Volume 4: Twilight Galaxy
Miracles do not always happen, and luck does not always favor you. The dim, lightless planet was slowly approaching the black hole under its gravitational pull. In the end, the black hole ruthlessly devoured everything. Even as the black hole was swallowing them, those grotesque beings were still frantically searching for a way out, still gazing up at the lightless sky with their arms instinctively raised, foolishly hoping to grasp onto unattainable dreams.
As the black hole consumed the planet, a gentle white light briefly enveloped the dark world before it plunged into endless darkness, disappearing without a trace.
The scene zoomed out, revealing that the vast universe no longer held any trace of the Phantom Clan’s spacecraft. The chaotic spiral galaxy caused a large asteroid belt to become unstable, with countless meteors scattering into the far reaches of the unknown universe, forming a beautiful meteor shower that streaked through space, carrying someone’s stubborn hopes and obsessions.
The spiral galaxy continued to rotate slowly. While the core was being consumed by the black hole, the scattered meteor shower on the outskirts lit up the boundless universe like a dazzling fireworks display.
At that moment, the image disappeared and everyone immediately turned to where Nuan Dong had been. But the countdown had already ended, and naturally, there was no sign of him. Nuan Dong had logged out of the game.
This time, without needing much explanation, Lie Yang understood everything.
The Phantom Clan, now the only race to exist independently as spiritual beings was perfect, mysterious, and possessed infinite life spans, with unparalleled mental strength…
Yet in this world, no one is born perfect. They had undergone a transformation, discarding the cocoon from which they emerged as butterflies. They cast aside all that was ugly, all that was negative, and condensed their mental power into pure perfection, riding their spacecraft into the stars without hesitation, leaving all the ugliness behind to be swallowed by the black hole.
Why are the invaders’ appearances so jarring and grotesque? Because no one is born perfectly beautiful, just as no one is born utterly ugly. The invaders were pieced together from all the flaws of the Phantom Clan, combining everything hideous and repulsive to make them something people could not bear to look at.
The Phantom Clan believed that by doing so, they could erase all traces of ugliness as if pretending those things no longer existed. Day after day, year after year, they truly forgot it all—forgot where they came from. They reassembled their perfect forms, created a new historical starting point, and integrated themselves into the interstellar era, standing at the pinnacle of the Five Great Races.
However, several hundred years ago, a white hole suddenly appeared in the Celestial Feather Galaxy. From it emerged everything the Phantom Clan had once discarded. What they had abandoned, driven by an intense obsession, crossed black holes and white holes, traversed the universe, and finally returned to the Phantom Clan, hoping to be reintegrated.
But the Phantom Clan, having reached the peak of perfection, could no longer bear even the slightest hint of darkness or ugliness. The moment the black shadows fused with them, they died instantly.
Realizing that they were facing extinction unless they quickly relocated, the Phantom Clan abandoned everything once again, decisively moving and using their immense mental power to perfectly conceal themselves. They evaded detection, but they hadn’t anticipated that several centuries later, the public beta of “Winter’s End” would reopen everything.
What were the invaders searching for? They were searching for the Phantom Clan, for themselves. After who knows what they experienced in the black hole, the discarded cocoon gained immense mental power, even splitting the mind from the body. Yet despite all this, the grotesque shells and spirits remained obsessed with finding the Phantom Clan.
Drawn by their connection to the Warm Winter Stones, they were attracted to the Blue-eyed people in “Winter’s End”. Their powerful spirits sought physical vessels, but since the Blue-eyed people’s evolution had not reached the Phantom Clan’s level, they could not merge at all. Unable to bear the Phantom cocoon’s mental power, the Blue-eyed people died instantly. To protect its inhabitants, the world consciousness of “Winter’s End” had to freeze the entire world, forcing the grotesque spirits to leave.
Afterward, the grotesque spirits followed their memories and found the spiral galaxy in “Dusk of the Galaxy”, where the death of a star had led to the same end. During their search, the invaders finally understood what ugliness was. But what could they do? Even now, they were still hideous, so they hid in the shadows, just as dark and concealed as they were. They successfully merged with the shadows of the Twilight Clan, content to stay there. Even if they were to face another black hole’s end and be reduced to ashes, as long as the Twilight Clan didn’t leave, the invaders would remain, unwavering in their devotion.
This also explains why, despite being composed of the same intangible black matter, the invaders of “Winter’s End” and “Dusk of the Galaxy” manifest differently. In Qing Meng’s world, the invaders loomed like oppressive black clouds, while in the Twilight Clan’s world, the invaders humbly crept along the ground, using shadows as their prison. They had finally come to understand—they were unwelcome, they were ugly, they were abandoned. As a result, they learned to be cautious and to survive in humility.
Meanwhile, the discarded shells of the Phantom Clan, following the signal of the Warm Winter Stones, found their way to “Deep Blue Sea”. Instinctively, they sought spiritual bodies to fill their shells. These grotesque shells, which had once struggled in a world of darkness, yearned desperately for wings that could fly. Thus, the Xuanqiu Clan of “Deep Blue Sea”, a race with wings, became their target. They tried to seize the Xuanqiu Clan’s spiritual power but provoked a furious counterattack from “Deep Blue Sea”. After being trapped for hundreds of years, they were ultimately wiped out.
