Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 860
After hearing that, Professor Mo Xuan and Si Koulie both put on a weird expression and fell into silence.
Li Yao raised his eyebrow and asks suspiciously, "What's the problem? Even that isn't an option?"
"It is." Professor Mo Xuan coughed and said, "Li Yao, there's a top secret that we were planning to officially publicize on the Meeting of the Nascent Soul Stage in a few days, but now that you've mentioned it in advance, we can tell you the secret first.
"But for the record, we are only informing you of such a mission right now. The nature of the mission is very special, and we are definitely not imploring you to do anything. After you hear the introduction, it will be up to you whether or not you should accept the mission! Although you, Li Yao, are the best candidate in our mind, it doesn't mean that you are irreplaceable. Do you understand?"
Now that Professor Mo Xuan was speaking in such a serious way, Li Yao's curiosity was aroused.
Looking at Ding Lingdang for a moment, he smiled. "Isn't it just a mission to explore a new Sector? That's my thing. Do you have to be so serious, professor?"
"Wait until you hear the introduction."
Professor Mo Xuan and Si Koulie communicated in a low voice for a moment. Then, Si Koulie retrieved a bizarre-shaped mini crystal processor from his Cosmos Ring and triggered a colorful, complicated star map.
It was a repaired and abridged version of the star map of the Pangu civilization inside the escape center.
Countless shining stars immediately enveloped the four of them, building a mysterious vibe.
Professor Mo Xuan seemed to be hiding behind a fuzzy nebula. His voice was moving up and down unpredictably as he said, "Li Yao, you should know that, although the universe seems to be cold and empty, radiation, cosmic storms, and space-time ripples can take place anywhere and anytime. As long as we monitor the vacuum with suitable magical equipment, we will be able to hear chaotic, messy sounds, which are collectively called 'universe noises'!
"However, the so-called 'universe noises' might not necessarily be meaningless noises. It is very possible that extremely precious information is contained inside some of the 'noises', except that we can never understand the information!
"On Kunlun, the escape capsule of the Pangu Clan had been sending out distress signals that were highly penetrative to the outside world all the time, but the signals were considered by the Immortal Cultivators as 'universe noises'. Tang Qianhe, the spy of the Covenant Alliance lurking among the Immortal Cultivators, was the only one who was able to understand it.
"When we were developing Kunlun profoundly, we got in touch with some magical equipment with which the Pangu Clan transmitted information in the universe. We partly figured out the Pangu Clan's methods to send out information to the universe and are now able to distinguish their information from the 'universe noises'!"
Li Yao nodded slowly. Up to now, he still had not realized what Professor Mo Xuan was getting at yet.
"Long story short. Five months ago, the Universal Surveillance Center that we deployed in the Star Prier's House suddenly picked up some 'universe noise' from the depths of the sea of stars. After analysis and restoration, we found certain patterns from it that are quite similar to the Pangu Clan's methods of universal communication!"
Professor Mo Xuan made a gesture. Li Yao and Ding Lingdang immediately heard the sound as if drops of water were hitting a rock.
"Tick… Tick… Tick, tick, tick… Tick… Tick… Tick, tick, tick… Tick… Tick… Tick, tick, tick…"
In front of their eyes, soundwaves rather patterned, if not graceful, slowly blossomed like a flower of ghosts in the depths of the universe.
"The technique through which the information was sent is extremely sophisticated and utterly incomprehensible for us. We only know that it may have something to do with 'gravitational wave communication'. They basically teleported a ripple through the four-dimensional space to our world instantly, ignoring the distance in three-dimensional space."
Professor Mo Xuan's voice sounded like a cold wind blown over from somewhere deep in the universe. "Soon after the Flying Star Sector received the message, the Heaven's Origin Sector received exactly the same message. Tick… Tick… Tick, tick, tick!
"It is almost like that a mysterious existence in the depths of the universe… greeted the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector in a way similar to the Pangu civilization's technology!"
Chapter 1318: Invisible World |
A certain mysterious existence greeted the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector at the same time in the Pangu civilization's way from the depths of the universe?
The horror in the statement made a chill run down the spines of Li Yao and Ding Lingdang after considering carefully for a moment. They could not help but breathe heavily.
"Professor, are you saying that the Pangu Clan still exists and has discovered us?" Li Yao asked drily.
"Not necessarily the Pangu Clan." Professor Mo Xuan shook his head and said, "According to our current research, the Nuwa Clan, which is relatively friendly to human beings, belongs to the Pangu civilization, too. Their training systems and techniques were quite similar to the Pangu Clan's.
"Therefore, it is also possible that it was the Nuwa Clan who said hello.
"On the other hand, the 'hello' might not have been directly sent by the Pangu Clan or the Nuwa Clan at all. It is possible that a certain kind of communication magical equipment left in the relics after they perished was recently activated by accident from the dormancy and sent out a message through the preset network.
