This is Swallowed Star, not Resident Evil.

Chapter 345 The End of an Era

Ascension originally referred to the process by which a person, after cultivating and attaining enlightenment, ascends to the realm of immortals and transforms into a celestial being.

In contemporary spiritual practice, it has become a term referring to a process in which the essence of life undergoes a leapfrog transformation.

In the current mainstream exploration of the frontiers of immortal cultivation, there are three different research directions: ascension of the primordial spirit, ascension of primordial energy, and transformation into a god or demon.

One method is to strengthen the soul to the point where it separates from the physical body and spiritual power, becoming a pure energy life form known as the "primordial spirit".

The primordial spirit can freely roam the universe, even expanding its divine thoughts to the point of being omnipresent and immortal within light-years.

Secondly, the ascension of vital energy causes the body to become fully psychic-structured, discarding ordinary material atoms and using a completely controllable psychic structure as cells.

From then on, the essence of life became a spiritual life form that combined vital energy and soul, which is actually similar to an enlarged version of a nascent soul.

Thirdly, it is a form of deification and demonization, the ultimate evolution of body refinement and gene flow.

Of course, this is the mainstream research direction of this era. Most seventh-order Dao Integration cultivators study the ascension method within these three frameworks, attempting to obtain eternal life.

However, no one knows that tens of thousands of years ago, someone embarked on a completely different path, which may be the path to ascension that humanity will eventually explore in the possibility that "there was no spiritual revival event on Earth".

Completely abandoning any material form, it is an information ascension that is more thorough and liberating than the ascension of the primordial spirit.

Of course, in the past, it was also known as "digital ascension" or "consciousness uploading." However, in today's mainstream understanding, this field has become a thing of the past and is largely ignored.

Even if one wanted to pick it up again, the thinking of a seventh-level expert, which is more than ten orders of magnitude more complex than that of an ordinary person, would become evidence to prove that this path is absolutely unworkable.

Thus, in this hopeless era, the first batch of seventh-level cultivators finally reached their limit and died.

Either abandon your family business and completely seal yourself off, sneaking into the future.

Either clear away any potential threats for those behind you one last time, leaving yourself a way out.

The founding ancestor of the Tianqin Group, which rules the Dingfu Star System, Qin Youyin, is the latter.

The Dingfu system has a main-sequence star with a mass of 1.1 times that of the Sun, two gas giants, and three rocky planets, one of which has been terraformed into a habitable planet.

Among the more than 1,800 colony star systems of human civilization, it belongs to a relatively developed and prosperous category.

This is precisely why the emerging force in the surrounding area, Liuxin Security, has taken a liking to it.

"Ancestor, is this birthday banquet really absolutely necessary?"

The elderly Void Realm cultivator, seated in a wheelchair, asked the woman before him once more.

Her appearance has remained unchanged for tens of thousands of years; she always looks like a woman in her twenties or thirties, exuding mature charm.

However, the kindness and vicissitudes revealed in her eyes indicated that her mind was already very old.

"What's coming will come eventually, and we still have to face it."

Qin Youyin looked at the old man in front of her and recalled what he looked like as a child thousands of years ago.

"I have protected the Du family until now, but it can no longer continue. The road ahead is up to you to walk."

She spoke slowly, unable to help but recall the past.

Human perception of the passage of time changes exponentially. If we consider that a child begins to have memories at age 4, then for a 12-year-old, the experiences of the four years from age 8 to 12 are equivalent to half a lifetime of memories.

For a 16-year-old, the four years from age 12 to 16 constitute one-third of their life.

For a 40-year-old, four short years will pass by in the blink of an eye, as this only occupies one-ninth of their life's memories.

Similarly, even though she has lived for tens of thousands of years, for Qin Youyin, the first one or two hundred years were the years she spent reminiscing about for the rest of her life.

After parting ways with Ye Yang on that asteroid back then, the two never met again. Perhaps that guy came back to see her in some capacity? But Qin Youyin couldn't be sure.

In short, after that, feeling guilty towards Ye Fujin and Du Yue, and wanting to make amends on behalf of Ye Yang, she took extra care of the orphan adopted by Du Yue.

Later, a descendant of the orphan, surnamed Du, discovered a planet with the potential to be transformed into a habitable planet, but lacked sufficient capital to contract it. So, he asked Grandma Qin Youyin to help introduce others to contract and develop the planet, so he could cash out and leave.

Qin Youyin had just broken through to the Void Realm. Feeling restless and restless, he used his savings to contract the planet from the official civilization and established the Tianqin Company.

