The sun is becoming brighter, closer, and bigger.
The two continue to ascend.
Piercing through a layer of invisible light blue aura.
Then...
Then everything before their eyes suddenly turned black.
Zhang Rongfang felt his entire body seemed to pass through an immensely thick membrane.
As if they had entered another environment, another space.
The blinding sun that was just on the right vanished in an instant.
What followed was the endless piercing cold wind.
His eyes widened, completely losing the expectations he had before.
From the knowledge of his previous life, shouldn’t they arrive directly in outer space after passing through the clouds and the atmosphere??!
Why....!?
Why did they....
He raised his head, gazing at the deep pitch black above.
Suspended in mid-air, unable to speak for a long time.
The Moon God was beside him at this moment.
Also looking up at the sky.
Gazing at the wriggling, pitch-black sky.
"People are all yearning for stability, yearning for peace, yearning for a world of unity without conflict.
Unfortunately.... no one truly thinks about what the root of all this struggle is?"
Zhang Rongfang stared into the endless dark sky.
In the sky, what was wriggling was a boundless sea of countless black lines without borders.
He recognized it, the highest level of spiritual line similar to the core of gods and Buddhas – the black spiritual line!
He slowly lowered his head, looking downward.
Below was an enormously bright sphere.
Inside the sphere, the reflection of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers, the alternation of sun and moon was faintly visible.
A sky-blue halo tightly wrapped the outside of the sphere.
That was the divine aura of Spirit Flying Heaven.
"Were we always wrapped in this way?" He asked softly, his voice dry.
"Perhaps so." The Moon God replied softly.
The two stared at the wriggling black sky, neither in the mood to speak.
They floated in the layer between the black sky and the huge sphere below.
Watching the sunrise, sunset, the internal cycle of heaven and earth, gradually turning to night.
That bright sun exploded into countless blue points the moment it set, condensing into a new crescent moon, slowly rising from the other side.
The sphere rotated. Whether sun or moon, they were merely virtual images on the inside surface.
They had no physical form, just looked real.
"What is outside this black sky?" Zhang Rongfang suddenly spoke.
"Outside the sky..." The Moon God showed a hint of nostalgia. "Is light."
"Light?" Zhang Rongfang frowned, "Golden light?" He immediately thought of the sun.
"No.... Moonlight white." The Moon God’s eyes showed gentleness, "Moonlight white light."
He closed his eyes, seemingly reminiscing.
"Long long ago."
"The sky was once broken and a gap appeared."
"The light shone through the gap, illuminating many people...."
"Was the light from the moon?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"I don’t know." The Moon God shook his head, "But I looked out through the gap. I saw real white clouds, crescent moon, starry sky."
"Those who were illuminated by the light all became the immortals. All underwent mutations. That was the first generation of Celestial Lighters." He explained.
"What about gods and Buddhas? Spirit Flying Heaven? What do beings like you represent?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"We.... represent the hope that was never severed." The Moon God answered.
"Hope? You want to break through this sky!?" Zhang Rongfang asked solemnly.
"Yes... break through it." The Moon God nodded, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
"If you could live steadily, why must you desperately break through this sky? Isn’t it good to enjoy life?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Enjoy life?" The Moon God laughed. "Yes... many of our companions chose this. So they sank into the abyss of forgetfulness."
"But why?!!" He suddenly raised his voice. "We just want to go home!!"
"Home!?" Zhang Rongfang was stunned.
"Our ancestors fell here from outside the sky. We were supposed to live outside of it!"
The Moon God’s voice became sharper.
"Why should we numb ourselves like ants, in this small illusionary sphere, for our entire life!?"
"...." Zhang Rongfang understood the truth of everything upon hearing this.
If the Moon God wasn’t playing any tricks, creating a breathtaking deception.
Then....
Everything was actually very clear.
"Which side is really true?" Zhang Rongfang suddenly asked.
"Taoyuan." The Moon God answered without hesitation. "You are just... poor creatures living in the vast Void of Spirit Flying Heaven...."
"Just fixed period fields and crops for resource harvesting."
Zhang Rongfang fell silent.
He suddenly thought of Chen Junchen, thought of Emperor Kun.
Even though they had great prospects and an unparalleled future.
They still had to risk their lives to enter Taoyuan, searching for everything, exploring everything.
Perhaps.... all of this was simply because they understood.... that the world they lived in was just an illusion.
"My father once said," the Moon God spoke again. "He was once a sailor on a very large ship."
"Later... a great storm arose at sea. A giant crack appeared on the ocean surface.
So, he and many others were swept into it."
