Silent Crown

In the instant that the power of all of Aurora was concentrated on Bai Xi, the majestic tolling of the bell could be heard within the projection of the Originator. The Emperor had arrived.

It was just like a metamorphosis. She was no longer the little girl that had to hide behind Ye Qingxuan for protection. She was finally in possession of power.

She stretched out her hand and stopped Ye Qingxuan from falling behind. She lowered her head and, through the curtain of beads hanging from her crown, there was an air of authority and a hint of delight. She was looking down at Ye Qingxuan.

“Cousin, beg me for help,” she pretended to talk like Ye Qingxuan, “so that the Emperor will come and save you!” She spoke as if she truly believed that the entire world was within her grasp.

Ye Qingxuan was taken aback for a moment. “Hmm, sure.” He nodded as he looked into the pair of eyes that were no longer childish like how he had remembered them to be. All of a sudden, a wave of gloom and helplessness washed over him, “You have really grown up, Bai Xi.”

This day was always going to come, Ye Qingxuan. You have been worrying about her day and night, about whether she is able to sleep well, so you have rushed all the way to Aurora, as fast as you could, to protect her. But the moment you saw her, you could not hide your disappointment. She no longer needs your protection. She has already grown up.

“In that case, please continue to look forward to it.” Bai Xi’s mouth cracked into a smile. Her demeanor was unlike that of a steady and wise ruler, but that of a cruel tyrant.

“Then…

“Cheer for the Emperor!” As she raised her fingers, waves of white snow appeared out of nowhere. They were crystals that had been formed from aether. They floated peacefully in the emptiness and formed the outlines of miracles.

It was as if Bai Xi had willed the season of Frost’s Descent to come forth. Shortly after, nine massive shadows appeared from the reflections of layers of efflorescence. The music theory of the Dragon Bloodline has arrived and it let out a deep roar. It was the artifact of the Yunlou family, “Dijun!”

In that instant, all beings stayed silent. Every single sound was forcefully moderated until only the soft sounds of breathing could be heard. Every aether submitted to the bitterness and terror of Dijun’s deep roar. Due to the suppression by “Taiyi,” all the power was gathered centrally as even the unprecedented terrifying aether torrent bowed down obediently to Bai Xi. As such, she was able to skillfully gain control of a power that was tens of thousands of times more powerful than her and break loose from the restraints that Tung Wang Kung had placed on her.

Soon after, she aimed at the front, where her enemies were. She raised her palm. A clear and crisp sound shot out of her fingers in the silence. The resultant explosion was earth-shattering. After 19 long years, “Dijun” was finally being performed!

The essence of all beings was concentrated within the projection of the Originator. There was a cruel and loud explosion, and an earth-shattering scream of despair. The cruelties and tyranny of the world were concentrated in an area as the wrath of the rightful Emperor had descended on the image of catastrophe in the mortal world. It was Zhaodang!

In the blink of an eye, behind the terrifying roar was an ear-piercing scream. It sounded like machinery that was running at full speed, stuck at its most crucial pivot, causing the gears to go against each other, thus producing sparks and screeches. The center of the flow of all beings was held in the palm of an invisible hand as the cycle of the stars and land was stopped abruptly. Amidst the torrents of aether, there seemed to be the shimmering of endless alchemy formations as they appeared to reveal the tip of an iceberg of terrifying scale.

Then, Ye Qingxuan saw it… Heaven and earth had become crooked. It was as if heaven and earth had been turned upside side due to the scream of an invisible giant. In just a short moment, the entire world was like a circular plate in the air and it was spinning frantically. The land and the sky had both lost their meaning and everything had been overturned.

Everything was being destroyed in a violent and blunt manner. There were streaks of lightning in winter and snow in June. All the streams and seas had dried up and the world was on the brink of collapse. Finally, heaven and earth were merging as one!

Amidst the cruel tolling of the bell, heaven and earth were merging in the center, which was where Tung Wang Kung was. The burning earth rose while the pitch-black steel vault fell to crush everything in between into dust! Including Tung Wang Kung!

With the staff of the King of Yellow in hand, Ye Qingxuan could afford to stand by and watch. However, this was different from the movement that maintained the harmony of all beings. In other words, it was completely going against the movement. Every being and every phenomenon was being viewed purely as substances. To use oneself as a benchmark for all beings to be judged against before sending them into a formula without any mercy. After countless iterations, everything was reduced to zero! Every being was reduced to zero.

Even while facing a terrible impact that was equivalent to heaven falling and earth crumbling, Tung Wang Kung did not panic at all. Instead, he was able to counter it effectively and accurately. He raised his arms and supported the vault of heaven. Instead of resisting it with brute force and aether, that was a concentration of the entire Aurora, he used most of the power on himself as part of nature interference.

In an instant, the earth changed tens of thousands of times according to his own nature and form. He had taken on the appearance of pitch-black flames that were rising. Those were the aether residues that had been produced as a result of tens of thousands of nature interferences, and they flew in the air like ashes.

He had become a variable. As every being had been reduced to zero, he had become an incompatible number that could never be erased, an obstacle that was stuck in the logic machine.

Although Bai Xi’s attack had forced him into a more reactive role, his counters were still very skillful. It was as if this was something that he was very familiar with. In fact, he was so adept that he was able to reveal its nature with a single phrase.

