Night of Despair

"...." Yu Hong understood.

He realized, he understood the true intent of the message Ji left behind.

Unconsciously, he turned back and looked at Yiyi sitting by the window inside the Black Black Spirit, motionless, reading a book.

Now, he suddenly understood.

That was not Yiyi at all... just a fantasy he couldn't let go of in his heart...

Because everything that made up Yiyi, be it matter or soul, had already vanished in the extinction, and likewise, Yiyi had long since thoroughly disappeared in the Great Annihilation outside, forgotten in the Forgotten Belt, was just a facade.

In other words, if he wanted to revive Yiyi, completely, truly revive her, he must control the Great Annihilation outside, find the traces that make up Yiyi, and recreate them, then he can recreate the complete Yiyi.

A deep sorrow welled up from Yu Hong's heart.

"Of course, you can choose to just revive a part of them, but without the memory and soul before the Great Annihilation, they would be no more than living dead." Ji calmly continued.

"Without your power to sustain them, the next moment they would completely disintegrate."

He raised his hand, palm up, igniting a pure golden flame.

"I once thought I could lead the tribe, escape the Great Annihilation, and live until the next Great Annihilation, but, unfortunately... I was wrong. The reason I tell you so much is to explain the root cause of my failure. In fact, having reached this point, even we will slowly start to disappear due to the traces' extinction. It's just that our rank is so high that we disappear far slower than other individuals. That's all."

"The Forgotten Belt doesn't cause you to forget; you're destined to only reach this point here, and then start forgetting...."

"It's not that you forget them, but all things forget you."

Ji's voice carried a trace of despair, a hint of pain.

"Then... is there still hope?" Yu Hong couldn't help but ask.

"Of course. Hope has always been there. It's just that I can't continue...."

Ji gently raised his hand, tossing the golden flame upwards, letting it float toward Yu Hong.

"I am the Star God, deeply intertwined with all things, the Great Annihilation of all things, I can only go this far... what lies beyond, I do not know, I can only tell you where I found hope."

The golden flame flew in front of Yu Hong, like a kind of legacy, in an instant, countless golden threads flew out of the flame, linking to his face.

Countless images surged into his mind.

Source Material!

Source Material Source Material Source Material!!

All the images were concentrated on parts related to Source Material.

How to use Source Material, how to create and refine Source Material, a vast amount of information was concentrated inside.

"To continue moving forward, you must rid yourself of the traces of all things, but who in this world can completely eliminate them? Everything is like leaves on a giant tree, interconnected. It's impossible not to leave traces of all things."

"Having reached this point, I realized that all things... have never been different... they are from beginning to end, just one thing... all destined for annihilation...."

Ji finally sighed, his form slowly fading, turning transparent, and disappearing from sight.

Yu Hong silently absorbed the vast amount of image information within the golden flame until the flame dissipated and extinguished.

He then left the space in his mind, seeing that the sphere inside the Forgotten Belt had already disappeared.

He paused for a moment, turned around, and returned to the Black Black Spirit.

Looking at Yiyi sitting by the window, he completely understood the principle of the Heavenly Venerate's temporal intervention, which is based on the traces of all connected things for interference.

Following the traces of all things, reversing time, re-manifesting everything. This is the ability of the Heavenly Venerate.

But... now, most of all things are already gone....

To be exact, from the start of the Great Annihilation, they all actually began their synchronous extinction.

Like a giant tree, where the roots first began to decay, it's just that the speed was so fast that the leaves finally fell yet remained verdant green.

'Then why am I unaffected? Is it rank, or...' Yu Hong suddenly thought of something.

Suddenly, he lightly grasped, and a black phone appeared out of thin air in his hand.

It was the phone he used before coming to this world.

'Perhaps it's because I am not originally nurtured from the things of this world....'

He suddenly understood...

Once again lifting his head.

He saw Yiyi by the window lift her head and smile at him gently.

Then, a breeze blew past.

Yiyi slowly faded, turned transparent, and disappeared from her seat.

Leaving only the book gently falling onto the table, the pages naturally closing with elasticity.

Yu Hong's throat stirred as he walked step by step, gently picking up the book, placing it at his nose, closing his eyes, smelling the lingering scent of Yiyi.

"If it's truly as Ji said... then perhaps I really am the only hope, the only entity in this world that won't disappear due to the annihilation of all things...."

He opened his eyes, set down the book, and looked up through the window.

He suddenly thought of one of his rank's abilities, to radiate and affect solidify the things around him, making them take on solidified essence too.

Perhaps this is the reason why his safe house remains.

