Through Tian Shu's descriptions, Feng Qi became even more curious about Mu Yan.
Her origins were shrouded in mystery.
From the information he had gathered across multiple timelines, he discovered that Mu Yan frequently appeared at critical junctures in history.
From the first leader of the Scavengers, Ye Huang, to the founding director of the Crimson Research Institute, to Wei Wei… and now, Tian Shu and others.
Behind many historically significant figures, Mu Yan's presence could be found.
As the timeline progressed, Mu Qing was also destined to intersect with Mu Yan in the future.
From this, Mu Yan's so-called "miracle" might actually refer to these individuals who played a pivotal role in shaping human civilization.
Yet, Mu Yan herself remained a complete enigma—her true origins were still unknown.
However, when it came to Mu Yan's long-term strategy, Feng Qi had a few theories.
He speculated that Mu Yan's "miracle" referred to individuals with exceptional talent in specific fields, yet all of them had one major limitation—lifespan.
To ensure these gifted individuals could better contribute to the development of human civilization, Mu Yan must have given each "miracle" an extended lifespan or bestowed them with some special abilities.
But at its core, these abilities were merely auxiliary; their innate excellence was what made them miracles.
Otherwise, anyone could be considered a "miracle," and there would be no need for Mu Yan to go to such lengths to find them.
This theory was supported by intelligence gathered across multiple timelines.
Yet, there was one thing that deeply puzzled Feng Qi.
The Path of Ascension warriors stationed along the border of human civilization were unaware of the dark forces lurking beneath its surface. But Mu Yan, who had been present throughout history, should have known.
The domain infiltration forces hidden within human society posed a massive threat to civilization's progress.
If they weren't eradicated, even if the frontlines remained unbreached, these internal threats would eventually lead to the collapse of human civilization.
But the problem was that Mu Yan had never shown any direct action against them.
Upon careful thought, Feng Qi realized that perhaps it wasn't that she hadn't taken action—he just hadn't found evidence of it yet.
Looking at later historical developments, the Dawn Army's city-wide purges might have been targeted operations against domain infiltration forces, with Mu Yan also involved.
However, this raised yet another question.
Given Mu Yan's immense strength, she should have been more than capable of dealing with these infiltrators.
The exact extent of her power remained unclear, but Feng Qi had seen glimpses of her memories—scenes where she single-handedly fought against endless waves of domain creatures.
At that time, Mu Yan had truly appeared invincible.
Despite being outnumbered, she alone held the final line of defense for humanity. Wherever her silver spear pointed, it was like the scythe of death, reaping domain creatures in droves.
Among her foes were some of the most terrifying domain creatures Feng Qi had ever seen.
This demonstrated just how overwhelming Mu Yan's power was.
Yet, as the blood moon pressed down and the sun sank below the horizon, the domain field completely engulfed the human world. At that moment, Mu Yan was turned into a statue.
Analyzing this scene, it was clear that Mu Yan's strength far surpassed that of any domain infiltration force.
Perhaps only the Pillar Gods, as Old Mist had described, could truly challenge her.
But the real question was this—if the Dawn Army had both Mu Yan and Mu Qing, why did they still lose?
Old Mist had once said that truly powerful forces either lay dormant or expanded aggressively.
Only domain races that were desperate or gambling on a chance for survival would attempt infiltration into human society.
Originally, Old Mist had planned to follow a strategy of expansion. But with no allies to support him, and after encountering Mu Qing early on, he had no choice but to carve out an alternative path.
This was the primary reason he had set his sights on the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
From the perspective of domain creatures, human society provided extremely limited resources.
Take cultivation techniques, for example.
The stronger domain races obviously had superior techniques. Their cultivation systems were far more advanced than the human cultivation studies that had only developed for a little over 500 years.
They didn't need to rely on human geniuses to develop new techniques, as the Night Shadow Clan did.
Then there was the issue of resources.
Unless a domain force controlled a special institution like the Tiger Soul Research Institute, waging war against humanity wouldn't yield much in terms of resources—perhaps not even enough to offset their own losses.
After all, humans still relied on domain fields for resource production.
Rather than targeting humans, it made more sense for domain forces to attack other domain fields to obtain what they needed.
Moreover, not every domain faction would think to infiltrate human society in order to seize control of institutions for their own benefit.
Given all this, if a domain faction powerful enough to defeat the Dawn Army truly existed, it likely wouldn't have resorted to hiding within human society.
