don't give them something to do, some work to arrange, they'll just idle about and mess things up. Xu Zhi suddenly remembered how Phoenix had also been trying to locate things back then, and based on the similarity of aura, she ended up locating his Phoenix Spirit Tea in the orchard's refrigerator. Now, this again?

After all, short-range spatial teleportation based on location was truly effective. Especially since the Six Realms and the Ancient Lava Land were both part of his own orchard, only a little over a thousand meters deep... Using her forged Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, she might actually be able to locate Dao Changsheng.

Data streams were computed frantically, Caroline's computational power reaching its peak.

In her mind, in the Ancient Lava Land, white-robed scientists furiously computed and moved about. Hailan Dong and others also wore solemn expressions.

"Success!"

"An individual with a similar aura has been found!"

Soon, a voice came.

"It's ready. Can I go now?" Caroline stood up. Over the years, her spatial attainments had far surpassed many, reaching an unprecedented level.

"It's been a long time since I stretched my muscles."

A woman with a body like white porcelain, holding an oil-paper umbrella, suddenly looked up and smiled faintly, her eyes cold. "Are you... are you watching me?" The clear lava sky, and the world's fate in the dark, seemed as though they had never existed.

"You've been secretly observing me, wanting to follow me to that other world?" Caroline's expression gradually grew cold. "I've found it, but I am no longer a person of your era."

"I can't defeat the three of you... But will you truly unite as one?"

"I need to secure my retreat first, and then witness the might of this era." She stood up, took a light step, and arrived atop a towering Arcane High Tower, overlooking the powerful Arcane Gods.

"Who?"

All the gods were stunned, feeling an immense force suddenly crash down on their shoulders, arriving with overwhelming momentum, almost making them kneel. Everyone looked up. The woman held a sakura umbrella, emanating an otherworldly aura, enveloped in divine light. Her long hair fluttered, and sacred flames danced in her eyes as she smiled and said, "Will you listen to the Pillar Gods, or to me, the ruler of the old era?"

"The... Sacred Cherry Blossom Emperor, from before the Age of Destiny?"

"The first tyrant in history? How is she still alive?"

Upon seeing this legendary ancient mythological figure, everyone gasped in shock.