After all, the traces of all things' extinction affect not only life but also things, all disappearing and vanishing.

'Wait for me, since there is still hope... I will not give up!'

Yu Hong's gaze grew more solemn.

'The annihilation of all things' traces will inevitably sooner or later affect me; even Ji at that level disappeared, which means my time is limited too....'

'I originally thought I could hide here forever, I was too naive....'

'Even if I'm not the leaves of this world, the memories concerning this world will still definitely be affected.'

Thinking of this, he suddenly understood the essence of life's forgetfulness, perhaps it was due to the dissolution of traces.

"When the traces of things in one's memory start to dissolve, even memory will follow suit... This isn't something within human control, but a change in the information itself..."

"Everything will naturally dissolve, there's no way to prevent it. Information traces are the same; the only solution is replication. But what is replicated is never the thing itself, merely an imitation. Just a new distorted entity."

Ji's arrival made Yu Hong completely understand everything, abandoning the last trace of luck.

He fully understood that only by truly finding the land of vitality and then ensuring absolute safety for himself, by constantly reinforcing himself, might there be a sliver of hope to reverse everything.

The Black Black Spirit flew over the last message place left by Ji, continuing to move deeper.

This time, there was no companionship, no conversation, only Yu Hong alone.

Sailing alone, moving forward alone...

*

*

*

Ten years later...

In the dark void.

An irregularly shaped black meteorite steadily and uniformly sped towards the unknown depths.

Inside the meteorite is a three-layer structured black small building.

In the underground main control room, by the circular window.

A tall, burly young man was holding a guitar, his head lowered, gently strumming and singing.

The man had a full beard, deep eyes, wore a simple gray T-shirt and light blue jeans, his long hair draping over his chest.

"The quiet village, it's snowing..."

"Under the gloomy sky, pigeons are flying..."

Yu Hong gently sang, his fingers lightly plucking the strings of the handmade guitar.

The clear and clean sound of the guitar echoed lonelily in this small space.

The light was brightly soft, the outside pitch black and quiet.

The mild buzzing sound of the array and energy furnace seemingly accompanied the song and music.

After the song ended, Yu Hong set down the guitar, as if hearing the sound of a girl clapping forcefully.

"Yu... big brother... you sang... so well!" The voice stammered, very pleasant, very cute.

"Yiyi, why are you stammering again." Yu Hong instinctively smiled.

But the next moment, his smile froze, as he seemed puzzled by saying that.

The sound at his ear abruptly vanished.

He stood up, gazing into the seemingly endless darkness ahead.

He did not know how much longer he needed to fly to leave here, but it didn't matter, he wouldn't disappear, wouldn't be forgotten, so he could continue waiting.

Picking up a small metal figurine from the table beside him, he carefully examined it, memorizing its appearance, then began engraving again on its back - Yi, Yi.

This was his daily task.

Because the words engraved yesterday would mysteriously vanish the next day.

The face of the figurine would become blurred again.

These all needed his maintenance and replication again.

Replication is his method to combat forgetting.

After finishing these, Yu Hong walked out of the main control room, looking towards the empty table and chairs by the window.

Closing his eyes, he reopened them.

By the table and chairs, a young girl in a white dress appeared, looking adorable.

She held a book in her hands, smiling as she read.

Yu Hong also showed a slight smile, swiftly preparing two bowls of instant dumplings, cabbage, and minced meat, placing them on the table, and sat opposite the girl.

He quietly ate the dumplings while talking to the girl about his cultivation status, and the recent progress in exploring his abilities.

Boom.

Suddenly, the entire Black Black Spirit shook violently.

Yu Hong's expression changed, quickly standing up, rushing to the main control room, and looking forward.

Outside the window directly ahead.

In the previously unchanging infinite darkness, now slowly emerged a vast golden light wall.

The light wall was like liquid gold, its surface undulating, waves surging, like a golden sea erected vertically.

The blinding golden light emitted from it coated the Black Black Spirit and the following Aus Spaceship in a layer of gold.

Yu Hong quietly observed the wall like a golden ocean. Allowing the Black Black Spirit to begin self-acceleration, faster and more urgent, rushing towards the golden ocean.

Puff!!

In an instant.

Everything in front of Yu Hong was dyed gold.

The golden ocean ignored the walls and array of the Black Black Spirit, pouring in countless golden ocean water, completely flooding the room.

But the next moment, a purple halo blossomed around Yu Hong's body, creating a spherical light curtain.

The light curtain expanded again, reconstructing the space of the safe house.

The entire safe house like a black fish, fiercely rushed into the golden ocean, disappearing in the blink of an eye.