If they wanted to claim human territory, they would have done so in the same way as the Silver Moon Clan—by directly flattening entire cities.
So, if a domain infiltration force was truly responsible for Mu Yan and Mu Qing's downfall, Feng Qi found it impossible to believe.
From a historical perspective, the Dawn Army's strength was undeniable.
The dark era they created occupied a significant portion of future history, demonstrating their massive influence.
Setting aside the reasons behind their series of enigmatic actions for the moment, simply evaluating their military strength showed that unless an unknown super-domain force emerged, no domain force hiding within human society could have been a match for them.
This led to yet another question.
If the Dawn Army wasn't targeting the domain infiltration forces embedded in human society, then how did they come to be labeled as "rebels"?
The domain forces weren't fools. In their eyes, other domain factions were competitors. They would never assist one another.
Take the frontline supply zones, for example. Frontline warriors had been fighting against domain fields for years, yet none of the infiltrating domain forces ever stepped forward to oppose them.
In fact, from the perspective of the domain infiltration forces, the frontline warriors' efforts to drive back domain fields were beneficial.
This was self-evident.
For example, the Mist Lord, who controlled the Tiger Soul Research Institute, continuously benefited from the spiritual resources allocated to the institute.
These resources were obtained through the efforts of frontline warriors, who pushed back domain fields and explored their depths.
Thus, the frontline warriors' efforts in clearing domain fields only helped the domain infiltration forces—there was no downside.
So, where did the problem lie?
This created an undeniable paradox.
If the Dawn Army was truly targeting domain forces within the domain fields, then yes, they could have encountered an undiscovered super-domain force—one that had arrived in the human world but remained dormant, biding its time.
Perhaps a terrifying, Pillar God-level entity had been lurking in the shadows, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Dawn Army.
But if that were the case, the Dawn Army wouldn't have been branded as "rebels."
From the perspective of the domain infiltration forces, they would have no reason to oppose the Dawn Army—in fact, they would likely praise and reward them.
The Dawn Army's actions would have helped eliminate competing domain factions while also increasing the supply of spiritual resources.
However, if the Dawn Army wasn't targeting forces within the domain fields but was instead attacking the domain infiltration forces hidden within human society, then the label of "rebels" made sense.
But then, how could those infiltrators have defeated both Mu Yan and Mu Qing working together?
Feng Qi frowned as he considered this.
There had to be an unknown variable at play—one that even Mu Yan found difficult to counter.
Based on existing intelligence, no known domain force fit this description.
As he pondered, a particular force came to mind—the Blue-Skinned Assassins.
Among all the intelligence he had gathered, they remained the most mysterious domain faction. Their origins were a mystery, and even their very existence seemed anomalous.
Not only did they dissolve into pure spiritual energy upon death, but when dissected, they lacked any internal organs necessary for biological function.
Moreover, Wei Wei had once pointed out that the Blue-Skinned Assassins appeared to be continuously receiving some sort of mysterious external signal, possibly a form of remote control.
Perfect tracking, undetectable surveillance… there were far too many inexplicable factors surrounding them.
Their abilities were just as diverse.
Across multiple timelines, Feng Qi had encountered Blue-Skinned Assassins who specialized in spiritual attacks, as well as those who wielded daggers for stealth kills.
Their range of abilities extended beyond that—control, defense, curses, and more.
Aside from their fearless nature, the Blue-Skinned Assassins displayed a vast array of combat techniques, resembling the diversity of human spellcraft rather than a single unified skillset.
This led him to a startling possibility.
What if the Blue-Skinned Assassins were the true reason for the Dawn Army's defeat?
Current intelligence confirmed that they had collected a vast number of miracle items, each one possessing reality-defying abilities.
This suggested that the true force behind them might be far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Perhaps what he had seen so far was just the tip of the iceberg of their true strength.
This idea was further reinforced by the Psionic Race's apparent fear of the Blue-Skinned Assassins—a reaction that no normal domain faction should provoke.
But as for the specifics, the available intelligence was still too limited.
His only hope was that this battle timeline would last long enough for him to gather more clues and uncover the truth.
With this in mind, Feng Qi lifted his gaze toward Tian Shu, who stood in his prison, bound by chains.
Perhaps Tian Shu knew something about the Blue-Skinned Assassins.
"Tian Shu-dashu, have you ever encountered a domain race with blue skin, small stature—about 1.5 meters tall—and possessing a variety of abilities?"
