Dark golden flowing fire, carrying with it the terrifying majesty of the heavens, plummeted into the galaxy. It was as if a great dam had burst; a thousand varieties of sin flickered within this star system, only to be ultimately obscured by the dark golden radiance.
Everything was covered by the majestic tide of flowing fire. In the end, not even a single sound could escape from within this tide, nor could a single spark be struck within the waves composed of this liquid flame.
As the tide-like dark golden fire swept across the entire galaxy, Fu Xuan also fell into its embrace.
The moment she saw the dark golden tide pouring down from the dome of the sky, true despair was born in her heart...
As the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu, and as the closed-door disciple of the former Master Diviner of the Yuque, Fu Xuan was undoubtedly one of the most capable diviners in the entire Xianzhou Alliance.
The Omniscia, gifted by [Erudition] Nous, allowed Fu Xuan to see everything in this sea of stars clearly. Although this eye tortured her every moment of every day—making it almost impossible to get a peaceful sleep, causing her to toss and turn every night due to the severe pain of rejection between the alien eye and her Xianzhou body—aside from the torture, this Omniscia was still a generous gift from [Erudition] Nous...
She kept her Omniscia open at all times. Raising her head to look at the sky, the instant she saw the dark golden flowing fire, she understood what it was.
The Omniscia bestowed by [Erudition] was indeed powerful enough, but in this moment, Fu Xuan began to regret opening it. She regretted possessing the power to see the truth of the world.
...Because after opening her eye and seeing the dark golden fire atop the dome of the sky, she recognized it as the wrathful Heavenly Punishment of an Aeon.
It was an apocalyptic tribulation sufficient to engulf the entire galaxy.
As a diviner, back when she was first a disciple of the Yuque's Master Diviner, Fu Xuan did not hold much reverence for fate...
When she learned that her master was destined to die by her hands, and that she would inevitably replace her master as the Master Diviner of the Yuque, she was filled with loathing for such a preordained destiny.
But everything she experienced thereafter forced her to bow before fate...
Although she tried her best to defy it, during the Third Denizens of Abundance War, in order to save the Xianzhou Fanghu, the Master Diviner of the Yuque still died within the plan Fu Xuan had written.
Although that was absolutely not her intent, fate was just so. All sorts of strange combinations of circumstances would eventually lead to the direction destiny had ordained...
And now, seeing the flowing fire manifesting above the sky, she immediately foresaw the fate of the Xianzhou... no, the fate of every living being in this star system in the very next moment.
Everyone would die.
They would die under the wrathful Heavenly Punishment of an Aeon. They would die within this scorching flowing fire, thoroughly reduced to cold ashes, with no possibility of survival.
This was not an exaggeration... Even if there were several Emanators present in this galaxy right now, even if the Xianzhou Alliance set aside past grievances and cooperated with the Borisin, exerting all their strength at this moment to resist the fire surging from the sky, there was not a fraction of a chance to withstand this terrifying power capable of destroying worlds.
...The difference between an Aeon and a mortal was like an insurmountable chasm.
Even an Emanator had absolutely no possibility of facing the wrath of an Aeon directly.
Seeing such a destiny of inevitable destruction, with barely any time to react, leaving no time or opportunity for even futile resistance, Fu Xuan could only gently close her eyes in this final moment.
She had once wondered what she would think when facing death. She had wondered how she would attempt to defy fate when facing a destined end, and how she would feel anger toward this unfair destiny...
But when this final moment truly arrived, she found she could not generate any other thoughts. She simply felt a trace of desolation in her heart, accompanied by a slight sigh and sorrow.
This flowing fire covered everything; everything would return to ash and annihilation... She did not mind dying in a destiny where death was inevitable, but she still felt the injustice for the common people of the Xianzhou.
The populace of the Xianzhou might be complex and varied, but the vast majority were absolutely ordinary people who lived and worked in peace, simply wanting to live simple lives.
Aside from their long lifespans, they were no different from any ordinary human.
They absolutely should not be swept away by this dark golden fire, nor should they die here...
They had done nothing wrong. Why did they have to accept this raging divine punishment from an unknown Aeon?
But she could do nothing... She even wondered if the people of the Fanghu, the moment they saw the Reignbow Arbiter send down the edict of Heavenly Punishment, had harbored the same thoughts in their hearts as she did now?
That was Divine Grace, and it was Divine Punishment, but in the end, it would only transform into indiscriminately falling "Destruction"... How unfair was it? How unfortunate was it?
Fu Xuan kept her eyes tightly shut, completely emptying her mind, thinking of nothing anymore.
She only wanted to spend the last moments of her life in peace, to pass the next second, the next instant, quietly waiting for the arrival of this world-ending Heavenly Punishment...
And just as she had predicted, without the slightest deviation, the dark golden flowing fire poured down from the lantern in the sky and swept across the entire galaxy at an unimaginable speed.
Although the fire had only just manifested in the sky, in the very next moment, it was already surging forward turbulently, thoroughly engulfing Fu Xuan within it—
But there was one thing Fu Xuan had calculated wrong.
