Chapter 797: Proud Sun of Myriad Realms (Four)
An endless expanse of smoke and clouds suddenly appeared above the Dao Chen Realm.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, Chen Dao Ren manifested his true form with the utmost speed. It was a super-massive gaseous lifeform, a coalesced mass comparable in size to half of Jupiter. If placed in the main plane, it could easily pass for a gas giant planet. But at this moment, Chen Dao Ren, having revealed his true body, did not choose to maintain a spherical shape. Instead, he allowed the vast quantities of smoke and clouds that composed his being to extend outwards as much as possible, spreading into a cloud membrane that seemingly could envelop the entirety of the Dao Chen Realm's Sun. As for the Dao Chen Realm itself, even with Chen Dao Ren's immense power, it was utterly impossible to completely obscure it.
“Since I cannot conceal the scenery behind me, I shall obscure the eyes that can see it.”
A thick layer of smoke and clouds intercepted most of the light emanating from the Sun. Not just the Dao Chen Realm, but the skies of all the Myriad Realms of Dao Chen grew dim at the same instant, for they all shared the same sun.
“A flesh-and-blood Dyson sphere...” Ji Er Ke Fu, watching from an extreme distance, grumbled.
More than a hundred years ago, before the Land of White had appeared on Earth, when humanity was still ambitiously developing the Moon, someone had proposed building a colossal spherical shell—a "Dyson sphere"—that would cover the vast majority of the Sun’s surface to comprehensively harvest solar energy. Unfortunately, due to technological limitations at the time, the idea of a "Dyson sphere" came to nothing. Nearly two centuries later, when the Empire finally possessed the technical means and sufficient materials for such a construction, the Sun no longer belonged to them. Even if they wished to act, they could only consider other stars, such as the Three-Body Star System. However, with the Empire’s current technological level, building such a cosmic megastructure would take at least two hundred years. Settling in one place for two centuries was indeed an excessive luxury for a civilization still in a state of semi-exodus.
However, Dyson sphere-like megastructures had always held a high priority in the Empire’s design bureau. This stemmed from Bai Mo’s introduction to the True Sun Star Lord during his sermon sixty years ago. A True Sun being is one who devours the sun to become a True Sun, acquiring a physique comparable to a star by absorbing and refining the mass-energy of a star. And Dyson sphere-like structures were one of the immortal artifact templates for this absorption and refinement. This concerned the cultivation paths of many great figures; even if the vast majority of them might never have the chance to touch the threshold of an eighth-stage Dong Xuan Star Lord in their lifetime, let alone a subsequent True Sun Star Lord, this did not prevent them from investing massive resources into its research.
...
Accompanying the transfer of hundreds of millions of tons of matter per second, the Sun’s mass in the main plane began to diminish at an imperceptible rate.
As for the Dao Chen Realm, everyone but the blind knew that the heavens had changed. Especially Chen Dao Ren, who was at the very forefront, transforming his very being into a flesh-and-blood Dyson sphere to envelop the entire Sun.
Every second, this massive fireball “in his embrace” was expanding, forcing him to expand along with it. Even though his true form was as colossal as half of Jupiter, completely wrapping the ever-expanding Sun was becoming increasingly strenuous.
“Old Ghost Yuan, if the person inside doesn’t act, I can at most hold on for two thousand hourglass hours. If the person inside actively intervenes, I can only last for two sticks of incense. You must look out for yourself!”
“...”
“Two thousand hourglass hours, that’s acceptable.” Yuan Shi Dao Ren directly ignored the latter half of the statement, for he knew that the entity within the Sun was currently at a crucial point of breakthrough. Unless he wished to abandon all his previous efforts, he would absolutely not engage in battle. But even if he didn't actively intervene, merely standing there passively receiving attacks, they wouldn't be able to budge him alone. The hundreds of millions of tons of solar matter transmitted from the main plane every second formed Bai Mo’s strongest defense at the core. Only by completely shattering this colossal outer shell composed of high-temperature plasma would they have a chance to reach Bai Mo, who was at the very center.
“In the name of the Moral Immortal Sect and the Holy Chen Gate, issue a Dao Venerable decree, summoning all cultivators of the Dao Chen Realm at the True Immortal stage and above—regardless of whether they are sect cultivators, demonic cultivators, or rogue cultivators—to descend with their true bodies! Violators will be executed without question!!!”
The cultivators of the Dao Chen Realm could broadly be divided into eleven ranks, starting from Qi Refinement, then Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Integration, Void Refinement, Tribulation Transcension, True Immortal, Golden Immortal, and Dao Venerable. Standing at the apex were naturally the two Dao Venerables, Yuan Shi Dao Ren and Chen Dao Ren. Below them were Golden Immortals, possessing combat power equivalent to late-seventh to early-eighth stage on Earth, and True Immortals, with combat power equivalent to early to mid-seventh stage. Only those at the True Immortal stage and above were qualified to participate in this war. As for the lower eight ranks, they belonged to the category of mortal cultivators, which would be one to six stages on Earth. This differed from the Tianxuan Continent, another world Bai Mo had once encountered.
After some analysis, Yuan Shi Dao Ren’s premonition grew increasingly clear: once the entity in the sky completed its metamorphosis, the entire Dao Chen Realm, and even its myriad subordinate worlds, would gradually become its sustenance under the irradiation of that strange sunlight. This was a war to defend their homeland!
If they truly lost the war, super-sects like the Moral Immortal Sect and the Holy Chen Gate could only resort to their last option: boarding their sect’s profound artifacts for void wandering, fleeing the pursuit of such a monster. But if they left the Dao Chen Realm, he wouldn't know where to find Purple-Green Spirit Elixir again. And once the Purple-Green Spirit Elixir was exhausted, with nothing left to counter the Dao Toxin, it would be a dead end for all beings at the immortal stage and above. They could not lose the Dao Chen Realm, or more accurately, they could not lose the Purple-Green Spirit Elixir.
“Fellow Daoist Yisisi, do you know that once this fiend completely controls the Dao Chen Realm, the Purple-Green Spirit Elixir that we rely upon will cease to exist?” Yuan Shi Dao Ren transmitted his voice to the maiden riding a cicada.
The maiden that Yisisi had transformed into, despite having two transparent, gigantic wings on her back, inexplicably chose not to fly herself, but instead rode a cicada-shaped insect, floating in mid-air. However, Yuan Shi Dao Ren had no mind for such trivialities at the moment. Even the matter of her recently killing his most beloved grandson—his daughter’s son—to summon reinforcements from another realm was temporarily put aside. Uniting everyone, shattering that tortoise shell, defeating the demon king inside, and protecting the Dao Chen Realm—that was the current priority. As for his daughter and grandson, after tens of thousands of years, Yuan Shi had long since grown indifferent to such blood ties and familial affection. When the mood struck, he might favor them for a bit, but without interest, he might not see them for centuries. Their deaths were, in essence, simply that..
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