The mysterious starry sky was utterly still, with no living creature other than the Golden Horned Beast itself.

"Never mind the others; I must restore my divine body immediately. Only by growing stronger can I better handle the impending danger." With a sudden burst, the Golden Horned Beast began to expand, rapidly growing from its original meter-long size to one hundred thousand kilometers long, hovering over the starscape. Considering that a planet's diameter is only about twenty thousand kilometers, the Golden Horned Beast was larger than a planet.

"Innate Secret Art—Devour!" The Golden Horned Beast opened its maw, and instantly the space around the entire planet warped intensely. If it wished, it could have swallowed the planet whole in a single bite, but the Golden Horned Beast felt it was too great a pity to destroy such a precious Star Tear Gold ore vein planet. Thus, it controlled the extent of its devouring. Countless Star Tear Gold ores, mixed with some crushed rock and debris, surged violently into the Golden Horned Beast's mouth.

It was like a black hole, endlessly consuming.

Once the Star Tear Gold, rock, and other materials entered the Golden Horned Beast’s abdomen, they were completely absorbed, transforming into streams of Gold Divine Power that continuously restored the beast’s divine body.

A moment later.

Nearly half of the Star Tear Gold ore veins on this planet had been consumed when the Golden Horned Beast stopped. At this point, its divine body had just barely recovered past half strength.

"To the next planet," the Golden Horned Beast flew directly toward the nearest neighboring planet and began devouring the Void Stone ore veins there. It consumed nearly half the Void Stone ore veins on that entire planet before flying to a third planet when its divine body recovered to 80%...

As expected.

On the third planet, there was an equally precious entity: the Bei Yao Etching Crystal Lake. The Bei Yao Etching Crystal was a black, fluid metal resembling mercury, its surface shimmering with tiny specks of starlight. On this third planet, there were fully three super-lakes, formed entirely of Bei Yao Etching Crystal, covering 90% of the planet's surface.

The Golden Horned Beast drank down one massive lake in one go, and its divine body was completely restored.

"This is incredible."

It hung suspended in the outer space of the third planet, gazing out at this mysterious starry domain.

"I can sense the fourth planet too... There's another one! This single star system alone has [Number missing, assume placeholder for structure] large planets, all likely containing precious treasures." The Golden Horned Beast looked into the distance. "Just one star system is like this; what about the others?" At a glance, countless star systems were clustered closely together.

They formed beautiful Mystic Pattern formations that shook Luo Feng with awe; the entire starscape resembled one massive Cosmic Mystic Pattern Map.

...Though mysterious and beautiful, it was utterly desolate, devoid of any other life.

The Golden Horned Beast traversed the fourth, the fifth planet, investigating each one carefully... hoping to uncover the secrets of this region of space.

"Poison!"

A potent aura exploded from the planet third closest to the star. That powerful Divine Power aura propagated outward at a rate of 3,000 jīn (a unit of speed) per second, equivalent to forty thousand kilometers per second. In mere moments, it drew the attention of the Golden Horned Beast on the planet fifth closest to the star.

"It's Divine Power!"

"A very strong Divine Power aura... It should be a Universe Venerate." The Golden Horned Beast lifted its head toward that direction and then, with a sweep of its wings, swiftly flew over.

It soared through the void.

As its speed continuously escalated, the Golden Horned Beast gradually saw a colossal figure rapidly approaching from that direction.

The Golden Horned Beast maintained its immense form, a thousand kilometers long, while another gigantic divine body, about a hundred kilometers long, flew in from the opposite direction.

"This, this is..." The Golden Horned Beast watched the alien Universe Venerate with astonishment. It was a reptilian lifeform, a Cosmic Beast, covered in dark scales and possessing six massive limbs as thick as heavenly pillars—a Zhen. The Zhen, a second-tier Cosmic Beast, second only to the Twelve Great Apex Bloodlines.

The Golden Horned Beast and the Zhen flew toward each other.

"Golden Horned Beast." "Zhen."

Their auras powerful, the two powerhouses met in the starry sky.

"You are here too?" The Golden Horned Beast let out a deep, resonant voice.

"Because you are here, I have come," the Zhen growled. "I am under orders from the Cosmic Beast Alliance to escort you. Come with me." "What, what?" The Golden Horned Beast was stunned.

Luo Feng was truly flabbergasted. He had previously assumed this Cosmic Beast was also trapped in this desperate place, but hearing this, it sounded like it had been sent by the Cosmic Beast Alliance to guide him.

"Is this starscape... ours, belonging to the Cosmic Beast Alliance?" the Golden Horned Beast asked.

"Correct," the Zhen slightly nodded its head, which was covered in a layer resembling shield-like armor. "This region of space is where our Cosmic Beast Alliance cultivates countless precious materials. Usually, individuals are forbidden from taking them away. Since you did not know the regulations, the Alliance will not punish you for this. Moreover, you have been drifting in the universe for an immensely long time and have only just returned... the Alliance will not punish our kin." The Golden Horned Beast blinked.

"This, this so-called desperate place?" The Golden Horned Beast felt a bit bewildered.

