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

Deputy Director Zhao sat in the main seat, with an open folder in front of him containing a compilation of data on the planets of the solar system that had been urgently organized that afternoon.

"Everyone watched the live stream," he began. "What are your thoughts?"

There was a three-second silence.

Professor Li spoke first. He had a background in astrophysics and later transferred to the Reiki research group.

"It's most likely not in the solar system."

Several people turned their heads toward him.

"If an ancient civilization of cultivation had established a long-term settlement on a planet in the solar system, regardless of its size, it would have left detectable traces."

"Our detectors can detect some of the material traces, such as building remains, traces of mineral mining, and abnormal atmospheric composition."

He pushed up his glasses.

"Voyager, New Horizons, Juno... these probes have sent back a wealth of data over the decades. We haven't detected anything unusual."

"Are you sure?" a military officer asked. "The Taiyin Realm is inside the moon; we've never discovered it."

Professor Li paused.

"...That's a barrier."

"Yeah, that's right." Another voice chimed in. It was a representative from some ancient martial arts sect, though it wasn't very clear from the image.

"The barriers set up by ancient powerful beings cannot be detected by modern instruments. Since they cannot be detected, how can you use 'not detected' to deny their existence?"

Professor Li did not immediately respond.

He took off his glasses and wiped them.

"Let me put it another way. With the current amount of information, we cannot determine whether the ancient civilization still exists in the solar system. But logically speaking, if they were able to establish a cultivation realm on Pluto, then their sphere of activity would most likely extend beyond the solar system."

Deputy Director Zhao tapped the table twice.

"That concludes our discussion. The crucial question now isn't where the ancient civilizations went, but tomorrow."

He pointed to the screen.

"Chen Hao said he's going to Pluto tomorrow to deal with the Heavenly Demon. Think about it, if he really goes, what can we track and observe?"

There was silence.

Pluto is over four billion kilometers away from Earth. Even traveling at the speed of light, the journey would take more than four hours each way. They wouldn't be able to see anything from it.

"We can only wait for the live stream."

"Chen Hao isn't live streaming. He didn't bring the recording crystal."

"...That means you can't see anything at all."

Deputy Director Zhao turned to a page of the document.

"So, our only source of information is still his sister."

Yun Wanlan arrived at the East Pavilion early the next morning.

I brought breakfast: a hot root porridge, two flatbreads, and a small dish of sliced ​​blueberries.

Chen Siyao was already up. She sat on the balcony, the crystal photo stand on the railing, already opened.

Today's online viewership broke records. It exploded the moment the broadcast started.

Last night, the message that "Pluto is the underworld" went viral and was discussed all over the internet.

It wasn't just the spiritual community. The astronomy, physics, and even history and archaeology communities were in an uproar. Analytical posts, deductions, and conspiracy theories flooded the internet.

Someone mapped out the names of all eight planets in the solar system plus Pluto, finding that the Moon is the "lunar realm," Pluto is the "underworld realm," so is Venus the "lunar realm"? Is Mars the "lunar realm"? Is Jupiter the "lunar realm"?

Some people have also dug up records from ancient books, saying that the ancient Taoist scriptures mentioned "Nine Heavens and Ten Earths". Does the Nine Heavens refer to nine planets?

Chen Siyao glanced at the comments but didn't comment.

Yang Wanqing came out of the room yawning, her hair a mess. She glanced at the comments section and rubbed her eyes.

"So many people so early in the morning?"

"Look at the number of people online."

Yang Wanqing leaned closer.

"...Two hundred and seventy-three million??"

She became fully awake.

Chen Hao came out of the room. It was quiet. Just like usual. He was dressed in simple dark clothes. He wasn't carrying anything.

Chen Siyao looked at him.

He was no different from usual. He didn't seem like someone about to venture alone into the lair of the Heavenly Demon.

"elder brother."

Chen Hao walked to her side.

"Wait for me here."

After he finished speaking, he reached out and ruffled Chen Siyao's hair.

The movements were very light and casual.

"I'll be right back."

Chen Siyao felt a lump in her throat. She lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes for two seconds. Then she looked up.

"Um."

He didn't say much.

Chen Hao turned around and stepped onto the balcony railing. He rose into the air.

The spiritual energy lifted his body above the floating islands. Several Sushen people looked up from below, pointed at the sky, and said something.

Then his figure passed through the floating island and arrived at the location where the Heavenly Demon broke the barrier yesterday. Soon he passed through the barrier of the dome.

A thin film of light spread out around him and then closed up again.

Disappeared.

Chen Siyao stood on the balcony, her gaze following the barrier dome, and then it disappeared from her sight.

Yang Wanqing leaned closer. She didn't say anything. She put her hand on Chen Siyao's shoulder.

The crystal took a few photos of the sky. The comments section was quiet for a moment. Then it started scrolling.

"I'm gone."

"Going to Pluto alone."

"The entire planet is infested with demons."

"Is he... alright?"

"Nonsense, look at the rain of swords yesterday."

"Those are the Heavenly Demons of the Yin Realm. Their numbers on Pluto are thousands or even tens of thousands of times greater than here."

Wishing you peace.

Chen Siyao glanced at the last comment.

His lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

The surface of the moon.

After passing through the Sushen tribe's barrier, Chen Hao landed on the gray lunar rock.

Vacuum. Silence. A black sky.

He didn't stop. He looked up and surveyed the lunar horizon.

The Heavenly Demons come from the Netherworld. The Netherworld is on Pluto. Pluto is ridiculously far away from here. But the fact that the Heavenly Demons can come here means there's a passage between them.

Yun Cangyan once said that a thousand years ago, the clan leader chased the Heavenly Demon all the way to the Netherworld. That route still exists.

Chen Hao released his divine sense.

Extreme expansion. The coverage radius expanded from one kilometer to ten kilometers, then a hundred kilometers. Every rock and every crack on the lunar surface unfolded within his perception.

The traces of a demon's aura are usually very faint; they leave a corrosive residue wherever the demon passes. Ordinary cultivators cannot detect them at all.

But Chen Hao is no ordinary cultivator.

He caught it.

A very faint trail of corrosion. Starting from the outer wall of the Sushen tribe's barrier, it meanders northeastward toward the lunar surface.

It's not a single line, but the trace of thousands upon thousands of lines overlapping each other. The path trodden by countless demons over thousands of years.

He stepped out.

The debris on the lunar surface was so fast that it was lifted up by the pressure changes in the vacuum, raising a silent cloud of dust behind him.

Three minutes later.

A low hill appeared ahead. It was a lunar crater, with smooth edges and a concave center. But the bottom of the concave area was not an ordinary impact crater.

It's a hole.

It was black. A black hole with a diameter of over thirty meters.