578 36 Phases
Xu Jingming crossed the fiery area and approached the nearest patterned stone pillar.
The surrounding world turned dark again, but the temperature continued to rise.
How strange. The closer I am to the patterned stone pillar, the higher the temperature, and the darker the world becomes? Xu Jingming turned his head and looked in the direction of the fiery world—it was where it was the brightest.
Xu Jingming looked at the nearest towering patterned stone pillar in the distance.
Although it was still very far away, the stone pillar was 1.6 light-years tall. At such a towering height… Xu Jingming could naturally see its appearance clearly.
There were patterns carved on it. Although he couldn’t sense any aura from it, there was an invisible pressure.
This was a high-dimensional object that naturally suppressed low-dimensional cosmic lifeforms.
Whoosh.
Xu Jingming approached it repeatedly through teleportation. The closer he was to the center, the more dangerous it was. He was also afraid that he would lose his life if he teleported too close, so he carried out short-distance teleportation.
Although he could be revived if he lost his life, that would be too embarrassing. Losing his life while exploring his auxiliary universe? He even lost Primordial Battle Armor #9? It was too embarrassing!
Huh?
When Xu Jingming was about 100 billion kilometers away from the patterned stone pillar, he found something amiss.
This patterned stone pillar? Xu Jingming looked at it. The towering patterned stone pillar faintly emitted heat, and heat waves surged and dissipated. Therefore, the temperature decreased further out from the center! The closer he was to the patterned stone pillar, the higher the temperature.
So the heat of the auxiliary universe originates from the patterned stone pillars? Xu Jingming looked up.
At such a close distance, one could already see waves of heat erupting from the patterns. The heat waves produced at any moment probably exceeded the heat produced by a star throughout its lifetime. Therefore, when they dissipated to the periphery, they could produce the cosmic fruit trees and flaming apes.
How can there be such terrifying energy? Xu Jingming observed the patterned stone pillar that constantly emitted heat.
Huh? In a daze, Xu Jingming felt that this patterned stone pillar resembled a miniature Primordial Star.
Yes, the Primordial Star, Xu Jingming thought. Secretary General Blacksky confirmed via observation that the cosmic fruit is related to the Primordial Star lineage! He believed that the creator of the auxiliary universe was also a high-dimensional lifeform that studied the Primordial Star.
The Primordial Star was the greatest celestial body in high-dimensional space. Many high-dimensional lifeforms studied the Primordial Star and drew strength from it.
Continue approaching!
Xu Jingming wanted to experience it up close—50 billion kilometers, 30 billion kilometers, 10 billion kilometers.
The temperature increased as he drew near. There was even an invisible repulsive force.
Xu Jingming reached 9.8 billion kilometers when the powerful repulsive force made him feel terrible.
The repulsive force is too great. If I get any closer, I won’t be able to observe in peace. Xu Jingming looked up and saw the high-dimensional patterned stone pillars at 9.8 billion kilometers. The impact was already tremendous.
The stone pillar felt like an extremely terrifying fireball—a miniature Primordial Star.
Scorching, infinite, and the incineration of everything!
It’s different from the Primordial Star Conjecture. Xu Jingming stared at the stone pillar. The Primordial Star represented by the stone pillar seems like it wants to transform into a high-dimensional celestial body that’s heavier and thicker! It’s unstoppable!
Xu Jingming watched as he tried to understand the Primordial Star from another angle.
After watching for quite some time, Xu Jingming closed his eyes.
He visualized the Primordial Star in his mind.
The Primordial Star he visualized now drew on some of the insights from the patterned stone pillars, and it gained a ‘heavier and thicker’ meaning. It was the greatest celestial body in high-dimensional space, and it was also the heaviest celestial body…
Xu Jingming felt the gaze of his visualization’s version of the Primordial Star appear closer. It also affected his mind and consciousness, causing them to become more stable and thicker.
The Primordial Star path of this auxiliary universe represents another aspect of the Primordial Star, Xu Jingming thought to himself. It gives me a deeper understanding.
I’m now closer to the true Primordial Star.
Xu Jingming came to a realization.
When official members of the Primordial Star lineage received the legacy, they studied the entire Primordial Star Conjecture from Lv. 1 to Lv. 10. Therefore, Xu Jingming and the others would understand the other core volumes and deepen their understanding of the Primordial Star.
However, the stone pillars in the auxiliary universe were different from the nine core volumes.
Oh right, nine of the 36 stone pillars have collapsed, Xu Jingming thought. Can I get closer to those collapsed stone pillars?
Whoosh.
Xu Jingming immediately took a detour and approached a collapsed patterned stone pillar.
The repulsive force of a collapsed patterned stone pillar is indeed weaker. Xu Jingming revealed a look of delight. He kept approaching—six billion kilometers, three billion kilometers—but when he was about one billion kilometers away…
The repulsive force was still bearable, but he began to be affected mentally.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
An invisible fluctuation affected Xu Jingming’s mind and consciousness. He felt tipsy, and the crumbled patterned stone pillar in front of him distorted and swayed in his vision.
He could only retreat hundreds of millions of kilometers before the invisible fluctuations became negligible.
I’m a top Lv. 10 Origin lifeform in the universe after all. I also have the Primordial Battle Armor, but I can’t really approach them at all. Xu Jingming sighed with emotion.
