Another year slipped by before they knew it.
The Aska sailed through the Tree Universe while Zhougelasi sat cross-legged to one side, reading a book.
His teacup rested atop the Aska's cabin, making the ship look like his personal tea table.
Zhang Shou sat cross-legged on the deck, cradling his blade in both hands, sensing the various rules governing blades and slashing across the Tree Universe. Breadth could be acquired through the Zhen Realm, but depth in these rules had to be cultivated by oneself.
After seeking advice from Zhougelasi, he had learned the method of sensing Heaven's Mind with one's own heart, and was currently refining rule power related to the blade.
Rules were, in truth, ephemeral, highly conceptual things. They were everywhere yet nowhere, but any conceptual power, any source power, as long as it existed within the Tree Universe, was boundless and inexhaustible.
Boundless and inexhaustible meant infinite!
No matter how ethereal or conceptual something was, once condensed to infinity, it commanded infinite divine might.
What was an origin?
It was the cause of all things. Plant a seed, and you were the origin of a tree; create a world, and you were the origin of a world; establish a nation, and you were the origin of a nation.
Every concept and rule possessed its own origin.
Just as every beam of light had a path along which it came, tracing that path back to its origin and claiming it allowed one to wield a power of origin.
Take the blade: there were countless millions of blades across existence and countless millions of origins. If all were gathered into oneself, one could become an Origin Returner of the Blade.
Of course, Zhang Shou was still astronomical leagues away from such a realm.
He could barely even sense the rules of the blade in the nearby worlds the Aska passed, let alone follow those rules to search for origins and seek out the even more conceptual power of origin.
Besides, an Origin Returner was a miracle in and of itself.
To contain the infinite within the finite—for the vast majority, doing so meant certain death.
In fact, becoming an Origin Returner was hardly easier than becoming a Transcender; their difficulties were essentially identical.
"Zhougelasi, how long have I been cultivating?"
Zhang Shou was not the sort who could sit still for long. After meditating for a short while, he spoke up and asked.
Zhougelasi glanced at Zhang Shou from the side and replied, "Only three hours. Stop getting distracted all the time; you won't achieve anything cultivating like that."
"Forget it. I'll just go cultivate in the Zhen Realm later," Zhang Shou said with a long sigh, giving up.
Zhougelasi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Your strength came too easily. Your hearts and minds haven't kept pace with your power at all. Continuing like this isn't good."
"As long as we live long enough, we'll catch up eventually, won't we?" Niman came out carrying a fruit platter and chimed in with a smile.
Zhougelasi nodded. "Yes, one will inevitably grow given enough time, that's true. I only worry whether the source of the demonic fall phenomenon will grant us that much time to grow."
"The demonic fall phenomenon targets everyone, not just you and me. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. I refuse to believe that across the myriad heavens and realms, all the other Mighty Ones are useless pushovers," Niman teased with a laugh.
Hearing that, Zhougelasi was left speechless. It was indeed as Niman said: the Tree Universe was so vast, it surely wouldn't fall on children not even ten thousand years old to handle such a crisis.
The other Mighty Ones probably still had some pride to preserve.
"Speaking of which, aren't there any communication networks or organizations among Mighty Ones?" Having listened to their conversation, Zhang Shou asked curiously.
Zhougelasi shook his head. "I don't know. The Mighty Ones I know are all the solitary cultivation type anyway. There's even a senior stronger than me who has never left his native world in his entire life. He doesn't even know the Tree Universe exists, having always thought the world was just that big."
"Someone like that actually exists?!" Zhang Shou gasped in shock.
Niman chuckled wryly. "It's not that strange. Before I was a hundred million years old, I also thought the world was only that big and never considered what lay beyond it. Not everyone is curious about the scenery outside."
"When I was little, I used to wonder what was outside Earth," Yu Xian said as he emerged from the cabin, carrying a Golden-Hooped Rod over his shoulder and smiling at everyone. "Later I learned about the solar system, then the Milky Way, and wondered what lay beyond the universe. And now... I'm also very curious about what lies outside the Tree Universe."
Zhang Shou remarked thoughtfully, "I'm definitely curious too. There must be other spaces outside the Tree Universe. Didn't that Quan Juehua slash through the space of the Tree Universe and run off?"
"You two... our strength isn't anywhere near ready to explore beyond the Tree Universe. In fact... we haven't even finished exploring inside the Tree Universe," Niman chided helplessly, looking at Yu Xian and Zhang Shou to cut them off.
If she let them keep talking, Yu Xian might get worked up and embark on a spur-of-the-moment expedition to investigate what lay beyond the Tree Universe.
"Huh?"
Just then, Zhougelasi let out a sound of surprise.
Rising from his leaf skiff, he took a step forward and vanished in an instant.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou immediately looked ahead. With their eyesight, they could spot the wreckage of a starship far in the distance.
The two stepped forward as well, instantly landing on a fragment of the wreckage. The ship appeared as though ripped to pieces alive by some monster, with terrifying fist indents still stamped across many sections.
Bodies.
Everywhere they looked, there were bodies.
On many of their faces, looks of disbelief still lingered.
Actually, calling them bodies wasn't quite accurate, as not a single one was intact; describing them as severed remains was far more fitting.
"The one who did this is not weak."
"And they didn't strike quickly—they intentionally gave these people time to react, purely to watch the terror on their faces."
"Moreover, the souls of everyone they killed were obliterated. Even if someone possessed means of resurrection, it would be useless."
Looking at the corpses among the wreckage, Zhougelasi spoke to Yu Xian and Zhang Shou with sorrow in his expression, his fists clenching slightly. He wished he could have arrived in time to stop the killer from committing such a monstrous massacre.
"These people haven't been dead for very long—two years at most. The culprit shouldn't be far. Let's look around!" Yu Xian said to Zhougelasi and Zhang Shou after inspecting one of the bodies.
Fortunately, the wreckage still retained traces of the power of time, through which one could judge how long the victims had been dead.
"All right, let's search. If we find him..." Zhang Shou gripped his blade, speaking grimly.
Yu Xian said flatly, "Whether he's fallen to demons or not, someone who slaughtered this many people can hardly be called innocent. Once we catch him, throw him straight into the Zhen Realm!"
"Yeah, great idea!"
At the thought of the horrific fate of Zhang Buyao's students, Zhang Shou nodded in immediate agreement.
Although Zhougelasi did not know the details of the Zhen Realm, seeing that Zhang Shou agreed, he raised no objections. After coordinating a plan to split up their search and setting a time to regroup, Zhang Shou and Zhougelasi set off directly to look for the perpetrator.
Chapter 647