Chapter 17 Skyward Sun

The night in Cadhucis came quickly indeed. An hour ago, the sun was still hanging high in the sky, and an hour later, it was already sunset, with the glow of the evening glow just beginning to bloom. The group finally found an inn to stay in before the sun went down completely—it was near the inner city wall, very quiet, not afraid of being disturbed, and relatively clean.

The food provided by the inn was not to everyone's taste, but the group had been filling their stomachs with dry food all the way in the demonic space, so now that they could finally eat some normal food, they didn't care too much. After dinner, Hao Ren had nothing to do, so he came to the terrace on the third floor of the small inn to catch the evening breeze, only to find that Izhaks was already there.

This fierce man, who was sturdy wherever he went, seemed to have something on his mind at this time. He stood at the edge of the terrace, looking at the distant city scenery with his arms crossed, seemingly lost in thought. Hao Ren came to the other side and also looked at the city of Cadhucis under the sunset—the last golden-red ray of sunlight was slanting down on the city, the sky was dim, and those houses and streets full of alien customs were plated with a metal-like luster. Izhaks seemed to be talking to himself when he said, "What a beautiful view."

It was difficult for others to guess what Izhaks was thinking, but Hao Ren, as a very sentimental human being, couldn't help but think of the girl he met this afternoon, that human soldier named Kevin. Looking at the peaceful and serene city of Cadhucis under the sunset, he imagined what it was like ten years ago when Izhaks led his legions to invade here.

"There are very few things in the world that can be clearly defined as right or wrong. In the final analysis, even the concept of 'right and wrong' is subjectively defined by people," Hao Ren sighed. "You have great ambitions, wanting to bring the whole world back on track, wanting to seek a longer-term future for all races in the world, so you are not wrong. But look at the scene in this city—so many people, commoners, peddlers, their happiness is just three meals a day, peace and security. They want to protect their ordinary lives and traditions, and are even willing to resist the Demon King for this. This is also not wrong."

Vivian's voice suddenly came from behind. She didn't know when she had also come to the terrace: "You can lead this world to the future, but most people don't care about this future. In their limited and short lives, they can only see decades or hundreds of years of peace and happiness. They don't care about the sea of stars and the truth of the world. They care about their wives, children, old people, food, clothing, housing, and transportation. If someone violates these small interests, they will fight to the death. Humans on Earth have the same lifespan and will continue to quarrel due to different opinions, but in this world... the lifespan of the long-lived races is several times or even dozens of times that of the short-lived races. What you can see in a moment is the future generations in the eyes of most people in this world. Even if you tell them your ambition, they will not accept this future that has nothing to do with them."

Izhaks turned his head, the afterglow of the setting sun casting mottled shadows on his face. He was smiling: "But you still supported my theory back then."

"Yes, you are right," Hao Ren shrugged. "It's just that they are not wrong either."

"There is no right or wrong in the world. I knew that from the beginning. If the King of Madness didn't even have this awareness, why would I be standing here?" Izhaks raised his head, silently watching the last ray of sunlight disappear on the other side of the mountains, as if calculating the time. Then he turned around and looked towards the red soil plains opposite the mountains: "Look, the most magnificent Skyward Sun in the Cadhucis plane is about to arrive."

Hao Ren followed Izhaks and looked towards the horizon of the red soil plain, inexplicably. On the rolling plains in the distance, a curtain of light seemed to be floating slowly. At first, he thought the moonlight was rising, but soon he realized that the scale of this curtain of light was far greater than the moon!

A beam of light, slightly curved and spanning the entire horizon, suddenly rose from beyond the horizon, slowly rising as if a curtain was being raised in the sky. This light was very soft compared to the sun. It was a dim light, even dimmer than moonlight, but its scale made it breathtaking. As the curtain of light slowly rose, Hao Ren finally saw that this was another celestial body—a celestial body that could cover half the sky!

As it slowly rose into the sky, a dim and soft light shone on the earth. The arc of light revealed the outline of a planet. It had a chaotic appearance, and cloud-like structures formed rings on the surface of this planet, as if a storm spanning the entire planet was brewing beneath those rings.

