Discovery

"A chance at Void Piercing!" Li Hanqiu, Li Qingshan, Wan Liugui, and the others took a deep breath. They understood all too well just how immense the weight of this gift was. "This is already the standard of a rank-six world," Wan Liugui could not resist remarking. A rank-six world. In the starry skies beyond Beihai Star, a classification of world ranks was widely circulated. This system divided worlds into nine ranks. At the very peak was the legendary Immortal Realm. Below it were rank-eight worlds possessing a Gate of the Immortal Realm, rank-seven worlds capable of birthing Dao Lords, rank-six worlds capable of supporting Void Piercing, Void Refining, and Void Shattering cultivation, and rank-five worlds, to which the Cangwu Great World had previously belonged. As for rank-four worlds, they could support Golden Core cultivators at most; the energy level of rank-three worlds plummeted to Foundation Establishment; rank-two worlds were only slightly better than the original Yaoguang Realm; and rank-one worlds were ordinary worlds completely devoid of any cultivation legacy. Though advancing from a rank-five to a rank-six world seemed like a leap of merely one rank, for this world's civilization, it was undoubtedly equivalent to leaping from a stellar civilization to a galactic civilization. "Every person and every faction in the Cangwu Realm will remember Sect Master Yaoguang's contributions for the rest of their lives," Wan Liugui said solemnly. Calling Yaoguang a pioneer of their civilization for this aid was not an exaggeration in the slightest. "No need to be polite. After all, I can be considered a member of the Cangwu Realm," Yaoguang said, then added, "Select one Void Piercing Battle Immortal to stay in Cangwu and oversee the situation here. In addition, I have been away on this journey for over a year now. Cangwu is simply too far from Beihai, making communication impossible; I have no way of knowing what has happened during my absence. To prevent any unforeseen complications, I intend to return to Beihai Star first." Having said that, he added, "The battleship Cangbei will remain in the Cangwu Realm. Whenever you wish to leave, you may take the warship back on your own. With a Dao artifact warship and numerous void nodes along the way, the journey should be smooth, taking merely a few months to return." Li Hanqiu, Wan Liugui, and the others understood full well how demanding Yaoguang's present station was. Far too many matters required his personal decision. Moreover... Around the Southern Domain, although no one dared make reckless moves during his one-year absence, his physical presence in the Southern Domain versus his absence made a difference like heaven and earth. Naturally, none of them could object. Li Hanqiu even stepped forward and said, "The matters here have largely been resolved. Over the years, with Xie Wu's assistance, the Nine Cauldrons Sect has developed remarkably well, hardly inferior to when we left. And half a year ago, factions such as the Wuji Astral Palace, the Immortal Alliance, the Myriad Beasts Sect, the Fatian Pavilion, the Taiyin Sect, and the Golden Divine Temple were either assimilated into our Nine Cauldrons Sect or taken to Beihai Star by Xie Wu. Having completed its unification, the Nine Cauldrons Sect enjoys unprecedented prosperity, so there is no need for us to stay here and watch over things. Therefore, I shall go with Sect Master Yaoguang..." "No need." Yaoguang waved a hand. "You should understand the situation in the Southern Domain; it does not lack a single Void Piercing cultivator like yourself. Besides, as you said, the Nine Cauldrons Sect has only just unified the Cangwu Great World. During this period, there will certainly be countless matters, large and small, that require handling. Stay in Cangwu for a while longer. It won't be too late to return to Beihai Star once things here are completely on the right track a decade or so from now." "This..." Li Hanqiu hesitated. After a moment, he said nonetheless, "Let my master and Li Qingshan remain here. There are just as many matters to handle in Nandu on Beihai Star, especially with the Southern Domain waging war against the Shadow Moon Sect. Although I cannot step onto the front lines as a Void Piercing cultivator, I can still contribute some strength." Hearing this, Yaoguang did not insist. "Then arrange things as you see fit. We depart in three days." Li Hanqiu nodded. From the fact that Yaoguang had spent almost the entire year out in deep space, Li Hanqiu could tell that Yaoguang held no deep sentiment for the Cangwu Realm. Then again, from the moment he first arrived in the Cangwu Realm to his departure... The time had been far too short. So brief that no real emotional attachment could form. Furthermore, everyone he was familiar with had migrated to Beihai Star along with the Nine Cauldrons Sect... This trip to the Cangwu Great World truly held nothing for him to anticipate. "Then we shall depart together in three days," Li Hanqiu responded, before making another series of arrangements. As for Yaoguang... Having completed the formation, he followed the insights into this patch of void he had gained during its construction, descending into the Cangwu Realm and heading straight into its depths. While setting up the Thick Earth Void-Suppressing Formation, he had faintly sensed that the void node belonging to the Cangwu Great World shouldn't have collapsed like this. The collapse of the entire void node... seemed to involve some factor of external interference, rather than being a purely natural occurrence. However, he had been busy establishing the formation at the time and paid it no heed. Now, with three days to spare, he utilized Void Flicker directly, arriving at the core deep within the Cangwu Great World. The pressure and temperature at the core of the Cangwu Great World were astonishing. Yet to the current Yaoguang, even the pressure and heat of a supergiant star were insignificant, let alone a world born within a collapsed void node like the Cangwu Great World. Before long, he arrived in the deepest recesses of the world. "A top-grade stellar core. If one could take such a core, it could probably fetch over a hundred thousand Pure Yang Great Pills." Yaoguang sensed the energy saturating the space around him. However... After sensing it for a moment, a strange expression surfaced on his face. "It doesn't seem like it." This void node... truly appeared to have naturally collapsed due to fluctuations in certain cosmic laws. Much like a house