Chapter 1

In the cold, desolate void of space, the Earth-Moon system drifted in a spiral, aimlessly, without a known destination.

On the frozen earth, in the biting wind, Dreamwalkers emerged from the icy, crystalline bases, venturing out in all directions.

The cataclysmic flood had swept away most living things except for humans, be it plants or beasts, anything on the surface could hardly escape its cleansing fate.

It seemed that everything Xuan Xing had developed for countless years had been wiped clean.

Perhaps countless millennia would have to pass before new life capable of adapting to such harsh environments could be born again on this planet.

Whoosh~

Inside the ice-crystal city-bases, Dreamwalkers practiced boxing techniques. In such an extremely harsh environment, even Dreamwalkers needed to maintain sufficient physical strength, otherwise, they would suffer frostbite or even freeze to death.

Fortunately, when Dreamwalkers entered their dreams, their bodies were in a state of deep sleep, even strengthening their physical bodies under the guidance of the ‘chip’.

"It's cold..."

Pei Qian, who had woken up from his dream, rubbed his hands, his face pale from the cold: "It's getting colder and colder..."

Xuan Xing, far from the solar system, had entered an unknown region of space. The light of the stars was clearly insufficient to warm this icy planet; in fact, the temperature was still dropping.

Some Dreamwalkers with weaker cultivation levels were finding it difficult to bear.

As a slacker whose ambition was to make money and only entered dreams to exercise, Pei Qian had been frozen awake directly from his dreams several times.

"Boss Pei, let's go back underground. If this continues, you might be able to handle it, but Old Qiao here will probably freeze to death!"

In the ice house, a slightly overweight fatty was constantly swinging his fists and kicking, turning a set of ‘Dragon Subduing Palms’ into something resembling mantis boxing.

"Going back underground isn't that easy. Putting aside the trouble of reporting at each level, just getting those few to nod in agreement is a major headache."

Pei Qian shook his head.

Dreamwalkers above, natural humans below—this was what the strong among the Dreamwalkers had negotiated with the original government leaders of various countries.

Going down was no easy task.

"Dr. Su was originally our company's chief consultant. If you go, they should at least give you some face, right?"

Old Qiao was itching to try. He could withstand it, but the fat on his body couldn't.

Cold was cold, the same for fat or thin.

"Forget it, going back would just mean a lot of trouble..."

Pei Qian waved his hand, refusing. He had heavily invested in the Mars project, borrowing trillions, and lost everything. Going back would be too much of a hassle.

Saying that, he didn't bother talking to the fatty anymore.

He walked out of the ice house.

"This is really a damn scam..."

Looking at the vast expanse of white, the ice houses stretching for dozens of miles, Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh. His breath turned to ice. The air was not only cold but also filled with cosmic rays.

Ordinary people would die within three seconds outside the Earth's crust, more terrifying than any poison.

In fact, if not for the spiritual energy (lingqi) in the air, even Dreamwalkers would not be able to survive in this environment for long.

The scattered ice houses blocked the howling wind. In the vast open space, a large number of Dreamwalkers were practicing with each other, exchanging insights.

A great catastrophe had changed Xuan Xing and countless people.

Some became radical, some became timid, some hysterical, but most became more open-minded.

Having experienced the life-and-death crisis of a world-destroying event, they took things outside of themselves much less seriously.

Like Pei Qian, he had abandoned his Tengda Company, which was over a trillion in debt, without any hesitation.

"How is Boss Pei adapting?"

Silently, Su Jie arrived at Pei Qian's side.

"It's alright, just a little cold..."

Pei Qian touched his nose. As one of the first Dreamwalkers, like Chu Fan and Feng Mingtao, he had fared rather miserably.

But before, he had been swamped with work, and his mind was not on martial arts at all.

Barely managing to avoid freezing to death was already quite an accomplishment.

"I'm afraid it will only get colder in the future..."

Su Jie said, sighing for once: "Troubles keep coming, and it leaves me with less and less time for research..."

There were endless crises in the universe. Not to mention anything else, the moon had been subjected to dozens of impacts every day on average in recent years.

The changes in Xuan Xing's celestial phenomena and temperature were also related to these.

But this was not his biggest trouble at the moment.

"Dr. Su, are you troubled?"

Pei Qian's heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to ask, but Su Jie clearly wouldn't come without a reason, so he could only reply: "If there's anything I can help with, just say the word."

"It's related to spiritual energy (lingqi)..."

Su Jie turned his hand over, pinching something tiny between two fingers.

Pei Qian glanced at it and almost didn't see it. After a closer look, he couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart: "This, this is a water bear?!"

The glacial flood had swept away countless plants and animals. Except for the animals that had been taken underground, the surface had been almost completely wiped clean, becoming a frozen specimen.

But there were exceptions, such as the 'water bear', which could survive in extremely harsh environments.

"This, this..."

Looking at the tiny water bear, Pei Qian's eyes were a little dazed: "Spiritual energy (lingqi)? What is this, a monster? A water bear monster?"

Not to mention Pei Qian being a little confused, even Su Jie was a little surprised when he discovered this bug.

"Yes, a water bear. It's not quite right to call it a monster. It should be said that under the cross-influence of spiritual energy particles and cosmic rays, some things have begun to 'evolve', or rather 'mutate'..."

