My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1247: Insisting on Exploring the Star Sea

“All transcendent power within this world has long since vanished. Even ordinary individuals are fated to a lifespan of a mere century at most.”

“However, humanity’s eternal quest for the Dao remains as fervent as ever.”

“By delving into research, conducting analysis, and mastering the application of natural laws, even mortals can achieve astonishing feats of power.”

Within the void that manifested before Sun Erlang, a sphere abruptly materialized.

This sphere spun upon its axis, displaying countless dark dots, each representing a human, traversing its surface at an astonishing velocity.

Initially, the structures on the ground barely exceeded one zhang in height. Yet, as time accelerated, progressively taller edifices began to ascend from the earth.

Before long, even aerial vehicles became a common sight, navigating the clouds.

While meticulously shaping the world conceived within his mind, Sun Erlang found himself recalling the profound teachings of his master from years past.

“The dire predicament facing the Xuanhuang Realm mirrors that of these worlds devoid of transcendent power. Ancient texts frequently speak of the immortal path as eternal. Perhaps these pronouncements hold a kernel of truth.”

“The so-called [immortals] are beings who have plumbed the depths of the principles of the Dao, harnessing its power to its absolute limit. They stand at the pinnacle of existence, akin to the Dao itself, observing the masses from above, forever undying and indestructible.”

“But what if the [Dao] itself were to undergo a transformation?”

“The Dao, in essence, remains. However, those who cannot adapt to this evolved Dao are inevitably destined for ruin.”

“Failing to achieve harmony with the altered Dao, such beings would no longer merit the title of immortal. They would inevitably fall.”

“Among the countless forms of life, new [users of the Dao] will invariably arise. The power they command will escalate relentlessly.”

“They shall ascend to become the new [immortals].”

At that juncture, the pronouncements of the Faceless Holy Emperor had seemed shrouded in profound mystery. Not only Sun Erlang but none of the other direct disciples under the Holy Emperor’s tutelage could fully grasp the underlying wisdom.

Yet now, empowered by the Truth Fruit, he was granted the extraordinary opportunity to experience the sensation of a creator.

Sun Erlang’s gaze swept over the world he had brought into existence before him, and a distinct stir began to ripple within his heart.

Within that spherical realm, following countless eons of natural progression, factions would inevitably emerge that resonated with the Dao of the world he had fashioned.

These factions would possess the ability to perceive the ultimate secrets of their world, secrets imperceptible to other living beings, thus becoming the so-called [Users of Dao] within this domain.

Boom!

Sun Erlang’s perception traversed the vast expanse of space with remarkable speed, descending upon the sphere he had meticulously crafted.

Inside a nondescript structure, a young scholar was seated, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation beneath the glow of a lamp.

The blackboard before him was densely covered with intricate formulas and complex diagrams.

“Incorrect, incorrect, utterly wrong…”

“Where precisely does the error lie? Why does my computed result diverge so drastically from the actual observed trajectory of motion?”

“It feels as though an unseen force is deliberately impeding us, preventing our departure from this planet.”

The scholar, gripped by frustration, ran a hand through his hair before suddenly lifting his head and gazing towards the window.

In the profound darkness of the night, his eyes seemed to lock directly with Sun Erlang’s gaze.

Sun Erlang’s vision flickered, and the scene dissolved with a resounding boom.

Upon regaining his senses, he observed with considerable surprise that spacecraft had begun to materialize within the sphere, endeavoring to breach the perceived “boundary of the world.”

However, beyond the confines of this world, Sun Erlang had yet to manifest anything; it remained an empty expanse.

Naturally, their attempts would prove fruitless.

Sun Erlang’s thoughts raced as he initiated the creation of new cosmic maps.

The formerly white void gradually darkened. Within the celestial expanse, in addition to the original planet, countless thousands of other celestial bodies began to emerge.

The map’s scale expanded exponentially, increasing by more than a hundred thousandfold in an instant. Sun Erlang’s Dao Deviation Stone began to signal an overloaded state.

To alleviate the processing burden, Sun Erlang designated the vast majority of these newly appeared planets as desolate, uninhabited wastelands, completely devoid of any life forms.

Furthermore, to curb the rapid expansion of the inhabitants on the original planet, he meticulously engineered immense distances between each planet.

These distances were so vast that, without the application of immortal power, the diminutive inhabitants would struggle to traverse between planets even across their entire lifetimes.

After exerting immense effort and considerable strain, Sun Erlang managed, by a narrow margin, to stabilize the world that had teetered on the brink of collapse.

Yet, soon after, before he could fully refine and expand the star-sea landscape, the world once more found itself in a precarious state.

Upon investigating the cause, Sun Erlang discerned that the inhabitants had started to harbor doubts regarding the true nature of their reality.

