The Stars Beyond

Chapter 117: The World Behind The Great Veil

Wang Xuan's heart weighed heavy, his face etched with an unprecedented seriousness. He had finally identified the phenomenon before him, confirming his earlier suspicions.

The Great Veil.

There it was, an expansive, hazy and intimidating spectacle, even grander than before. Now, it was on the verge of touching reality. The first time Wang Xuan encountered this entity, it had almost caused a disaster. Back then, deep within the Inner Landscape, a demonic maiden dressed in red and carrying an oiled paper umbrella had nearly breached the veil from its other side.

But now, he was witnessing this marvel in the tangible world.

The light from the depths continued to spread across the moon's surface, slowly transforming from blurry to clear. How could the world beyond the Great Veil manifest in the real world?

Suddenly, Wang Xuan perceived something different, snapping him back to reality, making him realize the gravity of the situation. While the Great Veil neared the real world and the underground light expanded, pockets of still, silent darkness emerged from the crater, gently rising to the surface. In that quiet, it was a vast landscape of shadows — an Inner Landscape in itself. It was like a vast shadow connected to the luminous Veil, anchoring itself to the real world. What divine entity was it trying to usher back?

Wang Xuan stared intently at the emerging Inner Landscape, catching a glimpse of an unsettling truth: a hand. This hand was straining to bridge the divide, pushing through the Great Veil from a realm beyond, as if attempting to bridge two worlds after years of isolation.

He glanced around, feeling a sense of isolation. None around him, not even the senior Taoist priests of the Zhengyi Temple, seemed to notice the peculiarities unfolding within the moon crater. Unbeknownst to all, a pivotal event was in motion, one that threatened to disrupt the very balance of their world. If this entity successfully transitioned, its implications were unfathomable.

Immediate intervention, perhaps from the super battleship, was imperative. Should the entity escape and adapt to their world, the consequences could be dire.

The vision grew sharper, offering Wang Xuan a clearer look. Beyond the luminous curtain of the Great Veil, a decaying world unveiled: dilapidated structures, strewn rubble, and mountains laid to waste painted a picture of desolation. Life seemed scanty in this forsaken realm. Sparse vegetation clung to life, barely surviving in an environment of stark barrenness. Although the Great Veil shimmered invitingly, the world it concealed was a stark testament to ruin and desolation.

Floating islands dotted the sky, and one began its descent, its structures collapsing on impact, sending up clouds of dust. In the distance, forlorn cities were overshadowed by silent villages, an overwhelming desolation reigning supreme. As the Great Veil grew increasingly tangible, drawing nearer to the real world, the enigmatic world behind it seemed to loom closer, casting its reflection deep within Wang Xuan's psyche.

Wang Xuan's gaze was magnetically drawn towards the enigmatic Great Veil. Just beyond it stood a haunting figure: a lean man with untamed hair and peculiar, vertically aligned eyes. His hand, stretched through the Veil, seemed caught in a liminal space, with the weight of the effort bearing heavily on him.

Surrounding him were other figures, their features blurred by a thick mist, each attempting to puncture the Veil with their weapons in an effort to create an opening for the man. Yet, every thrust seemed futile, unable to pierce through the barrier.

On the other side of the Veil, in the Inner Landscape, Wang Xuan noted an eclectic assembly. Ancient monks in meditative postures shared space with astronauts in gleaming suits and individuals clad in modern day attire.

Wang Xuan's confusion deepened. How had contemporary humans come to reside within this ancient realm? The sight of a spirit, bearing the semblance of a Moonlight Bodhisattva, brought a flash of insight. These figures were not truly alive, but rather spectral remnants, echoes of souls that had ventured too close to the moon crater in times past. Some had been consumed, their spirits forever lost, while a few had been assimilated into this realm.

Dominating the spectral gathering was an aged figure, meditating in perfect alignment with a skeletal form behind him. But while the spirit belonged to the Inner Landscape, the skeleton was real, positioned eerily outside the spectral boundary.

Wang Xuan's spine tingled with a cold dread as the pieces fell into place. The elder in front of him held the ability to unlock the Inner Landscape, acting as a bridge between the two worlds, binding the Great Veil's mysteries to reality. This realization held dark implications for Wang Xuan's own fate. If captured and manipulated, his future could mirror that of the elder.

Moreover, he suspected that he would be even more enticing to those ancient beings in the crater. Though he hadn't fully transcended his mortal limits, his rare ability to access the Inner Landscape made him exceptional.

Surveying the surroundings, Wang Xuan noticed a hierarchy of seated figures around the elder, clad in traditional garments. It seemed as if they represented an ancient order or discipleship, with the elder as the spiritual linchpin. As for the modern souls, they appeared to be recent additions, relegated to the periphery.

The physical remains of the elder, though long dead, still resonated with an uncanny vitality. His bones gleamed, untouched by the ravages of time, exuding an almost sacred aura. Could it be that the elder had approached the level of ascension in his lifetime? Wang Xuan pondered.

The elder's spirit, bound to his tangible remains, bridged the gap between the two worlds, providing a pathway for those beyond the Great Veil to return. As the gravity of the situation weighed on him, Wang Xuan's face was a canvas of conflicting emotions.

