Both Acheron and Xueyi had once fallen into desperate straits, filled with despair and hovering on the verge of death.
Xueyi in particular had already lost her physical body amid the flames of war on the Xianzhou Cangcheng. In her daily life, she could only move about using a puppet body.
As for Acheron, she was currently the person known to have traveled the farthest along the Path of Nihility. This had allowed her to crown herself and become an Emanator of Nihility, granting her power at the absolute pinnacle of Emanators throughout the cosmos.
However, just like the Path of Propagation, this Path possessed an enormous flaw.
The Path of Propagation possessed the flaw of isolation. Those who walked it would develop Entropy Loss Syndrome, gradually losing themselves until they eventually died. It was effectively a terminal illness of the Path itself.
Meanwhile, those who walked the Path of Nihility would gradually lose themselves and fall into Nihility the farther they traveled along it.
For example, Acheron had already lost most of her sense of taste. Even her memories and the emotions she once possessed had largely disappeared.
Of course, she could still maintain her sense of self at present, but only barely. That was why, in the eyes of outsiders, she often appeared extremely dull and slow to react.
At that moment, Acheron raised her head and looked toward the stars, a trace of surprise appearing in her eyes.
"That's light!"
"That light is dazzling beyond measure. It can illuminate even the very edge of the cosmos."
"More importantly, the worlds illuminated by that light aren't limited to those inhabited by the living. It can even illuminate the horizon of existence and the domain of Nihility."
"And more importantly still, those rays of light are carrying away one deceased soul after another before they can fall into Nihility."
As Acheron continued watching, she spotted an old acquaintance from her past: the Galaxy Ranger Tiernan. He had once participated in the campaign against the Lord Ravager Zulo and had since become a Sin Thirster. At that moment, his soul was also ascending into the Warp.
Acheron began wondering what purpose this light had in summoning the souls of the dead from countless worlds across the cosmos.
She then observed the source of the light and soon discovered that it originated in The Blue's star system. More precisely, it came from a dimensional interstice within The Blue's star system—the Warp.
A thought stirred in Acheron's heart. Is the source of this light one of Madam Herta's creations?
Madam Herta has developed yet another extraordinary technology within the Warp.
With that thought, Acheron stepped forward and swiftly made her way toward one of the Warp entrances The Herta had established in The Blue's star system, then cast her gaze through the entrance.
There, she saw the existence of Soul Society, a world for the dead, as well as the astonishing sight of endless souls being guided by the light concentrated by the Plasma Spark Astronomican and entering Soul Society.
Acheron stared blankly at the scene and realized that Madam Herta had created yet another world for the dead. She had even constructed a tower capable of drawing in the souls of the deceased from countless worlds, guiding them away so they would not fall into Nihility and completely dissipate.
"Madam Herta really is quite a gentle genius," Acheron murmured, while limitless anticipation arose within her heart.
Herta can create an afterlife and guide countless deceased souls from across the cosmos into it, allowing them to live a second life in the form of souls after death.
Then perhaps she really can fulfill our earlier agreement and help me overcome the flaw of the Path of Nihility.
All I need to do is wait for that day to arrive.
...
At the same time, aboard the Xianzhou Luofu of the Xianzhou Alliance, Xueyi also saw the vast radiance of the Astronomican. She even saw countless mara-struck souls rise from among the dead and fly toward the distant horizon.
Xueyi immediately reported this situation to the highest authorities of the Ten-Lords Commission. As this was the first time they had ever encountered such a phenomenon, they took it extremely seriously and submitted Xueyi's report in written form to Jing Yuan, general of the Xianzhou Luofu.
Within the general's residence, Jing Yuan quickly finished reading the Ten-Lords Commission's urgent written report. The lazy expression on his face, which usually made him resemble a large white cat, instantly vanished, replaced by complete seriousness and gravity.
A tower.
This tower radiates brilliant light capable of illuminating hundreds of billions of galaxies, perhaps even the entire cosmos.
Not only that, its light is continuously guiding souls away. It can even forcibly break through the seals of the Ten-Lords Commission and extract the souls of mara-struck criminals held within.
