The group had been traveling at a rapid pace, dashing for a full day and night. They finally felt they were far enough from the core area to take a slight breather.
Among them, Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan had higher cultivation levels and an abundance of mystical arts. In contrast, Zhao Yuying was not as adept at long-distance high-speed travel and panted heavily when they stopped. Qian Ye, who was carrying Wei Po Tian, was also exhausted. Fortunately, they no longer sensed the intensely dangerous and terrifying threat that had previously loomed over them.
After setting up camp, everyone was too drained to speak, immediately focusing on cultivating to recover their energy. Song Zining, however, set up a perimeter around the camp with floating leaves, serving as a warning system.
Qian Ye, with his bloodline constitution, could recover quickly as long as he had vital blood. After circulating the ancient Song clan scroll’s chapter on radiance, his original force was nearly replenished. He opened his eyes and glanced around, noticing that Ji Tianqing, who had recovered the fastest, had only restored just over half of her original force.
With some time to spare, Qian Ye took out the Book of Black and examined it carefully.
When he opened the Book of Black, the first page finally had an additional line: “Chapter Two: Prosperity.”
Originally, after the origin chapter, there should have been a refining chapter, but now the word “refinement” was not only smaller but also moved to the bottom of the page, placed in a section akin to an addendum or postscript. This chapter on prosperity was the true second chapter of the Book of Black.
With a thought, Qian Ye flipped to the origin chapter. He had read this chapter countless times; it began in a void, with a speck of light appearing, then expanding, stretching out in all directions.
Yes, a void, not nothingness. It was from the Book of Black that Qian Ye learned that the void was also a form of existence, and before the void, there was only nothing—no space, no time, no matter, and no soul. That darkness did not exist.
Only when the void expanded did the world come into being.
Despite having read it many times, Qian Ye still found it hard to grasp what existed before the expansion of the void. From where did the void occupy? Describing nothingness in words was easy, but imagining it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Qian Ye put these thoughts aside and turned to Chapter Two: Prosperity.
As the ancient characters for prosperity suggested, in this chapter, myriad things began to emerge from the initial light. Light transformed into mist, mist into clouds, and within the clouds, stars gradually appeared, along with dimly lit celestial bodies. More and more stars and celestial bodies formed, and in many places, patches of land emerged, forming independent small worlds.
This scene, akin to a creation myth, was grand and magnificent, leaving Qian Ye breathless and almost overwhelmed.
In an instant, the sky was filled with countless stars. Each celestial body, each patch of land, was a world, symbolizing prosperity.
Though the Book of Black was small, it could manifest millions of worlds within its confines. Yet, this profound ability, while impressive, seemed to have no significant practical use. At least, Qian Ye could not see how it would help him enhance his own power.
In the Book of Black, the world’s evolution was but a fleeting moment. Qian Ye opened his eyes and saw that not much time had passed. Ji Tianqing had only recovered about 80% of her original force and needed a bit more rest. The others needed even more time. So, he once again immersed himself in the Book of Black, experiencing the evolving world.
After viewing it several times, Qian Ye had a thought and tried to focus his consciousness on a particular star. As he concentrated, the Book of Black began to draw blood qi and original force. The star gradually magnified, becoming the size of a grain of rice, revealing a burning fireball.
Around the star, faint mists rotated, forming a ring of light. If this star were in the real world, it would be enormous, and the ring of light even more vast. Qian Ye had no idea how to calculate its size.
Looking at the Book of Black, Qian Ye felt as if he were gazing at the entire universe. In this world, his consciousness was incredibly minuscule, and the vast expanse of space and time made him shudder involuntarily.
Suddenly, Qian Ye had a realization and exclaimed, “That’s the original force of the void!”
In the ring of light, the originally formless and intangible void original force was so dense that it glowed subtly. One could imagine how concentrated it must be.
Observing the ring of light, Qian Ye suddenly found it similar to the original force vortex. The human cultivation process, where original force transforms from qi to liquid and forms a vortex, was somewhat like the formation of nebulae from star mists in the world’s creation. The central star, wasn’t it the original crystal that one aims to refine after the god generals?
Qian Ye observed more closely and indeed saw countless tiny points of original force being drawn into the central star, transforming into fiery light and dispersing into the cold, dark depths of the void.
Recalling the previous world’s evolution, Qian Ye had an epiphany. Human cultivation, it seemed, was in harmony with the great principle of the creation of heaven and earth. The ancestors who pioneered this path for humans must have possessed extraordinary talent.
Amidst his shock, Qian Ye felt a new question arise.
