Slime True Immortal

"Strange? How strange can it be." Chen Yu crouched on the throne, his tiny eyes blinking.

He truly didn't know much about the Astral Realm. Most of the intelligence he had came from Viola, the Great Observer. All he knew was that the mages of the Dawn Council seemed to be exploring the Astral Realm, while the elves of the Ancient Tree Council had once had a glorious era of exploration. But after the Temple Catastrophe, they had grown increasingly conservative, just holing up under the Sacred Oak.

Never mind the Astral Realm—they barely even bothered with matters on Zeyerra anymore.

As for dragons, they were already rare on Zeyerra. Most dwelled deep in the Astral Realm surrounding the Material Plane, with only an occasional ancient dragon flying back to visit an old nest.

If Oros, a primordial silver dragon who had lived for fifteen hundred years, said it was strange, then it was probably genuinely bizarre.

Oros swept his hand through the air, and a starry void image materialized out of nowhere.

Against a deep, dark backdrop, countless specks of light revolved slowly according to some ancient, precise pattern. Each star's trajectory dragged faint silver threads through the void, interweaving into a complex and magnificent three-dimensional star chart.

"When land-dwelling creatures look up at the night sky, they see these twinkling lights. They call them stars, believing they are lamps hung on the night curtain by deities."

"In truth, those are all projections of the Astral Realm. The secrets of the Astral Realm are open equally to all creatures. No identity, no bloodline is required—only a navigational route and a coordinate. Then, you can follow the stars' tracks to begin a journey."

"Three thousand years ago, the earliest dragon mages became obsessed with exploring the mysteries deep within the stars."

"They dedicated themselves to studying the magical theories of the starry sky and exploring its secrets. Though they ultimately failed, they left behind the earliest Astral legacy—star chart silver threads, and the initial theories on how to orient oneself in the void."

"The first dragons and elves to explore the Astral Realm, using this legacy, developed truly usable Astral magic, including a series of spells for positioning, navigation, and planar traversal."

"Most of these spells are still controlled by dragon mages of the Prophecy School. Humans are also taking over this knowledge and beginning their own steps to explore the Astral Realm."

"However, as time passed, the loss of knowledge grew more severe. Even I only grasp a portion of the positioning and planar spells."

He tapped a few points on the void image. Several lights lit up in sequence, forming a winding route. "Even with just these remnants of spells, it's enough for me to traverse most star regions around Zeyerra."

"But even so, I've never seen a star chart this strange—it must be part of the elven legacy."

He paused for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully, then continued, "I can locate its initial coordinates and clearly sense that it's not far from Zeyerra."

"Yet, in my thousand years of traveling the Astral Realm, I have never seen these coordinates. It's as if they never existed in the first place—or they were deliberately hidden by something."

His expression grew serious. "In the Astral Realm, strangeness means danger."

Chen Yu asked, "If the Astral Realm is so dangerous, why do dragons still choose to live outside the Material Plane? Isn't it safer to stay on Zeyerra?"

Oros let out a light cough. "You might not know, sir, but the Astral Realm is indeed dangerous, with strange Astral creatures wandering everywhere."

"Some are like whales and clouds, some are just clumps of singing light, and some you can't even see. Any creature that can break free from the Material Plane and roam freely in the Astral Realm is no pushover—at least at the Legendary rank."

"Sometimes, you might even run into a wandering demigod or two, which is just as bizarre."

He picked up the juice that a nearby slime attendant had refilled, took a sip to wet his throat, and his tone carried a hint of pride.

"As for why we dragons choose to live in the Astral Realm, that's hardly a secret."

"We have the protection of our Father God, Phoenix."

"Father God?"

"That's right. Under normal circumstances, aside from those foolish five-colored dragons, no Astral creature would actively offend a silver dragon. Father God's will covers the star region where the dragon nests are located—it's safe."

"Moreover, the Astral Realm doesn't have as many restrictions as the Material Plane. When the gods want to manifest miracles in the Material Plane, they have to pass through layers of barriers. But in the Astral Realm, Father God can descend directly to help us."

Chen Yu listened, a flicker of envy in his tiny eyes.

