Chapter 176: Complete Realm 175

This is basically the memory of this other‑world Taishang Laojun's entire life, a very long life, roughly sixty million years.

It sounds long, but compared with the Taishang Laojun of the primordial novels back home, this span seems extremely brief.

After all, the Taishang Laojun there lives for hundreds of millions, even tens of billions, sometimes as long as the heavens and earth.

Here, this Taishang Laojun has only existed for a few tens of millions of years since birth, not even a hundred million.

One must admit, that lifespan is indeed a bit short.

Yet even such a brief lifespan is already a very long time for Wang Wu.

Even though his brain is now highly advanced, skimming through these memories still took him a considerable amount of time.

The Heavenly Court is the first civilization in this star system, and its dominant species is the "Human race".

The humans on Tianyuan Star and those on neighboring planets are genetically almost identical.

Many planets in this system host life thanks to the Heavenly Court's "seeding", and the Tianyuan civilization is one of them.

However, the Heavenly Court has never ventured into other star systems, such as the one where the Taoist killed by Master Qin Xiang resides.

Wang Wu skimmed the memories transmitted by the Taishang Laojun and only found recollections of communication between the Heavenly Court and a few neighboring star systems.

As for the Heavenly Court's seeding beyond the system, Wang Wu found no trace of it in the Taishang Laojun's memories.

Nevertheless, the appearance of intelligent beings from other star systems is still identical to the humans of this system's Heavenly Court civilization.

At least among the few civilizations that have contact with the Heavenly Court, Wang Wu saw some bizarre intelligent races, but their main bodies remained humanoid.

That is odd, since the Heavenly Court itself is a civilization whose history is less than a hundred million years.

The Taishang Laojun was not a figure from the early days of this civilization, nor was he the first Taishang Laojun.

In the Heavenly Court, the Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable is a position; the Douluo Palace he commands functions somewhat like a blend of Wang Wu's hometown's health department and science‑technology department.

As the highest leader of the Douluo Palace, the Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable mainly handles administrative affairs, yet he is also one of the top scientists of the Heavenly Court civilization.

From its birth to its demise, the Heavenly Court civilization had only two Douluo Palace masters, two Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerables, and the one who transmitted all his memories to Wang Wu is the second Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable of the Heavenly Court.

As for the predecessor, he died long before the Heavenly Court civilization was founded.

This Taishang Laojun was already the Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable of the Heavenly Court before the civilization established the organization called "Heavenly Court".

At that time, the civilization now called the Heavenly Court was simply named "Human race".

Only after they left their own star system and began the quest to explore the galaxy did the Heavenly Court arise, several million years later.

From its founding to its destruction, the Heavenly Court existed for a total of 45 million years.

The Thirty‑six Heavens, the Three Purities and Four Sovereigns constitute the highest rulers of the Heavenly Court.

Jade Pure Primordial Celestial Venerable, Upper Pure Spiritual Treasure Celestial Venerable, and Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable are the three great Celestial Venerables of the Heavenly Court.

Central Purple Star North‑Pole Great Emperor, South‑Pole Longevity Great Emperor, Gou Chen Upper Palace Heavenly Emperor Great Emperor, and Later Earth Imperial Earth Deity are the four terrestrial Sovereigns of the Heavenly Court.

These four celestial bodies govern the Heavenly Court's four major star regions, while the three Celestial Venerables command the entire civilization.

Wang Wu feels nothing toward these Celestial Venerables and Great Emperors, nor any interest in learning about them.

Wang Wu is unaware of the whereabouts of the other two Celestial Venerables, because the Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable was the first Heavenly Court deity to fall.

He voluntarily disintegrated, his soul and spirit scattering, leaving only a wisp of divine thought in the world, waiting for a destined person who later explores the heart of the Heavenly Court to pass on his civilization's memories.

As for the four Great Emperors below, Wang Wu glanced at them and saw that all four seemed to have encountered problems long ago.

Before the Taishang Laojun fell, two of them had already become demonic, while the other two vanished without a trace.

If there hadn't been total hopelessness, the Taishang Laojun certainly wouldn't have chosen to voluntarily disintegrate, clearing his soul and scattering his spirit, since that is absolute death with no chance of resurrection.

