CHAPTER 446: CHAPTER 446: YUN QINGZI’S SCHEME

The translucent, flowing illusionary light floated in the endless void space, like a curtain woven from crystalline material. In this strange spacetime constructed from the "memories" of the Inference Star Body, Yu Sheng quietly contemplated some questions.

Anka Aela, Inference Star Body... what will be next?

Beauty God, Heka Star, Tree Angel, what lies behind these known "Dark Angels"?

One after another, "Dark Angels" appeared in this world, and their very "Descent" seemed to herald something. At the far end of the known universe, certain "truths" seem to be emerging in a disturbing manner.

In a space dominated by memories and consciousness, there seems to be no clear concept of time. Yu Sheng didn’t know how long he had been lost in thought, and when he came back to his senses, Yun Qingzi was still quietly standing before him.

"For many years, this seed has been seeking a place to take root," the old man slowly began, "I was consumed by it, yet inadvertently gained its memories. After repeatedly examining these memories, I reached one conclusion — with mortal power, we cannot resist these extraterrestrial demons."

Yu Sheng stroked his chin, "Extraterrestrial demons, huh..."

Yun Qingzi’s expression was wooden, "Different positions, for humans, all enemies are demons. No matter how pitiable or lamentable, they’re still disasters — perhaps it only desires to live, but its existence means others must die."

Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows, "So you’re really trying to solve the Inference Star Body issue?"

Yun Qingzi was silent for a few seconds, then sighed with a tone of regret, "I admit that over the past few centuries... I have indeed started to be influenced by the Inference Star Body, and the influence has deepened day by day. So much so that in the end, I’m not even sure how much of those thoughts and methods align with my original intention, but at least one thing is certain... the Emperor’s Legacy was the only possible solution I could conceive of at that time."

Hearing this familiar phrase again, Yu Sheng couldn’t help but frown, "What exactly is the Emperor’s Legacy?"

Yun Qingzi didn’t speak. He simply turned around and gently waved his hand through the crystalline curtain.

The curtain swiftly turned transparent, with the clear and translucent illusionary light seeming to dissipate in just a few breaths. Then he saw the vast expanse of space, where various Immortal Boats, orbital cannons, and a Synchronous Orbit Palace serving as a planetary defense node were all on high alert. Behind those formidable defense lines was their vibrant home planet — the Taixu Spirit Hub.

Gazing at the beautiful, cloud-shrouded planet in space, Yu Sheng was a bit curious about Yun Qingzi’s intentions. Before he could ask, Yun Qingzi broke the silence —

"Fellow Daoist, do you know of the ’Annihilation’ disaster from ancient times and the story of the Ancient Saints reconstructing the Qiankun?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and nodded, "I know a bit."

"Good, then there’s much I don’t need to explain," Yun Qingzi nodded slightly, "Then, do you know that according to the original ’blueprint’ of the Ancient Saints, this reconstructed Qiankun wasn’t meant to have the ’Taixu Spirit Hub,’ nor even the existence of the ’Feiyu Star Domain?’"

Yu Sheng, "...?!"

"Many years ago, while pursuing the Dao, I hit a bottleneck," Yun Qingzi seemed oblivious to the expression of shock on Yu Sheng’s face, continuing at his unhurried pace, "Not to boast, but when it comes to seeking Dao, I do have some talent, so the ’bottleneck’ I encountered... was more troublesome than what ordinary people face.

"The problem was — where did the heavens and earth come from? Outside the Qiankun Realm.

"To break free from this shackle, I searched tirelessly until a thousand years ago, on Guard-3, I encountered an opportunity."

"An opportunity?" Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted, "Wait, do you mean... the moment the Inference Star Body descended on Guard-3?"

"Disaster is also an opportunity," Yun Qingzi nodded slightly, "Everyone knows that the Descent of a Dark Angel will briefly puncture the world, so is there a possibility — that this moment of ’puncture’ is also giving us mortals an opportunity to glimpse ’outside the Qiankun Realm,’ to see the underlying structure of the world?"

Yu Sheng, "..."

Aren’t you cultivators incredibly bold with your daring approach? When the world gets a hole blown in it, your first reaction is to go have a look?!

"In that battle, I did indeed try my best and achieved nothing, but at the same time, I finally understood a few things," Yun Qingzi seemed unaffected by the look in Yu Sheng’s eyes, speaking to himself, "In that brief rift where the world was punctured, I saw fleeting glimpses beyond the river of time... it was the shadows cast on the ’boundaries’ of the world when the Ancient Saints reconstructed Qiankun. In a sense, they were the original ’blueprint’ of our world."

Listening to Yun Qingzi’s unhurried narration, Yu Sheng was moved, and couldn’t help but recall those things he had seen during hyper-space travel, using the perspective of the "Otherworld Inn"...

The colossal structures of information beneath the observable universe, along with the annotations supporting the operation of the world.

At the time, he only skimmed over those light and shadow images, unable to think deeply, but recalling now... those things, their foundational information, could it be the "blueprint of the world"?

