Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The human civilization faced total destruction more than a hundred thousand years ago when the Sea of Dark Matter invaded.

There were only two choices lying in front of the humans at the time.

Given that they could in no way surrender, they had to choose between fleeing and fighting to the end.

Many humans opted to escape the galaxy and went to distant and hazardous places.

They might have either found a new paradise or vanished imperceptibly in the vastness of space.

For some reason, the majority of the humans couldn’t leave their home planets. In the end, they had died along with the Sea of Dark Matter under the leadership of that god.

As a god, He had naturally predicted the sad end ahead of time.

And He had also prepared the inheritance for the future human civilization in terms of spiritual and biological aspects.

In addition to the remnants of the distant ancient civilization that were discovered later on and the new humans who sprang up like wild grass in the universe, He had made other preparations.

He had found a special space by the edge of the galaxy before the fatal battle a great many years ago.

That space existed outside the real world with a boundary that couldn’t be breached; and the rules of heaven and earth inside the space were a little peculiar, the flow of time different from other regions.

That god somehow managed to send the humans and many other lifeforms to that world, including some lifeforms that had been infected by the Sea of Dark Matter.

The humans who appeared again in that world took a path that was different from the real universe after a long period of time and because of different rules.

That world could be depicted as the last sanctuary for the distant ancient civilization or the catalyst for the evolution of humans.

According to the judgment of that god, the humans in that world would sooner or later become true and powerful soldiers, which meant they would be able to breach the boundary and return to the real universe.

This process was called “ascending” in that world.

It was known as “returning” in this world.

…

…

Jing Jiu didn’t have enough evidence to back up his claim. All he did was speculate based on the information he had at the moment; nonetheless, it was probably close to the truth.

If it was true, many things in Chaotian had lost their meaning.

For a great many people, this realization could cause strong mental shock; they would feel extremely disappointed, even despair.

It was because what they had believed in would turn out to be false.

The ever-lasting Rosefinch in the fire, the fairy world after the ascension and all the fairy tales…turned out to be legends and fables only.

The existence of the lifeforms and the aim of struggle turned out to have been arranged ahead of time.

Like what Jing Jiu said, they were all specimen.

However, Jing Jiu and General Li were rather calm about it all.

The ascendants were the true fairy men.

They possessed strong willpower beyond the imagination of regular people.

“We can be described as specimens or as tempered puppets,” said General Li.

The monsters of the Snowy Kingdom in Chaotian were the copies of the monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter.

It was the reason why Jing Jiu had always felt it familiar when he met the monsters of the Sea of Dark Matter.

The intention of that god was obvious; He hoped that the new humans would be able to find a solution to the Sea of Dark Matter.

“Maybe, He wanted us to get adjusted before coming out.”

Jing Jiu had no intention of defending that god, but it was indeed a possibility.

“That god is dead. It’s meaningless to figure out what had happened.”

Looking at the few battleships outside the atmosphere, General Li said nonchalantly, “This world calls us the cocoon breakers, which I like very much. It’s because we are the newly evolved humans and much stronger and more advanced than those in this world. As a result, we have the responsibility to lead the whole human race forward.”

The butterflies come out of the cocoons. It was depicted in many forms of literature as transforming and evolving; and it was rather appropriate to describe the ascendants this way.

And yet, Jing Jiu thought this depiction was a bit too naïve.

Perhaps that deceased god had such a conception, but Jing Jiu thought it was a bit preposterous.

“The only responsibility I’m willing to take in is staying alive,” said Jing Jiu.

Though this statement sounded a little selfish, it was actually pretty sensible. General Li, after a long moment of silence, patted Jing Jiu’s shoulder.

Jing Jiu didn’t shrink from his hand.

General Li stared at his eyes while resting his hand on Jing Jiu’s shoulder, his smile fading.

“More power comes with more responsibilities. The newly evolved humans must take responsibility without hesitation and lead the humans forward. We must have the courage to accept the fact that we are the vanguard and beacon for the humans. However, making no mistake, we can fight and die; but it is out of our free will, having nothing to do with that god.”

Jing Jiu understood his principle and felt it sensible.

General Li pulled his hand back, and turned to walk into the Art Gallery without shooting Jing Jiu another glance.

After staying on the same spot for a while, Jing Jiu followed him into the Art Gallery.