"In fact, we are more in favor of the last possibility right now."
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, "Why?"
"Because the Blood Demon Sector did not receive the 'hello'," Professor Mo Xuan explained. "By logic, since the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector are so close to each other that they have already begun melting, there is no reason why the Blood Demon Sector would not receive the greeting when the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector did!
"Such a weird phenomenon baffled us. Eventually, we thought of a possibility. The integration of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector only began hundreds of years ago. Before that, the two worlds were extremely far away from each other.
"Since the Blood Demon Sector never received the message, it suggests that the guy who sent the message was using a piece of communication magical equipment left a long time ago when the Blood Demon Sector was still not on the 'contact list' yet!"
Li Yao and Ding Lingdang were both slightly relieved by the explanation.
But not entirely.
Since the guy was able to send a message to the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector, it was quite possible that he could measure the precise coordinates of the two Sectors and even find them!
"Can we trace the source of the signal?" Li Yao asked gravely.
He was not really looking forward to a positive answer. After all, the universe was too vast a place. Who could say for sure from which unvisited corner the 'sound' was sent out?
But out of his expectation, Professor Mo Xuan nodded and replied, "As a matter of fact, we basically can.
"You may feel that it is a big strange, right? By logic, their ability to send out a signal with the four-dimensional ripples as the vehicle suggests that their technology is much more advanced than ours. It is impossible for us to find them at all if they intend to hide themselves!
"However, they showed no intention of hiding themselves at all. The 'hello' contained tremendous information about their own coordinates. It's almost like the purpose of the greeting is to connect us to each other!
"Let's make an example. The greeting is like sending a message to a public channel—Hey, I am A, and I am at Place B. Are you there, C? Message me back ASAP if you are. That's basically what the greeting is for."
"So," Ding Lingdang said, "the sender of the message is not hostile?"
"We don't know that yet," Li Yao said coldly. "It may still be a trap, with the 'hello' as a bait. If anybody sends a message back, they will be prey that have been fooled because their most precise coordinates will be locked onto by the enemy."
"Li Yao is quite right," Professor Mo Xuan said. "After figuring out the information contained in the greeting, we have studied and discussed the findings, too. The possibility that it is a trap cannot be ruled out!
"As it happens, the star map of the Pangu civilization was basically recovered at the same time. So, we looked for the source of the signal implied in the greeting on the star map. In the end, we located the sender of the message!"
Professor Mo Xuan pointed at the top left corner of the star map of the Pangu civilization and said, "Right over there!"
The universe was too vast. The star map of the Pangu civilization naturally could not depict the whole picture of the universe. It was focused on the part of the universe around 'Kunlun'.
On the top right corner of the star map was a cluster of bright blue stars that were connected by countless glittering sailing routes.
The sailing routes that extended from the star in the middle were large in number, suggesting that it might have been an important stronghold of the Pangu civilization.
"Li Yao, Ding Lingdang, as you can see, the star here is in its prime years. The stellar system is very system, and the shining nebulas nearby also fit the features of abundant spiritual energy.
"Tremendous sailing routes are pointing at the place. Almost one third of the escape capsules of the Pangu Clan set this place as their destination, too!
"We assume that there should be a Sector in this area, one with copious spiritual energy and resources and one where Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are everywhere to be found. That is why the Pangu Clan developed it into a strategic stronghold and even a center of the local area!"
Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao activated his computational ability to the maximum. He replied immediately, "If it is truly a strategic stronghold with copious spiritual energy and resources and has relics of the Pangu civilization, there is no reason for it to be unheard of in our history. Its name must've been sung throughout the three thousand Sectors!
"This mysterious Sector is not far away from the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector. It will be quite easy for us to reveal the Sector's real face if we search the ancient classics on astronomy and observe it through the Star Prier's House, right?"
"That is precisely where the problem lies," Si Koulie interjected. "We can't find it."
Li Yao's eyes widened. "What do you mean by 'we can't find it'?"
"We mean that, after scanning all the ancient classics on astronomy in the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector, we haven't found any information of value to help us find this particular Sector.
"What is even weirder is that, when we observed the place where the Sector should be through the most advanced magical equipment in the Star Prier's House, we still failed to discover any trace that proved the existence of such a world.
"From the scraps of the star maps of the Star Ocean Imperium that we have collected, we have found all the space zones near the Sector except for the Sector itself!
"There are only two pieces of evidence confirming that the Sector is not illusionary.
"Firstly, the star map of the Pangu civilization from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
"Secondly, the 'hello' that was just delivered to our ears a moment ago!
"It must be noted that the greeting was made with the four-dimensional ripples as a vehicle and was therefore not restrained by the speed of light. We may consider the signal as a real-time one, which means that they did not send out the greeting until around half a year ago and that we received the greeting in almost the next second.
