Chapter 1170: The Glory of One Hundred Thousand Years Ago
In the cold starry sky... a pitch-black mass stretched endlessly, vast and magnificent, carrying boundless oppression as it approached from afar, turning even the faces of sages pale.
The universe was immensely vast, seemingly without end. Even if humans could traverse it, they would only move within limited regions in their entire lives. Faced with this unknown dark celestial void, one felt too small, insignificant, and almost never encountered anything in the star domains—desolation was the eternal theme.
However, this norm was broken today. What they witnessed was extremely shocking, and when they came to their senses, they were chilled to the bone.
How massive and grand were their mothership clusters? Yet now, compared to the vast steel forest on the opposite side, they seemed weak and insignificant.
It was a massive fleet of ships, each one incredibly grand. The smallest were over a thousand zhang long, while the largest stretched tens of thousands of zhang, spanning the celestial void, dense and covering the sky!
Drifting through the universe for who knows how many years, they had long been etched with the marks of the river of time, yet they remained immortal, having existed since ancient times.
"It really is... them!" Even the ancient sage's voice trembled.
This cold fleet was even more spectacular and vast than their mothership cluster, stretching beyond the horizon—this was the invincible overlord that could sweep across the universe!
Although most of the warships had dimmed, their luster no longer shining, their majesty and aura remained. Especially the immortal Dao traces that had not faded, still flowing, emitting a supreme divine might that could suppress the nine heavens and ten lands.
This was eternal glory, the crystallization of a peak-era civilization. It had once swept across the eight desolates and six directions, dominating the universe they could reach. Wherever their war banners pointed, all submitted.
Yet now, there was not a single trace of life fluctuation. They had become deathly still, looking like an ancient graveyard at a glance.
This was a desolate silence, even more so a kind of desolation. All glory, all past events were buried in the dust of history, drifting alone through the universe.
This was a group of terrifying, boundless ghost ships. Over such a long period, they made people tremble at the mere mention of them. Facing them was like facing the God of Death, like resisting evil spirits breaking free from the shackles of hell.
One hundred thousand years ago, they shone with boundless brilliance, creating an unprecedented prosperous era. It was a grand age, radiating invincible divine radiance!
However, after their curtain call, when they reappeared after a period of time, they became synonymous with death and fear, intimidating the star seas of the universe.
No one knew what had happened. The once invincible fleet, during an expedition into the depths of the star sea, forever embarked on a path of no return. When they emerged again, they had become ghost ships.
This was a nightmare. The invincible radiance transformed into the shadow of death. The first time they were discovered, a mothership cluster recklessly approached to investigate, only to become followers of the God of Death, becoming part of them.
For this, even the ancient sages of the Eternal Main Star were alarmed. Eleven sages went, but none returned!
When a long period passed and people saw them again, they found that the warships of those eleven sages had also become part of the fleet.
By then, twenty thousand years had passed. Later generations thought the dangerous period was over. Even if terrifying beings had occupied the fleet in the past, they should have left by now, allowing the mystery to be uncovered.
However, the nightmare continued. The terrible past repeated itself. Four ancient sages boarded this fleet, silently vanishing with it into the depths of the dark universe, never to return.
Fifty thousand years later, it appeared again, without end, without destination, drifting aimlessly through the void of the universe.
At that time, the various overlords of the Eternal Main Star learned of this and ordered ten sages to go together. They intercepted the fleet in the cold celestial void and delved deep into the ships.
Yet the nightmare still continued, never ending!
The ten sages all disappeared, never returning like their predecessors.
That time, the people of the Eternal Main Star became desperate. They deployed massive destructive weapons, unwilling to uncover the bizarre and terrifying truth, launching attacks that could destroy star domains.
It was a hair-raising scene. Beams capable of destroying planets, suns, and other celestial bodies had no effect at all.
This ghost fleet had no beginning or end, drifting tirelessly. All divine Dao artifacts and scientific holy light were useless against them. Instead, a strange fluctuation spread, and the motherships involved in the attack turned to dust, becoming cosmic debris. No one escaped.
The terrible past filled the people of the Eternal Main Star with fear. Over one hundred thousand years, as they ventured deep into the universe for mining, they had encountered them fourteen times, appearing in different star domains, separated by countless star systems. It was hard to imagine how they had arrived.
The last encounter was forty thousand years ago, in a border star system unimaginably far away. After that, they never appeared again, thought to have vanished at the desolate frontier of the universe.
Who would have thought the ancient ghost ships would reappear!
As before, their silent stillness remained unchanged for one hundred thousand years, deathly quiet, with the living retreating.
"Avoid them, clear the way for them!" Panic spread. Even sages looked grim. This was the terrifying ghost ship that had silently devoured their ancestors.
No one could stop it. To this day, they would not forget the tragedies of the past. Unless ancient gods were resurrected, going up would only result in futile death.
This was a cold steel forest, even more so a graveyard of death, capable of burying ancient sages and devouring all the strong.
"One hundred thousand years ago, that was a peak of glory. What did those expeditionary strongmen encounter? Why did it turn out like this?"
This was everyone's question, but no one had been able to answer it from ancient times to the present.