At that time, the Heavenly Court was on the brink of extinction, and the Taishang Laojun's voluntary fall was the final struggle decided after the three Celestial Venerables deliberated.

The other two Celestial Venerables chose to struggle until the very end. Their ultimate fate, however, is beyond what the prematurely retired Moral Venerable can know.

Nevertheless, the Heavenly Court's destiny could not be reversed, and the Heavenly Court's human race ultimately perished.

Of course, some survivors still scatter throughout this galaxy.

After all, the celestial generals that once stood on that planet still exist, and some higher‑rank Heavenly Court powers should also be barely surviving.

Not to mention the two missing Four Sovereign Emperors, Later Earth and Purple Star Great Emperor; they might still be alive.

However, even though the Taishang Laojun chose suicide before being corrupted, when Wang Wu accessed his memories he still sensed a faint familiar aura from the lingering divine thought.

Moreover, his memory images sometimes exhibit fluctuations and distortions.

Those images show no logic, only madness and chaos.

"Master."

After staring blankly in place for several hours, Wang Wu finally skimmed through the memories the Supreme Pure Moral Celestial Venerable left for him.

After finishing, he looked at the nearby Qin Xiang and asked:

"Master, this Taishang Laojun's divine thought is probably already…"

"Exactly," Qin Xiang nodded, "it has already been tainted by a demonic calamity."

"But isn't he already dead…"

"I don't know exactly how this civilization works," Qin Xiang shrugged, "their strength is undeniable; even in their heyday, their great powers would leave our Cloud Light City's lord, today's top master Wu He, powerless before them."

"Yet such a powerful civilization, such mighty transcendents, cannot even subdue a heart demon. That's just too…"

Qin Xiang tried to formulate a response but merely shook his head, "Never mind, never mind."

"After all, this really isn't an easy matter."

"The path of a civilization's continuation is destined to be this difficult," he said, stepping before Wang Wu and gazing at the skull in Wang Wu's hand.

"In the universe, the vast majority of civilizations never even live long enough to develop extraterrestrial technology."

"They waste countless years on their homeworld, only to perish in internal strife or resource depletion."

"Even those who manage to build off‑world cities within their star system soon face new challenges, for difficulties arise quickly thereafter."

"From Earth to alien worlds, from a single star system to the galaxy, each stage is a hurdle, and countless civilizations fail at each step."

"And this Heavenly Court fell on the road to other star clusters."

When it came to this point, Qin Xiang was also quite moved: "It's as if our civilization also fell on the same transcendental path."

"In the past, we were also failures…"

Qin Xiang's words in this kind of incident were actually quite impressive, not really matching his academic background.

Beside them, Yin Shenli, when Qin Xiang spoke emotionally, glanced sideways at her own disciple, noticing his innocent expression, and said nothing.

There is a saying "playing a lute to a cow," a famous anecdote from Wang Wu's hometown.

The saying applies here as well, because even a cow demon, even one educated at a higher level, is most likely unable to grasp the meaning in the music played for it.

A very typical case of playing a lute to a cow; this is exactly that.

Qin Xiang didn't notice his disciple's innocent expression; after a brief melancholy, he looked back at his disciple and said seriously:

"Disciple, you should be close to completing the Diamond Body, right?"

"It should be soon, Master."

Wang Wu nodded.

After staying here for several months, Wang Wu had already passed through the Sun's corona, chromosphere, and photosphere.

Last month, Wang Wu also successfully penetrated—or rather pierced—the Sun's convection zone.

Its main components are hydrogen and helium atoms, occupying roughly 30% to 70% of the Sun's radius.

The Sun's heat is transferred from the interior to the exterior through the convection zone.

There's not much to say about this region; aside from the immense pressure, everything else is fairly fine.

Wang Wu was not troubled by the Sun's convection zone for long and soon traversed it.

Beyond the convection zone lies the Sun's radiative zone.

Temperatures of millions of degrees and extremely high atmospheric pressure.

This is the Sun's radiative zone; it is vast, occupying almost 70% of the Sun's volume.

It is very close to the Sun's core, and it is also where countless photons accumulate.

