Him and their stars.

Chapter 2209 May Your Future Be a Warm, Stellar Star in Your Prime

Yu Lian felt as if his bones and organs were crying out in agony, as if even the slightest movement of a finger required all his strength.

At that moment, even someone with the highest level of skill (eight rings) felt like they couldn't breathe.

Of course, as mentioned before, if you're in a vacuum, there's no issue with breathing. For psionicists at this level, maintaining a positive blood oxygenation cycle is a basic skill.

Besides, this wasn't the first time.

Passing through a gravity well with one's physical body is essentially the same as passing through a virtual realm; both are simply seeking out the illusory and real spaces entangled by gravity.

This is basic stuff; I'm already used to it.

Of course, this burden is heavier than ever before. But it's still the basics!
Yu Lian did his best to bear this burden and keep his mind clear. He had forgotten the wavering that Xiao Hui had caused him earlier, and he was forced to resist the burden, perceive the burden, and finally adapt to the burden.

To what extent can humans and the universe truly coexist harmoniously? This is probably the essence of psychic practice and the direction that all psychics have been pursuing.

Yu Lian suddenly realized how precious the experience of traversing the void with his physical body was, and that it was no less valuable to his growth than fighting a Void Realm Lord for eight hundred rounds.

"Thank you very much," Yu Lian said sincerely.

“I am merely carrying out the agreement on behalf of Brunhilde,” said the old rainbow dragon.

"You'll get this day sooner or later. It's better to be early than late." Little Grey laughed, "Last time, you were late."

“You really are…”

"That's forbidden too. Imagine whatever you want, but I, your older sister, will never admit it." Little Grey put her finger to her lips.

Yu Lian pondered for a moment, then smiled knowingly: "Indeed, these things should be left to nature."

He ignored this minor ripple and focused all his attention on refining his own soul essence and perceiving the present situation.

But no one knew how much time had passed. As the psionicist's vision gradually became clearer and the things he could perceive became more and more real, the heavy burden that had almost crushed him began to subside.

He gradually regained sensation in his body.

He was so exhausted that it was as if he had just fought eight hundred rounds with the late emperor. He felt that even moving a finger was difficult, but his spirit was full. It was as if he had just completed a leveling up and felt that he had evolved to the next dimension. Even his soul was infused with the majesty of truth and realm.

Even though he was in a vacuum, his blood surged instantly, and he almost stood proudly in the direction of the galactic center, forming a compass shape.

He has already grasped the essence of the truth.

In essence, that state of being is not far from us.

At the edge of reality as perceived by ourselves, faint starlight has replaced the twinkling lights. Visual illusions in the sky create a mesmerizing, colorful mist that obscures distant star regions and forms the natural boundaries of stable galaxies.

"The Abyss Nebula, we've actually reached this boundary?"

“Yes, this is the Gray Reef system. The border of the Empire.” Ankara’s consciousness came through, as calm as a ride-hailing driver announcing to a passenger that they had arrived at their destination.

"Gray Reef, that's the edge of the Ashan Sector. The Abyss Nebula has a 'tentacle' adjacent to this place... But we've only just left the Central Sector, and we've already jumped more than 1000 light-years, haven't we?"

“1427 light-years.” Ancaragan said matter-of-factly. However, Yu Lian could indeed sense a hint of arrogance in his expression.

The ancient rainbow dragon's long-standing consciousness slowly spread through the space of the starry river, carrying a grand echo like stardust: "For a thousand years, the first half of my life was as a member of the Dawn Royal Family of the Empire, galloping across battlefields, invincible. The second half of my life has been a journey of constantly listening to the voice of the stars and exploring the truth of the universe. I have already told you that true freedom, true nature, does not lie in tearing apart, but in going with the flow."

I've been taught the way of nature by a space Leviathan once again!
"Yes. To sense the warp and weft woven by the gravitational pull of the stars, to sense the breath and pulse of the spacetime structure. And then, to find the dimensional folds between the grand barriers. This is your teaching, and it is also the direction I have been striving for."

“This child is teachable.” Rainbow Dragon paused briefly, slowly retracting its massive six wings, as if savoring the magnificent feat it had just accomplished: “From the center of the Heavenly Realm to the edge of this Gray Reef, traversing the vast territory of the Empire’s central ring. The gravitational tides within are as complex as tangled hemp, and the spatial folds are layered like a labyrinth, yet they still form gaps. In my thousand years of knowledge, this is the longest and most intricate passage within the Empire’s borders.”

Yu Lian sat quietly on the dragon's spine, feeling the resonance of the lingering spatial rhythm in his spiritual sense. Gazing at the dragon's majestic body, which was overflowing with rainbow light, he sighed sincerely, "You are actually closer to the side of truth than we are."

The dragon sighed, "Yes, this is a gift from the spirit of the universe to the dragon race, and to all Leviathans. But, what can we do when we are not wise enough?"

