“You didn’t say it—you of course didn’t say it!!” Yang Hao roared furiously, “Me? Being the leader won’t be dangerous at all, right? I’ll just sit in an air-conditioned room all day, chilling out and flirting with pretty girls.”
“That’s right, that’s right,” Steve nodded vigorously, “The future vision is indeed something like that—a kind of dream, if you will. But first, you must pass the special training of the Celestials.”
“A suicide mission?” Yang Hao couldn’t help shivering involuntarily. He finally realized where the problem lay. The worries of Hunyuanzi, the concerns of Empress Ming, and his own vague sense of unease—all pointed to this very thing. “Wasn’t it supposed to be just some special training from the Celestials, learning a few skills? When did it turn into a suicide mission?”
“This is a long story,” Steve said smugly, watching Yang Hao sit dazedly on the treacherous leadership chair, and began speaking slowly with a hint of satisfaction in his tone. “Many years ago, the Celestials approached our Resistance Alliance and proposed a collaboration. They believed the Empire had gone too far, so they agreed to help us select and train the leaders of our resistance movement.”
“So what’s wrong with that?” Yang Hao couldn’t detect any issues in that.
“What’s wrong? Nothing at all—actually, it was great news,” Steve got excited again. “So we started sending our alliance leaders to the Celestials regularly for training.”
“Regularly?” Yang Hao’s heart sank. He’d heard of making regular loan payments, but never of regularly sending leaders. Did this Resistance Alliance really have that many leaders?
Steve hadn’t finished yet. He continued, counting on his fingers, “In the first five years, we sent thirty candidates each year. Then, for the next ten years, we could only send ten. Later, as talent became scarce, we sent only two or three candidates regularly. But in recent years, no one has been willing to take the position of Grand Leader, so…”
“Wait, wait!” Yang Hao interrupted decisively, “What do you mean—five years, ten years? Let me get this straight—are you telling me that every single person we sent for training became the Grand Leader of the Alliance?”
“That’s right! Exactly!”
“Then where are they now? After finishing the training, shouldn’t they have led the Resistance against the Empire?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Steve’s expression turned slightly uneasy, forcing a weak smile, “But if they didn’t complete the training, they naturally couldn’t become leaders, and thus…
“Are you saying…” Yang Hao’s eyes widened in horror, “All those who were once Grand Leaders are dead? Not a single one came back?”
“Bingo! Full marks! Ten bonus points!” Steve burst out joyfully, “You’re truly a gifted leader, Mr. Yang Hao! You guessed it right away!”
Like hell! Yang Hao was so scared he nearly lost his soul. He now fully understood—this wasn’t a meeting to choose a Grand Leader at all; it was a meeting to send someone to their death. No wonder the leaders of these star systems were so humble and generous, handing such an important position to a nobody like Yang Hao, a young upstart with no reputation whatsoever.
Herd slowly crawled over the table. Seeing that Yang Hao had already figured everything out, he decided to clarify further, “The place they’ll send you for training is a hidden Celestial sanctuary located near the Trinary Crystal Sea star system, known as the Suffocating Black Hole.”
“The Suffocating Black Hole!” Hunyuanzi cried out in horror, “Oh my god! Surely you don’t mean that Suffocating Black Hole?”
Herd, somehow able to hear Hunyuanzi’s voice, replied casually, “There’s only one Suffocating Black Hole in the entire universe. If it’s not that one, then which one could it be?”
“Oh my god!” This time, even Hunyuanzi, a thousand-year-old ghost, nearly fainted.
Although Yang Hao didn’t fully grasp the gravity of the situation yet, from Hunyuanzi’s despairing scream, he could already tell how serious it was. It wasn’t surprising Yang Hao didn’t know—the Suffocating Black Hole had long become a forbidden topic. For decades, no one dared even speak its name, let alone approach it.
Check the latest version of the interstellar navigation charts. All star systems and transit routes within the Empire’s territory are meticulously recorded. To ensure safe interstellar travel, countless Astral Navigators had sacrificed their lives to identify and mark thousands of cosmic traps.
These cosmic traps include terrifying monster planets, asteroid fields, space junkyards, and massive black hole clusters. These hazards are categorized into five levels on the charts, allowing travelers to avoid them in advance. The most dangerous and terrifying ones are classified as Level Five—places every astronaut fears and avoids at all costs.
