It was a peculiar void. At a glance, the sight was filled with vast constellations, countless stars clustered densely together, the distance between them infinitesimally small. It was as if galaxies the size of hundreds of thousands of Milky Ways had been violently compressed by an overwhelmingly powerful force, squeezing the distance between the stars to its limit, thus forming the astonishing spectacle before them.

Innumerable stars maintained their original volume and shape, yet the distance separating one star from another was often less than ten kilometers, sometimes even just one kilometer.

With such close proximity, for stars whose diameters spanned millions of kilometers, the distance between them became negligible. However, this extremely small separation caused no adverse effects between these stars. These stars, planets, and even celestial bodies such as neutron stars, white dwarfs, supernovae, and black holes, existed harmoniously and closely together, separated by less than ten kilometers in this void.

It was easy to imagine the degree to which the immense gravity generated by such a vast quantity of celestial bodies, packed so densely with such minimal separation, must have warped the surrounding spacetime.

The space where the group hovered was a small region partitioned between two stars, one neutron star, and two giant planets. Within this small area, hundreds of meteors of various sizes drifted about. All these celestial bodies unleashed their titanic gravitational and repulsive forces without restraint. Merely suspended there, the group felt the unending, powerful forces twisting their bodies and causing the Zhenqi within them to surge and crash chaotically.

Gu Xiechen felt his blood constantly rushing toward his head; he perceived his head to be three times its normal size. The blood in his limbs, meanwhile, was churning violently, and the restless flow caused his skin and muscles to undulate rhythmically. Small whirlpools could be seen spinning rapidly on the back of his hands, accompanied by crisp paka sounds as his skin and muscles twisted. His internal organs seemed to regard each other with hostility, all leaping outward as if trying to tear free from his body.

This damn hellish space—is this the Ancient Battlefield?

The Yin-Yang Robe immediately expelled streams of black and white energy, wrapping Gu Xiechen securely within them. The duality of the Yin and Yang energies shielded him from the chaotic external gravity, causing his body to feel instantly lighter. Rasco and the others hurriedly protected themselves with their artifacts, and their pale complexions finally began to normalize.

Before anyone could orient themselves in this place, tens of thousands of werewolves howled and charged into the void from the spatial rift behind them—a rift barely ten zhang wide and a hundred zhang high. To Gu Xiechen’s astonishment, these relatively weak werewolves, whose strongest barely matched the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, were instantly shredded into fragments the moment they entered this void. Tens of thousands of clumps of blood plasma slowly dispersed in the vacuum, stretched by the invisible gravity into tidal waves of gore hundreds of miles long, drifting sluggishly toward the nearest star.

The dying shrieks of the werewolves still echoed in their ears as nearly a hundred more werewolves, ranging in strength from the Soul Transformation stage to the peak of the Void Realm, rushed in one after another.

The star directly above their heads suddenly erupted in a solar flare, unleashing a ferocious storm of plasma solar wind that swept across the void. The werewolves, lacking adequate magical artifacts to shield themselves, cried out in agony and were instantly incinerated into ash by the crimson flames. The solar wind roared with a dull hiss as it hurtled toward the neutron star and a giant planet below. Just as Gu Xiechen expected the solar wind to cause destruction to these two bodies, both surfaces simultaneously ejected massive flows of colorless, intangible energy—detectable only by divine sense—which completely neutralized the solar wind.

This is truly a cursed place, terrifyingly magnificent, yet filled with all manner of unbelievable forces. Gu Xiechen turned to Basin and the others: "Now, what do we do? How can we find a path through here?"

Rasco spoke in a low voice: "Do not underestimate the determination of the Imperial Family of the Blazing Dragon Empire. If we could secretly forge a route to the Extreme Star Empire over tens of thousands of years, we can use even longer to survey the situation in this damned place. Two hundred and fifty-nine people—our clan has already sacrificed two hundred and fifty-nine elites to investigate the conditions here!"

Sighing deeply, Rasco formed an incantation seal toward the void ahead. From the giant planet diagonally below them, a single, incredibly fine red beam shot skyward.

Shouting, "Go!" Rasco and Basin took the lead, guiding the group toward the giant planet along that red light. As they flew swiftly, Rasco taught Gu Xiechen several sets of incantation seals and incantations—the control formulas and spells left behind by the ancestors of the Blazing Dragon Empire when they surveyed this stellar region. With these, should Gu Xiechen and Rasco’s group become separated, they could still utilize the pre-arranged placements to escape.

