# Chapter 8: Sweeping Across a Thousand Stars (Part 2)
At the other end of time and space.
In the dark galaxy.
Light was shining.
Golden light spread without end.
In the pitch-black cold, silent and dead universe, the empty vacuum was the main body, while the stars that released warmth and light were the anomalies. Similarly, compared to the nearly eternal void, the existence of life was the true abnormality.
In a certain star system, a golden star released its light and heat in all directions, and the solar wind continuously blew outward, forming a faint, shell-like heliosphere.
The edge of this solar wind's reach was the territory that a star could absolutely control. In the Starry World, the vast majority of life was born within this stellar territory, bathing in light and heat to be born.
But now, this territory was being eroded.
Darkness, darkness was spreading within the light. As the radiance visibly dimmed, a striking black mass writhed on the star's surface. Amorphous black flesh undulated with the star's own motion, was torn apart—a sudden eruption of surface airflow and a coronal mass ejection could tear a large gash in this darkness, but this was meaningless, because the black flesh, seemingly torn apart, was actually transmitting more individuals to various positions on the star.
In an instant, specks of black began to spread across half the star's sphere. They were like twisted dark curtains, obscuring all light... Before long, as all the planets in the entire star system lost sunlight, everything became icy and dead silent, and the entire star was thus wrapped in a layer of black flesh membrane, becoming a dim flesh ball.
The solar wind stopped blowing. The surging stellar wind gradually ceased, causing light and heat to dissipate.
At the same time, on the writhing star, a large arc-shaped reproductive cavity split open. Millions upon millions of flesh embryos were growing at a visible speed. From a cosmic perspective, it seemed like a smiling face had opened wide—one could see that this formless cloud enveloping the star, this hellish flesh star, was rapidly gestating an endless tide of flesh monsters. These were called Chaos Minions, grotesque monsters with no intelligence, nor any need for it. They had only one instinct: to erode, assimilate, devour, and destroy everything.
Devouring stars, sucking the energy of suns, assimilating all things into themselves, erasing all meaning—if the Chaos Evil Gods were the elusive embodiment of destruction, then their minions were the true monsters that brought darkness and terror.
Pull back the view. It was not just one star system, but an entire cluster of star systems, an entire spiral arm, an entire galaxy. All the stars had dimmed. Everything had been destroyed, devoured, and turned into nests of Chaos. At every moment, trillions upon trillions of monsters were born, then gathered into swarms, surging towards the other end of the star sea, towards those still bright star rivers.
This was the legendary first galaxy where Chaos descended, the first to fall, to be devoured, the entire galaxy becoming an enemy nest.
If any native race of the Starry World were to witness this scene, they would say that this was despair, this was the invincible Chaos.
But the giant god from another world said no.
At the end of the third spiral arm of the infected dark galaxy.
A silver point of light appeared.
In the vacuum, as psychic energy rippled, opening a rift in time and space, in an instant, one thousand three hundred and seventy-two star systems had one thousand three hundred and seventy-two space-time channels appear around them. And one thousand three hundred and seventy-two shining light clusters, traveling at ninety percent of the speed of light, rushed out from the channels, resolutely crashing into those stars wrapped in flesh.
At that moment, a violent wind burst forth from the darkness. On the dark star, an incredibly bright, incredibly shining hole suddenly appeared. One could see that, starting from the edge of this hole, the cold light of metal began to spread. The surface of the amorphous dark flesh was rapidly covered by rough and rigid silver. From top to bottom, a massive and sturdy mechanical construct, a metal prison that enveloped the sun and spread like a plague, began to appear.
Tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of Chaos Minion embryos were directly annihilated, assimilated. These monsters that could devour stars had finally encountered beings more ferocious, more evil, and more unimaginable than themselves.
As the devoured star's monster nest was destroyed, a metal Dyson sphere appeared in the world.
And the solar wind, suppressed for so long, burst forth from the holes of this prison, like a rainbow piercing the star river.
One thousand three hundred and seventy-two stars were thus liberated—among them, some systems containing Void Behemoths might take a little longer, but at most, not half an hour. And as the attacker became more proficient, the attack on the Chaos Minions became more precise and meticulous, and this time was greatly shortened.
Then, another thousand, a thousand more, another thousand, a thousand.
A thousand stars, like a thousand specks of dust, were swept past. Golden, red, blue, white stars shone with different yet consistent light, all bursting forth with different fluctuations.
At the end of the third spiral arm of the dark galaxy, a part of the darkness temporarily retreated, turning into a dim silver. Starlight flickered, but there was no romance or warmth, only iron-like coldness and killing intent. One could see that huge silver warships flew out from the enveloped stars, slaughtering all remaining monsters and planetary-level nests within the star system.
