Chapter 00082: The Lone Traveler in the Night Sky
# The Lone Traveler in the Night Sky
Chapter 82
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 82: The Lone Traveler in the Night Sky
Lan Xiaobu's gaze swept around, taking in the lush greenery and thick forests that surrounded him. Countless rare herbs, which he had never seen before, flourished in this place.
Suddenly, a ginseng plant seemed to sense his scrutiny and vanished into the underbrush with a swift rustle. Gu Dao quickly chased after it, but returned shortly after, having not even touched a hair of the ginseng.
Lan Xiaobu felt a tingling sensation at the back of his head. What he had only heard of in rumors, he was witnessing with his own eyes. However, with the existence of storage space, what was there to be surprised about?
There was not a soul in sight. It seemed that after leaving the passageway of Yuqi Star, everyone had been scattered to different locations by the spatial currents.
After carefully observing his surroundings, Lan Xiaobu found a small stream. He followed the stream for a good half a day and finally arrived at the outskirts of a dry lake. This lake had certainly been deep before it dried up, as he noticed one side of the embankment standing seven or eight zhang tall.
Before long, Lan Xiaobu found a place to settle down. At the spot where the embankment rose high, several giant trees had already withered. The roots of the trees were dry and decayed, with a hole dug by an unknown animal at the base.
Lan Xiaobu approached the cave, which was two to three zhang deep, surrounded by desiccated roots and earth. He tidied up the cave a bit and covered the entrance with dead branches, deciding to check the wooden box here.
Sitting within the cave, Lan Xiaobu assessed his chances of being discovered. He concluded that he might have attracted the suspicion of Emperor Senno; otherwise, there was no way the emperor would have called out to him.
Fortunately, Emperor Senno probably only suspected him and had not reached a definitive conclusion. Judging by the time other contenders from various planets were allowed to stay on Yuqi Star, he estimated he had over a month here. During this month, he hoped to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, raising his cultivation further. The premise was that he had to find a new cultivation method, which was his main purpose for coming to Yuqi Star.
The second thing worrying Lan Xiaobu was the soul-deprivation passage at the entrance of Yuqi Star. At that moment, he was completely certain that the soul-deprivation meant someone was devouring the souls of the contenders who entered Yuqi Star.
This devouring technique was similar to Lian's, and he was left wondering if Lian's Spirit Refining Technique was derived from that place where remnants of souls lingered.
Fortunately, he had already cultivated the Spirit Refining Technique and advanced to the second tier in his developed method of cultivating spiritual consciousness. Otherwise, he would have been at a disadvantage. The contestants entering Yuqi Star required guardians, primarily to have those guardians’ souls devoured first. Once the external guardians were consumed, the contestants would naturally be safe.
Regardless of whether that remnant soul would seek him out again, it was most crucial for him to strengthen his own abilities. Although he still did not grasp why that remnant soul wanted to seize his body, after contending with it, those who followed behind him would no longer be subjected to mental attacks.
"Gu Dao, keep watch at the cave entrance. I need to cultivate for a while," Lan Xiaobu instructed Gu Dao before taking out the wooden box.
During this time on Yuqi Star, there was no one to interrupt him. Without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu's spiritual consciousness penetrated into the jade box.
Earlier, when he was at the first stage of the Spirit Refining Technique, his consciousness had entered the box, feeling its vast and ethereal nature. Once his consciousness was in, it was as though it was swallowed up by an immense sea, without a trace.
This time, as he sent his consciousness into the box, he immediately sensed a stark contrast. It felt as if he had stepped into a boiling pot of oil; boundless waves of heat surged towards him. A deep, resonant drumbeat echoed, as if there was a mighty drum rumbling deep within the wooden box.
His consciousness faced immense resistance in this boiling space. Without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu launched his Soul Thorn forward.
In the next moment, his mind grew clear, and two large characters appeared in his thoughts: "The Dao does not sink, Seven Sounds emerge; a lone traveler in the boundless night!"
What did that mean? As Lan Xiaobu pondered this, streams of information surged into his mind. The duo of characters became increasingly blurred, and he felt a splitting headache, hurriedly retracting his consciousness.
At the same time, he understood clearly what those lines meant. It referred to the End of the Dharma Era, when all paths began to sink into obscurity and disperse...
