Chapter 405 Moving Stars (First Update, 6000)

The star located at the center of the Qingqiu star system is an orange dwarf, emitting a calm and constant glow.

Compared to the yellow dwarf star familiar to Earthlings, the sun, the star called 'Qingqiu' is smaller and more stable, and naturally, its light is dimmer.

Therefore, in the distance where the star's light struggles to reach, it's merely a bright dot, able to pinpoint a location in the universe, but unable to provide the heat suitable for life to exist on planets.

In the high-angle observation lens of the Yuanwang, Qingqiu Five is entirely desolate, with only some frost and city ruins around the spacetime gate.

When the immortals and gods were still around, a huge inter-realm trading city was located on Qingqiu Five, constantly importing local specialties into Earth, which served as the central divine court. Earth, in turn, would transport creations from the 'Upper Realm' to Qingqiu through this place.

Although it is now completely abandoned, the area of the ruins suggests that more than millions of people may have lived here, and there was a complete ecological cycle system with a radius of over eight hundred kilometers—this can be imagined from the large number of artificial lakes and rivers around the city, how prosperous the city around the spacetime gate used to be, and how advanced the technology of the immortals and gods was, being able to create such a paradise on a desolate planet.

Official ground exploration teams have already begun exploring the ruins, but so far there have been no gains. Presumably, those who could leave with the immortals and gods have already left, and the entire site is almost empty. Only some remaining stone tablets can be found in the ruins of the square. By identifying the text on them, it is determined that this place is called 'Qingqiu'.

"Qingqiu Secret Realm, does that mean there will be nine-tailed foxes in this place?"

In his cabin, staring at Qingqiu Three marked on the star chart, Liu Wuxin said in a rather expectant tone on the ship's channel, "Or some immortal foxes... cough."

Of course, seemingly realizing that the tone of his words was a bit strange, this Lingwu martial artist who also works as a fitness coach coughed lightly and explained, "Purely out of curiosity, I don't mean anything else."

Su Zhou glanced at the other party's physique through the light screen and couldn't help but shake his head slightly—so-called moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex, while excessive fitness attracts the same sex. But Liu Wuxin's level of training has long surpassed the 'excessive' level. Although he looks quite standard, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a square face, and even looks like a soldier from the last century with a buzz cut, given his terrifyingly strong body, it's likely that no same-age women would dare to approach him.

Neither would men.

No wonder he radiated a very, very lacking-in-romantic-life vibe as soon as he opened his mouth.

But as the team leader, he still explained, "Nine-tailed foxes are unclear, but the Nidao immortal fox clan will definitely be indispensable—and according to ancient books, not just immortal foxes, maybe there are many of the mermaid lineage as well."

—The Country of Qingqiu, its sunny side has much jade, its shady side much azurite. There is a beast there, its shape like a fox but with nine tails, its sound like an infant, it can eat people, and those who eat it will not be poisoned.

—The Ying River originates here, and the South Sea flows into the Ze of Immediate Wings. There are many red *ru* among them, their shape like fish but with human faces, their sound like *yuanyang*, eating them will not cause scabies.

The so-called red *ru*, although it sounds like a grotesque thing like a human-faced fish, after all, Nidao will progress. Even the Nidao true form of the West Mother Great Heavenly Venerate was just a fierce beast like a female leopard back then, but later it was transformed into a complete immortal body.

So Su Zhou guessed that if red *ru* really still existed in Qingqiu now, if they transformed into human form, rounding it off, they would probably be similar to mermaids—and hearing this, Liu Wuxin couldn't help but his eyes light up: "Oh! Really?"

"Am I, Professor Su, going to lie to you?" Casually spouting nonsense, Su Zhou also remembered something, and sitting in the captain's chair, he prompted on the ship's public channel: "By the way, what needs attention is that the Qingqiu Secret Realm should be a region where ancient Nidao flourished. When you get to that planet, be careful of every living thing, whether it's an animal or a plant—maybe that's a human who has transformed and is taking a walk in the wild. If there are accidental casualties, the authorities will severely punish you."

The design of the Yuanwang is very peculiar. Except for the captain's cabin, which can accommodate multiple people and appears relatively spacious, everyone else's cabins are independent and sealed. The ship's AI provides food and drinks, and all communication relies on projection light screens and public channels. Private communication requires applying to the captain, making it impossible to hide anything.

Just like the seagoing ships of the past, the captain of a spaceship on a space voyage also needs extreme authority to manage everyone in order to ensure the stability of this independent small society, and the design of the ship also guarantees the captain's authority.

"Yes!"

A neat response came from everyone in the channel, even the ghostly Taling crew members.

