C1245 Cross Realm
In an obscure corner of the Illusion Starfield, Chu Yao leaned against the frigid rock wall, gazing into the depths of the cave. He had conjured the Void Mirror and now observed Pei Yuling, who seemed lost in a trance.
Chu Yao couldn't shake the feeling that a sinister cold pervaded the cave.
Pei Yuling's eyes, reflected in the Void Mirror, were empty and lifeless. Devoid of the sparkle of human emotion, they resembled cold, hard pebbles.
Despite Chu Yao's repeated calls, Pei Yuling remained unresponsive, as if his soul had vacated his body.
Aware of the perils lurking in every corner of the Illusion Starfield, Chu Yao was eager to make a swift exit. Pei Yuling's continued lack of response only heightened his sense of urgency, prompting him to call out once more, "Mr. Pei? Mr. Pei?!"
Time seemed to stretch on before Pei Yuling finally snapped out of it.
Jolting as if awakening from a profound nightmare, he was drenched in sweat, his face contorted with fear and anxiety.
He gasped for air while luminescent energy, reminiscent of fireflies, streamed from tiny fissures nearby, flowing into his body.
This process appeared to ground him, and he slowly regained his composure. "Oh, Chu Yao, there's no need to worry. We're quite safe in the Illusion Starfield," Pei Yuling assured him, his voice steadying as a smile returned to his face. "We can leave at any moment. Let me assess our current situation."
With a gesture, Pei Yuling infused the hovering Void Mirror with a sphere of white light, pressing it onto the surface. With a 'pop', a multitude of scenes unfurled within the mirror.
Chu Yao narrowed his eyes, attempting to discern the rapid succession of images, but their secrets eluded him.
Pei Yuling's face grew somber as he blurted out, "Barol has arrived!"
"Barol? The current Patriarch of the Curtis family, the leader of the Star Race?" Chu Yao exclaimed, alarmed.
"The situation is dire," Pei Yuling said with a sharp intake of breath. With a sweep of his sleeve, he stowed the Void Mirror. "Chu Yao, we can't linger in the Illusion Starfield any longer. Barol, with his Tenth Level bloodline, is beyond the capabilities of Zhu Huan, Fu Xuanwen, and the rest. We were invited here; we didn't come to lay down our lives!"
After finishing his statement, he took Chu Yao by the arm and left.
The battered warship sped through the Illusion Starfield, on the verge of departing from this realm. Inside, Yu Yuan listened to Alien Demon Qiyan recount the connection between Pei Yuling and the Origin Realm, while his gaze rested on the slumbering Luan Bird Queen.
Hmm!
He inwardly exclaimed, suddenly sensing that Pei Yuling's watchful presence had vanished completely.
At that moment, Alien Demon Qiyan ceased all mention of the Origin Realm and turned his pitiful gaze to Xie Binn of the Clouds Sect, pleading, "Could you strip away the clusters of lightning from within my Celestial Star Beast body?" The green lightning balls, the size of fingertips, had been forcibly inserted by Wei Zhuo of the Thunder Sect.
The presence of the lightning balls caused Qiyan unbearable pain, yet he was powerless to remove them. Wei Zhuo, as the current Sect Master of the Thunder Sect, had crafted these lightning balls that were incessantly dissolving Qiyan's soul power and the seven toxic rivers he had refined.
Qiyan's desperate attempts to ingratiate himself with Yu Yuan stemmed from sensing the fear that Fu Xuanwen, Cao Jiaze, and others harbored towards Yu Yuan due to Chen Qinghuang. Moreover, Xie Binn, wielding the Ice Thunder Mark, had aligned himself with Yu Yuan. Only Xie Binn, with the Ice Thunder Mark, could possibly extract the lightning balls from the Celestial Star Beast's body, sparing Qiyan from further torment.
"What do you say?" Xie Binn didn't immediately consent; instead, he turned his attention to the contemplative Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan gave Alien Demon Qiyan a brief glance. Qiyan's eyes, ablaze with vivid flames, conveyed a desperate plea. "For her sake, please, forgive me."
Yu Yuan gave a slight nod.
Xie Binn joyfully invoked the Ice Thunder Mark. With this renowned thunderous artifact, he enveloped the Celestial Star Beast possessed by Qiyan. The lightning balls hidden within, brimming with pure lightning power, could be absorbed by the Ice Thunder Mark. For Xie Binn and Qiyan, this was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"Once we've left the Illusion Starfield, make your departure swiftly. Otherwise, I fear I won't be able to resist the urge to end you."
Yu Yuan furrowed his brow, thinking that if it weren't for Yu Zhu, he would have had Xie Binn obliterate the Qiyan, born of filth and deadly poison, with the Ice Thunder Mark.
"That yellow sun!"
Han Dan of the Silver Moon Sect exclaimed from the rear of the warship.
Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes and could make out a ring of starlight encircling the yellow sun in the Illusion Starfield, as if a magical force was enveloping and shielding the sun.
"Barol of the Star Race must be arriving," Kin Haolong murmured, a surge of excitement within him. He then added with a hint of schadenfreude, "It's a good thing we withdrew quickly and didn't linger. I bet Xu Jingyao, Cao Jiaze, and the others are in for a rough time. Barol is one of the Star Race's mightiest warriors, ranking among the top ten in the vast Starfield."
