Before their eyes, a planet indeed hung in space.
Yet it was utterly shattered.
Only half of it remained.
The rest—debris and fragments of planetary crust—drifted loose in the cosmos.
Around it, a terrifyingly immense residue of power lingered in the void.
It seemed this very force had brought about the planet's destruction.
"How could this happen?"
Seeing this, Jiang Ningxian looked stunned, unable to believe her eyes.
When she had passed through here the last time, everything had been completely intact.
Now, however, the scene was entirely different, defying all expectations.
"This planet holds a teleportation platform. Generally speaking, planets with teleportation platforms can sustain life. To destroy a planet like this requires terrifyingly immense power—ordinary Immortal Realm experts could never manage it," Jiang Ningxian said, deeply shaken. Although a planet with a teleportation platform was not as durable as the Celestial Star or Earth, annihilating it was still beyond ordinary means.
Lu Yuan did not speak immediately.
Instead, he carefully sensed the residual power lingering in the surrounding void.
His expression grew solemn before he finally broke the silence. "Someone did this deliberately. They wanted to destroy the teleportation platform."
The power was immense; judging by his current senses, it had reached the level of a Heavenly Position Immortal.
"Could it be people from the two great powers?" Jiang Ningxian chimed in, guessing at the culprits.
She could sense no trace of Extraterrestrial Demon power here.
To her mind, the only ones capable of this—and who would have a motive to do so—were the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan.
"Very likely," Lu Yuan agreed, his eyes narrowing.
Many thoughts raced through his mind. Among them was a question: did the two powers intend to destroy every teleportation platform, or only those around the Milky Way Star Sector?
Knowing that would allow them to roughly deduce the enemy's objective. But clearly, they had no way of telling yet, as they had only seen a single destroyed platform.
As for the others, there was no telling.
"Without a teleportation platform, heading to Earth will be extremely troublesome," Jiang Ningxian muttered to herself. Their original plan had been to reach their destination as quickly as possible, knowing the two great powers likely intended to target Earth.
Under these circumstances, what should they do?
"Is this place still very far from the Milky Way Star Sector?" Lu Yuan asked. He knew they had few options left and could only rely on the most basic method to reach the Milky Way Star Sector as quickly as possible. Once they arrived there, things would be much faster.
"It shouldn't be too far, but across cosmic scales, reaching the Milky Way Star Sector will indeed take some time. Of course, there's more than one platform—we could look for the next one," Jiang Ningxian said, though she knew locating another teleportation platform would also take considerable time.
"It seems our only choice is to keep using the Fuxi Eight Trigrams Diagram," Lu Yuan said helplessly.
Without a teleportation platform, even for him, reaching the Milky Way Star Sector early would take a substantial amount of time. Regardless, they had to rely on the diagram.
Without another word, Lu Yuan retrieved it and forced out a drop of essence blood.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
Stars manifested upon the Fuxi Eight Trigrams Diagram one after another.
Then, a route materialized before the two of them.
Seeing this, neither spoke. Lu Yuan simply tore open a void passage and stepped right through.
Knowing that the Ji clan and Eternal Clan were targeting Earth, no matter their ultimate goal, arriving as early as possible was undeniably the right move.
***
Meanwhile, upon another planet—
This planet bore a strong resemblance to Earth, yet did not lie within the Milky Way Star Sector.
Abundant life flourished here, belonging to the human race.
At the same time, no beings in this realm commanded supernatural power.
Much like ancient Huaxia, the mortals here lived simple lives, rising to work at sunrise and resting at dusk.
Yet because this world housed a teleportation platform, figures descended straight from the sky on this day.
Down below, the mortals were awestruck and utterly stunned by the spectacle.
To them, these beings were nothing less than the gods of legend.
Thus, upon seeing them, they lowered their heads and fell to their knees upon the ground, crying out in fervent reverence.
"Lowly creatures indeed—not a single one possesses supernatural power," a figure in the sky spoke. Judging by their attire, these figures were members of the Ji clan. They stood suspended in the void like gods, looking down upon everything with supreme disdain.
"The previous teleportation platform was destroyed easily because there was no living life there," one of the Ji clan figures remarked, cold indifference in his eyes.
"Yet living beings inhabit this world, so destroying it will take a bit of effort."
A terrifying aura emanated from his entire body, churning violently.
It was exceedingly formidable.
A closer inspection would reveal that this aura had remarkably reached the level of a Heavenly Position Immortal.
As for the others beside him, their cultivation stood at the ranks of Grotto-Heaven Immortals and Creation Immortals.
"Actually, the solution is quite simple," another person spoke up. After a brief pause, he smiled and said, "All we have to do is purge every living creature here. Then there won't be any issues."
As he finished speaking, an amused smile spread across his face.
He seemed genuinely intrigued by the prospect, as did the other Ji clan members beside him.
Although they were of the same human race, the mortals below possessed no supernatural power.
In a sense, to the Ji clan members present, the lives on this planet were not even worth considering as ants.
"There are four of us. Let's see who can do it faster," someone suggested. Aside from the Heavenly Position Immortal present, there were four others.
Though their strengths varied, all four wished to partake in the slaughter.
The Heavenly Position Immortal naturally said nothing to object.
He merely stood aside with a faint smile.
For a task like this, he had no intention of dirtying his hands personally.
Immediately, the other four Ji clan members made their move.
Heaven-shaking murderous intent erupted from their bodies in an instant, raging through the heavens.
Terrifying power surged forth in roiling waves, blanketing the entire firmament.
In the very next breath, the four struck without mercy.
As for the mortals below, completely devoid of any power to resist, they instantly felt the horrific peril engulfing them and fell into sheer panic.
Yet even so, the outcome was inevitable as the four Ji clan members unleashed their assault.
Chapter 524