The Stars Beyond

Chapter 275: Ace In The Hole

The Bixie, its entire body glowing red like molten iron, loomed large with red light illuminating the rain. Its massive tiger head sported dragon horns, casting a crimson halo.

It was attempting to use its divine powers. Normally, from its horns, supernatural energy would pour out, creating sacred ripples that could easily crush its foes. But now, the expected red ripples didn’t materialize. The power it once wielded seemed to have failed.

Perplexed, the Bixie tried a different approach, opening its huge mouth, expecting to engulf everything on the street. However, its jaw stretched to its limits, becoming numb, and still, it couldn’t swallow its target.

Wang Xuan, bemused, gestured and pulled Qin Cheng’s shoe from the bar at light speed, throwing it into the Bixie's gaping mouth.

The Bixie roared in frustration, its eyes’ ten-character symbols intimidating, but only Wang Xuan could hear it. The creature swung its sharp claws forward, but no rune-lit beams tore through the air; only supernatural energy seeped out.

Even the Bixie was speechless. All its divine powers seemed like illusory reflections, utterly useless.

"Has the prophecy come true? Has the supernatural world really collapsed?!" The Bixie seemed dazed, overwhelmed by a sense of despair.

"Can we talk?" Wang Xuan asked, looking at the Bixie. This creature, once nurtured by the "pseudo-shadow beings" as a mythological entity, now seemed oddly out of place.

"Sure," the Bixie nodded, sitting down on the rain-drenched street.

Wang Xuan approached and asked, "Who were those people in spacesuits just now?"

"Remnants of the defeated, the survivors of a failure," the Bixie replied.

Wang Xuan was taken aback. Those people, who followed the path of technology, capable of combating primordial demons and capturing mythological creatures as mounts, were considered failures?

"Explain more, please."

"Back then, they were indeed very formidable. Are you familiar with the 'Land of Departed'?" the Bixie inquired.

"Yes, I've seen and encountered it," Wang Xuan nodded.

"Impressive, you've even encountered the Land of Departed?" the Bixie was visibly impressed, then sighed, "Those people were outsiders, using the Land of Departed as a passage, but eventually..."

A dazzling red light erupted, engulfing the sky and turning the city's rain curtain a deep crimson. The Bixie, fierce and menacing, swung its massive paw at Wang Xuan, who was seated beside it.

"You have no martial honor, you beast," Wang Xuan remarked.

A protective light screen appeared around Wang Xuan, emanating from an ancient lamp floating above him. The lamp cast a protective radiance around him.

With a thunderous crash, the Bixie, now relying purely on supernatural energy and mental concentration - the only powers still at its disposal - struck. Its strength was formidable; a single blow caused the light screen formed by the ancient lamp to shake violently, cracking under the impact.

Wang Xuan was astounded by the mythological creature's supernatural strength and lamented the diminished power of the ancient lamp due to the disappearance of the supernatural rules.

The Bixie, an entity close to the level of carefree wanderers, was unique, invisible to others but still a being of the spiritual realm.

Wang Xuan activated the ancient lamp, firing dark red arrows at the Bixie. Despite the Bixie's formidable nature, the arrows pierced its red tiger body. It didn’t die but became even more ferocious, swinging its paw with terrifying supernatural force, affecting the surroundings. Electrical sources crackled, street lights went out, and electronics in the bar were damaged.

Concerned about the Bixie causing havoc in the city, Wang Xuan's spirit quickly returned to his body. He grabbed the God-Slaying Banner and stepped out.

As expected, the Bixie, resembling a fierce tiger with dragon whiskers and horns, was charging into the bar, its supernatural force causing explosions on the street. Street lights shattered, buildings cracked, and windows shattered.

Frowning, Wang Xuan realized he couldn't spare the creature. He had hoped to interrogate it slowly. Swinging the God-Slaying Banner, he covered the Bixie with a golden grid, exploding it with a loud bang.

"A God-Slaying Banner? No... it's different... the God-Slaying Banner, it has appeared again," it growled before dissolving into a shower of light, burning away completely.

"Wang Xuan, what just happened?" Qin Cheng, Su Chan, Kong Yi, and others appeared at the doorway, astonished at the destruction in the rain.

"Just a monster, it's dead now," Wang Xuan replied, relieved. The God-Slaying Banner was effective against pseudo-shadow beings.

However, the creature's mention of a Body-Slaying Banner intrigued him. Was there another banner targeting physical bodies? A pair of such powerful artifacts seemed almost against the natural order.

With the supernatural world fading, Wang Xuan wondered if the banner would remain useful. He put away the palm-sized golden flag, his mind heavy with thoughts.

Wang Xuan mused to himself about the future of mystical texts and treasures. "Will there come a day when all these scriptures and magical items become obsolete, ignored, unable to be activated, relying only on pure physical strength and sheer mental power?"

Recently, he had been relying on these treasures in battle and had not personally engaged in combat for a while. He suspected that these dependencies might gradually become ineffective.

