The Stars Beyond

Chapter 270: You Are Our Future

The immortals, once solitary companions of lonely mountains, embodied the essence of detachment from worldly desires. They endured hardships like enduring the elements and nourishing solitude and loneliness. They faced countless life-and-death trials to achieve immortality.

Yet, their journey ended so tragically...

After years of cultivation, enduring the sorrows of aging and illness, outliving their contemporaries, a few barely managed to return. They paid a heavy price to pierce through the veil, setting foot on the land of the real world again, only for three of them to be instantly annihilated.

The two who escaped to a distance carried a sense of profound melancholy. Once esteemed members of the celestial ranks, they had been lofty and divine. Now, their companions met such a fate.

It felt surreal. Centuries ago, before entering the veil, they could command the winds and rains, even altering dynasties with their mere presence.

“Indeed, myths are but dreams,” they lamented, engulfed in a deep sense of desolation. Nevertheless, they didn't stop; they fled deeper into the forest.

But opportunities were scarce. Wang Xuan, steering the flying boat, pursued them, faster than their fleeing forms. He swung the God-Slaying Banner again in pursuit.

The two despaired as the golden patterns spread through the void. Despite their best efforts, splitting up, soaring skyward, burrowing deep, and even burning their spiritual essence to the limit, they were grazed by the golden threads.

The one who flew lost half of his spiritual form, then was suddenly enveloped by Chen Yongjie's blazing red cassock, captured alive.

The one who burrowed deep underground was left half-destroyed, his spirit on the brink of collapse, utterly pitiful.

Chen Yongjie waved his multicolored feather fan, and the earth exploded, revealing a vast pit. The red cassock, like descending fiery clouds, swept up the second individual as well.

Within the cassock, the remnants of their spirits were on the verge of disintegration, their lives hanging by a thread.

Mainly, the cost of crossing realms had been too great. They were in their weakest state. When Zhou Chong returned from Yuan Pond Mountain, he had to recuperate for two days and nights before daring to show himself.

“Is this the fate of immortals? How pitiful and lamentable,” one of them shook his head, not in anger, but a profound sense of disillusionment that stemmed from deep within his soul.

Wang Xuan didn't rush to act, sensing the depth of their emotions.

Another celestial, speaking in a resigned tone, remarked, "There is a grave issue with the current world. The retreat of the mysterious substances harbors deep malevolence, watching us from the shadows. The fate of the celestials is bound to be tragic."

Since learning that transcendence was decaying, that everything would return to its origin, they had strived to alter their destiny.

To their horror, they discovered that their entire existence seemed illusory, as if they were living in a grand delusion.

"Waking up, all immortals will realize that their existence is but a bubble, a dream," one celestial lamented. Ordinary people live and die, leaving nothing behind, but they awakened from the dream, experiencing agony as the world corrected its course.

"The immortals, once standing tall in the heavens, are actually quite pitiable."

The two celestials didn't target Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie. They were just muttering to themselves, disillusioned and despondent with the world. Facing death, they sensed the deep malevolence in the mortal realm.

"What's the point in repeating our path in this decaying era of myths?" they finally addressed Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie.

Wang Xuan felt a complex mix of emotions. His hostility towards them diminished. Empathizing with their plight, he too would feel disheartened if his cultivation led to such an end.

"Where are the immortals? At a dead end, their grand dreams amount to nothing. Such a life is too bleak and failed," one celestial's form began to fade, nearing dissolution.

Chen Yongjie also felt uneasy. Three years later, or even further in the future, was this their destined path? With transcendence vanishing, persisting seemed futile.

He put away his cassock and released the two celestials. They were already fading and wouldn't last much longer without his intervention.

"Shall we talk?" Wang Xuan suggested. "Before today, there was no deep enmity between us."

"We're all struggling to cross over. Some choices are not ours to make," one celestial replied calmly.

Chen Yongjie added, "Who isn't struggling in life? Now, the financial tycoons are terrified, fearing the loss of everything they have. The celestials are anxious about their future. We are caught between complex forces, also trying to navigate our way."

"Different standpoints. Perhaps one day, a supreme celestial will become a tycoon, and I might end up as the last cultivator in a world where myths have fully decayed, unable to see the way forward. So, let's have a peaceful conversation now, set aside our prejudices, and not stand in opposition to each other."

Wang Xuan initiated the conversation, seeking to understand the Old Covenant and the current state deep behind the curtain.

"Ancient past, the celestials adhered to the Old Covenant, a consensus for all to ascend and leave the mortal realm. Those who remained were doomed to perish. The five declines of heaven and man, decay of the spirit – all these dreadful fates would gradually manifest."

"The details are known only to the supreme beings behind the curtain or the most ancient immortals. The Old Covenant was a choice made out of necessity."

As their forms blurred and began to dissipate, they bore no malice, only a sense of resignation and melancholy.

"Our present is your future," they stated before turning to dust.

Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie sighed, feeling no triumph in defeating their foes. The dead, once immortals, met tragic ends.

