Chapter 883 - Astral Shift

Translator: BOTA Fireteam

"Finally, nobody's in my way." Tianming circled the surrounding area a few times to be doubly sure that Di Zang and Po Suo had left.

"Hmph, if they hadn't gone back to deal with their matters, I would've gone to their realm to wreck shit." Now that the two were gone, the monochrome formation from before was gone as well. All that remained was the light emanating from the star. Tianming stood outside the five-colored formation and looked around until he spotted the ninth black hole star. It was still embedded in the formation.

"Thankfully, using my Plundering Hand to open the formation won't damage it in any way." That was one of the many talents of the Sky Plunderers. This was the Skysource Hellshaker Formation, and it was far beyond the level of tribulation pattern barriers. Whether the Plundering Hand could pry it open was still unknown, even though Tianming had absorbed the Archaionfiend Eye.

"If I can enter, even if the ninth black hole star doesn't contain anything, I'll still be able to find out the truth about what's inside this star!"

He stretched his left hand towards the formation. "So this is a god-level formation, huh...."

His palm looked like it was sinking into liquid metal the moment it touched the formation. Even though the liquid metal didn't seem to harm him, it looked like it would require a great effort to pry open a hole large enough for him to enter. As he fiddled with it, he suddenly had an epiphany.

"This entire formation is formed from layers upon layers of heavenly patterns. I wonder how many patterns there are in total on a formation so large. Heavenly patterns are manifestations of heavenly will, which are in turn just simplified heavenly laws themselves. Looks like I'll have to spend some time looking into its mysteries.

Ever since coming to Archaion, he had been focusing on nothing but survival, thanks to Feiling's identity. But now he had seen Yi Xingyin's amazing exploits and was inspired by the deep mysteries of a god-level formation. His passion for the patternscribing field began growing once more.

"Big Brother, I looked into formations quite a lot during my days at Soulburn Hall. I might be able to meddle with some tribulation patterns if I borrow some of your power," Feiling said.

"Alright. The two of us make such a good pair—we're perfect for each other!" As he said that, he stuck his left hand deeper into the formation. By now, his arm was enveloped in that sea of heavenly patterns.

"How's it going?"

"I should be able to open it, but I'll need time to slowly undo the structure of the formation." He squeezed himself deeper inside.

The formation was not unlike a thick wall. It took Tianming about an hour to reach the location of the black hole star. Even though it was his innate talent, he didn't understand how he could just pry open a sea of heavenly patterns that others could only dream of touching.

"It's taking time, but the fact that I was able to pry it open at all is good news. This formation was made by Great Emperor Xuanyuan, eh? I wonder if that voice who said he was waiting for me at the end of the last black hole is his...." His eyes glowed with passion as he continued unraveling the heavenly patterns, gradually getting more and more used to it. Soon, the black hole star was right in front of his eyes.

"I'm almost there!" The power of the black hole star actually forced the surrounding heavenly patterns some ways away, leaving behind an empty area. He tore open the last patch and was finally through. Now, he was right in front of the black hole star. Before he could even give it a good look, the force from the black hole pulled him in.

He didn't resist it at all, but allowed himself to be swallowed up by the darkness and soon lost trace of the slightest bit of light. As he expected, he was being sent through some kind of passageway. Soon, his surroundings grew more and more visible. He saw an ancient battlefield once more.

Countless cultivators who used to be enslaved like livestock stood up in rebellion against the heavens to change their destinies, eventually overturning the reign of the demon race. The demons in the murals grew clearer and clearer. Most of them were three meters in height with green faces and tusks. Some had many eyes, while others had many arms. A few even had wings and claws. But one thing was for sure: they all looked terrifying. It was as if all of them possessed the power to level mountains. What was worse was that Tianming could see stars inside their eyes!

"Why does it remind me of Jiang Wuxin's Fiendgodmorphize?" Back when Jiang Wuxin had fused with his wolf to become a werebeast, he looked a little like these demons. It wasn't that the demons all looked like werewolves; instead, their bodies all had some properties of other beasts. They were both humanoid and bestial at the same time. In some of the murals, they could even unleash terrifying abilities on top of using battle arts.

"Not to mention, they also seem a little like Feng's infernal soul race!"

He gave it a few more looks and found that they looked really similar. However, he couldn't say for sure whether they were of the same stock. The infernal soul race was said to be a fusion of beastmasters and lifebound beasts. However, most of their fusions were failed ones. Apart from Ye Lingfeng, the others all looked really weird. As for the demons, while they had different individual features, they all seemed like terrifying lifeforms. Even though he was only seeing them through murals, he could spot a few demons that looked just like humans, both in terms of height and the lack of bestial features.

The scenes seemed to depict humans sacrificing their lives to obtain a hard-fought victory. At the end of the passageway, he saw a towering man in a dragon robe riding five dragons as he led the billions of people to crush the demons. There were a few star-like figures beside him that looked incredibly powerful.

Who might they be? When he thought that, an odd image appeared. The defeated demons weren't killed. Instead, they escaped towards the sky where the gigantic grey star was! The images flashed quickly by. By the time the man in the dragon robe led his armies to the grey star, the star let out a mist that swallowed the humans and killed them. The entire star began descending from the sky like a gigantic beast. It was as if the demons were able to turn the tables when they were fighting on the grey star.

At that moment, the dragon-robed emperor soared to the sky with his five dragons. Leading his glowing subordinates, he raised the Heaven Cauldron and focused it on the grey star, causing a five-colored formation to manifest.

Then, the image darkened. When light returned, countless blood dragons gnawed at the five-colored formation, angering the emperor and causing him to massacre all of them. A formation of blood formed as blood rained nonstop, surrounding the five-colored formation. The star turned blood red as a result, and began shrinking until it was so small it might as well not exist any longer.

From that day onward, the thousands of stars in the sky fell into what came to be known as the Kilostar Domain. That was where the visions completely stopped. Tianming was completely shaken by the revelation. "So this five-colored star is the prison of the demon race!"

That was a shocking truth. "Nonahall's true aim wasn't to kill the goddess at all. It wasn't territory either. Their true aim is to let the specters return to the human realm! That's why Ghoul King Di Zang knelt to that figure!"

As he understood too little about the history of the continent, this was something he had never considered before. The legends about the demon race felt completely foreign to him. But now the truth was right before his eyes. This conspiracy caused him to shake with terror.

"The Heaven Cauldron! That's why they started the war!" He couldn't want to do anything more than to return to Taiji Peak Lake immediately and tell them the truth.

At that moment, a light appeared ahead of him on the passageway. The whole place quieted down and he stood firm in front of that person. The man in the dragon robe opened his eyes, all three of them, and the one in the center glowed with five colors.

"Great Emperor Xuanyuan...." Tianming took a deep breath.

"O' successor of mine, come to me," beckoned the man.

Tianming stepped forward, wavering from side to side. However, the emperor's gaze didn’t follow him. He figured it wasn't a real person, just like the apparition of the Hexapath Sword God. This was probably a final recording of his will before he left this world.

Tianming shot him a gaze of utmost respect. He was a man that had defined his era, as was apparent from the murals on the passageway. His contributions to humankind far outstripped the nine gods that came after him. Without him, humanity never would have prospered. Tianming could feel the archaic pressure coming from his gaze as if he had traveled back two hundred thousand years in time.

"Greetings, Founding Ancestor."

"After two hundred thousand years, the stars shift once more on the grandest scale. On this day, I have a grand mission to entrust to you." The emperor's voice rang throughout the whole place.