novelraw Chapter 306 : The Descent of the Apostle, Bai Fu’s New Persona
Chapter 306 : The Descent of the Apostle, Bai Fu’s New Persona
Chapter 306: The Descent of the Apostle, Bai Fu’s New Persona
The experiment proceeded very smoothly.
At the very moment the 【Gate of Ascension to the Ethereal Realm】 manifested, Bai Fu received a new game prompt.
【You have unlocked the Advanced Map［Ethereal Realm］】
As the officially designated advanced map, the recommended level for攻略 of the Ethereal Realm was 170–275.
Bai Fu’s current level happened to be stuck right in the middle of this range—not too high, not too low.
Upon entering the map, as long as she did not act recklessly, there should not be any danger.
“Are we setting out now?”
Bai Fu looked toward Buvalo, who stood not far away.
Buvalo nodded. “Exploration of the Ethereal Realm is a vast undertaking, not something that can be accomplished in one stroke. Everyone, there’s no need to rush this time. If you encounter any anomalies, return immediately.”
He said that, yet from the eyes of the surrounding Psionic Priests, Bai Fu could see that they hardly took Buvalo’s words to heart.
This was the Ethereal Realm—the holy land in the hearts of billions of Psionic Priests!
If they could make discoveries in this sacred place, wouldn’t their strength soar?
Even the Curse Lord Olsen, a seasoned Transcendent II, could not help but feel his heart race at this moment.
“Move out!”
Someone shouted, and Olsen was the first to step into the Gate of Ascension to the Ethereal Realm.
A few seconds later, all the participants of the plan, including Bai Fu, stepped through the gate.
Swoosh—
Bai Fu felt her body and soul simultaneously chilled.
When she regained her senses, she found herself in an unfamiliar starry sky.
“Starry sky?”
Bai Fu froze, suspecting that she had been teleported to the wrong place.
She quickly opened the game map.
No mistake—the very top of the map indeed displayed 【Ethereal Realm】.
Judging from the spread of the map’s fog, the size of this Ethereal Realm map was definitely larger than the already explored universe.
“This 【Ethereal Realm】 doesn’t seem the same as the similar places I’ve seen in other games.”
She looked around but did not see Olsen or the others who had entered alongside her. Yet the exit portal back to the Ethereal Realm was right behind her.
Strange.
Could this be some advanced illusion she could not perceive?
Puzzled, Bai Fu flew toward a nearby planet.
From planet to star, from star to another star system, she wandered through dozens of star systems. The more she explored, the stranger it felt.
Every planet or star she passed was barren—but this barrenness was different from that of uninhabited planets in the Main Space.
From her perspective, planets in the Main Space might be barren, yet they were still “alive.” But these planets, although rotating and orbiting like normal, were already “dead.”
Bai Fu did not believe this was an illusion.
She was already Transcendent—there was no such thing as frequent illusions at her level. If something felt wrong, there was definitely something behind it.
Thinking this, she released a large number of Tiny Bai Fus, letting them scour the planets for anomalies.
And indeed, they found “ruins.”
On a planet whose surface looked ravaged by giant beasts, among fractured rock layers, Bai Fu spotted stone-built structures.
She had never seen this style of architecture before. What caught her attention, however, was not the style itself, but the fact that in such a harsh environment, these buildings, made of nothing but ordinary stone, showed no trace of weathering—as if time itself had frozen upon them.
“Could it be that time in this world has stopped?”
Bai Fu was astonished.
But if time had stopped, why were these planets still moving?
“I need to find a True Spirit who can speak and ask.”
Speaking of True Spirits, Bai Fu suddenly thought of her summoned beast, Kabaya. Kabaya might not be able to speak and seemed brainless, but if it was just leading her to other True Spirits, that should be possible.
She immediately summoned Kabaya.
To her delight, when she told Kabaya to lead her to other psionic creatures like itself, it actually obeyed and flew ahead.
For more than ten days they roamed the dead starry sky, until at last they reached a star system with obvious traces of artificial presence.
On the fourth planet of this system, Bai Fu discovered a group of oddly shaped True Spirit beings.
She cast an Apostle’s Psionic Vision on the one leading the group.
【Name】: AA (Apostolic Aura Missing)
【Template】: True Spirit Summon Life
【Main Class】: Apostle’s Inner Guard Lv19［+75］
【Sub Class】: None
【HP】: -/-
【Psionic Value】: -/-
【Stats】: Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, Spirit, Inspiration
【Skills】: ……
【Talents】: ……
【Favorability】: Stranger (0)
【Danger Level】: Green
After reading the feedback, Bai Fu was shocked.
“What the hell—it has no HP bar!”
In the game, even planets technically had HP bars. Yet this True Spirit Summon Life had none.
Still, however bizarre, one thing was clear: AA had an NPC template. Which meant—it could be communicated with.
Bai Fu landed on the ground, just about to speak, when AA and the others suddenly cried out.