Without these treasures, facing individuals like Lao Zhang or the red-clad demoness would be impossible for him. Especially with the demoness seeking her physical body in the old land, preparing for her true descent, it weighed heavily on his mind.

The world could no longer remain calm. With immortals crossing realms and shadow-like entities roaming, all manner of demons and gods seemed restless.

After leaving the bar, their gathering came to an end.

Wang Xuan returned to the Health Palace and immediately called Lao Chen to share his experiences of the night and discuss their next steps, including the progress on the heavenly herb seeds.

At this stage, every method to rapidly increase his strength was under consideration.

The returning immortals would only grow stronger, and while he could handle them now, the future was uncertain. He might become prey for others.

"Oula, mida..." Lao Chen cryptically conveyed that progress was near. He had narrowed down the search, suspecting either the Zhong or Ling families. Despite their cooperation, Chen sensed danger, like when he discovered bone fragments and relics in the Zhong family's secret repository.

"Really? Talk to Zhong Lao Er, ask if they dug up any bones from Xiong Mountain. If so, I'll deal with them directly!"

The next day, Lao Chen contacted Wang Xuan again. Zhong Changming was also unaware if Old Zhong had ever excavated Xiong Mountain. Zhong Lao Er hadn't been involved in such dark activities and was relatively straightforward.

Lao Chen reported, "There's a coffin, bright green and translucent with leaves growing on it. Inside, there's a body with flesh and blood, uncorrupted for a thousand years. No idea where it was dug up from."

He felt overwhelmed, describing the Zhong family's secret repository as a den of demons and spirits. "There's also a bronze coffin containing a mysterious corpse, covered in shiny silver hair and emitting silver light through the cracks."

The origin of these artifacts was unknown to anyone but Old Zhong, and the Zhong family had not studied or categorized them.

Lao Chen continued, "Zhong Lao Er boasted about having the Suihou Pearl and several Dragon Pearls. I saw them from afar, huge relics shining brightly in the dark!"

Wang Xuan was speechless at the Zhong family's collection, which seemed ready to cause an upheaval. Recalling his casual chat with the ferryman in the place of death, he hadn't expected such a reality, and even underestimated Old Zhong's audacity in excavating anything.

Considering this, the ferryman Xu Fu's bones might well be in the Zhong family's possession. Old Zhong likely collected them, suspecting they were relics of immortals.

Wang Xuan was relieved that the Zhong family had a dusty pool resembling the legendary Pool of Rebirth, keeping things relatively calm in the repository.

He advised Lao Chen to be cautious and not to venture too deeply, just searching around the perimeter.

"I know my limits!" Lao Chen replied, holding the Suihou Pearl, a huge relic, with respect. He was reciting the Sakyamuni scriptures, using the Buddha's relic to suppress evil while searching the repository.

Zhong Qing and Zhong Cheng, siblings, met early in the morning, both displaying astonishment. They whispered to each other about being visited in a dream by Zhong Yong the previous night, who instructed them to flee immediately with him.

......

"The 'Tai Chu Plan', evacuating New Star?" The two exchanged glances, discussing the dream's message.

There was no doubt that Old Zhong had awakened in his cicada shell, feigning death. "Probably the current situation at home scared Grandpa half to death, huh?"

Both were at a loss for words, realizing that Old Zhong, who treasured his life the most, had unintentionally dug up so many pitfalls, all now lying within their home.

"Let's not talk about it anymore. We're about to face a major crisis. Let's follow Grandpa's advice and prepare to leave New Star soon. There's no one better at surviving and living long than him!"

"Before leaving, let's invite Wang Xuan over to ask him privately if he wants to join us. Let him have a look at those scriptures he's been eyeing."

"He's been coveting them for so long. Every time he visits, he's like a red-eyed rabbit, staring in the direction of Grandpa's study. If it weren't for the Pool of Rebirth, he'd have probably astral projected here to steal the books by now!"

The siblings knew Wang Xuan quite well.

...

In the following two days, Wang Xuan stayed busy with various preparations, including forging identities and wearing a human skin mask. He was planning to return to Old Earth.

He felt uneasy, with New Star resembling an apocalyptic world. Heavy rains and blood-red lightning were everywhere, making even him nervous about how many immortals might come this time.

He wasn't ready for a battle with the immortals yet. If Huang Kun's faction and the followers of the red-clothed female demon came in full force, they would directly hunt him down.

So, he prepared his trump card, planning to go to Old Earth to awaken the true bones of the Sword Immortal and summon her back.

He couldn't wait three more years; the situation was changing daily, and the boundary between worlds might collapse at any moment.

If he could summon the Sword Immortal back with her cultivation intact, she would likely be invincible in this world, as other factions' immortals were not complete.

With everything ready, he would stealthily set foot on Old Earth, preparing his trump card. Perhaps he might even trap the red-clothed female demon there as well.