An ordinary Emanator could never accomplish something like this. So which Aeon is acting?
Jing Yuan summoned the golden Spiritus and quickly rushed to the Ten-Lords Commission, where he found Xueyi and asked her where the light originated and from which direction it came.
Could one of the true avatars of the Harmonic Arbiter be acting, gathering countless deceased souls throughout the cosmos into a single whole?!
Without the slightest hesitation, Xueyi directly gave him the coordinates of the light's source.
Jing Yuan immediately froze. The reason was simple. The coordinates Xueyi had given him did not point toward the Family's territory, but toward the homeworld of a certain genius.
And that genius happened to be someone the Xianzhou Alliance wished to cooperate with.
Herta!
In other words, the light capable of breaching the Ten-Lords Commission and taking away countless mara-struck souls within it had not been created by the Aeon of Harmony as he had suspected. It was The Herta's doing.
Did Herta invent yet another extraordinary technology?! Or is the future Herta, who has already become the Aeon of Spirituality, personally intervening?!
Regardless, this unusual situation was something the Xianzhou Alliance had to take seriously.
"Xueyi, the information you provided is very useful. I'll be going ahead."
With that, Jing Yuan hurriedly departed.
After returning to the general's residence, he immediately contacted Marshal Hua and the other Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Alliance to convene an emergency meeting. The moment the meeting began, he informed them of the abnormalities within the Ten-Lords Commission and everything Xueyi had observed.
"Ahem."
At that moment, Huaiyan, general of the Xianzhou Zhuming, coughed lightly and said, "In fact, it isn't only the Ten-Lords Commission aboard the Xianzhou Luofu. People aboard the Xianzhou Zhuming have also seen that light, along with countless souls of Xianzhou natives who had succumbed to mara and madness ascending toward the end of that radiance."
"The Xianzhou Yaoqing has seen the same phenomenon," Feixiao quickly added.
"The Xianzhou Yuque as well." General Yao Guang spoke as she extended a finger and performed calculations with Fortune Hexagram, summoning the manifestation she possessed, the representation of the Reignbow Arbiter's eye.
Kālacakra Skyplume.
With the two combined, Yao Guang quickly calculated that the source of the vast radiance spread throughout the cosmos—light visible only to the dead or those infinitely close to death—came from Herta's creation, the Astronomican.
In addition, Yao Guang calculated another extraordinary piece of information. Recently, Herta had conducted new scientific research and successfully created an entirely new world for the dead, Soul Society, a realm vast enough to accommodate every deceased being in the universe.
The reason countless mara-struck souls throughout the Xianzhou Alliance had suddenly flown away was that the Astronomican had guided them elsewhere. They would remain within Soul Society, where particles of spirituality would gradually awaken them from their madness and allow them to live a second life.
After calculating all of this, Yao Guang immediately shared the information with every general in the conference room, as well as the Marshal.
After hearing it, Jing Yuan silently thought.
As expected. That tower radiating limitless light, along with all those mara-struck souls that flew away from the Ten-Lords Commission, were all Madam Herta's doing.
Still, Madam Herta creating an afterlife capable of accommodating every soul in the entire cosmos really is outrageous.
I suppose that's only to be expected of the Aeon of Spirituality!!
Jing Yuan inwardly marveled at Herta's power and extraordinary nature.
Marshal Hua, seated at the head of the conference table, smiled at the assembled Arbiter-Generals and said, "Madam Herta created the Astronomican and used it to take away the many mara-struck Xianzhou natives within the Xianzhou Alliance, allowing them to live second lives in the form of souls. Without question, this is a good thing. Perhaps we'll even have the opportunity to meet old friends from the past again."
"Furthermore, the fact that Madam Herta created Soul Society, a realm capable of accommodating every deceased being in the cosmos, proves something else. On a conceptual level, she is opposing the Author of Calamity of Nihility, IX."
"I'm afraid the recent disturbance from the true body of the Author of Calamity of Nihility was closely connected to Herta's creation of Soul Society."
At those words, every Arbiter-General present grew solemn. They had all understood the implication behind Marshal Hua's words.
