Chapter 67: The Endless Legend and the Realm of the Sage
Stardust Fall 835, February 20th, Lost Star River, the main body of the legendary powerhouse Joshua van Radcliffe restarted from the core of the Genesis Maelstrom. The chain reaction caused by the excessively violent space-time fluctuations led to massive upheavals throughout the entire Abyss, shifting numerous Abyss worlds and rendering the original Abyss distribution map completely obsolete.
On the 21st, the Multiverse Star River, the Knowledge Seizer responded to the reply from the Mycroft Civilization. Both parties agreed to communicate at the 'Anasen World', a star system world with only a single star and no planets. The next day, a reconnaissance ship dispatched to search for the Soul Abyss Orb of the missing Captain Ke Lei Le returned without results, and Captain Ke Lei Le was declared completely out of contact.
On the 23rd, numerous foreign civilizations sent diplomatic briefs, confirming that the Mycroft Civilization had taken root in the Origin Star River and had accepted the fact that a super-civilization existed by their side.
On the 24th, through exchanges and trade with numerous foreign civilizations, the Mycroft Civilization obtained a large amount of star chart information from the surrounding Star River. On the same day, the Mycroft Civilization received information on the vast majority of high-level civilizations in the Multiverse Star River.
On the 29th, a forward base at the edge of the Origin Star River was established. On the same day, the main body of Joshua van Radcliffe left the Abyss and was heading towards the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.
March 3rd, the fully prepared diplomatic envoy officially set off for the 'Anasen World'.
Due to the extremely high level of information confidentiality for this exchange, apart from a very few people, no one knew the details of this visit. As an unremarkable-looking cruiser departed from the Void Port and disappeared into the temporal turbulence, eight legendary powerhouses thus left the edge of the Origin Star River.
Joshua, Eagle, Elemental Master Barbarossa, Elf Empress Hernval IX, Dwarf God-Smith Flo Ironfinger, Fishman High Priest Godar, Holy Sword Bearer Tiernan, and the legend of the Era of Radiance, Soul Walker Yarnamilo. These eight legendary powerhouses, representing all factions and regions, could be said to be the highest-level envoy of the Mycroft Civilization, sufficient to demonstrate their emphasis on this exchange.
After communicating with numerous other scattered foreign civilizations, the Mycroft Civilization now understood that the civilizations in this Multiverse Star River could be roughly divided into five tiers.
Among them, the lowest tier, first-level civilizations, were 'Primitive Civilizations' where no individual had ever left the Void. Whether through supernatural power or ordinary technical means, the civilization had not allowed any individual or group to enter the Void. Such civilizations had no self-defense capabilities, possessed no rights, and whether annexed or exterminated, would not attract overly strong condemnation.
The next step, like the beginning of the Era of Falling Stars, was the second level, 'Semi-Void Civilizations', where a few powerhouses could enter and exit the Void by their own might. The status of such a civilization in the Multiverse Star River generally depended on how strong that powerhouse was. If relatively weak, like an ordinary Demon Lord, they could barely protect their own race and world. But if they reached the level of the Star Shepherd Great Khan, they could drag their entire race forward with their own strength.
Civilizations at this stage already possessed corresponding diplomatic power, could normally establish relations, trade, and even exchange technology with other Void civilizations. The number of such civilizations was the largest in the Multiverse Star River, even exceeding the number of 'Primitive Civilizations'.
The middle tier was the proper 'Void Civilizations'. Their civilization, whether relying on supernatural power or pure technology, had reached the point where they could send any citizen into the Void. Some civilizations even had their main bodies in super-bases and ports within the Void. The Spirit Clan civilization was a typical third-level Void civilization, capable of easily conducting cross-world colonization without causing problems like colonial rebellion due to communication difficulties. Given enough time and space, they could spread across most of the World Star River.
