Chapter 852: Chapter 852

"Back in the day, I too sat and discussed with His Majesty Sacred Monarch Origin the pros and cons of the legendary Celestial Martial Artists and Astral Cultivators. I even sparred with him in a friendly duel, ending in a draw, and once fought alongside him against the then-dominant Divine Dragon Empire..."

Hearing Si Xing's words, Prince Ran Hua and Prince Yu Kong couldn't help but gasp sharply with disbelief. This update ıs available on NoveI-Fire.ɴet

"You discussed the Dao with His Majesty Sacred Monarch Origin, fought alongside him, and even sparred with him without determining a victor?"

They knew Si Xing had a good relationship with the Sacred Monarch Origin, but they never imagined it would be to this extent.

Princess Yu Yu's eyes were already sparkling with admiration. It was as if she saw a reflection of His Majesty Sacred Monarch Origin in Si Xing.

Si Xing continued, "That's all in the past. As for me now, I prefer to stay quietly in the Material World, and once my realm reaches the right level, I'll then enter the Astral World. Of course, I could also ask His Majesty Sacred Monarch Origin to arrange for me to reside on one of the five continents and use them to weather the storms, but... there's no need. If I don't have the ability, why insist on entering the Astral World?"

With a smile, Si Xing said, "Alright, now, I'll take you all to Gaia."

Ran Hua, Yu Kong, and Yu Yu looked at him, their expressions full of admiration. If they had such conditions, they would have long since ascended to the Astral World.

Under Si Xing's lead, the group smoothly arrived at Gaia.

As the capital and birthplace of the superpower Gaia Alliance, Gaia was no longer comparable to its former self. Not only had most of the industries that affected the planet been relocated, but the entire planet had also been restored to the era most worth remembering in Gaia's history, the era of the Sacred Monarch Origin, Li Pin.

Si Xing led the group from the Taibai Kingdom, which still retained its name. They first toured the historic site of the Changfeng Martial Hall, followed by the Jiang Province Martial Society Arena, which had once been demolished and then faithfully restored. Then came the residences of Astral Cultivators, the World's Top Martial Competition, the King of Century Martial Competition, the Celestial Martial God Hall, and more.

Among these, the hardships endured by the Gaians were also preserved as part of history. They included the Death Valley, the Degenerate Temple, the Demon-Sealing Fortress, the Great Moon Imperial Tomb, the Ox Demon Temple, the Tenfold Heavenly Domain, the Bloodmoon Gorge, and many others.

Although the demonic creatures in these places had been eradicated, the geography and terrain had been preserved.

Some legends from ancient times, such as Fu Qingtian, the Solar Radiance Sovereign, and Ge Lin, would occasionally visit these now-empty perilous lands to reminisce about their heroic battles against monsters in the past.

But now, times had changed. On one hand, these perilous regions no longer housed demonic creatures. On the other hand, the younger generation, having benefitted from the Gaia Alliance's vast resources, wouldn't choose these low-level danger zones for training or adventuring, even if monsters reappeared here.

A broader stage awaited them to explore.

At this point, Si Xing had led the group to the Celestial Martial God Hall.

The Celestial Martial God Hall had long since become a tourist attraction. Countless people came and went, taking photos and checking in.

Besides Gaia's own humans, there were many humanoid races with varied appearances.

Looking at the Celestial Martial God Hall, Prince Ran Hua was hit with disbelief. "This is truly... unbelievable."

The Celestial Martial God Hall's structure was so simple that calling it crude didn't even begin to describe it.

Prince Ran Hua sighed. "It's hard to imagine that His Majesty Sacred Monarch Origin was able to become an Astral God in such an environment. He even attained Cosmic Radiance, swept through the Ten Thousand Tribes Dominion War, and became a Cosmic Overlord. Moreover, he has become a top-tier overlord that our Human Race has never seen in all these years."

"And all of that... had taken His Majesty three hundred years to achieve."

Yu Kong could hardly believe his ears.

Li Pin's achievements had been accumulated over no more than three hundred stellar years! His cultivation time was even shorter than theirs!

In that small timeframe, he had represented the Human Race in the Dominion War and, as a Sacred Monarch, ascended to become a top-tier Cosmic Overlord.

As for him, he was merely a Tier Five Legend.

This wasn't a gap; it was an insurmountable chasm. The difference was astronomical.

"I was technically the first cosmic lifeform to know Li Pin... and he kept overturning my expectations time and again. When I thought he was a genius, he immediately displayed the bearing of a peerless genius. When I thought he was a peerless genius, he had already made his name across the cosmos as a human prodigy. And by the time I accepted his identity as a prodigy, he had already gained the recognition of all, becoming the well-deserved supreme prodigy of this era..."

Si Xing could understand Yu Kong's emotions and sighed. "And now, he's even sweeping across all races as the Human Race's supreme prodigy, securing the throne of the Cosmic Overlord..."

What did it mean to be a Cosmic Overlord? Across the entire universe, only one person could be crowned the Cosmic Overlord in an era.

Si Xing looked up at the starry sky. "The news has only just begun to spread. Once he returns to the Human Race bearing the glory of sweeping through all the races... I believe the entire universe will chant his name, Origin."