The black dirty oil was continuously pouring into the blue swimming pool and then sank into the hole slowly.

General Li stopped short before a painting.

Most of the painting was blue in color, just like the swimming pool, signifying the ocean.

Some dirty oil drifted on the surface of the ocean. A bird was floating and ebbing amid it, covered with the dirty oil throughout its body, looking exceedingly weak and meanwhile extremely menacing. The artist painted it in a detailed manner even though it looked a bit crude. Judging by the messy feathers and the posture of the bird, it couldn’t flap its wings to fly up and was on the verge of sinking into the water. The blue ocean and sky are the scenes preferred by the humans. The black dirty oil represented the Sea of Dark Matter; and the bird represented the life being infected by the dark matter that would turn into a monster at any moment.

“You should learn about this dark thing first,” said General Li.

Jing Jiu understood the principle.

He hadn’t met the Sea of Dark Matter since waking up in this world. He had no choice but to understand his opponent if it was what he intended to do next.

“The infected life is still a life. The key is the black thing that has infected it. That energy only knows how to swallow and infect; it has no emotion, no intelligence and no need,” said General Li while looking at the bird struggling painfully in the painting. “If it must be described as something like an object in this world, the virus is the most fitting one.”

Jing Jiu said, “If they are not the same things in the same world, no effective drug can be found for it.”

“Hence, we can only use the high-temperature energy to cleanse it so far,” said General Li. “To eliminate the threat of the Sea of Dark Matter, the most important thing is to quarantine the black stuff. Like we’re going to do with the dirty oil on this patch of the ocean, we must use the foaming fence to enclose it and to prevent it from polluting more areas of the ocean and infecting more lives.”

“Is this the plan for star chain?” pressed Jing Jiu.

“The plan for star chain started more than two hundred years ago,” said General Li. “It has shown some effect not until last twenty years. It’s because the plan has used up a great deal of resources, which couldn’t be sustained even if the Federation of the Milky Way made use of all of their resources. However, this plan must keep going; as such, we must have the Federation of the Milky Way under our total control.”

To save a civilization, the potential capability of the civilization had to be realized, but first, the civilization must be under the control of its saviors.

This was a simple principle.

Yet, this was the major disagreement between General Li, the representative of the ascendants, and the priest clan, the representative of the inheritance of the distant ancient civilization.

The both camps were arranged by that god, and they had a common goal. However, as to how to attain the goal and who would be the leader, the contention had been going on for a great many years in secret.

It was worth noting that it was basically the same situation for the humans, be it in the Federation of the Milky Way or in Chaotian, and during the distant ancient civilization or in the interplanetary era.

General Li said, “She has always attempted to control the ascendants since the time of our founding grandmasters. It’s because she thinks that she is the sole successor of that god and the ruler of the human society, and that we…are merely the weapons given to her by that god. What do you think we should do then?”

Recollecting the scene by the hot spring, Jing Jiu remained silent.

“You should have already figured out the origin of that female priest. She is nothing but an artificial intelligence left from the distant ancient civilization. What qualification does she have to lead the whole of human race?”

General Li continued, “She must abide by our command, which is non-negotiable.”

“I think you are all too naïve.” Jing Jiu’s evaluation was rather blunt.

In his eyes, the dispute between the ascendants and That One was no different from the argument about the sun between two kids in the Green Sky Mirror.

The harm He Zhan and the free-traveling practitioner Jiang inflicted upon each other was not due to the argument about the sun but the redundant emotion of the intelligent beings.

“Are you willing to be someone’s sword?” asked General Li while looking at Jing Jiu calmly with a profound stare.

“No one can use me,” returned Jing Jiu.

General Li pressed while staring into his eyes, “You don’t trust us.”

Jing Jiu uttered “hmm” coarsely.

General Li said, “Is it because of the two assassination attempts? Or what happened in the Yinhai Nebula? You should know they are the routine tests.”

“But I don’t accept it,” said Jing Jiu.

General Li turned to head toward the cliff’s edge outside the Art Gallery. It seemed that he brought Jing Jiu to the gallery for the sole purpose of looking at the painting. “You didn’t finish your statement on the battleship the other day…Now you’ve met me, what then?” General Li pretended to ask casually.

The wind and snow outside the cliff suddenly grew violent.