Chapter 73 – Hellish Refinement

Yun Xiguang’s analysis was nothing but a series of incomprehensible jargon to Li Zheng and the others, who had long grown accustomed to such a state. Li Zheng simply put on the noise-canceling headphones he received upon boarding the fighter jet, tuning out whatever Yun Xiguang was saying. Regardless, after Yun Xiguang finished discussing with the divine beasts, Li Zheng would still gain an inexplicable sense of clarity, even if he didn’t understand anything.

As the director of the Special Affairs Bureau, Li Zheng was supposed to be the decision-maker, yet he had become an executor. He didn’t mind it at all.

After all, he couldn’t grasp the entire picture.

With no risk of eavesdropping, Yun Xiguang candidly said, “We need to determine whether the stances of Law, Youying, and Zhulong are consistent.

“Is it correct that Law wants to use the power of Zhuzhao and Youying to return the world to chaos?”

Even Azure Dragon, who had been trying to delegate everything to Bai Ze, anxiously stroked his dragon beard and said, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Bai Ze also tugged at his beard, stating, “A matter so confidential, even I can’t predict it.”

The divine beasts couldn’t know about this, leaving Yun Xiguang to look toward Chi Qiong.

Chi Qiong turned his head, bit down on the Phoenix Feather on his tail, then turned back to “chirp” at Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang guessed that Chi Qiong had obtained some information through the Phoenix Feather, but he couldn’t understand the specifics of what Chi Qiong was saying.

The divine beasts understood, but Chi Qiong’s words were filled with entities they dared not provoke. They were momentarily at a loss for how to translate.

Little Peng rested against Li Zheng’s shoulder, feigning sleep, appearing peaceful and forgetting its previous attempt to eliminate a kin.

Azure Dragon also pretended to be old and deaf, showing no intention of explaining.

Only Bai Ze resignedly sighed, “The Supreme Deity just said that through the information transmitted by the Phoenix Feather once possessed by the Supreme Deity Youying, he feels that the Supreme Deity Youying’s operation might not align with Law’s.”

“What doesn’t align? Does Youying not want to destroy the world, or does it not want to disappear?” Yun Xiguang looked at Chi Qiong.

Chi Qiong “chirped” again.

Bai Ze continued translating, “The Supreme Deity says that the Moon has no thoughts. It only has a program, but it is ultimately life. Life has survival instincts.”

That was the extent of the information Chi Qiong knew.

Yun Xiguang recalled that before Chi Qiong ascended to the heavens, he was also a ball of light devoid of emotions and self-awareness. His state back then should have been similar to the Moon Youying’s current state.

Yun Xiguang asked, “Do you care about humans?”

Chi Qiong naturally shook his head.

To beings as powerful as him, whether humans were good or evil, greedy or selfless, ugly or beautiful, it didn’t matter. Just as humans observed certain animal customs without judging them as good or bad, no matter what humans did, he didn’t care.

Humans were merely one of countless creatures in the vast world.

Whether they perished or survived until the world’s end made no difference to Chi Qiong.

Chi Qiong cared about the world’s creatures, since it was a world he had personally endowed with vitality. But he cared not for individuals or species, but for the entirety of the world.

Yun Xiguang understood. He continued, “You grant vitality to all things, so you care about the world. Youying is also one of the gods that created the world. Doesn’t it care? Does it wish for Law to obliterate everything, including its own consciousness?”

Chi Qiong shook his head without hesitation.

Although he wasn’t Youying, as a divine beast born from Pangu’s eyes, his thoughts should have been shared with Youying.

Yun Xiguang nodded. “Good. Let’s assume that Youying doesn’t want to return to chaos, and survival is a natural instinct of life. Even if it’s just a program, since it was written as life, its core program should include survival.

“For now, let’s ignore Zhulong and focus on Youying. Since its stance differs from Law’s, what does it want to do?”

The divine beasts fell silent, unwilling to take on such a difficult question.

Fortunately, Yun Xiguang hadn’t expected these divine beasts to help him analyze. His main discussion partner was still Chi Qiong. He looked at Chi Qiong and asked, “While you were asleep, you kept hearing the call of ‘Zhuzhao,’ right? Were those the words you previously couldn’t hear clearly?”

Chi Qiong nodded affirmatively. He hadn’t been able to make out what he was hearing before, but once he understood, he could definitively confirm that the voice that had been calling him all along was saying these words.

Yun Xiguang said, “In today’s world, the entity capable of addressing you like this and transmitting its voice into your dreams at all times is likely none other than Youying.

“You once mentioned that each call came from the depths of your dreams, but you couldn’t hear it when awake. Based on this phenomenon, can we speculate that Youying wanted to awaken you? It set up a program where, whenever you slept, it would call out to you until it woke you up.”

Chi Qiong reflected on the calls he had heard all along and found Yun Xiguang’s explanation to be spot-on.

Yun Xiguang continued, “Who made you fall asleep?”

The answer was simple: Law.

Law “borrowed” Chi Qiong’s strength and naturally didn’t want him to awaken and reclaim his power.

Yet Youying had been attempting to rouse Chi Qiong, further proving that its stance was starkly different from Law’s.

Yun Xiguang said, “We’ve deduced that Youying doesn’t want to return to chaos and has been trying to awaken Zhuzhao.”

Bai Ze was puzzled. “Since the goals of the two Supreme Deities are aligned, why did the bookworms from Youying Academy want to destroy human civilization, and why did the weaver ants try to kill me?”