"What the hell is that?!" Hao Ren exclaimed in shock.

"Amun," Izhaks crossed his arms, bathing in the dim light of this new star. "Also known as the Amun Sky, it is a gas giant. I estimate its size should be comparable to Saturn in the solar system, but the 'climate' is more temperate. The Cadhucis continent beneath our feet floats in the orbit of this gas giant. In fact, the Cadhucis continent is also a remnant left after a planet shattered. It has not yet formed a new planet under the influence of rounding, and is temporarily a slightly curved space continent. The other parts of this planet should have fallen into the atmospheric storms of 'Amun'. Perhaps we can still find a little bit of clues left over from tens of millions of years ago in those cloud belts. Deep within the Cadhucis continent lies a powerful 'gravitational tumor', perhaps a high-density space substance that caused the planet to shatter. It destroyed the original planet Cadhucis, but created enough gravity on the planet's wreckage to preserve the latter's atmosphere."

Hao Ren widened his eyes, shocked by the incredible way this land beneath his feet existed, and even more shocked by how many incomprehensible spectacles this world could present. Izhaks continued to explain the situation of this plane with a blank expression: "The Cadhucis continent orbits 'Amun', maintaining an almost rolling 'rotation'. Whenever the sun sets in the west, 'Amun' will rise from the east. This is the unique spectacle of the Cadhucis continent, the Skyward Sun. Therefore, the night on this continent is never completely dark—just like my Seventh Plane, there will always be a giant planet to light up the night sky."

Hao Ren sketched the peculiar celestial phenomena of this plane in his mind, and finally squeezed out three words: "Why is that?"

"Yes, why?" Izhaks looked up at the magnificent cloud crown of "Amun." "Why did Cadhucis break into this state? Why are there so many fragmented planets and incomplete galaxies? Why are there these spectacles that should never be formed naturally? Why is space cut into vesicles that are isolated from each other, and why are there so many space gates that connect these planes together? Why have these vesicles, isolated for countless years, evolved into interconnected ecosystems? Why can't we see the starry sky, but can find traces of starlight radiation in some ancient minerals? Why is the size of the universe calculated by the Little Old Man so bizarre?"

Izhaks threw out so many whys in a row that Hao Ren almost became dizzy. Finally, he crossed his arms and looked up at the sky: "So I want to know why—I am the most powerful creature in this world, and I don't want to crawl on the ground ignorantly. So I want to march towards the sky, using the power of the whole world to push myself towards the sky. I should know all the truth, and those intelligent creatures who are unwilling to crawl on the ground, they also deserve to pursue these truths."

"So if time were to flow backward, and I had another chance to start over, I would once again raise a large army and sweep across the entire world, because I know that there is no other way to make the world work for me," Izhaks lowered his head, overlooking the entire city. "And if they were given another chance to start over, they would still unite and raise a large army to protect their homes and traditions. No matter how many times it is repeated, we will be like this, heroes will still be heroes, and Demon Kings will still be Demon Kings. The only difference is probably who wins and who loses."

"I have seen many long-lived species," Vivian looked deeply at Izhaks. "You are the purest one. It is true, as you said, there is no right or wrong. Everything is just because you want to do it, you need to do it. It seems that no matter how many times it is repeated, this world cannot accommodate you."

"Of course," Izhaks smiled silently and shrugged. "That's why I am the Demon King."

Hao Ren returned to his room, turned off the lights, and watched the soft light from "Amun" shining into the small inn room through the wooden lattice window. He was deeply fascinated by the infinite secrets of the infinite world, which made him feel that even if he did nothing in this world and just took a tour, he would have gained a huge harvest.

A call came from the spiritual world. Hao Ren opened his portable space and placed a large fish tank on the ground. He carefully scooped Doudou out of the water, and holding the little one, walked towards the window.

Doudou happily looked at the outside world, happily flapping Hao Ren's arm with her tail, and pointed to the "Amun" that covered almost a third of the sky: "Big moon! Big moon! Want to go to the big moon!"

"If there is a chance, Daddy will take you to more interesting worlds," Hao Ren gently patted Doudou's tail. "Signing this contract back then... was just great!"