"Other than the two pieces of evidence, the Sector does not exist at all!"
Li Yao's mouth opened larger and larger as Si Koulie's description proceeded. He found it hard to believe. "Is it possible? Then, what did the most advanced astronomical magical equipment in the Star Prier's House, which also observes the universe through the four-dimensional space, see in the place where the mysterious world should be?"
"Nothing at all. Not even a random star," Si Koulie said. "Compared to the star map of the Pangu civilization, at least dozens of stars have vanished. It's like there is an enormous 'black spot' that swallows the space in the area in its entirety."
Li Yao thought for a moment and concluded, "So, a mysterious Sector, which was an important place for the Pangu civilization in the primeval era hundreds of thousands of years ago, just vanished into thin air in the age of the ancient Cultivators and remains nonexistent to this day.
"But right now, from the 'missing world', someone has greeted us in the Pangu civilization's way, almost like… the ghosts of the Pangu Clan are still haunting the universe."
Hearing 'haunting ghosts', Ding Lingdang jabbed him in the back and said in a low voice, "Stop being so creepy!"
Li Yao chuckled and scratched his head. "I was just kidding, but consider such a possibility. Since it was an important stronghold of the Pangu civilization, it must've been a gory battlefield in the God-Sealing War. So, is it possible that the world was blown up in the war between the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan? That way, the world would naturally disappear!"
Hardly had he proposed the hypothesis when he realized that something was not right. If the mysterious world had indeed been destroyed in the God-Sealing War, how could a highly-directional message have been sent from the place recently?
Was it really the doing of the restless ghosts of the Pangu Clan?
Li Yao was almost scared by his own thought.
"It's impossible for a whole Sector to have been demolished." Professor Mo Xuan shook his head slowly. "For such gigantic celestial bodies like stars, it is extremely difficult to destroy them without leaving any trace behind. Even if the stars do decline of natural course, they will turn into red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. They will still be observed one way or another.
"If the star was destroyed because all its energy was exploited instantly in an unbelievable cosmic war, it must've unleashed almost infinite radiation and storms, which would have been a hundred times more violent than a supernova outbreak. So, it is impossible for the star to have left no traces in the space around.
"Moreover, it is not one star that we are talking about right now but almost a hundred of them. Even the Pangu civilization at their peak period couldn't have been able to wipe them out without a sound!
"Regarding the whole issue, I have another speculation. The Sector and the space zones around it are not destroyed but 'blocked' by cosmic dust!
"As Fellow Cultivator Si mentioned just now, the space in the area seems to be swallowed by the black spot. It is quite a vivid metaphor. The so-called 'black spot' is actually a ribbon of cosmic dust that is massive and boasts special characteristics. As a result, the rays of light and the radiation cannot break through the ribbon. Protected by the 'nebula of black spot', it is quite possible that the Sector inside is living just fine after hundreds of thousands of years!"
Chapter 1319: Problems of the Sub-light Speed |
In the boundless universe, as well as the celestial bodies such as stars, planets, and comets, space was actually not an absolute vacuum but filled with floating cosmic dust in most places.
Their elements were fundamentally the same as the elements that constituted planets, which were all the powder of rocks and metals. Restrained by appropriate gravity and force fields, they often condensed into celestial bodies that looked like clouds. They were also known as 'nebulas'.
Kunlun, the relic of the Pangu civilization, was hidden inside a crab nebula. Right now, there was another nebula that seemed to be a black spot.
It was also possible that the Pangu civilization had grasped a certain secret technique that allowed them to manipulate the nebulas.
Li Yao knew that, according to the different metal constituents of the nebulas and the changing force fields that restrained them, the nebulas could display all kinds of amazing features, such as sending out and blocking specific radiation or absorbing and releasing spiritual energy.
"This is about everything that we know right now," Professor Mo Xuan said. "Although we have discovered the sender's location, it is covered in a large 'black spot nebula'. It is impossible for us to observe them directly from the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, or the Blood Demon Sector with our current technology!
"However, from the perspective of the grand universe, the sender of the signal is not very far away from us, and it is hard to tell whether it's a blessing or a curse now that such a mysterious, unknown world has suddenly jumped out right next to us and even greeted us promptly.
"We cannot allow a stranger to sleep right next to our bed soundly, much less someone we know absolutely nothing about!
"There's something that's even more critical. Come here and take a look. This is an estimated trajectory based on the star map of the Pangu civilization and the diagram of apocalypses in the Star Prier's House. Have you noticed anything wrong?"
Professor Mo Xuan pointed at the top of the picture and said, "The mysterious world is not far away from the route of the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings. In a hundred years, when the expedition army of the Imperium brushes past them, it is possible that they will discover this Sector, like the Immortal Cultivators including Su Changfa who discovered Kunlun five years ago."