She fell into the wrath of this Heavenly Punishment, and the dark golden fire washed over her body, but what she felt was not the destructive heat sufficient to burn a galaxy. Instead, it was a gentle warmth... warm and soft, like the morning sunlight.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly. She opened her eyes, somewhat bewildered. The dark golden fire surged into her body through her seven orifices, yet she felt not a single bit of pain. On the contrary, as this warm current washed over every acupoint and every pore of her body, she felt boundless warmth.
Even her recent vexations and powerlessness, and her despair regarding inevitable fate, were washed away little by little within this flowing fire, burned away into cold ashes.
In their place, warmth and determined hope surged into her mind, replacing the gloom and despair, causing Fu Xuan's mood to gradually clear up.
This is... what is happening?
Under the washing of this warm current, Fu Xuan's mood continued to improve, becoming as delightful as if she were stealing a moment of leisure to enjoy a cup of Taro Boba Tea amidst a busy schedule.
But even her delightful mood could not suppress the doubt and confusion in her heart. She shook her head, attempting to move her feet, to advance against this tide of dark golden fire.
But before she could even take a step, the surging dark golden fire suddenly began to flow backward. It receded with even greater speed, and in an instant, it withdrew to the horizon, pouring back into that translucent lantern...
The lantern closed. Everything seemed unchanged—Fu Xuan looked around. This terrifying divine punishment from an Aeon had washed over the entire galaxy, yet even the plants in the Divination Commission, kept for ornamental purposes, had not been burnt. In fact, they had become lush and verdant, looking as flourishing as if they had just been nourished by rain after a clear sky.
She turned her head. Jing Yuan's holographic projection was still flickering beside her. In the image, Jing Yuan was just as confused as she was, spreading his hands blankly, looking equally unharmed...
The next moment, a sudden realization struck them both simultaneously. They looked up towards the dome of the sky, towards the battlefield in the sea of stars—
The battlefield was now completely shrouded in gray-white ash... And amidst these ashes, pilots drove starskiffs rushing out, kicking up plume after plume of gray-white dust.
They... won?
The image on the screen faded, and new text lines emerged on the interface:
[The anger directed at the Borisin was difficult to vent. You decided to summon the fire of a world-ending tribulation, thoroughly destroying evils like the Borisin that should not exist in this world.]
[The power that once belonged to [Destruction] Nanook became your best assistant. The fire of tribulation represents merciless destruction, but while it was an indiscriminate slaughter in the hands of [Destruction] Nanook, in your hands, it gained the ability to discern...]
[The extreme tendency of the "Sword of Salvation" has advanced a step further from the peak. The most extreme eradication of evil has now manifested the ability it should have possessed—]
[The "Cleanup Protocol" once promulgated by Herta was not without meaning. At this moment, under the more extreme evolution of the "Sword of Salvation," the ability to quantify and distinguish sin has truly appeared.]
[The fire of world-ending tribulation shrouded the entire galaxy, yet under the ability to quantify sin, it distinguished clearly who the enemies were and where the sin lay...]
[Under the effect of the Divine Authority: "Vow of Vengeance," the fire of tribulation anchored itself to evildoers with sufficiently deep sins. Under the will of [Salvation], the fire vented your anger, thoroughly incinerating the evil enemies into cold ash, causing them to fall into dead silence within the cold sea of stars...]
[Because you satisfied the Primum Mobile of the [Destruction] Path, and fully implemented the will of [Salvation] to vent your anger, the boundary between the Path of [Destruction] and the Path of [Salvation] has blurred slightly at this moment. The Primum Mobile of the Paths has begun a certain degree of fusion due to your action...]
[Your grasp over the Path of [Destruction] has deepened. Currently, there is still a certain distance before you complete full control over the Path of [Destruction]—]
[Your current control over the Path of [Destruction] is — (1/5).]
[Complete more acts where the Path of [Destruction] and the Path of [Salvation] intersect to increase your degree of control, allowing the Path of [Destruction] to fall completely under your command.]
The text on the screen faded, and new prompt notes emerged:
[Because your control over the Path of [Destruction] has deepened, and you have completed an intersection of the [Destruction] and [Salvation] Paths, you have successfully obtained a new Divine Authority: "Galaxy Guardians."]
[Divine Authority: Pest Control (Harmful Prevention): Irrelevant disputes between nations are seen everywhere in the galaxy. But when terrifying dark forces descend upon our sea of stars, who will protect us?
Only by putting an end to all disasters from the very beginning and preventing all harmful things can the light of hope forever shelter this sea of stars...
The Sword of Damocles of [Salvation] hangs forever over everyone's head. It will absolutely not allow any sprout of evil to appear, nor will it allow any evil the possibility of harming the Star Ocean...
We shall become the most steadfast Galaxy Guardians, monitoring the entire Star Ocean, guarding and sheltering the brilliant Milky Way!
Utilizing this Divine Authority, you will be permitted to organize an advanced faction of the [Salvation] Aeon—the Galaxy Guardians—and bestow upon its members the ability to quantify and detect sin.
When the faction "Galaxy Guardians" engages in combat with enemies of the "Evil" alignment, their base attributes will increase by 300%, and they will more easily obtain favorability from forces of the "Good" and "Order" alignments.
Their base SAN value (Sanity) will be completely fixed, and they will obtain an unalterable fixed belief. They will begin to monitor the Star Ocean upholding the philosophy of eradicating evil thoroughly. Even another Aeon would be powerless to change their steadfast will.]