The universe is vast, with the sun's light and heat alternating with day and night, the moon's gentle glow and phase changes, the predictable rotation of the star-filled sky, and the cyclical progression of seasons.
All birth and decay move with rhythmic pulses within the universe's operation, much like an elder's long, steady breath.
This blue water sphere is no different, cradling the restless life upon it; everything moves in a remarkably orderly fashion.
Suddenly, a peculiar ripple spread outwards. It was a warning from the sun. The blue planet vibrated infinitesimally, and a strange sense of crisis was instantly transmitted to its inhabitants.
In the vastness of space, a red planet, originally far from Earth's plane, was rapidly approaching like a meteor chasing the moon.
Calling it a planet is inaccurate; its shape was irregular, more like a lump of modeling clay ruined by a child, enveloped in a dark red mist, with its ugly core faintly visible within.
This was, in essence, the manifestation of an immature demi-plane. A complete plane had learned to condense its core power, diversify, and generate entities and life. This unstable energy was something this red planet clearly could not yet control.
"You must be Earth. Submit to me, and I will allow you to die painlessly." The Mother Dragon galaxy transmitted its will, and soon, it received a reply.
"Your statement is remarkably similar to the exasperating nature of some of my own citizens. So self-assured."
Earth's planar will soon transmitted its message, helpfully including an explanation of the "self-assuredness" derived from its inhabitants.
The Mother Dragon remained silent for a moment. It had long heard that this plane was a restless one even when it was composed of individual life forms, but it hadn't expected it to have the leisure to bicker with it at a time like this.
After all, although it was a demi-plane, its advantage was having no worries, allowing it to fight freely. Complete planes, however, harbored countless individual lives and even more branches of space and time. They had to maintain their stability and absolutely could not directly engage it in combat.
The Mother Dragon's aura intensified. It knew this was merely one branch, but it only needed to devour them one branch after another. By slowly consuming Earth's plane bit by bit, it would surely become a complete plane.
When Bai Cha, alerted by the intense sense of crisis, rushed out of her room, she witnessed a peculiar sight.
The dark red star system, which had been no larger than a fingernail, rapidly expanded to the size of a fist. The gloomy aura grew heavy, agitating dragons below rank A. Immediately, the earth began to tremble, and a surge of emerald energy erupted, enveloping her.
Indeed, Earth's plane could not directly act, but that didn't mean it couldn't transfer some of its power to its citizens to act on its behalf.
"Quite adept at shirking responsibility," Bai Cha clicked her tongue, warning Lucifer, "I'll be gone for a bit, back soon."
"Master!" Lucifer grabbed Bai Cha's wrist, gazing intently at her face.
This was the first time Bai Cha had seen fear and such profound worry in Lucifer's pupils, which softened her heart.
After all, he was Lucifer's creator. Resisting one's creator required immense courage.
"It's alright, I'll be back soon, really." Bai Cha gently stroked Lucifer's hair, soft like seaweed from the seabed, cool to the touch. Looking into Lucifer's slightly panicked eyes, Bai Cha smiled radiantly, "If you can still stand, help me clear the path."
The vitality Earth's plane had given her was immense, but it was also finite. Now, due to the approaching Mother Dragon system, dark red mist had enveloped the Earth's atmosphere, trapping humanity within and preventing free movement. If possible, Bai Cha wanted to artificially reduce some of the resistance to prevent energy wastage.
Lucifer looked at Bai Cha, his grip on her wrist trembling. Even in the past, he had only managed to escape with the majority of the dragons, breaking through the encirclement. He knew what kind of entity this was.
However, just a few hours ago, he suddenly had something he wanted to do more, something that surpassed his fear of his creator.
"...Of course, my master," Lucifer lowered his voice, knelt on one knee, and placed a near-devout kiss on the back of Bai Cha's hand.
Like a feather skimming across water, it stirred ripples in Bai Cha's heart.
"Good, then let's begin." Bai Cha smiled. The emerald light, carrying the will of the plane, had already told her what to do next.
Bai Cha lightly cut her palm, and her blood flowed out, mirroring the emerald light on her body. Only when a certain ratio was reached did Bai Cha seal the wound on her hand. When life force and destructive power reached a certain balance, it would yield greater strength, and Bai Cha was happy to experiment with this as long as it didn't harm her body.
Green and crimson interchanged, and under everyone's watchful eyes, they shot into the sky in an instant.
"Roar—"
A fierce dragon's roar, like rolling thunder, approached. A black colossal dragon soared into the sky.
The ink-black dragon's skyward howl, with its unstoppable momentum, resembled a black whirlwind accompanied by lightning, charging towards the heavens. It was an energy of extreme darkness, tearing spatial rifts.
The black dragon violently collided with the pale red mist of the sky barrier. The mist-shrouded barrier immediately emitted waves of red light, clashing with Lucifer's ink-black dragon, subtly conveying an intent of suppression and command.
"Hiss—"
"Roar—"
Two clear dragon roars followed. A golden colossal dragon also ascended into the sky. The moment the dense light element appeared, it diluted the surrounding oppressive atmosphere.
And in the deep sea, the form of a colossal dragon coiled on the seabed seemed to become ethereal as the seawater curled upwards, forming a raging vortex.
