50. The True God's Shudder
"That is all..."
Having revealed the most critical piece of information, Elian stopped right there.
He knew that the Goddess of Knowledge, with her insatiable thirst for truth, would naturally investigate the rest on her own.
Once Aen, the Goddess of Knowledge and Prophecy, discovered the threat originating from beyond the world, she certainly wouldn't keep it a secret and would undoubtedly inform the other deities.
By then, the gods would become aware of the threat from the Far Realm ten thousand years in advance!
Nor did Elian worry that Aen's active exploration of these secrets—perhaps even directly descending onto those celestial bodies—would expose her to reverse contamination.
Unless it was the final period right before the apocalypse, the extent of the Far Realm's erosion upon the Great Wheel universe was still far from enough to contaminate a true god.
Having listened to Elian's research findings and conjectures, Aen's expression turned much more solemn.
"Are these seemingly ordinary stars really that dangerous?"
"A space beyond the known dimensions? Does it truly exist?"
Holding a skeptical attitude, the Goddess of Knowledge closed her eyes slightly.
Within her divine kingdom in the Outer Planes, inside an endless library composed of vast books and scrolls.
A graceful, elegantly dressed lady stood up from her chair and looked straight ahead.
It was the true form of Aen, the Goddess of Knowledge and Prophecy!
Deep within the true god's eyes, deep-blue radiance flowed, as if countless knowledge containing the universe's mysteries was circulating within them.
Transcendental divine power!
The authority exclusive to a true god!
Though not a greater deity, as the Goddess of Knowledge and Prophecy, strictly in terms of prophecy, divination, and uncovering the truth, Aen was confident she was inferior to no deity in the current Great Wheel universe!
Aen cast her gaze toward the material plane, projecting her divine perception to observe the stars described by Elian...
"Hadar, Urban, Caiphon, Zudom..."
"The primary direction of observation and exploration is whether these celestial bodies involve the power of other dimensions behind them..."
Even for a deity, having clearer preliminary information and a primary direction to explore would make her prophecies much more accurate!
Aen continuously increased her output of divine power, bringing every single star mentioned by Elian into her sight, viewing these celestial bodies of various forms as a whole, wanting to see if she could unearth any mysteries...
Although she felt that what Elian described—the contamination from other dimensions—sounded like sheer fantasy, Aen still harbored a faint trace of anticipation, hoping that this mortal mage had truly accidentally discovered knowledge unknown to herself!
A few seconds later, the divination ended.
The stars remained as silent as ever, holding nothing special.
Nothing was discovered.
She found no trace of the so-called power from other dimensions.
Aside from possessing relatively strong magic power in some of them, these stars portrayed as dangerous by Elian had no other special characteristics whatsoever...
"That's normal, I suppose..."
Aen felt a brief moment of disappointment.
"As expected, was the threat from beyond the world merely a sensationalist conjecture by a mortal?"
Though the lack of anything that piqued her interest left the eager Goddess of Knowledge slightly disappointed, Aen could understand:
"After all, he is merely a mortal mage of the initial legendary rank, just a leader among the human race—a young, weak, and sparsely populated newborn race..."
"To expect him to discover knowledge unknown even to me is asking far too much..."
Though Elian's hypothesis was incorrect, Aen would not look down upon or blame the human mage for it.
Formulate bold hypotheses, verify them with meticulous care.
——This was precisely what every seeker of truth, hungering to explore the mysteries of the world, ought to do.
Even if the hypothesis were ultimately proven wrong, it could not detract from Elian's greatness as a seeker of truth in this primordial era!
Amidst her churning thoughts, Aen intended to withdraw her divine perception and end this detection.
Inside the arcane laboratory of the floating city.
Seeing Aen beside him close her eyes slightly, as if lost in contemplation, Elian had already guessed what was happening:
The Goddess of Knowledge was having her true form within her divine kingdom investigate those stars affected by the Far Realm, attempting to verify Elian's hypothesis.
Seeing that Aen's expression did not change much, even carrying a faint trace of disappointment, Elian already knew:
As expected, even this Goddess of Knowledge, who excelled most at divination and prophecy, was unable to break through the fog of destiny woven by the great entities beyond the dimensions of the Far Realm to ascertain the truth, even with the key information he had provided as a prerequisite.
This was a result Elian had long anticipated.
How could the true secrets of the Far Realm be so easily discovered by the deities of the Great Wheel!
Especially in this current era, when the Far Realm's erosion of reality was still too weak and difficult to perceive...
Therefore, Elian needed to give the Goddess of Knowledge one final hint.
He saw Aen beside him slowly open her eyes and speak softly:
"Respected Your Majesty Elian, your hypothesis is novel, but perhaps overly radical and exaggerated. I cannot fully accept it for the time being..."
Before Aen could finish, Elian directly continued:
"Supposing my hypothesis is correct. Then, in the distant future, after these stars absorb a sufficient amount of energy from beyond the world, they might vivify, transforming into truly living entities, becoming genuine Ancient Evils, sprouting eyes and mouths..."
"Well, I mean in the future..."
The future?
This word provided Aen with an inspiration.
What she had just investigated was merely the present; she hadn't attempted to observe the future of these stars!
"Using the authority of prophecy to observe the future of these stars—that indeed presents a new direction for exploration..."
"Observing the future of lifeless objects unaffected by anyone is much simpler than observing the future of living things..."
"Though the hope is slim, I shall try once more..."
"Strange, when did I start placing such high value on the views of a mere mortal mage?"
Nurturing this infinitesimal glimmer of hope, within the divine kingdom of the endless library, Aen's true form—which had intended to recall her divine power—once again increased the output of her divine energy.
Deep-blue radiance bloomed within the goddess's eyes.
She fully mobilized her divine authority, simultaneously observing the present and future of these stars!
Aen's gaze pierced through time, casting itself toward the downstream of the river of time.
Living creatures, civilizations, and nations... these living, thinking entities harbored far too many possibilities, and their futures held a high degree of uncertainty, making them overly ethereal.
Stars were different. Aside from a few celestial structures possessing chaotic traits, most celestial bodies ought to remain stable across tens of thousands of years. Investigating the destiny of these unmanipulated lifeless objects should be vastly easier. If nothing could be seen at all, it would instead indicate that something was amiss.
A thousand years, two thousand years, five thousand years, ten thousand years...
Twenty thousand years...
At this moment, the goddess simultaneously observed every star mentioned by Elian, casting her gaze as far as possible into the distant futures of these celestial bodies.
"It still seems there is nothing special..."
"Wait, no!"
The next instant, the true body of Aen within the divine kingdom trembled violently, and cold sweat streamed down her forehead.
Aen felt fear.
A trace of fleeting yet unimaginably intense fear.
It felt like a destined, impending doom—one sufficient to tear apart her divine true form and even the entire universe!