Chapter 443 Still in the Dark
Everything seemed to be back on track - the crisis that started from Taixu Lingshu eventually pointed to Taixu Lingshu.
As the warning came from Shuji's faster-than-light communication, all-area alarms were sounded instantly throughout the Capital Star, from Yaolan Sect to Nether Valley, from the Hengtian Star Array at the pole to the near-earth guard post above the equator. The wailing alarms echoed in the atmosphere of Taixu Star, hitting everyone's heart.
The ancient planetary defense protocol was activated. Thousands of towering palaces in the orbit of Taixu Star began to conduct emergency orbital maneuvers. As the protective arrays were lit up one after another, a rapidly closing curtain of light formed above the planet. The First Star garrison troops assembled and took off in the shortest possible time, and built two internal and external defense lines with the help of "Taiyou". The elders of various sects and hermit ancestors who were still in seclusion were summoned and awakened one after another. Without having time to adjust their breath, they took the magic weapons of their respective sects and rushed to space to fill in the defense line...
Thousand Peaks Sacred Mountain.
A dim crack of light and shadow opened up between the mountains. As the crack continued to flip and expand outward, the cathedral-shaped starship "Alien Hotel" was directly teleported from the Shuji high-altitude orbit to the sea of clouds in front of Queyun Palace.
Zhenren Yuanling stood in the square in front of the main hall, watching the huge spaceship gradually descending in the sea of clouds, his face as gloomy as water.
The nine-tailed silver fox flew across the sky, landed in front of the hall and transformed into a human form. Yu Sheng and his party returned to this familiar place.
Coming directly from the center of Shu Ji's thrilling storm to the Cloud Sea Hall of Qianfeng Lingshan, the changes in the surrounding environment made it difficult for people to adapt for a while - especially Yu Sheng. After all, he was even overlooking the alien planet from the perspective of the storm the moment before, and then just a few minutes after "resurrection", he forcibly teleported the Alien Hotel to Taixu Lingshu. At this time, he jumped off Hu Li's back. If Luna hadn't reached out to support him, he would have almost fallen into the sea of clouds behind him.
Yuan Ling Zhenren walked over quickly, but before he could say anything, Irene, who had just landed on the ground, spoke anxiously: "Old man, has the Star Derivative Body arrived?"
"Not yet," Yuan Ling Zhenren said quickly, "but the defense line has been established, and masters and weapons from various sects are still being launched into the air. Later, I will also lead the mountain guard disciples to the low-Earth orbit - I just don't know which direction the 'derivative star body' will come from by then."
"Honestly, I doubt whether your 'defense' can stop that thing," Irene sighed, "but at least it's better to be prepared than not."
Yu Sheng also calmed down a little at this time. After hearing what the little puppet said, he waved his hand and said, "Be optimistic. Yan Xingben now only has one 'Ascension Core' left, and it is seriously damaged. Its energy is almost exhausted. Maybe it can really be stopped..."
Irene curled her lips and said nothing. Master Yuan Ling then turned his gaze to the two figures behind Yu Sheng.
Zhenren Yuanhao stood there with Xuanche. The former looked fine, but the latter could no longer hide his exhaustion.
"Is there no way to intercept it in advance?" Yuan Hao stepped forward and asked directly.
"There's no way," Yuan Ling Zhenren shook his head. "Any flying object that enters 'hyperspace' is almost impossible to intercept. What's more, the way the 'evolving star body' jumps is completely different from ordinary immortal boats and starships. I only received a weak tracking signal automatically transmitted from Shu Ji at the beginning, and then the signal was cut off. Until now, I can't even determine the jumping speed of the escalating star body..."
Yu Sheng frowned immediately: "In other words, that thing may take a few days or even months to fly to Taixu Lingshu, or it may appear in orbit in the next second?"
Zhenren Yuanling did not say anything, but just nodded with a very unhappy expression.
After a while, he broke the silence again, with a hint of worry: "How is the situation over there?"
The speed and intensity of the outbreak this time exceeded many people's expectations, and the difficulty of the "Star-Driving Body" was even more difficult to contend with by human power. He had previously sent support personnel to Shuji, but the border was far away, and the sect teams mobilized from the nearest planet had not arrived in time before the entire Shuji was blocked by the Dark Angels and turned into a "foreign land". When communications were restored, Qianfeng Lingshan directly received an alarm that the Star-Driving Body was rushing straight towards Taixu Lingshu - this made him extremely worried about Shuji's current situation.
...Although at this time Taixu Lingshu was also shrouded in shadow.
"Shuji suffered a great loss, but it was mainly due to the erosion and transformation of the entire planet by the Star Derivative Body over the past few hundred years," Yu Sheng sighed. "From the end result, the planet was at least saved, and most of the population was saved - I used some means to allow the Star Derivative Body to ascend ahead of time, weakening it while preventing the disintegration of the entire planet... This is the limit of what I can do."