“Ap-ap-ap… Lord Apostle, Number Three Apostle?”
They were speaking in a language Bai Fu had never heard before, yet she could somehow understand their words.
Number Three Apostle?
Bai Fu froze.
She remembered—the quest about collecting True Spirit Molts mentioned that Yulia’s molt originated from the Third Apostle.
After their exclamation, AA sniffed suddenly.
“Wait a moment. Indeed, I can smell the aura of the Third Apostle, but it is very faint. This should not be the true Third Apostle.”
His words were quickly countered by another True Spirit Summon Life: “No, the aura is faint, but it clearly emanates from her. She must be the Third Apostle!”
“You’re wrong! How could the aura of the Third Apostle be this weak?”
“I don’t know why it is weak, but you are certainly the one mistaken.”
“No, you are!”
“You are!”
“……”
Watching the argument break out among them, Bai Fu felt speechless.
She more or less figured out the situation.
She was not the Third Apostle. The reason these True Spirit beings could sense the aura was likely because she was bound to Yulia, who carried two True Spirit Molts.
What they sensed was not her aura, but Yulia’s.
“These True Spirit Summon Lives don’t look very smart. They should be easy to fool.”
Thinking this, Bai Fu lightly cleared her throat, cutting through the noisy quarrel.
“Can I say a few words?”
Swoosh swoosh swoosh.
Dozens of eyes immediately turned toward her.
“Some of you claim I am the Third Apostle. Some of you claim I am not. You look confused, unable to tell who I am. The truth is—I also do not know who I really am.”
Bai Fu tapped her temple and put on a pained expression.
“I lost all memories of my past. When I woke up, I found myself in a place called the Explored Universe. Since then, a voice has always echoed in my mind, urging me to visit the Ethereal Realm. So I spent decades, and finally arrived in this so-called Ethereal Realm. I drifted aimlessly here for more than ten days. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. All I’ve seen is a barren starry sky, until I met you. I wanted to ask if you knew anything. But to my surprise, before I could even speak, you kept arguing about my identity, I…”
The pain on her face gradually shifted into excitement.
“I want to ask again, did you really sense a familiar aura from me?”
AA and the other True Spirit Summon Lives exchanged glances. Finally, he nodded. “We truly sensed it.”
“Wonderful!” Bai Fu exclaimed with delight. “Can you tell me about the Ethereal Realm and this Number Three Apostle you mentioned? Maybe I can remember something.”
AA did not answer immediately. Instead, he pulled the other True Spirit Summon Lives aside to a distance.
They conversed using psionic fluctuations, unaware that Bai Fu was able to sense everything they said.
In truth, they were debating whether or not to tell her.
AA still held doubts, but another True Spirit Summon Life, after hearing Bai Fu’s rambling, became even more convinced that she was indeed the Number Three Apostle.
“This state can’t be mistaken… the Third Apostle must have successfully descended into the new generation!”
Dozens of them huddled together in discussion for a long while. At last, they decided to tell Bai Fu about the Ethereal Realm and the Number Three Apostle.
“Since you managed to come here from the Explored Universe, you should know that outside the Explored Universe exist many dimensional spaces, yes?” AA asked.
Bai Fu said, “Yes.”
AA explained, “The Ethereal Realm is a dimensional space detached from the Main Universe, but it differs from ordinary dimensional spaces. It was torn away from the Main Universe itself.”
Torn away?
Bai Fu suddenly felt that this word sounded familiar.
“Before being torn away, the Ethereal Realm was once the dominion of a cosmic-level civilization of immense power. The forces this civilization wielded were psionic energy and dark energy.”
“Later, for reasons unknown, the civilization was destroyed. Everything that remained of it was stripped from the Main Universe, turning into what we now see.”
“But it’s worth mentioning—this detachment does not mean literally cutting off a part of the Main Universe and exiling it into a dimensional space. Rather, what was stripped away was merely a ‘moment’ of that cosmic-level civilization. How should I put it… a projection. Yes, the Ethereal Realm is the projection of a moment after that civilization’s destruction. And because of the support of psionic and dark energy, this projection became a peculiar kind of ‘real existence.’”
Bai Fu was shocked.
No wonder the planets she saw in the Ethereal Realm were all dead. No wonder the stone buildings she saw did not weather. It was all because everything here was merely a projection.
But more than the projection, what drew her attention was the word “detachment.”
After AA’s explanation, she finally realized why the term felt familiar. Wasn’t this similar to the Void Dimension?
When she raided Rufas’s base, she had obtained a large amount of information about the Void. The documents described that the Void Dimension was also a cosmic-level civilization exiled into a dimensional space.
The Void was detached, and so was the Ethereal Realm. Then what about the other dimensional spaces connected to the Main Universe?
Like the Demon Dimension that spawned demonic calamities, or the Nightmare Dimension that gave birth to dream monsters.
