After recovering from his shock, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but wonder, "So are the Xianzhou natives ageless, or are they truly immortal? Or is it a combination of both?"
"Does that matter? Aren't they both forms of longevity?" Caesar didn't understand what Lu Mingfei was fussing about.
"Boss, the difference is huge! Being ageless means Xianzhou natives will still die if they are killed. True immortality means Xianzhou natives won't die even if they are killed."
Caesar nodded thoughtfully; it certainly was different.
"We hybrids live longer than ordinary people, but it's nothing compared to that. I really wonder how the Xianzhou natives achieve longevity. Is it innate or acquired?" Finger was intensely curious.
However, no one could answer him for the time being.
"Are they all longevity species?" Pan Jing was quite surprised, "Humans, foxians, dragons..."
He was rather curious whether people from such three different races could truly live together in peace.
Anyway, judging from his personal experience, the waters in Xianzhou run very deep.
"Master, what does 'long life and vision' mean?" Xiao Hei tilted his head up to look at Wu Xian.
"It means just what it says, living for a very long time."
"Like spirits?"
"Mhm."
"So are the Xianzhou natives spirits too?"
Wu Xian hadn't expected Xiao Hei to think that way, and couldn't help laughing, "No. They are just humans, humans who can live for a very long time."
"Because they've lived for so long and everything is something they've experienced themselves, that's why there are no legends?" Wu Xiangnan clicked his tongue a few times, "As expected of people blessed with longevity."
"Doesn't that mean the Xianzhou natives we saw earlier might not be as young as they appear?"
Hearing Si Xiaonan put it that way, Benizakura laughed, "Haha, who knows, the little dragon girl Bailu we saw earlier might be old enough to be our ancestor."
"It's entirely possible," Leng Xuan replied.
Lin Qiye and Zhang Chulan were pondering the same question: Where do survival resources and living space come from?
By spatial expansion technology?
Lin Qiye still remembered that the interior of the Astral Express was far larger than it appeared on the outside.
"Only high-sequence Beyonders possess extremely long lifespans, yet I didn't expect everyone in Xianzhou to have such a long lifespan..." Klein shook his head.
Comparisons really do drive people crazy.
Wonder what those big shots would think upon seeing this.
The big shots expressed that they are not laughing.
They work themselves to the bone, having to actively search for promotion resources, guard against corruption, and prevent themselves from becoming someone else's promotion resources, only to achieve their current status and attain longevity.
As a result, Xianzhou natives are born with endless lifespans. They are dying of envy.
"Whoa, they're all longevity species? Then the lifespan blade can't cut me down~" Jiuyue laughed happily.
Initially, seeing that there were foxes, dragons, and humans on Xianzhou, she subconsciously assumed the foxes and dragons had long lives while humans had short ones, and might run into the big blade of lifespan tropes that would stab us viewers to death and back.
Who would have thought they were all longevity species? Then there's nothing to worry about.
"Longevity..." Mori Ougai's eyes were dark and murky, a faint, ambiguous smile hanging on his lips.
"It really is tempting."
Ozaki Koyo lowered her eyelids and said nothing.
In her view, longevity is not necessarily a good thing.
"Clatter."
Tohsaka Rin's dessert spoon dropped onto the table. She stared blankly at the long life and vision on the canopy, blinked, and came back to her senses.
"What a truly unexpected development."
Saber frowned tightly, "People's hearts are going to become restless."
"Obviously." Emiya Shirou also wore a solemn expression.
"Long life and vision, that is truly a massive time bomb."
"However, these lanterns are quite pretty." Kumoko didn't care about longevity or lack thereof; she leveled up constantly anyway and should be able to live forever.
Therefore, after being shocked that all Xianzhou natives had longevity, her attention shifted to the paper-carved lanterns on the sky screen.
"I've never seen them before. I wonder if Zhonghuajia has this kind of craftsmanship as well?"
["However, when speaking of the stories of the Cloud Knights generals, one must begin from a distant [legend]..."]
The camera got closer and closer to the paper-carved lantern, even allowing one to see the contents carved on it.
"This history began eight thousand years ago."
"An emperor of an ancient kingdom yearned for immortality and eternal glory."