“Rise from the ground, fall from the sky?” Tung Wang Kung repeated the key phrase of alchemy. His voice was calm. “I can’t believe Hermes actually taught you so much. Too bad, you learned too little…”

The look on Bai Xi’s face was cold. “To defeat you, this is more than enough!”

“Is that so? Don’t you forget, when it comes to what you are trying to do, I’m much more familiar than you!” With that, the merging of heaven and earth froze suddenly. Tens of thousands of music theories extended out of the endless alchemy formation. A terrifying scale that was beyond human comprehension turned into a quantitative change and in an instant, a massive transformation began to spread within Bai Xi’s alchemy formation. Bit by bit, her suppression was crumbled.

This was computing power at the level of Three Wise Men. It was capable of calculating the intelligence and logic of the trails of countless stars. To Tung Wang Kung, who was currently running at full speed, billions of logic valves were reduced to just a simple multiple-choice question.

To Tung Wang Kung, who was currently in control of the central core, Paganini’s Moto Perpetuo was a technique that he could attain very easily. He had an endless amount of time to compute its secret.

“Hey, Tung Wang Kung,” a deep voice said. It was Ye Qingxuan. He was sitting on the ground. He raised his finger and casually wiped away the blood stain on his nose, “Shall we have a rational negotiation?”

Tung Wang Kung wanted to laugh but it came across as cold sarcasm. “Is this what mankind always loved to do? Communication and interaction? Are you hoping that under your persuasion, I will become more conscious of the restraint and as a result, be so ashamed that I decide to destroy myself?”

Ye Qingxuan’s eyes lit up. “Oh? Is there such a possibility?”

“Hehe.” He replied Ye Qingxuan’s question in a “human” manner.

“Now that we are past the opening jokes, shall we come back to reality, Tung Wang Kung?” Ye Qingxuan continued calmly, “With regards to your current situation, I’m just going to say this bluntly. From the moment I walked in here, you have already lost. So why bother clinging on?”

“Is that so?” Tung Wang Kung countered, “In that case, why are you still here?”

“You have blocked our way, that is true. But what will you gain in return? The time that the Originator will be present is about to end. Perhaps you may not lose, but you will definitely not be able to gain anything. The longer this drags on, the more it is to our advantage. If this drags on till the very end, your plan will fail completely…”

“This is not the end.” Tung Wang Kung was indifferent. “I can still afford to wait.”

“Even if there can be another time, or yet another time, the outcome will still be the same!” Ye Qingxuan raised his voice. “As long as I’m around, Bai Xi will never become your tool.”

“And so?” Tung Wang Kung laughed. “Are you hoping that I will tell you that I give up?”

“Is there such a possibility?” Ye Qingxuan drummed his fingers on his knees with a sincere look on his face. “As long as you are willing, the price can be discussed.”

“Ye Qingxuan, there’s something that you don’t understand.” Tung Wang Kung raised his arms and supported the merging vault of heaven. His voice was like the roar of thunder as he finally revealed disdain of the deepest sort. “Perhaps, there is someone in this world who is able to convince me to give up, but that person is not here, and that person will never be you!”

Ye Qingxuan shook his head in disappointment. “In other words, you insist on heading down this path?”

“… I will not have it any other way!” Tung Wang Kung’s answer was decisive and firm. It seemed that both parties were never willing to change their stands from the very beginning.

“In that case, very well, Tung Wang Kung, we are now enemies for life.” Ye Qingxuan pushed against his knee and got up slowly before boastfully declaring, “Before the projection of the Originator comes to an end, I will destroy you completely!” With that, he raised his hand and opened up his palm to show to his enemy. In his palm was a thin chain with a small metal tablet.

The words on the metal tablet were already mottled and blurred as if they had been through centuries of hardship. It was something that Ye Xuan had thrown to Ye Qingxuan while they were in “Neanderthal” and before they had entered the central core. Centuries ago, when Xiao Huan had decided to destroy his enemies and had started the war of the colony ships, he had passed the exact same thing to Ye Xuan.

It was proof of the central core of the colony ship. It represented the highest authority of the captain and was also the password that could take over control of all systems in an emergency. And it was now in the hands of Ye Qingxuan.

“With this, the central core shall follow my command!” Ye Qingxuan raised his voice and gave an order to whatever remained of the system, “Open up all the internal partitions. All authorities shall now be transferred over to Neanderthal!”

In that instant, a huge roar burst forth from the world beyond the Originator. In the endless data layer and amidst the ocean of logic of the central core, it was as if mountains were rising from the deep sea and massive repercussions were crashing towards all directions.

After being sealed for centuries, the black box, which was named “Neanderthal,” was slowly being opened up. The data shell, which had been obstructed by a screen, was being forcefully bridged once again. It was completely ignoring the order and will of Tung Wang Kung, and the silent supreme authority was forcefully pushing the central core. As a result, the servers beneath the temple, which were concentrated together like a forest, were extinguished instantly.

Shortly after, shiny green signal lights began to light up, one by one, like stars. Eventually, they became a light and graceful ocean. The way they blinked was as if they were breathing. A pair of eyes, that was filled with nothingness, slowly opened within and looked in the direction of the mortal world.