After a brief exchange, Gu Nan learned the identities of the three before him, and the three also confirmed that Gu Nan did not hold any malicious intentions.
The old Daoist priest, Xian He, was actually not a traditional Daoist. His real name really was Xian He.
On the other hand, the stern-looking woman to the side did come from a Daoist background and called herself Daoist Lan Yi. And that young man with a casual expression was named Xu Anting. He was a wandering cultivator unaffiliated with other sects.
In a quiet little courtyard in the capital planet.
"Myriad Stars Civilization?" Gu Nan mused as he stood by the window, gazing at the scenery outside.
This civilization, called "Myriad Stars" by the three Saints, had indeed developed to an unimaginable extent.
Myriad Stars was a cultivation civilization at its core, but once the civilization developed to a certain extent, part of the technology tree would naturally also be lit up. However, similar to the Myriad Heavens, most of it was metaphysical technology.
So what entered Gu Nan's eyes was the strange sight of a group of people wearing long Daoist robes and driving hovercars.
"Daoist Friend Gu Nan, have you been to our civilization before?" Daoist Xian He walked out from behind Gu Nan with a faint smile.
Naturally, the three didn't believe Gu Nan's self-proclaimed identity as an interstellar wanderer. Given their realm, they could naturally tell Gu Nan's current state.
This person was clearly just a strand of will, and even his body was a temporary construct, so he must have his own foundation someplace else.
But to think there was a second civilization in this universe with Saint Realm power. This was what Xian He and his group were interested in.
"This is my first time here," Gu Nan replied calmly. "Do Saints like you guys frequently leave your territory to explore outer space?"
It wasn't hard at all for Unified Dao great powers to directly project their wills outside, which wouldn't be affected by the harsh environment of outer space.
"Of course we do." Xian He nodded. "However, the universe is unimaginably vast; it's too inefficient for us to search for extraterrestrial civilizations. Such things are usually completed by spaceship fleets."
Gu Nan came from outside their territory, so Xian He expected this question.
During the conversation with Xian He, Gu Nan slowly learned about the Myriad Stars Civilization's situation.
Since the Origin World's law of space was highly stable, even Unified Dao cultivators could only manage to teleport for short distances in here, let alone Void Cutters.
Any barrier was stronger on the inside than on the outside. Gu Nan could only squeeze in a wisp of will from the outside, but the people inside could only be trapped here.
'Is the Origin World a cage?' This thought flashed through Gu Nan's mind but quickly disappeared.
There had never been any cage that projected information from the outside world and continuously sent people who obtained that information outside.
After a brief exchange, Gu Nan then asked, "Do you guys know a person named Lu Wen? He should have been a Saint on the verge of ascending."
Xian He shook his head. "I've watched this civilization grow to this point, but I have never heard of such a person."
Gu Nan thought for a while and added, "His name might be different. He is a person who controls the dual laws of time and space…"
"You've met my master?!" Before Xian He could say anything, Daoist Lan Yi suddenly exclaimed as she quickly appeared in front of Gu Nan.
Only then did Gu Nan study her attire carefully and realize that the Daoist robe she was wearing was indeed somewhat similar in style to Lu Wen's.
Even though it was Xian He who came forward to communicate with Gu Nan, Daoist Lan Yi and Xu Anting obviously did not relax their surveillance of him.
Gu Nan's gaze slowly landed on Daoist Lan Yi. He was not surprised at all.
No matter how one thought about it, there shouldn't be too many ultra-powerful civilizations with Unified Dao cultivators, and it was very possible that there was only one such civilization. Thus, there was a high possibility that this place was related to Lu Wen.
...
Lu Wen was a figure from the Myriad Stars Civilization around ten thousand years ago. His real name was no longer known, and only his Daoist name "Heavenly Springs" remained.
Lu Wen didn't have many friends in his previous life, and he didn't have any prominent teachers or inheritances. He was more like a wandering cultivator; he didn't even have many direct disciples.
Now, ten thousand years later, there was only one remaining disciple named Daoist Lan Yi.
"Have you really met my master?" Daoist fixed Gu Nan with a hard stare.
"We had a chance encounter." Gu Nan adopted an enigmatic expression. "You know how it is. You can always meet all kinds of people in the boundless universe."
Daoist Lan Yi replied with a grave expression, "But… he is already dead. He died in the tribulation while trying to become a Saint."
"Maybe he survived by luck."
"Impossible! Then why didn't he come back to see us?!" Lan Dao's mood suddenly became agitated.
Gu Nan shook his head slightly and did not pursue this topic any further. He turned to Xian He. "Then, do you guys recognize someone named Daoist Yellow Springs? Lu Wen's survival may have something to do with him."
Daoist Lan Yi shook her head to express her ignorance, but Xian He revealed, "When Heavenly Springs was undergoing the tribulation back then, he said something strange."
"Oh? What did he say?"
"To become a Saint is to trap oneself."
...
Myriad Heavens.
Gu Nan's slumber was actually not as long as he imagined. It was only a few years in total.
During Gu Nan's disappearance, the two worlds had already fought a true war. A large number of gods and Star Rulers died on the battlefield, and even one of the Unified Dao powers fell.
The casualty was Underworld Heaven's Qin Guanruo.
This relatively young but overconfident Unified Dao cultivator was finally targeted by the greater gods because of his frequent attacks during the war.
In the end, Austin and Baal teamed up to first kill his main body on the battlefield, and then, with the help of the Ruler of Nightmares, they secretly crossed to the Myriad Heavens again and directly attacked Underworld Heaven.
Faced with an enemy attack right on their doorstep, the Myriad Heavens' Unified Dao figures were actually even less experienced.
After all, at least the greater gods had a Divine War every ten thousand years or so, and it wasn't like greater gods hadn't died in those wars before, but what about the Myriad Heavens?
In the early years, there were wars that led to the deaths of Unified Dao level Star Rulers, and it was said that the descendants would inherit their astral worlds, but this had never happened again in the past ten thousand years, and even fights between Unified Dao bigshots were rare now.
Therefore, Qin Guanruo was caught completely off guard and was chased into Underworld Heaven by Austin and Baal. He died in the blink of an eye without even giving his colleagues time to come to the rescue.
Finally, a Unified Dao existence from the Myriad Heavens died. This greatly boosted the morale of those in the World of Gods, and the flames of war started burning again.
The Myriad Heavens, which wasn't all that united to begin with, began to retreat again and again under the gods' attacks and soon entered a situation where they were each fighting on their own isolated battlefields.
During the Great War, Gu Nan's Divine Kingdom was originally like the Pure Land. No matter what happened outside, no one dared to court death by going there.
However, as the flames of war spread inside the Myriad Heavens, very few people obeyed the greater gods' warning, and gods continued to invade the Divine Kingdom.
Fortunately, Yan Xiaoxiao's current strength was enough to temporarily mobilize the power of the Divine Kingdom, preventing it from being destroyed.
Until one day, Gu Nan's figure suddenly appeared in the Evil God Temple, and a deep yet secretive power began to emerge from the entire Divine Kingdom.
Gu Nan slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was his Divine Kingdom in chaos.
"Some bugs are here."