The contents on the paper-carved lantern filled the entire sky screen.
An emperor wearing a crown appeared, waving his large hand as countless ships rushed toward the sea of stars.
["Thus, the ancestors of Xianzhou set sail across the celestial seas on a long, arduous journey. For a time, it could be said that [the Milky Way spanned ten thousand leagues, with a lone boat and no neighbors around]."]
[Zhang Chulan: Damn, isn't this my Zheng Ge?]
[Klein: Your Zheng Ge seems a bit different from my Zheng Ge.]
[Lu Mingfei: This is Cyber Qin Shi Huang, right? (Otherwise how could they sail across the stellar seas?)]
[Lin Qiye: Great Qin Technology, you deserve to have it.]
[Lu Mingfei: We still don't have the technology to roam outer space today, but the Xianzhou of that world already had it eight thousand years ago. Zheng Ge is awesome!]
[Klein: The Milky Way spans ten thousand leagues, with a lone boat and no neighbors around. The storyteller sang this line rather well.]
[Zhang Chulan: Not bad, not bad, truly not bad.]
[Zhang Chulan: Looking at it this way, Xianzhou might indeed be related to our Huaxia-themed culture.]
[Lu Mingfei: Thumbs up manually.]
[Lei Wujie: Their ancient times are different from ours.]
Seeing Lei Wujie's words, people in The Youngster World nodded subconsciously.
Ain't that the truth.
They had never seen many of the things on the sky screen before; the ancients of other worlds could already sail through the sea of stars.
Such a gap was simply suffocating.
Watching the people of Zhonghuajia chatting away enthusiastically, people from other worlds smiled helplessly.
They didn't know much about the history of neighboring countries either.
At most, they understood a bit more about the Three Kingdoms period.
However, they had still heard of the great name of Qin Shi Huang.
So, was it Qin Shi Huang who made Xianzhou set sail in that world?
[The silhouette of Yaoshi the Abundance appeared.]
"After more than two thousand years of a long, lonely voyage, the Xianzhou natives finally beheld a deity."
Yaoshi bestowed a sapling upon the Xianzhou natives.
[The Plague Author] manifested and left traces, granting the Xianzhou natives boundless lifespans.
The sapling grew up in an instant.]
Seeing this scene shocked everyone once again.
"The Aeon of Abundance can indeed bring longevity!" someone shouted loudly.
Some people directly fell to their knees and kowtowed.
"Aeon of Abundance above, please grant me longevity!"
"Starting today, I will worship the Aeon of Abundance."
"I will dedicate everything to the Aeon of Abundance. For the sake of longevity, everything is worth it."
Looking at those crazed individuals, quite a few rational people were startled and quickly moved away, afraid that they might accidentally be offered as sacrifices to the Aeon of Abundance by those people.
Meanwhile, the police officers quickly took action, detaining some people who were causing trouble taking advantage of the chaos, while trying their best to calm down the crazed individuals.
"The Xianzhou natives gained longevity due to the blessing of the Aeon of Abundance, shouldn't they worship the Aeon of Abundance?" Conan muttered, "Why do they call Him [The Plague Author]? That doesn't sound like a good reputation."
"The Plague Author, what an ugly name." Lu Jin was stunned.
"How could these Xianzhou natives give the Aeon of Abundance such an ugly name?"
Celestial Master Zhang's gaze was deep, "I'm afraid that longevity has a trap hidden inside."
Otherwise, Celestial Master Zhang couldn't think of what else could make the Xianzhou natives turn against their benefactor and give the deity such an ugly name.
"Could these Xianzhou natives be ungrateful wretches?"
"Exactly! The Aeon of Abundance bestowed boundless lifespans upon them, yet they reviled Yaoshi. Truly shameless!"
"Ungrateful wretches, get out of the sky screen! We don't want to see ungrateful wretches!"
The madmen who worshiped the Aeon of Abundance in prayer for longevity exploded one by one upon hearing what Xianzhou called the Aeon of Abundance.
Perhaps because it was too noisy, some people with bad tempers punched them out, and the world suddenly became quiet.
["However, gifts are also curses."]Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou PV (3)
Quite a few people noticed the key details.
