Chapter 98 - Dawn
His icy gaze remained fixed on Mo Chen, but the terrifying murderous aura surrounding him had already subsided. Clearly, Mo Chen's pure pursuit of knowledge and his stance on behalf of the Xingyun Pavilion had temporarily earned him "permission to observe."
On the meadow, Su Tang continued her description. Mo Chen listened attentively, his calm eyes lighting up as Su Tang spoke, as if a new, unfamiliar star field filled with strange rules had been illuminated on the star map.
He sometimes nodded, sometimes looked thoughtful, and was full of strong interest in the world called "Earth" driven by "technology" and "information".
"...So, the people in your place, unable to cultivate immortality, are able to use their mortal bodies to 'fly' (airplanes), 'dive' (submarines), and even...peek at the stars?" Mo Chen's tone was filled with pure wonder, as if a scholar had discovered a new world that subverted their cognition.
The star map at his fingertips changed, simulating the shadows of the airplanes, computers and other objects described by Su Tang. Although they were similar in appearance but different in spirit, it was enough to make Tie Niu next to him marvel.
"Yeah!" Su Tang nodded vigorously. When she mentioned familiar things, the fear in her eyes was gradually replaced by an excitement of sharing. "There are also mobile phones! They are only the size of a palm, and you can talk to and see people thousands of miles away! And... there are so many games! Movies! Novels!" She became more and more excited as she spoke, and even gestured with her hands and feet, temporarily forgetting the panic of her identity being exposed.
The gleam of curiosity in Mo Chen's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he was about to ask again.
"Cough..." A deliberate cough sounded at the door of Fujiya.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. They saw Xie Zhao, who had been leaning against the door frame, standing beside Chu Linyuan. His face was still pale, and his body was a little unsteady, relying on one hand to hold on to Chu Linyuan's arm for support.
But those peach blossom eyes had regained some of their former spirit, and they looked at Mo Chen with their usual smile that was three parts teasing and seven parts shrewdness.
"Master Mo," Xie Zhao's voice, though weak, was clearly heard by everyone. "You are so interested in our little Tangdou's hometown. Your thirst for knowledge is admirable. But..." He changed the subject, his lips curled up, "You borrowed the Dragon Skeleton Core to heal your wounds, used the Star Vein Returning to Save Your Life, and even took in a group of 'poor guys' like us in this starry land... You're not just here to listen to little Tangdou's stories about Earth, are you?"
He looked at Mo Chen with a smile, his eyes like the most astute talisman master examining a complex formation diagram. "You said before that the star tracks indicate variables, and Little Sugar Bean is the biggest anomaly. What about the Guixu Sect? What role do we play as 'variables' in your star tracks? Or rather... what do you want us to change?"
Xie Zhao's question, like the sharpest needle, instantly pierced through the slightly relaxed atmosphere on the Starry Meadow due to the "experiences from another world", and went straight to the core!
Luo Hongyi's eyes flashed, and poisonous mist silently condensed at his fingertips.
Tie Niu's hand that was scratching his head stopped, and his huge body tensed slightly.
Su Tang also came back to her senses from the excitement of sharing and looked at Mo Chen nervously.
Little White Deer hugged Bunny tightly.
Even Uncle Chen, who had been sweeping the floor, slowed down his movements slightly.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Mo Chen again.
The curiosity and interest on Mo Chen's face slowly faded, and he regained his calm expression. He looked at Xie Zhao's peach blossom eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts, then slowly scanned the people in Guixu Sect. Finally, his gaze fell on the dark red tassel at Chu Linyuan's waist and Xie Zhao, who was sleeping in the rattan house behind him.
He was silent for a moment, the shadowy star map imitating Earth's technology quietly dissipating from his fingertips. Pure starlight flowed through his palm, transforming into a larger and more complex star map—a projection of the star tracks of this world.
On the star map, the area representing the Immortal Alliance shone with dazzling light yet was riddled with cracks of decay. Countless stars, representing various factions, shone brightly and dimly, entangled in conflict. And in a region of the star map shrouded in a thick aura of malevolence and deathly silence (the Burial God Abyss), a faint yet remarkably tenacious dark golden light stubbornly shone. Around it were entwined the golden threads of talismans, the dark green of toxicity, the pale gold of vows, the silver glow of stellar force, and even... a barely perceptible wisp of gray dust, yet imbued with the aura of annihilation.
Mo Chen's gaze finally settled on that bit of dark golden light, and his voice carried the unique ethereal quality of the Xingyun Pavilion and a hint of fateful distance:
"The star tracks flow endlessly like a river. The Immortal Alliance has stolen the heavens, locked the veins and severed the paths. Ten thousand years of accumulated evil have reached their end. Though their light is blazing, the cracks are deep, and collapse is imminent. This is a major trend, irreversible."
"However, when the old order collapses and the new order has not yet been born, it will inevitably be a situation where demons dance wildly, thousands of paths clash, and the people weep blood."
His finger pointed at the dark golden light that stubbornly shone from the dead silence of the God Burial Abyss, as well as the many different colored lights intertwined around it.
"And return to the ruins..."
"It is Mo who, in this future scene of crumbling star tracks and surging seas of blood..."
"Observed..."
"The brightest, the most unpredictable, and the most likely to...tear apart this filthy sky..."
"The light of dawn."
He raised his eyes and looked deeply at Chu Linyuan, at Xie Zhao behind him, at Luo Hongyi, Tie Niu, Su Tang, Bai Xiaolu, and even at Chen Bo in the corner:
"The Xingyun Pavilion has no intention of interfering in the disputes of this world. We only hope to preserve the spark and observe the truth in the torrent of changing order."
"Helping Guixu is not for control, nor for favor."
"Just to... invest in this ray of 'dawning light' that might illuminate the sea of blood and cleanse the dust."
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