Photons born in the Sun's core enter the radiative zone, where they linger for millions to tens of millions of years before they can possibly escape outward.

A photon trying to leave the Sun spends almost all its time in the initial region, wasting tens of millions of years within the first 400,000 kilometers.

Those 400,000 kilometers constitute the Sun's radiative zone.

Because the radiative zone is extremely dense, a photon can travel only about ten meters per day there.

Only after leaving this place does a photon's speed return to normal.

The over‑hundred‑million‑kilometer stretch beyond the radiative zone is, for Huang, less than ten minutes.

Moreover, the radiative zone is the greatest trial on Wang Wu's body‑cultivation path.

Photons must waste millions of years here before they might escape, and with bad luck it can take tens of millions of years.

But for Wang Wu, the time his master set to cross this solar region is one month.

In one month, to traverse this incredibly dense 400,000 kilometers.

If Wang Wu can achieve it, he will unlock an extra reward.

Though Wang Wu doesn't know what the "extra reward" is, he immediately threw himself into it.

And today, the day Master Qin Xiang came to find him, is also the day Wang Wu prepared to break through the radiative zone.

"Master, I'm ready to cross the radiative zone."

Wang Wu said to Qin Xiang.

"Hmm." Qin Xiang nodded: "Go ahead, disciple. I believe in you."

"Alright."

So Wang Wu fell silent, returned his head to Master Qin Xiang, and then surged straight downward.

During the sprint, his skin began to burn and flake off, then regenerated at incredible speed, only to flake off again.

Below the radiative zone lies the Sun's core region, also called the nuclear reaction zone.

Fifteen million degrees Celsius and three hundred billion atmospheres of pressure make this a massive furnace, the source of the star's continual energy outburst.

It is precisely this extreme temperature and terrifying pressure that allow hydrogen nuclei in the Sun to overcome Coulomb repulsion and meet the conditions for nuclear fusion.

Through hydrogen fusion, every second the Sun produces over 620 billion tons of helium, supplying it with endless energy.

Within this scorching, heavy core, Wang Wu stood quietly in the searing ocean.

His body bore the crushing pressure and searing heat, on the brink of collapse each second, yet at those moments a tremendously powerful force erupted from deep within him.

This force propelled him, accelerated his recovery, and held his last breath.

Wang Wu's brain had become a mush at this moment, his consciousness already hazy.

He could no longer see any flesh on his body; even his skeleton had begun to melt.

Yet he remained steadfast, seated in the star's plasma renewal, like an old monk in meditation.

"Xiao Wu, you're fine; don't be so eager to go down."

Outside, Qin Xiang unprecedentedly intervened to block Yin Shenli, and seeing her dangerously fierce gaze and the terrifying aura emanating from her, forced a calm smile onto his face:

"Headmistress Xiao Li, although I know you care for the disciple, I also care for Xiao Wu."

"Going down is certainly fine, but if it makes him develop a dependency, it may hinder his cultivation later."

"Heh…" Yin Shenli snorted coldly and returned to her original spot.

"Would I not know what you know? I just intend to go down and observe his condition."

"Hehe, Headmistress Xiao Li, you are wise." Qin Xiang flattered Yin Shenli.

All planets have cores, even gas giants and stars are no exception.

Even gas giants usually have solid cores, but a star's core is different.

It is in an ionic state.

And that means Wang Wu can keep descending, all the way to the deepest part of this planet's core.

One day, two days, a week, two weeks.

One month, two months.

In the deepest part of the Sun, a perfect human body sat quietly cross‑legged here.

He does not know how long he has been here—perhaps ten thousand years, perhaps since the star was born.

He seems also to remain forever in this posture.

"All right, are you awake?"

At that moment, an arrogant female voice shattered the silence deep within the Sun's core, and the seated man snapped his eyes open.

In an instant, his pupils seemed to contain the whole universe.

"All right, stop spacing out!" Yin Shenli looked at her bare disciple, slapped the back of his head, then lifted him and left the Sun.

A few minutes later, in a certain room

Yin Shenli sat by the window, her expression arrogant as she stared at Wang Wu, pointing at her long boots.

"You, take off my shoes for me."

(End of chapter)