Chapter 2551: Dark Great Triangle Star Domain
The space teleportation array at the Yasha Clan ancestral realm was of extremely high grade, one that Zhang Ruochen, with his current mastery of space, could not replicate.
"Swoosh—"
In the pitch-black, boundless cosmic space, a powerful spatial fluctuation appeared. Zhang Ruochen and Yan Zhexian materialized at the center of the fluctuation.
Zhang Ruochen observed his surroundings, locating the light spot representing the Yasha Clan ancestral realm among the stars, and roughly gauged the distance.
He said, "This is the maximum range that space teleportation array can reach. Is the direction correct?"
Ji Fanxin, who was in Yan Zhexian's form, transformed into Bai Qinger's appearance and nodded lightly. Her jade-like finger pointed in the opposite direction from the Yasha Clan ancestral realm. "Look over there."
Zhang Ruochen followed her gaze.
The direction Ji Fanxin indicated was pitch-black, empty and eerie, with no stars visible. In contrast, other directions sparkled with starlight. This contrast made the scene before them seem bizarre.
Zhang Ruochen said, "No mistake. This is the legendary Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, the most dangerous forbidden zone on the edge of the Hell Realm."
According to the description from Seven-Handed Old Man, the Qiankun Realm was located within the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
To the north of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain lay the Yasha Clan ancestral realm. Looking at the star map of the Hell Realm's edge, the star domain centered around Hundred Clans Royal City was actually to the north of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
To the southwest of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain was the Shura Star Pillar Realm.
Of course, the Shura Star Pillar Realm was not immediately adjacent; it was separated by several light-years, hundreds of trillions of miles.
To the southeast of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain lay the star domain of dozens of ancient civilizations, including Heavenly Beginning Civilization and Thousand Star Civilization, also separated by a vast distance.
How vast the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain truly was remained unknown. One particularly curious Great Saint once flew along one of its borders for over a thousand years without reaching the end. Eventually, he encountered a space wormhole and returned to the Hell Realm.
Perhaps only some powerful gods knew the specifics of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain.
The reason it was called a forbidden zone was not because it harbored any great danger—in fact, cultivators who had entered claimed it was extremely safe inside.
However, out of a hundred cultivators who entered, only one or two could return.
The rest were all lost within.
An ordinary person sailing into the ocean could at least use the sun and stars to determine direction. But cultivators who entered the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain would completely lose their sense of direction.
Even a Great Saint, venturing too deep, could become lost.
"When the Death God Palace of the Destiny Temple went to the Sword South Realm, did they set up a space teleportation array at the edge of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain?" Zhang Ruochen asked Seven-Handed Old Man, who was in the Qiankun Realm.
Seven-Handed Old Man said, "As far as I know, no. After all, once they found the Sword South Realm, they directly classified it as a barren great world with extremely limited value. There was no need to build a large-scale space teleportation array."
Zhang Ruochen pulled Xue Tu out of the Qiankun Realm and asked about the information he had gathered.
Before going to Ice King Star, Zhang Ruochen had sent Xue Tu to the Sword South Realm. Since he hadn't expected much from him, he hadn't asked about it until now.
Xue Tu said with some pride, "Following Senior Brother's instructions, I did go to the Sword South Realm once."
"You actually went to the Sword South Realm?" Zhang Ruochen was quite surprised.
Xue Tu laughed. "I wouldn't dare venture into the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain alone. I secretly followed some cultivators from the Corpse Clan there. Senior Brother should believe that I have some skills. Otherwise, why would Lady Xue Hou specifically take me as her disciple?"
Zhang Ruochen already knew that the Sword South Realm had been sold by the Death God Palace to the Ghost Clan's "Earth Fiend Ghost City," the Bone Clan's "Bone-Hiding Sea," and the Corpse Clan's "Longevity Hall."
"Actually, the Sword South Realm is only at the edge of the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, about three to four hundred million miles from the nearest outer point. If you take a fast enough sacred ship, you can reach it in three or four days."
"Of course, if you don't know the exact location of the Sword South Realm, a cultivator could wander the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain for ten thousand years and never find it."
Suddenly, Xue Tu thought of something and said seriously, "Earth Fiend Ghost City, Bone-Hiding Sea, and Longevity Hall are building a space teleportation array connecting the Sword South Realm to the outside world. They seem to be treating it as a key ghost-corpse ranch."
Zhang Ruochen fell into deep thought and asked, "How many experts have these three major forces deployed in the Dark Great Triangle Star Domain and the Sword South Realm? Is there a sacred army?"
Xue Tu shook his head. "Why would they dispatch an entire sacred army to manage a mere barren great world? Generally, for such a ghost-corpse ranch, they would send at most three to five Great Saints to manage it."
"However, because of Senior Brother's involvement, the three forces have heavily fortified the Sword South Realm. On the surface alone, there are dozens of Great Saints. But there must be hidden experts that I couldn't detect with my cultivation."
"In my analysis, even if the three forces sent experts to lie in wait at the Sword South Realm, they wouldn't be that formidable. After all, when Senior Brother declared at the Divine Maiden Tower that he would seize the Sword South Realm, his combat power wasn't as astonishing as it is now."
