CHAPTER 322: FU XUAN—I WANT TO BE GENERAL, BUT QINGQUE IS USELESS

Six planet-class interstellar ships, each carrying billions of people, slowly approached the cosmic barrier.

At this moment, part of the Xianzhou Alliance’s leadership had gathered at the highest point of the Xianzhou Luofu.

This was once the place where the Divination Commission observed the stars. Now it had become a viewing platform.

Jing Yuan gazed at the cosmic wall, so near yet seeming infinitely far, and sighed: "It is truly unimaginable... so this is what the cosmic barrier looks like."

"Though I once saw the Celestial Comet Wall forged by the Firmamend Arbiter, compared to this cosmic crystal wall, that is utterly insignificant."

"Heh, forgive me, such words sound rather arrogant."

An elderly man of barely a meter and a half, white-bearded, hands clasped behind his back, spoke kindly: "Hehehe... Jing Yuan, you’ve changed a bit over the years—daring to speak behind the Aeon’s back."

Jing Yuan replied with respect, yet half in jest: "Flaming Heart Elder, you flatter me. It’s only that in today’s Xianzhou, people live united and in harmony, with few troubles. I myself am unburdened, so I’ve grown somewhat lazy, and my words follow suit."

Huaiyan nodded: "Indeed, this universe has become most harmonious. Those ancient disasters have vanished, and it feels like a paradise."

"Speaking of which, as President Beidou said, our universe has become one of that world’s subsidiary universes. The cosmic rules have changed as well."

"At first we did not notice, but then we realized our Mara afflictions had disappeared—that was when the Xianzhou finally understood."

"Not only that, even lifespans now follow cultivation—upon reaching god-level, one gains eternal life."

"And then there is this Merit System that judges good and evil."

"It truly feels like something out of myth."

A woman clad in cyan armor, fox ears atop her head, crossed her arms and said boldly:

"Hahaha, indeed. Eternal life—so long as one reaches that so-called god-level, the power to influence a planet with a single will, one becomes undying."

"High-level Pathstriders can accomplish this."

"If so, then immortal civilizations will multiply endlessly. One day, the universe’s resources will surely run dry."

"How have they solved this problem?"

Fu Xuan interjected: "Though there are many doubts, the information provided by President Beidou is partly true and partly false. But the truth lies before our very eyes."

"Furthermore, according to the Genius Society’s research, as long as one reaches high-level Pathstrider—what they call Lower Gods—one indeed becomes truly immortal, free of lifespan limits."

"The only restriction lies in one’s deeds of good and evil."

"The Intelligentsia Guild has provided ample data. Many high-level Pathstriders who committed too many evil acts eventually reached a threshold, whereupon a violet-black aura bound them, and abyssal monsters appeared..."

Huaiyan stroked his beard and smiled: "Indeed. To enjoy eternal life, one must bear responsibility."

"As President Beidou said: the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. If virtue fails to match position, calamity is inevitable."

Feixiao crossed her arms and nodded firmly: "Flaming Heart Elder, those words I wholeheartedly agree with."

"Soon we shall enter the bounds of the cosmic crystal wall. I truly look forward to what lies beyond the universe, hahahaha."

A girl wearing a tiny crown, barefoot, with a greatsword on her back, wide-eyed like a little princess, asked curiously: "Yes, yes, Grandfather—what’s outside the universe? Do other universes have foods tastier than skewers?"

Huaiyan shook his head with a sigh: "Ah, Yunli, you girl... By Xianzhou reckoning, you’re already an adult. Some your age are even mothers already. Yet you remain as childish as ever. You worry your grandfather."

Yunli produced a skewer of candied hawthorn, biting into one plump fruit as her cheeks puffed: "What~ Grandpa always nags. It’s not just me. Qingque, Huo Huo, Susang, Guinaifen—they’re all the same as before. None of them have changed a bit."

"Eh eh eh~ I knew it! This morning when I cast the divination to see how my luck would be, I foresaw someone using me as a shield. Didn’t think it’d be you, Yunli. Gotcha now, huh."

Qingque popped out from behind a folding screen, hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, I even sneezed just now," Susang followed after her, rubbing her nose with a silly look.

