Chapter 369: The Secret of the True Immortal, the Golden Crow Manifests Within the Star

"You wish to approach that star — for what purpose?"

Baichuan glanced at that half-ruined yet strangely non-exploding star and asked, puzzled.

"I won't hide it from you either—"

Lingxin did not conceal it either. She paused, seemingly organizing her words. Perhaps because it concerned the truth she had deduced earlier, her current attitude toward Baichuan — like ten thousand curious babies — no longer carried the previous disdain.

Having realized that the other party had no common sense whatsoever, she answered patiently out of some psychological impulse.

"That star is precisely the great sun I hurled out from within my world in the final moment of my fall, back when I was a True Immortal—"

"What?!"

Baichuan was utterly shocked upon hearing this.

He looked at that star with some disbelief. Though already in a half-ruined state, it was still countless times larger than his planet-sized body — conservatively at least thirty times larger when whole. How could such an enormous star be contained within a Zhenyu no more than ten times his own size?

"How did your world contain such a massive star?"

"This is the special nature of Subspace. All matter in the starry sky where we dwell and the matter of this Subspace are in a positive-negative relationship with each other. Once these two different kinds of matter collide, they will produce extremely violent energy, annihilating everything they touch. This is likewise the source of a True Immortal's power—"

"A True Immortal is one who has reached the extreme of a world. A powerful spiritual perception can, through the obstruction of space, draw in the mysterious substance within Subspace, causing an intense reaction with oneself. This reaction will birth terrifying power. If one can maintain oneself within this annihilating force without being destroyed, and turn it to one's use, one becomes a True Immortal!"

At this point, a trace of faint, almost imperceptible apology entered Lingxin's words. When she had initially chosen this dragon whelp who appeared to be a descendant of a Star Beast, the reason she had no worry about it being unable to deal with that traitor was precisely that she planned to use the power of Subspace to amplify that dragon whelp.

Once she approached her old body, she could rely on the arrangement she had made before her fall — the Zhenyu being situated at a thin point of the Subspace — to briefly Burst open the barrier of the Subspace, drawing in that mysterious substance to "ignite" this dragon whelp, causing its magnificent planet-sized body to transform into endless destructive energy and overwhelm that traitor with sheer force!

As for afterward, she had no intention of taking its life. With her protective treasure, she could completely restrain this destructive energy once the battle's outcome was decided. At that point, this dragon whelp would only need to pay the price of weakness for a period of time, and having personally experienced that power, the subsequent breakthrough would bring nothing but benefit with no harm.

Unfortunately, the upheaval came too suddenly. She had not expected that the "Ancestor" of the Lingneng Clan would actually descend, causing the entire situation to slip beyond her predictions. If this dragon whelp hadn't had some fortune of its own, they would have been done for.

"I see…" Baichuan's gaze flashed. Lingxin's words reminded him of the overwhelmingly destructive energy he had Burst forth earlier. Once purified, this energy was precisely the terrifying power Guyue had used to effortlessly shatter all his defenses. Its nature and origin made him, who had personally experienced it, think of something mentioned in his previous life — 【Anti-matter】.

【Anti-matter】 is a substance in the reverse state of normal matter, possessing characteristics opposite to 【Positive Matter】. Once the two substances meet, they annihilate each other, producing a violent explosion and immense energy!

Isn't this precisely the same nature as the True Immortal's power Lingxin described?

However, whether it truly was or wasn't, Baichuan wasn't certain. In his previous life, he had only heard of such a substance. Nevertheless, understanding it this way allowed him to more clearly comprehend what True Immortal power truly was.

Possessing the ability to freely control this specially purified energy, it was no wonder a True Immortal's position in the starry sky was so powerful and unique. He seemed to understand why a single casual strike from a True Immortal could shatter a planet — the answer lay in this special energy!

Even if it was merely a trace! Once it contacted the matter on a planet, this terrifying energy would ignite the planet's matter, continuously triggering chain reactions, spreading ceaselessly like locusts or viruses by drawing on the planet's own power. In the brief span of an instant, it could birth enough energy to shatter an entire planet!

At the same time, a True Immortal possessing such special energy also possessed a remarkable body! Baichuan associated this with Guyue's True Immortal form — the Grey Moon Body, comparable to his own continent-sized body!

