Techniques and Dao

Chapter 79 The Shattered Star
The stratosphere is bitterly cold.

In a daze, Taishang Xiaojun watched as his immortal blood dripped from his fingertips, passed through countless prayer lanterns in the quiet stratosphere, and finally fell into the clouds below.

If he hadn't been blinded by that golden light, he would have fainted.

"You annoying guy! You're so late! I can barely stand it anymore..."

The battered and bruised Taishang Xiaojun said with his last remaining strength, "He won't make his appearance until there's background music!"

From afar, Taishang Xiaojun saw the golden cudgel sweeping across the alien beast army, invincible wherever it went.

Each swing exuded boundless combat power. Accompanied by extremely heavy thuds, countless alien beasts were blasted out of the atmosphere!
Even more astonishingly, every time Hua Sheng swung his golden cudgel, a phoenix-shaped flame appeared, igniting the night sky.

Hua Sheng, riding on the fire phoenix transformed from the golden cudgel, flew straight up to the mesosphere and exosphere above the stratosphere, pointing the golden cudgel towards the sky. Instantly, a blue barrier wall appeared in the air, temporarily blocking the invasion of the alien beasts.

After relieving the combat pressure on the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Hua Sheng flew straight to Ming You. He swung his iron rod, severing the black ribbon binding Tai Shang Xiao Jun.

"Before it rains! Why?"

In his presence, Mingyou was still the girl named Weiyu.

Wei Yu's words carried a hint of sadness: "In the end, it really was you. I should have known this day would come."

"Wei Yu, with such extraordinary magical power, besides destroying the world and fighting to the death, do we have no other choice?"

"You're wrong. I'm not going to destroy. I'm going to save."

"Save what? If the Earth and the Moon collide, how can the human world still exist?"

"The Earth and the Moon will not collide; the flood that extinguishes humanity is the fuse that will set off the end of the world."

"Isn't what you're causing the end of the world?"

“If I don’t do it, people will continue to move faster and faster down the road to destruction. Because humanity never really cares about the future except for the dangers at hand.”

"Now that the Academy of Arts and Sciences has appeared, it can at least have a proper talk with mortals."

"You don't understand. No matter which path we choose, the technology that humanity relies on now is like an addictive cancer. Humanity is becoming increasingly dependent on this modern civilization. This is no longer the Bronze Age. If even a tiny spark of modern civilization is left, everything will revive within a decade or so! In the end, we will all face complete annihilation!"

"But there is still Saint Pingning!"

"Hua Sheng, if even Sheng Pingning hadn't fallen, how could my Mingyou exist in this world? Do you intend to destroy Sheng Pingning's fairyland for the sake of the mortal realm?"

"Wei Yu, what are you talking about? Who exactly are you?"

"I am code that does not exist in the present world."

Hanamori couldn't understand the meaning of that sentence.

"Code?"

"Correct."

"What code?"

"Super-intelligent code".

"What is Super Intelligence? Wei Yu, are you crazy? What are you talking about?!"

"Little Strawberry." Wei Yu's eyes began to blur. "My mother..."

Little Strawberry? Hua Sheng felt the name sounded familiar. He suddenly recalled the little girl he had saved with the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill at the Human Hospital not long ago. She looked extremely similar to Wei Yu, but that was just a child.

"Is the little strawberry you're talking about a child? How come she..."

“Supreme control.” Mingyou uttered the word like a devout believer, “The supremely intelligent… creator.”

"Do you mean she'll become the creator of that thing in the future?"

What exactly is Super Intelligence? Wei Yu says she is code, so is Super Intelligence also code?
"Are you talking about a program?"

“You can still call me that,” Wei Yu said.

Hana's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts: "But how could the program possibly..."

Wei Yu closed her eyes: "Because of Sheng Pingning. Because of the Bodhi War."

"Why is Saint Pingning involved too?!"

Just as Hua Sheng was about to ask a question, a talisman flew over and struck Wei Yu on the head, causing a violent explosion that widened the distance between Hua Sheng and Wei Yu.

It turned out that Tianjizi suddenly launched a sneak attack while the two were talking.

When the smoke cleared, Wei Yu's face was completely unmarked. She pointed towards Tianjizi, and a sword light appeared between her fingers. Seeing the situation was dire, Hua Sheng immediately used his golden cudgel to block Wei Yu's hand. The sword light collided with the golden cudgel, sparks flying everywhere.

Wei Yu angrily retorted, "Why are you stopping me? I'm doing the right thing!"

"But I can't let you hurt so many people! Nor can I let you hurt the immortals of Saint Pingning! I was born and raised in the human world, and when I lost my life, Saint Pingning gave me a chance to live!"

"Hana-sei, let's not become enemies. I've found a way for both of us to live on. When it's all over, let's forget about the world and the future, and stay together forever, okay?" "Stop! We have time, we can talk this out!"

