Chapter 1095: [It]

The next moment,

An aged palm grabbed his wrist.

"Your blood is not yet at the point where it needs to be used." Lu Xun's voice sounded calmly.

"You are the 'ultimate' of cell biology, the 'god' capable of tampering with genetic sequences, and the only one among us who can live forever... Drinking your blood can indeed inhibit telomere shortening and thus resist aging, but once you start, you must take it every day. Otherwise, not only will you age and die, but you will also suffer pain more cruel than withdrawal..."

Chu Changqing frowned, speaking without hesitation:

"It's just letting you bleed every day. You are only one person; I can still afford to provide for you."

Lu Xun shook his head. "It is precisely because you have this mindset that so much blood was drawn from you back then for those people to experiment on... After sleeping for over three hundred years, now that you've finally recovered, don't you know how to cherish yourself?"

"But I did make a contribution, didn't I?" Chu Changqing retorted. "If it weren't for my blood back then, how could they have developed the supply liquid in this stasis pod? Without my sacrifice back then, there would be no 'Stasis Project,' and humanity would not have been able to continue for another three hundred years..."

"You are wrong."

Lu Xun gave a bitter smile.

Chu Changqing frowned, looking at him with utter confusion, as if he didn't understand where his logic was flawed.

"They never cracked the secret of your blood, nor did they research any substance capable of extending life... The so-called supply liquid is merely made by heavily diluting and processing the blood drawn from you back then."

Lu Xun looked complexly at Chu Changqing's cyan eyes and spoke slowly, "I said, you are the 'ultimate' of cell biology. Did you really think those scientists could crack the miracle within you? No, they couldn't even crack a single strand of your hair.

You yourself are a top-tier PhD in cell biology, but even you cannot understand your own changes, can you?"

Chu Changqing opened his mouth, eventually falling into silence.

Lu Xun was right.

Chu Changqing had used his own blood, hair, and even organ slices for research countless times, but no matter what, he could never crack the reason for the various changes that occurred in him... Not only himself, but he also couldn't understand the changes in the other Nine Lords.

Mastering an ability and attempting to explain all these supernatural phenomena using the theoretical logic of current human technology are two different things...

"...But you are dying."

Chu Changqing didn't dwell on the past anymore, just looking at those eyes that were at the end of their rope, his tone extremely serious.

"I know." Lu Xun smiled slightly. "I came to wake you up not because I want to rely on your blood to survive... but because I want you to take over this era."

"What do you mean?"

"...[It] is coming back soon."

Hearing this, Chu Changqing's face turned ugly instantly.

"Are you serious?" His voice was extremely low. "That thing is really coming back?? Then..."

"No one understands celestial bodies better than I do. Although I slept for three hundred years, the small mechanisms I set up back then have been calculating the time of its return... Now, the answer has appeared." Lu Xun paused for a moment.

"No one knows what will happen when it returns this time... And in this era, the Nine Lords are either sleeping or dead in battle. Someone must stand up to unite all of humanity, otherwise, these few domains will remain a scattered mess."

"If that's the case, then the most suitable candidate is of course you!" Chu Changqing's tone was somewhat agitated.

"You were the one who brought us together back then, and you were the one who led everyone through that darkest time. We all recognize you... You are a born leader, in any era."

"Your blood is humanity's most important strategic resource, and it needs to be used on the most important person."

"Among the Nine Lords, who is more important than you?"

Lu Xun looked into his eyes and said nothing.

Chu Changqing seemed to understand something. He was silent for a long time, then gave a bitter smile.

"I understand... You came to wake me up so that when necessary, I could use my blood to extend that person's life..."

"He is stronger than me, stronger than everyone. He is the hope for humanity's future." Lu Xun said slowly. "I have said it before... In the face of an insurmountable disaster, humanity's only weapon is unity."

"Then why don't you go wake him up now?"

"It's too early now. Once he wakes up, he can only rely on your blood to survive... The longer you extend his life, the weaker you will become. Therefore, you must wait until the time is right to wake him up yourself."

"When is the time right?"

"That will be for you to judge."

Chu Changqing slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled... filled with helplessness and sorrow.

"Lu Xun, I can't do what you do... I'm not cut out to be a leader."

"People always have to grow."

Lu Xun's aged palm lifted and patted Chu Changqing's shoulder.

The light in his eyes gradually dimmed. The next moment, he began to cough weakly, and the starlight surrounding him flickered with his coughing, swarming toward his body.

Seeing this, Chu Changqing's eyes flashed with anxiety. He wanted to say something more, but couldn't get the words out...

"...I should go."

Lu Xun coughed for a long time before speaking hoarsely.

"Where to?"

"Back to the sky." A faint smile appeared on Lu Xun's pale cheeks. He pointed to the starlight swirling around him and said, "...Together with them."

Lu Xun's life had reached its end; Chu Changqing knew this clearly. After receiving this answer, he didn't try to persuade him further, but slowly closed his eyes, his expression unreadable.

"...Yeah."

"Farewell." The starlight around Lu Xun became increasingly brilliant, as if he were about to be swallowed by them, melting into the light bit by bit...

"Give my regards to the other Nine Lords."

The next moment, Lu Xun's figure raised his palm within the starlight, and starlight erupted once more from those dim eyes... as if a hot and sincere soul lived within that aged body.

His gaze traversed space, as if looking directly at the boundless starry sky of the universe. Amidst the shining radiance, he seemed to have become that child in the orphanage longing for the stars again... He spread his fingers, as if wanting to grasp the entire sky.

"...Receive me."

The starlight received his body for the last time, ferrying him directly beyond Earth. His body disappeared from the South Sea Base, and also from before Chu Changqing.

Only faint starlight remained, flickering silently...

I don't know how much time passed,

Chu Changqing's sigh sounded in the dead silence.

……

Rumble—

Every district of the Heavenly Pivot Domain returned to its place amidst the roaring sound. The giant gears turned, slowly changing the city into another form...

"When the Heavenly Pivot Domain was first built, the Heavenly Pivot Lord placed mechanisms within it... In the end, this place is a giant calculation field..."

"What is it calculating?"

"Calculating the day when human destiny reaches its end..." The Tower Master paused for a moment. "Or rather, the time when the [Red Star] passes by Earth for the second time."

"Now, the final form of the Heavenly Pivot Domain has begun to appear... This means..."

"The Red Star is coming back soon."

More than three hundred years ago, the culprit behind the regression of human civilization, the mysterious meteor that brought about the intersection of the Grey Realm, is about to return. Will it bring new disasters, destruction, or will nothing happen at all?

No one knows the answer.

When the final answer calculated by the Heavenly Pivot Lord appeared before everyone's eyes through the Heavenly Pivot Domain, the alarm bell for human destiny had already rung, and the countdown to destruction had silently begun...

[339 days 14 hours 58 minutes 05 seconds]

[339 days 14 hours 58 minutes 04 seconds]

[339 days 14 hours 58 minutes 03 seconds]

【……】

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Volume 3, "Dance of the Sacrificial God," End.

Next volume, "Song of the Mocking."