The Dragon Clan civilization suddenly fell silent two hundred million years ago, its remaining power hidden in the Holy Dragon Abyss. The pinnacle of the evolutionary tree for reptiles ceased to sprout thereafter—this was what most people knew about the Dragon Clan.

However, the more Wang Qi understood the truth, the more he felt that the secrets hidden by the Dragon Clan were immense.

When he first arrived in the Divine Capital, Wang Qi learned something from Feng Luoyi—that the flame of civilization had been kindled several times on this planet. Ancient Stone Demons, Ancient Sea Gods, Cold War Demon Clan, Dragon Clan, Primordial Demon Clan, Renewal Demon Clan, Human Clan...

Among them, except for the youngest Human Clan which had not yet experienced a great extinction, the other races had mysteriously disappeared without leaving much trace.

As for the Dragon Clan, they had experienced at least three great extinctions.

Before leaving the Divine Capital, Wang Qi had begun to suspect that the physical bodies of the Dragon Clan were not crafted for planetarBorosphere of life. They were too powerful. At least, the growth limit at the Demon God Stage, the "Zero-Point Energy Furnace," "Strong Interaction Force Protection Stand," "Molecular Decomposition Device" that every individual possessed... with such abilities, even the stars and seas would suffice.

Then, Wang Qi just learned that it wasn't that they didn't have the stars and seas, but rather two hundred million years ago they had traversed the stars and seas, and then were smeared across the face by a "Universal Calamity."

"A common disaster couldn't possibly force a race that had ventured into the cosmos to abandon everything and hide on this tiny planet," said Wang Qi as he stood up and paced back and forth in the stone cave. "What exactly did they encounter? How terrifying was it?"

That old dragon must know something!

Maybe the Dragon Clan had passed down some truths from mouth to mouth!

"That's right!" Wang Qi suddenly remembered something: "That self-destructing member of the Dragon Clan said, 'outside the Holy Dragon Abyss,' 'find her,' which means something happened at the Holy Dragon Abyss!"

"The West Sea Dragon King betrayed the Dragon Clan. That much is certain now," said Feng Luoyi. "Then, that 'her' is probably a member of the Dragon Clan who knows the truth—a female at the Transformation Stage."

That unknown member of the Dragon Clan used special Divine Skills to instill the meaning of her words directly into everyone's minds. In the Dragon Language, "he" and "she" have different pronunciations. Everyone understood the significance of the dragon's last words.

"I should go and find her!"

"The importance of this matter has changed," said Feng Luoyi. "I will find all the Carefree Practitioners we can mobilize."

The Immortal Alliance had hundreds of Carefree Practitioners, but only a dozen or so were truly able to be mobilized at will. These were extremely valuable human resources. The Immortal Alliance had not intended to clash with the Dragon Clan to the death, so they had never sent a large number of High Order Cultivators into the West Sea.

Now, finding the Dragon Clan near the Holy Dragon Abyss was no longer a trivial Trial task. It even determined the strategies and decisions for the future development of the Immortal Alliance. For this, the Immortal Alliance would not hesitate to fight a battle to the death with the Dragon Clan.

Wang Qi asked, "Have you considered trying to win over the West Sea Dragon King? Perhaps it also knows some of the Dragon Clan's secrets."

"He used 'true color'," Feng Luoyi said without any intent to spare feelings. "That is a flame that can burn a piece of heaven and earth to the ground. The fact that Ao Tian unsealed the true color and killed with it shows that he no longer cares about this world."

Zhen Chan scoffed in the ring: "Based on your description just now, the Ancient Dragon Emperor is clearly already excessively powerful, why offend the Ancient Dragon Emperor for a West Sea Dragon King? Besides, how old is the West Sea Dragon King? If you want to ask about secrets, it's obviously more suitable to look for the Ancient Dragon Emperor."

Wang Qi nodded his head: "After I send these guys back, I'll head deep into the West Sea to find that Dragon Clan member at the Transformation Stage!"