Having a patron was great—you could go anywhere you wanted. With a dragon god looking out for you, even Astral creatures wouldn't dare provoke you.

Oros took out a roll of leather parchment bound with silver thread and handed it to Chen Yu.

"This is the casting scroll for the Astral positioning spell. It records in detail the spell knowledge of sensing known coordinates through the Astral silver thread network, and opening a fixed rift between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane."

"If you insist on exploring those strange coordinates, remember to be careful. And, it's best to call me along."

Chen Yu took the scroll, his tiny eyes blinking. He looked at Oros with some surprise. "You want to come too?"

Oros let out a laugh. "Don't worry, sir. We silver dragons aren't so greedy as to covet these remote coordinates. I'm just curious about the secret behind them."

"An elven star chart from thousands of years ago, recording coordinates even I have never seen, located so close to Zeyerra—no matter what's hidden there, it's worth a look."

"If I travel with you, I can also help deal with any dangers."

Chen Yu was tempted.

This old dragon might have a bad temper, but he was truly tough to beat.

In a place like the Astral Realm, where Legendaries were a dime a dozen, having an old dragon who could take a hit and dish it out as a teammate was definitely a good thing.

Plus, dragons had the protection of their dragon god in the Astral Realm. If this old dragon went with him to explore the mysterious coordinates, by association, wouldn't that mean he was also blessed by the dragon god?

Thinking this, he cheerfully shook his gel, essentially agreeing.

But Oros's expression suddenly grew serious. His eyebrows lowered slightly as he lowered his voice and asked, "Sir, the power you used on that child, Olivia—is it the forbidden power of another world?"

Chen Yu guessed that the "child" he mentioned referred to Olivia.

After all, with a difference of several hundred years, in the eyes of a primordial silver dragon, Olivia was probably just a young dragon who had recently set out to explore the world. She was indeed a child.

He nodded. "It is."

He even felt that those true dragons and the dragons of Zeyerra might be long-lost distant relatives. Otherwise, why would the Dragon Pearl from Xu Xuan Heaven trigger a resonance in Olivia's bloodline?

There was definitely a connection between the true dragons of Xu Xuan Heaven and the dragons of Zeyerra that he didn't know about.

Oros sighed, as if relieved. "I knew it."

"Is there a problem with that?" Chen Yu asked.

Oros didn't answer immediately. He glanced around, then raised his hand and sliced through the air, tearing open a rift. He invited Chen Yu inside.

"It's not convenient to talk here. We might be watched by some entity. The rift opposite leads to a dream I've treasured. There won't be any prying eyes from gods there."

Chen Yu didn't fully trust him. After all, they had just been fighting for a whole day and night.

He thought for a moment, then split off a fist-sized gel clone. The small orb bounced twice on the steps with a couple of wet slaps before hopping into the rift.

Oros didn't seem surprised by his caution. He even nodded slightly, as if to say, "As it should be," before stepping into the rift himself.

The ethereal gray mist dissipated, and Chen Yu found himself standing inside a half-ruined castle.

Broken stone bricks lay scattered everywhere. The walls bore scorch marks from dragon's breath. Several tapestries, their contents long illegible, hung askew on creaking beams.

Outside the window, the phantom images of a black and a silver dragon were locked in battle in the sky. Their roars shook the crumbling tower, making it hum. Dragon wings tore through the clouds, and each collision erupted in blinding magical light, flashing the entire dreamscape in alternating bursts of brightness and shadow.

Oros walked out from behind him, stood by the broken window, and gazed up at the two battling dragons. His eyes were lost in memory.

"This is from my experience a thousand years ago. I remember this black dragon picked a fight with me back then, so I gave him a beating. The dream is just replaying it."

"So, who won in the end?" Chen Yu asked.

Oros gave the black dragon a deep look. "If I remember correctly, Barret's head is still preserved in the Dawn Mage's library."

"Perhaps he should be grateful his head was big enough that the dwarves didn't turn it into a drinking mug."

He casually picked up two loose chairs from beside a collapsed pillar, dusted them off, pushed one in front of Chen Yu, and sat down on the other.

