Yu Sheng heard a discordant "noise" erging in his mind. Deep within the noise, he seed to hear the earth in the distance being shaken by battles, hearing cries at the border of the Dream Realm, sothing impacting the border of the Cognitive Barrier.
He slightly closed his eyes, purposely strengthening the connection between himself and the Inference Star Body. In the darkness, he saw scenes of illusions, seeing the entire planet covered with a seemingly real yet illusory pale light, and within the light there was a sole fissure, resembling a black hole that had separated from the "whole" of Shuji, with restless points of light gathering around the "black hole" repeatedly attempting to enter its interior.
"...There’s fighting over at Mo City," Yu Sheng opened his eyes and said to Hu Li and Luna beside him, "Many people influenced by the Inference Star Body are converging toward Mo City."
"Master Yuan Hao can fight," Hu Li pondered, "He should have already brought Xuan Che there by now."
Yu Sheng said nothing, only quietly nodded, his gaze looking forward.
They had already traversed the vast Underground Palace. After bypassing the walls set up by the Hidden Monastery and a series of facilities resembling laboratories, ahead was again a maze-like cavern system—this clearly was no longer part of the past stronghold built by the pioneers; those imnse underground fissures and caves seed more like the original geological structure of this planet.
It looks like the ancient pioneering team built the entire stronghold based on this original underground cave system, and as ti has passed, it has transford into a nest for the Inference Star Body.
"This is as far as you’ll accompany ," Yu Sheng sensed the situation ahead and said, "From here, I’ll go forward on my own. You two hurry back to help in Mo City."
Erin, sitting on his shoulder, slightly widened her eyes: "Huh? But we still haven’t found the ’core’ of the Inference Star Body yet..."
"You can only accompany this far," Yu Sheng shook his head, "That core is hidden within an extrely thick ’shell,’ which probably covers the entire planet; conventional thods can’t reach it—Hu Li, stop wagging your tail, you can’t dig through it either; it’s a geological structure kind of thing, much thicker than you might imagine."
Hu Li’s ears imdiately drooped: "Oh."
Erin casually ruffled Yu Sheng’s hair: "Again? So, you’re going to use ’unconventional thods’ again, right?"
"It’s part of the plan anyway," Yu Sheng rolled his eyes, "Don’t tell you didn’t foresee this."
The little Puppet giggled foolishly, obediently jumping from Yu Sheng’s shoulder into Hu Li’s arms, glancing back and saying: "Any last words?"
"Be careful when you help, fight if you can, run if you can’t, if it really can’t be done, retreat first to the Immortal Gathering Continent, there’s a door there to return to No. 66 Wutong Road," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "The Inference Star Body won’t trouble you through the door anyway."
Erin froze, her eyes slowly widening: "...Huh? So, even you’re not sure?!"
Yu Sheng had already reached out to pull open a Teleportation Gate to Mo City, his expression both laughing and crying: "It’s not that—why does everyone believe I’m sure to defeat the Angel? Others saying it is one thing, but you believe it too...When contacting Anka Aela you were with , weren’t you? Don’t you know how capable I am?"
Erin was stunned, instinctively opening her mouth—
Yes, she believed it, although she didn’t know why, but she just felt Yu Sheng could definitely win, even felt Yu Sheng was omnipotent, she also knew the end of the Inference Star Body had arrived, although that Dark Angel seed really strong now, but...she just knew.
#A foreboding on will descend upon the soulless sower.#
However, the little Puppet held back for a long ti, unable to explain her reasoning to anyone.
Just like every ti in the past, whenever she tried to think about these complex issues, sothing always blocked her thoughts; she felt as if so part was missing from her thinking process, missing...
What was it?
The Puppet’s small head felt a fleeting mont of confusion, quickly forgetting this bit of doubt, then looked at Yu Sheng and smiled joyfully.
No matter, her human would win.
Erin happily crossed the gate together with Hu Li.
Before Luna crossed the gate, she turned around and solemnly bowed three tis to Yu Sheng.
The gate closed; Yu Sheng stood at the entrance, pondering for several seconds before reacting—
"Wait, no...Luna’s gotten mischievous!"
Then he thought that Luna might have always been this way—from the fact that she blatantly calls the little Puppet "Erin" using her accent as a disguise, it was plain to see that the Holy Lady had a hidden aspect; that usual gentle way of conducting herself was simply too deceptive...
With a bittersweet smile tugging at his lips, lanting his bright status among the group was at risk, Yu Sheng turned his head and continued walking towards the depths of the cave.
He walked like this for an unknown duration, walking until he felt he’d forgotten about ti, forgotten about space, forgotten his initial goal, only stopping in a cave at last.