Ultimately, the entire Dingfu star system came under the complete control of the company, and Qin Youyin regarded the descendants of the Du family as her own, a relationship that continues to this day.

However, as her lifespan neared its end, the Great Dao that Qin Youyin had condensed also showed signs of collapse. She knew that she could not hold on for many more years, and perhaps she would completely dissipate within three thousand years.

It would be better to hold a grand birthday celebration and make the most of one's remaining energy.

"Ancestor—ah, I understand."

The old man sighed and left in his wheelchair.

However, no sooner had the old man left than a young man walked in.

However, even as he brushed past the young man, the old man Du did not notice anything. Even though the light entered his eyes, his optic nerve transmitted signals to his brain, and his divine sense transmitted sensory information to his soul—his consciousness completely ignored the young man.

In the thought process, simply ignore this person, as if they don't exist at all.

The young man swaggered in and stood in front of Qin Youyin; the two looked at each other.

Qin Youyin was stunned for a moment, her eyes showing a mixture of shock and calm as she looked at him.

"Long time no see, I hear from you."

Ye Yang smiled gently, looked at his old friend whom he hadn't seen for many years, and sat down in the chair next to him.

"You're still very young. Your spiritual age isn't even over three thousand years old, is it?"

Qin Youyin stared at him for a long while before saying, "Both your body and soul have been replaced?"

Ye Yang nodded and said, "I'm here to pick you up."

"Complete the [Information Ascension] before your consciousness dissipates, and resurrect using a clone. I have thoroughly perfected the relevant theories, and even a seventh-order Dao Integration powerhouse like yourself, I can extract the corresponding [Core Information] and [Thought Algorithm]."

"I have incorporated flesh and blood, psionic energy, soul, and even the most cutting-edge research on the true spirit into my theoretical model. The technology I have now is perfect, so I don't need to worry about losing anything during the ascension process."

"Everything, everything will be perfectly preserved. Your consciousness will awaken in your new body, and then you can do whatever you want—"

Qin Youyin interrupted him and asked, "After that,..."

"Um."

"What happened to the research on reviving Fujin after that?"

Ye Yang paused for a moment, then calmly said, "It failed."

"You're right, a broken mirror can't be mended. To avoid regrets, you must prepare before things become irreparable."

He stared at Qin Youyin with a firm and unwavering gaze: "Even if you want to refuse, you can't. You're too weak right now, too weak to resist me."

Qin Youyin sighed and said in a somewhat helpless tone, "I had some doubts at first, but now it seems you really haven't changed at all."

"Besides, I didn't say I would reject you, did I?"

Hearing this, Ye Yang perked up: "Okay, in that case, let's set off immediately. We can make it to your birthday party in time for the round trip."

However, Qin Youyin shook her head, and the old woman pretended to blush: "No need to be in such a hurry."

"Once your consciousness is uploaded, I will stay with you, so—"

"Spend some time with me now." Okay—let's get married.

Ye Yang:

'

"Hahahaha—this is hilarious! That old geezer from the Tianqin Group is actually getting married?"

"What's this? Is this some kind of 'lucky break' as my time is coming to an end?"

Upon seeing this news, the two newly promoted seventh-level cultivators from the Six Trusts Security Center couldn't help but show signs of nervousness.

"By the way, who is this kid? Could he be from some other powerful force?"

"We checked, but this kid named Ye Yang seems to have appeared out of thin air. He has no entry or exit records, no spending records with any other organization, and no social network whatsoever."

"Looks like it's a fake identity."

The two seventh-level cultivators exchanged a glance and sneered, "Since we're using fake identities, even if it's someone from another force, they won't drag that force down with them."

"Even if this person is also at the seventh level, it's at most a two-on-two fight. That old hag doesn't have long to live; at most, she has the strength to fight to the death. Meanwhile, we are in our prime, and our fleet's strength far surpasses that of the Tianqin Group."

"The advantage is on our side!"

Six-Faith Security could no longer wait.

In more distant places, powerful forces are rapidly rising, emerging forces rising under the wave of the "revolution of magical power in the latest generation of immortal cultivation."

Starting from the Foundation Establishment stage, spiritual energy is refined and transformed into more special and powerful magical power. Cultivators who practice this kind of technique become more and more powerful as they progress, and they can truly reverse the Dao and achieve enlightenment!

This also made other separatist forces in human civilization feel threatened, prompting them to change and strive for strength.

Six Faiths Security is no exception, but this "power revolution" has led to a further increase in the demand for resources for spiritual practice. Therefore, they need a stronger economic foundation and greater productivity!

