250: Chapter 250 The Lost Soul

Shen Zhao sailed through the star sea of the New Universe for a full seven days.

Outside the porthole of the spacetime flying boat, stars swept past one by one; some were bright, some were dim, some were close at hand, and some were far away at the horizon.

He slowed the speed of the flying boat down very much, so slow that every star could linger in the porthole for a long time, like a static painting.

Those rescued Souls were scattered everywhere in the New Universe; some attached to Spiritual Veins, some integrated into stars, and some wandered in the Void Realm.

They did not yet have the ability to condense a Physical Body, and could only exist in the form of light spots, dancing gently in the darkness like weak lamps.

Shen Zhao's first stop was a small star named "Guixu".

This star was located at the edge of the New Universe, with sparse Spiritual Veins and no common people living there, only a desolate land and gravel all over the ground.

The Disciples of the Investigation Department told him that tens of thousands of Souls gathered here; some had been sleeping for a long time, and some were still waiting.

The flying boat landed on the surface of the star, and Shen Zhao walked out of the cabin door.

Gray-white dust rose under his feet, and the air was filled with a decaying aura, like a place that had been forgotten for too long.

He looked around and saw those light spots.

They floated in the Void Realm; some were high, some were low, some were dense, and some were sparse.

Some were bright, like the brightest stars in the night sky.

Some were dim, like a candle flame about to go out in the wind.

Shen Zhao walked to the nearest light spot and reached out to touch it gently.

The light spot pulsed slightly, and a chilling power surged out from it, flowing into his body along his fingertips.

It was like touching water in a lake frozen for a thousand years, bone-chillingly cold.

He "heard" the voice of that Soul; it was very light and very weak, as if coming from a very, very distant place.

"Who are you? Are you here to save us?"

Shen Zhao's tears swirled in his eyes, but he did not let them fall.

"Disciple Shen Zhao, the Chosen One of the sixth cycle. Disciple has come to save you. You are safe."

That voice fell silent for a long time, so long that Shen Zhao thought it would not speak again.

"The sixth cycle... Is it already the sixth cycle? How long... have we stayed here?"

Shen Zhao's hand paused slightly.

"Five cycles. From being imprisoned in the first cycle to the sixth cycle. You have stayed here for hundreds of millions of years."

That voice fell silent once more.

Then, it laughed, a smile incomparably desolate.

"Hundreds of millions of years... We have waited for hundreds of millions of years... We have finally waited for this day..."

The light spot suddenly lit up, turning from a dim gray-white into a bright gold, like a lit lamp.

The other light spots also began to light up, one after another, patch after patch, like awakened stars.

The entire Guixu star was illuminated by the golden light.

Shen Zhao stood in the light, and his tears finally fell.

"Rest in peace. The New Universe is vast, enough for you to make a home. If you are willing, Disciple will find a place with abundant Spiritual Veins for you, allowing you to condense a Physical Body and live again."

Those light spots pulsed gently, as if nodding.

Shen Zhao stayed on the Guixu star for three days.

He walked through every inch of the star's land, met every Soul, and remembered their voices and their stories.

Some of them came from the first cycle, being the clansmen of "Pan", tall in stature and proficient in using giant axes.

Some of them came from the second cycle, being the clansmen of "Yi", slender in figure and proficient in using long bows.

Some of them came from the third cycle, being descendants of the Creation God Clan, with white hair and proficient in Life Power.

Some of them came from the fourth cycle, being the clansmen of Xuanyuan, with resolute faces and superb swordsmanship.

And some came from the fifth cycle, being contemporaries of Bai Yunzhou, wearing the cyan robes of the old Guardian Academy, with old-style long swords hanging at their waists.

Every Soul was a piece of history. Every story was a dirge.

They had been trapped in the tree of civilization for hundreds of millions of years, harvested by The Designers, forgotten, and abandoned.

They did not give up; they had always been waiting, waiting for someone to come and save them.

Now, that person had come.

When Shen Zhao left the Guixu star, those light spots followed behind him, like a golden river slowly flowing in the Void Realm.

He led them to fly towards the center of the New Universe, where the Spiritual Veins were most abundant and most suitable for nurturing Souls.

Along the way, he encountered more Souls.

Some attached to the wreckage of broken star skiffs, some hid in the cracks of asteroids, and some drifted aimlessly in the Void Realm.

Seeing Shen Zhao, they all flew over and surrounded him, like lost children finding their mother.

Shen Zhao did not drive them away; he merely slowed down the flying boat so that they could all keep up.

The golden river became wider and wider, longer and longer, from the initial tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, to millions.

When Shen Zhao arrived at the center of the New Universe, more than twenty million Souls were already following behind him.

Twenty million light spots, twenty million voices, twenty million stories of joys and sorrows, partings and reunions.

They rotated slowly in the Void Realm, like a huge nebula, illuminating the entire star sea.

Shen Zhao suspended in the Void Realm, looking at those light spots, and an indescribable emotion surged in his heart.

He remembered the words of the Shadow of Beginning before it dissipated— "Latercomer, the star sea is handed over to you."

He remembered his uncle's words before death— "Zhaoer, Uncle is waiting for you at the Monument of Heroes."

He remembered the Origin of his parents pulsing gently in the secret room, and Director Su Yun staying awake all night in the tower of the Investigation Department.

He remembered the Disciples of the Guardian Academy sweating profusely in the Martial Arts Arena, and the tears of the common people queuing up for evacuation in front of the teleportation array.