The matter and defense brought by such an exaggerated body, combined with exaggeratedly high-speed mobility, this terrifying energy, and the Characteristic power he had encountered before — thinking about it now, the true driving energy of Characteristic power should be this True Immortal power. Only True Immortal power can truly unleash the might of Characteristic. The combination of these factors forged the True Immortal's uniqueness and strength in the starry sky!

Thinking of this, Baichuan realized he had already grasped the essence of a True Immortal. Even without the Ability Panel's help to achieve it in one step, he could rely on his own power to pass through these water waves and draw in matter from the other side of space, gradually familiarizing himself with this special 【Anti-energy】 until he truly mastered it!

Perhaps this was the normal breakthrough path — one that didn't involve failing to encounter the little lizard being captured in this Star System, and thereby coming into contact with the Lingneng Clan, Lingxin, and the others…

In the nearly lifeless, cold, dead starry sky, if he searched for thousands or even tens of thousands of years without encountering other life, what awaited him would be reaching the extreme of his own strength within the Earthly Immortal Realm, then by chance encountering a thin point of the Subspace, drawing in that opposite substance, and attempting to master this energy.

However, now that he had the LV6 Ability Model, he no longer needed such an elaborate process.

The True Immortal realm — he was determined to break through!

The only question was whether, when he truly broke through to True Immortal, he could match wits with Zishu?

Having made up his mind, Baichuan decided to send Lingxin away first. When it came to the Ability Panel, he absolutely could not allow a former True Immortal to watch from the side, even if she was currently still his cooperative partner.

With this thought, after asking everything he needed, he began slowly approaching that half-ruined star. The power of the Ancient Bell was ever ready to Burst forth — should matters go awry, he would retreat swiftly. Fortunately, the Membrane Lingxin had bestowed showed no problems.

It took only a not-short span of Time before he had nearly reached the surface of that star.

Everywhere he looked was a blazing red — so red that Baichuan could barely distinguish whether its depths were truly red or carried a gilded hue. Waves of warm heat surged toward him continuously. Without that "Light Membrane" to shield him, Baichuan knew that at this moment he absolutely could not withstand even an instant before his entire body would spontaneously combust.

The terrifying waves would at times erupt outward, transforming into clusters of exaggerated fire-tongues stretching for untold kilometers!

This was the might of a star! Even these erupting fire-tongues alone possessed the destructive power to burn a planet into a sheet of glazed glass. A more violent fire-tongue could even pierce straight through a planet. This was not an energy an Earth Immortal could resist — after all, beings at the Earth Immortal level and below merely utilized the power of stars.

Only the terrifying existences of the True Immortal realm could, with the aid of True Immortal power that carried the property of being untouched by all laws, ignore the scorching flames — and even then, they could only achieve self-preservation before a star, ignoring its vast thermal energy.

But to destroy a star that ceaselessly released energy and was countless times larger than a planet — even for a True Immortal wielding True Immortal power, this remained a difficult feat.

Nevertheless, such an exaggerated star had unexpectedly been born merely from the matter of a single great sun within Lingxin's world being hurled into this Subspace. Should he comment on the enormous difference between the two spaces?

If even the matter of a world's great sun could undergo such exaggerated changes under the amplification of this Subspace, what terrifying changes would occur if an entire planet — or even a star — from another starry sky were hurled into this Subspace?

As his mind wandered through these random thoughts, Baichuan halted his advance.

"We're here…"

The moment the words fell, Baichuan saw Lingxin's consciousness emerge once again from within that Biyu Seed. That crystalline, pale-green, somewhat ethereal graceful figure — her slender feet lightly touching the void, her cascading dark hair scattering glittering Light Points as she turned her head to look back. Those hazy, gentle beautiful eyes gazed at Baichuan for a moment before she softly said: "Sir, thank you for your help all along the way."

"Please wait a moment. The disturbance that follows requires no excessive concern…"

As she spoke, that ethereal figure vanished without a trace.

"Caw—!"

At the same moment, Baichuan's pupils suddenly contracted, and he retreated rapidly. He had discovered that the entire star had violently erupted the instant Lingxin disappeared! A piercing bird cry that seemed to split metal and stone, shaking the starry sky, suddenly rang out!