Hearing the question, Tian Shu's face showed a look of curiosity.
He did not answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"During my years guarding Path of Ascension, I encountered many domain species that match your description. I'm not sure which one you're referring to."
Feng Qi: …
If it were any other domain creatures, he could have easily pulled up images from his encrypted phone.
Even if he didn't have any stored pictures, he could always call Tiger Soul Research Institute and have them send relevant images.
However, the Blue-Skinned Assassins possessed an unrecordable trait—they could not be captured on any form of photographic or digital media. There was no photographic evidence of their existence.
The only time he had ever seen a recorded image of a Blue-Skinned Assassin was when he drank a mysterious liquor found in the hideout of a weak domain tribe. That liquor contained spiritual projections, and one of them had detailed the true appearance of the Blue-Skinned Assassins.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out his phone and called the director of the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
Although the database contained no images of the Blue-Skinned Assassins, it did have detailed written descriptions, including minor physical details.
After explaining his request, he ended the call.
A few moments later, a hand-drawn sketch was sent to his phone.
After confirming that it matched the Blue-Skinned Assassins he had encountered, he turned the screen toward Tian Shu and asked:
"Tian Shu-dashu, this domain creature—have you ever seen it, or heard of it?"
Tian Shu examined the sketch with curiosity for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"During my years guarding Route 32, I never encountered such domain creatures. Even when I was stationed with my teammates, no one ever mentioned them."
Hearing this, Feng Qi felt a tinge of disappointment.
He had hoped that Tian Shu might have some intelligence on the Blue-Skinned Assassins, but it turned out that he had never encountered them.
"Why are you so interested in this domain race? What makes them special?" Tian Shu asked with curiosity.
Feng Qi nodded in response.
"This domain faction is extremely mysterious. In previous timelines, I have repeatedly been targeted by their assassins. From what I've gathered, they possess an unknown number of miracle items, making their potential strength terrifying."
"I have spent multiple timelines searching for information about them, yet I have found almost nothing. However, I suspect that they have had a significant impact on human history—they might even be the true reason for the downfall of the Dawn Army."
"Of course, this is just my theory. It may not be the truth."
Tian Shu nodded slightly.
"I see. But I really have never seen this race before, nor do I know where they came from."
After chatting a bit more, Feng Qi prepared to leave.
He had briefly considered freeing Tian Shu from his metal prison, but after careful consideration, he realized that he was not yet capable of solving Tian Shu's instability issue.
Releasing him without a solution could bring disaster to Star City.
Even though modern cultivation techniques were far superior to those of 400 years ago, and humanity now had stronger warriors, a rampaging Tian Shu would still cause catastrophic damage.
Even with Mu Qing present, she was too important to the current battle timeline to serve as Tian Shu's full-time guardian.
If she weren't around, Tian Shu's rampage would cripple Star City's military forces.
He had also considered bringing Tian Shu to the Crimson Research Institute for Wei Wei to examine.
But after deeper thought, this was too risky.
Whether Wei Wei could actually solve Tian Shu's condition was uncertain. If Tian Shu lost control during treatment, the entire Crimson Research Institute would be wiped out.
Even Wei Wei herself might die instantly at his hands.
The Crimson Research Institute was the heart of his sacrifice lines—its safety was the highest priority.
It was responsible for:
Developing the Virtual Battle Simulation Project
Researching the Flesh Sacrifice Phenomenon
Pioneering new cultivation and biochemical projects
Preserving crucial knowledge and historical data for future generations
If Tian Shu's rampage destroyed the Crimson Research Institute, everything built across multiple timelines would be lost forever.
Even if this battle timeline yielded valuable intelligence, it would mean nothing if he couldn't pass it on to his future self.
After careful deliberation, he abandoned the idea.
Tian Shu was undeniably a powerful ally, but until he found a way to stabilize him, he was too dangerous to use.
It was like holding Schrödinger's double-edged sword—freeing him might grant a powerful warrior or a rampaging monster.
A Tian Shu left to fate—as terrifying as it was uncertain.
At least, in this battle timeline, Tian Shu was not yet part of his plans.
With that in mind, he looked toward Tian Shu and said:
"Tian Shu-dashu, maybe in another timeline, we'll fight side by side. But for now, I have to go. Take care of yourself."
"Wait," Tian Shu said suddenly. "I have something for you."