Above The Sky

Chapter 2016 - 25: The Prophet Leading to the Future, the Sage Who Changes Everything

"There is... no Aether?!"

At this moment, Ian truly felt incredulous—an unfathomable incredulity.

Some might consider it an overreaction, but in the Terra Universe—the Ether Universe of the Astral Gods—the existence of Aether itself is the foundation of all things.

It is Aether that integrates the form of the stars, and Aether that constructs the origin of all beings... Simply put, in the Aether Universe, before the diffusion of True Ether, the entire universe might have only had the life form of Star Gods. It was with the presence of Aether that humans and other carbon-based life forms, metal-based lifeforms, and various other different life forms emerged.

Without Aether, the form of the entire universe is unimaginable to the current life.

However, with the diffusion brought by The End, the ’External Universe’ that continues to invade ’Inside the Cradle’ is a ’dead silence’ without any Aether.

Ian stared at this scene, motionless, his gaze unwavering.

"The universe outside the Cradle is without Aether."

This is the greatest hint, the greatest contribution offered to him by the [Ashen Pathway].

Murmuring to himself, Ian took a deep breath: "There are too many possibilities... Let me think carefully."

First, Aether as a tool of the Star Gods, and the Great Aether Circulation as the supreme creation of the Star Gods, are absolutely bound together.

The absence of Aether outside can also represent the absence of Star Gods, which aligns with Ian’s knowledge that in this Paradise War, the Star Gods were ’defeated.’

In this premise, there are two possibilities for the disappearance of Aether.

The first, and most likely possibility, is that after The End crushed the Star Gods, it also sealed off the source of the Star Gods’ power, ’Aether’... Simply put, it’s like two races, one breathing oxygen and the other breathing ammonia, coexisting on the same planet that has both oxygen and ammonia.

If the one breathing oxygen is defeated, the ammonia-breathing race removes all the oxygen from the planet, replacing it with ammonia. Even if the oxygen-breathing race recovers and is ready to fight again, they would still be at a significant disadvantage on this planet.

The second possibility is that, after being defeated, the Star Gods withdrew the Aether themselves, conserving their strength and lying low.

There’s not much to say about this; if the primary possibility is the first one, then even if the Star Gods don’t retract, The End would remove it. Aware of this possibility, the Star Gods would definitely retract the Aether themselves, like pulling back a hand before a powerful punch, it’s the process of gathering strength.

But neither of these possibilities can perfectly explain the scenes Ian has witnessed over two hundred million years.

First is the escape of the Fragment of Demise from the Dragon Island Seal.

Around 160 million years ago, with the practical demise of the Terra civilization, the extinction of perpetual motion machines, and the absence of a constant influx of ’New Aether,’ the aether concentration inside the Cradle fell extremely low, even beyond the threshold that could maintain the Dragon Island Seal.

The Dragon Island Seal failed, and the Fragment of Demise left the black hole that sealed it, entering the interior of the sun, transforming the Tera Star into a black hole.

This scene appeared ordinary, but in reality, it puzzled Ian greatly.

The End originally was a race that lived within black holes. This is evident from how, after leaving the Dragon Island Seal, the Fragment of Demise immediately went to transform a star into a black hole; it was almost instinctual for them.

But apart from that, The End seems to do nothing else.

After turning the Terra Sun into a black hole, all the way until the Cradle shattered, and The End outside the Cradle also entered between the Terra Black Hole, there was a whole forty million years—the Fragment of Demise did nothing during this time, the black hole rotated gently, and Flame Reincarnation wasn’t impeded or affected at all, until forty million years later, when a more terrifying Calamity of Light completely annihilated it.

Indeed, Flame Reincarnation was destroyed by the Calamity of Light.

It wasn’t the Fragment of Demise, nor the subsequent Great Demise—Ian of Extinguished Stars and Flame Reincarnation indeed died, but it wasn’t related to The End, which is likely why Ian could see the ’Rainbow of Darkness.’

After all, the Cradle shattered, and Ian actually broke free from prison, existing in the External Universe of the Great Universe. Though he died the next moment, there is that Rainbow in the Darkness because he ultimately achieved his purpose.

This made a rather incredible possibility arise in Ian’s heart.

"Could Ian of Star Extinguishment on the Extinction Star Path... not have died?"

Thinking this, Ian shook his head: "No, that cannot be observed at all. My Guiding Star couldn’t send back any message, so of course, I have no idea what the result is—and Ashen Ian could at least send back the message ’I will die here,’ hence the darkness."

"However, The End is indeed less harmful than imagined."

Originally, Ian thought that The End, as enemies of the Star Gods, would cause distortion and destruction of the universe simply by appearing, causing countless stars to extinguish in vast swathes.

But now it seems, they merely turn all stars into black holes, not even interfering much with gravity.

In other words... if they don’t draw attention, is it possible to go another way?

"The End is positioned in the direction of the Cradle Wound, going from there will definitely run into The End, which is certain doom."

In Ian’s mind, thoughts raced: "And now, I know that Magnetic Monopoles can breach the Cradle’s barrier—could I travel to the other side of the Terra Cradle, open another door with a Magnetic Monopole, and avoid The End to reach the outside?"