This skepticism arose not only from their inability to achieve interstellar travel but also from their observation of numerous planets within the star sea that had demonstrably not existed previously.

These celestial bodies had appeared as if conjured from nothingness, shattering their established understanding of the universe.

“One must not impose rules arbitrarily. Instead, the emergence of all phenomena must be founded upon the intrinsic principles governing the world.”

This particular axiom suddenly resonated within Sun Erlang’s mind.

He swiftly proceeded to implement the necessary adjustments to align with this newfound insight.

In another valiant endeavor by the determined inhabitants, a solitary spacecraft managed to breach the planet's confines, venturing into the vast expanse of the star sea.

The humans aboard this vessel stumbled upon a luminous blue ring encircling their home world.

It was this very phenomenon that obstructed external observation from within the planet and had previously thwarted their escape attempts.

This was a revelation of monumental significance!

After navigating perilous trials, the spaceship successfully returned to the surface, disseminating their groundbreaking discovery.

Upon integrating the star ring's influence into their complex equations, the planet's scholars finally achieved a tenuous harmony between their theories and the observable reality.

A wave of jubilation swept through the populace, heralding a new epoch. Concurrently, the crew of the maiden voyage vessel were universally lauded as heroes.

Bolstered by this success, the pace of technological advancement for the planet’s long-suppressed population surged to unprecedented heights.

Fortunately, by this juncture, Sun Erlang had already meticulously mapped out a substantial portion of the desolate star sea's topography.

Furthermore, the sheer immensity of the fabricated star sea served, for a time, to contain these inhabitants within its spatial and temporal boundaries.

However, Sun Erlang was acutely aware that this was merely a transient solution.

It was inevitable that they would eventually detect the irregularities present within the constructed star sea.

“Should one seek to remain undetected,” he mused, “the star sea must continue to expand.”

“And this expansion must outpace the rate at which these diminutive beings conduct their explorations.”

The perspective zoomed out by a factor of tens of thousands, revealing more of the cosmic panorama.

Countless nebulae and swirling galaxies bloomed in the void beyond the darkness.

The Dao Deviation Stone was already pushed to its absolute operational limit.

“As the saying goes, touching one thread moves the entire tapestry. Every celestial body within the star sea exists in interconnectedness.”

“It's not merely a matter of appending new elements; the impact of their emergence on the original celestial body must also be carefully considered.”

“…”

After profound contemplation, Sun Erlang perceived that the Dao Deviation Stone was teetering on the brink of collapse. With unwavering resolve, he resorted to a rudimentary application of spatial manipulation to mitigate these cascading effects.

“By the time these minuscule inhabitants perceive an anomaly, a considerable duration should have elapsed.”

The native population continued their rapid advancement.

They delved into the mechanics of the star ring, subsequently developing 'retrograde boats' engineered to counter and reverse the ring's restrictive force.

Utilizing these vessels like a cosmic slingshot, they launched themselves outward at incredible velocities.

Though the journey was one-way, this innovation dramatically expedited the inhabitants' exploration of the star sea.

“Is this progress too swift?”

Sun Erlang watched in astonishment as the inaugural retrograde boat, leveraging the gravitational pull of passing planetary rings, achieved continuous acceleration.

It hurtled directly toward the very edge of the Star Sea.

“No…”

Sun Erlang paused thoughtfully. He then subtly altered the course of an approaching meteor, directing its path to spectacularly collide with the speeding retrograde boat.

To his surprise, the occupants managed to evade the impact with mere moments to spare.

In a dizzying flash, the interior of the retrograde boat materialized before Sun Erlang's eyes.

“Esteemed sir, we owe you our lives! Without your intervention, we would have been annihilated!”

A stern-faced, middle-aged man with a prominent beard maintained his composed demeanor: “That celestial fragment appeared most unusually. In the vastness of the cosmos, for it to intercept us…”

“Maintain maximum vigilance! Let no one drop their guard!”

...

Hearing the diminutive voice, Sun Erlang couldn't help but feel a twinge of embarrassment. His previous action had indeed been somewhat heavy-handed.

Yet, he swiftly devised a countermeasure.

With a subtle gesture, Sun Erlang indicated the planet nearest to the retrograde boat's current position.

Moments later, the planet detonated with a tremendous roar.

It fractured into innumerable fragments, cascading down like an apocalyptic deluge upon the retrograde boat.

Fortuitous luck might grant escape once, but never twice.

Such a dense barrage of debris, meticulously guided.

The retrograde boat, predictably, stood no chance of survival.

Upon impact, it erupted into a ball of brilliant flame, vanishing eternally from the Star Sea.

However, a single catastrophic event could not quell the natives' insatiable curiosity regarding the Star Sea.

Subsequently, increasingly larger and more sophisticated retrograde boats began launching from the original planet in succession.

They commenced expeditions in every conceivable direction.