Although Su Zhou is very young, based on his qualifications and achievements, managing such a team is indeed not a problem.

Issuing the command to advance, the Yuanwang began to accelerate its thrusters, speeding towards the target planet in the distance.

"According to the plan, the Yuanwang will depart from Qingqiu Five, then go to Qingqiu Four, use the planet's gravity as a springboard, adjust its orientation, or replenish some resources, and finally go to Qingqiu Three."

Staring at the star chart in front of him, which was formulated by AI with various data, Su Zhou thought in his heart: "When the time comes, I'll circle around Qingqiu Four's orbit a few more times to see if I can find anything."

And now, although the young man is still a little confused about the reaction of the Crimson Firmament Sword Qi, it's time to set off.

"Captain Taling, accelerate flight."

The accompanying Taling Captain Kotalen also replied with a 'good' using a translator, and then steered the ship, accelerating towards the target planet.

Because the principle of the warp engine has not yet been analyzed, the Yuanwang does not have warp capability, but because this mission is within the planetary system, warp capability is not needed.

Mimicking the spirit energy structure of the Golden Crow Demon Core, the nuclear fusion engine, which is ignited with stable uranium, plutonium, and other heavy elements as kindling, reached a speed of one hundred and fifty kilometers per second, or even one hundred and eighty kilometers per second, relative to the sun, when tested in the solar system.

Granted, this is data that can only be achieved with continuous acceleration in a vacuum and with the aid of transcendent formations, but it also draws on alien technology such as the Taling, the Kelo, and the lunar spacecraft.

During continuous acceleration, a weak spirit energy buffer zone up to twenty kilometers thick will be supported in front of the Yuanwang, like an umbrella made of a non-Newtonian fluid, which can serve as a protected area, blocking most accidents.

Such a speed is completely sufficient for flying within the planetary system, and in addition, the planetary orbits are exactly intersecting, not the farthest distance, so it will take a maximum of thirty-seven days from Qingqiu Five to Qingqiu Three, even including deceleration.

Space travel is tedious and boring, even more so than ocean voyages on Earth. After all, compared to the churning waves, the pitch-black vacuum that doesn't change at all is the real bore.

However, only unprofessional people would have such thoughts.

For the professional team of the Third Division of the Daoshi Bureau, the various peculiarities of the Qingqiu Realm are simply exciting.

By observing star charts with spirit energy radar and comparing them, they calculated that the Qingqiu Realm and Earth are not in the same universe, at least not in the same galaxy cluster, because the observable star charts are completely different and cannot be matched at all.

Based on the situation of the Kunlun Secret Realm, the Beast God Realm, the Tianchi Realm, and the Typhon Realm, etc., the spacetime gates connected to Earth are likely not 'wormholes' that fold space, but genuine world bridges connecting different 'universes' and 'worlds'.

This can almost be said to completely destroy and rebuild the original cosmological model speculated by Earth, and the complexity has increased a hundredfold.

"This is simply incredible!"

The leading scholar surnamed Xu sighed more than once. He is a professional astronomer: "It's hard to imagine that hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans had already begun to colonize other worlds and established a stable cross-world central government."

This slightly chubby man even joked: "In a sense, we humans on Earth began to colonize outer universes before we began interstellar colonization, becoming a 'multiverse race'."

"In that case, where did the immortals and gods migrate to in the past? Could it be that the spiritual energy severance is not a phenomenon of one universe, but a multiple universe phenomenon happening at the same time?"

Lin Chengde pushed his glasses up his nose in puzzlement, and he murmured, "In that case, the impact of the spiritual energy severance at that time may be unexpectedly large."

Other Earthlings naturally cannot imagine where the immortal and god civilization, which originally developed across multiple worlds, eventually migrated to, but Su Zhou has some guesses in his heart.

"The immortals and gods, they should have gone along the Great Seal to the worlds behind the seal."

He thought with some concern: "The seal should only be aimed at the inside, and it may not be difficult for people on the outside to enter the forbidden zone. But even so, the immortals and gods should have left traces, and it's hard to say whether Yala and the others projected their influence on Earth and created the predecessors of organizations like the Holy Serpent Litanies and the Celestial God Descent Society at that time."

"In that case, Earth is fine, after all, it has an Order Formation, and the major inheritances are very vigilant against demons, with a line of defense to block them, but other realms are blind spots in the defense... we must be vigilant."

Harboring such worrisome thoughts, time passed.

Earth time, September 21, 2017.

The Yuanwang arrived in orbit around Qingqiu Four. The ship began to decelerate and adjust, orbiting this rocky planet with a mass approximately 1.2 times that of Earth. Relevant engineering personnel and technicians also began to record the ship's operating data and compile research reports.