He had gazed at the stars, sailed across continents, and briefly experienced the void during a fight with Lin Jiaer. Whether in the Western Continent, the Overland, or Evernight, the stars in the sky looked the same, unchanged.
The records left by the empire’s past supreme powerhouses indicated that the stars in the sky were extremely distant, beyond imagination. Beyond the stars and land, the void was almost completely empty, cold and desolate.
Many of those supreme powerhouses explored the void with the resolve to never return. Indeed, given the immense distance, even a blood race’s ten-thousand-year lifespan might not be enough to reach those stars.
So, how did the ancestors who created the path of cultivation for humans know about the world’s evolution?
Qian Ye knew there was no answer. Perhaps those ancestors had something like the Book of Black.
Knowing the origin of the human cultivation path, Qian Ye’s mindset subtly changed. He decided to let go of his thoughts and quietly experience the transformation of the myriad worlds.
Gradually, his aura became ethereal, with a strange, indescribable quality.
Immersed in this state for some time, Qian Ye suddenly felt a warning in his heart, pulling him back from his trance.
The ground trembled slightly, and the air was thick with killing intent. The sky was no longer dark but had an eerie green-golden hue, with auroras resembling lightning. Even the most oblivious person would sense the danger. Qian Ye was shocked, wondering why he hadn’t reacted sooner.
In the camp, everyone awoke, their faces grim. Song Zining grabbed a floating leaf and crushed it, his face darkening. “They are outside my domain’s alert range, so I didn’t detect them. But how did they know we were resting here and silently surround us?”
Qian Ye frowned. “We weren’t slow. How could they catch up?”
Surrounded on all sides, it was clear that a large force had arrived. One or two powerful beasts might have caught up, but Qian Ye and his companions had been moving fast, and only a wolf king of the god general level could have followed.
Ji Tianqing spoke up, “This is the Great Vortex, their territory. Anything can happen.”
“What do we do now?” Zhao Yuying, always impulsive, asked. However, as the strongest of the young generation, they could make decisions, especially with Song Zining, the future military god, among them.
Song Zining and Ji Tianqing whispered briefly. “Gather together and break through. Go this way!”
Qian Ye looked in the direction Song Zining pointed and saw that the killing intent was weaker there, though it wasn’t towards the imperial fortress.
Zhao Yuying frowned. “Isn’t this the wrong direction?”
“They intercepted us here, so they probably have an ambush set up towards the fortress.”
“Are they that smart?” Zhao Yuying was amazed.
Song Zining took a deep breath. “We don’t know what’s out there, but they managed to surround us, so they must be clever.”
Ji Tianqing added, “Let’s break through first.”
Everyone agreed, forming a small battle formation. Qian Ye led the charge, with Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan, both powerful, on either side. Zhao Yuying, skilled in shooting, was in the center, and Wei Po Tian brought up the rear, with Song Zining in support. In an instant, the formation was ready.
Qian Ye suppressed his aura and advanced, intending to get close before launching a surprise attack.
However, when still a hundred meters away, the killing intent ahead intensified, and the sides closed in quickly.
Qian Ye realized they had been detected and sprinted at full speed.
In the night, countless tall figures appeared, their fierce auras overwhelming. Four-armed warriors, holding various weapons, looked especially menacing in the darkness.
Seeing the four-armed warriors, Qian Ye felt a bit relieved. He had encountered them many times in high-gravity zones and was familiar with them. This time, however, there were more of them, a dense, uncountable mass. Their numbers were staggering.
Wondering where so many four-armed warriors came from, Qian Ye roared, activating his spatial flash and instantly appearing in their midst. The power of his oceanic vortex domain surged, exerting immense pressure.
The four-armed warriors, used to tenfold gravity, moved more freely under the ocean’s power, closing in on Qian Ye.
Exactly what Qian Ye wanted. His pupils flashed red, and countless fine blood lines shot out, piercing the surrounding four-armed warriors.
Vitality plunder!
This move, with Qian Ye’s improved bloodline, was now more potent. The fine blood lines pierced the warriors’ strong bodies, often piercing multiple warriors before dissipating.
The blood lines retracted, each carrying a crystalline drop of vital blood. The warriors’ blood was abundant, comparable to a dark race noble. With so much vital blood, Qian Ye felt as if he would burst, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
The pierced warriors staggered, but only a dozen fell. The rest, despite their weakened state, were still alive, showing their resilience.
Struck by the vitality plunder, the four-armed warriors in the area were weakened. The group charged through, breaking the encirclement and fleeing into the distance.
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