"General, Lady Fu Xuan... h-hello..." A fox-eared girl with teal-blue hair walked out timidly, clutching a soul summoning banner nervously in her hands.

Guinaifen, awkwardly scratching her foot, rubbed the back of her head: "Um... greetings, everyone..."

She was easily the most embarrassed. Though she was friends with Qingque and the others, and in the past two hundred years had occasionally run into important figures, she had never met so many together at once.

As for why her lifespan had become as long as the Xianzhou people’s, she herself did not know. Only later did she learn that she was already a fairly strong Pathstrider, and with the changes to the cosmic rules, her life had been greatly extended.

The four of them lined up neatly in a row.

Fu Xuan frowned at the sight: "Qingque, what are you doing here? Not only skipping work yourself, but bringing three friends along for an outing?"

Qingque scratched the back of her head with an awkward grin: "Hehe... Master Diviner, it’s just that I heard we were about to reach beyond the universe, and I—I got curious. I wanted to sneak a peek outside the cosmos."

"Who knew you and the other lords would be here too..."

"And once the General spotted me, I couldn’t exactly sneak away anymore, so I came out openly."

"Besides, surely Master Diviner, you foresaw this already."

With that shameless honesty, Fu Xuan could only sigh deeply.

Over the centuries, Qingque had become the strongest diviner aside from Fu Xuan herself. Yet Fu Xuan still had not promoted her.

For every major accomplishment, Qingque caused a hundred small troubles. Fu Xuan had long hoped to train her as a successor, to fulfill General Jing Yuan’s promise to let her take over his post one day.

Jing Yuan himself was willing to pass on his position to her, but on the condition that the Divination Commission not fall into decline—that a new Master Diviner must first be cultivated.

How much effort Fu Xuan had spent worrying over Qingque!

Feixiao burst into hearty laughter: "Hahaha, Master Diviner Fu Xuan, don’t be so strict. After all, the youngsters are only curious, eager to see what lies outside the universe."

"And look—soon we’ll be breaking through the crystal wall. Let’s witness it together."

At her words, a halo of colors bloomed. Before the Xianzhou appeared a vortex like a tunnel through time and space—signal that they were about to break through the crystal wall.

In the past, no one could ever reach the edge of the universe. The cosmos was like a Möbius strip: to arrive at the boundary was only to return to the beginning.

But now that the universe was open, such a sight could finally unfold before their eyes.

Qingque’s eyes spun quickly, and she shouted in exaggerated excitement to change the subject: "Waaah! Master Diviner, look, we’re about to see the outside of the universe!"

Everyone was filled with excitement, curiosity, anticipation—and even a trace of fear.

For humanity’s greatest fear is the fear of the unknown.

Rumble—

The thunderous roar of something like a cosmic storm current shook the Xianzhou.

Because of the dome—the artificial atmosphere—no one could see what lay beyond. They could only hear the deafening roar in their ears. Even the scenery within the ships remained unchanged. Life bustled on as always, with only small groups speaking in hushed tones about what might lie outside the universe.

The only ones able to see beyond the dome were those of the Divination Commission.

The six Xianzhou vessels passed through the swirling vortex of colors. In an instant, the brilliance faded, plunging all into darkness—yet when the darkness passed, the sight before them made every gaze tremble and fall into stunned silence.

Behind them stretched a wall of shifting color. No one knew how immense it was, for neither eye nor instrument could measure it.

This, without doubt, was the cosmic outer layer—the microwave background.

And first in sight was a colossal sphere, at an unfathomable distance. A radiant pillar of light pierced it through, dazzling and brilliant.

Around this sphere orbited countless smaller ones, each tens of thousands of times less in size.

Then came an endless vista: multicolored orbs like soap bubbles, countless specks of light filling their vision. And that was not even all—for beyond stretched vast veils of glow and mist, hiding uncountable more.

In the distance, fleets of starships streamed ceaselessly from the crystal wall, flying toward the boundless unknown.

They turned their eyes toward where the bubbles were most densely clustered.

Where once they had stared in a daze, now they trembled with awe, their bodies shivering, hearts surging with reverence.