As they mentioned Barol, both Kin Haolong and Han Dan, also of the Silver Moon Sect, showed a look of deep respect. It was becoming increasingly clear that many of the Silver Moon Sect's Spiritual Spells and secret techniques originated from the Star Race.
"We're almost out," Elena said, gazing into the distant gray expanse with a mix of hope and anxiety.
She hadn't spotted a single twinkling star ahead, nor any trace of the sun or moon. "We're nearing the Deep Starfield, one of the most notorious Outer Battlefields. I'm hoping it's tranquil inside."
"Deep Starfield," Xie Binn said, his expression pained.
Distracted by Elena and Xie Binn, Yu Yuan, who had been contemplating the Origin Realm and Pei Yuling, asked, "The Deep Starfield... Is it that infamous?"
"It's where his first Yang God Body was destroyed," Rong Xun clarified.
Yu Yuan was taken aback.
With a bitter expression, Xie Binn nodded and recounted, "We clashed with a team from the Silver Scale Clan and Dark Elfkind and couldn't escape in time. After all these years, I never thought I'd have another chance to return to the Deep Starfield. But this time... I hope our luck has turned."
"You call that being unlucky?" Elena quipped, her lips twisting.
Her mood turned somber as she stared into the starless night sky, murmuring, "Every century, thousands upon thousands of our Asura Clan's warriors fall in the Deep Starfield, and they are always our High Rank kin. The Star Race, Dark Elfkind, Silver Scale Clan, and others have been slain in droves by your Yang Gods. The numbers are beyond count."
"Many of my close uncles also vanished in the Deep Starfield. After we were reduced to outlaws, a significant number of our warriors perished there."
She paused.
Continuing, she said, "The ancestral homes and realms of various races in the Epitaxial Realm were largely located within the Deep Starfield. It was turned into a gruesome Outer Battlefield because your Human Clan and the Great Demons used it as a playground to rack up military achievements."
"Their domains were shattered, leaving them less than dead stars."
"All that remains are innumerable meteorites and rocks, filling the Deep Starfield. The sun, the moon, and the stars have all been obliterated by the racial wars."
Elena spoke with a voice laden with hatred as she recounted the origins of the Starfield before them.
Rong Xun and the others wore somber expressions and remained silent.
They wanted to point out that wars between different races have always been brutal, often ending with the complete defeat and subjugation of one group.
"Deep Starfield..."
Alien Demon Qiyan, merged with the Celestial Star Beast, appeared restless and ready, as if preparing for a significant confrontation in the Deep Starfield.
"Hehe, I hope you manage to survive in there," Kin Haolong sneered with a strange laugh.
Yu Yuan massaged his temples, his thoughts not on the Deep Starfield but still focused on the Origin Realm and Pei Yuling. He repeatedly whispered "Origin Realm" to himself, hoping to awaken memories from his first life.
Regrettably, his wish remained unfulfilled.
His former self seemed to have no knowledge or memories of the Origin Realm's secrets.
Days passed in this manner.
Yu Yuan, meditating in silence, was jolted awake by the warship's subtle vibrations. He looked around at the starry expanse with astonishment and decisively left the vessel.
Whoosh!
He materialized in an unfamiliar and intriguing Starfield.
Before him lay countless meteorites of varying sizes, scattered everywhere.
Many meteorites bore the clear marks of blade cuts, with crumbled mountains and fallen palaces among them. There were ancient skeletons, remnants of various warships, and shattered weapons.
The landscape was desolate and forlorn, reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, stretching out before him.
Yu Yuan stood in a Starfield devoid of sun, moon, and stars, where an eerie silence and barrenness pervaded, and signs of battle were everywhere. His blood seemed to pulse faster as he contemplated the hidden dangers lurking in unseen shadows—formidable humans, fierce demons, and alien beasts that feasted on the flesh of various races, along with the frenzied warriors of powerful clans.
"This is the Deep Starfield," Elena said as she emerged, gazing numbly at the endless field of shattered meteorites. "Before it became a battleground for extraterrestrial conflicts, it was a haven under the dominion of the Dark Elfkind. Many from the Silver Scale Clan, Fire Lizard Tribe, and Rock Clan made their homes in this secluded corner of the cosmos."
"The people from the various races you encountered in the Epitaxial Realm largely originated from here. This Starfield was once as vibrant as the Illusion Starfield, teeming with life and celestial bodies, where many thrived in harmony."
"Then one day, a sagacious practitioner akin to Pei Yuling clandestinely constructed a Galaxy Crossing."
"Once the Galaxy Crossing was secretly completed, throngs of Yang Gods and formidable demons began to arrive in groups, initially slaughtering the Dark Elfkind's elite. Overwhelmed, the Dark Elfkind's neighbors—the Star Race warriors from the Illusion Starfield, the Silver Scale Clan from the Silver Sand Starfield, and mighty combatants from other clans—proactively sought out battles with the humans and demons."
"Gradually, the landscape was torn asunder, the Sun Moon Star City was obliterated, and the Deep Starfield was transformed into its current state."
"In a way, this is beneficial. The Deep Starfield has become an infamous Outer Battlefield, drawing in a continuous stream of vicious contenders eager to join the fray."
