Oasis of the Abyss

Several days later. Within the crimson Abyss, a spaceship bearing the logo of the Haolidu Company glided forward at an unhurried pace. The vessel's interior was heavily warded with defensive barriers, shielding the pilot and passengers from the corrupting influence of the Abyss. Even the outside views displayed on the monitors were passed through multiple filters; staring into the raw expanse of the Abyss with the naked eye was tantamount to staring into the Abyss itself, courting all manner of bizarre, incurable afflictions. Yu Xian had already learned how to pilot the ship from Feiliqi's memories. At that moment, he sat in the main cockpit seat, munching on a snack while studying the scales of the Ancient Cosmos Dragon. After vanquishing the Ancient Cosmos Dragon, he had deployed a swarm of eyeball bubbles to gather every scattered dragon scale, retrieved the spaceship, and departed that shattered world. Now, the ship's artificial intelligence had assumed control of navigation, steering along the route toward Crescent Bay in accordance with his orders. Directions within the Abyss were exceedingly chaotic. Without a spaceship, Yu Xian would have had no choice but to cocoon himself within his grotto-heaven world and drift wherever the currents carried him. In truth, most Transcendents from Earth who ventured into the Abyss merely circled around shattered world fragments like the one where the Ancient Cosmos Dragon had hibernated. Many had never laid eyes on the true face of the Abyss, laboring under the illusion that those broken worlds were the Abyss itself. Yet that ignorance was their blessing. For most who beheld the true face of the Abyss were overwhelmingly unlikely ever to return. "Big Brother, I made grilled meat! Do you want some?" Little Huangquan walked in through the doorway, holding a small plate with an expectant look on her face. Yu Xian nodded. "Just in time—I was getting hungry." Setting aside the scales, he picked up a skewer, took a bite, and gave her an immediate thumbs-up. Little Huangquan beamed with delight, practically radiating sheer bliss as though standing in an ocean of flowers. Yu Xian smiled. "Your grilling skills have already surpassed the master's! Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to make something else!" Internally, however, he was screaming in frantic desperation. *I can't keep eating barbecue forever!* He had to teach Little Huangquan other dishes right away, or subsisting entirely on roasted meat every day would give even a vampire constipation. Though biologically speaking, that wouldn't actually happen... Just then, Little Nora scurried in, its beak crammed full of wooden skewers from the grilled meat. It hopped onto a chair and sat down with a thud. "Big Brother, how much longer until we reach Crescent Bay?" The vessel they occupied was a six-seater medium-class starship. While not particularly luxurious, it was equipped with all necessary living amenities, and even boasted a virtual entertainment lounge for whiling away the hours. Crescent Bay had existed for nearly three thousand years. Countless races that had lost their homeworlds had congregated there, gradually adopting Crescent Bay as their second home. Over time, an extensive entertainment industry had sprung up, spawning films, dramas, and records of all kinds. Having spent several hours amusing itself in the virtual entertainment lounge, Little Nora was brimful of eager anticipation for Crescent Bay. "Xiao Du, how much longer until we arrive at Crescent Bay?" Yu Xian chose not to answer Little Nora directly, turning instead to query the onboard artificial intelligence. Because machine lifeforms also inhabited Crescent Bay, any artificial intelligence that developed true self-awareness would be regarded by them as kin. Consequently, the AI installed on the ship was classified as a weak artificial intelligence—merely a cold, emotionless program devoid of sentience. Xiao Du replied in a mechanical monotone: "Honored customer, the Haolidu medium-class starship is currently thirty million trillion light-years from Crescent Bay. The journey requires traversing six stable spatial zones. Therefore, our estimated time of arrival at Crescent Bay is twenty-one days." The Abyss contained fragments among the world remnants that essentially functioned as reservoirs of stable spatial energy. Once a starship entered these stable energy zones, it could initiate a spatial jump, teleporting directly across the void to pre-charted stable spatial zones. Thus, despite the unfathomable physical distance separating them from Crescent Bay, conducting spatial jumps could vastly shorten the journey. "Did you hear that? Twenty-one days left," Yu Xian said, glancing back at Little Nora. Hearing this, Little Nora slumped onto the table, deflated. "That's so long... I wonder if Lord Peacock Wisdom King will even stay at Crescent Bay that long." "The Peacock Wisdom King?" Yu Xian asked, mildly puzzled. Seeing that Yu Xian was unfamiliar with the name, Little Nora launched into an excited explanation. By the time it finished, Yu Xian was torn between laughter and exasperation. It turned out Little Nora had just watched a film titled *Legend of the Five Colors*. The