The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

Yang Wanqing turned around, then back, then around again, like a spinning top. Finally, she squatted down, grabbed a handful of grayish-white dust from under her feet, and examined it in her palm.

"Lunar soil? This is lunar soil??"

Chen Siyao did not respond to her. She raised the photographic crystal in her hand, slowly turned it around, and captured the 360-degree view around her.

A gray wasteland. A black sky. A blue-white planet.

The live stream was silent for a full five seconds.

Then the live chat exploded.

"My God, my God, my God!"

"Is the Taiyin Realm the same as the moon?"

"So...Taiyin...Taiyin means the moon! How come I didn't think of that!"

"Mommy, I saw the blue star! It's so beautiful!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are watching the first ever civilian live broadcast of the moon in human history."

"No, it's the first time someone has opened a door with their bare hands and gotten to the moon."

"My childhood dream of becoming an astronaut has come true in a different way today."

What is that green light?

"Aurora, bro."

"Wait, wait! If the Taiyin Realm is on the moon, then wouldn't the extraterrestrial demons be very close to us?"

"Holy crap, stop talking!"

"380,000 kilometers. The distance from the moon to Earth is 380,000 kilometers."

"Three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers... Does this distance mean anything to an entity capable of tearing through space?"

"Why hasn't anyone detected the extraterrestrial demons before? What about the lunar probes from various countries?"

"They might be inside the moon! Can your probe even reach inside the moon?"

The comments were still scrolling, but Yun Wanlan had already walked up to Chen Hao.

She wasn't as shocked as Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing. She had walked through this wasteland before; she had come here from here. To her, it was just "outside."

"Your Excellency," she said, "the passage is in that direction."

She raised her hand and pointed to the left front.

Chen Hao nodded.

"I'm gone."

Chen Hao's two words brought Yang Wanqing, who was still squatting and holding moon soil, back to reality.

She reluctantly let go, and the dust drifted slowly in the low gravity, taking several times longer than on Earth to fall back to the ground.

"But," Yang Wanqing wanted to take another look at Blue Star.

Chen Siyao had already walked up to her and tugged at her sleeve. "We'll see when we get back."

Yang Wanqing had no choice but to stand up.

Chen Hao raised his right hand and gestured in the air.

A transparent film spread from his palm, enveloping the four people.

A spiritual energy shield. Chen Siyao could feel a faint airflow circulating inside the shield, which even solved her breathing problem.

The next second, all four people left the ground at the same time.

It wasn't a jump. It was lifted steadily by a force, rising about fifty meters upwards, and then began to move horizontally.

high speed.

The gray-white wasteland beneath her feet receded rapidly. Chen Siyao looked down and saw one circular crater after another sweeping across the ground, varying in size, some tens of meters in diameter, others hundreds of meters.

Impact craters on the moon's surface. Something she'd seen countless times in textbooks, now standing at the height of a thirty-story building.

Yang Wanqing peered out from the edge of the protective shield, like a child taking their first airplane ride.

"Yaoyao, look how big that pit is!"

"Don't move."

"I'm not going to fall out, but hey! That pit is even bigger!"

Chen Siyao ignored her.

She was observing the direction.

Yun Wanlan stood slightly behind and to the right of Chen Hao, occasionally pointing in a direction.

She was much more composed than when she arrived; with Chen Hao by her side, she was no longer walking this path alone.

It flew for about seven or eight minutes.

A bulge appeared on the horizon ahead.

At first glance, it was impossible to tell what it was. It was gray, slender, and stood on the cratered surface of the moon.

It looks no different from the surrounding rocks, and if you're not careful, you could easily mistake it for a strangely shaped natural rock pillar.

But as the distance closes...

The outline is becoming clearer.

That's not a rock.

It was a tower.

It is made of stone. It has sharp edges and corners. It is about thirty meters high, wider at the base and narrower at the top. The surface shows signs of weathering, but the structure is intact.

The tower has faintly visible artificial carvings, not regular patterns that could be formed by natural weathering.

Chen Siyao's pupils contracted slightly.

There is a man-made structure on the moon.

The crystal faithfully transmitted the image back to the live stream.

The live chat briefly froze because over 300 million people were sending messages simultaneously, causing server overload.

Then...

"What is that??"

"A tower? There's a tower on the moon??"

"Now I remember! Apollo! It's the one Apollo photographed!"

"Yes!! It was taken by the Apollo orbiter in 1966! At the time, the US said it was an optical illusion!"

"It wasn't an illusion! That tower really exists!!"

"The archaeological community is about to experience an earthquake."

"No, the aerospace industry was the first to be shaken."

"Is an earthquake happening all over the world?"

Chen Siyao glanced at the comments section.

The tower photographed by Apollo. She quickly scanned a few science-related comments: In 1966, the American lunar orbiter photographed a pointed object on the lunar surface that appeared to be a man-made structure.

The height was estimated to be about 20 to 30 meters, but was later explained by officials as a "visual error caused by light and shadow".

For decades afterward, the "Moon Tower" remained a popular topic among conspiracy theorists.

Now, it's right in front of you.

It's real. It's made of stone. It's thirty meters high.

Chen Siyao lowered her voice and said something to Yang Wanqing.

"This tower was photographed by American detectors more than 50 years ago."

Yang Wanqing's eyes widened. "So they knew there were structures on the moon?"

"They say it's an optical illusion."

"Tch." Yang Wanqing curled her lip. "Yeah, right."

The team landed in front of the tower.

A closer look reveals the tower's antiquity. The stone surface is covered with tiny meteorite impact craters, creating an uneven surface.

The carved lines have become mostly blurred, but some repetitive geometric patterns can still be discerned.

There is an entrance at the base of the tower. There is no door. It's just an arched opening about two meters high, and it's dark inside.

Yun Wanlan walked at the very front.

She turned and glanced at Chen Hao.

Chen Hao nodded slightly.

The four of them went inside.

The tower appears larger inside than from the outside. It's hollow. Faint light seeps in from the gaps at the top.

Several stone lamps, made of some unknown material, were embedded in the wall, emitting a constant, dark orange light. They were neither hot nor flickering, as if they would never go out.