The Stars Beyond

Chapter 274: It Is Creepy

The people present were speechless, thinking to themselves that this so-called 'great immortal' was not someone to be taken lightly.

Wang Xuan sat still, using his psychic third eye to glance outside.

The refined man gestured for Wang Xuan to look into the bronze mirror. In it, two figures were seen moving away, their images blurring for a long time before gradually becoming clearer.

One was a stunning woman in red, holding a paper umbrella amidst a fine mist of rain. Her long black hair flowed like a waterfall, her eyes intoxicating, exuding an otherworldly charm. She seemed to sense something and glanced their way.

The other, a woman in white enveloped in moonlight, descended slowly, untainted by worldly dust. Light as a feather, she touched down on the ground and looked towards them through the mirror.

Wang Xuan frowned, uneasy at the thought of these two women joining forces. This was definitely not good news.

The refined man turned to Wang Xuan and said, “It seems they'll be appearing in the mortal world soon, and they've chosen their landing spot near Suzhou. Didn’t you promise to guide them back?”

Wang Xuan's expression changed as he shook his head. “No!”

The situation was serious; these were no ordinary immortals.

“You have too many problems surrounding you,” the man said, looking back into the mirror and noticing several pieces of yellow paper money floating down.

He sighed, “Why are all the people around you so fierce and peculiar?”

Wang Xuan nodded helplessly, thinking to himself that it included him too.

Suddenly, the refined man closed his mouth, bowed his head to drink, and quickly put away the mirror.

Wang Xuan caught a glimpse of the last image in the mirror and his face paled. The mirror was truly miraculous, even reflecting such beings.

Soon, several beings appeared at the entrance of the bar. Among them were individuals in spacesuits and another riding on the back of a golden lion, all smiling as they entered the bar.

"Su Chan said, 'Immortal, don't be so pessimistic. I feel like, according to what you're saying, our very existence is an accident.'"

"The refined gentleman nodded and replied, 'Definitely an accident. Look at the billions of stars, how many of them harbor life? All you see is silence and emptiness.'"

"At this moment, several astronauts, invisible even to the transcendent beings, approached. The leading woman removed her helmet, revealing long blue hair and snow-white, delicate skin. Her black eyes sparkled beautifully. She jumped down from a golden lion surrounded by Buddhist light."

"Her spacesuit was new, different from those ancient astronauts Wang Xuan had seen at the Sun family's base."

"She sat at a nearby table, beckoning the others to join her, discussing something unknown."

"'Old Zhang, what's the origin of these beings?' Wang Xuan asked, wary of this species similar to shenlings."

"'You can see them?' The refined man glanced at him, having thought Wang Xuan had only caught a brief glimpse through his copper mirror."

"'Not seeing them is fine, seeing them could spell trouble,' he explained, a viewpoint similar to what the ferryman Xu Fu and Chen Tuan's scriptures mentioned."

"'What are they?' Wang Xuan inquired."

"'Think of them as a temporary crossover from a parallel universe, intersecting with our world for a moment. Don't pay attention to them; treat them like air,' the refined man advised."

"'You're an immortal, yet you explain with pseudoscience?' Wang Xuan looked at him, unsure of what to say. He wanted to know how the immortals view these 'shenling-like' beings."

"'Normally, they don't affect our world. Invisible, untouchable, they only bother transcendent beings with astral projection or unusual perceptions. But they're not creatures of the mythical dimension. Look, we're sitting here and they're not reacting, right?' the refined man said, clinking glasses with Wang Xuan. Suddenly, he felt his copper mirror heating up. Glancing at it, he noticed the group looking their way."

"Wang Xuan was speechless, 'Didn't you say they couldn't see or affect each other?'"

"The refined man reassured, 'They don't affect me, but might trouble you a bit. Stay relaxed, don't let your spirit wander, and don't use your spiritual eye carelessly.'"

"Wang Xuan looked away, focusing on his drink. He didn't want to stir trouble, especially with the amount he already had on his plate."

"I'm not looking for trouble, to avoid stirring up a hornet's nest. It wouldn't be too difficult to erase them if necessary," the refined man spoke.

The group in spacesuits stood up and walked over, eyeing their table, seemingly puzzled and suspicious, particularly about the copper mirror.

The refined man's celestial energy flowed, and all the runes on the mirror vanished, making it look like an ancient relic buried for thousands of years, its transcendent properties gone.

Seeing these beings could be problematic, and the mirror indeed seemed to have attracted some unwanted attention.

He stood up and said, "I have matters to attend to at my company, I'll be leaving. Contact me by phone for any emergencies or major events."

"Did Old Zhang just bail on us?" Qin Cheng exclaimed, watching his hasty departure.

The astronauts returned to their seats, no longer paying attention to their table.

"A celestial being running a company and dealing with corporate matters, the world has really changed," Zhou Kun sighed, feeling the strangeness of the situation.

"Was he really Old Zhang?" Qin Cheng asked Wang Xuan.

When others heard this and learned that the refined man might be Zhang Daoling, they were all astounded.

"Were we just drinking with a figure from historical texts?"

Was he really Old Zhang? Wang Xuan had his doubts. The man only mentioned his surname was Zhang, neither confirming nor denying anything, shrouded in mystery.

And the night had been bizarre since his arrival, with the appearance of the red-dressed demoness and the female alchemist, revealed by his mirror. Then, the 'shenling-like' beings at the nearby table added to the series of strange events.