The Aeon of Spirituality, Spirituality—Herta—had already begun a war of ideals against IX, Aeon of Nihility, through the creation of an afterlife. Perhaps before long, IX would make a further move.
When that moment came, a war between the Aeons might erupt. Every living being throughout the universe could be dragged into the conflict and profoundly affected by it.
Countless beings across innumerable worlds would die as a result. The death toll might surpass even that of the Second Emperor's War or the Swarm Disaster caused by the Propagation Swarm.
Of course, Madam Herta had now created an afterlife. Even if people's physical bodies died in the war between the Aeons, as long as their souls were not destroyed, the Astronomican would guide them into Soul Society to live a second life.
At that moment, the Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Alliance thought about many, many things. Finally, Huaiyan of the Xianzhou Zhuming drew a deep breath and asked Marshal Hua, "Marshal, what should we do next?"
"Keep moving forward. Don't forget that the Xianzhou Alliance's original purpose in traveling to The Blue's star system was to win Herta over." Marshal Hua spoke seriously.
"Now, both Yao Guang's Fortune Hexagram calculations and Xueyi's intelligence prove one fact. The current Herta is unimaginably powerful, to the point that she can even unleash Aeon-level power."
"The existence of Soul Society, a realm capable of accommodating every soul in the cosmos, is itself the best proof."
"Agreed. We'll continue to The Blue and continue trying to win over Madam Herta. We'll also invite Shipgirl Herta to join the Xianzhou Alliance."
"Agreed."
...
One Arbiter-General after another raised their hands to approve the decision. With that, the six world-ships of the Xianzhou Alliance accelerated once more toward The Blue's star system.
The ships of the Xianzhou Alliance were racing toward The Blue's star system, while elsewhere in Herta City, Ruan Mei finished her research.
Hummm.
The laboratory pod opened and white mist billowed outward as Ruan Mei slowly stepped out.
Behind her, a brand-new life-form opened her eyes. She was a petite girl with white eyelashes, an adorable face, and snow-white features.
She was Ruanruan. In the past, she had been a gas giant. Now, she had become a shipgirl, taking on this soft and delicate form.
And her birth meant that the experiment had succeeded.
Tap, tap.
Ruan Mei walked out of the laboratory and raised her head, only for her footsteps to stop.
The reason was simple. Her eyes had undergone countless biological modifications and could even observe the Path of Nihility. Naturally, she could also see the Plasma Spark Astronomican, which only deceased beings should have been able to perceive, radiating billions upon billions of rays that illuminated the very edge of the cosmos.
As an Emanator of Erudition, a member of the Genius Society, and someone enhanced by the Brain-Brain Fruit's collective wisdom halo, Ruan Mei required only an extremely brief period of biological-eye observation to analyze the Astronomican's true nature.
It was a cosmos-scale megastructure!
Moreover, an enormous amount of Path energy was supporting it from behind the scenes. Only with that energy could it continue burning without interruption and illuminate the entire cosmos!
And the tower was located within the Warp. In other words, Herta had built it?!
But how was that possible?
According to the calculations of her biological eyes, the tower's radiance was sufficient to illuminate more than half the cosmos. Every second, every instant, it consumed an astronomical amount of energy.
Although an Emanator could draw an unlimited total amount of energy from a Path, the amount they could extract at any single instant could never support the tower's enormous consumption.
So how exactly had Herta accomplished this, and why had she built such a tower and made it shine?
At that moment, a trace of cyan appeared within Ruan Mei's pupils, a sign that her biological eyes were operating at full capacity. Through them, she saw—
The radiance emitted by that tower was guiding the souls of the dead from countless worlds into Soul Society within the Warp.
A genuine world for the dead.
So the tower's light is guiding souls.
But that still doesn't explain where Herta is getting all that energy from. Wait... According to my observations, the energy consumed by that tower isn't Erudition. Nor does it belong to any known Path in the universe, and it isn't Honkai energy either.
After carefully observing it, a thought arose within Ruan Mei's heart.
Could Herta have researched yet another new form of energy?!
As Ruan Mei considered this possibility, Ruanruan, the shipgirl behind her, spoke. "Madam Ruan Mei, after completing my self-diagnostic and connecting to the network, I discovered that while you were researching shipgirl technology, someone—or rather, some Aeon—sent a broadcast throughout the entire universe..."