More terrifying than Chaos was an order colder than steel.
In the dark and silent void, a four-armed steel giant held a burning star in one hand. His other three arms reached deep into the star, like scooping out the flesh of a watermelon, pulling out a massive amount of matter, then condensing it into tens of thousands of light clusters. The giant casually raised his hand and threw these light clusters into the void, like an old farmer throwing fish food into a lake.
But then, as a giant crystal sphere beside the giant emitted a massive psychic energy fluctuation, he instantly opened thousands of portals leading to completely different places, precisely teleporting all the light clusters to the target star systems that both sides wished to send them to—and thus, thousands of star systems got rid of their previous unwelcome guests and welcomed a new master.
When the matter of one star was used up, the psychic energy crystal sphere took the giant to the next uninhabited star system, using the second star, then the third, the fourth, and many, many more.
Warships? Fleets? Tens of thousands of civilized alliances fighting a decisive battle against Chaos?
Unnecessary, at least for now. The battles that ultimate Transcendent Beings could wage were far grander than anyone could imagine.
Joshua and the Third Veil joined forces, launching an attack on the Chaos of an entire galaxy simultaneously.
—A galaxy has about one hundred billion to four hundred billion stars.
Thus, according to the current progress, Joshua only needed to repeat it one hundred million times, or two or three hundred million times, to easily purify the entire galaxy. In other words, even if he simply raised and lowered his hand like this, in less than a thousand years, he could directly purify and destroy the entire galaxy, and at the same time, completely annihilate all the Chaos strongholds, turning them into nothing.
But did it really need that long?
The answer was no.
"It's about time."
After consuming the mass of the four hundred and thirteenth star, Joshua suddenly spoke to the Immortal Lighthouse beside him: "Trillions upon trillions of Chaos Minions have been destroyed. This has already triggered the resonance of the 'Emotion Vortex'."
[At Will: Do as you wish]
[Acknowledgment: We believe in the possibilities you bring]
Joshua did not continue speaking.
The steel giant raised his head and then spread his four arms.
He could see that in the Starry World, endless psychic energy and life force were converging, forming an incomparably huge Emotion Vortex, piling up in the psychic energy network. And two incomparably vast wills were suppressing these vortices, preventing them from breaking out. Their existence temporarily calmed these frenzied psychic energies, preventing all psychic energy users from being affected by the twisted emotions of their kin and turning into chaotic madmen.
This was the unavoidable calamity of the psychic energy world—when the dead let out unwilling roars, when mad souls curse the world, the originally clear sea of psychic energy would gradually be polluted by more and more dead, causing subsequent psychic energy users to become increasingly sensitive, increasingly prone to madness, or even completely lose control.
To solve this problem, one, or even several, powerful beings needed to voluntarily enter the psychic energy sea, bearing and purifying these pollutions. In different worlds, they had different names. Some were called the King of the Underworld, some were called the God of Death, some would be polluted into Demon Kings, and some would be revered as Saviors.
But Joshua had no intention of interfering with everything in the Starry World—he never decided the fate of others. He wanted the dead souls of the Starry World to rule themselves, to let their emotions converge and make their own decisions.
"Ignite, eternal and inextinguishable flame!"
With this low shout, four flames ignited in the warrior's palms. The light of these flames contained the most extreme, the purest, and the most fickle emotions. Sometimes they were benevolent, sometimes malevolent, sometimes rational, sometimes frenzied—that was precisely the emotions of intelligent life, and their souls.
Using the destruction of trillions upon trillions of Chaos Minions as a sacrifice, the giant lit four lamps in the dark universe.
Their names were 'Courage', 'Wisdom', 'Perseverance', and 'Determination'!
At the same time, they were also 'Hatred', 'Greed', 'Stubbornness', and 'Arrogance'!
But what did that matter? Without hatred and madness, how could people understand love and reason? Without greed and indulgence, how could people understand curiosity and passion? Fortune and misfortune are interdependent; misfortune and fortune are interdependent. Everything is two sides of a contradiction, the relativity of strife.
The hardest battle was the battle with oneself. It was precisely because of this that Joshua, who was only obsessed with fighting, could comprehend and unearth the power of emotion.
One could see the giant raise his hand, sending these four flames flying towards the distant dark vacuum. They merged into the psychic energy network, sweeping past the minds of countless intelligent beings. They raced through the psychic energy sea, sweeping through the hearts of all life and minds.