"A blessing is also a curse... What else is behind this?"
Many people who had been dazed by the prospect of longevity quickly calmed down, though there were still some fanatical individuals who remained full of desire for it.
[Countless people prayed toward that tree.
"Beings that have transcended their lifespans have instead become an undying scourge ravaging the cosmos."
A Xianzhou native appeared to be in great pain.
"Lamentable, truly lamentable."
"The Plagues of Imundance."
Countless branches sprouted from that Xianzhou native's body, and armor grew out of it as well.]
"Hiss—"
Gasps of shock rose one after another.
Zhang Chulan felt as though the air around him had grown a bit thinner.
However, he could understand everyone else's shock; after all, he had been startled himself.
"Who would have thought that the Xianzhou's longevity has such problems?" Zhang Chulan shook his head. "Longevity is never that easy to attain."
Karasuma Renya's smile froze on his face as a sense of disappointment welled up in his heart.
The longevity he yearned for was a perfect longevity, not one that would turn him into a monster.
If he could ever have an audience with the Aeon of Abundance, he would surely seek a perfect longevity.
"Hiss— Branches growing out of the body, and armor sprouting as well? That's terrifying!" Lu Mingfei rubbed his arms, looking at the Xianzhou native turned monster on the firmament with lingering fear.
"The sprouting branches might be related to the sapling bestowed by the Aeon of Abundance. Or rather," Chu Zihang said, "the longevity of the Xianzhou natives is tied to that very sapling."
Caesar stroked his chin and chose to agree with Chu Zihang's theory.
After all, the presence of that tree was simply too overpowering.
"Do you think those Xianzhou natives who turned into that state still retain their self-awareness?" Benizakura restrained her smile and asked her companions with a rather heavy heart.
Chen Muye: "Probably. But whether they can maintain their true selves remains unknown."
"Are they still alive?" Conan looked toward Haibara Ai.
Haibara Ai said in a definitive tone: "They're alive. After all, this is longevity bestowed by an Aeon. Even if they've turned into this state, and even if they might lack self-awareness, they are still alive."
Upon hearing this, Conan couldn't help feeling a chill run down his spine.
Living inside that shell—was it the blessing of eternal life, or was it a torture?
Conan didn't dare to think further.
"However, with this scene shown, surely those people chasing after longevity will calm down."
Haibara Ai sneered: "Not necessarily. Don't underestimate the temptation of longevity to people."
"Hiss— Why is the longevity bestowed by the Aeon of Abundance like this?" Jiuyue hadn't expected the end result of the Xianzhou natives pursuing longevity to turn out this way.
"Looked at this way, whether it's flat peaches or ginseng fruit, they are both much better than the blessing of the Aeon of Abundance—longevity with zero side effects."
Xiaoyu glanced at Jiuyue and smiled, saying: "You missed two others: Lord Laozi's Nine-Turn Golden Elixir and Tang Monk's flesh."
Jiuyue broke out in a cold sweat: "Let's not even think about Lord Laozi's Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. As for Tang, ahem, don't say such terrifying things."
As Jiuyue spoke, she even glanced at Lielei.
"Everything you mentioned, aside from Master's flesh, Eldest Senior Brother has eaten all of them," Lielei replied.
Jiuyue gave an awkward smile: "The Great Sage is naturally extraordinary."
Lielei puffed out his chest: "Of course."
Jiuyue: "..."
"Master, are they plant spirits? Is that why branches grew out of them?" Xiaohei asked.
Infinite wore a complicated expression and shook his head: "No. This is the price they paid for pursuing longevity."
"With this experience, it should finally wake some people up," Lei Wujie said.
He felt that not many people would be willing to turn into such a monster just for longevity.
"Naïve." Dazai Osamu chuckled lightly, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
"For many people, as long as they can achieve longevity, what does it matter if they turn into monsters?"
Hearing this, Nakajima Atsushi immediately expressed that he understood.
Seeing this, the big shots of the Lord of the Mysteries World instantly stopped envying the Xianzhou natives.
As long as they didn't lose control, they wouldn't turn into monsters just from living too long.
Muzan Kibutsuji was so angry that he smashed his tea set.
He glared indignantly at the firmament.
