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This space was too bizarre, and Ling, as a human, could not understand it with her senses such as vision and hearing. She could not judge the size, distance, or even the passage of time.
【This is the final destination of living things.】
"Finally? Death?"
[No, all creatures here are alive. ]
Ling finally saw clearly that this space was made up of countless tiny light points, tens of millions, or even billions. Because the number was too huge, she couldn't estimate it.
The spots of light were like fireflies. When Ling looked at the nearest spot of light, she discovered that there was a living creature inside it.
"Are there any living creatures here?"
Yes, every one of them.
They are alive, but time is frozen, so eternity is in this point of light.
Ling also quickly understood.
This is the life of the Earth, every species that has ever existed. Some are long extinct, of which humans can only find specimens in rock formations, or of which nothing remains and no one knows they ever existed.
They are all here, alive, retaining their last moments of life frozen in time.
From the first appearance of life 38 billion years ago to the present day, all the life that has appeared in the past 38 billion years includes various archaea, hallucinogens, trilobites, and Ling has also seen dinosaurs, and there are many more that she cannot understand due to her limited knowledge.
So this place is vast and boundless, as if it is endless.
"but why?"
This is a 'promise'
Agreement?
Lingye didn't understand at first, but soon understood.
This is the original agreement between this planet and all life in the world.
New species are born all the time, and new species are eliminated and become extinct all the time.
In the Bible, Jehovah said: All the firstborn shall be sanctified and belong to me. No matter whether it is a boy or a male animal, all the firstborn are mine.
But this is not the case with Gaia’s covenant.
Newborn life has infinite possibilities, belongs to itself forever, and can freely develop its own civilization.
What life sacrifices to Gaia is the end of all species, an end without a future.
When every creature is on the verge of extinction, the last life will be sacrificed to Gaia. If it is sexual reproduction, it will be the last female and the last male.
For life, this is a record and proof that the race once existed.
For Gaia, this is a long and vast archive. Many lives here are no longer suitable for today's Earth environment, and will die instantly even if the frozen time is released.
But there are also lives that may be able to live well, and the only Adam and Eve that exist may still be able to reproduce on Earth.
This planet is the last chance left for the losers in the competition.
Now, the archive was open to Ling, and she walked through it and saw the countless creatures, which seemed to be the history of the planet itself.
Will there come a day when humans appear here too?
"What is the name of this space?"
It has no name.
No, it has a name. Because in mythology, it is called "Noah's Ark"!
Each ball of light is a "Noah", the last hope of their civilization.
"What should I do?"
Ling also didn't understand Gaia's thoughts, nor did she understand His intention of opening this archive to her.
Of course, humans cannot understand the thoughts of gods.
Or maybe the gods don't have any ideas at all.
【You can do what you want, or you can do nothing. 】
Chapter 257: Fantasy Village Far Away from the World
Looking out, there is a vast space.
Either in the sky or on the sea. The end of the space is vast, and it is hard to tell whether it is a sea of clouds or the sea, and the smoke is vast.
This place was once glorious. The majestic temples built against the mountain are exquisite buildings that exhaust human imagination, with flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted buildings, stacked up one after another, extending to the endless heights and straight into the sky.
But all that is left now are only broken ruins.
The temples have all collapsed, with rotten wood and weathered stone foundations, leaving a desolate scene.
Only the vermilion torii gate at the entrance is still standing, mottled with traces of erosion over the years. The stone tablet of the torii gate is inscribed with the once glorious name:
Takamagahara
A plain high in the sky, where the legendary gods reside.
This is the most sacred place in Japanese mythology, such as the sacred mountain Olympus in Greece, Asgard in Norse mythology, and the Heavenly Palace in Chinese mythology.
But now only meaningless wreckage remains. The gods have all perished, and so this abandoned Takama-ga-hara will eventually dissipate.
However, at this moment, it welcomed a visitor that it shouldn't have had. This was also the only visitor in nearly a hundred years.
Ling also set foot in Takama-ga-hara. She felt that she should feel some emotion. After all, this place had gathered the faith of countless islanders over the past thousands of years, but it eventually collapsed and turned into ruins.
However, compared with the shock he felt in the 'Noah's Ark' on the planet's contracted land not long ago, where the end of countless lives was sealed with the amber of time, the so-called 'Takama-ga-hara' of thousand-year-old faith was actually nothing.
Because the legend about Takama-ga-hara does not mention the exact place name and it is an imaginary place, Ling had to go to many places before finding it.
Some people say that the legendary Takamagahara is in present-day Miyazaki Prefecture, while others say it is in Nagano Prefecture or Nara Prefecture. All of these places claim to be the original site of Takamagahara. If you want to know the basis, each of them can come up with some evidence, either an ancient legend or a long-standing custom.
There are even people in the Universe Kingdom who swear that there should be no debate about where Takamagahara is. There is no doubt that it is definitely there, in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang Province.
Koreans even erected a stone tablet with the words "Takamagahara" here, and hold festivals and sacrifices there every year.
