“In the New Calendar year 660, a super-giant storm arrived at the borders of the Northern Continent…”

“And then?”

The three- or four-year-old little girl, with her hair tied in a ponytail, stared wide-eyed like copper bells, blinking as she looked at the woman before her.

“And then… it’s time for you to sleep.”

The young woman, draped in a jet-black cloak, stood by the bed and said with a smile, “It’s late. I’ll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow.”

The little girl wailed, “Sister Xiaoman…”

“Call me Aunt.”

Although Gu Xiaoman corrected her, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

“Don’t be like that.”

The little girl tugged at the corner of Gu Xiaoman’s clothes, acting spoiled in a childish voice, her tone not at all like a child of her age. “My dad and mom will be back tomorrow. When they come back, there will be a pile of messy things… Will you still tell me the rest of the story then?”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

Gu Xiaoman smiled and reached out her palm, stroking the little girl’s smooth, white forehead.

There, there was a glistening flame mark.

When touched, the flame flickered, conveying a burst of warmth.

Gu Xiaoman spent a lot of effort to finally coax the little girl into bed, then covered her with the sheets and tiptoed out of the room.

The moment she closed the door, a gentle voice echoed in her spiritual sea.

“Xiaoman, today is the day the Initial returns.”

“I see all the members of the Supreme Council have arrived. It seems only you are missing.”

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoman smoothed her temple hair. These past few days, she had been accompanying Gu Chaoxi and hadn't paid much attention to external news.

But she knew that today was a special and important day.

Gu Xiaoman explained with a smile, “Master Baixiu, wasn’t I busy putting Gu Chaoxi to sleep? It was delayed a bit.”

“No rush. I was in seclusion too and just arrived. It’s very lively here.”

The voice was very gentle: “Do you need me to come pick you up?”

Gu Xiaoman gently hummed in agreement.

The next moment.

Space was torn open, and a portal appeared before Xiaoman. Baixiu, dressed in white, stood on the other side of the portal with his hands clasped behind his back. Behind him was a towering and complete giant god-general phantom, reaching out his hands to pry open the portal, clearing a path for Gu Xiaoman to enter.

Baixiu took a small step to the side.

Gu Xiaoman entered the portal and arrived at the summit of a vast island.

This was a man-made island, a replica of the original Sangzhou Cave… rebuilt in the lost map of the Ice Sea. To commemorate the Sangzhou Cave subsidence incident, this island was named "New Island."

Today, New Island was extraordinarily lively, with fireworks constantly exploding in the night sky.

On the mountaintop, the Supreme Council had almost all arrived.

Below the mountain, many people were celebrating.

“Xiaoman.”

“Lord Jiu.”

Gu Xiaoman arrived at the summit through the [Thunder Realm] portal. Many people greeted her and said hello. She nodded with a smile to acknowledge them before finally arriving at her master's side.

“I’m really not good at putting children to sleep.”

Baixiu quietly watched the fireworks exploding in the starry sky and said with a smile, “This kind of thing still has to be left to you.”

“In this regard, your [Thunder Realm Walker] is indeed no match for [Annihilation Dream].”

Gu Xiaoman smiled slightly and said, “Or perhaps the bedtime stories you prepare aren’t as interesting as mine.”

“Oh?”

Baixiu raised an eyebrow. “Bedtime stories? What are those?”

“…”

Gu Xiaoman was silent for a few seconds, then rubbed her brow.

“Recently, I’ve been telling Chaoxi stories about her father, of course… I’ve omitted his specific name.”

Gu Xiaoman lowered her eyes and smiled. “But this little one is very clever. When she reads history in the future, she should know where this story came from.”

The most wonderful stories in this world are history.

It's just that... the sequel to the story that Gu Chaoxi wanted to hear actually didn't have much content left.

Gu Xiaoman deliberately kept it a secret, because this very long story only had a small "ending" left, which could be finished in a day.

New Calendar 660 was the last year of the New Calendar.

Now, the New Calendar has become the Stellar Calendar.

In that battle at the Northern Continent Giant Wall, humanity won the final victory.

That battle was very bleak. All twelve god seats were seriously injured, starships shattered, source energy boats capsized, and the Black Silver City Wall was also defeated…

But the "super-giant storm" that engulfed the starship civilization was completely defeated.

Only the transcendents who had experienced that battle knew how tragic that day was.