Zhang Ruochen looked at Xue Tu with newfound respect.
For someone at the Undying Realm to accomplish such a difficult task showed extraordinary ability. No wonder Blood Absolute War God had sent him to the Sword Grave to rescue the Underworld King.
Xue Tu hesitated, then said, "Senior Brother, I have a question. I'm not sure if I should ask."
"Speak."
Xue Tu said with confusion, "Many cultivators know that the Origin Divine Temple will likely emerge in Hundred Clans Royal City. At such a critical juncture, why are we abandoning the big for the small and coming to seize the Sword South Realm?"
In Xue Tu's view, the Origin Divine Temple was far more important than a mere Sword South Realm. Even if he could only follow behind and drink some soup, picking up scraps, it would be better than a barren great world.
Zhang Ruochen didn't answer him. Instead, he asked, "How far is this place from the encampments of the three major forces—Earth Fiend Ghost City, Bone-Hiding Sea, and Longevity Hall?"
Xue Tu was anxious inside, feeling that Zhang Ruochen didn't understand priorities. He wanted to persuade him again, but seeing Zhang Ruochen's cold gaze, he held back.
Xue Tu observed the arrangement of stars in various directions, silently calculated for a while, and pointed in one direction. "This way, about three billion miles."
"That far?" Zhang Ruochen frowned.
Xue Tu said, "Senior Brother, compared to the entire Dark Great Triangle Star Domain, this is extremely close!"
Zhang Ruochen looked at Ji Fanxin.
Ji Fanxin nodded. "The direction matches."
"So it seems Seven-Handed Old Man was telling the truth. The Origin Divine Temple might really be in the Sword South Realm," Zhang Ruochen said.
Xue Tu's ears perked up, and his eyes darted around. "Senior Brother, what did you just say?"
"Don't ask about things you shouldn't. Do you know which type of people die the fastest?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Understood. I won't ask. From now on, I'll stick close to Senior Brother and Senior Sister-in-Law. When we get to the Origin Divine Temple, you take the treasures first, and just leave me a sip of soup."
Xue Tu's face flushed with excitement, his heart feeling like it might explode.
He had clearly heard Zhang Ruochen say, "The Origin Divine Temple is in the Sword South Realm."
Heavens! If this was true, even following behind Zhang Ruochen and drinking soup would make those Supreme Realm cultivators and demigods die of envy.
As for why the Origin Divine Temple was in the Sword South Realm, he no longer wanted to think about it. Zhang Ruochen was an Eon-level genius, blessed with great fortune. What he said couldn't be false.
What use was having a god for a father?
Better to have an Eon-level genius as a senior brother.
Just by sharing in his fortune, one could soar to the heavens.
Xue Tu thought of his father, who, it was said, wasn't exceptionally talented in his youth. But there was no helping it—he was a close friend of the young Blood Absolute War God. Now, his father had not only reached the divine realm but had also survived his first Eon Calamity, becoming a regional overlord of the Blood Heaven Tribe.
Xue Tu was impatient, wishing he could grow a few more blood wings and fly straight to the Sword South Realm.
Zhang Ruochen silently calculated. At his current cultivation level, even using the ten-thousand-fold sound-speed Merit Armor and going all out, it would take nearly twenty days to reach the encampments of the three major forces.
"I have a sub-divine-level ship. It can travel three billion miles in a day. It's a failed product my master once refined."
Ji Fanxin took a palm-sized flower boat from her sleeve and tossed it out.
Under the infusion of sacred qi, the flower boat rapidly expanded, transforming into a ship a hundred zhang long. The ship was made of wood, and the deck was planted with all kinds of exotic flowers and herbs, colorful and magnificent.
Xue Tu was stunned for a moment. "This... counts as a sub-divine-level ship?"
Zhang Ruochen narrowed his eyes and observed carefully. He was also puzzled. The ship before him seemed ordinary and small compared to the sacred ships refined by some Great Saints. How could it be called sub-divine-level?
And it was made of wood.
Could the material be divine wood?
"Ships aren't necessarily stronger just because they're bigger."
Ji Fanxin floated gracefully, like a banished immortal, and landed on the ship.
Zhang Ruochen and Xue Tu followed, stepping onto the deck. Walking through the colorful flower beds, they truly felt the ship's extraordinary nature.
The wood-attribute sacred qi permeating the air was incredibly dense, with a vast and majestic life force. In some areas, wood-attribute divine qi even seeped from the soil.
"At least three Eons old—Immortal's Finger."
"My heavens, is this the legendary Eternal Flower? Even a drop of dew from its petals could extend the life of an aging, dying Great Saint by a hundred years. This is half a divine medicine, and it might even have a chance to evolve into a true divine medicine."
Xue Tu stood beneath a twenty-meter-tall, crimson-red giant exotic flower at the center of the ship, unable to resist reaching out a finger.
"Boom!"
His finger triggered a restriction.
Xue Tu flew out like a ball, his body charred black, and fainted among the flowers.
The ship activated and shot forward at an unparalleled speed.