Chapter 1 A World in Chaos

As soon as he heard the word "chaos," Su Zhou perked up instantly. His eyes widened, his body leaning slightly forward, and his entire demeanor shifted. Even a casual observer could tell he was intensely interested. "What chaos?"

Seeming to realize his own eagerness, Su Zhou cleared his throat and resumed his normal posture. Even so, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "I mean, isn't the world at peace now?"

"The whole world has been peaceful for so long, and especially in the last thirty years, there hasn't even been a slightly larger disturbance. Plus, the domestic news always talks about controlled nuclear fusion... I thought the era of great harmony was within reach."

"Yes, I can see you're very interested in this... As for what you said, I can't say you're wrong."

Dao Saint Zhang Qingyun was somewhat surprised by Su Zhou's strong reaction. He originally thought that an eighteen-year-old high school student, even if interested in matters of state and the world, wouldn't be so sensitive to the word "chaos."

Regarding Su Zhou's mention of a "world of great harmony," Zhang Qingyun only shook his head ambiguously, then said, "The world of great harmony can't be brought about by just controlled nuclear fusion. At the very least, we also need cheap, easily defended, and safe artificial intelligence. And to be honest, according to Yan Sheng's research, there's been a slight snag... But let's not talk about that for now. As for the point about chaos."

Speaking of this, he glanced at Su Zhou, then smiled thoughtfully and said, "If it were someone else, I would say, 'You'll know in the future; it's not the right time yet.'"

"But Su, since you've already become extraordinary, it means you've actually entered the circle of higher-level extraordinaries... With such talent, you will definitely, and perhaps already do, surpass us older generations."

"In that case, it's beneficial for both you and us if you know some things in advance."

Saying this, Zhang Qingyun calmly asked, "Most importantly, do you want to know?"

"Of course!"

Su Zhou wasn't stupid. Of course, he understood the hidden meaning behind Zhang Qingyun's words: after knowing these things, he, Su Zhou, wouldn't be able to stand idly by and be a happy, carefree high school student anymore... But so what? Is he a happy, carefree high school student now? He is a very happy and carefree high school student! What stand idly by, he was originally planning to take the initiative!

To put it another way—whoever in this world dares to stop him from being a happy, carefree high school student, he, Su Zhou, will beat their head to a pulp!

Therefore, he agreed very readily: "I don't mind at all; I just want to know the truth behind it."

Zhang Qingyun invited Su Zhou to sit down, and the two sat on either side of a small table in the monitoring room. The Dao Saint was like a friendly old man. Signaling his secretary to pour tea, Zhang Qingyun said to Su Zhou, "The source of this matter needs to start from a thousand years ago, when all the world's religions voluntarily disbanded."

"Mm-hmm." Su Zhou nodded. He was very clear about this. The Holy Serpent Prayer Society was created at that time, so it wasn't strange that the source started here.

Zhang Qingyun didn't beat around the bush. He narrated smoothly: "A thousand years ago, when spiritual energy hadn't yet declined, there were a large number of cultivators on the planet we live on, the planet called Earth."

"Whether it was the plains of East Asia, the rainforests of the Americas, the frigid ice oceans, or the arid deserts, cultivators and humans were everywhere. They are the ancestors of all the world's current nations, religions, and even civilizations."

"And the most powerful of those cultivators were called 'Xian Shen' (Immortal Gods) by our ancestors and civilizations."

When speaking of Xian Shen, the Dao Saint slightly cupped his hands in the air, performing a simple salute. His tone was calm, without any fanatical worship: "Those cultivators who were called Xian Shen are the founders and pioneers of all the world's major extraordinary schools and cultivation methods. They created our writing and civilizations, and they are also the ancestors of our bloodlines."

"Even though modern cultivation methods have been optimized countless times, the framework was also established by them. Therefore, even if I don't believe in them, as a modern person, I must pay my respects for the sake of the path-creating sages."

"A thousand years ago, during the Jue Di Tian Tong (severing the connection between Heaven and Earth), the Xian Shen had already all disappeared, and all major sects and divine faiths all chose to self-destruct... And during the most terrifying period when spiritual energy was cut off, it was even difficult for cultivators to awaken their spiritual roots. All cultivation classics became waste paper... That period was called the End of Dharma Era. Many small inheritances were cut off, and even the great inheritances almost disappeared."

As Zhang Qingyun spoke to this point, the secretary happened to bring the tea. He picked up the teacup, turned his head, and smiled at Su Zhou: "But in fact, from the classics that have been passed down to us, we can discover that the Jue Di Tian Tong had actually shown signs as early as two or three thousand years ago. And more than a thousand years ago, it was already at its end. All the cultivators were looking for ways to avoid the End of Dharma Era, but in the end, they still failed."

"But the most powerful Xian Shen hadn't given up yet—in the period of time before the spiritual energy was about to completely dissipate, the Xian Shen of all civilizations around the world all collectively disappeared. And before they left, they claimed that they were going to try to break the shackles and go to the 'Tai Xu Xian Jie' (Grand Void Immortal Realm). According to the descriptions in the ancient books, the Xian Shen should have flown out of the atmosphere and left Earth."

Su Zhou had been quietly listening to Zhang Qingyun talk about these things that seemed quite unrelated to "chaos," but when he heard this, he was somewhat moved: "Left Earth? Went to space?"

He thought of the dark cracks above Earth that crisscrossed the sky, and he already had a vague guess in his heart.

"Yes." The Dao Saint smiled and confirmed Su Zhou's statement. He raised his hand and pointed to the ceiling: "However, we fellows who came a thousand years later can't figure out where the Xian Shen actually went. After all, after that was the End of Dharma Era, and many classics were lost. The Xian Shen might have gone to the moon, but maybe they went somewhere else? Their power was enough to move mountains and overturn seas, so it's not strange that they could survive in the universe."

"But speaking of which, it's also interesting. Before the spiritual energy revived and modern technology developed to the point of space technology, we had all speculated that there might be spiritual energy in outer space. That it was only Earth that had cut off spiritual energy, and that the Xian Shen of the past had gone to other planets to immigrate... But later it was proven that this guess was wrong."

"Just a few decades ago, the American Federation installed a simple spiritual energy tester in the Voyager spacecraft that was launched towards the outside of the solar system—the results showed that there was no high concentration of spiritual energy in outer space as we had imagined. The Voyager didn't send back enough spiritual energy signals—until six months ago, we all felt that, at least within the solar system, spiritual energy was as scarce as it was on Earth."

Taking a sip of tea, the Dao Saint sighed deeply in Su Zhou's thoughtful gaze, which seemed to have already guessed something: "But not long ago, during the period before and after the revival of spiritual energy, the Voyager, which had already flown to the edge of the solar system, sent back extremely obvious high spiritual energy signals. Not only that, but other Earth-orbiting satellites, moon-orbiting satellites, and even spacecraft exploring Saturn and Jupiter, almost simultaneously detected abnormal, vast, and abundant spiritual energy tides that were simply too violent."

"What does this mean, Su? This means many things."

"First: the appearance and severing of spiritual energy is by no means just an Earthly event, but a cosmic event with a lower limit based on the solar system."

"Secondly: the Xian Shen's departure in the past shouldn't have been to outer space. They disappeared, but they went to other places that we don't quite understand yet..."

"For example, other worlds."