...What a magnanimous old dragon king.

What He said was, of course, true. He had evolved a talent over a thousand years, developing a brain on par with carbon-based monkeys. But in reality, the so-called eight star dragons, on average, weren't much smarter than well-trained warhorses and hunting dogs, and might even be less intelligent than orcas and dolphins. Ancaragan suddenly asked again, "Then, do you believe I still have a chance to go further?"

Yu Lian fell into a brief silence. Ankaragang was already the oldest known "domesticated" rainbow dragon in human history, and it was far ahead of all its kind. Its existence had overturned all the research results on mythical beasts accumulated by the empire over three thousand years.

His lifespan is nearing its end. This is information I learned in another timeline.

However, Yu Lian couldn't help but think of his experiences on another timeline. In that era, he witnessed the Star Dragon King, which blotted out the sky, spewing out a gamma burst of light that resembled a helium flash from the sun.

Having already reached the seventh ring, he piloted his meticulously crafted exploration ship, exerting all his strength, yet still unable to escape.

He was melted by the light; he felt death approaching; he experienced endless slumber and the emptiness of thought. Then, he returned.

...Wait a minute, from this perspective, that Dragon King wasn't an enemy at all, but rather a deity who sent him back to the normal timeline!
However, this is indeed a difficult question to answer.

While Yu Lian remained silent, Xiao Hui gave him a meaningful look.

At this moment, a cheerful and bright smile suddenly appeared in Ankaragan's mind: "No need to answer. I know myself well, and the end of my life is a foreseeable fact. However, this is not the end of the evolution of the race, and that is enough."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Yu Lian said again.

"No, Earthling. It is I who should thank you." He stretched out his rainbow-like wings, his speed began to slow down noticeably, and the spiritual barrier that enveloped him seemed to be slightly receding.

The pressure from the vacuum and cosmic radiation suddenly increased, but compared to the voyage across the stars just now, this was no longer important.

"Then, I can only escort you this far. I have fulfilled His Highness Brunhilde's request. However, your karmic ties with the Empire, and with His Highness Brunhilde, will only come to a temporary end with this journey. While I still have some time left, I may witness more interesting history."

Yu Lian rose from the dragon's spine, his psionic shield still steadfast. He gazed at the increasingly clear, sparse stars ahead—the Abyss Nebula, the direction he had come from, and also the direction he was going.

The ancient rainbow dragon emitted a deep, resonant hum, this time not a power to manipulate the gravity of the stars, but simply a farewell. Its massive body traced a graceful arc in the void and began to turn.

"Go on, sons of mankind. Let not the starlight be dimmed."

May your future be bright and warm.

The dazzling rainbow light suddenly became hazy, and the majestic figure of the Star Dragon Elder, like the outline of a transparent dragon, merged into the starlight in the background, quickly fading and dissipating.

It continued to fulfill the ancient dragon species' understanding of traversing the universe, merging into dimensions rather than tearing apart space, and thus still did not produce the slightest force field fluctuations.

He came silently and left without a sound, leaving behind only the eternal silence of the cosmic vacuum.

Yu Lian floated alone in the void near the empire's border, with the fading light of the empire's territory behind him and the deep, unknown darkness ahead.

Little Gray reformed into a blurry humanoid form beside him: "Alright, the free-riding dragon is gone. What did you learn from this?"

"I was thinking, He just vanished in a flash, leaving me in some secluded vacuum of space. Anyone who didn't know better would think I had offended Him. But then again, did I actually offend Him?"

The robot lady immediately looked disappointed: "I thought you would ask if it was a boy or a girl."

Yu Lian pretended not to hear, but had already turned his attention to the distant nebula.

Every cell in his body was groaning under the strain, but an unprecedented surge of energy allowed his cosmic intuition to spread rapidly throughout the information network.

He quickly sensed the sharp hostility, the fanatical killing intent, and the desperate resistance.

Of course, there were also the scorching marks left by energy and cannonballs tearing through the vacuum. Yu Lian frowned slightly. For a powerful being who was contemplating the natural order of the universe, this scene was not pleasant.

Needless to say, a battle is taking place within this galaxy. It's not large in scale, but it's as intense as ever.

He stood at attention, his psionic vision penetrating the sparse interstellar dust and background radiation, and soon clearly "saw" that a small, saucer-shaped Imperial border outpost was under siege a distant astronomical unit away.

The attackers were a disorganized fleet of about a dozen ships of varying sizes, with mottled and chaotic paintwork, a wild and unruly style, and obvious signs of modification and reinforcement on their hulls. Some even looked like products of rough splicing together parts from different ship models.

They were circling the outpost, tearing at an Imperial patrol fleet that was clearly outnumbered, like a pack of hyenas attacking a flock of sheep and sheepdogs.