Is there really no such thing as perfect longevity in this world?
He was immortal and eternal, yet he feared the sun.
The Xianzhou natives possessed eternal life, yet they would turn into monsters.
Could it be that he would never be able to overcome sunlight in his entire life?
Muzan Kibutsuji was filled with unwillingness.
[Kumoko: Xianzhou: Please, Aeon of Abundance, bestow upon us longevity.
Kumoko: Yaoshi: Granted.
Kumoko: Xianzhou (turned into a monster): This isn't the kind of longevity we wanted!
Kumoko: Yaoshi: No matter how you look at it, did you attain longevity or not?
Rimuru:...You're right. Regardless of how it came about, it's indeed longevity, isn't it?]
Sakura: But those older brothers and sisters of Xianzhou who turned into monsters are so pitiful.
Mouri Ran: Yeah, they look like they're in so much pain...]
[The screen turned completely blood-red.
"Alliances turn to strife, foreign woes ignite wildfire, and battle bones scatter in ruin."
Everywhere was burning with flames, and people were fleeing.]
"Alliances turn to strife, hmm," Xiao Se tapped his fingers gently against his thigh, analyzing the meaning of the phrase. "Alliances refer to the friendship between allies; 'chanxi' refers to attacks, arguments, and infighting triggered by slander, carrying the meaning of alienation. In other words, there was a divergence among the allies of the Xianzhou, and they fell apart. Who could these allies be?"
"The Foxian and the Vidyadhara?" Lei Wujie scratched his head and chimed in.
Wuxin disagreed: "The silhouettes of the figures kneeling before that tree do not include the Foxians and Vidyadhara; they must have joined the Xianzhou later. The most likely possibility is within the Xianzhou itself. But don't forget, back then, many starfleets set out. In terms of closeness, they would naturally form their own respective vessels, meaning that each ship was its own small organization."
Xiao Se nodded: "Correct. The most crucial part is that back then, they had already left their country very, very far behind, and over two thousand years had passed. The monarch's control over the starfleets was long gone. It's completely normal to say that those ships acted independently."
"How complicated." Lei Wujie clicked his tongue.
"'Foreign woes ignite wildfire' means that the Xianzhou also suffered attacks from outsiders, plunging the Xianzhou into the fires of war as a result," Lin Qiye shook his head.
The situation for the Xianzhou was looking very bad.
"Bones of the fallen scattered in ruin..." Celestial Master Zhang sighed.
War was always this cruel, piled high with the flesh and bones of countless people.
Yosano Akiko's expression shifted slightly as she subconsciously tightened her grip on her coffee cup.
Her memory seemed to drift back to that time once more... the desperate appearance of people who could not die...
"Internal trouble and external invasion, corpses littering the fields." Chrollo couldn't help but feel curious: under such circumstances, how did the Xianzhou survive the crisis?
Judging from some of the videos of the Xianzhou Luofu, they had not only survived the crisis, but also developed very well.
It wasn't just Chrollo pondering this question; many people wanted to know the answer.
After all, the law of the jungle—the strong prey upon the weak—was no exception even in the universe.
At that time, the Xianzhou clearly looked like fish on a cutting board; otherwise, they wouldn't have been invaded by foreign enemies and plunged into the flames of war.
Soon enough, their questions received an answer.PV of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou (4)
[Suddenly, the giant tree was split down the middle.]
"At this moment of life-or-death crisis, the Reignbow descends to the mortal realm."
The Aeon of the Hunt, Lan, appeared.
"Bestowing protection upon the drifting and homeless Xianzhou in the sea of stars."
"The Xianzhou gallops across the sea of stars, purging demons and sweeping away filth, hunting for five thousand years."
The Hunt's arrow of light shot forth, streaking across the sky like a dazzling meteor.
"By divine decree, we purge the plague of longevity."]
"I was wondering how the Xianzhou managed to rise from the ashes; turns out another Aeon intervened." A flash of sharp light crossed Angers's eyes.
With the protection of an Aeon, the Xianzhou was no longer fish on the chopping block.
[Zhang Chulan: Holy cow! The Aeon of the Hunt actually helped the Xianzhou?}
[Kumoko: Ah this, I thought all Aeons were inhuman entities; I didn't expect them to help people?]