Feng Luoyi shook his head: "There's no need. Approximately seventeen Carefree Practitioners will lead the High Order Cultivators into the West Sea."

Wang Qi insisted: "This matter can't wait a moment longer! What if that Transformation Stage dragon is killed while you're deploying troops?"

"That wouldn't make much difference. After we've eliminated the West Sea Dragon King, we can ask the other Dragon Clan members the things we want to know!"

"But in that case, there'd be no need for the West Sea Dragon King to stop that dragon from coming to Shenzhou! She may have wanted to convey something to the Immortal Alliance!" Wang Qi insisted: "Moreover, your attack on the West Sea seems to be unrelated to my search for that dragon. Rather, your attack on the West Sea would actually provide a good cover for me."

"I understand. Since this is your trial, you should carry on with it," Feng Luoyi nodded his head: "Right now, your top priority is to get out of here."

If Wang Qi wanted to continue deeper into the West Sea, then he couldn't rely on Feng Luoyi's power.

After explaining a few matters, Feng Luoyi vanished again. He would be very busy next and could only maintain the most basic attention to the few people on the deserted island. All other computational power had to be invested in planning the next war.

Wang Qi sat back down and organized his thoughts.

"Firstly, based on the observations of the Dragon Clan and the experiences of Ai Changyuan and Wu Shiqin, I can be certain that there are Ancient Method Practitioners on this island. Their purpose, however, is still unclear."

"Furthermore, temples... Human Clan rarely speaks of temples, and even if there are sacrificial altars, they wouldn't be overseas. Therefore, the so-called 'temples' are most likely relics of the Demon Clan. There is little information on the Primordial Demon Clan, but it has been confirmed that the Renewal Demon Clan is a theocratic society, established by the Divine Tao. This relic has a seventy percent probability of being from the Renewal Demon Clan, and thirty percent it could be from the Primordial Demon Clan."

"If it's from the Primordial Demon Clan, then I'll need to reacquaint myself with the environment. But if it's the Renewal Demon Clan, then the situation might be more advantageous for me."

As Wang Qi thought this, he took out the spoils of war that he hadn't used for a long time.

The Soul Steel Armor acquired in the suburbs of the Divine Capital, and the Sun Petal, a symbol of one of the eight saints of the Demon Clan.

"If it's the Renewal Demon Clan, then the remaining Spirit Prohibition here should recognize the scent of the Great Sun Demon Emperor, shouldn't it?" Wang Qi held the petal in his hand. This brilliantray's petal was thick and small, yet it had a mass completely disproportionate to its appearance. Wang Qi could feel its heaviness.

"If it represents the Divine Tao, light and heat, and all that is beautiful, then the Thousand Illusion Divine Spell is most suitable," muttered Wang Qi, as a white Curse Light descended from the void. The thoughts of a hundred thousand were gradually "persuading" the petal.

"Let's up the ante." As Wang Qi thought this, he manipulated part of his consciousness to arrange a new Path Rank. He aimed to use both the Heart Demon Curse and the Divine Plague Curse Technique together to concoct this prized treasure of the Demon Clan.

At that moment, Zhen Chan suddenly spoke up, "Boy, I have a question for you."

"Hmm?"

"In your Immortal Alliance's books, it says that a 'Returning Ruins' is the strongest celestial body, right? Why do you assume that the Nebula Life is the strongest enemy?"

"Wow, old man, you actually managed to read books of common knowledge. You've improved!"

"Stop ridiculing your elder!" Zhen Chan said angrily. "If I were born in these times, not to say surpassing you, but I would at least be stronger than the majority of the Modern Cultivators!"

"So...you've decided to pursue Modern Cultivation?"

Zhen Chan laughed, "According to those incredible theories of yours, setting aside Immortal Heaven, there are many dangerous beings in this universe. If I cultivate Modern Methods, there's at least some hope of resisting them. If it's Ancient Methods, I'd mostly just be waiting for death."

Wang Qi nodded, "People always aim for higher grounds."

