Chapter 292: Thousand Star Chronicles

""I increasingly understand that I crave some research into the essence.""

""Recently, I have had some different thoughts.""

Walking along the stone‑slab path, the courtyard walls turned into alloy bulkheads, the moss became data flowing across the screen; without realizing it, she had gone from her hometown to a space station, and beside her arose different sounds—the arguments of Black Tower and Screw Gum intertwined in her ears like two colliding streams of stardust, bursting into blinding sparks.

""At first, I felt fear at its appearance—it was born from a marvel, offering no resistance, nor mourning. It most closely resembled the feeling that welled up in me spontaneously during childhood.""

Ruan Mei lightly immersed herself in a curtain of flowing, iridescent water; as her robes fell gracefully, the ground where her toes touched began to enact the dance of life—constantly rising and falling, climbing upward, at the highest point shattering into stardust‑like particles, then in the next moment reborn anew through a fresh arrangement, like countless experimental variables in myriad universes weaving a new poem between eternal collapse and reconstruction.

""It asked me, where is the end of research? The world's dazzling profusion of purple and red always bewilders, but it has nothing to do with me.""

""I probe the mysteries of the universe, I trace answers deeper than human nature, I have nothing left to lose, nor anything I need to obtain. If one were to nurture, recombine, and recreate life…""

""…one could dissect memory, regulate balance, deconstruct purity, and recreate immortality…""

Countless translucent blue data points gathered like stardust, intertwining and swirling above Ruan Mei's pale palm. Those dancing light particles collided and entwined, gradually weaving a spiral band of light—the sequence of life, each segment flashing with a unique hue.

""I will comprehend life, touch upon concepts. Perhaps I too can…""

""Become【▅▅】.""

——

Absolute Zone Zero.

""She, she wants to become… a star god?!""

Ruan Mei's words were like a thunderclap, startling Qianyu Youzhen so much that he almost dropped the red bean bun in his hand, but fortunately Cangjiao caught it with his mouth.

So, her goal has been different from Black Tower's and Screw Gum's from the start—Black Tower and Screw Gum merely want to study the star god, whereas Ruan Mei wants to become one.

Qianyu Youzhen stared at the DNA sequence floating in Ruan Mei's hand, never imagining that this gentle, elegant woman who loved pastries could harbor such a crazy idea.

""Not necessarily, Youzhen." Yuecheng Liu gently pushed up his glasses, "As a scholar and scientist… you ask what Black Tower and the others aim for by studying the star god? Black Tower has already become an envoy of Wisdom, and I don't think she lacks further ideas.""

""Talents of their caliber are rare even across the universe… I can still understand having such a thought.""

""Stop! Hold it!" Qianyu Youzhen quickly made an X across his chest, "Liu, you don't really think they can pull it off, do you? That's a star god! You've witnessed the whole process of the universal locust plague, haven't you? That power can turn the products on factory assembly lines into insects!""

But before its ascension, Tayitz Yuros was merely an ordinary coleopteran insect.

Yuecheng Liu smiled faintly, "So, Youzhen, the point is to figure out exactly what happened in there—that's also why these geniuses have been busy until now. And since learning from the heavenly canopy that a concept of the star god exists in the farther reaches of the universe, I've been wondering… could the void also be related to the star god?"

""Liu, you mean our world's void disasters might possibly be caused by the star core?""

""…This is just my simple guess." Liu said, holding his tea cup, "If one day Ruan Mei can unlock the star god's secret, her achievement will surely bless the entire universe, and it might even help us in resolving the void disaster.""

——

Teyvat.

Inside a certain palace in Snezhnaya, gazing at the spiral band of light in Ruan Mei's hand within the heavenly canopy, Dotulei's fingertips dug hard into the edge of the table, his joints whitening from excessive force, his breathing beneath the mask heavy and hurried.

""Indeed… indeed…" His voice sounded as if squeezed from between his teeth, filled with uncontainable excitement and trembling, "A mortal body can indeed touch the realm of the star god; my idea is correct, ha…hahaha!""

Aleichinuo leaned against the doorframe, her scarlet eyes darting between the heavenly canopy and her comrades. She fiddled with a badge of the Fools in her hand, the metal emitting a cold, crisp sound as it flipped between her fingers.

""Cut it out." She suddenly spoke, her voice sharper than Snezhnaya's snow, "What use is your speculation? Even someone who can't leave Teyvat has no right to discuss star‑god research. Don't you realize that, given your level, in front of Black Tower's true geniuses you're nothing but a jumping clown?""

Duotulei withdrew his gaze from the heavenly canopy, and after taking a deep breath his tone gradually grew calm: "Since Maple Crimson returned, Aleiqinuo… your words have turned sharp."

""It has nothing to do with Maple Crimson, but with the heavenly canopy." Aleiqinuo snorted, "Since the heavenly canopy appeared, I've realized that beyond Teyvat there are scholars whose achievements far surpass yours. They need not despise ordinary lives yet earn the recognition of Wisdom. In contrast, someone expelled from the Doctrine Institute, who has privately killed countless people and done all that, still can't attract even a glance from the star god… truly pitiful.""

""Yet it's precisely such people—clearly too weak to even obtain a specimen from the universe's experiments—who dare to boast about researching the star god; you tell me, isn't that ridiculous… Duotulei?""

Although Aleiqinuo showed no outward change, she felt Duotulei's aura shift abruptly.

... Killing intent.

""Angry?" Aleiqinuo's black fingers swept across the wall, leaving a trail of sharp marks, "You haven't shown me your 'Qiepian' since you returned from Sumeru—I hope they're still doing well, huh?"

""You don't need to worry about that, Aleiqinuo.""

The killing intent instantly dissipated; Duotulei let out a muffled grunt, seemingly filled with strong displeasure, and turned, disappearing down the palace corridor.

——

Ruan Mei's fingertip lightly touched the holographic screen, and a cold blue light rippled across her pad.

In the image, the star swung a bat in the simulated universe, metal striking the insects' carapace and scattering a spray of data sparks. Yet when facing more numerous and stronger swarms, the star also inevitably showed signs of fatigue.

""Don't worry, my dear assistant; I will give you…… a reward.""