Him and their stars.

Chapter 2042 After 514 trials, he finally achieved the eighth ring.
"Very good! Thank you." Yu Lian stared at Fei Fei's smiling face until the light blade she unleashed ignited the hairs on his body, then suddenly sprang into action, striking first despite being behind.

Needless to say, what they stabbed each other were merely afterimages.

Their true forms reappeared three meters away from the point of clash, and their light blades collided again, like two comets colliding with each other.

“Everything was within each other’s expectations,” Fei Fei said. “I am you, don’t you understand?”

"Is that so?" Yu Lian responded with a laugh.

There seemed to be a sense of déjà vu about what they'd heard before. Both Yu Lian and Fei Fei simultaneously adopted thoughtful expressions. While deep in thought, their attacks showed no sign of letting up.

Therefore, at the moment the intense light and energy of the comet collision burst forth, the gravitational tremor pulled the intense light and shock wave to a point where they could no longer form stable fluctuations.

In the frozen space-time, two almost identical figures entangled and flew about. In the blink of an eye, the golden dawn light blades clashed hundreds of times, each collision producing a silent thunderclap.

The energy surge remained an overclocking phenomenon invisible to the naked eye, but a substantial tide of power surged and ebbed around the two, rising and falling like clouds. Unbridled energy pulses continuously vented outwards.

However, while this level of energy ripples might be a mysterious catastrophe for the surrounding plants, it seemed to have no effect on Yu Lian and his enemies.

Although the other person's mask had been knocked off, revealing Fei Fei's appearance, the two of them still fought like a pair of tacit partners practicing together, or like they were fighting against their own reflection in the mirror.

No matter how they react—whether their attacks are like raging waves, earth-shattering, or unpredictable and treacherous, sometimes like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, sometimes like a gentle spring rain, their attacks are always dodged and blocked, yet they always manage to neutralize the opponent's attacks just right.

Yu Lian felt that the gains from fighting his "shadow" in just a few tens of minutes might surpass any of his previous drills and life-or-death duels.

This statement may not be very polite to his opponents, comrades, or even his mentor, but it is indeed the truth.

If he hadn't gradually come to realize it...

By this time, the power released during their battle had already reduced the entire city to ruins. The fanatical followers of the cosmic conqueror remained in the frozen space, still filled with longing and reverence, before naturally turning to dust.

They were happy, at least they died without pain, unknowingly falling into destruction while looking forward to the future.

Until their very last moment of dissipation, they could all consider themselves conquerors.

If we disregard the fact that they were merely background characters in a fantasy world, their short but glorious lives must have been quite fulfilling.

Yes, the azure Earth, the majestic and spectacular space station and orbital elevator, the eternal city built on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and this million-strong frenzied crowd are all just part of the illusion.

In this rigid and confined space, they were destroyed in the battle that was about to propel them to the realm of demigods.

This is the power of high-ranking psionicists. They are walking natural disasters, moving humanoid colossi, their power residing within themselves. Any high-ranking psionicist with even a modicum of responsibility and empathy would never engage in combat on the surface of a planet.

A battle between demigods can take place on a desert planet, in the boundless universe, or even in a mysterious virtual realm, but it should never take place on the surface of a planet inhabited by people.

This is the tacit understanding among high-ranking psychics.

But how exactly did this tacit understanding come about?
Yu Lian felt the space completely collapsing, yet he clearly felt that both the collapsing city and the lives lost seemed to have decomposed into tiny spiritual particles, gradually merging into his perception.

Planets, cities, and mortals seem to be nothing more than nourishment for him.

“Look, this is the truth of the universe.” Fifi’s voice carried a strange echo, like a haunting murmur from behind a deep valley: “We are about to reach that realm. We are getting closer and closer to the edge of truth. Our lifespan, our physique, our spirit, our level of life are all different from theirs. How should you view them?”

She gazed at Yu Lian, her deep amber eyes reflecting his indifferent expression.

"You keep talking about materialism. So, isn't this true materialism?"

For a moment, Yu Lian actually thought the other person's words made a lot of sense, but then he felt an unbelievable embarrassment, probably because a little secret in his heart had been exposed.

But by this time, his mind had completely calmed down.

He stared at Feifei across from him, looking at himself reflected in her eyes. Was it his own reflection? Or another version of himself?
He felt he should have understood something.