He resolved to tread carefully in the future, guarding against the gaze of these ancient entities. Being ensnared by them could mean a tragic fate.

But one question gnawed at him: How had this spiritual leader, capable of accessing the Inner Landscape, come to be on the moon? Was it the doing of the celestial beings, or was there another, unknown force at play?

Wang Xuan's gaze was filled with perplexity. The central mystery that gnawed at him was the origin of the elder. Was he a relic from the old world or perhaps an ancient native of this newfound star? Wang Xuan's grasp of the new star's history was cursory, knowing only of its resemblance to the old world, and its teeming biodiversity. But had humans ever walked its lands before?

His musing was disrupted by the unfolding drama within the moon crater.

The Inner Landscape, a shadowy enclave within the crater, appeared to be in distress. The persistent writhing of the hand from behind the Great Veil caused the realm to wane, reminiscent of a balloon losing its air. The once luminous spirits inside seemed to be ebbing away.

The prolonged connection between this Inner Landscape and the world behind the Veil had evidently sapped its vitality. The spirits seemed weakened, and the once-potent energy of the Inner Landscape was now alarmingly diminished. In Wang Xuan's experience, this current state felt like a parched wasteland.

The realm's decay was accelerated by the hand's fervent efforts to pierce through. This Inner Landscape, far from a sanctuary, seemed on the brink of oblivion. Several silhouettes behind the Great Veil sprang into action, aiding the vertical-eyed man. With determination, they wielded their weapons against the Veil, causing it to quiver. Their combined efforts bore some results, allowing the hand to edge further. But the exertion was visibly taxing. Their intense onslaught threatened the very integrity of the Inner Landscape.

Eventually, the assisting figures retreated, while the vertical-eyed man intensified his efforts. From the Inner Landscape, a dazzling beam of light erupted, taking aim at the lunar base. This radiant onslaught surged, testing the resilience of the base's protective shield.

But before the cascade of light could penetrate the defenses, a blinding gleam emerged from the confines of Zhengyi Temple. Countless runes appeared, eventually coalescing into a formidable seal.

Boom!

Wang Xuan felt a surge of dizziness, his spiritual domain nearly shattered by the overwhelming force. The seal hurled itself towards the moon crater, obliterating the tidal wave of luminescence.

Simultaneously, from Bai Ma Temple, a radiant swastika glyph appeared, beaming towards the crater. Its Buddhist light cleansed and purified the deluge of ethereal "tides."

The assault from the hand was utterly defeated!

Within the moon crater, the vertical-eyed man let out a weary sigh. It was a sound of resignation, a lamentation for the tremendous price paid and the failed incursion into the physical realm. The undertones of his sigh were tinged with a hint of despair.

"The Seal of Yangping Metropolitan Command!"

Wang Xuan gazed in astonishment towards Zhengyi Temple. There, a modest glowing seal was evident, the source of the radiant onslaught that had descended into the crater.

The Seal of Yangping Metropolitan Command, as documented in the "History of Taoism," was described in great detail. Impressively, it remained preserved and intact to the present day.

This very seal had once been the exclusive emblem of Zhang Daoling and was considered the most treasured artifact of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Wang Xuan marveled at the seal's presence. The fact that the moguls hadn't claimed this artifact for themselves and locked it away in a vault spoke volumes. Clearly, over a century ago, enlightened figures had strategically positioned these artifacts here.

With a resonating roar, the entity within the moon crater surged once more, again unleashing a tidal wave of radiant light. However, its efforts were in vain as the Seal of Yangping Metropolitan Command and the swastika glyph of Bai Ma Temple crushed its advance.

But what ensued was even more alarming. The ethereal realm within the crater, unable to withstand the intense turbulence and energy depletion, began to disintegrate. The spirits within opened their mouths, perhaps trying to convey a message, but before a word could be uttered, they dissipated entirely, leaving no trace behind.

Such a phenomenal clash of transcendent powers had just occurred, and yet the average person remained oblivious, witnessing nothing of the spectacle.

Wang Xuan reflected on the experience, realizing that the world held countless enigmatic mysteries, and what he'd just witnessed was likely only a fraction of the entire truth.

"Is it the end?" A voice echoed from the crater, which Wang Xuan unexpectedly understood. He was taken aback for a moment, then realized it wasn't a matter of understanding the language. Instead, the vertical-eyed man's spirit resonated, allowing anyone with a refined spiritual domain to grasp his intentions.

A memory flashed across Wang Xuan's mind: Old Chen once claimed he could understand the red-robed banshee due to his research on ancient dialects from two millennia ago. Now, it seemed Old Chen might have embellished the truth.

As the ethereal realm faded away, the majestic curtain of light also dimmed, causing the world behind it to blur and eventually vanish.

"The splendor of ascension is not forever, yet the vibrancy of the mortal realm remains..." The vertical-eyed man from behind the curtain growled, despair and defiance evident in his tone. His hair transformed into a fiery shade of red, reminiscent of molten lava flowing. With one final, anguished roar, his voice faded into the abyss.