"Is that so?"

Baixiu was somewhat distracted. After a long time, he sighed softly, "That really is... a very long story."

"No matter how long the story is, it has an ending."

Gu Xiaoman smiled and said, “When she wakes up, she will know what happened after New Calendar 660. All the magnificent wars are nothing more than a page or even a few lines in history books.”

The Iron Dome Emperor planted his flag on the Red Earth.

The Lin Clan subverted the Red Emperor’s regime.

The Three Continents Alliance overthrew the high walls of the Source Tower and shattered the Heavenly God Realm.

History is always like this.

The torrent rolls on, and the "lucky ones" who have not experienced the era of war can often only glimpse a corner of light and shadow in the long river of time through the gaps in the pages.

“Speaking of which, aren’t the fireworks tonight a bit too grand?”

Gu Xiaoman suddenly realized something was wrong.

After the end of the Giant Wall War…

Humanity rebuilt their home.

Because of Gu Shen's [Creator] domain, which withstood more than 90% of the storm's attacks for the Five Continents, the post-war reconstruction work was not too difficult, at least much easier than the "landings" 600 years ago.

All three starships had self-repair functions.

The end of this war meant that humanity finally had the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the "transcendent era."

However, humanity's "peace" did not last long.

The New Calendar ended, and the Stellar Calendar began.

The reason why it was called the "Stellar Calendar" was because after the end of the battle against the source matter storm, human civilization had the ability to break through the stars and explore the more peripheral world.

With the help of [Deep Sea]'s powerful computing power, the Ancient Text Society began to study new starships. They used the Initial as a template and, through the Divine Silver and Xie Zheng's "Iron-Melting Hand," repaired the severely damaged A Fu… In addition, after the end of that battle, Mr. Turing rejoined the Ancient Text Society as a "regular researcher."

Once the existence of [Destiny] can be predicted.

Then [Destiny] is no longer terrible.

Worshiping destiny, believing in destiny, questioning destiny, fighting destiny… and finally overcoming destiny.

Gu Shen's battle with the super-giant storm convinced Turing.

He proposed a possibility of choice for the future of human destiny for reference only.

At the top of the world, there is a dead zone with thin air.

This dead zone is a "forbidden" zone that starship civilizations have never broken through. A huge humanoid black hole grows there. Even if it is devoured by Gu Shen's blazing fire, the disordered source matter there still grows at an extremely fast speed.

The reason for this is… because that is the channel connecting [Destiny] and the human world.

In all likelihood, this is the entrance through which the [Gospel Box] fell into the human world.

Theoretically, if you can enter here, you can leave.

It's just that ordinary starships cannot withstand the disordered source matter pressure of the Death Forbidden Zone.

Although humans have defeated the super-giant storm, it does not mean that humans can conquer that forbidden zone... If you want to know what is outside, then the only "exit" is the top of the old world.

The starship civilization's giant ship broke at the top…

All that was left for Gu Shen was a section of the tip.

As for the rest, no trace could be found. Perhaps these fragments have been completely destroyed in the torrent of the void, or perhaps the Iron-Melting Lord and the Grain Goddess of a thousand years ago chose to leave the fire in the [Old World], leading their remaining people and hope, and charged towards the top.

The truth of this broken history can no longer be found.

But the "future" of mankind is gradually becoming clear.

The so-called oasis does not exist in the [Old World].

But if there is a "New World" outside the top…

Maybe an oasis can be found there.

For Gu Shen, even if he knew that the oasis was just a lie, as long as there was a glimmer of possibility, he would do his best to find such a place.

There's no way, in Gu Shen's own words, he is just such a "fool."

Knowing it is impossible, still wanting to do it.

After the Initial was completely repaired, Gu Shen sought A Fu's opinion, and the latter expressed his willingness to follow Gu Shen to the top to find traces left by the Iron-Melting Lord.

So this starship set sail.

On this trip, Gu Shen only took Chu Ling with him.

At that time… their child was just born, less than a year old. Because the mission to the top was too dangerous, they chose to leave "Gu Chaoxi" in the Five Continents.

"I thought it would be another long five or seven years."

Mu Wanqiu, wearing a dress, came to Baixiu and Gu Xiaoman. She looked complicated and joked, "I didn't expect to come back so quickly this time."

Only two years had passed.