Upon the giant planet, which was covered in yellow sand and crawling with bizarre, venomous insects, a massive teleportation array, over three hundred zhang in diameter and a hundred zhang high, stood prominently. Examining the array closely, Gu Xiechen noted that it employed the most rudimentary and least efficient type of spatial transposition formation. Such a transfer array required an enormous amount of Zakula Crystals to activate, and the number of people and the distance of the transmission were severely limited. Clearly, much like the cultivation methods inherited by the cultivators of the Star Alliance, their mastery of array formations was lacking.

Rasco cautiously took out over a hundred mid-grade Zakula Crystals, each the size of a fist, and inserted them into the array. He then cast a spiritual chant to activate it, causing the array to erupt in a flickering red light. Rasco pondered for a moment, then took out several hundred more Zakula Crystals and handed them to Gu Xiechen. He earnestly instructed Gu Xiechen to guard these crystals carefully; should they unfortunately be separated, these crystals would be essential for using these teleportation arrays to return to the entrance point.

Seeing Rasco's solemnity, Gu Xiechen suddenly realized that, much like pure silver, Zakula Crystals were extremely rare and precious commodities within the Star Alliance. He wordlessly accepted the crystals Rasco offered and placed them into his Azure Lotus Ring, then retrieved a small mountain of Zakula Crystals and placed them before Rasco.

"I certainly accept your kindness, Rasco," Gu Xiechen said with a gentle smile, sweeping his sleeve to divide the more than forty thousand Zakula Crystals into thirty-eight portions, placing one portion before each member of the Blazing Flame family. The various colored crystals, shining with energy signatures, illuminated the stunned faces of Rasco and the others.

Taking a deep breath, Rasco gave Gu Xiechen a thumbs-up: "Truly worthy of being the great financial magnate who traded tens of thousands of ancient weapons for a Death Star Vessel and Divine Crystals. I yield!"

Shaking his head, Rasco motioned for everyone to put away the Zakula Crystals. The group then hurried into the teleportation array, which Rasco activated. A blinding red light surged up from beneath the platform, and their figures began to distort and blur within the light. Just as they were about to be transmitted, dozens of furious auras, whose intensity rivaled that of a Celestial Immortal, erupted from the vicinity of the entrance they had just used. The true masters of the Werewolf Clan had arrived. Not only the werewolves, but following these dozens of powerful auras were hundreds more—some gentle, some deathly still, some tyrannical and fierce. Experts from the Blood Race, the Minotaur Clan, and other dark creatures also rushed to the scene upon hearing the disturbance.

With a dull thud, the teleportation array sent Gu Xiechen and the others far away. The yellow sand around the array suddenly whipped up, completely burying the massive platform underneath.

The spatial configuration within this void was extremely complex; the various gravitational distortions warped space, rendering even the teleportation arrays unreliable. Although the ancestors of the Blazing Flame family were said to have made arrangements here for tens of thousands of years, during dozens of teleportation attempts, some individuals were still forcefully swept away by fluctuations in spatial gravity, sent to unknown locations within this stellar domain.

What frustrated Gu Xiechen the most was that during one transmission, he was violently interrupted by the sudden eruption of a supernova, forcing him out mid-teleport and dropping him onto an unknown celestial body, while Rasco and the others had already vanished to an unknown destination.

Gu Xiechen’s only comfort was that the planet he fell upon was exquisitely beautiful, with clear waters and scenic mountains. Furthermore, the forests teemed with life, featuring glimpses of exotic, rare birds and beasts, and the ground was carpeted with strange, precious flowers and various rare spiritual herbs and medicines.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Gu Xiechen followed the incantations taught by Rasco, sending streams of spiritual light in all directions. Soon, he sensed a feedback fluctuation of magical power from somewhere above. Due to the instability of this spacetime, the ancestors of the Blazing Flame family had strategically placed numerous backup teleportation arrays along the route. If someone was caught by an energy storm during transit, they could locate a backup array and proceed to a pre-arranged meeting point. This foresight had indeed saved Gu Xiechen considerable trouble today.