Their only option is to absorb the weaker forces around them and integrate the resources of these star systems.

One month later, at the headquarters of Tianqin Group.

The grand banquet took place throughout the entire city, with tens of millions of people gathering there.

This has become a festival throughout the entire Dingfu Galaxy, with inhabitants of various planets within the Heng Galaxy also celebrating O.

The Tianqin Group generously gave all its employees holidays and distributed bonuses—in the Dingfu Galaxy, which is under the control of the Tianqin Group, more than 30% of the workforce are employees of the group's subsidiaries, which is essentially equivalent to giving money away to the residents of the entire Heng Galaxy.

Therefore, everywhere was filled with joyful crowds.

Inside the giant musical note-shaped building suspended in the sky, Qin Youyin and Ye Yang were leaning against each other, chatting as they looked down at the city.

"Hmm, so by using memory as an anchor point, creating that kind of distorted space can record the entire Great Dao? That's quite a creative idea—"

Qin Youyin smiled.

Ye Yang said, "This is the idea of ​​a genius. You know, right now the smartest minds in the entire civilization are focusing their energy on immortal cultivation, and they almost disdain other fields."

"By simply recording their thought patterns, I was able to simulate their genius to some extent; otherwise, I could never have gotten to where I am today on my own."

Qin Youyin narrowed her eyes slightly, as if feigning sleep: "You borrowed the thinking of those geniuses, but what about their [core information]?"

Ye Yang replied, "Naturally, it will be stored in the database and will not be used easily again—don't worry, I still have this bottom line."

"Unless they are enemies, I will not let those who have actually helped me suffer, even if they are just clones."

Qin Youyin smiled and closed her eyes, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer.

Just a little while —

"It's about time, we should head out," Ye Yang said softly.

Qin Youyin opened her tired eyes, and the two walked out hand in hand.

Today is not only her 70,000th birthday, but also her only wedding day.

Ye Yang also hopes that she will have no regrets—because after today, he and his lover will disappear without a trace, obtaining eternal life through [Information Ascension] while also concealing their true identities.

He usually lives in seclusion, and when he needs to go out, he uses a false identity.

In this era before humanity has discovered the true path to immortality, the two of them must not leave a mark of agelessness and immortality in history, for that would invite both covetousness and disaster.

However, the less desirable outcome still occurred.

Qin Youyin's expression was not surprised, as if she had expected it.

"Ancestor, the Six Faiths Security Fleet has launched a sudden attack, breaking in from above the ecliptic plane and breaching both outer defense lines."

The current head of the Du family hurriedly sought out Qin Youyin and the other person to report.

"Yes, let the First and Fourth Fleets go and intercept them. The Third Fleet will remain on standby." Qin Youyin said calmly, "This time I will make sure they don't return."

After the Du family head left, Ye Yang said with a somewhat displeased expression, "That Six Trust Security Company really knows how to pick its timing."

Despite saying this, there was no intention whatsoever for Qin Youyin to go and stop all the enemies.

He now needs to stay close to Qin Youyin, both to accompany her and to keep an eye on her, so that she doesn't suddenly commit suicide.

Although Qin Youyin had already agreed to cooperate with Ye Yang, Ye Yang was now unwilling to make any decision that might lead to lifelong regret.

"Let's go together," Qin Youyin said with a smile.

Although the two seventh-level cultivators from Liuxin Security Company were in their prime, Qin Youyin was old and frail.

However, the methods possessed by "Information Ascendant" Ye Yang have an overwhelming advantage!

It's like a magician suddenly appearing in a magic-free world where physical attack and physical resistance are maxed out.

He unleashed a forbidden spell directly at an army with zero magic resistance.

Information containing the exploit for mental vulnerabilities spread widely within the Six Faiths Security fleet, throwing the fleet, equipped with the latest psionic weapons, into chaos within ten minutes, causing them to attack each other and then collapse.

Two young seventh-level cultivators also made repeated mistakes under Ye Yang's methods and were killed by Qin Youyin's sudden burst of power.

Following this battle, Qin Youyin, the founder of Tianqin Company, and Ye Yang, a mysterious and powerful figure whose identity was unknown, disappeared without a trace.

The world believes that after that battle, Qin Youyin burned everything away, her body and soul vanished. The mysterious and powerful figure who was willing to marry her at the end of her life must have had extremely deep feelings for her.

Thus, this mysterious and powerful figure retreated into seclusion in the starry sky after Qin Youyin's death, no longer concerning himself with worldly affairs.

Seventeen thousand years later, the Tianqin Group was swallowed up by another force.

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