Can I get close using other methods? Xu Jingming extended his hand, and the threads of the Primordial Battle Armor quickly spread. The threads of the Primordial Battle Armor are made of a special material. They aren’t affected mentally.
When the Primordial Battle Armor threads extended to more than 100 kilometers away from the broken stone pillar, the invisible repulsive force was so strong that it prevented them from approaching.
…
I don’t believe it. Xu Jingming left spacetime with a whoosh and entered high-dimensional space.
Standing in high-dimensional space, Xu Jingming condensed a huge hand with the Primordial Battle Armor’s power, hoping to touch the patterned stone pillar.
Whoosh!
Just as he descended from high-dimensional space and appeared hundreds of kilometers away from the patterned stone pillar, the terrifying heat obliterated the power of the huge hand Xu Jingming had condensed, reducing it to nothingness.
…
The threads of the Primordial Battle Armor landed on the surface of the patterned stone pillar. Xu Jingming tried again, but he couldn’t ‘descend.’ The invisible spacetime repulsion was too strong.
…
Of the 36 stone pillars, Xu Jingming tried seven—some were intact, and some were incomplete. However, Xu Jingming couldn’t touch any of them.
The cosmic spirit in that palace even warned me not to approach. I can’t even break through the range of these patterned stone pillars. Xu Jingming had already discovered that the invisible force in the area enveloped by the 36 patterned stone pillars was too terrifying; he couldn’t cross them at all.
Xu Jingming couldn’t descend even with high-dimensional descent, much less with Spacetime Travel. He couldn’t create a spacetime wormhole that led to the palace.
Forget it, forget it.
These patterned stone pillars aren’t going anywhere. I’ll study them carefully first. When I’m stronger, I’ll naturally have a way to deal with them, Xu Jingming thought.
There would be some high-dimensional weapons available for exchange using credit among cosmic humans. Those high-dimensional weapons were also very huge, but as long as they could be controlled and used, their sizes were variable.
Xu Jingming felt that he could shrink these patterned stone pillars once he grasped them.
Every one of the 36 stone pillars is different. They can be considered the 36 forms of the Primordial Star. Xu Jingming began to focus on them. He couldn’t record the scenes of these stone pillars.
Xu Jingming memorized the parts he understood and forgot those he didn’t understand. Therefore, he could only watch it over and over again as his understanding of the Primordial Star deepened.
******
Xu Jingming felt that he had benefited significantly from staying in the auxiliary universe for half a month.
There’s ultimately no detailed legacy. Although I can observe the 36 patterned stone pillars, I can’t completely understand them, Xu Jingming thought. I’ll only become more confused if I study them further.
I’ll go back and study the Primordial Star Conjecture first. I’ll observe it after I’ve accumulated more insights.
The Primordial Star Xu Jingming visualized in his mind also had some of his gains from the 36 patterned stone pillars fused into it. The Primordial Star he visualized became more realistic, and his mental strength increased greatly, but he still didn’t break through to Lv. 11.
Hu!
Xu Jingming took a step and escaped the restraints of spacetime, arriving in high-dimensional space.
Xu Jingming could see the entire auxiliary universe clearly from a high-dimensional vantage point. This auxiliary universe was completely centered around the palace.
The two high-dimensional fruit trees were the two trees at the palace door.
The 36 patterned stone pillars protected the entire palace and provided an endless stream of energy.
The dissipated energy… Three fiery worlds formed at the edge, producing some cosmic fruit trees, fire apes, and so on.
The patterned stone pillars, high-dimensional fruit trees, and the palace are the most important things in this auxiliary universe. Xu Jingming was very confident. He had just reached Lv. 10 after all, and his knowledge was still lacking. When he had accumulated enough knowledge at Lv. 10, he would probably be able to crack a lot of them.
After becoming a cosmic legend, he would probably be able to completely control this auxiliary universe.
Xu Jingming—who had only cultivated for 200 years—had the patience.
Whoosh.
Xu Jingming used high-dimensional traveling and left the patterned stone pillar area. Then, he returned to his universe through the high-dimensional door.
In space, Xu Jingming first read up on the news. After all, he couldn’t receive any news from the virtual world while away from the universe for half a month.
Yeah, large-scale Hellion plundering only happens once a year or two. It hasn’t happened in the past half a month. Xu Jingming nodded slightly. He had also estimated that the probability of large-scale plundering happening anytime soon was extremely low; thus, he chose to stay in the auxiliary universe for extended periods.
Whoosh.
Xu Jingming took a step and used Spacetime Travel to travel to the Primordial Research Institute headquarters.
…
At the headquarters of the Primordial Research Institute.
On this quiet planet, Xu Jingming landed in front of Deputy Dean Redmond’s building.
“Deputy Dean Redmond.” Xu Jingming walked into the living room on the first floor and saw Redmond waiting. Before setting off, he had informed Redmond through the virtual world.
“Are you done plucking the cosmic fruits?” Redmond’s eyes were filled with anticipation as he asked with a smile.
“More than I expected,” Xu Jingming replied. “Deputy Dean, are 50 cosmic fruits enough?”
“50 is enough.” Redmond smiled and said, “I can’t figure out 50 cosmic fruits yet. More won’t help.”
Xu Jingming nodded and waved his hand to construct a small space.
In the space were black-red fruits of varying sizes. The smallest was 0.8 kilometers in diameter, and the largest was 2.7 kilometers in diameter.