Otherworldly Desert Dust

"According to our research, each streak of Skyfire contains a special seed. These seeds do not rely on absorbing the nutrients from the soil or the moisture from dew; instead, they can absorb fierce energy impacts. The collision energy acts as the catalyst for these seeds to break their shells and sprout, even enabling them to grow into towering trees in a very short amount of time." Huang Cang, witnessing such a spectacle, couldn't help but become sentimental.

The seeds from Outer Heaven, like shooting stars falling, form a huge flaming vegetation at the point of impact.

In fact, in earlier times, human scientists had a similar hypothesis. They believed that Earth was originally like other planets devoid of life, and in some ancient era, meteors carrying special microorganisms fell onto this blue globe. Microorganisms, under such energy impacts, underwent some form of mutation, which led to the complex ecosystem present on Earth today.

Similarly, where did the life in Otherworldly Dust come from?

They are spectacular and bizarre, and difficult to explain with common logic.

But after witnessing the spectacle formed by the Skyfire seeds, it felt like everything was explained.

In ancient times, people did not know where the vegetation that sprouted from the ground came from, thinking them to be gifts from the heavens, hence they would worship gods that represented seeds. Later, people discovered that these seeds mostly originated from bird droppings. Birds, migrating around the world, consumed various fruits containing seeds, which were then scattered across different regions along with the migration, completing the plants' journey.

After expanding on this train of thought, Wu Hen suddenly remembered something.

He took out the previously lifeless Soul Nesting Wood seed, carefully analyzing the micro-elements contained within this seed.

Soon, Wu Hen noticed that the seed's shell was also covered with some Heavenly Fire Crystals, finer than dust and completely embedded in the seed's shell, indicating that this Soul Nesting Wood seed's formation was similar to those of the Volcano Trees...

Did it also come from Skyfire?

Then, where does Skyfire come from?

Wu Hen raised his head, gazing into the profoundly deep sky. The grey, indistinct heavens made it impossible to discern from where the Skyfire originated.

With a different understanding of space than the past, when humanity was still confined to the dimension of homeland, they always believed space was continuous, an entire vast world. Areas within and beyond sight were considered interlinked, merely unreachable by humans due to the lack of technology to traverse cosmic space, hence the true boundaries of the universe were unattainable.

However, this theory was shattered with the advent of Otherworldly Dust. Space is discontinuous; the world exists in superimposed states, even somewhat like cages. Breaking through one cage only leads to another, larger and more challenging cage-world...

Now they drift in the Cang Chu Divine Realm, but what about the world beyond the Cang Chu Divine Realm, known as Outer Heaven? What is it like there?

So far, Wu Hen had not heard any information about what lay beyond the Cang Chu Divine Realm, nor seen any life forms from beyond it.

Everything beyond Cang Chu remains unknown.

If the Cang Chu Divine Realm is also a huge cosmic prison, then their search for the Star Marker, their quest for Cangling, is akin to a cosmic jailbreak.

"Could these Skyfires be coming from a world beyond the Cang Chu Divine Realm?" Wu Hen asked.

"Yes," Sheng Rong nodded.

"So, you think that the mysterious distress signal might also come from life beyond Cang Chu?" Wu Hen continued.

Sheng Rong didn't reply this time, but his eager eyes answered Wu Hen's question.

The scholars from Da Xuan are unable to suppress their thirst for knowledge. Leveraging dark energy technology, they have gained a prominent position within the Cang Chu Divine Realm; yet, they remain relative frogs in the well compared to the entire Otherworldly Dust. The overly curious among these scholars also wish to climb out of the well, to see the world outside, what the real sky and the real earth are like...

Skyfire, carrying the miraculously potent Volcano Tree seeds, flies into the Cang Chu Divine Realm, germinating trees as large as the Fire God Mountain Range, which spew forth light bright as the sun, illuminating the vault of heaven with radiant energy...

"Have you ever seen our artificial sun? It's the pride of our entire Da Xuan, awe-inspiring to all of Cang Chu, whether it's the Human Clan that claims to be divine or those hidden civilizations living apart from worldly affairs. Upon seeing our capability to create something rivaling the Sky Dome Sun Technology, everyone holds us in utmost reverence. Other life forms seek ascension to godhood; we create gods," Sheng Rong slowed his pace, speaking more softly to Wu Hen.

"It's your Divine City, overseeing the entire Cang Chu," Wu Hen nodded.

"In fact, we merely stumbled upon a seed, and by deciphering, researching, and testing its energy laws, we created the unique Day Divine City. To this day, we haven't been able to acquire a second one; otherwise, the entire Cang Chu Divine Realm would be bathed in sunlight, completely eradicating the risk of contamination," Sheng Rong explained.

Wu Hen, upon hearing this, was surprised and opened his mouth agape.

So the thing that Da Xuan is most proud of also relies on divine providence for sustenance?