Endless fire-tongues continuously erupted — the star was in violent upheaval, as if this already half-ruined star were about to explode! It also seemed as though some living creature was treating the entire star as a massive eggshell, about to break free from within and be reborn!

"What is that?!"

Amid this violent upheaval, Baichuan seemed to see the star becoming transparent, and an ethereal bird-shadow slowly emerging from within the star!

It was neither black nor gold, neither eagle nor crow, possessing three legs, extraordinarily majestic! Slowly unfolding from its curled posture, it seemed about to spread its wings and soar!

A fierce, violent aura continuously erupted, yet carried a strange sacred quality — it seemed to be a living creature of the star spreading its wings and crying out!

"Golden Crow?!!"

Baichuan stared in stunned disbelief, his brilliant eyes wide, each word heavy with shock.

Because the form of the figure before him strongly resembled a certain being from the myths of his previous life — the Golden Crow!

This was a special being wrapped in endless legend. In his previous life, that civilization had countless records of it — a mythological being whose legends rivaled those of the dragon.

Classic of Mountains and Seas, Great Wilderness East Scripture: "Above the Tang Valley stands the Fusang tree. One sun reaches it, another sun departs — all are carried by crows."

Spring and Autumn Yuan Ming Bao: "Yang is perfected in three, thus within the sun dwells the three-legged crow. The crow is the essence of Yang."

Record of the Mysterious Center: "East of Penglai, on Mount Daiyu, stands the Fusang tree, ten thousand zhang tall… When the Yang-bird cries, all the chickens of the world cry."

……

At this moment Baichuan was completely dumbfounded. The earlier appearance of the Lingneng Clan's "Ancestor" Zishu had already left him somewhat puzzled, and now the appearance of a creature within this star that looked exactly like a mythological being he knew well from his previous life — the Golden Crow — inevitably drew his thoughts in that direction.

Moreover, and most importantly, the appearance of this Golden Crow within the star was greatly connected to Lingxin, and Lingxin in turn seemed extremely familiar with Zishu.

Could it be that Lingxin's true form was a Golden Crow?

No, that wasn't right either — Lingxin was merely a tree… the Fusang Tree??!

Thoughts churning ceaselessly in his mind, Baichuan suddenly thought of a certain possibility: was Lingxin's true body not the "Jian Mu" he had assumed, but the Fusang Tree?! Or perhaps something greatly connected to it?

Since stepping into the Xingkong and encountering one familiar thing after another, Baichuan was truly and completely bewildered. The few supreme beings he had encountered all seemed to be existences widely known in his previous life — could it be that his previous life's homeland, that very planet, also existed in some corner of this Xingkong?

Too many, too many unanswered questions arose, until Baichuan didn't even know where to begin thinking.

Time slowly slipped away as Baichuan continued to ponder.

As a violent storm erupted, the star that had been quietly radiating energy vanished completely. In the final instant, Baichuan seemed to see a tree radiating endless brilliance! A Golden Crow within it spread its wings and soared into the heavens.

Immediately, a slender, lovely figure appeared before him.

She wore a garment of intermingled green and gold in an exotic style, a gilded heart-shaped mark adorned her forehead, and strange patterns were painted on her delicate face with special pigments. Slender, jade-like tender branches kept winding around the limbs of this slender, lovely figure, taking the form of exquisite filigreed ornaments.

Her slender, flawless jade feet stepped lightly, walking step by step through the void, carrying an aura of ancient vastness, as if she were a spirit born between heaven and earth in that ancient era — a spirit that had gathered the finest essence of the world and the glory of mountains and rivers.

All of this seemed to confirm his guess once more.

"Sir," she came lightly to stand before Baichuan, "I must leave…"

Baichuan stood stunned, not knowing what to say. He had far too many questions he wished to ask the beautiful figure before him, yet he didn't know how to begin.

Because, given his current status, it was simply impossible for him to know these things.

He didn't know whether this information was something the beings of this Xingkong were permitted to know. If it wasn't, and was instead something strictly secret, then the moment he opened his mouth he would give himself away, and what would happen then no one could say.

In the end, it was because his current strength was insufficient. If he had the power of Zishu — or even far beyond it — then what would he still not dare to ask?

Those who refused to comply could simply be suppressed by force.

What a pity…

"Sigh~~"

A thousand words, ten thousand doubts, could ultimately only transform into a single deep sigh.

……

(End of chapter)