Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 150 Space Boat

After leaving the Ancestral God Palace, Xuan Gu's clone returned to Zijing Island via the Rainbow Bridge.

As soon as he landed, he saw Venerable Linglong leaning against a jade pillar at the palace entrance. Her moon-white gauze dress was lifted by the evening breeze, revealing a silver chain swaying lightly on her exposed ankle. Upon seeing him return, she immediately came to greet him.

"Xuan Gu, the Ancestral God has summoned you. Is there something important?"

Xuan Gu's clone slowed his pace, his 300-kilometer-long body leaning slightly forward, his voice deep and muffled like a stone roller: "It's nothing serious, he just asked me about joining the Zerg."

He paused for a moment and then said truthfully, "The Ancestral God instructed me not to arbitrarily attack the inheritors of various races."

"Oh?" Venerable Linglong raised an eyebrow. "Did he say anything else? For example... what benefits did he bestow upon you?"

"They gave me a top-tier palace treasure called 'Zhenxing Palace'," Xuan Gu's clone said frankly.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Linglong chuckled, her laughter like a wind chime striking jade: "The Ancestral God is indeed generous."

She suddenly stopped laughing, sighed softly, and slid her fingertips down his shoulder to his wrist. Her tone was tinged with regret, "Speaking of which, I was originally going to ask you for a favor—that human Ling Xuan is currently making waves in the secret realm. He can be said to be the most outstanding expert besides you. I was hoping you could kill him..."

Before she could finish speaking, she deliberately paused, looked up at him, and seemed to have a shimmering light in her eyes: "But now it seems that I was being presumptuous. Since the Ancestral God said not to let you interfere, it is naturally not appropriate to bring it up again."

Xuan Gu's clone chuckled inwardly. This insectoid race was indeed still eyeing him. But he remained outwardly calm and said in a low voice, "The Ancestral God has given an order, and it is indeed not easy to disobey."

Seeing his expression, Venerable Linglong took a half step back, tidied her wind-blown hair, and smiled again: "Don't take it to heart."

She took two steps closer, almost touching his side, and lowered her voice, carrying a hint of intimate ambiguity, "My Zerg recruited you, not to be your henchman. Someone like you should be standing shoulder to shoulder with us, not someone's weapon."

She looked up at his rocky jawline, her eyes gentle as if filled with water: "Besides, we're friends, how can we make things difficult for you over something like this? No matter how talented Ling Xuan is, our insectoid race's experts will handle him. You can focus on your cultivation."

“Come on, I’ve had some fine wine prepared. Shall we go to my temple for a seat? Consider it… a celebration of the ancestral god’s blessing.”

Xuan Gu's clone looked at the genuine smile in her eyes and felt that this insect queen was quite shrewd. She had both revealed her purpose and given him a way out, showing a genuine sincerity in trying to win her over. He nodded: "Alright."

The two walked side by side toward the palace. The evening breeze lifted the Linglong Venerable's gauze skirt, brushing against the stone body of Xuangu's clone, leaving a faint floral fragrance.

Xuan Gu's clone gazed at the swaying figure ahead, pondering to himself: The Zerg's scheme is shrewd, but they don't know that Ling Xuan, whom they're so determined to eliminate, is standing right beside them. My undercover work paid off; I've obtained my intelligence.

Stepping into the palace of the Venerable Linglong, one is greeted by a faint fragrance of flowers. Several firefly lamps hang from the ceiling, casting a soft glow on the jade floor.

Linglong Venerable turned and sat down on the jade couch, gesturing for Xuan Gu's clone to sit down, and then ordered Nu Ou to serve a wine cup that shimmered with amber light.

"Try this, 'Flowing Clouds Brew,' made with morning dew from the nebula and the rare spiritual plant Purple Ganoderma lucidum. It's beneficial for understanding the laws of nature." She picked up the wine cup and handed it to him, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against his palm.

Xuan Gu's clone took the wine cup, his fingertips tracing the cool jade surface: "You just said you wanted me to kill Ling Xuan. Is he very troublesome?"

Linglong Venerable smiled upon hearing this and adjusted her skirt: "Indeed, it is troublesome. Not long ago, the opponent obtained the first treasure that the Ancestral God placed in the Treasure Mountain. Then, using this first treasure as a prize, he challenged the triple inheritors of various races in the battle world. As triple inheritors, there are a total of 90 million people in the entire Ancestral God Sect. Among them, more than 80 million strong people launched challenges for that first treasure, but the result was a crushing defeat. He won more than 80 million battles in a row."