Yet amidst such despair, there existed an intent: to preserve the Dao of the universe within the Seven Sounds. Even if, one day, the grand Dao of the universe vanished, as long as the Seven Sounds emerged, the Dao would not continue to sink away.
After the Dao sinks, everything in the universe plunges into endless night; even the greatest expanses of the universe fall into darkness. When the Seven Sounds emerge, there stands but one seeker of the Dao in the universe cloaked in the darkness of lost paths—a lone traveler who shall carve out new paths for this Dao-less universe. He is a solitary figure, yet the one who will shape a new Dao.
Lan Xiaobu took a deep breath, now understanding the significance of the box. When it could have originated, he did not know, but it could very well be a treasured item from the dawn of creation.
Yet, he was also acutely aware of the expectations held within this box. It wanted him to become the bearer of the Dao in this end-of-era universe and restore the lineage of the grand Dao.
This grand Dao must pertain to cultivation, he thought. Was he meant to revive cultivation in this waning universe? No, it might not relate solely to cultivation, or it might imply something entirely different. Regardless, his strength was still too feeble now to fully comprehend the wooden box.
Lan Xiaobu stowed the box, confident that it contained a cultivation method or something similar. However, at present, his spiritual consciousness seemed insufficient.
"The Dao does not sink, Seven Sounds emerge; a lone traveler in the boundless night!"
Gazing at the verdant Yuqi Star, Lan Xiaobu felt a surge of pride within him. Since he had acquired the Seven Sounds, let it be known that he, Lan Xiaobu, would be the lone traveler of this universe.
"Let’s go, Gu Dao! We are off to seek fortune!" Lan Xiaobu leaped from the tree hole and charged forward. Gu Dao let out a roar and quickly followed suit.
Lan Xiaobu extended his spiritual consciousness outward, allowing him to clearly feel which direction the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was abundant, and which direction it was sparser.
Yuqi Star was filled with treasures, and naturally, he would seek out the areas with the richest spiritual energy, for only in such places could he hope to obtain the best treasures.
Having reached the Innate Realm, Lan Xiaobu could cover several zhang with just a light push from his toes. As for Gu Dao, being a wolf, he faced no hindrance from the dense underbrush.
An hour later, Lan Xiaobu halted. He spotted a stone that glowed red like flames. As his spiritual consciousness reached out, he realized he could not penetrate through the stone. Without a moment's pause, he stepped forward, placing his hand upon the red stone, feeling its searing heat.
Though he didn't recognize the material, Lan Xiaobu was certain it was anything but ordinary.
Just as he grasped the stone and prepared to lift it, he suddenly felt uneasy, as if someone was watching him.
Without a second thought, he swiftly dodged. In the next moment, a ray of light shot past the spot where he had just stood, striking the red stone.
Once the light faded, the stone showed no signs of damage.
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu had other priorities. His attention was drawn to a figure standing over twenty meters away, a man dressed in gray.
Lan Xiaobu recognized him from before; he seemed to come from a Level-5 Technological Civilization planet. Which star system he belonged to was inconsequential.
"Eh? How did you dodge my magnetic light attack?" the gray-clad man exclaimed in surprise, raising his gray weapon once more.
But before he could attack again, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, followed by a piercing scream. The magnetic light gun slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
Lan Xiaobu surged forward in a flash, drawing his short blade and swiftly severing the gray man's head.
Only after slaying the opponent did Lan Xiaobu breathe a sigh of relief. They had stipulated that no technological weapons should enter Yuqi Star, yet here lay the magnetic gun the gray man wielded.
Lan Xiaobu's gaze fell upon a white device next to the gray man, and he soon recognized it: a Butterfly Device. Capable of traveling at a maximum speed of two hundred kilometers per hour, powered by a material known as Boundary Stone, its distinctive feature was its foldability for easy transport.
Lan Xiaobu reached down to pick up the Butterfly Device, and indeed, it was foldable. The materials used were unfamiliar even to him and likely did not belong to a Level-5 Technological Civilization, hinting at a higher technological source.
No wonder this guy moved so quickly; it seemed that those capable of using such Butterfly Devices weren't limited to just the one before him.
Lan Xiaobu stored the magnetic light gun away while taking the Butterfly Device and the man's pack. He then returned to the red stone, carefully placing it into his spatial ring.
(End of Chapter)