Chapter 579 A Glimpse of the Border
Yu Sheng's consciousness drifted in a chaotic void—this was the surface of his dream, a "shallow lake" formed by all those indistinct, fragmented impressions. Usually, only some vague memories would appear here, usually involving things he had thought about or seen during the day. But now, something strange seemed to have appeared here.
Vast swirling streams of iridescent light flowed from the depths of darkness, meandering above this "shallow lake" of consciousness. They resembled some kind of river, yet they had no beginning or end, endlessly cycling through the darkness.
Yu Sheng observed the flowing colors with surprise, but he did not sense any danger or abnormality. He quickly determined that this was not an external intrusion, and he also felt that the colors were somewhat...familiar.
As he reminisced in the darkness, he suddenly remembered where this sense of familiarity came from.
It's those spacetime rifts on the boundary bridge—when those rifts come together, the distant starlight and the scenery at the edge of the universe blend together, and that's what it looks like.
Boundary Bridge...
The magnificent blueprint structure quietly emerged in Yu Sheng's consciousness. He sensed something and moved closer to the stream of light that was closest to him.
But before he could touch the "crack," the stream of light trembled and faded away.
A realization suddenly arose in Yu Sheng's mind: it had not yet taken shape.
He looked around in the darkness and vaguely observed branching structures like tree branches between the flowing spacetime rifts. It was as if an invisible giant tree was spreading out in the chaos, supporting this vast "dimensional river". All of this was rooted in the depths of his consciousness.
Immersed in this wondrous sight for an unknown amount of time, Yu Sheng suddenly felt something.
His consciousness plummeted in the darkness, crashing into the wilderness of souls—he roared through the chaotic, gray-black clouds and the faintly glowing sky, an endless expanse of tall grass and wasteland came into view, he swept past the campfire sacrificial site and the paths across the wilderness, and finally landed in the front hall of the black cathedral.
Faint hymns echoed through the cathedral, pale candlelight flickered on the neatly arranged candlesticks, and the doors leading to the main hall opened silently. Yu Sheng strode into the sermon room and saw the golden-haired female knight standing at the far end of the hall, seemingly praying quietly by candlelight.
A church, candlelight, a pulpit deep inside, a blonde girl praying devoutly—this scene is serene and peaceful.
Unfortunately, this atmosphere lasted less than a second, because Luna opened her eyes as soon as Yu Sheng took two steps forward. The young knight's face quickly blossomed into a smile, and she rattled off a string of words:
"Good evening, Master~ Did you sleepwalk here today? Are you here to inspect the third phase of the church construction? I'm telling you, we're planning to open up another plot of land behind the church to build a separate barracks, and maybe even a small town. The game Eileen's been playing lately has given me a lot of ideas. The scene in the first act, first level of that game is so beautiful, it's a pity I haven't seen what the second level looks like yet..."
Before Yu Sheng could even speak, the other person had already launched into a long tirade. However, having known her for so long, he had become somewhat accustomed to Luna's starkly contrasting "inner and outer duality." After the girl finished babbling, he waved his hand and said, "It has nothing to do with this. I'm going to the courtyard to check on that 'tree.'"
Luna was taken aback: "The Astral Crystal Tree? You came here specifically to see it... Alright, I'll show you the way~"
Then she turned around and opened a small door at the back of the sermon hall—there was a passage leading directly to the courtyard at the back of the church.
Yu Sheng and Luna walked through the passage together. Along the way, the girl enthusiastically told him about the blueprints for the church's third, fourth, and all the way to the twelfth phase of construction. He felt that this version of the plan was completely different from the last one. Luna also told Yu Sheng about the knights' recent training plans and Yun Qingzi's occasional visits to the church. She also mentioned that she grew vegetables in the valley, helped Hu Li feed chickens, and that Eileen's mass-produced dolls were fighting with chickens in the chicken coop...
Luna's chatter was on a completely different level from Eileen's usual nagging. The latter's nagging was mostly useless nonsense or low-quality monologues starting with "Mom," while Luna's chatter was incredibly rich in information. In just this short distance, she had practically compressed everything that had happened in the valley and the Soul Wilderness into a zip file and stuffed it into Yu Sheng's mind...
But for the person in question, there wasn't much difference between Luna (Li) and Eileen when they spoke—his brain trembled just the same.
Fortunately, Luna finally calmed down after arriving in the courtyard.
A stunning crystal tree stands in the courtyard.
It comes from the "seed of a star" that Yun Qingzi brought back—Yu Sheng planted that crystal seed in the open space of the church garden, and now the seed has sprouted and grown.
...The growth was completely beyond his expectations.
Yu Sheng took two steps forward and subconsciously looked up.