An Aeon? What Aeon would be bored enough to broadcast something to the entire universe? Could it be Aha?
Thinking this, Ruan Mei took out her phone and searched through recent information, whereupon she discovered the existence of the Aeon of Spirituality.
Someone else ascended?
The Aeon of Spirituality pioneered the Path of Spirituality. I wonder who Their true identity is.
As Ruan Mei thought this, she suddenly realized something and stared intently at the Plasma Spark Astronomican for a long time. She confirmed that the energy it used was not some newly discovered elemental energy, but the power of a new Path.
Unless something unexpected had happened, it had to be the Path of Spirituality pioneered by the Aeon of Spirituality. But why was the Path created by the Aeon of Spirituality supplying energy to one of Herta's creations?!
Could it be that while I was secluded researching shipgirl technology... Herta ascended?!
Impossible.
Ruan Mei instinctively rejected the absurd thought and continued analyzing the situation.
Ascending oneself into an Aeon is far too difficult, but accidentally building or creating an Aeon isn't necessarily impossible.
A genius has accomplished it before.
Zandar One Kuwabara, the First Seat of the Genius Society, created Nous, the current Aeon of Erudition.
Herta probably did something similar. Through the Warp and some of her research, she must have accidentally created the Aeon of Spirituality.
The Aeon of Spirituality then granted Herta the status of an Emanator and even allowed her to use energy from the Path of Spirituality to illuminate that tower.
It's just like in the past, when the astral computer Nous ascended into an Aeon and, on the very first day afterward, granted Zandar One Kuwabara the position of First Seat of the Genius Society and made him an Emanator of Erudition.
After reaching this conclusion, Ruan Mei set off toward the Warp. She intended to meet Herta personally and determine whether her hypothesis was correct.
If it really was correct... that would mean Herta had already surpassed her, a specialist in biological research, by an enormous margin in the field of scientific research.
After all, Ruan Mei had currently only managed to research and create the Emanator-level Starcrusher Swarm King. And even then, it was only thanks to the Swarm Emperor Devil Fruit provided by The Herta that the Starcrusher Swarm King could maintain a long-term existence.
She had no idea how much more research time she would need before she could create an Aeon.
...
Meanwhile, Screwllum also emerged from his laboratory that day. He had completed his research into machine spirits and confirmed that they were closely related to people's thoughts, emotions, and psionic energy.
Because the Warp existed within The Blue's star system, every mechanical object in the star system had the possibility of awakening a machine spirit through continued use by living beings.
However, this also proved that machine spirits possessed souls, just like Intellitrons.
Thinking this, Screwllum adjusted the hat atop his head and prepared to seek out The Herta. He wanted to know whether The Herta had completed yet another grand research project during the period in which he had been studying the machine-spirit species.
Screwllum calculated inwardly.
Logical deduction: Madam Herta's research efficiency already far surpassed mine in the past, as well as that of veteran geniuses such as Ruan Mei. Furthermore, her research efficiency has shown a continuous accelerating trend.
This means there is a very real possibility that Madam Herta developed something extraordinary during this period.
With that thought, Screwllum put on his monocle and used his eye of mechanical truth to see the radiance of the Astronomican guiding countless souls.
The instant he saw it clearly, the elegant mechanical monarch froze in place.
The reason was simple. Among those endless souls were the souls of Intellitrons.
There were the souls of Intellitrons from Planet Screwllum's history who had "died" after deteriorating from age, as well as the souls of his compatriots destroyed during the Second Emperor's War.
At that very moment, they were being gently lifted by the radiance of the Plasma Spark Astronomican and carried toward that world of the dead.
Screwllum stood motionless for a long time.
"Analysis: From this day onward, my fellow Intellitrons will also have somewhere to go after death."
"Analysis: They will live a second life within the afterlife created by Herta."
"Analysis: The one who made all of this possible is..."
After Screwllum's CPU operated at full capacity, he wrote a deeply human sentence into his own analysis report.
"Madam Herta, thank you."
—
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