As the first practical spacecraft, all the data of the Yuanwang must be organized one by one as a standard for future spacecraft design, and the various errors and omissions encountered along the way will also be compensated.

Qingqiu Four is also a desolate planet covered in frost, with a thin atmosphere and some ice caps at both poles.

And just as it approached Qingqiu Four, Su Zhou also sensed that the jade box storing the Crimson Firmament Sword Qi on his body was vibrating.

Without a doubt, as the distance decreased, the Crimson Firmament Sword's sense became more and more sensitive. Inside the jade box, it was even like a compass, with its arrow pointing far towards the planet's North Pole.

"...Tang Yuan, scan this planet, especially the North Pole. Scan it several times."

Without saying much, Su Zhou, sitting in the captain's chair, ordered the activation of the spirit energy radar. This was naturally not the high-performance version that could scan Kelo ships tens of light-years away, but a simplified version used for planets within the planetary system, which could not penetrate the Earth's crust, but could only roughly scan the surface of the celestial body and search for spirit energy signals.

This kind of radar naturally does not require Su Zhou to supply energy himself. The ship's own energy is sufficient, and the control is handed over to Tang Yuan.

"Starting to scan Qingqiu Four now."

Tang Yuan didn't say much either. In the dedicated cabin of the spirit energy radar module, he entered a spirit body state, directly connected to the entire scanning system, and then, accompanied by bursts of spirit light, invisible spirit energy fluctuations swept towards the planet's surface.

Soon, a large number of data reports appeared on the Yuanwang's information screen and were publicly displayed to everyone by Su Zhou.

The results were surprisingly shocking.

Qingqiu Four is a celestial body that has undergone planet-level environmental modification. Whether it is the extraordinary, heavy ice cap at the planet's two poles, comparable to a life planet, the huge impact gullies crisscrossing the planet's surface, or the huge water flow fissures thousands of meters wide and hundreds of thousands long, they all prove that someone once attempted to transform this celestial body into a life-sustaining planet.

However, the transformation probably only progressed a small part at the beginning before it was declared over—Qingqiu Four's thin atmosphere and peculiar planet surface both prove this point. They are all regrettable traces left by the cessation of this action midway.

"It's the immortals and gods, right."

Staring at the various information about this planet, Liu Wuxin's tone became serious: "At least several Earth Immortal-level 'Dragon Kings' transferred elements from other planets, or even directly from stars, and converted them into water, to artificially create such a thick ice cap and create such traces on the planet's surface."

The Weiwu lineage has a long history, and its founder was even an Immortal Heavenly Immortal, and as a direct inheritor, Liu Wuxin naturally understood the power of immortals and gods: "The atmosphere of this planet is probably also artificially created—at least a Heavenly Immortal-level Thunder God adjusted the planet's magnetic field, the traces are too obvious."

"It is likely that the work was stopped due to the decline of spirit energy. These traces are at least more than ten thousand years old."

Lin Chengde was also solemn. The Nong Sheng lineage can be traced back to the age of immortals and gods, and can even find the first Shennong, one of the greatest lineages of Zheng Guo, holding the inheritance of multiple divine trees to choose from.

The complete severance of spirit energy was a thousand years ago, but the decline of spirit energy began tens of thousands of years ago, a natural phenomenon that has risen and fallen many times.

He carefully observed the spirit energy detection signals returned by Tang Yuan and the surface traces of Qingqiu Four, and couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity. If the spirit energy hadn't declined, this planet would probably have become vibrant by now, and not as it is now, with no traces of life."

"No."

But Su Zhou said, "Look, there is a bit of spirit energy reaction at the North Pole."

His tone was so certain that not only Liu Wuxin and Lin Chengde, but even the twenty-odd researchers in the Third Division who were recording the spacecraft and planet data turned their attention to the North Pole data of Qingqiu Four with interest.

But soon, Lin Chengde frowned and muttered: "...There is indeed... but this reaction is too weak."

Su Zhou was right, they all saw some spirit energy signals at the North Pole ice cap—this means that there are either transcendent mineral veins in that place, or there is life.

However, that signal is so weak that it can almost be ignored. Even if it is really life, it is probably a suspended life system similar to those in underground caves, some life seeds accidentally left behind by the immortals and gods in the past.

"To tell you the truth, I think it should be people."

Saying this, Su Zhou got up to the astonished gaze of Kotalen. He left the captain's seat and walked towards the sealed cabin of the Yuanwang where unmanned aircraft, satellites, and exploration ships are launched: "I'll go down and see what's going on. Whoever is interested, come with me."

……

Qingqiu Four, around the North Pole ice cap.