His colossal divine sense instantly enveloped the planet beneath his feet, which was approximately one hundred thousand kilometers in diameter. Like a raging wind sweeping over the land, all the spiritual herbs and rare flora on the surface lifted up, surging toward Gu Xiechen in a multicolored, frantic tide. The Azure Lotus Ring emitted a brilliant green light, categorizing and storing all the spiritual herbs and grasses within it. It seemed this planet had not been visited by anyone for untold years; the sheer quantity of aged spiritual herbs was staggering, with millions of herbs around ten thousand years old. This planet also contained vast reserves of rare minerals and spiritual veins. Since he was already here, Gu Xiechen decided to spare no effort. He unleashed his Celestial Immortal might, shattering the crust and collecting every rare mineral he could reach. Aided by the Solar Profound Pearl, the ores forcefully extracted from the ground were refined into extremely high-purity metal ingots and stored in the Azure Lotus Ring in the shortest possible time. Several shallowly buried, energy-rich spiritual veins were also forcibly absorbed by the Lunar Profound Pearl and the Solar Profound Pearl, adding further vitality to the two treasures.

Moving on like this, stopping here and there, Gu Xiechen swept clean everything valuable from every planet he encountered.

This region of the cosmos had likely gone unmonitored for so long that the abundance of resources astounded even Gu Xiechen, who was accustomed to grand spectacles. After traveling for half a month, he had replenished both treasure pearls with over thirty ultra-large spiritual veins, each spanning an area of one hundred thousand li. This infusion made the two pearls shine brilliantly, their overflowing spiritual energy almost bursting forth from their surfaces.

With such a massive influx of spiritual energy from the veins, the Lunar Continent within the Lunar Profound Pearl had condensed to a size spanning ten thousand li. The Solar Profound Pearl had condensed a fireball with a diameter of ten thousand li, releasing endless heat every moment. The amount of Yin-Yang and Solar energy released by the two pearls every moment was at least a hundred times greater than before. Even without consciously circulating his energy, Gu Xiechen’s cultivation level increased at a speed he could clearly perceive. This feeling of rapid advancement greatly uplifted his spirits.

After flying for another half a month, Gu Xiechen had the misfortune of having his transmission interrupted yet again by warped spatial forces while attempting to use a backup teleportation array, ejecting him onto a bizarre planet.

This planet was not large, about the size of the Moon of his past life. Its surface was covered by a thick layer of black ice, the layer dozens of zhang deep, yet perfectly clear. Standing on the ice, one could see the pitch-black rock and soil underneath. The chilling ice exuded a faint, deathly aura, giving Gu Xiechen an instinctual feeling of dread.

The planet’s atmosphere was thick, but the air carried an unsettling presence. A grayish fog permeated everything. Lingering too long in the fog felt as if one’s very soul was being siphoned away, and the body’s internal heat escaped uncontrollably. For an ordinary cultivator, this gray mist would likely freeze them into a zombie.

This was no blessed sanctuary. Gu Xiechen frowned, instinctively wanting to soar into the sky and leave this cursed planet. However, he had barely ascended ten zhang when the True Magnetic Two-Yi Splitting Light Sword let out a mournful cry. With a flash of black and white light, the spiritual energy on the flying sword suddenly dissipated, and Gu Xiechen plummeted headfirst back to the ground.

"Hee hee... Hahaha!" Strange laughter drifted from the distance, accompanied by a delicate voice giggling softly, "Sister, look at that person, he’s so amusing! Why is he playing at falling down?"

Gu Xiechen, his face gloomy, retrieved the dim True Magnetic Two-Yi Splitting Light Sword and placed it back in its case. He turned toward the source of the sound and shouted, "Who's there?"

A gust of sinister wind blew over, causing large patches of hazy gray fog to billow and rush toward Gu Xiechen. Gu Xiechen’s expression turned icy, and he spat out a high-grade Immortal Artifact flying sword toward the fog, cleaving it open.

But this high-grade immortal sword fared even worse than the True Magnetic Two-Yi Splitting Light Sword. While the latter had only suffered minor spiritual energy loss and could recover with simple mending, this high-grade immortal artifact, forged by the Great Simple Sage, shot out as a golden beam, instantly sprayed out countless strands of golden light, and then dropped to the ground with a clatter, turning into a piece of rusted iron in the blink of an eye.

"This!" Gu Xiechen stared at the sword remnants in horror, unable to believe what he was seeing. He picked up the broken sword and forced it apart. With a pata sound, the sword snapped, confirming it had indeed become ordinary scrap iron.

Horrified, Gu Xiechen looked at the two pieces of scrap iron in his hand, completely bewildered as to what had transpired. This high-grade flying sword was primarily made of Tri-Yang Wood, a material of pure Yang attribute, which had no affinity with iron. Even if the spiritual energy was devoured, it should, at most, turn into a piece of dead wood—how could it become rusted iron?

Light footsteps sounded, and from the swirling gray mist, two beautiful young