Chapter 1169: Crossing the Universe
The great war horn emitted a dull, desolate divine sound of the primordial wilderness. The expedition army set sail, breaking tens of thousands of years of peace. Each mothership was followed by swarms of warships, densely packed, blotting out the sky and covering the earth.
Each of the twelve great royal clans dispatched at least four motherships, with some sending as many as seven. They advanced in a mighty, majestic force, radiating sacred might, tearing through the sky, and continuously vanishing into the enormous star gates beyond the domain.
This was an intergalactic war!
Amidst the roar of the ancient war horn, forests of steel gleamed with a cold luster, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, pressing down upon the heavens, sailing toward the other shore of the starry sky.
Many came to see them off. Various spacecraft surged into the sky, and numerous experts soared into the high heavens with their physical bodies. Descendants and female relatives of the great royal clans scattered flowers through the void, as if sending heroes off on their journey.
"I await your return!" a beautiful young woman transmitted her voice to a young man.
"Haha... conquer a vast territory, carve out a brilliant kingdom! My children, I await your good news!" An ancestral sage also came to see them off, their emitted fluctuations resonating through the heavens, causing even the star domains to vibrate in resonance.
"Brave warriors expanding our borders, we await your triumphant return!" Friends and family of the twelve great royal clans sent them off with beautiful blessings.
The warships were like a forest, gleaming with the unique icy luster of metal. The morale of the expedition's experts was high, all awaiting the arrival of glory, to carve out a brilliant future through slaughter.
Finally, the massive star gate slowly dimmed. All the warships had entered, completely vanishing into another resplendent sea of stars.
The war of conquest had begun!
The vast universe, the boundless starry sky—its grandeur is incomparable, without end.
The four directions and up and down are called space, from ancient times to the present is called time. People can only define it this way, because its vastness and breadth, its depth and terror, are immeasurable.
Darkness is the eternal theme. Even with countless stars, they seem insignificant adornments upon such a black curtain. The cold and desolation are boundless, far more cruel and terrifying than people imagine.
The first space jump went smoothly. They emerged in a bleak void—a dead zone, without a trace of life fluctuation.
The route recorded by the Southern Demon using the most ancient and simple stellar coordinates of the demon clan was not wrong. After complex restoration and decryption, they organized the correct roadmap.
"Very good. Proceed with the next space jump. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll need a total of over four hundred jumps to reach that mysterious ancient life star!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Fan's heart surged with waves of emotion. It seemed that his midway change of direction had not been a lateral move; arriving at the Eternal Kingdom had actually been a longitudinal leap forward by a huge margin.
He remembered clearly. Stepping onto the Five-Colored Altars and descending onto one unfamiliar dead star after another, the total number had been less than a hundred.
The second, third... eighty-eighth space jump—everything was stable. The vast fleet of motherships, leading boundless steel warships, advanced with the momentum to sweep across star domains.
When the eighty-ninth crossing of the heavens was completed, and all the warships emerged from the massive star gate, strange fluctuations appeared ahead. Alarms sounded within every mothership.
"A spacecraft has been detected ahead. It is damaged and broken, drifting in the cold starry void, alongside cosmic dust."
An image appeared on the large screen. It was a warship, one thousand five hundred zhang long. It was grand and enormous, almost comparable to a mothership.
"It belongs to our Eternal Star Domain. I wonder which family it is from. It was destroyed here. Send a warship to investigate what happened."
A silver spacecraft shot up, leaving a streak of light. In the blink of an eye, it reached the giant ship, orbiting it for observation. Then, it entered through a massive hole.
"Ah..."
Suddenly, a piercing scream came through. Every warship received their signal. The people who had entered that spacecraft suddenly had their features twisted, and then they exploded one by one. Flesh and blood splattered, staining the screen red.
Then, with a "Kala" sound, a strange noise was emitted, and the connection was severed. Everything there became deathly still.
"Can anyone tell me what happened?" Within the mothership of the Primordial Demon Star Sea, a marquis of the Mo family demanded coldly. The lost spacecraft belonged to their clan.
No one could answer. There are many things in the universe that cannot be explained. The vast, boundless void is immeasurably ancient; a person cannot explore it all in a single lifetime.
Anyone who travels through the universe year-round knows that things a hundred times, ten thousand times more bizarre than this have happened, and are incomprehensible.
"Shoot it down!"
A marquis in another mothership gave the order decisively. With so many of them here, not to mention the ancient sacred mechs, there were fifty or sixty motherships alone. If they opened fire with full force, even a saint would be blown to pieces in an instant.
Moreover, for this expedition, each major family had dispatched ancient sages to oversee and suppress any threats. They were fearless!
"Boom!"
A beam of light tore through the darkness, cutting open that cold, eerie giant ship. Everything inside was laid bare.
The next instant, something bizarre happened. People in many warships screamed. Various signals and communications were almost severed. The spacecraft showed signs of losing control.
Within the damaged hull, a large patch of mist and lightning appeared. It was gray and hazy, thick as leaden clouds, and actually pressed down, causing the cosmic void to crack. It spread out instantly, obscuring the sun, moon, and stars, enveloping the void, and completely submerged a mothership along with dozens or hundreds of surrounding escort warships.
"Not good! This is Demon Fog! Retreat quickly! Avoid it!"