Ran Hua, Yu Kong, and Yu Yu were all stirred by Si Xing's words. Even just imagining that scene made their blood boil with pride and honor.

However, as Si Xing gazed at the starry sky, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

At the end of the boundless starry sky, it was as if a burst of brilliant radiance was falling from a higher-dimensional plane. As that radiance drew closer from above, its dazzling light became brighter and brighter.

Si Xing, a Tier Six Legend with a sharp resonance to the Astral World, wasn't the only one to sense it. Even Prince Ran Hua, a Divine Being, also noticed something.

He looked up in astonishment. "This is..."

With his extensive experience, he quickly realized what this falling light from above meant. "Eternal Oblivion! An Astral God... has fallen to Eternal Oblivion..."

Si Xing spoke. "Based on the intensity of starlight, the fallen Astral God was a Starshine. Even if a Starshine chooses to fall into the Material World, they likely won't be able to leave anything behind."

He had hardly finished speaking when another brilliant starlight fell from above. The scattering starlight illuminated the surrounding space exactly like the previous one.

Si Xing was shocked. "Another Astral God has fallen!?"

There were indeed some Astral Gods from the Yin Luo Galaxy, but he hadn't heard of any facing the threat of ruin.

Of course, it wasn't impossible that some Astral God had been merely passing through this area and met with misfortune, forcing them to fall to ruin here in the Yin Luo Galaxy. But the probability was already low, let alone for it to happen twice in succession!

Could it be that two Astral Gods perished together?

But soon after the second Astral God's fall, a third Astral God's dying light blazed in the sky, each fall like a supernova bursting in the void, the spectacle visible in the Legends' special perception.

"What's going on? Why are so many Astral Gods falling?"

"If it were war, even powerful Astral Gods might die on the spot, not like now, where they seem to be prepared and deliberately falling to ruin in the Material World. An Astral God chooses to fall to ruin only when they realize death is unavoidable and they want to leave behind a legacy, a trace...."

"Something big has happened. Check the communications."

Yu Kong, Ran Hua, and Si Xing were all feeling uneasy.

As Yu Yu activated her communication device, beams of holographic information were projected at once. Each piece of information reported the phenomenon of an Astral God falling to ruin.

It should be known that although Yu Yu was a princess of the Dyelight Empire, the circles she could access were, at most, legend-tier. Every Astral God was an unfathomable giant in her eyes.

Under such circumstances, whether an Astral God rose or fell, it would cause massive uproar and endless discussions.

That was exactly what was happening now.

As they skimmed through the discussions, the number of fallen Astral Gods kept rising. With just a glance, they spotted no fewer than ten reports of Astral Gods falling.

The key point was that each message reported the falling of not just one Astral God, but clusters upon clusters of them.

Moreover, the affected area wasn't just the nearby star systems, but the entire Yuan Yang Star Domain.

"What happened in the Astral World?" Prince Ran Hua's eyes were suffused with horror. "Has war arrived?"

"It doesn't seem like war. When war arrives, Astral Gods do not fall to the Eternal Oblivion," Si Xing said in a deep voice. "I'll go take a look at the Astral World."

As a Tier Six Legend, he had the ability to enter the Astral World.

However, before he could attempt to enter the Astral World, a warning had already appeared on his communication device. Astral World Crisis. All living beings are strictly forbidden from entering the Astral World in any form. Offenders will bear the consequences.

Si Xing's pupils dilated, and he quickly selected the message's origin.

It wasn't the Gaia Alliance, nor the Yuan Yang Star Domain, and certainly not the Frostbound Star Abyss, but rather... the Human Alliance.

This was a mass broadcast from the Human Alliance, sent simultaneously to every corner of human territory.

"Astral World Crisis!"

Seeing this message, Si Xing immediately thought of something. "The Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations? Could it be that it's going to be implemented in the Human Race's domain first? But didn't Li Pin just sweep through all the races in the Ten Thousand Tribes Dominion War? How could the first era of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations fall on the Human Race?

"Besides, even if it is the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, there should be a gradual process. It shouldn't be this overwhelming..."

Prince Ran Hua, Yu Kong, and Yu Yu were all filled with unease.

After a round of discussion, everyone decided to return to their respective residences and closely monitor news and developments from the Astral World.

The day after Prince Ran Hua and the others returned to their warships, a piece of information spread wildly across all circles.

This message, in the form of a video-like divine sense transmission, summarized all the events of falling to the Eternal Oblivion that had occurred across the entire Frostbound Star Abyss in just a single day.

The moment this video was viewed, everyone, from a Divine Being like Prince Ran Hua, to a powerless royal princess like Yu Yu, felt as if they had fallen into an icy abyss, their faces turning deathly pale.

The video had compressed an entire day of cases of fallen to the Eternal Oblivion in the Frostbound Star Abyss into just one minute.

Within that one minute in the entire Frostbound Star Abyss, within every star region, starlight continuously flashed without pause, densely packed specks and clusters.

Every flash of starlight represented an Astral God being forced into the Eternal Oblivion.

Each flash of starlight was the final burst of starforce released by an Astral God at the moment of death. Each gleam of light seemed to carry the anguished roar of those mighty beings unwilling to perish.

And the number of starflashes in that one minute of video numbered in the tens of thousands.

On that day, countless stars fell.