For in the far-off nebular mist loomed a crimson dragon of immeasurable size, slowly beating its wings. With each beat, uncountable bubbles were born.

They did not know what that being was, nor what those bubbles were—but upon beholding them, they simply understood.

The instant they gazed upon those bubbles, knowledge surfaced in their minds. They realized instinctively what it was they looked at.

Those bubbles, great and small, were universes. The largest, visible even to the naked eye, were great universes like their own. And the vast sphere pierced by the radiant column was the Teyvat Main Universe.

Endless universes revolved around the main universe.

These universes were like the stars of a galaxy, while the main universe was like the supermassive black hole at its center, ruling all.

That being, whose body dwarfed even geat universes dozens of times over, birthing infinite universes with every beat of her wings—was none other than the Creation Red Dragon God, the Eternal Throne, Dream.

She flew eternally through the Sea of Worlds, and with each beat of her wings, numberless universes came forth.

She was the Creator, the God of Creation, the Mother of Worlds, the Giver of Blessings to all realms, the womb of billions of realities.

For any lifeform, to even once gaze upon her was the greatest honor of their existence.

The first to recover from shock was Fu Xuan, whose voice quivered as she spoke:

"Th-this... this is the scene beyond the universe? An endless Sea of Worlds, with a being whose wings give birth to infinite universes..."

Huaiyan was next, stroking his beard with trembling hands: "Before such an existence, even Aeons must be nothing but insignificant..."

Aeons were mighty, yes—but only mighty within a universe. The sacred being before them created universes themselves.

Jing Yuan’s breath grew rapid, his mind overwhelmed, his chest heaving: "Haa... haa... Do you recall what that Abyssal God once said? Mere Aeons—our universe alone has over a thousand. And above the Aeons, more than double digits beyond..."

Feixiao bit hard on her thumb to steady herself, whispering: "I thought it was just bravado... but it’s absolutely true."

For faced with countless universes, and the main universe so vast it defied imagination, even the tally of Aeons in the thousands could only be a fraction—a negligible portion.

Most likely, they were but the Aeons of a single great universe alone.

"Before, I wondered—if even Pathstriders can gain eternal life, how could resources ever suffice?"

"My vision was far too narrow. Resources? Hah... with infinite universes being born, resources are inexhaustible."

At that moment Huaiyan’s eyes widened, and he hastily shouted: "Do not look directly at the Creation Red Dragon God! It will cause irreversible damage to the mind. A sacred being must not be gazed upon! Even reverence cannot protect you!"

Jing Yuan came to his senses, face paling. He quickly shook Qingque, Susang, Guinaifen, and Huohuo out of their daze, then cast dark veils over their eyes.

Fu Xuan too felt the crushing pressure upon her mind from gazing at the Eternal Throne, cold sweat streaming down her back.

"Do not look directly upon the sacred being!"

Even Aeons cannot be looked upon in their holy bodies—how much less a being far above Aeons by untold tiers.

The Red Dragon God had already suppressed her influence upon life to near nothing, so as not to harm those traveling the Dimensional Gap.

Otherwise, to gaze upon her would mean either blessing—or death, overwhelmed by infinite floods of information.

And even so, her level was too high. A single glance was enough to shock the very core of existence.

Yet even this was a form of grace. To withstand it was like undergoing a trial of True Name. But if one looked unknowingly more than twice, annihilation was certain.

In the past, many minor gods of Teyvat, while opening routes through the Endless Planes, had the fortune to encounter the Red Dragon God Emperor. With just a single glance, they were swept into dream after dream, an endless cycle of visions.

The fortunate directly grasped profound truths and gained hope of ascension to the supreme. The less fortunate still achieved breakthroughs of spirit. But the greedy vanished outright.

At the northern pole of the Star Rail Universe, three single-universe beings gazed in awe at the Creation Red Dragon.

Robin gaped: "A being that births universes..."

She had been an Aeon for centuries. This was not her first time venturing beyond the universe, but it was her first time seeing the Creation Red Dragon.

As the Aeon of Order, a single-universe existence, she could directly sense just how great and sacred that being was.

Compared to her, Aeons were like humans compared to insects.

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