Lilith's question took Bai Zemin by surprise. After all, the change was simply too abrupt.
They were talking about the Will of the World, about Higher Worlds, about Higher Existences, etc... How were the stars of the distant sky supposed to enter into the picture here?
Bai Zemin assumed to himself that perhaps Lilith did not want to talk about her anymore and he decided to respect it. Be that as it may, from his point of view this conversation had been incredibly valuable to him; not only did he learn different things that would help him mentally prepare for what awaited in the future but it also gave him a lot of information about the woman in front of him.
Going from knowing only her name to knowing her age and some of her incredible feats was enough for him for now. In the future, the two of them would probably have plenty of time to get to know each other better.
"The stars, huh...." Bai Zemin looked up at the distant sky above his head that stretched as far as the eye could not reach and a nostalgic smile was born on his face naturally. "Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered something that happened when I was still very young."
"Oh?" Lilith looked at him for a moment with slight curiosity.
"I think I was 6 or 7 years old at the time, to be completely honest I don't remember it very clearly. In any case, during summer vacation one day my whole family took a trip to the outskirts of Shanghai where we would camp for a whole week." Bai Zemin chuckled and continued, "At that time my little sister Meng Qi was not yet part of the family, my mother would only adopt her several years later. So, it was just my father, my mother, and me."
"Being far from the city, the light pollution was minimal so the stars were as visible as they are now that most of the world's lights were turned off. I remember during the last night something happened that scared the hell out of me back then."
Lilith narrowed her eyes and paid special attention to this part as somehow she couldn't help but feel that maybe things weren't as simple as Bai Zemin thought they were back then.
Without knowing her thoughts, he pointed towards the huge dark colored dome with tiny glowing dots above his head through the window and asked, "Can you see that set of stars over there?"
Lilith traced the location pointed out by Bai Zemin and quickly identified what he wanted to show her. She frowned slightly and asked puzzled, "You mean the constellation of Sirius the Heavenly Wolf?"
"Eh?" Bai Zemin looked at her with clear wonder written all over his face and asked dumbfounded, "You know about Sirius as well?"
How could Bai Zemin not be surprised? What he was pointing out was indeed the brightest star visible in the cosmos; at least from Earth. More specifically, what he wanted to show her was the constellation of the Heavenly Wolf Sirius.
However, Lilith should know no such thing. Maybe many other intelligent races also linked stars together and gave them names, but how high were the odds of not only calling a star by the same name but also naming an entire constellation that was made up of about eleven stars in the same war...
"I'll explain about that later. More importantly, what happened at that time?" Lilith shook her head and pushed Bai Zemin to continue narrating what happened in his childhood.
Even a fool would realize that perhaps things were not so simple after seeing Lilith's especially high interest in the matter. After all, an existence that was practically absolute and at the top of the universe would not be interested in insignificant matters to such a degree.
With a slightly stiff expression, since he did not expect such a thing to happen just because of a throwaway comment on his part, Bai Zemin continued, "Anyway, just the night before our departure, the star named Sirius released a freakish glow back then. Although Sirius is the brightest star in the world at present, like all other stars we all see it as white or slightly bluish in color... But that time the star's brightness was red, as red as a demon's eyes!"
Bai Zemin could clearly remember how that night he cried furiously as he ran to the tent where his parents were, scaring them very much as they thought some wild animal had suddenly appeared. It was only after the little Bai Zemin of that time told what he saw that his parents finally sighed with relief and smiled as they saw that, to the dismay of the him of that time, Sirius was shining in the same way in which it shone since time immemorial.
"Back then I was angry because my parents didn't believe me, but as the years went by even I myself assumed that it was all the imagination of a small child." Bai Zemin shook his head and forced a smile as he looked at Lilith before saying, "But looking at your face now, it seems that it really wasn't my imagination after all."
Lilith looked into his eyes for a few seconds before finally pulling back her gaze to look up at the starry sky again. She didn't comment on what she had just heard nor did she let the slightest hint of her thoughts escape through her expressions as her face maintained its composure throughout.
Instead, she clarified another doubt Bai Zemin had.
"If a person were to tell you that in reality the stars in the firmament are not merely masses of gas that are at catastrophic temperatures, what would you think about it?"
Bai Zemin shrugged his shoulders rather calmly and replied, "If it were in the past, I probably wouldn't have much of an opinion about it since science and astrology were not my strong points... However, after everything that happened in just a second when the Soul Record appeared on Earth, I believe that there are no impossibilities."
"Em. It's good to keep your mind open to new ideas, thoughts, and perspectives." Lilith nodded in praise and continued, "In fact, the stars are not as simple as they seem. More specifically, not the stars themselves but the constellations composed of a set of stars."
Bai Zemin remained still in his seat and listened to everything with utmost seriousness.