[Rimuru: Isn't that too one-sided? Doesn't the Aeon of Abundance also bestow blessings upon humans?]
[Sakura: That's great, the older brothers and sisters of the Xianzhou are safe!]
[Lu Mingfei: Good grief, the Aeon of Abundance is called the Plagues Author, while the Aeon of the Hunt is called the Reignbow; talk about being double-standard!]
[Rimuru: By divine decree, purge the plague of longevity... Does this mean the Aeon of the Hunt is hunting down the Aeon of Abundance?]
[Xiao Se: Presumably, the target of the Aeon of the Hunt's pursuit is the Aeon of Abundance.]
[Lei Wujie: Why? The Aeon of Abundance hasn't done anything bad, why is the Aeon of the Hunt hunting him? Could it be because he granted longevity to the Xianzhou?]
[Wuxin: Not impossible. But we lack sufficient information, so we can only guess.]
"Aren't we together? Why are we chatting in the chat group?" Lei Wujie looked left and right.
Xiao Se on his left said, "Didn't notice."
Wuxin on his right said, "Same here."
Lei Wujie: "..."
[Kumoko: Since it's all guesswork, why not be bolder?]
[Feng Baobao: How bold?]
Seeing this, Zhang Chulan looked at Feng Baobao in surprise alongside Xu San and Xu Si.
"Baobao / Sister Bao'er, you can speak too?"
Feng Baobao blinked, not understanding what they were surprised about, and said calmly, "Isn't it just like chatting with us in the group? What's there to be excited about."
Several of them looked at each other, their lips twitching as they thought, fine, indeed there's no difference.
[Kumoko: The Aeon of the Hunt is also a Xianzhou native. He ascended to divinity amidst the flames of war, so he hates the Abundance to the core, and thus began hunting down the Abundance.]
[Gintoki: If you're not pink-haired, don't steal a pink-haired person's job!]
[Kumoko:?]
[Jiuyue: I get it! This is equivalent to the Xianzhou unstan-and-trashing, and then chasing them down to kill them.]
[Kumoko: Exactly.]
[Chen Motong: He chases, she flees, she has nowhere to fly.]
[Zhang Chulan: Lan: Madam (Yaoshi), has she realized her mistake?]
[Lu Mingfei: Xianzhou: No. Madam has already run outside the galaxy.]
[Jiuyue: Lan: Preposterous! Woman, how dare you run away on your own! Do you think you can escape from the palm of my hand?]
[Klein: Yaoshi: Don't do this, Brother Jie—]
Nono puffed out her cheeks, staring fixedly at Klein's name.
Damn it, actually stealing my screentime!
After everyone finished fooling around, the canopy continued to play.
["And commanding these six Xianzhou ships is the arrow tip of the [Hunt]—"]
Six Xianzhou ships appeared on the canopy.
"The Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou."
"Behold, beside the Marshal are the six Xianzhou Generals—"
"Majesty piercing the empyrean, vigor overawing the firmament."
The paper-cut Chenghuang bared its fangs and brandished its claws, with writing beside it:
Yaoqing
"Sky-Strikers General, Feixiao."
Subsequently, red lotus and flame patterns appeared.
"Boundless radiance, calamitous blazing light."
Zhuming
"Candle-Abyss General, Huaiyan."
A divination-like astrolabe appeared, then transformed into a huge instrument.
"Treasury of heaven and earth, pervasive across the universe."
Yuque
"Tactics General, Yaoguang."
Waves churned, and an undersea world manifested.
"Crossing the vast sea, swallowing the great wilderness."
Fanghu
"Wave-Subduing General, Xuanquan."
"Elusive and ethereal, life and death are equal."
Countless neatly lined-up soldiers resembling the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum appeared, along with a bronze-vessel-like object.
Xuling
"Dust-Underworld General, Youwu."
"Surpassing the jade realm, commanding heavenly halberds."
They were buildings arranged around that tree from the beginning.
Luofu
"Divine Strategic General, General Jing Yuan."]
"With so many Xianzhou ships, only six are left?" Lu Mingfei felt a chill.