This level of civilization was the backbone of the Multiverse Star River. The stronger ones among them would begin to consider conquering the surrounding Void and Semi-Void civilizations, taking them as vassals, and then forming a huge Void empire or federation, preparing to advance to the fourth level, 'Star River Overlord' level civilization. The Star Shepherd race was a typical powerful Void civilization. If they were willing to settle down, they could easily conquer many Void civilizations and form a huge 'Khanate', but for various reasons, they had never intended to do so.
The fourth level, Star River Overlord, as the name implies, refers to a civilization whose sphere of influence occupies the entire World Star River. Strictly speaking, a civilization that truly occupies the entire World Star River does not exist. After all, apart from the Knowledge Seizer, the oldest civilization history in the entire Multiverse Star River is only a few tens of thousands of years, and their expansion speed hasn't been that fast.
However, there are quite a few civilizations that possess this potential, or have even been confirmed to have this strength. The known and confirmed number exceeds eighteen. But due to their distribution across the entire Multiverse Star River, although they have powerful strength, they are not much more famous than other powerful Void civilizations and do not hold an overwhelming advantage. The Star Shepherd Great Khan once said that he had led a cluster of Void Behemoths to confront a fourth-level Overlord civilization, and the outcome was that both sides retreated simultaneously, neither wanting to lose too many resources on the other.
The fifth-level civilization has only one characteristic.
That is the ability to 'cross Star Rivers and project power'.
Even in a scale as vast and dense as the Multiverse Star River, the celestial barriers between Star Rivers are extremely difficult to cross. Projecting powerful forces across Star Rivers to conquer other civilizations and establish anchors in other Star Rivers is precisely the characteristic of powerful fifth-level civilizations, surpassing the characteristics of a single Star River force.
All civilizations feared by all, even referred to as natural disasters, possess the power of fifth-level civilizations. The Knowledge Seizer, as a super-giant Void fleet cluster civilization that has been moving across Star Rivers for years, is naturally a typical fifth-level civilization. The Takur Annihilation Order and the Amos Royal Court, these two super-civilizations, although they have been slaughtering each other in the same Star River for who knows how many millennia, their power can completely be projected across Star Rivers; it's just not necessary for now.
Thanks to the legacy of the Era of Radiance, even when the Era of Falling Stars had just emerged from the Sanctuary and was rebuilding its civilization in the Black Forest, it possessed the power of a second-level civilization. Subsequently, with the advancement of mana industrialization over the years, even without the technological leap caused by the Unified Grand Database, the Falling Star civilization had touched the edge of third-level civilization.
After obtaining the Unified Grand Database and the data repository of the Era of Radiance, the Era of Falling Stars quickly surpassed the third-level civilization and, due to its foundation of numerous super-powerful powerhouses and deities, reached the level of a fourth-level civilization.
Now, with the Mycroft Joint Fleet and the assistance of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, at least in the eyes of other civilizations, the Mycroft Civilization is undoubtedly a fifth-level civilization capable of crossing Star Rivers and projecting civilization-destroying power, and moreover, an extremely powerful one among the fifth level, because the Star River barrier they crossed is the 'Silent Void', which is unimaginable for all other civilizations.
At this moment, Joshua was spacing out on the bridge—not exactly spacing out; the warrior just wasn't deliberately thinking about anything. He could sense the positions of all the legendary powerhouses on the envoy cruiser and roughly what they were doing. He could also sense the changes in the surrounding Void, the slight tremors of the temporal turbulence. He could sense that in the rest cabin at this moment, Yarnamilo was explaining to the Elf Empress and the Fishman High Priest the status of elves and fishmen during the Era of Radiance, while the Dwarf God-Smith stood at the door, seemingly listening to this winged human legend, who could be considered their ancestor, chatting away.
Barbarossa was still meditating, seemingly sensing the source of arcane power. When a mage realizes that the truths they usually know might have been modified by another great existence, they would naturally be somewhat at a loss. But he would soon walk out of this predicament; Joshua could sense his emotions becoming calmer and calmer. After all, this was a world of supernatural power; there was nothing unacceptable.
