Chapter 1245: Flying!

**Author:** Three Hundred Jin Smile**Last updated:** August 18, 2020**Chapter word count:** 5542 words

This was an ancient mural imbued with strong religious symbolism. The divine figures within were full-figured and well-proportioned, with round faces, reflecting a deep ancient faith.

“Is this a creation of an ancient cosmic civilization from a certain era?”

“Is it an artifact unearthed from the era of sculpture and art, similar to the ancient murals found in that old immortal's abode?”

The surrounding Sages all inquired.

Akina Mountain Speed could only grit his teeth and reply, “Yes, look at that ancient mural. A host of divine beings from an ancient universe are charging towards the colossal beast with expressions of bliss, merging into its body. Perhaps that's our chance to escape?”

Akina Mountain Speed was truly at a loss for what to do.

He couldn't possibly tell them the truth: How could he explain the concept of a Creator God to these rustic bumpkins? Or even admit that they had unleashed a God of Destruction—an evil entity that might accelerate the universe's demise—and that they were the culprits?

He'd surely be beaten to death!

But if he didn't reveal the truth, how would he explain his knowledge of the beast's potential?

After much thought, he decided to elaborate on the Sculptural Arts Civilization, which was already serving as a convenient shield. It was a quick-witted improvisation on his part, a spontaneous fabrication he conjured on the spot!

The surrounding Sages remained deep in thought.

“‘Feitian’ (Flying Sky)? What does ‘sky’ refer to here? Does it mean this mysterious primeval ancient beast?”

“Is this colossal beast ‘the sky’?”

“Why is it called ‘the sky’?”

The Sages murmured among themselves.

Akina Mountain Speed pondered for a moment, then explained, “Based on our analysis of the ancient murals, what's depicted might be an unspeakable entity referred to as an Outer God of the Universe.”

“Universe? Outer God?” The Sages frowned.

Standing on the swaying, damp deck, Akina Mountain Speed looked up at the shadow in the deep sea and continued, “This is merely our conjecture, and it may not be true, but would you like to hear it?”

“Please elaborate!” a Sage said solemnly. After all, everyone felt their worldview had been overturned; the appearance of a living colossal beast in the Chaos Sea was already unimaginably bizarre.

Since someone had seen ancient murals that might shed light on this, there was no harm in listening.

“Based on our conjectures about the ancient inscriptions,” Akina Mountain Speed seemed to get carried away, explaining earnestly, “They are purposeless, chaotic, unspeakable, grand yet blindly foolish. They are planktonic invading organisms from far beyond the universe—a fragmented form of the universe itself, not yet fully formed, scattered and floating outside the cosmos.”

“Beyond... the universe?”

This statement was truly shocking.

Its underlying implication was terrifying. All the Sages understood he wasn't referring to beyond a single universe or a multiverse, but beyond the entire grand cosmos. Beyond the entirety of the broken glass beads!

At this moment, all the Sages felt goosebumps rise on their skin.

Beyond the universe, were there other universes? Or just empty nothingness? Or these evil, indescribable beings?

Were these beings all underdeveloped universes? Was it only their universe that was fully developed, making these “beings” like microorganisms floating around an egg?

“What truly lies beyond the universe? Not even Sages can say, can they?”

“We Sages, standing outside the Chaotic Heavens, are like standing on the surface of a planet, gazing up at the sky, but the sky is murky and empty!”

“Impossible, beyond the universe is void, nothing at all.”

Cough, cough.

“Indeed, indeed, it's all very mysterious and unknown, even to you Sages… We merely inferred this from the murals,” Akina Mountain Speed coughed twice.

He felt he wasn't spouting nonsense. These false universes were all created by the Creator God. Wouldn't it be effortless for the Creator God to create any universe, even beyond the known cosmos?

“So, given this, and according to the ritual depicted in the murals, are we to find a way to enter this beast's skin?” Akina Mountain Speed changed the subject.

Instantly, the Sages grew solemn.

“Touching the skin of this mysterious beast is surely a death wish,” a Sage immediately retorted. “Are we in such a hurry to die? We'd rather be far away, yet now we're actively approaching it?”

Another Sage added, “Currently, our energy shield is holding, allowing us to resist the Chaos Sea and the beast for a while. But to touch the beast, we'd have to drop the shield… If we let the sea flood the ship, we're certainly doomed!”

These two statements immediately gained approval from many Sages.

However, another Sage spoke coldly, “So, we're just waiting for death then? We might as well take a chance; there's still a glimmer of hope.”

At this point, yet another Sage said, “Don't you understand? If we wait for death, we'll become the beast's food, directly consumed. If we touch its skin, there might be a chance of survival!”

“Hmph! What's the difference?” a Sage sneered. “What major distinction is there between touching its skin and entering its mouth as food?”

The Sages argued noisily, seeming less like ancient, majestic beings of the cosmos and more like a group of panicking ordinary people. In truth, this was largely because most of them were Tenth-Order progeny, born sacred and having experienced few hardships.

Ultimately, a powerful leading Sage declared, “This is our only chance. Prepare yourselves. As the tentacles engulf the ship, we'll instantly drop the protective shield and touch the skin directly before the Chaos Sea rushes in!”

All the Sages' faces flushed with tension.

They were about to abandon the ship! This ship had been built with endless effort and the Sages' painstaking dedication; it was said that all of His Highness's treasures in this universe had been spent on it. Abandoning it would surely incur furious wrath.

But would touching its skin truly ensure their survival? They couldn't conceive of any way to survive. The idea that touching its skin might lead to survival was utterly absurd!

However, encountering such a monster in the Chaos Sea was already an extremely absurd event, so perhaps this action could only be described as a desperate last resort.

“No more talk, prepare to begin,” the leading Sage commanded. “The tentacles are closest to the ship, but to be safe, we will touch the beast's abdominal skin!”

Ultimately, those present were exceedingly powerful beings. They quickly composed themselves, and according to the countdown, prepared for an instantaneous surge and sprint.

The next moment.

Boom.

The protective shield abruptly collapsed.

Vast amounts of Chaos Sea water surged in, a gray expanse. Countless powerful beings, as if in a frenzy, instantly touched the beast's skin in their final moments.

The next second, the Sages' eyes trembled, revealing disbelief.

The instant they touched the skin, it was as if they had made contact with the membrane of a parallel universe. Their souls immediately merged into it, illicitly entering that universe…

Their physical bodies, unable to breach the universal membrane, perished instantly.

“Where is this?”

The Sages' pupils suddenly dilated.

“This is a universe!”

“We actually slipped into… a universe?”

They saw a visceral universe, not of planets or soil, but of countless tendons, muscles, and red blood cell-like discs flying everywhere, constructing and forming a universe akin to intricate gears.

Crunch!

Outside, the grand cosmic ship, now without its protective shield, was instantly battered and squeezed by the Chaos Sea, rapidly disintegrating before being consumed and devoured by the indescribable colossal beast.

The beast's size, having devoured such vast amounts of matter and cosmic rules, began to expand rapidly, its internal universe continually growing.

“We originally intended to smuggle ourselves into a parallel universe to achieve enlightenment… but now, our ship is lost, and we've arrived in another parallel universe?”

“Can enlightenment be achieved here?”

They stood frozen, their wide eyes filled with horror, their minds a jumble. Was this a blessing in disguise?

In their daze, they vividly recalled the ancient Dunhuang murals, filled with intense religious symbolism: mysterious ancient divine beings, joyful and seeking enlightenment, one after another merging into the beast's skin.

“Feitian!” (Flying Sky)

“‘The Sky’ actually refers to a universe!”

At this moment, it was as if they finally understood.