Look, there are even stone tablets, so the evidence is solid, right? We have been paying tribute to him for many years, and it is ironclad!
But Ling didn't go to South Korea either. She just listened to what the people from Universe Country said. They believed everything, so it was the same as believing nothing.
Ling went to Nagano and Miyazaki, but found nothing. Then she found this secret place on the top of Mt. Takamagahara in Gose City, Nara Prefecture.
It was said that they had to travel through many places, and if they drove, it would probably take several days. However, because they borrowed Gaia's authority to use teleportation, it didn't take too much time.
The reason she came to Takamagahara was to fulfill her promise. If the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons did find the panda, she couldn't break her promise.
The secret realm was in ruins, but that was not a problem, as long as it was big enough. This secret realm was vast and boundless, probably no smaller than the entire city of Tokyo.
There are mountains and water, apart from the dilapidated buildings, the scenery here is pretty good. Moreover, the broken walls also add some vicissitudes of beauty.
Needless to say, this is "Gensokyo". Once the residence of gods, it is now used as the home of demons.
Gods and demons are both creatures of fantasy, and in Lingye's eyes there is no difference between the two.
Make the best use of everything, I guess the gods wouldn't care.
Standing under the Torii, Lingye reached out to touch her hairpin, and the Light of Gaia appeared in her hand. As long as she held this light, she could transform, but this time she summoned this light not to transform into Gaia.
The light spread in his hands, becoming thinner as it dispersed, but gradually filled the entire world, covering the entire secret realm.
The secret realm that collapsed over the long years after the loss of faith was now fixed by a more vast will.
Now that it is anchored, it will not collapse any further. The cornerstone of its existence has changed. It is no longer human belief, but the planet itself.
It really worked. Ling heaved a sigh of relief.
The previous secret realms were all condensed by Gaia herself, and this time she wanted to try it herself. Although she also borrowed Gaia's light, fortunately everything was much easier than she imagined, and she succeeded in one go.
After the light covered this secret land, some changes occurred here.
Between the ruins, plants and trees sprouted, sprouted, and blossomed, and water began to flow in the dry riverbed. Everything happened in an instant.
Man-made structures made of wood and stone are covered with lush vegetation, and the barren world becomes colorful.
This is Gensokyo, with ever-fading flowers and eternally green trees. Compared to the Takama-ga-hara of the past, this is now the real land blessed by the gods.
Until finally, the whole world condensed in Lingye's hands and became a transparent crystal ball.
She threw the crystal ball gently upwards, and after it left her palm, the crystal ball seemed to be pulled by gravity and rose up.
This "rise" does not mean the coordinates in the same space, but the dimension of space, until it merges into the interlayer of the earth's space.
A fantasy town far away from the world.
As for the entrance and exit, Ling also considered it and placed it at Izumo Taisha Shrine. After all, she was a shrine maiden registered at that shrine.
I'm sure Lord Bo Li won't mind.
And there is Reimu, who loves to daydream all day long. If she knew that her home had become the entrance and exit of Gensokyo, I wonder if she would be surprised or frightened.
At the moment of making this decision, the words "Takamagahara" written on the red torii plaque of Gensokyo blurred and turned into the three words "Gensokyo". Then, the red torii of Gensokyo overlapped with the black torii of Izumo Taisha in terms of space concept.
"Okay, let's call it a day."
Looking at her work, Ling nodded with satisfaction. This place is far away from the world, so there will be no human oppression, just like when humans and gods lived together thousands of years ago. The concept of the human world in this era will not affect here.
Just as she promised Tianxiegui, here, demons will no longer be rejected by heaven.
Of course, once entering Gensokyo, it also means that these demons can never return to the human world. To put it in a more appropriate way, this is a great barrier. The barriers between space and space created by Gaia, a great barrier that even the former Amaterasu could not cross.
The next second, Ling also returned to the normal space. This is Takamagahara Mountain in Nara Prefecture. In spring, Takamagahara Mountain is full of flowers. Because it is a weekday, there are almost no tourists here, and no one noticed that a girl disappeared and reappeared.
Then the next moment, she disappeared again.
The bell rang at Tomoeda Elementary School. The ten-minute break was over and Ling entered the classroom.
The timing is just right.
There was no earth-shaking change or a repetition of Feng Shui. Everything was quiet and silent.
So no one knew that during the ten minutes of break, a world called Gensokyo was quietly born. The earth-shattering event for the monsters did not cause any ripples in the human world.
The Steele alien who escaped yesterday was never found and he escaped.
Ling didn't care too much about it. After all, he was just a thief. He was a breath of fresh air among all the aliens she met who were out to invade.
The TAC team also didn't care too much, as long as the pandas were found. It didn't cause any international disputes, but because the stolen pandas were found in China, the panda breeding programs of both sides became closer. China even plans to sign a long-term contract, so maybe more pandas will be able to meet the children of the island country in the future.
that's enough.