The Holy Sword Bearer Lamotte was drinking and chatting with Lord Eagle. The Old Pope used fruit juice instead—not because of religious precepts prohibiting alcohol, but mainly because the Old Pope liked sweet drinks. To be honest, the warrior learned this for the first time.
Disappear.
Everything sensed was gradually erased.
Joshua now emptied his mind, trying to make his thoughts pure.
"Power beyond the legendary level has finally appeared... the 'Sage' level existence, huh..."
As the envoy ship gradually approached the Anasen World, Joshua's heart couldn't help but begin to stir... Psionic energy, arcane power, elemental force, aether... various supernatural powers might all have a 'Sage' behind them. This was almost completely consistent with the conclusion he had drawn when deducing the 'Elysian Paradise'. Moreover, the existence of the mastermind behind the scenes had been confirmed not long ago during the decisive battle with the Death Evil God.
If that was the case, then the possibility he had guessed earlier, could it be correct?
One, or a group of unknown existences, wanted to control the entire Multiverse. The major changes in supernatural power brought by each Sage caused His or Their plans to fail time and time again. So They wanted to erase civilizations, at least sufficiently advanced civilizations, to completely cut off the possibility of Sages being born.
But this way, there were even more problems.
Why did the mastermind want to control the Multiverse?
This wasn't some juvenile knight novel where the villain wants to rule the world for no reason. Any intelligent being's 'purpose' must have a 'cause'. The grander the purpose, the deeper its cause.
And a Multiverse-level purpose must also have a Multiverse-level cause. This wasn't something that could be accomplished by 'passion', 'impulse', or just 'thinking it's fun'. Because if it were the latter, Their grand plan would probably be declared over by internal strife and various other reasons after completing just a small part. Only a sufficiently great belief and cause could run through the entirety of another great purpose, allowing an entire powerful team, a powerful powerhouse, to persist for hundreds of millions of years.
Joshua could barely understand the purpose of the 'Sages' a little. It was to spread 'miracles', to make their 'Way' pervade the Multiverse, to spread their 'belief' and 'consensus'. If ordinary people leaving DNA and bloodlines counts as inheritance, then the inheritance of the Sages is to have as many intelligent beings as possible walk with them on their supernatural path. They would coexist and co-perish with all minds in the entire Multiverse along with the spread of their supernatural path. They would obtain nearly infinite and eternal existence and power.
But the mastermind erases high-level civilizations but doesn't completely erase low-level civilizations, doesn't completely erase intelligent life. This behavior, which seems to want to control the Multiverse but is not ruthless and completely lacks a discernible purpose, really seems like 'chaos', making even Joshua find it difficult to understand.
If he were to be the mastermind, with the goal of completely controlling the entire Multiverse without any interruption, then he would have long since ruthlessly erased all life in the entire Multiverse—not just high-level civilizations, but also those lives that haven't even walked out of the Void or developed intelligence. He would even annihilate all macromolecular structures in the Multiverse. He could recreate the world after destroying it, let everything be reborn after eliminating all life. If, hypothetically, Joshua wouldn't do such a thing, but if he were to be the villain, he would have this kind of decisiveness.
He dares to make any choice, regardless of good or evil. Joshua has the courage to bear the consequences of his choices.
But leaving that aside.
For Joshua now, the most important issue was how to go from the 'endless legend' to the 'realm of the Sage'.
"Legend has no limit—I have already felt it. Given time, my power can expand endlessly. If possible, I could truly become strong to a degree I myself would find exaggerated."
Already approaching the Anasen World, Joshua could sense the ship fluctuations of the Knowledge Seizer ahead. Like them, the other party had only dispatched a small vessel for consultation and handover. And at this moment, as the leader, he was still lost in thought in his own world.