Lilith's voice blended with the calm atmosphere of the night as if it were the most beautiful melody in the world: "The firmament, that is to say, that infinite space through which the stars move, which many call sky, is similar to a huge mural where rest the wills and powers of existences that surpassed the limits of the universe, entering into a new world full of dangers but also with infinite possibilities... Or at least that is what existences at the level of the different leaders of Higher Factions estimate after studying this field for hundreds of thousands of years."
"Existences that exceeded the limits of the universe?" Bai Zemin repeated in disbelief before asking, "What are the limits of the universe to begin with?"
Lilith chuckled and said in a somewhat amused tone, "That's not something my current self can feel, little brother Zemin. Big sister hasn't reached the limits of the Soul Record enough to be able to answer such a thing."
Hearing her reply, Bai Zemin felt a little embarrassed.
How could a person who had not yet reached a limit possibly know anything about that limit? It was like wanting to know that there was a wall 20 km away in a place you had never been to before that you had no information about either.
Speculate? Sure.
As for knowing precisely... Such a thing was impossible.
"Either away, let's leave that matter aside for now. I don't think it's necessary for you to know more about such things since your strength is insignificant to do anything about it anyway and you'd just be wasting your time. Besides, I don't know much about it myself in any case." Lilith decided to end the subject of these beings there.
Bai Zemin smiled bitterly in secret. In fact, his strength was insignificant so there was no point in knowing such things yet. But the way she said it somehow feels a bit hurtful; this only served to further strengthen his resolve to become strong faster.
"By the way..." Lilith looked at him and smiled as if she were a mischievous little kitten before saying, "Weren't you curious how it was possible to execute an attack powerful enough to annihilate all the life of a world in a matter of seconds? Would you like me to show you?"
Bai Zemin's dark eyes lit up brightly when he heard Lilith's question and before his brain could even send the command he was already nodding repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice.
"Hehe~" Lilith giggled softly at seeing him act like that for the first time in several days before her expression turned slightly serious and slightly proud as she said, "Look very carefully, and try not to get too scared, little brother Zemin..."
Under Bai Zemin's watchful gaze, Lilith closed her eyes for a moment and brought both hands to her chest before making a grabbing gesture. Then, as if pulling on an invisible thread, she extended both hands outward.
Flash!
"Wh-"
Bai Zemin was startled and unconsciously tried to back away only to realize that he was still sitting on the couch. A small spot of light began to glow on Lilith's chest and that light soon spread throughout the room, blinding him for a couple of seconds.
When through his eyelids he noticed that the glow dimmed almost completely, Bai Zemin opened his eyes slightly teary from the bright light earlier and looked forward.
"This is..." Bai Zemin stared with a surprised expression at a small rock floating just above Lilith's palm.
The small rock was perhaps about five centimeters tall and was shaped like a diamond with cracks at the tips. Its color was obsidian black with purplish glints, and a faint chilling aura surrounded it.
Lilith looked at the small rock in her hands with intricate eyes and whispered, "This is my Firmament Fragment. I acquired it... Several years ago."
"Firmament Fragment?" he asked stupefied.
Bai Zemin was simply overwhelmed by everything that was going on, therefore, there were many things that he unfortunately missed during the entire conversation.
Lilith looked at the small rock floating a few inches from her palm and stretched it forward.
The small rock floated gently under her command and stopped right in front of Bai Zemin. The small rock that Lilith referred to as Firmament Fragment was now within reach of his hands and the coldness around it did not feel uncomfortable, but he could feel as if death itself was staring him in the face.
"You can touch it."
Lilith's voice snapped him out of his daze and as he lifted his head, he saw her looking at him with a small smile.
She nodded and insisted, "Touch it. Then maybe you'll understand a little better why I told you about all this earlier."
Bai Zemin hesitated for a moment. He could feel every nerve in his body tense to the max, the amount of danger he felt from the small rock in front of him was such that the Second Order Archaic Bear looked like a newborn compared to the king of the jungle.
A bead of sweat that was soon frozen and destroyed by the icy aura released by the small rock in front of his eyes slid for a couple of seconds down his face. This was probably the first time in his entire life that he felt so apprehensive about something.
However, all his hesitation disappeared in an instant when he saw Lilith's expression. If she wanted him to touch it then it meant that nothing bad would happen to him.
If it was in the past, Bai Zemin may not have dared to approach, let alone touch something that made him feel like he was going to die at any moment. But now, he basically trusted Lilith with his life so he wasn't worried about his safety.
He reached his right hand forward and very carefully, gently touched the smooth surface of the small rock.
Immediately, a message flashed across his retina.
[Skadi's Will (Firmament Fragment): Skadi, in the past known as an extremely powerful Ice Goddess who was capable of annihilating entire armies with a single breath before reaching the limits of the Soul Record and disappearing. This Firmament Fragment possesses a portion of Skadi's power and has already recognized its holder. Once every 6 months can use the active skill 'Niflheim' and increase Mana by 500% and Magic by 700%. Niflheim: Bury everything in a prison of eternal ice, freezing the life of all enemies below the Seventh Order. The attack range is inestimable.]
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Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3