Could that be what Yun Qingzi saw at the moment of the Angel’s descent—the "shadow"? Or at least have some connection?

Yun Qingzi’s voice continued to reach his ears: "...This old man’s mortal body can’t perceive the profound paths within those shadows, but even with just a hurried glance, I ’realized’ many things."

Yu Sheng did not interrupt but continued listening attentively.

"...In that blueprint, the whole region marked as the ’Feiyu Star Domain’ was originally supposed to be uninhabited, with no ’Taixu Civilization Circle,’ and certainly no ’Taixu Spirit Hub.’ Centered around the Taixu Star, several thousand light-years should have been desolate, without even celestial bodies."

Yu Sheng couldn’t help but speak: "Not even celestial bodies?! Then why..."

"I’ve thought about it for a long time, constantly pondering even after being devoured by the Inference Star Body, amidst thousands of simulations, I suspect the truth here might relate to a seemingly insignificant ’footnote’ in that blueprint."

"A footnote?"

"In the blueprint, although the area surrounding the Taixu Star is void, there is something marked as the ’Emperor’s Legacy,’ which isn’t a celestial body, but something more like an ’object.’ Though unknown why, it occupies the very ’position’ of the Taixu Spirit Hub planet itself."

Yu Sheng furrowed his brow as he listened to Yun Qingzi’s narrative while thinking, realizing this matter might even point towards some of the deepest secrets at the inception of this universe. A barrage of confusing conjectures made him somewhat dizzy for a moment until he shook his head vigorously, casting aside those incomprehensible thoughts, then looked up into Yun Qingzi’s eyes: "So, you’re also uncertain about what exactly the ’Emperor’s Legacy’ is, only roughly deducing it to be somewhat of an ’anomaly’ in the process of this world’s creation? And what does this have to do with the ’Inference Star Body’?"

"Initially, I never considered what relation the Emperor’s Legacy could have with resolving the matter of the Inference Star Body," Yun Qingzi shook his head, "but after being consumed by the Inference Star Body, unable to move for so many years, I had nothing else to do but think. In those repeated reflections, I suddenly thought of something—"

"Something?"

"Three thousand years ago, I once joined forces with several old friends to capture a demon called the ’Omen Wandering Star’ at the Taixu Spirit Hub," Yun Qingzi spoke unhurriedly, "that demon survived by gnawing on Earth veins, reigned unrestrainedly among the stars, but when it came to the Taixu Spirit Hub... it was poisoned by Taixu’s Earth veins."

Yu Sheng was taken aback upon hearing this, his expression quickly changing as he came to a swift realization.

The Omen Wandering Star fed on gnawing "Earth veins." Though not as eerily terrifying as the Inference Star Body, it also had a parasitic, devouring nature on planets... The Taixu Spirit Hub, nonexistent in the creation blueprint, seemed to be an "anomaly product" itself... To the Omen Wandering Star, the Taixu Spirit Hub was "toxic"; its Earth veins could not provide any "nourishment" to the latter...

Seeing the realization dawn in Yu Sheng’s eyes, Yun Qingzi’s face gradually showed a smile: "My friend, it seems you’ve understood."

Yu Sheng: "But how can you be sure..."

"You should know, after the Inference Star Body parasitized Shuji, people began to be influenced by It, some indirectly becoming my ’eyes and ears.’ Although these people were unclear-minded, unfit for important tasks, they were somewhat useful. I dispatched these ’eyes and ears’ to verify many times. The most recent one, by leveraging the power of the Inference Star Body, I directly pried open the Demon Suppression Tower of Qianfeng Ling Mountain, finding the place where the Omen Wandering Star was confined—this matter, you are aware of.

"Indeed, that was actually a ’test.’

"Initially, I hypothesized that the ’Emperor’s Legacy’ might be some kind of ’Ancient Treasure,’ hidden somewhere in the Taixu Spirit Hub, averting the erosion of the Omen Wandering Star by influencing the Earth veins. I thought finding it and ’bringing it back’ to Shuji might solve the problem of the Inference Star Body. Only recently did I realize the so-called ’Emperor’s Legacy’ turned out to be the Taixu Spirit Hub planet itself, compelling a revision in my plan..."

Yu Sheng finally felt a sense of enlightenment within.

So that’s how it is!

All clues now completely aligned, all connections behind the events finally surfaced—first the crack was opened in "Taiyou," attempting to locate the exact position of the "Emperor’s Legacy," then opening the crack at the Taixu Spirit Hub, prying the depths of the Earth veins under the Demon Suppression Tower using the power of the Inference Star Body for "test touches," then exerting influence on the Inference Star Body, trying to induce It to change its parasitic target...

And all of this is to make It parasitize an "anomalous planet" that doesn’t exist in the creation blueprint.

"I want to poison It to death," Yun Qingzi said calmly, looking into Yu Sheng’s eyes, "My cultivation level is limited, unlike your boundless capabilities. I have been at a deadlock with the Inference Star Body for a millennium, unable to find another way to break it—this method might be reckless, might fail, might be clever in its own way, but with the Inference Star Body poised to ’ascend’ again, I truly have no time or other options."