The Stars Beyond

Chapter 368: The Source Of All Myths

Ming Xue sent out a few more incarnations, but the result was the same— they dissipated into the unknown, leaving only a blur behind. "Let's go in ourselves and see, together. Dare or not?" the Red-clothed Demoness proposed. Despite her ethereal beauty, she possessed a bold spirit.

"Agreed!" Zheng Yuan Tian nodded. With mythology on the brink of extinction and their world in its twilight, there was nothing to lose. If they couldn't break free now, all would be meaningless.

The six supreme beings ventured together into the dark cosmos.

Before Old Zhang left the gloomy desert for the spiritual world, he glanced back, spotting two followers: the ghostly queen from the Three Ghastly Piles and an old astronaut in tattered gear, both formidable spirits.

In the spiritual universe, they frowned upon realizing this wasn't a real cosmos but a vast expanse of psychic energy. Not far into their journey, they discovered a broken golden chariot, marked with the emblem of the Imperial Dao Flag, stained with actual blood—not just psychic remnants.

"This mythical civilization, did they ascend en masse, breaking through the cosmos to arrive here in physical form, yet still within a spiritual universe?" pondered Fang Yuzhu, her beauty undimmed even in the darkness of space.

The chariot, bathed in ancient blood, offered no further clues. A civilization striving to survive the cosmic night met a tragic fate along the way.

"Let's move on," said the Red-dressed Demoness, her seriousness contrasting her beauty. Their future mirrored this civilization's—without a path forward, they too would fall from grace, buried under the frost of time.

With survival at stake, the six put aside their differences, united in their search for a way out. They once stood unparalleled in their eras, but faced with potential extinction, they sought a dignified end.

"This spiritual cosmos has boundaries, unlike the boundless expanse we imagined," Fang Yuzhu noted, sensing something ahead.

"At the edge, there's a flow of primordial chaos, remnants from the dawn of creation," observed the Red-dressed Demoness, intrigued by the dark abyss.

Zheng Yuan Tian added, "That primordial essence and the chaos material are intertwined with psychic force. There's something off about this expanse."

They ventured forth, their spirits traversing the void, disappearing into the darkness towards their grim destination. There, they found the remnants of that brilliant civilization—broken chariots and colossal ships, all in ruins.

Flesh and psychic fragments floated in the silent void, a testament to their sorrowful tales, with no life in sight.

Both the physical titans and the spiritual gods of the old world had perished.

"There are no enemies, so it wasn't a massacre. But the ships and chariots appear to have been crushed by a tremendous force," the Demon Ancestor remarked, his dark magic sword at the ready, his brows knitted in concern.

This sight chilled them to the core. The civilization that crafted the Imperial Dao Flag, a formidable culture, seemed to have failed in the end, unable to find a way out.

"Over there," said the Hades Blood Sage, releasing three more incarnations, all of which perished. In the high reaches of space, amidst the chaos material, remnants were found.

As they ascended, they saw fragments, chunks of flesh, and desiccated heads—a sorrowful and tragic end.

A whole civilization had fallen, perhaps the most powerful mythical civilization ever, judging by the ten layers of spiritual relics and the Imperial Dao Flag they left behind.

Here, the air was filled with primordial essence, chaotic original material, enveloped in deathly silence and swirling mist, leading to a dead end.

"They tore through the cosmos into this spiritual universe, thinking they had found a new beginning for mythology. But they found no light, no immortality. To break free from this expanse, they collided with warships, all mythological beings striking together, but they couldn't break through," Fang Yuzhu explained.

The six saw the blood within the chaos material and the shattered prows of ships. That civilization had tried to break through from here but failed.

More psychic remnants and tattered bodies were present, still radiating a terrifying energy that killed the Hades Blood Sage's incarnations.

The six supreme beings resisted, drawing close to the chaos to observe. Amidst the mist were substances resembling rock and frost—cold and lifeless.

These were not real rocks or frost but the chaotic state before all creation—disordered, mixed, cold, and icy.

Touching it with their spirits, they felt a bone-chilling cold, and the deeper they went, the more they realized its indestructibility, surpassing even divine metal.

"They were too resolute, unable to find a way out, they chose a decisive death, crashing violently in the end, leading to their total annihilation," the Ancestor of Heavenly Immortals, Qi Teng, spoke.

Zheng Yuantian added, "Because their time was running out, they had arrived at the end of the collapse of the supernatural world, looking back only meant waiting for death."

Their emotions were complex, empathizing deeply, fully understanding the final sentiments of that group of people.

The six ventured forth again in this spiritual universe and made another discovery—a dark planet riddled with holes.

It wasn’t large, densely packed with honeycomb-like holes, from which strands of nearly real material seeped out.

"Is there such a place?" they marveled.

They rushed towards it, standing upon it, nourishing themselves, but soon frowned and left the small planet.

Merely touching it caused the celestial body to decay and break apart, the emerging nearly real energy material was mixed with the decayed essence of psychic remnants, contaminated.

The small planet, only a hundred miles in diameter, indeed tiny, was peculiar, containing nearly real energy material, something sought after by immortals.

"In a sense, they also succeeded, having found this place, discovered such a unique planet, extending the life of mythology for many years. But in the end, it was nearly depleted, leaving only remnants behind."