The low rumbling noise continuously echoed in his mind, true and false illusions, hallucinations, and whispers on the level of consciousness incessantly assaulted him from all around, yet in this chaotic "interference," Yu Sheng raised his head. He saw a giant crystal mirror quietly standing at the edge of his vision, and around it were simple items already subrged and assimilated by a vast pile of Crystal Cluster.
Stone table, stone stool, Pill Furnace, bookshelf...
"It seems that for a long ti after arriving on this planet, you still thought you were ’Yun Qingzi.’" Yu Sheng looked at the objects buried under the crystal and murmured softly to himself.
"I am still that person now."
An old voice echoed from all around the cave, and a familiar figure slowly erged in the crystal mirror. An imposing elder with white hair and beard stood in the mirror, facing Yu Sheng sideways, then he turned around, revealing the other half of his body completely assimilated by the Inference Star Body crystal, and cupped his hands respectfully.
"Long ti no see, my friend."
Yu Sheng ignored Yun Qingzi’s greeting and casually spoke, "Can I assu I am speaking with the ’Inference Star Body’?"
"The Inference Star Body does not converse, it does not think, it died a long, long ti ago. Now it’s just a shell endlessly repeating life, pretending to be alive—it’s Yun Qingzi who is speaking to you. I know what you’re thinking, but I, Yun Qingzi of Guard-3, am no different... There’s never been a controlled ’replica’; I simply chose another path to solve the problem."
The elder in the mirror spoke unhurriedly, the light flickering unpredictably within the crystallized half-body. His tone was calm, seeming indifferent to whether the listener truly believed him.
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow tightly, keenly capturing the crucial information within the other’s words: "...So, what exactly is the Inference Star Body?"
The Yun Qingzi in the mirror stared at him intently, finally speaking slowly after a long pause: "The Inference Star Body is—"
A sudden whoosh of sound pierced the air!
Alarm surged in Yu Sheng’s mind, but he only had ti to tilt his head slightly before several sword-like crystal spikes shot out from the nearby cave walls, impaling his torso violently—all fatal wounds!
The Yun Qingzi in the mirror appeared slightly surprised, as if not expecting such an ambush to be so easily executed. But he quickly revealed a hint of a smile: "Sorry, my friend, I didn’t expect it would be this simple... I thought you were strong. But it’s good this way, you won’t suffer much pain—I will build a fine grave for you after I solve the problem of the Inference Star Body."
The crystal spikes retracted slowly, leaving Yu Sheng standing in the cave covered in fatal wounds, blood pouring from him.
He looked down at himself, thinking he should be dead, but recalling the few words Yun Qingzi had inadvertently divulged earlier, he decided not to die yet and instead raised his head, continuing to stare at the elder in the mirror: "Tell first what the Inference Star Body really is. You seem to know more than I do."
"Yun Qingzi": "...Huh?!"
The elder’s expression finally showed a hint of surprised bewildernt, realizing the situation was not what he expected. Without delay, he raised a finger.
The next second, over a dozen crystal spikes flew out effortlessly, pinning Yu Sheng to the ground. Following this, a muffled incantation echoed, and a sudden bolt of lightning struck the immobile Yu Sheng, splitting him into pieces!
Perhaps still feeling uneasy, Yun Qingzi frowned at Yu Sheng’s "corpse" on the ground. Suddenly, he waved his hand once more, and a massive crystal from the cave ceiling crushed the remaining pieces of Yu Sheng into sludge!
After quite so ti, the cave’s noise finally cald down; no trace of Yu Sheng remained on the ground, leaving only formless bits and a large pool of blood.
Yun Qingzi widened his eyes, staring intently at the traces of blood.
The blood slowly wriggled, gradually forming a line of text in front of him—
"So, what exactly is the Inference Star Body?"
Yun Qingzi’s expression changed; he had rarely encountered a situation so beyond his control. Without hesitation, he waved his hand once more.
Spirit Fla True Fire instantly filled the entire cave!
The blazing inferno, hot enough to lt gold and stone in the blink of an eye, rampaged through the cave for several minutes, incinerating all organic matter. As the flas finally receded, no trace of Yu Sheng remained, only scorching heat waves rising and molten lava flowing along the cave.
The Yun Qingzi in the crystal mirror frowned, looking solemnly at the scene before him.
He hadn’t felt this confused, or even uneasy, in many years.
After a long while, he finally sighed softly.
Behind him, Yu Sheng erged from the mirror, sighing along with him.
"Yun Qingzi" was finally aghast, turning abruptly.
Yu Sheng helplessly spread his hands—
"What exactly is the Inference Star Body—should I ’go down’ and ask myself?"
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