Her tone carried a hint of reproach, but her eyes glanced at the reaction of Xuan Gu's clone.

"So powerful? But he's just an Immortal, nothing special." Xuan Gu's clone brought the wine cup to his lips, took a sip, and his voice remained deep and muffled.

"This Ling Xuan is incredibly arrogant, claiming to be a disciple of the founder of the Giant Axe." Venerable Linglong also picked up her wine cup, took a sip, and lightly licked her lips with her tongue. "Previously, even Venerable Bone-Eating of my insect race couldn't kill him, who was still at the Domain Lord level. Venerable Bone-Eating's strength is no weaker than mine..."

She paused deliberately, as if considering her words.

Xuan Gu's clone raised his eyes: "So there's absolutely nothing we can do about him? I remember that the highest combat power among the major forces in the Ancestral God Sect is only at the Universe Overlord level, right?"

Venerable Linglong put down her wine cup, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice: "Ling Xuan stays on Zijing Island, protected by the rules of the Ancestral God Sect and the Five-Colored Aurora Lake, so it's not easy for him to make a move. But sooner or later he will go to the secret realm to train, and then..." Her eyes flickered with a hint of ruthlessness, "The three of us will join forces and ambush him on the way."

"Surround and kill him?" Xuan Gu's clone feigned surprise.

"It can't be considered a complete encirclement and kill," Venerable Linglong chuckled. "Ling Xuan has many trump cards, so it won't be easy to kill him completely. We only hope to kill him once, so that after he is fully resurrected, he will lose his heaven-defying opportunity and become just an ordinary person."

Venerable Linglong spoke casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, “Xuan Gu, just pretend you don’t know anything about this. Since the Ancestral God doesn’t want you to get involved, just watch with peace of mind.”

Xuan Gu's clone nodded and placed the wine cup on the table: "I understand." In his mind, however, he had already memorized the information—the demon race, the mechanical race, and the insect race had joined forces, and their target was after he left Zijing Island.

However, he could also do the opposite and give the powerful members of the various clans a small surprise.

Xuan Gu's clone picked up the wine cup and took a small sip.

At the same time, I also took the time to observe the area outside my palace. Sure enough, there were powerful figures from various races watching my movements from the shadows these past few days.

As soon as I leave the palace, they will pass on my information.

Unfortunately, Ling Xuan's true form has no plans to take action for the time being.

He was waiting for his Nether Sea clone to expand, and when it could no longer expand, he would immediately break through to the Universe Venerable level.

……

During this time, the primordial universe was in turmoil, but Ling Xuan's Zhouheng clone continued to head towards the spaceship according to its predetermined goal.

Ling Xuan teleported for several more minutes.

Suddenly the scenery changed; the chaotic air currents thinned considerably, and an incredibly shocking scene appeared in the distance.

"This this……"

Ling Xuan stood in the void, gazing at the incredible scenery hundreds of millions of light-years away. Even though he had seen it in documents, seeing a real 'spaceship' for the first time was still incredibly awe-inspiring.

An endless, majestic spaceship...

It was an incredibly massive, damaged ship, tens of millions of light-years high and hundreds of millions of light-years long. Its entire body was a deep black mixed with a bewitching purple, and even Ling Xuan, hundreds of millions of light-years away, could see countless cracks and holes in the ship's hull.

It's like a ship that's been pierced by a barrage of lasers and then cleaved by a multitude of giant swords... It's completely wrecked!

"Boom!" A tremendous force of attraction was released from the spaceship, frantically devouring the surrounding chaotic airflow, making the chaotic airflow around it perpetually thin.

The devouring of chaotic energy caused the entire spaceship to constantly unleash boundless power. Enormous rivers of flame encircled the spaceship, while a vast sea of ​​icy air enveloped it, within which glittering, mirror-like ice could be faintly seen... At the same time, massive vortexes of wind raged around it...

Crack!

Giant electric snakes, each tens of thousands of light-years long, raged and roared.

The dazzling rays of light in various colors were so eye-catching.

Huge, dark green vines climbed the entire surface of the spaceship, creating a serene atmosphere.

……

Flames writhed like dragons and snakes, chilling air seemed to freeze like ancient glaciers, gales carried sharp howls that tore through the void, lightning transformed into silver snakes that pierced the universe, vines coiled into the deep space like giant pythons, and light condensed into blades that cut through everything... All sorts of strange phenomena intertwined around the spaceship, forming a breathtaking scene.