The Initial sent a message.

The task of impacting the top was indeed full of dangers.

Everyone was worried about when Gu Shen would come back… But the interesting thing was that no one was worried about whether Gu Shen would come back.

It seemed that everyone assumed that no matter how long Gu Shen disappeared, he would definitely come back.

It was just a matter of time.

"Yes. It seems like it only took two and a half years? I don't know what's outside the top. Does the legendary 'New World' really exist…"

Baixiu echoed with a smile. Halfway through, he frowned and realized something was wrong. "Miss Mu, why are you wearing a dress and dressed so formally?"

"Don't you know? Today is Gu Nanfeng and Meng Xizhou's engagement banquet."

Mu Wanqiu raised an eyebrow.

In her memory, after the end of the war, Baixiu first healed his wounds and then went into seclusion. There had been no news during this time.

Gu Shen boarded the starship and went outside the top… This matter was notified to almost everyone on the Supreme Council.

But only Xiao Xiu Zi wasn't told.

In terms of combat power.

Baixiu, who comprehended the "Hunter Fire Seed," is now the strongest of the twelve god seats!

Going to the top was a very difficult task for others, but it was just right for Xiao Xiu Zi.

The reason why Gu Shen concealed it was that he hoped that Baixiu could rest well and not have any worries… This was actually a very correct choice. In the battle against the super-giant source matter storm, Baixiu contributed greatly and was seriously injured.

This seclusion lasted for several years. When he opened his eyes, Gu Shen and Chu Ling had already left the Five Continents, and the mission to the top was almost over.

“…Engagement banquet?”

Baixiu’s expression turned strange.

“These two have been waiting for you to finish your seclusion. They also told me a while ago that they sent you an invitation.”

Mu Wanqiu said with a smile, “Today, Gu Shen has returned, and everyone is at the engagement banquet. It’s a day of great joy.”

Baixiu quickly checked his emails.

As a member of the Supreme Council… he received too many emails every day. During his long seclusion, he didn’t read a single one.

Just a while ago.

Gu Nanfeng sent an invitation with a brief description of the engagement banquet.

Generally, for this kind of "big event," one should use the spiritual network and communicate.

“Brother Bai doesn’t need to be nervous.”

Gu Nanfeng held Meng Xizhou’s hand, and the two walked over slowly, wearing the simple formal attire of Snow Forbidden City. Gu Nanfeng comforted him with a smile, “Actually, today is just an ordinary banquet. There’s no need to dress up carefully. Just come. The invitation I sent earlier was just a formality. It’s enough that Brother Bai can come today.”

Baixiu and Gu Xiaoman exchanged a look. Both were helpless.

No wonder the fireworks were so brilliant and grand today. It turned out there was this reason.

Two god seats tying the knot was a major event that shook the entire Five Continents… but everyone knew that Gu Nanfeng and Meng Xizhou were a couple, so the news wasn’t that sensational.

"Rumble rumble rumble—"

Just then.

A slight tremor and roar suddenly came from the fireworks-filled summit.

Above the clouds, a red light emerged. The huge whale-like belly of the Initial gradually broke through the clouds and descended. Its appearance was unannounced, as if it had "replaced" a large cloud and suddenly appeared above everyone's heads… The arrival of this starship did not give people too much pressure.

On the contrary, those who had experienced the battle of the Northern Continent Giant Wall, seeing the blazing red fire, felt a warmth and stability that reached the depths of their hearts.

The starship slowly landed and docked in front of New Island.

Baixiu, Gu Xiaoman, Mu Wanqiu, Gu Nanfeng, Meng Xizhou… everyone approached, and soaring fireworks swept straight to the top.

In an instant.

The night seemed to be dyed into daylight.

The starship door slowly opened.

In the falling fireworks and dust, Gu Shen pushed open the huge bronze door, bent over, and crawled out of the Initial.

The moment he stood up, seeing the people in front of him, Gu Shen was stunned for a second.

He didn't expect the welcome for his return to be so grand.

“Everyone, long time no see…”

His gaze swept over the old friends one by one, and a warm current surged in his heart.

Gu Shen smiled and reached out to support Chu Ling, who followed closely behind, her steps slightly unsteady.

“We.”

“Are back from the New World.”

……

……

(At this point, the book is finished. I need to rest well. There will be a completion speech later.) (End of this chapter)