Back then, some were very staunch, a large group of strong beings steered their ships to strike the boundaries of this spiritual universe, dying heroically.

Others were left behind as seeds of life, hoping they could survive the cold winter in this transcendent hive but it was a failure, leaving only dry corpses and psychic remnants.

"This nearly real energy material, though still abundant, doesn't nourish the body or spirit well. It's of a high order and can be transformed into considerable attack power, but it's difficult to sustain life for long," Zheng Yuantian said, drawing strands of the contaminated nearly real material, frowning. But then again, what choice did the remnants of that civilization have, with the decline of the supernatural?

"These people have been in slumber for no more than two thousand years before they all perished," the female immortal concluded after a thorough investigation.

Compared to the quiet cosmic night, this period is too brief. Even if extended tenfold or a hundredfold, it would still not wait for the next birth of the supernatural.

"This is somewhat strange. Wanting to use a supernatural meteorite to extend the life of mythology, could some legends actually be true?" Qi Teng pondered. "Long ago, a perished ancestor said that the supernatural was an accident, caused by the radiation of real materials from meteorite fragments that fell, bringing hope and nourishing the mythological world."

"After the meteor disintegrated, nearly real materials could coexist with a massive amount of supernatural factors!" the Blood Lord stated.

Zheng Yuantian nodded, "Indeed, there's such a saying. Hence, some predecessors lamented in despair that the meteor crossing the eternally silent night was merely an accident, not a metaphor, but a real scenario."

Everyone was lost in thought because if these nearly real meteorites fell across the universe, could they have created mythological civilizations? This idea sparked endless speculation.

About these, Fang Yuzhu, Zheng Yuantian, and Qi Teng had all tried to find the source of these meteorites, but to no avail.

Not just them, those few perished mythological civilizations left only hints that they too sought the source, only to be disappointed.

"How did this civilization find the meteorite here?" they wondered, puzzled.

No matter how you look at it, this special little planet didn't seem to be brought in by those people but belonged to this spiritual universe, stirring something in their minds, leading them to certain speculations.

"Could it be that all the accidentally born supernatural phenomena are because meteorites fell from this kind of spiritual universe, hence the mythological civilizations at different historical periods?" they speculated.

"No wonder we couldn't find it. These nearly real meteorites aren't in the real world. Even searching across various star spaces yields nothing; they only exist within the spiritual universe?"

The six delved into this grave inquiry, touching upon the origins of mythology.

Throughout history, many brilliant individuals have sought answers, leaving behind notes and insights.

Comparing the writings of predecessors with their current observations and knowledge, they increasingly believed in this truth.

"The essence of mythological origins... stems from the accidental fall of real materials!"

They pondered, uncovering part of the truth, yet many questions remained unanswered.

What exactly is the spiritual universe? Why can it give birth to such nearly real meteorites?

"Relative to it, this little planet is still too small, it hasn't grown, not grand enough, insufficient to sustain a mythological civilization," Zheng Yuantian remarked. "I speculate, at the birth of a real supernatural world, it would be a meteor shower, with meteorites of various colors and containing different real materials falling, giving birth to different supernatural factors, hence nurturing mythology."

They observed again; a single small planet was too simplistic. It was tiny, the real materials it contained far from supporting a mythological civilization.

"How did this mythological civilization pinpoint this spiritual universe? Why were they able to actively find a special small planet? If they had continued searching, perhaps they really could have thrived endlessly."

In a sense, that mythological civilization had found the direction but hadn't completed the journey.

Entering the collapsed, decayed, and contaminated interior of the small planet, its condition worsened as they moved through it, breaking apart further.

Ultimately, a potent spiritual imprint emerged, morphing into the final tableau, narrating the ultimate words, resonating with their spirits. It depicted a rough, blood-stained hand penning a farewell, recollecting past scenes, resonating and manifesting shared visions.

"Did we err? Hoped for a whale's fall, for myths to arise, immortals to be born, yet reality proved so brutally harsh, a sorrowful end, a retribution."

The six beheld the rough hand clutching the tattered Imperial Banner, charging at the boundaries of the spiritual universe. Was this an act of self-destruction in regret? The hand disintegrated, blood splattered.

"It unveils some truth; what whale was referred to?"

"Why mention retribution? He seems filled with endless regret!"

Their expressions changed for the first time, feeling an unprecedented sense of dread. What had this supreme civilization done to arrive here?

Hints of bloodshed, cruelty, boundless regret, and sorrow were interwoven. The individual behind the rough hand harbored a complex state of mind, evoking profound empathy in an instant.

They discussed, if they could find that direction, perhaps there was still a chance.

"Tracing back to the old scenes, we must discover the truth, understand the bigger picture."

Together, they focused on the fading traces left by the rough hand, connected with those words, activated the imprints, and resonated once more.

"A whale falls..." As this desolate voice echoed, they vaguely saw a giant head with sparks of electricity, its eyes filled with sadness, before it slowly turned away.

"It resembles the colossal head constructed by the City of Lightning, the Clouds of Thunder, and the ten layers of spiritual relics!"

Then, the Imperial Banner appeared, sweeping across the sky, its vast fabric extending beyond the realm, as if covering the entire starry sky.

As the immense banner swept across, blood fell from above.

They saw flames, heard cries, and vaguely saw the heavens torn open by the banner...