Yet there are five cosmic traps even more dangerous than Level Five, which are not included in the five-level classification system and are absent from the navigation charts altogether. These five traps have already consumed thousands of Astral Navigators, yet no one has ever managed to uncover their true horrors. They are so deadly that every real astronaut is thoroughly briefed about these five certain-death cosmic traps before even touching a spaceship. Even in their wildest dreams, no pilot would dare steer their ship toward those areas.
The Suffocating Black Hole is one of these five super-traps. In fact, aside from the Empire’s own astronauts, practically no one even knows the name of this black hole.
Hunyuanzi had learned of the black hole’s terror through a different, accidental encounter. Back in the days long before the Empire’s founding, Hunyuanzi had suffered a devastating attack by his enemies, and was relentlessly pursued by their sect. Forced to escape, he left his physical body behind and fled into space in his infant soul form.
At that time, Hunyuanzi had not yet lived a thousand years. His infant soul was still powerful—though not yet at the level of ascension, he was close enough to freely travel between planets, unafraid of cosmic radiation, and even capable of destroying small black holes with a single strike.
But everything changed the day Hunyuanzi encountered the Suffocating Black Hole. As he flew near the Trinary Crystal Sea system, he felt a powerful force pulling him in. At first, he paid it no mind—he had faced black holes before. Though their suction was strong, a simple release of his energy would shatter them into dust.
This time, however, was different. Hunyuanzi unleashed all his spiritual energy, but the black hole not only remained intact—it grew stronger and larger. It was as if the black hole were alive, not only immune to his attacks but actually absorbing his energy to fuel itself.
In the end, Hunyuanzi became the very source of the black hole’s power. The more he struggled, the more tightly he was pulled in, until he was utterly powerless to resist.
Fortunately, just as all seemed lost, Hunyuanzi was rescued by a Celestial who used an extremely strange method to save him. But after that incident, Hunyuanzi’s power was never the same. He could no longer seek revenge, and to survive, he had to hide inside a pill. That was precisely why he now found himself trapped inside Yang Hao’s stomach.
Having suffered greatly at the hands of the Suffocating Black Hole, Hunyuanzi naturally wasted no time in telling Yang Hao about his terrifying experience. This revelation sent chills down Yang Hao’s spine.
After all, if even the mighty Hunyuanzi of that time couldn’t withstand the black hole’s pull, how could Yang Hao, who was nowhere near that level, hope to survive? Though Yang Hao had now reached the Harmony Stage of cultivation and wielded a few flying swords, they were mostly for show. In a real fight against a true expert, he would have died thousands of times over.
“You’re all insane! You want me to go into the Suffocating Black Hole? That’s a one-way trip!” Yang Hao shouted furiously at Herd, spraying spittle everywhere. “You perverted old freak, you can go on your stupid suicide mission yourself!”
“I’d love to go, but I’m not the Alliance Leader,” Herd, the old monster, actually chuckled, looking at Yang Hao as if he were a fool.
Seeing Yang Hao’s face darken, Steve tried to smooth things over, “It’s not that bad, Leader Yang Hao. According to the Celestials, anyone who passes their training can freely enter and exit the Suffocating Black Hole. Otherwise, how would the Celestials themselves come and go?”
Indeed, as a leader of the Trinary Crystal Sea system, Steve’s words carried more weight than a mere bear’s. Yang Hao nodded slightly, feeling a bit reassured. Although the Suffocating Black Hole was terrifying, the promise of Celestial training was tempting enough.
But Herd wasn’t done scaring him yet. He added, “It’s not just the black hole you have to worry about. The real issue is the Celestials themselves. Do you even know what kind of beings they are?”
“The same as Saint Bear, right?” Yang Hao wasn’t some ignorant bumpkin who had never seen a Celestial before.
Herd shook his head so hard that lice flew out, “Saint Bear is one of the kindest and weakest among the Celestials. The real Celestials come in many different races and temperaments. There are the fearsome Kadith Dragons—ugly creatures that breathe dragon fire and eat humans daily. There are the Flash Clan Celestials, who control time itself—deciding when you live and when you die. These Celestials are not very friendly toward humans. If you displease them even slightly, they might just end your life.”
Yang Hao stared at Herd with wide eyes, making Herd feel extremely uneasy.
“Uh…scary stuff, just legends, you know…just legends.”
“Legends, my ass!” Yang Hao exploded. He grabbed Steve by the collar, “Tell me the truth—did the Celestials eat everyone we sent in before? Did they??”
“How should I know? I’ve never been sent in myself,” Steve replied, feigning innocence with a look of grievance. “You’re the Alliance Leader, not me!”
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