The golden and blue dragons intertwined with Lucifer's black dragon. Lucifer retreated a few meters, re-gathering his strength. Almost simultaneously, all three dragons slammed into the sky barrier.
"Boom!"
With an explosion, the sky barrier shattered. The moment a gap appeared in the barrier, the intermingling green and red light broke through, streaking into the boundless universe like a shooting star.
Lucifer flapped his enormous demonic wings, his hand, now a dragon's claw, holding the exhausted Cang Liu.
Cang Liu's body temperature was now even lower; even Lucifer's dark dragon claws were covered in a layer of frost. His skin was pale blue, with faint blue veins visible, and his body was covered in blue scales.
Unlike Lucifer, he could not remain airborne for long. If his sea dragon form were to be categorized, it would be considered a Chinese dragon – with a snake's body, deer antlers, and eagle's claws. After all, being a sea dragon, prolonged soaring in the high sky was difficult for him.
Mo Ziye, beside him, was slightly better. He and Michael had long achieved 100% resonance and were now fused as one. However, Mo Ziye was clearly unskilled in wielding this power. Suspended at high altitude, struggling with oxygen deprivation, he desperately flapped his small golden wings, resembling a fluttering moth, his little face turning red.
"Hey, hey, forget it, I'll do it, you rest." Michael couldn't bear to watch any longer. Mo Ziye's actions were making him almost suffocate within Mo Ziye.
With a flash of golden light, Michael separated from Mo Ziye, who immediately stiffened, and began to fall.
After all, after achieving 100% resonance, while fusion amplified their power by 200%, the sensation of being swept by feathers all over his body was something Mo Ziye, a pure and innocent young boy, couldn't handle.
The feeling occurred once during resonance and again during separation. Mo Ziye felt utterly distressed.
"Hey, hey, is it that serious? I didn't actually touch you." Michael, grabbing Mo Ziye, who was almost in freefall, teased, "It's the energy being unruly, not my fault."
"You, you still have the nerve to say that!" Mo Ziye's face flushed red, whether from the lack of oxygen at high altitude or an overload of shame.
Lucifer glanced unhappily at the two. He was clearly still bothered by their previous encounter. However, he also knew that Mo Ziye hadn't intended any harm and that his attitude suggested he knew he was wrong. Besides, it wasn't his place to discipline them. After a moment's thought, he led the way, carrying Cang Liu away.
Meanwhile, Bai Cha was now in space, observing the slowly approaching planet-like object. Of course, "slowly" was relative to a massive planet; for humans, a tiny existence, this speed of approach was already astonishing.
"Hi, Athena, I knew it, it wouldn't be only us chosen by the planes." A voice came from afar. Bai Cha turned her head and saw a man and a woman rapidly approaching her. It was a different national language.
"This is a necessary concern, Father. Stop being so unreliable." The man and woman stopped before Bai Cha. The woman was delicate and beautiful, with exquisite and deep features, holding a scepter, noble and elegant. Upon seeing Bai Cha, Athena extended her slender hand and smiled, saying, "Hello, I'm Athena, and this is my father. I'm the one making the appearance this time; he's just worried and followed."
"Hello, Bai Cha." Bai Cha shook hands with Athena and politely introduced herself. She wondered who else would appear. Fortunately, she had brought translation earbuds, otherwise, it might have been a bit troublesome. No matter how talented she was, she couldn't possibly know all languages.
The three stood with their backs to Earth, each emanating a faint emerald light, making them particularly conspicuous in the pitch-black universe. Soon, a few more people gathered.
"Hello, my name is Brahma. It's a pleasure to meet you all." The speaker had a clear and handsome face, skin with a tan complexion, and wore loose, luxurious clothing.
"Hello, my name is Geb. Please take care of me." Bai Cha didn't know how to describe this person. He was indeed handsome, with coffee-colored skin and sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, giving him a unique charm. However, he had a large goose on his head.
"I am Odhinn. I originally intended for my two sons, Odin and Njord, to come, but it seems they were not fully selected."
"Jupiter, hello everyone."
They introduced themselves one by one. Zeus had already been sent back by his daughter. The six of them stood in the universe, exchanging awkward glances.
After all, they were strangers, and the first meeting was a bit awkward.
"Ahem, let me ask about the situation first. Have you gathered everyone?" After a long pause, Bai Cha cleared her throat, breaking the awkwardness. In any case, the prophecy she received was to gather a few people together; it should be the same for everyone.
Everyone shook their heads; the answer was all no.
"There are a few candidates, but whether they meet the criteria remains to be seen," Athena shook her head slightly. "There are many talented individuals, but they still need careful selection."
The situations of others were similar. There were quite a few promising candidates, as there were always talents emerging. However, whether they could grow and what their potential truly was remained a question.
The group exchanged information, and indeed, each academy had a vortex gate. However, unlike the others, it seemed only Bai Cha could communicate with the plane; the rest seemed to passively receive instructions.
"Can you guys stop chatting? We're going to die!"
A will forced its way into Bai Cha's mind.
"Use my power to contain that damned thing and slow its speed, then go back and get my crystals! Get to business!"
The plane was extremely frustrated. It had summoned these people to help, but the enemy was practically at their doorstep, and they were leisurely chatting!
Honestly… the eunuch is more anxious than the emperor!