Master Yuan Ling blinked.
After a moment, he bowed to Sheng Shen and said, "This is already a great achievement..."
“Let’s not talk about whether it worked or not, we still have to think about how to deal with the Derivative Star Body first,” Yu Sheng waved his hand, “If that thing really comes into contact with Taixu Lingshu, all my previous arrangements will be wasted, and without the follow-up assistance from Taixu Lingshu, the survivors on Shuji’s side may not survive—”
Yuan Ling Zhenren's expression was serious: "What do you need us to do? All the Taixu sects must fully cooperate!"
Yu Sheng did not respond for a moment.
What do you need? If the asteroid appears in orbit the next moment... then I'm afraid it will be too late for anything.
He needed a storm like the one in Shuji, another trap, another preparation, and he needed to immerse the ascending core of the star-forming body in the blood rain again. Moreover, the star-forming body (Yun Qingzi) had to cooperate with this process...
It's unlikely no matter how you think about it.
Just as he was thinking this, another sharp alarm suddenly pierced the sky, and the disturbing humming sound echoed in the sea of clouds and fog of the Thousand Peaks Mountain.
The expressions on Yuan Ling, Yuan Hao and Xuan Che's faces changed almost at the same time.
The next moment, Yu Sheng saw an inner sect disciple rushing down from the clouds, almost falling in front of Yuan Ling Zhenren, his face pale: "Master... Master! Here it comes, the Star-Evolving Body is coming!!"
Master Yuan Ling took a deep breath.
“So soon?”
So fast!
Although this worst-case scenario had been mentioned before, everyone still felt a sinking feeling when the asteroid actually appeared in orbit.
Yu Sheng turned around and took a look at the Hotel Alien Dimension anchored in the sea of clouds. He knew how fast he had come. Although he briefly adjusted his state before departure (mainly to reshape his flesh and blood body from the storm and to readapt to the "human" perspective), it did not delay him for too long. Afterwards, he directly opened the door and teleported the spaceship to Taixu Star without taking any hyperspace route in between.
And the star-derived body... was just a little slower than him.
If this is the speed of the "jump" of the stellar body, then considering the great distance from Shuji, his speed is not much different from teleportation - how did he do it? Or... is this the "advent" power of a truly mature "Dark Angel"?
A flash of astonishment passed through Yu Sheng's mind, and he knew it was not the time to think about it, so he raised his hand and waved, "Don't think about it, take off first!"
The powerful engine array started up with a roar, and the Alien Hotel slowly rose from the sea of clouds. Dozens of large and small fully armed Lingshan Fairy Boats took off with it. From all over the Thousand Peaks Lingshan, streams of light rushed straight into the low-Earth orbit.
In the command hall of the Alien Hotel, the holographic communication platform was dimly lit. Yu Sheng looked at the holographic projection above the communication device - Yuan Ling, Yuan Hao and Xuan Che were currently on the main flying boat "Tai'a" of Qianfeng Lingshan. From the communication screen, he could see the spacious Lingpan Hall behind them, as well as the disciples who were busy controlling the boat in the hall.
Behind him was the wide viewing window of the Alien Hotel - beyond the sturdy polymer window and the glowing shield was the rapidly sinking edge of the planet and the vast space that was blowing in.
Countless points of star-like light are spread across the space, and between the points of light you can vaguely see a layer of translucent mist covering the entire planet.
"Where is the star-forming body now?"
Yu Sheng came to the communication desk and asked in a hurried tone.
"It's still in the high orbit," Xuan Che said, with a slightly strange look on his face. "He opened a crack a few moments ago, and a gray-black crystal floated out of it, but it hasn't moved since then."
Yu Sheng frowned.
"Stuck in its tracks? Not moving?"
"Yes," Xuan Che nodded, and then directly shared the picture sent back from the front to the Alien Hotel, "This is what the Sky Palace just sent, you can take a look."
Looking at the picture shared by the other party, Yu Sheng frowned little by little.
The "ascension core" of the asteroid is currently suspended in the vast space, and it looks like... it has even completely stopped its activities.
Tiny black cracks floated in the glow of the stars. They were the wrinkled projections left in space and time by the hyperspace channels that had not yet completely dissipated. Against the background of these cracks that looked like a broken cradle was the ugly gray-black "crystal cluster" remaining in the core of the star-derived body. The crystalline material, like withered roots, shrunk and entangled in a death spasm. There was still a little faint light left inside the crystal cluster, but... it seemed that only that little faint light was left.
Luna came behind Yu Sheng without knowing when. She stared at the image in the holographic projection. After a long while, she suddenly said, "It looks like he's dying."
Yu Sheng didn't say anything, just frowned tightly.
He was trying to sense the connection in his blood, trying to "call" the crystal that was motionless in space.
But the only response he got was a hollow and vague whistle, like... the wind blowing occasionally in the wilderness of the soul.
(End of this chapter)
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