"Is this the end you chose for me, Feifei? Or is this the karma you've borne for me?"

"Gathering and parting are impermanent, the self is fixed, this is the cycle. What then is cause and effect? ​​Cause and effect are not debts, not punishments, not calculations. Aren't the causes of all things in the past also the unpredictable consequences of the future?" she said.

“Therefore, everything is without cause and effect, and without paradox; it is all simply a manifestation of the natural way of the Tao,” Yu Lian said.

"You said it, not me. But whatever you say is the same as what I said."

"So that's how it is!" Yu Lian finally understood. At that moment, he also suddenly realized that in the clash between the two sides, his swordplay was fluid and seamless, and he was gradually gaining the upper hand.

However, he showed no joy, nor any anger, only a clear calm and relief.

So, what exactly is nature?

He felt that he had realized something. And so, this moment of enlightenment, like a clear spring flowing, entered his soul and extinguished the fighting spirit in his heart.

And so, he became more lucid than ever before. Or rather, he had never been this lucid since the moment he entered this illusory world.

He looked up, gazing into the burning, yet fierce, flame of obsession in Fei Fei's eyes. How could such a look, such emotion, appear on her?
This shouldn't be her.

Yu Lian still didn't understand what nature was. He guessed that neither the members of the Spirit Research Association nor his teacher, Lao Tzu himself, understood it. However, he himself roughly understood what cause and effect meant.

Without further hesitation, he dissipated the boiling golden spiritual flames around him and released the Dawn Blade from his hand.

His light blade vanished like dust, and he is now full of openings.

Now, even an Imperial grenadier skilled in military swordsmanship and the Hundred Styles of Military Knife could cleave himself into pieces.

Yu Lian witnessed this scene. He even opened his arms wide, calmly facing the fatal sword strike, as if embracing the inevitable conclusion of causality igniting his own destiny.

His gaze pierced through the hilt of Lingzi's sword, staring directly into the depths of his lover's eyes. Although he saw nothing but raging flames, he was convinced that something must exist within those eyes.

“Come on. This is what natural is all about,” Yu Lian said.

"Naturally, my foot!" Fei Fei cursed at Yu Lian, abruptly stopping her stance before her light blade could pierce through him, even staggering a couple of steps as if she almost bent over. "See, why are you acting so unnatural now?"

“Where is nature? This isn’t even cause and effect; it’s a deliberate distortion,” she said.

"Ugh! Stop nagging! Everything's already settled! Let's get the process done quickly!"

Yu Lian yelled, grabbed Fei Fei's wrist, and pulled her forcefully towards him, causing the light spear, which she couldn't retract in time, to pierce her chest.

The collapsing force field took a second to disintegrate its muscles and bones, and then its blood vessels and organs. From this perspective, the basic body of a high-level psionicist is already so powerful that it doesn't seem like a normal carbon-based life form.

He could clearly feel his chest cavity and internal organs being completely torn apart by the scorching light blades—a truly wonderful sensation he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Wait... Long time no see? Where exactly is it that's been a long time?

Of course, I had my hands and feet cut off in my past life, and I have never lacked experience of being injured in this life. However, having my vital chest pierced by an atomic light spear should be a first for me.

But why does it feel so familiar? I even feel a sense of intimacy with this pain.

The excruciating pain vanished the instant it began, yet he couldn't tell if his nerves had been burned away. However, as his body began to dissipate, the separated parts turning into drifting golden dust, the heavy mental pressure had long since vanished with the disintegration of his body.

He felt much more relaxed and comfortable than ever before.

As for Fei Fei on the other side, the hostility and obsession that shouldn't have belonged to her dissipated in an instant.

Her body was gradually becoming transparent, and her eyes were sparkling with relief and enlightenment.

In the instant their bodies vanished, they simultaneously reached out their hands and once again intertwined their fingers in perfect harmony.

"Thank you for your hard work," Yu Lian said.

“That’s what you call cause and effect.” Fei Fei blinked.

Their bodies simultaneously turned into dust, merging together and flowing into the energy torrent of this enclosed space. Their spirits and bodies, in their most primal form, were never to be separated again.

"They will return to the ether, return to the essence, return to the particles. Return to the very beginning of the universe. Ah! How romantic, this is the end for the protagonists of this part of history. Waaah, what a romantic return!"

When Yu Lian regained consciousness, the first thing he heard was this dramatic, heartfelt, yet sarcastic exclamation.