Did the red-dressed demoness truly appear nearby, or was the refined man misleading him?

"Is he pressuring me to find a powerful collaborator to hasten his return?" Wang Xuan was skeptical of the evening's events.

The key was, Old Zhang's mark in the mortal world seemed to be in the Taoist ancestral hall on the New Moon, where his Yangping Zhidu Seal was.

Moreover, Wang Xuan had sensed vast and ethereal mystical energy there, where Old Zhang's true bones and a dormant spirit might reside.

Wang Xuan felt an urge to rush to the New Moon and verify the truth by releasing the spiritual seal in the Taoist ancestral hall, to see who was real and who was not. "Or has Old Zhang fragmented his spirit into multiple pieces?"

Just then, his phone rang. The refined man had just left but was already contacting him again.

"Important matter, I'm alerting you that the woman in red will soon head to the Old Earth to seek her physical body. For you, it's good news. She won't appear for some days," the voice on the phone informed.

Wang Xuan was taken aback, "She still has a physical body?"

"Uncertain. Even if she doesn't, there might be remnants of her celestial bones. No one but herself would know these details so clearly."

Wang Xuan pondered, already having instructed Old Chen to send the message to the Old Earth, asking Qingmu to excavate the demoness's lair in Xiongshan, or Shennongjia, hoping for an early discovery.

He decided to inform Old Chen to pass the message back; they shouldn't let Qingmu stir up too much trouble and risk an incident.

The refined man added, "The woman in white, the female alchemist, will also head to the Old Earth. As for me, I'll be visiting the New Moon soon to check my Taoist site. Be careful yourself and avoid any troubles."

Wang Xuan was surprised. Was he really going to the New Moon?

Privately, Wang Xuan thought that he would be safer with these individuals away. Even with the God-slaying Banner in hand, he didn't feel completely secure.

He planned to use this time to grow stronger. With two pieces of "Medicinal Soil" and possibly the seed of the celestial herb from Old Chen, he could enhance his power significantly. If he became strong enough, what could even the weakened celestials returning to the mortal realm do to him?

"I must warn you, the celestials will continue to cross over, even in large numbers. Prepare yourself mentally. Some of the younger generation of demons and celestials may not be so scrupulous. To gain control quickly, they might resort to aggressive measures to seize territories. The New Star could face bloodshed and chaos," the refined man cautioned.

This vital information from the refined man changed Wang Xuan's expression. Was the New Star about to descend into chaos?

The same could happen on the Old Earth. The entire world might face the calamity of the celestials' return!

At the neighboring table, the astronauts stood up, conversing among themselves. Wang Xuan, without projecting his spirit, could only roughly see them but not hear anything.

They left the bar, disappearing into the night.

......

After waiting for a moment, Wang Xuan's spirit left his body, gazing outside the bar.

"Sigh, not only did we fail to find our ancestor's relics, but we also lost Xiao Xuan. There's not much time left. We must return now, or we'll completely dissipate here."

"We should find another opportunity to come back. If we don't leave now, it could lead to trouble."

Wang Xuan was astonished to hear such a conversation. The group moved away, passing through ordinary people without any physical interaction, unaffected by them.

They entered a bizarre spacecraft in a square, soaring into the sky. A light burst forth, forming a circle in the dark heavens, and their spacecraft disappeared within it.

Boom!

Outside Suzhou, in the sky above the mountains, lightning flashed, and thunder roared amidst the raging storm and deep crimson sky.

Wang Xuan watched from a distance. That area likely had beings crossing over from another realm.

Then, in another direction, the sky also displayed a strange phenomenon, with scarlet light piercing the heavens.

Even above Suzhou, such scenes appeared one after another, with torrential rain pouring down.

"The world really is changing. Apart from the supreme beings waiting for the best opportunity, others are panicking and rushing back!" Wang Xuan mused.

Suddenly, he sharply turned around. Amidst the torrential rain and interweaving crimson lightning, a colossal creature was approaching him from a short distance.

Its aura was terrifying, with intense murderous energy and red light like blazing flames, moving down the street.

Wang Xuan focused on it. Was this a being returning from behind the great curtain?

After crossing over, had the demon and celestial races become so reckless, ready to cause chaos on the streets?

"You can actually see me? Lucky me, I didn't expect to encounter a suitable body for my return right after breaking free..." the glowing creature spoke.

Wang Xuan immediately realized his mistake; this wasn't a returning immortal. It was the "Xiao Xuan" lost by the "pseudo-shadow beings."

He also recognized it as a real mythological creature — the Bixie, notoriously ferocious, now encountered in the real world.

"You... want to consume me, take my spirit, and replace it?" Wang Xuan thought of the stories in Chen Tuan's writings, where even land immortals had their spirits eaten by such beings.

But things were different now. The world of the supernatural had collapsed, the mighty rules of mythology had decayed and no longer existed. Could this creature consume him?

If "pseudo-shadow beings" could still utilize supernatural rules, perhaps they could extend the life of mythology and revive the supernatural world.

"Good that you understand," the Bixie spoke, its body glowing red. It resembled a fierce tiger with dragon whiskers and horns, towering at ten feet tall, looking down at Wang Xuan.

"Stay down, don't move," Wang Xuan ordered, preparing to study what exactly pseudo-shadow beings were.

The Bixie, with symbols glowing in its eyes and surrounded by intense red light, approached through the rain, illuminating the entire street. However, no one in the bar or the nearby buildings could see it.