A small white ice fox was wandering alone on the ice.

This little fox is only about thirty centimeters long, appearing delicate and cute, and its fur is entirely silver-white, without any impurities. If a small animal lover saw it, they would definitely let out an excited scream and then hug it in their arms to rub and fiercely suck.

However, compared to its flawless fur that can absorb some frost spirit energy, what is even more amazing is the two fluffy tails at its rear.

Ordinary foxes have only one tail. This is common sense. If there are multiple tails, then it must be extraordinary.

And this extraordinary little fox, in addition to pacing around on the ice, would also occasionally raise its head and look up at the starry sky with its ice-blue eyes.

—Why look up at the starry sky?

It doesn't know. This is the task assigned by the elders of the clan. Every day, several foxes have to leave the warm underground cave and come to the bitter surface to take turns on duty, watching the starry sky.

If they don't do this, they will be driven out of the cave for three days by the elder, who is the great-great-grandfather.

Great-great-grandfather is very strong and can control frost and move large stones out of thin air. Although he is old and has started to shed hair frequently, no fox in the clan can beat him and become the next elder. And no one can protect the foxes he wants to exile.

Three days without eating fish or drinking water is unsustainable even for foxes. It once saw a clan uncle who was three years older than it resist the task, and as a result, he was on the verge of death after being exiled, and was eventually not saved. He died in the cave, and his body was thrown into the sacred lake as bait for fish and algae.

Since then, these generations of foxes have never resisted the task again.

Wrapping its two fluffy tails around itself for warmth, the little fox knew that it had been on duty for an hour and a half. In another half an hour, the next fox would come to take over and end this difficult time.

—One star, two stars, three stars...

Counting stars to pass the time is what every fox that has done the task of looking up at the starry sky does. This doesn't need to be taught at all. It's instinctual.

The starry sky is endless, and the stars are also endless. Anyway, according to the fox's thinking ability, it can definitely not count them all. After counting about dozens of stars, the little fox yawned tiredly, and the eyes that were staring at the starry sky also became misty, apparently about to fall asleep.

But soon, its whole body shivered, and it perked up again—because undisguised sounds of movement came from behind.

Turning its head, the little fox saw a larger fox. It also had silver-white fur and ice-blue eyes, but the difference was that it had three tails. Immediately, it straightened up happily and walked towards the other fox.

Second Grandpa, who is taking over, has arrived.

The two foxes, one large and one small, faced away from each other, and five tails intertwined, with subtle spirit energy interlacing, forming a simple frequency, exchanging each other's thoughts.

—Second Grandpa, you came early.

—Yes, you go back first, don't freeze.

The exchange was simple. After all, a fox's thinking couldn't be too complicated. The little fox couldn't feel the love in it, but just thought that being able to return to the cave early was a happy thing, so it bid farewell to Second Grandpa and hopped away, preparing to go back.

But just then, it heard its Second Grandpa let out a short exclamation.

"Guao?"

This isn't a common thing—the atmosphere in this world is thin, and it's difficult enough just to breathe, let alone speak. Even during mating season, the foxes who compete for breeding opportunities don't use calls to intimidate each other.

What exactly happened to make Second Grandpa so surprised?

Thinking this, the little fox soon discovered the anomaly itself.

In an instant, bright light flashed from above the high sky—

It immediately raised its head and looked up at the starry sky.

Then, it could see a silver-blue star in the black universe rapidly moving across the sky at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving a faint trail of light, streaking across the sky.

—This, this is too incredible!

Opening its small mouth, the little fox showed an extremely human-like expression of astonishment. It had counted so many stars, but had never encountered a moving planet star. No wonder Second Grandpa would call out in surprise. What a rare thing!

But then, an even rarer thing happened. That silver-blue star, which was rapidly passing over the sky, actually split into another, smaller star… It descended along another arc, descending, descending, and then.

It fell on the ice field not far away, dragging a long trail of fiery light.

And while the little fox was immersed in this scene, its Second Grandpa hurriedly came over and patted its tail with his tail.

—Go quickly, Little Five, back to the cave.

—Eh? Why?

For a moment, with the strange and beautiful silver-blue meteor still in its mind, the little fox hadn't realized what Second Grandpa's words meant, but still instinctively followed the other's footsteps, running towards the cave.

—Have you forgotten? Why we have to look up at the starry sky.

And the big fox's tone was serious. With three tails and higher intelligence, its heart was filled with joy.

Unable to resist turning its head to continue looking at the brilliant light traces remaining in the black starry sky, the big fox's gaze was full of anticipation.

—For thousands of years… we have been waiting.

—Waiting for those 'moving stars'!

First update, requesting monthly tickets~