If these dimensions were also banished like the Void and the Ethereal Realm, then what exactly was it that banished them?
What kind of existence could overthrow cosmic-level civilizations and exile them?
Just imagining it sent chills down Bai Fu’s spine.
Seeing her expression shift, AA asked, “Did you recall something?”
Bai Fu said, “A little… very vague.”
AA did not press further and continued giving information. “Because the Ethereal Realm is essentially just a ‘projection’ of a moment, nothing within it—including the Apostles themselves—can grow over time. That is because in the Ethereal Realm, time as defined by the Main Universe does not exist. When the Ethereal Realm first came into being, only a small number of survivors from that once-great cosmic civilization remained.”
“These survivors were not united. They fought amongst each other, until eleven of them survived and became what are traditionally known as the Apostles—from the First Apostle to the Eleventh Apostle. Each Apostle has unique traits. The First Apostle is recognized as the strongest, wielding unmatched power, even bearing the title of God of the Ethereal Realm. It was he who maintained the stability of the Ethereal Realm and restored peace.”
“The Apostles found life in the Ethereal Realm dull, so they created numerous True Spirit Lives. We are the creations of the Third Apostle.”
“Then, after an unknown span of time, the First Apostle, wielder of supreme power, suddenly disappeared. No one knows where he went. Some True Spirits say he went to the Main Universe to change the fate of the Ethereal Realm. In any case, once he vanished, the Ethereal Realm fell into chaos again.”
“Some Apostles somehow left the Ethereal Realm, while others fought fiercely among themselves.”
“The Third Apostle brought us here, then left us, saying he was going to the Main Universe to find a way to step out of the projection. From that day, we never saw him again.”
AA’s eyes brimmed with sorrow.
He had been created by the Third Apostle. To him, the Apostle was god, was parent. Now that god (parent) was gone, how could he not grieve?
Bai Fu mused, “Do you know how many years ago the First Apostle disappeared?”
AA shook his head. “We have no concept of the specific timescale you speak of.”
Bai Fu asked again, “Do you know where the other Apostles who left the Ethereal Realm went?”
AA said, “The Ninth Apostle seems to have been summoned by a Psionic Priest of Titan Industries. And the Fourth Apostle, I heard, went to a place called the Holy City of Apostles. As for the rest, I don’t know.”
“……”
The amount of information was overwhelming. Bai Fu needed time to process it.
Could the Ninth Apostle be the same one the painter mentioned—the Apostle summoned through a sacrificial ritual? If she remembered right, the painter’s hometown, the Sandthorn Supercluster, lay between the Rebirth Empire and Titan Industries.
And that Holy City of Apostles—could its current might be tied to the Fourth Apostle?
If so, then perhaps it wasn’t entirely safe for Sui Xi to stay in the Holy City of Apostles. If she happened to encounter the real Apostle, the Fourth Apostle…
Wait, perhaps the problem wasn’t so big.
Oh, the Fourth Apostle? You say you are an Apostle? If you say so, then I am even more so. I can guide others in progress, I can guide them in evolution. Can you?
To tell the truth, not only am I an Apostle, I am the First Apostle, the God of the Ethereal Realm.
Don’t believe me?
Look—Number Three Apostle Yulia herself follows me. If I am not the First Apostle, who else could be?
When it came to deception, Bai Fu feared no one.
Before, she worried that the God of the Ethereal Realm was a true deity, so she dared not spout nonsense, afraid of “divine punishment.”
Now that she knew the God of the Ethereal Realm was not an actual god, how could she not seize the chance to fool others—just like when she claimed the title of Sovereign of the Shadowed Night? She would craft for herself a new persona: 【Reincarnation of the God of the Ethereal Realm】.
Personas really were useful!
“Speaking of which…”
Bai Fu suddenly recalled what the Radiant Host said during the meeting at the Psionic Research Center.
Radiant Host mentioned that fifty years ago, an Imperial psionic researcher accidentally discovered a constant in the dark energy equation had shifted.
For a constant to shift, something immense must have changed in the Ethereal Realm. Could that event have been the disappearance of the First Apostle?
The more she thought, the more plausible it seemed.
Now the question was: where had the First Apostle gone, and was he tied to the main storyline?
At that moment, she received a new game prompt—
【Beyond the Stars storyline exploration +0.3%】
“The whole game’s storyline exploration just jumped by 0.3% at once?”
Bai Fu froze, then quickly realized.
No doubt about it—the movements of the First Apostle were tied to the game’s main plot!
……
Meanwhile, as Bai Fu conversed with AA, in the no-man’s-land between the Rebirth Empire and the Supernova Legion, in a laboratory of the Revolutionary Army’s Shadow Legion, a young man lying on the observation platform suddenly opened his eyes.
“Someone has entered the Ethereal Realm!”
This news, like lightning, reached the ears of the painter and the Tigerhead Man.