perched on a cliff collapsing from an earthquake—a natural phenomenon rather than man-made. "Unless someone wields the power of an 'earthquake,'" Yaoguang murmured. More precisely, the power to shake cosmic laws. Yaoguang observed for a moment, then suddenly activated the Wuji Sword. The power of the Grand Dao of the Void projected onto his body through the Wuji Sword. Instantly, the shifts in the surrounding Grand Dao of the Void presented themselves vividly before his eyes. The Grand Dao of the Void inherently possessed the capacity to bear all things under heaven. By channeling its power onto himself and using it to probe the surroundings, he effectively bound the patch of void containing the Cangwu Great World into an open book—one he could examine and flip through at will, laying bare virtually every secret before his sight. And under this extraordinary vision, the residual traces left by the void node's collapse were gradually captured by Yaoguang... "No matter how I look at it, it is a natural phenomenon at the cosmic level. Only... this natural phenomenon might not be of the sort I understand," Yaoguang remarked. As to whether it matched his suspicion, he would still need to verify it. Three days passed quickly. Aside from Li Hanqiu, Tang Fenghua and a dozen or so cultivators also intended to return with him. Yaoguang said nothing more. The second Dao artifact warship, prepared well in advance, was activated. Under the watchful eyes of Wan Liugui, Li Qingshan, and the others, it slowly ascended into the sky. "We won't head for Beihai Star just yet." In the bridge, Yaoguang unrolled a star chart and promptly marked several coordinates. "First, let us go see these locations. Steer the ship toward them in order of distance." "Yes." Though Li Hanqiu did not understand the purpose, he firmly carried out Yaoguang's command. The warship sailed through the void. In a mere four days, it smoothly arrived at the region Yaoguang had indicated. And here... existed another world similar to the Cangwu Great World. The Tianhe Great World. However, this world was somewhat smaller than the Cangwu Great World, spanning merely eight million li across. Moreover, perhaps owing to better fortune, it had never suffered an invasion by demonic cultivators, and the entire world was calm and tranquil. "Wait aboard the warship for now. I will go down and take a look." With that, Yaoguang executed a Void Flicker and appeared within the world. His formidable divine sense rapidly expanded, soon enveloping the entire world... "The ancient cultivation system..." Yaoguang mused inwardly. "There are three Soul Formation cultivators, several hundred Nascent Souls, and tens of thousands of Golden Cores..." Without disturbing the three Soul Formation cultivators who reigned supreme over this realm, he went straight into the depths of the world's stellar core, searching for traces just as he had at Cangwu's core. Compared to the Cangwu Great World, the traces of the void node's collapse deep within this world were far more difficult to locate. Had Yaoguang not searched with the conviction that something was amiss here, he would not have found a shred of useful information. It took him nearly half a month just to barely uncover signs that this void node had been destroyed. Yet these signs... likewise pointed toward a cosmic disaster. Yaoguang pondered, gathered the data, and departed silently without alerting anyone in the world. Even the three Soul Formation Venerables of this world had no inkling that an overlord capable of dominating galactic scales had visited their domain. "On to the next target," Yaoguang instructed upon returning to the warship. Li Hanqiu resumed piloting the vessel. This time, they flew for six days, once again arriving at a region resembling the Cangwu Great World. Observing this, Li Hanqiu could not help but sigh with emotion. "It turns out there are so many worlds like our Cangwu Great World out there—they are merely somewhat smaller in scale." Yaoguang did not reply, proceeding to investigate this world as well. This investigation took another half month. Upon his return, they hurried without pause toward the fourth location. And not just the fourth. Then came the fifth, the sixth, the eighth, the tenth, the fifteenth... Initially, Yaoguang had appeared to be searching casually, but the more he searched, the more he seemed to discover. In the end, it took a full three years. Over those three years, using void nodes and the Dao artifact warship's ability to traverse the void, they crossed a distance of no less than ten million light-years. This also caused Li Hanqiu's expression to grow increasingly solemn as he piloted the vessel. After all, Yaoguang had clearly stated that he needed to return to Beihai Star as soon as possible, yet he had lingered on the road for so long. Anyone could tell he had uncovered something. And for something to warrant such grave caution from an expert ranked on the Dao Lord Candidate List like Yaoguang... ... "Shall we proceed to the twenty-fifth location?" Watching Yaoguang reappear aboard the warship, Li Hanqiu promptly asked for instructions. "No need," Yaoguang said, quickly opening the star chart. Then... He connected the twenty-four locations he had visited over these past years. Between the twenty-four nodes, a line was ingeniously formed... Yaoguang then extended this line following the same pattern: the line curved into an arc, expanding further and further until it formed a circle. A circle... spanning an immeasurable scale. Seeing the scale represented by this circle, let alone a Void Piercing cultivator like Li Hanqiu, even Yaoguang—already a figure of renown on Beihai Star—felt an indescribable shock. "One billion light-years!?" Li Hanqiu glanced at the numbers plotted on the star chart and couldn't help asking, "What is this?" Yaoguang did not answer immediately. Instead, he paused for a long time, then reached out to manipulate the star chart, expanding the circle into a sphere! Finally... A supergiant sphere with a diameter of one billion light-years materialized before their eyes. Only then did Yaoguang offer an explanation: "A cosmic catastrophe." Yet immediately afterward, he shook his head again. "However, a cosmic catastrophe alone cannot explain this... Rather than a catastrophe..." He thought of how the void nodes across every single location had collapsed in identical fashion. "I am more inclined to believe... it was the destruction of a civilization, or even... the energy release from the fall of a great existence."