Su Jie's expression was a little grave:

"I came to you because I want you to preserve the batch of high-precision research instruments and research personnel that you have, to cooperate with me in studying this water bear and the changes in microorganisms."

He didn't care about water bears as unsuccessful evolutionary creatures, of course. What he was worried about was whether everything, including microorganisms, was 'mutating'.

If it was true...

"That's a treasure I hid with great effort, even if it's you who wants it..."

Pei Qian's heart 'thumped':

"You still have to pay!"

"Deal!"

Su Jie reached out his hand and shook hands with this Da Xuan's most indebted person, but his eyes glanced past him, looking at the gray sky, which seemed as eternal as night.

Faintly, he felt the aura of a storm gathering.

Crises followed one after another, seemingly not giving them any time to breathe...

Su Jie's heart was calm, yet he murmured:

"Mr. An, only now do I understand what you felt back then..."

.......

This was an unknowable place.

In the dark and dim nothingness, a stream of light suddenly lit up, as if coming from an infinitely distant place, and stopped here.

An indescribably powerful will burst out, heavy and terrifying to the extreme. The endless nothingness seemed to be boiling in its wake.

"What a ‘Hui’, what a demon clan, to have such courage..."

The cold, low voice reverberated in the boundless void, as if even this void could not bear its weight and was about to crack for it:

"Unfortunately, what you have done is meaningless..."

The streamer flickered dimly, and an ancient and desolate scroll within it flashed, as if sensing what it was looking for in the boundless void.

In an instant, it had escaped this nothingness and disappeared into the darkness.

.....

In the sea of consciousness filled with white light, a bright mirror hung high. However, the originally clear mirror was gradually stained with different colors under the entanglement of endless white light.

An Qisheng returned to the darkness, resisting the omnipresent invasion.

This white light was by no means just the primordial spirit flame of that ‘Chaoyang’. In it, An Qisheng felt endless demon shadows.

It seemed that ten thousand demons were speaking, hissing, praying, wailing, and roaring in his heart...

This was the cry of countless living beings of a great clan!

Endless distracting thoughts surged like a tide. Even An Qisheng's state of mind could not avoid being shaken, influenced, and even potentially assimilated.

Rumble!

At a certain moment, the sea of consciousness surged, the white light exploded, as if ten thousand stars had exploded at the same time!

Amidst the endless white light that was enveloping and invading, An Qisheng's primordial spirit trembled, and an indescribable crisis descended upon his heart.

This crisis was sudden, yet it far exceeded this deadly white light that filled the sea of consciousness and almost distorted his mind.

"Hmm?"

Resisting the invasion of the endless white light, An Qisheng's heart trembled, and his primordial spirit trembled. Faintly, he seemed to see that ancient and mottled scroll again.

Thoughts arose in An Qisheng's heart, and he captured the information he wanted from this white light.

It was an endless mountain range, where ten thousand demons gathered. At the peak of the mountains, beneath the clouds and mist, ‘Qi Cun’, or rather ‘Chaoyang’, stood with his hands behind his back.

His aura was powerful, a hundred times stronger than what he had seen before. Under the protection of those mountains and ten thousand demons, he was even more powerful, like a demon emperor.

At a certain moment, a stream of light arrived from the sky and slowly unfolded. Endless divine light flowed down, and ten thousand great demons bowed their heads, and countless living beings knelt down, prostrating in worship.

"Heavenly Saint decree, where is King ‘Hui’?!"

It seemed that heavenly sounds were flowing down, accompanied by endless flowers of divine light falling like rain. Where it reached, plants grew, the soil contained spiritual energy (lingqi), and even beasts were born with intelligence, as if they had been enlightened into demons.

"Heavenly Saint?"

Chaoyang slowly raised his head, glanced at it, and then slowly lowered his head: "Receiving the Saint's decree..."

The picture flashed and disappeared, but even though it was just a fleeting glimpse, An Qisheng had already understood the source of the crisis.

Was that the ‘Tai Long Dharma Scroll’?

Then, the one targeting him was Daoist Tai Long?

Did he actually overcome the Starry Sky Tower Master?

While thoughts arose in An Qisheng's mind, the sea of consciousness suddenly surged, and the empty sea of consciousness was actually split apart like a substance.

A strand of extremely deep Dao light broke through the sky from an infinitely distant place, as if it was about to destroy the sea of consciousness in the next instant.

Roar~~~

Before An Qisheng could take any action, he saw that the deadly white light that was surrounding and filling his sea of consciousness had already boiled and surged, emitting a substantial sound of ten thousand demons.

Then, it actually manifested into thousands of demon shadows, abandoning An Qisheng, rushing towards the Dao light that was about to descend!

"Evil creature!"

A cold snort sounded in the Dao light. At the same time, a mottled and desolate scroll seemed to be about to descend into the sea of consciousness!

"Daoist Tai Long..."

With the white light peeling away, An Qisheng's heart landed on the bright mirror, deeply staring at the ten thousand demons and the Dao light. With a thought, the Dao Yi Diagram in the depths of his primordial spirit burst out with water-like light.

"Imperial Heaven, Earth Immortal Realm!"