To this day, the shells discarded by the Illusionary Clan died in “Deep Blue Sea”, and the negative spiritual power they abandoned is also on the verge of perishing in “Dusk of the Galaxy”. At dusk today, the Phantom Clan’s long-held wishes will finally come true.
After piecing it all together, Lie Yang couldn’t help but curse under his breath. He rubbed his head in frustration and then let out a cold laugh. “The Phantom Clan really is perfect!”
Shu Xun shook his head. “Perfection doesn’t come from abandoning things. What results from such abandonment is only an incomplete version of perfection. True perfection comes from growth—from the flowers that bloom from all that is imperfect, decorating the landscape. Some Phantom Clan members have realized this, like Nuan Dong. They entered the game, searching for a way to reconcile with all they once abandoned. But this is no easy task. Now, they are so pure and untainted that even a tiny blemish can kill them instantly. That’s why Nuan Dong ultimately failed, and before the countdown ended, he found us and told us what he knew.”
Ye Jian added, “The Phantom Clan’s mental power has long surpassed the level that should exist in the current era, yet they still cannot advance to the next civilization. The reason is likely that they are no longer complete beings. If they cannot recover what they discarded, they may be forever stuck in this civilization, never able to progress. Evolution is like a one-way path—there’s no room for regret if you make a wrong turn. One misstep could lead to a dead end where there is no escape.”
Lie Yang suddenly looked up at the sky, where the intricate arrays of symbols were laid out. “So, could the Twilight Clan now be repeating the same mistake as the Phantom Clan? Could the emotions the Twilight Clan discarded also cross black holes and white holes, returning after many, many years? No wonder, when we met in Xing Chui Town, Shu Xun asked Nuan Dong if the Twilight Clan’s evolution would succeed, and Nuan Dong answered that it likely wouldn’t.” After a brief pause, Lie Yang furrowed his brow and asked, “But wait—how did the shells and negative spiritual power discarded by the Phantom Clan become so powerful? And what are those black butterflies that appeared alongside them?”
Shu Xun, who had transformed into human form using a disguise talisman, idly ran his fingers through his hair, satisfied with the smooth texture, even though it was only an illusion created by the talisman. Hearing Lie Yang’s question, Shu Xun gave a contented smile and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve already figured out quite a bit, but don’t forget—there’s another common thread between the three worlds the invaders targeted, aside from the Warm Winter Stones, and that’s the world consciousness. The world consciousness in these three worlds has grown exceptionally well. Just before the Phantom Clan’s planet was swallowed by the black hole, it was suddenly enveloped in a gentle white light. That was undoubtedly the world consciousness. The Phantom Clan discarded three things in total: their grotesque physical bodies, the spiritual power burdened with all their negative and weak emotions, and the world consciousness.”
“You’ve already unraveled the fate of the shells and the spiritual power, but what about the world consciousness? Why did the shells and spiritual power evolve? Because they once existed in a perfect space-time. And who created that perfect space-time? It couldn’t have been an individual life form; it was the discarded world consciousness of the Phantom Clan. This means that even if the Phantom Clan hadn’t fled the planet, they wouldn’t have died. The world consciousness would have protected them and brought them to a perfect space-time, just like what happened in “Deep Blue Sea”. The gentle world consciousnesses often behave in similar ways. But unlike”Deep Blue Sea”, where the living creatures remained, the Phantom Clan fled their planet, so the ones who evolved were the abandoned shells and spiritual power. This separation may have even caused the split between them.”
Lie Yang asked, “So are you saying the black butterflies are the world consciousness?”
But Shu Xun unexpectedly shook his head. “The ‘Deep Blue Sea’s’ world consciousness is sustained by the dependence and trust of all its life forms. Even transitioning to another space-time was incredibly difficult. Without the power of faith, the Phantom Clan’s world consciousness must have already weakened to the point of vanishing into nothingness. Moreover, the Phantom Clan didn’t have the ability to materialize everything they dreamed of. The perfect space-time was a result of the interaction between the Phantom Clan’s world consciousness and the black butterflies’ dream-realization power. Just like how Qing Meng in “Winter’s End” created a miniature city, the first wish the black butterflies fulfilled was the Phantom Clan world consciousness’s desire. The Phantom Clan’s immense mental power isn’t without reason—they possessed a world consciousness with extraordinarily powerful mental capabilities and vast vision. So, what it created wasn’t just a perfect city or a perfect continent, but an infinitely possible perfect space-time. It wanted to give the Phantom Clan the best, to offer them infinite possibilities. Unfortunately, the space-time it created would never hold the citizens it had hoped for. Instead, it inadvertently gave a lifeline to the worlds facing apocalyptic ends due to the invaders. It’s all part of the cycle of cause and effect.”
After hearing this, Lie Yang realized that the Phantom Clan’s world consciousness had long since disappeared. “So what are the black butterflies, then? Are they creatures from another universe?”
This time, Shu Xun didn’t immediately answer Lie Yang’s question. The personal dossier about Meng Muyu’s identity had only been seen by him and Ye Jian. The Dream Clan’s dream-realization ability was too special, and the black butterflies, which were equally capable of good and evil, came from the perfect space-time, even possessing the ability to create worlds. Such power was beyond extraordinary! It was just like the omnipotent Twilight Clan. None of this could be mere coincidence, so there could only be one identity for the black butterflies that appeared with the invaders: the Dream Clan!