"This is a starscape controlled by the greatest existence of our Cosmic Beast Alliance, the 'Progenitor,' and it is also the most sacred ground for us Cosmic Beasts," the Zhen roared. "The Progenitor is one of the greatest beings in the universe. He has completely altered the rules of this starscape, making them entirely different from the rules governing the outer universe."

"The Progenitor..." Luo Feng understood. The Progenitor must be the ultimate powerhouse of the universe.

"Are we still in the original universe?" the Golden Horned Beast pressed.

"Yes," the Zhen explained. "But this starscape is almost completely sealed off from the outside! Only wormholes allow passage."

"To prevent invasion by alien races, this starscape is divided into an 'Outer Starscape' and an 'Inner Starscape.' The Outer Starscape is the area where those alien races are trapped, confined for endless ages. The Inner Starscape... is hidden within. You must have entered by breaking through a layer of stellar ripple, right? Only Cosmic Beast lifeforms can enter without being killed. The alien races cannot even detect us, let alone enter."

The Golden Horned Beast finally understood.

The desperate place was merely an outer buffer zone surrounding the location of the Cosmic Beast Alliance's sacred ground.

"How did you arrive?" the Golden Horned Beast questioned. "Instant transmission and divine kingdom teleportation are impossible in this space; how did you appear suddenly?"

"We Cosmic Beasts rarely descend into this starscape; we reside in the core of the starscape, the Starry Sky Divine Mountain, which is the heart of our Cosmic Beast Alliance sacred ground," the Zhen roared. "I received orders, so I was specially brought here to escort you and was directly teleported to that planet you mentioned earlier." "Inside one planet within every star system of this starscape, there is a 'Wormhole' leading directly to the Starry Sky Divine Mountain," the Zhen stated.

"Every star system has a wormhole?" The Golden Horned Beast was shocked.

"Yes. The Progenitor's power is limitless; creating spatial openings is merely effortless," the Zhen said. "Let's go; the supreme beings in the Alliance are waiting to see you."

"Alright."

Swish! Swish!

Two colossal figures streaked across the starscape toward the planet third closest to the star.

"Golden Horned Beast, can your divine body shrink a bit? Make it smaller," the Zhen called out.

"Understood."

Mid-flight, the Golden Horned Beast reduced its size to a hundred kilometers long—nearly matching the Zhen. The two conversed as they flew toward the planet.

Upon arrival, both swiftly shrank to mere meters in size and followed a deep cavern directly to an area near the planet's core.

"This is the wormhole; through it, we can reach the Starry Sky Divine Mountain," the Zhen indicated.

"Let's go," the Golden Horned Beast said, filled with anticipation, looking at the spatial vortex before them. This vortex was only tens of meters in diameter and existed in a state of stable permanence.

The Zhen and the Golden Horned Beast flew into the spatial vortex one after the other.

This was a vast expanse of space, filled with dense, countless spatial vortices. Each vortex was small, only tens of meters in diameter! But their number was staggering, stretching endlessly, seemingly encircling the entire region of space. And at the center, surrounded by these myriad spatial vortices, stood a colossal mountain range.

The Golden Horned Beast and the Zhen emerged from one of the spatial vortices simultaneously.

"This..." The Golden Horned Beast stared at the scene in shock. Countless spatial vortices were scattered throughout this expanse, looking like countless small flowers surrounding a gigantic mountain.

A pitch-black mountain range!

This was an immensely large mountain range, towering several light-years high, comparable in scale to the "Star Tower," the headquarters of the Ancestral God Cult, and similar massive peaks.

This pitch-black mountain range floated there.

Vaguely, one could sense streams of powerful auras, and occasionally, figures of Cosmic Beasts could be seen flying within it.

"See? The great existences of our Cosmic Beast Alliance—whether Universe Masters or the supreme Progenitor—all reside there!" the Zhen roared, pride shining in its eyes. "This is our Alliance's sacred ground, the Starry Sky Divine Mountain of us Cosmic Beasts!" The Golden Horned Beast was equally awestruck.

"The Starry Sky Divine Mountain holds countless powerhouses, countless treasures, countless inheritances, everything! It even connects to a universe," the Zhen roared. "That is a universe belonging entirely to us Cosmic Beasts."

"A universe?" The Golden Horned Beast was astonished.

"Yes," the Zhen said proudly. "A universe! Entirely ours. Come, let us proceed to the Starry Sky Divine Mountain. Every wanderer returning from traversing the universe must visit the Divine Mountain. Once recognized by the Starry Sky Divine Mountain, they become one of us! This is also how we expel those alien races... because some of our Cosmic Beast Alliance children have been possessed by them and are difficult to identify. Yet, within the Starry Sky Divine Mountain, nothing can remain hidden." The Golden Horned Beast felt a chill of alarm.

Not good!

"Let's go. Several of our Universe Masters are already waiting to see you," the Zhen urged, glancing toward the immense, towering mountain range in the distance. "Look, there are strong beings coming to greet us."

The Golden Horned Beast looked over.

In the distance, several colossal Golden Horned Beasts, more than ten in total, flew toward them, radiating powerful auras.

"Those are the experts from your Golden Horned Beast lineage," the Zhen remarked.