But honestly, these chairs seemed to have been stored for far too long. The leather cushions on the chair legs had long since flattened into thin, hard hides. They were barely comfortable to sit on, wobbling and creaking with every shift.

Just then, another deafening explosion came from outside the window. The two dragons, entangled together, crashed onto a mountain ridge not far from the castle. The impact sent rocks tumbling, and flames and frost intertwined, dyeing half the sky in alternating patches of light and dark.

Amid the continuous roar of battle, Oros folded his hands on his knees and spoke calmly.

"Sir, you must have heard the rumor about Alchemy items crafted by Alex being seized by the gods."

"Although the surviving history books of Zeyerra have erased all those details and causal links that shouldn't exist, as long as one lives long enough, these secrets can't be hidden from dragons."

"In truth, this event was far more serious than the rumors suggest. Alex was hunted for over a hundred years by the followers of several different pantheons."

"That chase finally ended in a large-scale conflict that erupted in the Astral Realm. Almost none of the gods and their followers who participated survived the conflict for long. Most of them have fallen into a deep sleep over the following millennia, with no further reaction to the name Alex."

"But these secrets still involve the very existence of the gods themselves. Talking about them might still inevitably attract some residual attention, pulling their gaze back to this continent."

"Only outside the Material Plane can most of this prying be avoided."

He sighed. "And the forbidden power you carry is the very beginning of all this chaos."

"Back then, Alex was hunted because he crafted a creation that contradicted the gods of Zeyerra. I suspect you've already seen it, sir."

"This creation was seen by the gods as a means to interfere with their weaving of fate for all living beings, and also as a catalyst to ignite the spark of a new godhood. Therefore, Alex had to die, and everything related to him had to be completely erased."

"Although you, like Alex himself, are blessed by some mysterious power and won't be directly watched by the gods, that child Olivia is different."

"The power you used to save her did indeed rescue her, but it may also have brought her to the attention of some unknown entity."

"So she can't stay long on Zeyerra. Once she wakes from this stone and reforges her dragon body, she'll need to prepare to leave the Material Plane."

Chen Yu found it strange.

"But my empire is developing well on the continent, and the spread of Dao arts hasn't faced any obstacles."

"If this power truly would attract the gods' attention, why hasn't anything happened yet?"

Oros gave him a deep look. "That's only because, so far, your empire doesn't have a second Legendary."

"Only by becoming at least a Legendary is one qualified to be directly watched by a god, or to be informed through the prayers of believers."

But that was only a matter of time. As long as there was one Legendary, there would be a second. And by then, the gods' gaze would be impossible to avoid.

His gaze fell on the battle outside. "In our silver dragons' understanding, Zeyerra is essentially a giant chessboard."

"The gods hold the pieces, weaving the fates of all beings."

"As long as you remain in the Material Plane, you're bound to be manipulated. True fate is mysterious and profound, but the fate of most creatures comes from weaving."

"If you don't want to be bound, perhaps the Slime United Empire should try moving toward the Astral Realm."

"That void has no predetermined chessboard, no higher will constraining the path of every creature. It is a land of true chaos, but it also holds countless hopes and a future far broader than this land."

Oros's words indeed stirred a longing for the Astral Realm in Chen Yu.

But more than that, he was now more curious about another matter—what exactly had happened in that thousand-year-old battle Oros had mentioned.

That battle had sent gods into slumber, left the prayers of believers utterly unanswered, and he remembered that the giants had also completely declined right around that time. Perhaps that battle had also irrevocably changed the fate of all races on Zeyerra.

He had a gut feeling that this might be connected to the Cloud Cliff Dao Master's return from Zeyerra to the Void Abyss to achieve Unity with the Dao and ascend.

He seemed to be getting closer and closer to the truth.

"So, how many gods participated in that battle back then?"

Oros said, "Probably a dozen or so. But that doesn't mean the gods' goals were the same."

"There were also those who helped Alex, but they were ultimately betrayed by him."

"Like who?"

"The Father God we worship, Phoenix."

"Uh..."

Chen Yu suddenly felt that the hole the Cloud Cliff Dao Master had dug for him was far deeper than he had imagined.

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