“You’re too foolish! If I give up now, will the world let Mingyou go? It’s too late! Huasheng, don’t be so naive! How can I, Mingyou, quell the public’s anger if I live? How can the severely damaged Magic Academy give an explanation to Shengping Ning? Mingyou’s survival will only harm everyone.” Weiyu said, “Weiyu is Mingyou, so Weiyu has no way out!”

"But I can't let you continue making the same mistakes!"

"Why is it always you who has to do all the things that go against your conscience?"

Hua Sheng's hand, gripping the golden cudgel, trembled incessantly.

"Why not them? Look at all these powerful gods, yet you're the one wielding this Ruyi Jingu Bang?" A hint of desolation appeared in Wei Yu's eyes. "If it weren't for you holding it, what could this Ruyi Jingu Bang do to me?"

"Wei Yu...you..."

Wei Yu suddenly glared at the immortal array beneath her feet and shouted, "I've seen what the end of the world looks like! But have you hypocritical immortals ever seen it?"

Then, she looked at Hua Sheng tenderly and said, "Since you have to bear so much, then kill Wei Yu..."

Hua Sheng gripped the golden cudgel tightly, yet he could not advance even a single step.

Wei Yu could see his reluctance.

“I understand. The world has not let Hua Sheng down, so Hua Sheng should not let the world down either.”

Without any expression, Wei Yu shot out a piece of black silk from her hand. Like a black steel needle, it pierced straight into the Heaven-Covering Earth-Bearing Array from the sky, directly penetrating the body of a celestial master, who fell to the ground!

From the air, a clear tear could be seen in the Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Array!

“You should know that the Heaven-Covering Earth-Supporting Formation is extremely fragile; if even one person is missing, its power will be greatly reduced. Breaking the formation will only take an instant.” With that, the second ribbon behind Wei Yu rose into the air.

"Before the rain falls, going against the world will only destroy you in the end!" Hua Sheng shouted hoarsely.

He understood the words of the Victorious Fighting Buddha. That brief moment of incense burning, that unattainable Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff), were his final test, and also his final act of mercy. He rejected mercy, he refused to escape, and he would pay a heart-wrenching price!

He shattered the girl who had once touched his heart into dust.

Looking down at the most beautiful blue planet in the universe, he saw the dazzling light of the golden cudgel shimmering in his hand.

The song Wei Yu sang when he first went to the opera troupe came to mind.

He must forget the past, as if it had never happened.

Although he had never met most of the people he needed to save, he couldn't let down his comrades who had paid such a terrible price, nor could he let down his disciples who had sacrificed themselves. At this moment, he was humanity's last hope, and even if it was just for this role, he had to sacrifice himself.

Only desperate screams of pain can mask the endless guilt and helplessness in one's heart.

The help he received under the Samadhi Fire, the encounter on the White Jade Bridge, the fireworks at the Pear Garden Lantern Festival, the crystal-clear snowflakes on the lake atop Xuanwu Mountain—scenes flashed through Hua Sheng's mind. He realized then how indelible everything was.

Only by blurring his vision could he abandon everything and go all in. Because he simply couldn't look directly into those eyes that had once gazed upon him.

The color of those pupils was like the earth that nurtures all things.

But the common people deserve to be saved. Whoever has to be sacrificed is his responsibility, his price, and his mission.

"I don't blame you. Wei Yu hasn't forgotten you, and you shouldn't forget Wei Yu either."

Wei Yu gazed at the blooming flowers with a gentle and warm look in her eyes.

She reached out her hand to welcome the leaping boy. She wanted to cry with him, but her own tears were instantly scattered by the dazzling golden cudgel. She liked this boy; she suddenly realized that gazing at him in the radiant light was the most heart-stirring moment of her life, even surpassing that stormy night when they first met.

Even though it was the end, she had no regrets. Because she knew the boy had grown up and could live well even without her. She would become a part of his life; she was the price he paid for growing up.

The moment the golden cudgel shattered the veil of the yearning star, she was so close to the boy. Like two young lovers, needing no words, believing that the other was their everything. At that moment, she touched Hua Sheng's cheek, touched Hua Sheng's tears.

The scalding tears were taken away by the cold of the stratosphere.

A hint of tenderness flashed in Wei Yu's eyes.

She smiled.

"I hate this world, but I'm truly grateful to it for letting me meet you."

In this world, if there is no one who is fascinated by you and willing to dedicate their entire life to saving you, who could make you stand in such a position as you are now, riding on auspicious clouds, bathed in rosy light, and revered by all the immortals and mortals?
That beam of light, piercing the heavens and earth, spread from the stratosphere, scattering across the vast sky, as if unfolding a poignant scroll illuminating the entire galaxy. Like the passionate blood of these two young and lonely souls, it ignited the galaxy.

When we grow old, we realize that some emotions in this world require such effort, but we are no longer able to be as deeply involved as we were when we were young.

She finally shattered into tiny, sparkling specks of dust, like stars.

The dust drifted away, leaving only a small, glowing stone.

In the vast universe, this small stone is like a seed buried deep in my heart.

This seed is like the pure, flawless moonlight of that night.

(End of this chapter)