"What’s out there? Beyond this dome?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Reality," the Moon God replied. "We are like ants trapped here. We’ve lost ourselves, lost our freedom..."
"The Spirit Flying Heaven was invented by those who fell in before, trying to come up with a way to escape from here.
They built temples and created this cycle system of harvesting and accumulating power, trying to wait for the right time to once again impact the dome."
The Moon God’s eyes gleamed with some inexplicable light as he spoke.
Hiss!!
In an instant, the surroundings of the two fell silent and darkened.
All scenes quickly faded, darkened, and vanished.
The two returned to the previous hall, with the blue-gold seal in front of them.
Everything returned to calm.
The blue-gold surface of the seal began to flow like liquid, moving toward the Moon God as he touched it.
The Moon God’s body, starting from his arm, gradually turned blue.
"With the three Great Spirit Seals, plus the twelve Small Spirit Seals, if fully absorbed, I will be the new Spirit Flying Heaven!" the Moon God calmly said.
"Is this reality?" Zhang Rongfang suddenly spoke from behind.
"Yes, this is the truth." The Moon God nodded, "Every so often, the dome descends, continuously pressing on the world we live in.
According to our calculations, in about a hundred years, our world might only be a third of what it is now."
"What about my teacher?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
"If we don’t struggle and resist, in the future, all of us... will die." The Moon God said solemnly.
"Where is my teacher?" Zhang Rongfang asked again.
"Don’t you understand? The dome will completely contract. If we don’t struggle, you! I! We’ll all die!!" The Moon God’s voice rose.
"I’m only in my twenties, what does this have to do with me?" Zhang Rongfang replied, "Where is my teacher?"
His expression was calm.
"Now you have two choices, one, let him out. Two, I’ll kill you."
"!!??" The Moon God couldn’t comprehend.
He had already explained everything clearly, revealing the entire truth.
They were to break through the dark dome, break free from all illusions, recover the reality that belonged to everyone.
But this guy...!!?
"I’ll count to three, if you don’t choose, I’ll assume you refused by default." Zhang Rongfang’s bat wings slowly unfurled behind him.
A dense mist of blood and water spread from his feet, turning the surroundings red.
"You’re crazy!! This is the core temple of Spirit Flying Heaven. If it’s destroyed, the entire world will suffer!" The Moon God said anxiously.
He had recognized Zhang Rongfang’s astonishing talent.
In any era, only the strongest at the top are qualified to know all this truth.
Among them, some choose to remain in illusion and enjoy everything.
Some choose to give everything for their ideals, exploring everything.
Others choose to silently bide their time, accumulating more power, waiting for the opportune moment.
He did not agree with Spirit Flying Heaven’s methods, but he also wanted to use the accumulated power of the Spirit Flying Church to break the dome and usher in the celestial light!
Now, he saw Zhang Rongfang’s terrifying talent, hoping to recruit him into his alliance.
But...
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Zhang Rongfang’s body rapidly changed, expanding, growing larger and taller.
At the same time, the Moon God’s body lit up with a moon-white halo, layers of fan-like arms unfolding suddenly from behind.
"Do you understand or not..!?" At this moment, her face constantly switched between Yue Dewen’s and another soft, pure, perfect face.
"Return my teacher to me, and I’ll understand," Zhang Rongfang answered coldly.
"He is me! He’s a part of me!" The Moon God shouted.
He couldn’t comprehend this person’s reasoning.
"Then exchange that part back." Zhang Rongfang’s blood lotus began to unfold and bloom behind him.
Buzz!!!
At this moment, a blinding blue light burst forth from the ground and rose inside the entire hall, instantly transforming into a blue halo that swept over the Moon God and Zhang Rongfang’s bodies.
Their visions simultaneously blurred, and they vanished from their original spots.
Whoosh!!
Zhang Rongfang’s vision rapidly recovered.
He was plunging downward through the air at high speed.
All around was a bright, scorching golden desert.
The Moon God had long since disappeared.
He looked down, and below was the ruins of the temple where he and the Moon God had previously ascended to view the dome.
Thump!
His wings suddenly flapped behind him, stirring a powerful airflow that slowed him down.
After several rapid flaps, his descent speed quickly decreased, suspending him two or three hundred meters above the ground.
At this moment, he looked up again, gazing at the blue sky.
’Looks like I’ve been teleported and expelled,’ he guessed internally.
The truth revealed by the Moon God still left his heart unsettled.
’Perhaps... I should verify it myself.’
This thought flashed through his mind.
Immediately, he turned, flapped his bat wings, and flew straight into the sky.
He wanted to take a closer look at what exactly this dome was!?