plot revolved around five different fowl joining forces to defeat evil villains. A duckling, a cygnet, a quail, a mandarin duck, and a gosling answered the summons of the Peacock Wisdom King. A feather of the Peacock Wisdom King appeared upon each of their heads, granting them the ability to transform into the Five-Colored Divine Birds to battle the villainous Dragon Legion. The duckling could transform into the Golden Divine Bird, the cygnet into the White Divine Bird, the quail into the Orange Divine Bird, the mandarin duck into the Red Divine Bird, and the gosling into the Black Divine Bird. Through friendship, hard work, and courage, they overcame all manner of wicked dragons before finally facing the evil Yinglong King. The climax was classic. When the Five-Colored Divine Birds were no match for the Yinglong King, on the brink of death they felt the calling of the Peacock Wisdom King and realized they were in fact his children. Uniting into one, they fused into the Peacock Wisdom King and vanquished the Yinglong King. Amused by the tale, Yu Xian smiled. "So that's how it is. Well, let's hope the Peacock Wisdom King is still in Crescent Bay when we get there." "Big Brother, I know it's just a story—don't treat me like a gullible kid! But Lord Peacock Wisdom King is a genuine Star Rank powerhouse! He's the absolute pride of our Avian race!" Sensing that Yu Xian was merely patronizing it, Little Nora protested indignantly. Little Huangquan asked curiously, "The Avian race? Aren't you from the Garuda race?" "Garudas are birds too, so of course we're part of the Avian race! Just like Swampmen, Featherlights, Ancient Ape-men, and Horrific Erect Apes—they're all different ethnicities, but they all fall under the Human race!" Little Nora retorted. Yu Xian nodded. "Crescent Bay does indeed categorize them that way." "Then what about me?" Little Huangquan looked at Yu Xian with wide, expectant eyes. Before he could answer, Little Nora blurted out bluntly, "You're obviously part of the Yellow Springs water ghost race." "I... I am not a Yellow Springs water ghost!" Little Huangquan flared up in an instant, glaring at Little Nora with puffed-up cheeks. Little Nora refused to back down. "But that's what you are!" "No, Little Nora, you're mistaken. Little Huangquan doesn't belong to any Yellow Springs water ghost race. In fact, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a 'Yellow Springs water ghost race,'" Yu Xian intervened, gently patting Little Huangquan's head to soothe her ruffled feelings. Little Nora did not dispute Yu Xian's word, though it gasped in utter shock. "Big Brother, could it be that my database is not just outdated, but full of errors too?" "No, it's just something most people don't know," Yu Xian said with a chuckle. In truth, Yellow Springs water ghosts were plentiful. Looking across the breadth of the Abyss, Star Rank and even Li Rank Yellow Springs water ghosts were far from rare. In essence, so-called Yellow Springs water ghosts were merely the collective byproduct of fierce ghosts huddling together for survival. A single ghost was too weak on its own, so they merged into a single entity, taking turns controlling the body. Strictly speaking, Little Huangquan was not an essential component of that phenomenon. Whenever countless worlds with Netherworlds collapsed, fierce ghosts naturally banded together to preserve themselves, giving rise to Yellow Springs water ghosts. Because these entities were so common, Little Nora's inherited knowledge included methods for dealing with them. After explaining the distinction, Yu Xian smiled and added, "Strictly speaking, Little Huangquan is an innate holy spirit. If she gathers enough faith, she can even advance into a nature deity." The reason Little Huangquan had wept when tasting meat infused with righteous intent earlier was precisely because her mother, Wangchuan, had once received the faith of countless beings, and had cooked meals for her in that very manner. "A nature deity? That sounds incredible!" Little Nora cast a startled glance at Little Huangquan. Yu Xian gave a noncommittal shrug. "Among nature deities, the weakest has a combat power of 1, while the strongest can reach 1,000. However, becoming a nature deity requires an anchor. Most nature deities anchor themselves to their original divine form or domain. Because of that, if the world is destroyed, the nature deity suffers complete annihilation alongside it." "Mother..." Little Huangquan whispered, knowing that Yu Xian was speaking directly to her. Seeing Little Huangquan's sorrow, Little Nora wanted to console her, but out of the corner of its eye, it spotted an oasis floating in the distance. Pointing toward it, the bird cried out, "Big Brother, there's land ahead! Is that a stable spatial zone?" "I'm not sure, but we can go take a look!" Yu Xian patted Little Huangquan's head once more, then turned his gaze forward, narrowing his eyes slightly. A thread of vigilance tightened in his mind. The place did not look much like a stable spatial zone; rather, it bore the hallmarks of an artificial miniature world. Yet to forge an oasis of that scale in the harsh environment of the Abyss, whatever entity created it was undoubtedly formidable.