It was clear that Sheng Rong was a genuinely sincere otherworldly scholar; she did not put on airs as if the people of Da Xuan were superior, and even tore apart what the Da Xuan Dynasty was most proud of.

Previously, Wu Hen was not very aware of what it meant that there was a brilliant sun in the otherworldly sky.

But, upon realizing that countless supremely powerful beings exhaust every possible means just to become a star in the sky, Wu Hen understood what it means for the Cang Chu Divine Realm to have its Sky Dome Sun, even in the Cloud Holy Country represented by the highest echelon of the Human Clan, Saint Luo Cailan, her radiance is merely like that of the night moon.

It can be said that Da Xuan's Day Divine City is a leader that is dramatically ahead of its time; it is the sole sun in this otherworldly sky, and even though everyone knows it is man-made, its Crown Radiance that illuminates everything still commands unbelievable respect from billions of otherworldly clans.

"Is this the end of the Cang Chu Divine Realm, where it connects deeply with the outside world?" Wu Hen, seeing that Sheng Rong brought the conversation to this level, earnestly sought further understanding.

Perhaps aside from scholars of Da Xuan, other beings in the entire Cang Chu Divine Realm would not care what the outside world is like, after all, they do not have to worry about being torn apart by Predators, or eroded by otherworldly substances that are difficult to comprehend...

It's like the struggling working class at lower levels, who also have no interest in whether extraterrestrial planets harbor life; initially, many people, upon discovering they were virtual beings, only wished that the players controlling their universe would deposit more money into their accounts, so they do not end up as beasts of burden in this world.

But being a beast of burden is not confined to dimensions; lacking money is why they choose gaming, a relatively low-cost form of entertainment, yet after playing, they find they mostly cannot compete with wealthy players. If the characters in the game had consciousness, they would also wonder why their player is not willing to invest money to make them stronger.

"Do you mean to say that the Soul Nesting Wood seed needed by Nuwa's people also comes from outside the Cang Chu Divine Realm, not native to Cang Chu?" Wu Hen did not let the conversation drift too far and returned to the matter of the Time Soul Nesting Wood he was seeking.

Sheng Rong chuckled and said, "Perhaps we all come from beyond the sky. The Cang Chu Divine Realm is bizarre and strange with too many irrational aspects, unfit for survival, unfit for propagation, populated by many adverse climates, terrains, Evil Land; perhaps all of us Human Clan beings were actually banished to this harsh land... Our untraceable ancestors might have committed some crimes that resulted in our banishment here, and a powerful Cosmic Barrier was set to prevent our escape."

It turned out that not only did Nuwa's people find the Cang Chu Divine Realm weird and unsuitable for prolonged human habitation, but the people of Da Xuan also realized the soil here was as if possessed by evil, prone to becoming barbaric at random, with prosperous cities possibly controlled overnight by Evil Spirits, and overly primitive civilizations ravaged by powerful otherworldly Predators, with no balance at all.

Compared to this, the stable state of Nuwa God End is instead most suitable for the Human Clan to inhabit.

This made Wu Hen also remember that his younger aunt once lamented, isn't Nuwa God End also a kind of heaven?

Therefore, as Li Feng deepened his understanding of the otherworldly realms, he also felt that his initial rash determination of describing the internal world of Nuwa God End as virtual was impulsive and foolish.

…

"We should not be far from that sound," Huang Cang stood on a rock, holding an instrument resembling a compass.

This device was definitely not a feng shui compass; it only looked similar, but its interior consisted of extremely powerful and precise Da Xuan technology, capable of detecting life rhythms and emitting warnings of dangerous life forms approaching.

Wu Hen still didn't hear anything.

The ashen ground was very thick, layers of ash laid down who knows how much deeper than a typical desert.

Underneath the ash, there lay many remnants that unmistakably indicated their affiliation with some civilization…

Honestly, this place gave Wu Hen the feeling of an extremely dangerous sea realm; beneath the surface water lay countless ships, ranging from the most ancient wooden ships to the most advanced nuclear behemoths, representing different technological stages of the Human Clan throughout various periods.

Of course, the remnants under the ash were not only of scientific civilizations but also included cultivation civilizations similar to the True Martial Continent. A great number of slowly degrading cold weapons were buried underfoot, and as Wu Hen walked over their skeletal remains, these millions of cold weapons produced a soul resonance-like chanting. They seemed to sense the Black Divine Death Sword, yearning to become part of the Death Sword, rather than being forever buried under the ash.

Unfortunately, most were but scraps of copper and rotten iron; and those that had any Artifact Spirit energy had already been degraded by the high temperatures of the ash layers, their Spiritual Energy turning into Dark Energy circulating within the Earth Vein.

"There's a tree ahead." At that moment, Huang Cang made an important discovery. His eyes peered through the hazy Flame Dust and saw a grand Sky Shadow appearing on the horizon!

Wu Hen was also stunned, unable to believe the scene he was witnessing.