He remembered countless people, countless faces, countless pairs of eyes.

They were all looking at him, waiting for him, and believing in him.

He could not let them down.

Shen Zhao took a deep breath, raised his hand, and seven-colored light surged from his palm, condensing into a huge seven-colored light sword in the Void Realm.

The light sword slashed toward the Void Realm, splitting open a huge crack.

Inside the crack, golden light surged; that was the breath of the core Spiritual Veins of the New Universe, pure and warm, like the spring sunshine.

"Go, there are the purest Spiritual Veins of the New Universe there. Nurturing yourselves there, you will soon be able to condense a Physical Body and live again."

Twenty million light spots lit up simultaneously, like twenty million stars, rushing into the crack.

The golden light intertwined with them, illuminating the entire Void Realm.

Shen Zhao stood in front of the crack, watching those light spots disappear into the light, and an unprecedented peace surged in his heart.

He had done it. He had truly done it.

He had saved twenty million Souls, giving them a new home and a new hope.

But he knew this was only the beginning.

There were more Souls scattered all over the New Universe, and more Souls waiting for him to save.

He could not stop.

He turned around, returned to the flying boat, and flew toward the next star.

In the following days, Shen Zhao walked through every corner of the New Universe.

He had been to large stars with abundant Spiritual Veins, and small meteorites with sparse Spiritual Veins.

He had been to inhabited domains, and uninhabited forbidden zones.

Everywhere he went, he would search for those lost Souls, listen to their stories, and take them to Spiritual Veins for nurturing.

Behind his flying boat, a golden river always followed.

Those light spots became more and more numerous, denser and denser, from the initial tens of thousands to millions, to hundreds of millions.

They flowed behind him, like a Milky Way spanning across the star sea, illuminating the entire New Universe.

On this day, Shen Zhao was searching for Souls on a nameless small star when the communication talisman suddenly lit up.

Director Su Yun's voice came over, carrying a trace of urgency.

"Shen Zhao, the Investigation Department has discovered a new crack at the edge of the star sea of the Old Universe. The aura on the other side of the crack... is very unfamiliar; it is not The Designers, nor any existence we have ever seen."

Shen Zhao's hand paused slightly.

"Disciple will go take a look."

Director Su Yun fell silent for a moment.

"Be careful. Take the communication talisman, and communicate immediately if anything happens."

Shen Zhao nodded, put away the communication talisman, and turned back to the flying boat.

The flying boat rose into the air and flew toward the direction of the Old Universe.

He stood in front of the porthole for a long time, watching the golden river behind him gradually recede.

Those light spots were still following him, somewhat reluctant to part.

"You should go back. Disciple has important matters to attend to, and will come back after finishing them."

The light spots pulsed a few times, then slowly turned around and flew towards the center of the New Universe.

Shen Zhao looked at their receding backs, and a warmth surged in his heart.

He turned around and walked towards the console.

On the crystal core, those spacetime runes were slowly flowing.

He raised his hand and touched it gently.

"spacetime flying boat, target: Old Universe, edge of the star sea."

The crystal core lit up, and the flying boat accelerated.

The stars outside the porthole began to distort and elongate, turning into countless streams of light that flashed past from both sides.

I don't know how much time had passed, the flying boat arrived at the edge of the Old Universe.

Looking from afar, that crack spanned across the Void Realm, ten thousand zhang long and a thousand zhang wide.

In the crack, gray-white light was flashing, exactly the same as the light in the space of the Spirit of the Gate.

But Shen Zhao could perceive that deep within the gray-white light, there was another color.

It was black.

Not a dark black, but a more profound color, like the nothingness before the birth of the Universe.

Shen Zhao walked out of the cabin door, suspended in the Void Realm, with seven-colored light flowing on his body surface, resisting that oppressive feeling as he slowly approached the crack.

He walked to the edge of the crack, lowered his head and looked at the bottomless fissure.

The gray-white light churned in the crack, pouring down like a waterfall.

Shen Zhao raised his hand, and seven-colored power surged from his palm, reaching into the crack.

The moment his power touched the depths of the crack, a voice sounded in his mind.

That voice was very light, very distant, as if coming from the end of the Universe.

"Latercomer, you have finally come."

Shen Zhao's hand paused slightly.

That was the voice of Beginning, no, not Beginning, but another existence.

Older than Beginning, older than the Spirit of Creation, older than the Spirit of the Universe Origin.

"Who are you?"

That voice fell silent for a moment.

"This seat... Spirit of Nothingness. The first consciousness before the birth of the Universe. The source of all things, and also the end of all things."

Shen Zhao's heart sank abruptly.

The Spirit of Nothingness, the first consciousness before the birth of the Universe, an existence older than Beginning.

"You have always been waiting for Disciple?"

"Yes. This seat has waited for seven cycles, waiting for someone who can break the cycle. The Chosen Ones of the first six cycles all failed. They were too strong, so strong that they were unwilling to accept the power of This seat. You are different; you are willing to accept anyone's help. Therefore, This seat has chosen you."

Shen Zhao's hands were trembling slightly.

The Spirit of Nothingness had chosen him?

"Senior, what should Disciple do?"

That voice fell silent for a long time.

"Enter the crack and accept the test of This seat. Passing the test, you will be able to obtain the Power of Nothingness and become a true Guardian of the Universe. By then, you can create a New Universe or end the Old Universe. Everything is up to you."

Shen Zhao took a deep breath, stepped into the crack.

The gray-white light swallowed him up, and his figure disappeared into the darkness.