Now, Joshua's power was constantly growing stronger. If given a place like the Genesis Maelstrom and enough time, he could even use his own world to recreate the Sage's 'Rebirth Plan', encompassing the entire World Star River into his 'Ultra-Single World'.
And could this Ultra-Single World then go on to devour other Star Rivers? What if this Ultra-Single World devoured the entire Multiverse Star River?
Or rather, what if, from the very beginning, the Rebirth Plan presided over by Joshua was not limited to the Lost Star River at the distant end of the Silent Void, but was right here in this Multiverse Star River? Then, could he have directly started devouring the entire Multiverse Star River from the start?
All of this was possible. Although it hasn't been tested yet, and it's unknown if it's specifically feasible, it was all possible. Joshua's power was constantly growing stronger every minute, every second. Because of his mastery over his own power, his influence on the outside world, the growth of his main body world, and his deep analysis and understanding of various supernatural powers through the Steel Force, Joshua was long no longer just the warrior who only used Battle Qi. He could now use almost all supernatural powers, whether it was psionic energy, arcane power, elemental force, aether, life energy, or holy light. He could use them all, and quite well.
Apart from the Evil God's 'malignant chaos', the deity's 'divine power', and the newly appeared 'shadow essence', Joshua had already constructed a system cycle of the six major supernatural powers in his world. If later, he also introduced a portion of the shadow demons under the Demon King Goliath, he could even construct the seventh shadow cycle.
But Joshua, powerful enough to suppress an entire Star River with his own strength and achieve the civilization strength of a 'Star River Overlord' level with his own power, was still a legend.
Moreover, Joshua also foresaw that even if he later became powerful enough to contend head-on with a fully awakened Death Evil God, or fight against the ultra-ancient Evil God 'Plenty', whose power limit remains unknown to this day, he would still be a legend.
[The endless progression itself is also a kind of limitation]
Joshua experienced this firsthand. The mere geometric growth of pure power could not break the fundamental gap between 'Legend' and 'Sage'. He knew that he felt something was missing, and all top-tier super-powerful beings who hadn't become Sages also lacked that most crucial point. That's why there were so few 'Sages' in this Multiverse.
"Or rather, the next step after Legend itself is not 'Sage'. Between these two realms, there is another crucial step... It is this hidden step and realm that causes the gap between 'Legend' and 'Sage', and the decisive difference between the two!"
And not only that, as Joshua's horizons expanded, problems that were originally thought to be solved now reappeared... For example.
The 'Magic Tide', which swept through the Multiverse Star River, the Lost Star River, and all the Silent Voids, with its source completely unknown—where did it originate? Where... does it even come from?
Joshua's contemplation did not continue.
Because the envoy ship had arrived at the Anasen World.
The world barrier was breached. A blazing white A-type star could be seen burning, turning the entire world into a domain of light.
And the Knowledge Seizer's black ship was located nine and a half light-minutes from this star, hovering quietly.
Joshua withdrew all his thoughts, all his doubts. He had surpassed too many people. The problems he pondered were incomprehensible to the vast majority of the Mycroft Civilization and meaningless to them. If surpassing the era by half a step is a genius, and surpassing the era by a full step is a madman, then as a top-tier super-powerful powerhouse, he had surpassed his era by who knows how many steps.
Joshua did not expect later generations to understand the doubts of the pioneer, just as when he was a later generation, he couldn't understand the difficulties of the Sages and deities. But since he had already reached this point, he would not look back.
"The Knowledge Seizer... wandering and searching in the Star River for seven hundred and seventy thousand years, just to find a civilization like us, also possessing the Sage's inheritance. Presumably, they should also have doubts similar to mine, similar to mine."
The envoy ship slowly approached the Knowledge Seizer's vessel. The identification process had begun, with both sides confirming each other's identity and verifying information.
And Joshua just stood on the bridge, silently watching all of this. To be honest, the warrior had a premonition.
That the truth held by the Knowledge Seizer was probably even more shocking than he imagined.