"The beings behind the curtain are our enemies now, but who knows? Maybe celestials from another faction might ally with us someday," Chen Yongjie mused.

Wang Xuan agreed, "Like the Sword Immortal's faction, or that female alchemist... their methods seem less aggressive. We might interact with them soon."

The world is devoid of absolute right or wrong, and nothing remains constant.

Not long ago, he was at war with the Sun family; now, he confronted celestials. Tomorrow's alliances were uncertain.

Despite their victory, their spirits were dampened by the final words of the deceased.

Chen Yongjie asked, "If cultivation becomes impossible, what's your plan? I'm thinking of opening a martial arts school, becoming a fighter. Keep searching for a path, albeit reluctantly."

"The celestials haven't given up, suggesting some possibility. We can't be passive; we must keep improving," Wang Xuan replied.

After the celestials vanished, leaving behind fragments of weapons, there was also a luminous silk line and a fishing hook.

Wang Xuan approached and collected them. The supposed elixir was just a lure for him, useless without him and his Inner Landscape, which was needed to bypass the Old Covenant.

The fishing line Huang Kun gave him, leading him to the hook, was a mere illusion. Just as Wang Xuan and Chen Yongjie had speculated earlier, it was all about him.

Despite lacking the elixir now, Wang Xuan speculated the silk line and hook might prove useful if he encountered higher spiritual realms in the future.

Departing the collapsed Mount Jinding, Chen Yongjie and Wang Xuan parted ways en route. Chen Yongjie continued his search for the half lotus pod.

As the dense supermaterial dissipated, various detectors resumed operation near the mountain, only to find ruins and no trace of the battle.

"Initiate the Primordial Plan, prepare to evacuate!" Certain conglomerates discussed in secrecy, readying for departure. Unaware of the specifics, they assumed the celestials' grand display likely vanquished Wang Xuan and that they would appear in the mortal realm.

Some factions planned to abandon the New World, fleeing to deep space to a land devoid of myths. By avoiding the three-year calamity and returning post-crisis, they hoped to retain control.

Originally intent on a fierce stand against the celestials, recent events dampened their resolve. Despite their capacity to obliterate planets, they were helpless against spiritual entities.

The Mount Jinding area quieted down. Did the celestials arrive? Was Wang Xuan defeated?

After half an hour, people were shocked to see Wang Xuan emerge calmly from the woods, approaching Yu City as if on a leisurely stroll.

The world erupted in shock. Despite the celestials' tumultuous arrival, Wang Xuan survived unscathed, his composure and tranquility intact.

What of the vengeful celestials who had threatened retribution, their spiritual transmissions heard across Yu City?

"Wang Xuan triumphs again, even against celestials!" The public buzzed with excitement, bewildered by the outcome that even legendary beings couldn't subdue him.

Curiosity surged about what transpired amidst the supermaterial upheaval and the failure of all surveillance, leading to a battle that defied imagination.

At the Wan Yue Cliff, a woman in white robes expressed astonishment. The young man from New Star had actually survived unscathed?

In a villa, Zhou Chong felt disheartened. Seated atop a silver bell, his spiritual form dim, he frowned. That young transcendent he had once considered recruiting was so formidable? There was a major problem with him. Instantly, Zhou Chong's thoughts turned to the missing Slash God Banner, and he became deeply concerned.

"Old Wang, this is defying the heavens! Even the celestials from behind the Great Curtain can't touch him. I'm genuinely impressed!" Zhong Cheng was utterly shocked.

In the Sun family, senior members receiving the news were speechless. Was Wang Xuan really that formidable?

"Now's not the time to clash with him. Let him stand against the celestials. We'll quietly observe for the moment," they decided.

The public fervently discussed, and Wang's contemptuous image again circulated, drawing attention.

The conglomerates, however, were preoccupied with whether to implement the Primordial Plan. Should they retreat decisively or observe the situation further?

That day, the universe seemed to subtly tremble, followed by extraordinary phenomena. On life-bearing planets, including New Star and the Old World, and deep in space, wherever myths existed, unusual celestial events unfolded.

Great Curtains appeared, mirroring their corresponding worlds, seemingly separated by only a hazy glow.

Some Curtains connected but now began to rupture. Then, the worlds behind the Curtains visibly dimmed. In an instant, half the territories behind all Curtains extinguished.

The beings behind the Curtains were shocked and horrified by this abrupt change. Why had the process accelerated so suddenly?

Moreover, the Departed Lands, renowned for their significance, underwent terrifying transformations.

On New Star's Hanwu Mountain, the golden expanse Wang Xuan witnessed, along with the bubbles enveloping strange creatures, swiftly receded, vanishing forever.

In deep space, in the Departed Land Wang Xuan had entered, the Ferryman on his Ascension Divine Bamboo Raft felt his hair stand on end.

He abruptly looked up. The moon had disappeared. Then, to his horror, it reappeared, dripping blood and even blinking twice.

He nearly fled in terror. The moon above the Departed Land, a massive eyeball with a silver-white pupil, was now bleeding!

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