While Sun Erlang harbored a strong desire to obliterate these vessels once more using his established methods, he recognized that his prior direct interference had already destabilized the fundamental rules governing this creation simulation.

Further direct interventions would only hasten the world's inevitable collapse.

Thus, Sun Erlang was compelled to seek an alternative strategy.

He observed the numerous vessels ricocheting off the various star rings, and inspiration soon struck.

With a mere thought, minute, undetectable alterations were implemented within the star ring encircling the Primordial Star.

It took the native inhabitants a full year to finally detect the discrepancy.

The planet was simultaneously battered by unprecedented, extreme weather phenomena across its entire surface.

Icy gales and relentless droughts swept across the land, decimating all in their path.

The productivity of grain saw a decline, and even the birth rate among the native inhabitants started to subtly decrease.

Sensing that something was amiss, the diminutive inhabitants convened the planet's most esteemed scholars to investigate the root cause of these calamities.

Ultimately, they arrived at a consensus.

While the celestial ring enclosed them, preventing their expansion into the Star Sea, it also served as a protective barrier.

This enclosure shielded their planet from the harsh conditions prevalent in the Star Sea.

In recent times, the excessive exertion of the celestial ring's elastic potential had led to a minor contraction of its structure.

Although this contraction was insignificant to the celestial ring itself, the planet's delicate ecological balance could not endure the repercussions it generated.

Following extensive deliberations, the native inhabitants eventually decided to temporarily postpone their ambitious plans for Star Sea exploration.

The reverse-sailing vessels were subsequently decommissioned and stored away indefinitely.

"We can manage for a while longer," Sun Erlang remarked.

A relieved sigh escaped Sun Erlang's lips.

"I can only wonder how much time has elapsed in the external, real world," he mused.

Gazing at the galactic expanse he had personally sculpted, a look of profound contemplation settled upon his features.

Time truly did fly.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, another century unfurled on the Primordial Star.

Beginning around the third decade, aerial vessels started to approach the celestial ring, collecting samples and conducting analyses.

By the fifth decade, through the steadfast endeavors of all the inhabitants, a method to rectify the celestial ring's damage was finally discovered.

Sun Erlang personally observed these diligent individuals as they managed to replicate the celestial ring's power within the confines of their laboratory.

He was profoundly moved, a cascade of thoughts flooding his consciousness.

"The power of the celestial ring is intrinsically linked to the fundamental laws of the very world I conceived," he realized.

"Yet, these inhabitants are also emanations of this world's laws. As integral components of this world, they possess the capacity to scrutinize its essential origins..."

"Because they possess genuine existence, they are capable of studying and harnessing it."

...The transformations on the Primordial Star persisted.

After numerous trials confirmed the efficacy of the celestial ring repair method, the inhabitants, who had been constrained for so long, could no longer maintain their patience.

An epoch of exploration unparalleled in history commenced.

An immense number of reverse-sailing boats once again launched from the Primordial Star, venturing into the boundless Star Sea.

During the seventh decade, the inhabitants devised a novel technique for traversing vast distances without depending on the celestial ring's elastic force, utilizing solely the power generated by the celestial ring furnace.

From that point forward, the natives had officially achieved the capability for round-trip expeditions across the Star Sea.

From the eighth decade until the completion of the first hundred years, the inhabitants ushered in a new era characterized by the expansion and colonization of the Star Sea.

At this juncture, Sun Erlang understood that the intricately woven deception of this world he had crafted would inevitably be unveiled sooner rather than later.

Witnessing the countless inhabitants who continued to make sacrifices without hesitation, an undefinable sentiment welled up within Sun Erlang's heart for reasons unknown.

He ceased his efforts to expand the boundaries of the Star Sea.

Instead, he silently observed as the inhabitants' journeys brought them closer and closer to the world's very edge.

Five centuries elapsed.

As a uniquely designed reverse-sailing boat finally reached the furthest limits of the Star Sea, the world before Sun Erlang's eyes violently convulsed.

Boom!

Like celestial bodies igniting, it erupted in a dazzling luminescence.

And then, it vanished.

However, Sun Erlang did not find himself returned to the real world.

Before him stretched only an expanse of blank void.

"Hmm?"

Sun Erlang expressed his surprise, his gaze sweeping around as he pondered the cause of this unexpected turn of events.

"Do you perceive any issues with the world we just observed?" a voice inquired from behind Sun Erlang.

Sun Erlang's heart leaped, and he swiftly turned his head.

He beheld a Daoist figure, distinguished by long eyebrows and white hair, holding a horsetail whisk, a gentle smile upon his face as he regarded Sun Erlang.

"Could this be..."

Sun Erlang vaguely surmised the identity of this individual. Mustering his resolve, he tentatively inquired, "Greetings, Heaven..."