Yun Xiguang replied, “Youying merely doesn’t want to return to chaos. Once it reverts to chaos, it would ‘die.’ It doesn’t want itself to die, so what does it matter if humans or spirit beasts live or die? Its stance differing from Law’s doesn’t necessarily mean it aligns with ours.”

Just as Chi Qiong didn’t care about the lives of humans and spirit beasts, neither did Youying.

Bai Ze’s beard twitched several times, but it eventually nodded in agreement.

Even it, Bai Ze, didn’t care about the extinction of certain animals. If mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches vanished completely from the world, would it have any bearing on Bai Ze?

Similarly, Bai Ze’s life or death had no effect on Youying.

Yun Xiguang continued, “Previously, I learned from Chi Qiong that the more spirit beasts died, the stronger his powers became. I imagine the same holds true for Youying. The more creatures die, the stronger its powers grow.

“I don’t know if the existence of humans is related to Youying’s power, but based on its attempt to use bookworms to destroy human civilization, there must be a connection.

“Senior Bai Ze, I finally understand why Youying insisted on killing you. Because the appearance of the first Phoenix Feather was a prediction you made. We initially assumed you were suffering backlash from Law, but now it seems it wasn’t Law’s backlash but Youying’s.

“It sensed that you would affect the operation of its program and tried to kill you with the backlash. When that failed, it sent someone to assassinate you, treating you as a virus to be eliminated.”

Yun Xiguang’s train of thought was becoming clearer. He continued, “I see. The more Youying doesn’t want to die, the more it needs to destroy the life in this world to regain its strength and oppose Law.

“Therefore, concerning the elimination of all creatures on earth, its stance is similar to Law’s.

“In summary, Youying once held five Phoenix Feathers. Two have already been recovered by us, while three remain within Youying Academy.

“I believe that in Law’s eyes, the sun and moon are equal. They are both key elements in restarting the world. Since it made Chi Qiong fall asleep to prevent Zhuzhao from causing trouble, it certainly wouldn’t want Youying to interfere either. Therefore, according to Law’s design, Youying shouldn’t have obtained more than half of the nine Phoenix Feathers, nor should it have used them to evolve spirit beasts.

“The anti-human array in the Yun family seems more like Law’s doing.

“We can speculate that the Phoenix Feathers weren’t given to Youying by Law, but rather, Youying actively sought them out.

“While trying to awaken Zhuzhao, Youying also actively searched for Phoenix Feathers. I think it was preparing for two scenarios.

“First, awaken Zhuzhao. If Zhuzhao can awaken and reclaim his original strength, that would be great for Youying; second, if Zhuzhao never awakens, gather all nine Phoenix Feathers to create a fake Zhuzhao to counter Law.”

The divine beasts were stunned by Yun Xiguang’s bold conjectures.

Especially Chi Qiong. Upon learning that his power would be used by Law to destroy the world and by Youying to create a fake version of him, he was absolutely livid.

These bastards! They used his stuff without asking, and none of them cared about his opinion!

“Why do you think the Moon wants to create a fake sun? Isn’t it afraid that such actions would enrage the Supreme Deity Zhuzhao?” Bai Ze asked.

Yun Xiguang explained, “It’s a program. It acts without considering feelings, only outcomes. It needs Zhuzhao to awaken. If Zhuzhao doesn’t wake up, it creates a substitute. This is all within the same program. Moreover, Youying’s efforts to evolve spirit beasts in various ways, especially those new spirit beasts not controlled by Law, indicate that it wants to create a powerful spirit beast unaffected by Law. Isn’t that a substitute for Zhuzhao?”

Considering the existence of novel creatures such as weaver ants, it was easy to grasp Youying’s intentions.

All being wise divine beasts, Yun Xiguang had provided enough logic for Bai Ze to deduce the rest.

Bai Ze’s predictions didn’t reveal absolute futures but different futures under varying conditions. Previously, it couldn’t foresee the future because all paths were blocked by Youying’s power. Yun Xiguang’s speculations opened a channel for Bai Ze, allowing it to glimpse a possible future by following that path.

Bai Ze silently calculated using the direction Yun Xiguang provided. After a moment, it opened its eyes with a complex expression and said with a compassionate face, “Based on your speculation, the future I foresee isn’t optimistic. If everything is correct, Youying Spiritbond Academy is already a living hell.”

“Why?” Yun Xiguang asked.

Bai Ze explained, “The Moon Supreme Deity needs to reclaim its strength. Within its domain, aside from humans and spirit beasts that can be utilized, all other creatures are merely sustenance for it to reclaim its strength.

“After these creatures die, their yin energy belongs to the Moon Supreme Deity, while yang energy will be absorbed through the Phoenix Feathers by the fake Supreme Deity Zhuzhao.

“The Moon Supreme Deity possesses five Phoenix Feathers. So far, it has only dispatched two, keeping the other three hidden. They must have been used for something.

“In the future I foresee, there are no living humans left in Youying Academy, only a colossal newborn spirit beast. This spirit beast contains three Phoenix Feathers and wields terrifying power.

“Furthermore, in this future, Zhulong will appear as well.

“Zhulong’s stance is similar to Law’s, which means Law needs to retrieve those three Phoenix Feathers.”

Listening to Bai Ze’s description of the future, Yun Xiguang felt that Youying Academy would be a hellish challenge.