Inside the Divine Vessel Shenzhou, Ye Chen and the other felt the vessel shudder violently, its outer energy shield flickering precariously, almost shattering.

Ye Chen's body hair stood on end, a potent sense of imminent danger washing over him. He yelled urgently, "Faster! Engage the jump drive!!"

Xiao Zongsheng was startled too. Having navigated the heavens with the Tiandao for years and survived countless perils, she had never encountered anything so bizarre. The power emanating from a mere eyeball could damage the Tiandao Shenzhou. What level of supreme cultivation must its owner have possessed in life?

She had no time to ponder; she frantically maneuvered the Tiandao Shenzhou left and right, engaging the spatial warp engine to tear open a jump channel ahead.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The eyeball blinked repeatedly, unleashing beams of golden light that shot towards the Divine Vessel, tearing the surrounding spatial currents to shreds. The newly stabilized spatial jump channel violently collapsed.

Ye Chen's expression shifted. "Retreat! Get out of its attack range first, then jump."

"Understood." Xiao Zongsheng acknowledged the command and swiftly piloted the Tiandao Shenzhou blasting away into the distance. The blood-red eyeball roared and pursued relentlessly, scattering golden divine light across the sky, clinging tenaciously to the vessel's tail. If not for Xiao Zongsheng having honed her piloting skills to perfection over countless years, they would have long since been obliterated amidst the rain of golden beams.

Even so, after dodging perilously for over ten minutes, the Tiandao Shenzhou managed to gain some distance. Ye Chen glanced at the rapidly depleting energy reserves. He realized that ever since encountering the headless ancient corpse in the Ancient Realm Peak, the vessel's energy consumption had become alarmingly fast. It had dropped from over 90% to just 63.2% in less than a month!

He remembered that just 0.1% of the energy was enough for him to slay a peak Divine Emperor. He had calculated that the energy stored in the Tiandao Shenzhou should have been enough for him to squander casually until a new energy source was found. Now, it was draining away like flowing water.

Ye Chen felt a pang of heartache. Once the energy dropped to 10%, many of the Divine Vessel’s functions would be significantly impaired. If the energy depleted entirely, it would become nothing more than scrap metal.

Ye Chen clenched his fist and ordered Xiao Zongsheng to open the spatial jump channel, preparing for the leap. The eyeball was tens of millions of kilometers behind them; it would take a second or two to catch up—enough time for them to escape.

The time required to establish a spatial jump channel was inversely proportional to the technological level of the civilization. If the technology was low, establishing the channel could take over ten minutes, or even half an hour. With higher technology, it required only a few minutes, or even mere seconds.

The pitch-black jump channel slowly opened tens of thousands of kilometers ahead of the Tiandao Shenzhou. The vessel suddenly shot forward, on the verge of slipping into it, when a piercing whistle erupted from behind. Dazzling golden light chased after them and struck the spatial jump channel with lethal precision.

Boom!

The spatial jump channel was violently torn apart, collapsing into a black vortex that slowly shrank out of sight.

Ye Chen’s expression changed. He turned back to look at the blood-red eyeball, his gaze tinged with shock: "It has awareness?"

"Don't even think about escaping!" The blood-red eyeball advanced with a sneer, greedily eyeing the Tiandao Shenzhou. It hissed menacingly, "Such a fragrant essence! You had better cease resistance and submit to this Venerable One. I shall make you my foremost Divine Slave and bestow upon you the High-Grade Slave Seal, vastly increasing your power!"

Ye Chen’s eyes turned cold. Without a word, he commanded the vessel’s main cannons to fire upon the blood-red eyeball while engaging the thrusters to flee at top speed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~

The sky was filled with countless cannon shells, glowing like blossoming fireworks—beautiful and delicate, yet masking the aura of death and destruction.

The blood-red eyeball curved its lips into a cold smile, darting up and down with lightning speed, successfully intercepting the majority of the incoming fire. A small portion struck the eyeball, which promptly closed its eyelids. Asteroid-sized projectiles capable of annihilating a star slammed against its lids, sparking fiercely.

Ye Chen spared a glance over his shoulder. After being struck by over a dozen shells, the eyeball’s eyelids appeared only lightly damaged—scorched and slightly raised, bearing no critical wounds. His heart jolted. This blood-red eyeball was terrifyingly formidable; not only did it retain consciousness and an understanding of spatial jump channels, but its hardness was in no way inferior to the skin of the severed arm he had once encountered.

"What kind of creature’s eyeball is this? How can such a terrifying monster exist in this world?!" Ye Chen’s heart hammered. In this moment of crisis, a gentle, warm hand suddenly touched the back of his own.

Ye Chen turned his head to see Bai Yijun smiling faintly, causing him to pause for a moment. The tension coiled in his blood slowly dispersed. He calmed his heart, offered a slight smile, and then looked forward, stating coldly, "We will be fine!"

He turned to Xiao Zongsheng. "Fire the Aurora Cannon, then execute the Cosmic Great Teleportation."