Someone exclaimed in alarm. This was practically the nemesis of all spacecraft. Wherever it passed, those warships were all corroded beyond recognition. Even the Dao runes could not block it. "This is a very dangerous substance in the universe. Even ancient sages must avoid it. It can devour and destroy all things. Fortunately, we only encountered such a small patch. Otherwise, the trouble would be immense. Quickly, request the sages to intervene!"
No one could clearly explain what substance Demon Fog was. Sometimes it exhibited strong electromagnetic properties, and at other times it manifested a destructive divine energy, ever-changing.
It was extremely rare in the universe, listed as a legendary, terrifying thing. It was undoubtedly terrifying, but it was difficult to determine whether it possessed an autonomous will or was a life form.
Four ancient sages acted simultaneously. Tens of millions of order divine chains flowed with Dao marks, forming a cage that imprisoned all the mist and lightning in the center. They refined it together, continuously grinding it away.
When only a tiny bit remained, one sage opened their mouth and spat out a divine glass treasure furnace. It was brilliant and crystalline. The furnace lid opened, and it forcibly absorbed the remaining mist and lightning.
Beings of this level naturally did not lack sacred artifacts. Some weapons were relics left behind by ancient ascetics, possessing peerless power, equally suitable for their use.
"Take it back for thorough study. Let's see what kind of substance this really is."
A terrifying scene lay ahead. Dozens or hundreds of escort warships were all damaged, lifeless and silent. Clearly, not a single person had survived.
As for the mothership at the center, its Dao marks were dim, its hull split open. No one survived. This entire fleet of motherships had been completely devoured and destroyed, rendered useless.
A bad start. They had only just set out, not far along, and they had already lost a priceless mothership. Everyone felt stifled and frustrated.
"Anything can happen in the universe. This is nothing. If you want to wage war across galaxies, you must be prepared for sacrifices. Continue the journey," a sage said coldly.
The people of the twelve great marquis clans traveled through the cosmic star seas year-round. They naturally understood this cruelty. They had encountered things many times more terrifying than this. Therefore, they were not too downcast. They quickly adjusted and continued forward.
The road ahead became rather long. The Southern Demon's ancient coordinates grew increasingly obscure. The original calculations and deductions were not necessarily accurate. They needed repeated verification, took many wrong paths, and had to constantly correct their course along the way.
This process consumed both time and effort. They deduced, calculated, explored, and verified. In the blink of an eye, five months had passed, and they had only covered half the distance.
Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded. Every spacecraft rumbled, swept by a terrifying Dao fluctuation. Many small spacecraft were violently impacted and rapidly disintegrated.
"Enemy attack! Combat power comparable to an ancient sage! An unknown creature is charging from the depths of the universe!"
This was a giant beast, like a small mountain, hundreds of zhang tall. Its entire body was covered in blood-colored scales. Even its eyes were blood-red. It was as robust as a wild bull, with a pair of dragon horns. It extended a sharp claw like that of a Black Heaven Roc, directly tearing at a mothership, destroying many warships along the way.
It emitted a spiritual fluctuation that shook the universe. Its roar could shatter one's soul. Ye Fan was greatly shocked. The universe was indeed miraculous. In this boundless, dead star domain, a living being had appeared, comparable to an ancient sage.
"What kind of creature is this? Where did it come from? Why is it attacking us?"
"This is a fierce beast that has reached the saint level. A year ago, a mothership from our Zhao family explored this starry region, encountered it, and severely wounded its offspring. It has been chasing them across many star domains. I didn't think it would come here again, and we would encounter it once more."
Without needing to think too deeply, the Zhao clan had nearly killed the offspring of a saint-level fierce beast, incurring a great grudge. Now that they had met again, it naturally would not let them go.
All the warships around that mothership were destroyed by a single spiritual roar from it, shattering one after another. The powerful mothership was torn by it and also developed cracks.
"Boom!"
The protective light barrier of the mothership expanded, finally shaking it off. The claim that a mothership could resist a saint was not false. It now displayed its true combat power, emitting a brilliant light.
The sages accompanying the expedition appeared. This time, eight of them emerged directly. Each emitted fluctuations that could destroy heaven and earth, causing the entire cosmic starry sky to tremble. Black holes formed in clusters, and stars seemed about to fall.
This ancient, alien fierce beast opened its mouth and roared. Its blood-colored eyes flashed with fierce light. Knowing that fighting would mean certain death, it directly tore open the void and fled.
But before leaving, it slapped down with its claw. Hundreds of small spacecraft became cosmic dust, destroyed in an instant, unable to withstand it.
Ye Fan marveled inwardly. Traveling through this dark universe, he had encountered such a solitary and terrifying saint. The boundless star domain was indeed terrifying beyond measure, mysterious without end.
"No need to pay it any mind. We continue our journey."
The massive mothership fleet performed another space jump. Two sages stood guard to prevent that saint-level fierce beast from following.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, half a year had gone by. The expedition army, combining the route map taken by the brother and sister of the Purple Cloud Royal Clan during their lost journey, carefully deduced and calculated the coordinates left by the Southern Demon. The road ahead gradually became clear. Perhaps reaching their destination was just around the corner!
Half a month later, a warship that was exploring and verifying the path ahead seemed startled. It retreated at extreme speed. The captain transmitted a trembling voice, reporting a terrifying matter.
"We found them... Ten thousand years... and they are still here, existing since ancient times!"
Soon, everyone within the vast mothership fleet was horrified. They too saw a terrifying image. Its grandeur made every expert's hair stand on end. Even the supreme sages, upon seeing it, turned pale as snow. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)