"Cut the nonsense and answer my question!"

"Do you know what it means to have the dignity of a teacher? Is this how you ask a question?"

"Did you, kid, ever respect me during your time practicing the Ancient Methods?"

"Fair enough." Wang Qi acknowledged the point, then went on to explain to Zhen Chan, "As for the 'Returning Ruins'..."

"Returning Ruins" is Shenzhou's term for "Black Hole."

"Returning Ruins possess the strongest Gravity, and you've also said before that the range of Gravity's influence is infinite. If a Returning Ruins turned into a demon, perhaps it truly could have the power to destroy the universe?" Zhen Chan also let his imagination run wild.

Wang Qi shook his head, "Not to mention that Gravity's influence may be infinite, but the speed of Gravity Waves' propagation is limited. But let's talk about Time... You've seen Ai Changyuan's move 'Existence and Nonexistence Border,' haven't you?"

"I have."

"The flow of time is always slower near a strong Gravity Source. If this effect were to be magnified to the maximum, it would be the Existence and Nonexistence Border." Wang Qi continued, "There's always a layer of the Existence and Nonexistence Border around the Returning Ruins. You understand this, right?"

The Existence and Nonexistence Border - Event Horizon is the cloak around the singularity. In general relativity, a black hole is defined by the singularity and the horizon that surrounds it.

"For those outside the Existence and Nonexistence Border, the inside is eternal. For those inside, the outside is but a moment. Therefore, even if a Returning Ruins could become demonic, it would be meaningless to the universe—the entire universe would be but a flash from its perspective! Even if it had consciousness, what could it do? Before it could accomplish anything, the universe would be gone."

"So this is... a result of being too powerful?" Zhen Chan was amused, yet found it somewhat sad.

The universe itself cannot have a will because it is unique; it's an isolated system. It's always in a state of Entropy Increase while the basic element of life is Entropy Reduction.

If there ever were a being that claimed to be the "Great Cosmic Will," then either it's just a collection of a part of this universe's power, or that universe is just a vassal in a larger system and doesn't possess independent system status.

After receiving the answer, Zhen Chan contentedly shrank back into the ring, ready to continue staying in and reading.

Wang Qi tapped the ring, "Hey, old man, aren't you going to come out and offer some strategic advice?"

—————————————————————————————————

While Wang Qi had just finished a pondering session concerning life, time, and the universe, Ai Changyuan had just finished receiving a beating.

A boot stepped on Ai Changyuan's face, kicking him viciously into the air. A disciple of Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao wearing a dark purple robe contemptuously said, "Spineless."

He had fought with Modern Cultivators before and had dealt with some rebels from its own kind; he had seen some tough nuts. This kid, however, who started crying after being roughed up and spilled everything upon interrogation, was a first for him.

He was a Cultivator, at the very least; shouldn't he have waited for the Soul Searching Technique or Gu Technique before caving in?

After the beating, he shoved Ai Changyuan and Wu Shiqin into a corner of the cave and then walked over to another Ancient Method Practitioner, "This kid is indeed a pusillanimous one, a scion of nobility, depending on his family's Cultivation to act high and mighty and all talk, but never faced life or death."

The other Ancient Method Practitioner looked grim, "Perhaps, he's very shrewd. In his conversation with his companion, he seemed to deliberately not reveal the address. Then, when his companion mentioned 'the monkey that escaped from the continent,' he immediately threw away his calculator and cried out for mercy..."

"What, are you seriously considering using Soul Searching on him?" Someone advised, "Soul Searching Technique also burdens one's own Soul..."

"I've thought of a way to test whether he's actually foolish or just pretending," said the Cultivator who had walked in; inspiration struck him, "We're keeping that pair to force them to reveal some Heterodox practices, and use them to explore dangerous paths later. Next, we'll ask him about the core of his family's Transmitting Technique. Let's see if he'll talk!"

"If he refuses to talk until death, then we'll use Soul Searching on him!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, I would appreciate your votes and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)