Even where they were headed and what they intended to conquer were impossible to verify, because no clues were left behind back then. This invincible fleet had departed in secret.
"Could it be... that after one hundred thousand years, we still cannot uncover the truth? After such a long time, perhaps there is nothing there anymore."
The younger generation was too far removed from that era. Some hot-blooded youths could not suppress their curiosity, wanting to become heroes who tore through the fog and explored.
"Whoever dares to act recklessly will be executed on the spot!"
The ancient sage personally gave the order. The stronger the person, the heavier their heart. Had there been too few ancient sages who perished back then? Among them were the most brilliant individuals.
The ten sages of fifty thousand years ago boarded with the mindset that the matter had long passed and time had erased everything, yet they were all annihilated!
"Back then, how powerful was this fleet? Looking at its scale, it was truly vast, magnificent to the extreme. Was it the combined combat power of the entire Eternal Main Star?" Some princes couldn't help but tremble, asking such questions.
This fleet was truly spectacular, like dark clouds pressing down on the eight desolates and six directions, so heavy it was suffocating. Among them, four giant ships were a full twenty thousand zhang long, far more magnificent than today's motherships, surrounded by dense fleets at the center.
If this ancient ghost fleet was a giant, then their expedition fleet was just a dwarf, incomparable.
"Back then, our Eternal Main Star was truly glorious. Perhaps extreme prosperity leads to decline is a universal truth, even the heavens above couldn't bear it."
An ancient sage, looking at the four giant hulls, his face pale, recounted some ancient past events, forcing people to gasp in shock.
In that era, the Eternal Kingdom had indeed reached an extremely prosperous age. A single life-bearing ancient star producing three great sages in one era was already glorious, but one hundred thousand years ago, the people of that star domain achieved a breakthrough, breaking the norm.
It was unknown whether it was exactly seven great sages, or if a few more could be added. In any case, it shook the past and present, reaching a terrifying level.
People said that if there were no accidents, a god might have been born in that era! In the end... it was not to be.
That expedition was led by four great sages. At the center of that sky-covering ghost fleet, the four grand motherships, twenty thousand zhang long, were the exclusive sacred ships of the great sages.
"What? Four great sage-level motherships? Four great sages led the fleet on an expedition? What supreme and terrifying combat power! And they vanished so bizarrely, eventually becoming ghost ships?"
Many were shaken, shocked by this result. The ancient sages felt bitter, as among them were direct ancestors of some, who fell without explanation.
The massive ghost ship, carrying the aura of death, passed before them, covering the sky. No one dared to approach, only able to gaze from afar at the glorious relics of their ancestors.
Suddenly, someone exclaimed: "Hey, what's that? Between the four great sage ancient ships, what is bound by giant iron chains?"
Various motherships could not scan that area. Strange fluctuations emanated from there, capable of blocking all probing.
A prince stood outside a mothership, mustering his courage to gaze. Using his Heavenly Eye Penetration, he observed some unknown scene.
But the distance was too great. In the blurry, dark universe, any distance between celestial bodies was unreachable and boundless for humans.
"Move closer!"
An ancestral sage also noticed the situation, ordering a mothership to fly forward, not daring to get too close, only observing from a distance.
"That is..." Many strong individuals rushed out of the spaceships, gazing into the void from afar. As their eyes opened and closed, beams of light shot into the distance.
Ye Fan also left the warship, standing on the hull, looking into the distance. His Source Heaven Divine Sense was incredibly sharp, and he immediately saw the details, startling him.
"It's a huge ancient coffin!" An ancient sage exclaimed in shock.
The distance closed further. People, both fearful and amazed, gazed and finally saw the strange scene clearly.
Four great sage ancient ships, each occupying one direction, were actually locking a giant coffin, drifting through the universe.
The ancient coffin was made of unknown material—neither metal, nor stone, nor wood. Its material was unclear, ancient and weathered, having passed through unimaginable long years in the river of time.
Four thick chains were tied around it, binding it at the center of the four great sage motherships, appearing incredibly rebellious and demonic!
Although the coffin was huge, compared to the four great sage ancient ships, it seemed small. Yet as everyone looked forward, they instantly ignored the four great sage ships, their eyes only on it.
In the cold universe, it was the only thing, carrying a terrifying aura, proving it was the eternal, unchanging protagonist of heaven and earth!
An ancient sage spoke tremblingly: "Over one hundred thousand years, our Eternal Star Domain has discovered these ghost ships of death fourteen times. But every time, we could only see darkness between the four great sage ships, like the boundless mysterious void, unable to see through. Unexpectedly, now we have seen through it, or rather, it has revealed its true form!"
Another ancient sage spoke solemnly: "So, back then, our ancestors launched an expedition, mobilizing four great sages, all for this?"
"Their mining, or rather, the spoils they obtained, is this huge ancient coffin?" The ancient sages muttered to themselves.
Ye Fan stared at that mysterious ancient heavenly coffin, waves of shock surging in his heart!
"Since the darkness has disappeared and everything there is visible, perhaps we can go and investigate. I'll risk it and check, uncovering the terrifying mystery of this ancient era!" A prince declared.