From the remaining number of Xianzhou ships, one could catch a glimpse of the danger and cruelty of the galaxy.
"The Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou, such a cool name." Zhang Chulan laughed, "But isn't it a bit chuni?"
Xu San pushed up his glasses, expressionless, "It is a bit."
"Yaoqing, Zhuming, Yuque, Fanghu, Xuling, Luofu." Zhuge Qing opened his eyes, "The Yaoqing Xianzhou is probably related to the fox clan; ancient records say the Chenghuang resembles a fox. The Zhuming Xianzhou is related to fire, and fire usually brings forging to mind, so it's probably a place that makes weapons. The Yuque Xianzhou should be related to divination. The Fanghu Xianzhou is inextricably linked to the dragon clan. Xuling... lacks a strong sense of living people. I've seen Luofu before, didn't notice anything special."
"They even used a mausoleum, how strong could the sense of living people be?" Zhang Chulan chimed in.
"Majesty piercing the empyrean, vigor overawing the firmament. Their imposing aura shoots straight up to the clouds, and their spirit surpasses the vast sky," Ye Fan said, "General Feixiao of the Sky-Striker is probably a general focused on conquest."
"Boundless radiance, calamitous blazing light. Truly fitting for a Xianzhou related to fire. What kind of master is General Huaiyan of the Candle-Abyss?" Yang Jian wondered.
"Treasury of heaven and earth, pervasive across the universe. Chest containing heavenly secrets, wisdom covering the cosmos." Ye Ruoyi was curious how the Yuque Xianzhou conducts divination; is it also stargazing?
"Crossing the vast sea, swallowing the great wilderness. Traversing the vast ocean, swallowing heaven and earth with spirit." Chu Zihang's golden pupils shone brightly, "Is the dragon race of that world this powerful?"
"Elusive and ethereal, life and death are equal. Netherworld misty and ethereal, illusion and reality hard to gauge. Viewing life and death lightly, life and death as one. This Xuling Xianzhou is quite interesting. No wonder those soldiers look so much like the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum," Klein sighed.
"Surpassing the jade realm, commanding heavenly halberds. Overawing the nine heavens, waving away heavenly soldiers. Haha, General Jing Yuan is quite interesting," Nezha laughed.
"When we reached Luofu, that tree appeared, so it must be on Luofu," Ximuzi fanned herself, "I saw the tree getting split earlier and thought it was gone; is it still around?"
"With such a divine object on Luofu, it shows that Luofu is also fraught with crises," Pan Jing shook his head, "Longevity is truly bewitching."
Meanwhile, people from other worlds who were not very familiar with Chinese culture were completely lost listening to the introduction of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou.
Thanks to the group members, they got explanations and finally understood a thing or two.
["These Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou each possess unique abilities and talents, but speaking of our [Luofu]'s General Jing Yuan, everyone praises him for his extraordinary intelligence and profound strategic foresight."
A huge golden giant manifested.
"This is precisely executing interlocking stratagems to wipe out the Borisins, crossing the sea under disguise to seize the flag."
That golden divine manifestation stood opposite a moon wreathed in purple smoke.
One hand pointed towards a purple moon, instantly transforming it into the appearance of a golden Xianzhou.
"Winning victory from a thousand miles away, every plan leaves no loophole."
The golden divine manifestation held a swinging blade, its entire body flashing with golden lightning.
It delivered a slash straight ahead.
"If not for the whole army being of one mind from top to bottom,"
General Jing Yuan's paper-cut appeared, with a huge white lion beside him.
Incense smoke curled thinly, and before him was a chessboard.
"What use are foolproof plans?"
The paper-cut of General Jing Yuan looked at the camera with a smile.
Following that, he dropped a Go piece.
"Relying on all you Cloud Knights to entrust your lives to me, I will surely not fail your trust."
Then came the silhouettes of countless Cloud Knights shouting loudly:
"The Xianzhou soars, the Cloud Knights are ever-victorious!"
"The Xianzhou soars, the Cloud Knights are ever-victorious!"
"The Xianzhou soars, the Cloud Knights are ever-victorious!"
At this moment, the canopy turned dark.
A soft chuckle rang out.
"What you said... is quite interesting