He opened his eyes and stared with his lifeless, dead fish eyes at Little Gray, who had reappeared in the gray fog at some unknown time, wiping away tears and uttering an aria.

Upon seeing this, the robot lady seamlessly withdrew all her sorrow, glaring down at Yu Lian with a thousand words seemingly flashing in her eyes in a very short time.

Then, she sighed softly and said with a sneer, "Very well, after experiencing 514 long life changes, you have finally come back to life."

Wow, this has happened so many times already! Although Yu Lian found the number a bit odd, he didn't doubt it. His mind was flooded with a massive amount of information, as if deep memories hidden in the depths of his consciousness had finally been pushed to the surface.

Those are many segments of my own life memories. Each segment of myself started as an elite military officer on Earth, and each time, I seemed to have set a goal: to become the cosmic overlord who conquers all known worlds.

Needless to say, becoming a hegemon comes at a price. No matter how outstanding or talented one may be, if one lacks good fortune, one will surely fall on the road to advancement.

He collapsed many times, each time dying a violent death, and each death was more bizarre than the last.

Interestingly, despite having so many memories of my life, many details and processes are quite blurry, perhaps because there have been so many. Compared to my interactions with Annie, the two times I had with Brin were indeed filled with an overly cold and detached feeling, as if I were observing the scene from a third-party perspective.

Only his own death and manner of dying are truly unforgettable.

Of course, there are examples of people being arrested and executed after their uprisings failed. They were executed by lethal injection, electric chair, shooting, hanging, beheading, or even being chopped up and fed to dragons.

Of course, there are also those who have fallen on the road to conquest.

Dying on the battlefield and being wrapped in a horse's hide is already a glorious way to end one's life. After being defeated and captured, suffering all kinds of humiliation, one would still be hacked to death and fed to the dragon. This is naturally a logical development.

But why do I always have to be chopped up and fed to the dragon? And why was I captured? Given my personality, if I were truly at my wit's end, I would surely accept the fate calmly, right? Why would I have the audacity to hope for survival?

Perhaps, the evolution of life is not the point; it is one's own "death" that constitutes nourishment for the Void Lord.

"If I don't survive this, I'll be completely trapped in this illusion," Yu Lian told himself.

"Yes, with your mental strength, you can only last 600 times at most," Little Grey laughed.
"However, what is this Fallen Illusion? Why do you have such romantic fantasies? How could such a good thing be given to you? You will at most become nourishment for the Eye of Paradox. It will possess all your memories and your understanding of time, and will definitely be able to evolve to the next level."

Yu Lian remained calm about this, after all, that's how leveling up is, it's either you eat the monster or the monster eats you, everyone was already aware of this.

He chuckled to himself, "In a way, can't psionicists of the seventh ring and above be considered as humanoid Void Lords?"

"Pretentious." Little Grey scoffed, "What kind of Void Realm Lord can jump around in the material world like that? Can they eat, drink, smoke, and sleep with women?"

Although the words were unpleasant, Yu Lian felt they made a lot of sense: "Big Sister Gray is right! I was indeed being dramatic."

"Heh~~~ Now you know to call me 'Big Sister'? You're usually just Little Gray, aren't you? I've really seen through you."

"When you experienced your 114th life, you became so engrossed in your own brute force that you couldn't extricate yourself. However, you were affected by the contradiction between your own great power and the destruction of your achievements, and you fell into a deep confusion. You were almost swallowed up."

The numbers are more nuanced, and the amount of information is indeed enormous, but that's no longer the point.

The key point is that he has finally reached the eighth ring.

This was his first experience in both his lives, and he felt it lacked a real sense of reality. If it weren't for the expanding star ring in his sea of ​​consciousness shining brightly in his soul's perception, he might have even doubted it altogether.

Fortunately, when Fei Fei opened her eyes beside him, he sensed a spiritual pressure from her similar to that of Duke Sa and Mr. "Past," which finally gave him a sense of security.

These two have already gone to the realm of the cosmic spirits, so it's perhaps a bit unlucky to make a comparison here, but I and Feifei have indeed become demigods.

“Ah, I’ve finally succeeded,” Fei Fei said. “I am the first demigod of the Black Moon lineage.”

“Great, I’ve become one too,” Yu Lian said. “I will definitely be the fastest demigod in history.”