One could see that in the Central Courtyard Star System, on the home planet of the Central Courtyard people who were still rejoicing at the descent of the gods, large patches of blue-green light lit up, mixed with blue-violet and golden light. And in another civilization's information, one that advocated using extreme emotions to unleash psychic energy, red light and purple light complemented each other, causing the stars themselves to dim.
The flames raced on. They turned into a meteor that flashed before everyone's eyes, flying towards the deepest part of the psychic energy network, towards those huge vortices that had condensed all the voices. They flashed past, and then, just like that, merged into this ocean of emotions of all living beings.
And then, just like that.
A blazing fire was ignited.
"Now is the time—Immortal Lighthouse!"
In the blazing spiritual world, with the activation of the Matter-Spirit Conversion, an incomparably huge giant god's phantom appeared around the vortex. One could see three huge will entities, seemingly condensed from endless points of light, monitoring the entire psychic energy network. Joshua's soul plunged into the raging fire, and he shouted loudly: "Together with me, drive the formation of the 'Four Ring Gods'!"
[Amazement: This is a miracle!]
[Emotion: How can this be?]
[Response: Let us begin.]
The three huge will entities also did not hesitate, plunging into the raging fire. They transformed into tools in the giant's hands, into anvils and hammers, into channels and walls. Together with Joshua, they hammered and forged within the burning Emotion Vortex, filtering out those noisy distractions, making the ignited vortex purer and more stable.
In the burning river of emotions, within the blood-colored flames, a distinct runic phantom emerged. It was like lightning, like a wound-like crack. It branched out as it descended upon the earth, representing the courage of all living beings to challenge thunder and the unknown, and also representing the anger and hatred born from the wounds inflicted by gods and mortals.
[The Ring of Courage condenses]
In the burning Emotion Vortex, within the golden flames, a distinct runic phantom was condensing. It was like an eye, like a coin-like circle. It spun and tumbled in mid-air, representing the curiosity and wisdom of all living beings as they gaze upon and contemplate the world, and also representing the greed and indulgence born from the heart.
[The Ring of Wisdom condenses]
In the burning Emotion Tide, within the blue-green flames, a distinct runic phantom was forged and shaped. It was like an animal horn, like a plant-like branch. It stood motionless in the gale, representing the patience and perseverance of all living beings as they face suffering and torment without changing their true nature, and also representing the stubbornness and obsession inherent in human nature, like that of a beast.
[The Ring of Perseverance condenses]
In the burning Emotion Torrent, within the blue-violet flames, a distinct runic phantom was washed into shape. It was like a seed, like an iron-stone-like particle. It was initially small and humble, but would grow into a towering tree, representing the most sincere love and determination of all types of living beings, and also representing the most unyielding possessiveness and control.
[The Ring of Determination condenses]
Within the burning, surging, raging, flowing Emotion Vortex, the four rings had begun to condense their true forms. An incomparably vast psychic energy vortex, mixed with visibly restless life energy, yet returning to order. One could see that the embryonic forms of four vast will entities were already gestating. They were the gods about to be born from the emotions of all living beings, and also the vanguard that would lead all living beings to resist Chaos.
"Haha, hahaha!"
Joshua, who was still continuously forging and purifying the impure emotions within the vortex, watched the formation of the Four Ring Gods. His gaze was full of fervor, and he began to laugh wildly. If anyone familiar with the warrior were here, they would know that this was the first time Radcliffe had laughed so sincerely and from the bottom of his heart.
"Sage!"
After laughing, the giant spread his four arms towards the flames of the four rings, as if embracing all this and the future to come. His tone quickly shifted from wild to resolute. He spoke in a low voice, word by word: "So this is the feeling of the birth of the original gods after creation? Is this the process of creating gods? I see! Although the process is completely different, there is no doubt that this is the principle behind the birth of ordinary gods, and even the Seven Gods!"
"This is the authority of the world, the power that can even create gods!"
"I have found the path you once walked!"
The warrior raised his head, looking towards the high sky of the spiritual world where nothing existed. Joshua clenched his four fists, his gaze seeming to pierce through the void, seeing a pure white shadow that was now located somewhere unknown.
"Your footprints, your back—I have finally caught up!"
"You can't escape!"
The three huge consciousness entities did not understand the reason for the giant god's roar. And within the four flames, the rings became more and more real, more and more radiant, until the real and tangible runes appeared at the top of the rings. The incomparably condensed emotions pressed into the realm of divinity, and the original divine power began to appear, overflowing from the other side.
They did not understand Joshua's mood.
It was the roar of one who could only see those stronger than himself, filled with joy at finally catching up to the target he had been chasing.