Xiao Zongsheng swiftly responded, "Yes!"

Her slender fingers pressed two buttons. The rear stabilizers of the Tiandao Shenzhou slowly opened two alloy apertures. From the empty depths, two beams of white light shot out with incredible speed. Before the blood-red eyeball could fully react, a thunderous explosion echoed across the sky.

After giving his orders, Ye Chen closed his eyes and pulled the nearby Bai Yijun into an embrace, covering her eyes with his hand.

Only Xiao Zongsheng, monitoring through the Tiandao Shenzhou's detection systems, could witness the entire sky erupt in an incredibly intense brilliance. This white light was as piercing as needles; even Ye Chen’s physique would be severely harmed if he dared to look directly, risking blindness.

Xiao Zongsheng urged the Tiandao Shenzhou forward, rocketing towards a nearby stellar fragment, and rapidly activated the spatial warp engine, quickly constructing a Star Gate.

Swish!

The Tiandao Shenzhou plunged through. The Star Gate snapped shut immediately.

Ye Chen let out a sigh of relief, lowering his hand, and whispered, "It's over. We are safe."

Bai Yijun looked out at the dark passage of the Star Gate, feeling a slight ease in her heart. She smiled sweetly, "I knew you would find a way."

Ye Chen rubbed his nose, a smile spreading across his face.

Just then, whoosh! Suddenly, a golden beam shot from the void ahead, violently impacting the Tiandao Shenzhou's energy shield. It instantly pierced the shield, which had already dropped to the warning line, and the residual force struck the vessel’s outer super-alloy hull, leaving a faint mark.

Ye Chen's smile froze. Outside the forward viewport, a blood-red eyeball was hurtling toward them, filled with ferocious killing intent: "How dare you play tricks and injure me! You court death!!!"

Boom!

The surrounding dark spatial channel suddenly ripped open. The vibration from that single golden beam violently disturbed the space within, making it extremely unstable and riddled with fissures. The moment these cracks appeared, external gravity intruded, causing the internal gravity to become chaotic.

The Tiandao Shenzhou was swept into a nearby spatial rift. Ye Chen did not order Xiao Zongsheng to stabilize the vessel with maximum effort. Given the capabilities of the Tiandao Shenzhou, navigating within a collapsing spatial tunnel was not impossible. However, with the blood-red eyeball blocking the path ahead, staying meant an inevitable fierce battle. It was better to leave.

"You cannot run," the blood-red eyeball snarled, chasing after them with a whoosh.

Hush~

The Tiandao Shenzhou tumbled into the spatial rift. After an unknown amount of time, white light finally appeared outside the viewport. They crashed down onto a mountain peak. The entire weight of the vessel caused the mountain to tremble violently, sending rocks tumbling and trees snapping; it was a scene of utter devastation.

Swish!

The blood-red eyeball burst down from the black vortex in the sky above, blinking thousands of golden beams with a savage grin, enveloping the entire Tiandao Shenzhou.

Ye Chen’s face changed instantly. He commanded the Tiandao Shenzhou to engage emergency mode. All major engines and systems entered an overloaded state, increasing energy consumption to 200% of the normal rate. He couldn't afford to care about the cost now. As the sky filled with divine light, the vessel abruptly shot out, leaving the mountain peak behind.

Boom, boom...

A solitary peak was instantly pulverized into dust and debris under the barrage of golden light, raising a massive cloud of dust.

Just as Ye Chen prepared to pilot the Tiandao Shenzhou away, a lazy voice drifted out from within the dust cloud: "Who dares disturb my sweet dreams?"

The voice was not loud, yet it seemed to echo directly next to Ye Chen's ear, as if the speaker was addressing him intimately. Ye Chen was startled; he hadn't expected anyone else to be present. He immediately checked the radar, only to find no red dots, indicating no other life forms nearby.

Ye Chen’s pupils contracted. He turned back toward the dust cloud, his mind churning with shock. As the dust slowly dispersed, a dark shadow, thin as a line, appeared before them.

"This... how..." Ye Chen was utterly astonished.

The mountain peak, which had spanned thousands of kilometers in diameter, should have been ground into nothingness by the ferocious divine light. Yet, a single, solitary spire of rock remained, as thick as a bowl, refusing to break. On top of this stone spire lay a youth in white robes, propped up on one hand, holding a wine gourd in the other. His eyelids drooped as he looked up at the sky, taking a slow sip of fine wine, smacking his lips with apparent enjoyment.

Ye Chen was stunned. Undoubtedly, the white-robed youth had not only survived the onslaught of divine light but remained entirely unscathed, even managing to preserve the small patch of ground beneath him. What terrifying cultivation level was this?

Ye Chen felt as though he could barely draw breath. At that moment, the blood-red eyeball in the sky glanced at the white-robed youth, its own gaze turning grave. It spoke coldly, "Who are you?"

The white-robed youth seemed not to hear, merely admiring the wine gourd in his hand, murmuring, "Unexpectedly, it was just a great dream. The world has changed so fast. Am I drunk, or am I awake?"