320: Chapter 318 The Creator's Final Scene

Shen Nian sat in front of the crystal core for an entire night.

That fine crystal had been placed next to the recording talisman, and the energy pathway between the two maintained a stable connection, resembling two threads that had been repeatedly stretched and finally found the most comfortable tension.

The texture on the surface of the crystal did not unfold again, but its temperature was more uniform than when it was at the center of the hollow circle, resembling returning to a familiar position.

The warm light of the Heart of Tiangong flickered rhythmically within the core space, and he noticed that the light threads of The Artisan slowly flowed around the crystal core, appearing more solid than usual, resembling a river that had continued to flow in a deep slumber for too long, finally perceiving the shape of the riverbed again after hearing certain precise syllables.

He did not interrupt it, merely letting that process quietly occur outside of his own perceptual range.

After another period of time, The Artisan turned toward Shen Nian.

"This seat has found a record."

"Among the final batch of information left behind before the Creator left, there is an image record."

The voice of The Artisan paused for a moment, as if those words still carried a thin layer of hesitation when spoken: "That record is stored in the deepest cabin of the Core of Tiangong, belonging to a category that even the Tiangong Clan itself rarely views."

"This seat previously always thought that information had already dissipated along with the Creator."

Shen Nian raised his head: "An image record?"

"Can Senior view it?"

"Yes."

"But there is an extremely ancient encoding in that record, which this seat cannot completely restore, and can only see fragments of it."

The light of The Artisan brightened slightly, "Those fragments are enough for you to understand the state of the Creator when leaving."

Shen Nian stood up, putting away the fine crystal and recording talisman: "This Disciple is ready."

The Artisan did not say anything more, merely moving slowly toward the depths of the core space.

Shen Nian followed behind that cluster of light, passing through several passages that Shen Nian had never walked through.

The wall colors of those passages differed from other areas of the Heart of Tiangong, being much dimmer, resembling having been untouched by light for a long time, carrying an atmosphere that had settled for ages.

At the end of the passage was a small cabin.

Suspended in the center of the cabin was a crystal core much smaller than the Core of Tiangong, with a darker color and no lines on the surface, extremely smooth, resembling a lens that had been gazed at for a long time.

The light of The Artisan approached that dark crystal core: "This is the container storing the final image record of the Creator."

Shen Nian approached that crystal core, and he did not immediately reach out to touch it, instead observing it carefully for a moment.

The surface of the dark crystal core was extremely uniform, without any interfaces or cracks, resembling having been polished to the extreme before being placed here, untouched by any external forces during the long passage of time.

He stood firmly in front of the crystal core, then gently pressed his hand against the surface.

The moment his fingertips touched it, an extremely faint stream of information surged into his Sea of Consciousness.

It was not a complete image, but rather more like the outlines of a scene under extremely dim light, resembling looking into the distance across a thick layer of water, able to see only the general shapes and trajectories of movement.

He saw the Creator.

They did not appear in specific forms, but rather more like some condensed radiance, moving slowly within Chaos.

The number of radiances could not be confirmed, appearing to gather and disperse at times, sometimes converging into a dense patch, and at other times scattering into sparse points.

Those radiances flowed within Chaos, resembling performing some sort of final inspection.

They passed by some structures—Shen Nian vaguely recognized some of their outlines, which had shapes similar to the scattered fragments of Heluo—resembling a builder walking around the construction site to confirm that the doors and windows were closed before leaving.

Then the radiances gathered together, stopping in an open area.

That area looked extremely level, resembling a carefully cleaned ground, bright and smooth as a mirror.

Those radiances stayed in the center of the level area for a moment, resembling making some silent farewell.

Finally, the radiances began to dissipate.

It was not extinguishing, but rather more like extending into the distance, the radiance slowly fading, and ultimately merging into Chaos, no longer appearing.

The entire image was extremely brief.

From the moment Shen Nian touched the crystal core until the stream of information ended, it lasted for less than ten breaths.

But the aura he felt seemed to have lasted for a long time, resembling those radiances carrying an extremely solemn attitude when leaving, as if departure was not due to forgetting, but because of knowing that they would continue to exist.

Shen Nian withdrew his hand and stood for a while.

The light of The Artisan floated quietly beside the dark crystal core: "What did you see?"

"This Disciple saw some radiances."

"They flowed in Chaos, inspected some structures, then gathered in the center of a level area, and finally extended into the distance and dissipated."

The light of The Artisan dimmed slightly: "That level area..."

"It is the location of the hollow center."

"This Disciple just stayed there a moment ago."

The Artisan was silent for a long time.

"That record is completely consistent with all the records of the Tiangong Clan regarding the Creator."

"Only previously this seat could only understand through text, whereas you touched the image itself with your perception."

"The flow method of the radiances, the posture of gathering, and the direction of dissipation were never mentioned in text records."

Shen Nian looked back at that dark crystal core: "Before those radiances left, they stayed in the center of the hollow center for a period of time."

"This Disciple wants to confirm whether the position where they stayed corresponds to a certain edge of the depression."

The light of The Artisan brightened slightly, resembling a reactivated old lamp: "You mean that before leaving, the Creator made some kind of mark at the hollow center?"

"This Disciple is not yet sure whether that is a mark or the confirmation of a certain state."

"But at the end of the image, when the radiances began to dissipate, one of the radiances stayed a bit longer at the central position before merging into the distant Chaos."

Shen Nian paused, "Resembling a person taking a final glance at the chair they had sat on before leaving a room."

The Artisan did not respond.

Shen Nian withdrew his hand, took out the recording talisman again, and attached it to the surface of the dark crystal core.

The light threads slowly spread along the arc surface of the crystal core, resembling capturing those traces that had almost completely dissipated.

A moment later, he removed the recording talisman and checked the data brought back by the light threads.

That signal was extremely faint, so faint as to be almost unrecognizable—yet it truly existed, resembling a final confirmation left by someone in a distant era: "Yes, we did indeed look at this place before leaving."

"You have not remembered incorrectly."

Shen Nian gently placed that fine crystal next to the recording talisman.

When the crystal touched the data interface, a layer of extremely faint shimmering surfaced on its surface, resembling it also recognizing that signal, resembling that gaze which had lingered for a moment back then finally arriving at its proper position after a long transmission.