"Hello, visitor."
The giant golden bird lifted its slender neck. As its heterochromatic pupils, one blue and one red, gradually opened, a light of their respective colors slowly kindled from within their depths.
"Perhaps."
"I should call you... the Tree's favored child."
From the voice alone, one couldn't sense any particular emotional fluctuation, but from its tone, Lu Xing still detected a trace of indignation and dissatisfaction... not directed at him, but at fate and the future.
"Hello, senior."
Lu Xing was currently trying to grasp the other's somewhat subtle aura.
Although it looked incredibly powerful, a careful perception revealed that the giant bird was indeed "outwardly strong but inwardly weak," just as Xiao Zi had described. It had endured too many battles for far too long; both its spirit and its physical shell were on the verge of collapse.
Setting other things aside.
The mere fact that [Spiritual Perception] could receive feedback from it was enough to show its true current level... which was likely no longer a match for Xiao Zi.
Name: Odin
Level: 80
Authorities: "Wind," "Flame," "Binding"
Attack: 400
Speed: 240
Constitution: 80
Evaluation: The undying bird is dying
Devouring Herrscher Cores.
This was not an ability of the bird-type Honkai Beast named "Odin."
In fact, its original form was just that of a most ordinary Judgement-class Honkai Beast. However, according to the story relayed by Xiao Zi, its tale was simply too legendary...
This world was destroyed by the "Herrscher of Binding."
The Authority of Binding: to strip away all forms of energy, including Honkai energy, and absorb it all into oneself—this was the power of "Binding."
In the Previous Era of civilization.
The "Herrscher of Binding," which humanity had not yet encountered, could form a Binding Field with a radius of 100 kilometers. After enduring the torment of the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Domination, there was a final, desperate surge of new Fusion Warriors. After their battle with the Herrscher of Binding, only the final 13, who would later be known as the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, remained.
And in this world, the Herrscher of Binding's ability had become particularly terrifying due to the level of the civilization's development: a Binding Field large enough to cover a quarter of the planet's surface. From the moment the Herrscher of Binding was born, it effortlessly wiped out nearly half of the planet's resistance forces.
Before the birth of the Herrscher of Binding.
This planet's civilization had always perceived the Honkai and Herrschers in two ways: "a useful energy source (a gift from the world)" and "mutated lifeforms (a direction for evolution)."
But the sudden appearance of the Herrscher of Binding shattered all their beautiful dreams.
The entire world plunged from paradise into hell in an instant. This immense contrast didn't even give the civilization much chance to understand or reflect. The surviving "creators" were left with only 20 hours to evacuate the planet—the time it took for the Herrscher of Binding to make one lap around the entire globe was exactly 20 hours.
They fled.
Thirteen giant colony ships rose into the sky—similar plans had been prepared for a long time but had never been executed due to conflicts of interest. Aside from the four ships destroyed by Honkai Beasts during their ascent, the remaining nine successfully evacuated the planet where the Herrscher of Binding resided.
Neither the Herrscher nor the Honkai Beasts.
Their pursuit of the civilization was limited to the planet's sphere of influence. All the colony ships that headed for deep space escaped the Honkai's lock. The above was "civilization's records" personally confirmed by "Odin": not all colony ships were willing to leave their home for the unmanned deep space. Two of the nine colony ships, after discovering that the Honkai Beasts would not chase them beyond the atmosphere, stubbornly flew in orbit around the planet for several years.
Then...
Unable to resist the temptation of returning home, they were annihilated by the Herrscher of Binding, who suddenly awoke from its "slumber," during their re-entry to the planet's surface.
The above.
Was the entire process of this civilization's demise.
Then.
The story Xiao Zi told, and also the story Lu Xing most wanted to verify with "Odin," began from there.
Theoretically, this civilization had indeed completed the process of "ascending to the stars"; they had successfully passed their "coming-of-age ceremony."
According to Lu Xing's speculation.
This situation should basically count as passing the "Tree's" test.
But in reality, it was not so.
Their journey to deep space was not, after all, a proactive choice. The "Herrscher of Binding" had forced them from their cradle, but it did not judge the civilization as having "passed the test." The Honkai would not pursue them, but these "creators" had also lost their mother planet.
In other words.
The reality that the Herrscher of Binding was alive and occupying their home world already indicated that this civilization was in a state of being "pruned" by the "Tree."
What happens to a pruned "leaf"?
The traces of the civilization gradually weaken, their time becomes long and meaningless, until the moment they shatter into fragments and enter an endless cycle. And from the day they are completely submerged by the Quantum Sea, the "leaf" that has become a World Bubble will be attacked by increasingly large scales of Quantum Beasts, thus accelerating the process of its complete "dissolution."
As for the Honkai Beasts...
"That's right, visitor."
To the question Lu Xing wanted to confirm, "Odin" gave the same, unaltered answer it had once told Xiao Zi:
"Honkai Beasts will fall into a deep sleep."
"Then, during the process of the World Bubble being submerged by the Quantum Sea, they will gradually vanish completely—I do not know the stories of other World Bubbles, but I imagine they are not too different."
"Whether it is a lower-tier 'Variant'."
"Or a higher-tier 'Judgement'."
"Even if we, with our independent minds, can escape the complete control of the Honkai's will to a certain extent..."
"But what good does that do?"
"A 'leaf' that has broken off from its branch can no longer receive the 'Tree's' gift. A Honkai energy rift is even more out of the question."
"Only a 'living' Herrscher Core."
"Has the possibility of communicating with the Imaginary Space, thereby obtaining a small supplement of Honkai energy—which is an incredibly difficult thing to do in the 'Sea'."
"No matter how powerful."
"As Honkai Beasts, our final end will only be to perish... along with the civilization's destruction."
"Odin" recounted its history with sighs and regrets.
"So..."
Just as Lu Xing was about to pick up the thread of conversation, he heard "Odin's" voice, still unwavering after countless years:
"So."
"I ate the Herrscher Core of the only living Herrscher in the world at that time, my master, the Herrscher of Binding..."
"With the help of the civilization."