The pure white crystal branches are like hundreds of vines intertwined and twisted, with the crystal-clear trunk and branches spreading out into the sky and extending in all directions. The equally crystal-clear leaves emit a faint light among the branches, and the thick and huge canopy has almost covered the entire courtyard and even spread to the sky above the church buildings around the courtyard.
It is foreseeable that this canopy will continue to spread, and may even become larger than the church.
Mysterious, majestic, and exuding a stunningly magnificent beauty.
"...This thing grows so fast?"
Yu Sheng looked up at it for a long time before finally speaking.
“Yes, it’s growing very fast—it’s slowed down recently,” Luna said from the side. “When Grandpa Yun came last time, that branch had just grown to the edge of the garden, and now it’s almost reaching the bell tower. But this tree seems to be very intelligent; it will avoid the church tower and roof. I was worried it would poke a hole in the roof.”
As if in response to Luna's "praise," some of the leaves of the giant crystal tree swayed, producing a crisp and melodious sound of crystal friction, like the gentle chimes of a wind chime.
Yu Sheng blinked: "...Didn't you water or fertilize it or anything?"
“No,” Luna spread her hands. “There is no thirst or cold in the Wilderness of Souls, and plants can grow without watering or fertilizing.”
Yu Sheng stroked his chin, remaining silent for a moment. Instead, he raised his head, squinted, and began to carefully observe the branches and leaves of the giant crystal tree, as if searching for something.
Soon, he found what he was looking for.
"It really is here..."
Between the thicker branches of the crystal giant tree, several irregular "lines" faintly emerge—those fine lines float in mid-air between the leaves and branches, connected only by tiny, spider-web-like glimmers of light and the tree crown itself. Inside the lines, one can vaguely see a magnificent, hazy flow of light, like distant, distorted starlight.
Yu Sheng's judgment was correct.
The illusions he saw in the "shallow lake" of his consciousness corresponded to changes in the wilderness of the soul—and only the "relics" of the dark angels could reveal these changes.
The astral seeds he planted in the church garden, and the boundary bridge he "ate," have now become part of the wilderness of souls.
Clearly, this "fusion" has led to this strange... result.
Seeing that Yu Sheng had been looking up for a long time without saying a word, Luna also squinted her eyes and looked up, imitating him as she stared intently at the tree canopy.
She finally discovered the tiny spatial cracks hidden among the branches.
"Wow—" the girl couldn't help but exclaim softly, "What is that?!"
Yu Sheng: "It's a boundary bridge."
"The Boundary Bridge!?" Luna exclaimed in astonishment. "Then, wasn't that thing already gone? You said it had already collapsed in our world..."
“That’s right. Its previous ‘version’ collapsed on an information level because it was incompatible with our world, but its blueprint and the last remaining control mechanism were ‘devoured’ by me, so it is now ‘growing’ anew on the Star Crystal Tree,” Yu Sheng said unhurriedly. “It looks like… it’s growing very fast.”
Luna blinked, her face showing a "this works?" expression, and couldn't say anything for a long time.
Yu Sheng silently stepped forward and placed his hand on the pure white crystalline tree trunk.
This tree was indeed not watered or fertilized, but in a sense, it was "watered" with his blood.
Almost instantly, Yu Sheng established a connection with the crystal tree and "saw" it in a different form at that moment on a conscious level.
It was very similar to the scene he had seen in the "shallow lake" of consciousness when he was wandering in his dream, except for some additional elements—
iridescent fissures drifted and flowed in the chaos, while pure white crystal branches, like winding vines, entwined around the fissures. Together, they formed a massive structure beyond human comprehension, and within that illusory, floating iridescence, it seemed as if the silhouettes of stars from the edge of the universe were hidden.
Yu Sheng tried again to move closer to the crack that was closest to him.
This time, the fragile crack didn't disappear immediately; instead, it subtly revealed to the observer the hidden scenery on the other side of the passage—
Amidst the turbulent interplay of light and shadow, Yu Sheng felt as if he were seeing a large ship.
A ship?
Yu Sheng paused for a moment, then moved closer to the crack that led to an unknown destination, staring wide-eyed at the other side.
A colossal ghost ship was sailing through the vast starry sky. The starlight appeared distant and shimmering, as if separated by an invisible layer of water. Illusory, eerie green flames spread from both sides of the ghost ship, rippling like waves and creating a phantom sea in the starry sky. The ghost ship raised its translucent giant sails and headed towards the edge of the material world, while the vast swirling phantom flames around it surged and instantly spread throughout the entire starry sea. This scene made it seem as if the ship was pulling the entire world... sailing through the void.
Yu Sheng: "...?"
(End of this chapter)
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