Chapter 2017 - 2013: Difficult to Track
Ye Fan felt like he had entered a complex starfield where everything appeared real, yet he couldn’t integrate himself within it because everything occurring there was simply an illusion. Finding the hidden Nuwa here proved to be no easy task.
"How vast is this place?" Ye Fan asked.
"No one knows," Xi He replied. "At least, before me, there were no descriptions of the Thousand Star Illusion Domain. The name was given by me, and as for how many ancient secrets are hidden here, no one knows. I’ve searched here before, but because I didn’t find any clues, I left and never returned."
Ye Fan nodded, leading Xi He onto a planet—or rather, this planet originally didn’t exist; it’s merely the remnant of a human civilization from ancient or medieval times. Everything happening here is a process from the rise and fall of a civilization.
On the streets, Ye Fan noticed that the layout was somewhat similar to that of Earth, but the civilization here was clearly more advanced than human civilization on Earth. Here people lived as if they could ascend to the sky and delve into the earth, and even venturing into outer space was not a difficult task.
"What exactly is this place?" Ye Fan asked. "Will I find echoes of such a civilization?"
Xi He shook his head, saying, "Everything happening here is merely from my conjecture. I don’t know the specific situation. If you want to explore more, I think it’s more important to find Nuwa. Whatever these human civilizations once were, it doesn’t matter. They can’t impact the final heavenly tribulation."
"Hmm." Ye Fan nodded, agreeing with Xi He’s perspective. Just as Xi He said, whatever past these human civilizations had, it doesn’t help Ye Fan, nor future humans. To find traces of these civilizations, one must have experienced them, yet knowing their past holds no significance.
Ye Fan walked on this planet for some time, realizing that these remnants were like mirages, and everything experienced here was predetermined and unchangeable. He felt he couldn’t integrate into this civilization either, and he gazed at the starry sky, asking, "Is Earth’s remnant also here?"
"I don’t know," Xi He said. "At least, I haven’t found Earth. In my guess, Earth’s civilization might be here, but it’s also possible that Earth’s civilization hasn’t reached a certain threshold, and whether it appears here is another matter entirely!"
Ye Fan nodded, understanding that even if Earth’s civilization was reflected here, it might only be for a brief period after the Industrial Revolution, and only up to the current time. Things not yet experienced are unlikely to appear. But he doesn’t rule out the possibility of certain prophecies appearing here, given the powerful cosmic energy reflecting various unnatural forces.
Then, Ye Fan visited several other planets, still without experiencing anything. He began to wonder, asking, "Why do the virtual images here align so well with the physical planets? Are these planets originally the reflections of human civilization planets?"
Xi He shook his head, saying, "I don’t know the answer to your question. In my view, the attributes of these planets don’t directly relate to what you aim to do. Spending time on this isn’t worthwhile."
"I’m merely curious about unknown things. I just want to roughly understand something about the Thousand Star Illusion Domain. If I can investigate, maybe we’ll know how the last cosmic civilization declined." Ye Fan said.
Xi He replied, "What you’re talking about only exists in hypothesis. Things from the last cosmic civilization might not appear here. Even if they do, you can’t distinguish between them, making such exploration meaningless!"
Ye Fan nodded, although he agreed with Xi He’s viewpoint, he still felt that Xi He was avoiding certain matters, something hard to say what. It seemed like Xi He had hidden something in the Thousand Star Illusion Domain she didn’t want him to know, which made Ye Fan sense something unusual.
But now wasn’t the time to pursue these matters. He aimed to first find Nuwa and Xuan Nu to solve the trouble Nuwa brought him, and before the heavenly tribulation, dismantle the most powerful triangle alliance of ancient cultivators, which was his real task.
...
...
Without entering, Ye Fan didn’t know how vast the Thousand Star Illusion Domain could be. After searching, he found it far more vast than he imagined.
It seemed to be as large as tens of thousands of galaxies, with innumerable human civilizations reflected here. The planets were primarily traveling around the center, yet even finding the center of the Thousand Star Illusion Domain didn’t result in discovering Nuwa’s presence.
"Nuwa is hidden here, perhaps she knew about this place early on. She probably discovered it earlier than you, just never revealed it! Perhaps these human civilizations were her creations; she regards this as a lab, and everything you’ve seen is merely what Nuwa wants us to see!" Ye Fan suddenly said.
Xi He nodded and said, "You have a good point, but specifically, you should refrain from caring. Have you perceived any of Nuwa’s forces?"
"No." Ye Fan reluctantly shook his head. "It’s difficult to find traces of Nuwa’s force here. I have to wait for the opportunity. But I believe she’ll soon activate some powers. I just need to leave some probing energies in many places here. By comparing the strength of Nuwa’s emitted forces sensed by these probes, the specific location can be found!"
Xi He nodded again, not commenting further, which further confirmed Ye Fan’s thinking. Xi He was concealing something, something she didn’t want him to know.
"It’s getting late. We should return to Earth. There’s no need for us to stay," Ye Fan suddenly said.
Xi He seemed surprised, "Aren’t you staying here?"
"I’ve memorized the spatial location here. Finding it is very easy, just a moment’s work. Since I’ve already left probing forces, staying holds no significance. Better to return to Earth and deal with some matters!" Ye Fan said.