On the outermost perimeter of this behemoth, countless ship fragments were flying around the main ship at terrifying speeds. These remnants, which once belonged to the hull, still gleamed with the cold light of metal at their edges. Now they seemed to have become the fangs of the guardian beast. Each high-speed pass brought a sharp whistling sound and exuded a deadly aura.

"As expected of a spaceship, its power is truly terrifying." Ling Xuan stared at the colossal object spanning light-years before him, unable to help but click his tongue in amazement, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the spatial imprint on his palm.

But who could have imagined that such a terrifying spaceship was merely an expeditionary ship from the long-extinct Wu Kingdom on the Origin Continent?

Its owner was merely a Chaos Realm expert, not even ranking among the top experts on the Origin Continent.

Ling Xuan felt a renewed sense of his own insignificance. His gaze swept over the battered hull of the spaceship, and he couldn't help but compare it to the power of the spaceship: which was stronger, the Heavenly Blade dormant within his own Heavenly Eye or the power of this spaceship?

He took a deep breath, calmed his turbulent emotions, and continued to teleport forward.

Although he has not fully comprehended the laws of space, his immersion in the Dao of the Void has already made his teleportation distance comparable to that of ordinary universe masters.

brush!brush!
Two streaks of light pierced the darkness, their figures already hundreds of light-years away, leaving faint ripples in space.

Although the human race is influenced by the founder of the giant axe and prefers to venture into the Peak Realm, they still have some knowledge of the maps of the three forbidden areas—such as the almost public area of ​​the Black-Patterned Stone Pillar Space and the Secret Chamber area of ​​the Spaceship's token.

The secret chamber containing the token is located on the edge of the core of the spaceship, requiring passage through numerous perilous terrains.

This spaceship was once piloted by a Chaos Realm expert to explore the cosmic sea, but even its owner perished along the way. The dangers lurking inside must be treated with utmost caution even by the strongest beings in the universe.

Ling Xuan dared not rush recklessly. If he were to accidentally fall into some dangerous place, he would probably perish without even having a chance to react.

Fortunately, his thoughtful secretary, Puff, had already meticulously planned a route for him based on the map Hongmeng had.

“Safer areas can be traversed by teleportation, while extremely dangerous areas require slow travel through the Sky Temple. By this calculation, it will take about seven hundred years to reach the secret chamber of the token.”

Ling Xuan estimated, his fingertips lightly tapping the control panel of the temple. The defensive power of the top palace-type treasure was beyond doubt. Even the strongest in the universe could not easily break through it, which was enough to deal with most risks along the way.

Without further hesitation, he flew straight down to the deep crevice entangled by giant vines—a damaged entrance about 28 light-years long and 92 light-years wide at its widest point, its edges covered with sky-obscuring vines, the dark green leaves gleaming with a metallic sheen, and the sides of the crevice were covered with ice crystals that had never melted for millennia, the wisps of cold air almost freezing the void, exuding a bone-chilling danger.

Ling Xuan plunged into the depths of the crevice, where endless darkness and cold instantly engulfed him. Only scattered crystals refracted a faint light, adorning his path like stars and barely illuminating the surrounding scenery.

He sat upright in the Heavenly Palace, propelling the palace to fly swiftly through the air. At the same time, with a thought, he unleashed the top-tier domain-type treasure, "Flame Beast Heavenly Domain".

In an instant, a fiery red ocean spread out from the temple, covering an area with a radius of 80 light-years. Within the domain, flames flickered, and countless phantom images of fire beasts could be vaguely seen surging within the sea of ​​fire.

However, some of the ice crystals contain strange force fields that prevent flames from penetrating them, and there are thousands of abnormal areas within the domain that interfere with exploration. Only the relatively normal areas can clearly reflect the scene.

Ling Xuan deliberately restrained the offensive power of the Heavenly Domain, retaining only its reconnaissance function, to avoid unintentionally clashing with powerful figures lurking along the way.

After flying for a while, a blade of ice suddenly and silently slashed across the void in the distance, its edges shimmering with a cold, eerie blue light, heading straight for the Heavenly Temple.

With a slight thought, Ling Xuan's previously restrained Fiery Beast Domain suddenly erupted. Amidst the churning sea of ​​fire, thousands of illusory beasts emerged, riding the waves with the power to scorch the heavens and boil the seas, and crashed fiercely into the ice blade.

Impacted by this immense force, the ice blade's trajectory abruptly veered off course, grazing the sky above the temple before crashing into the rock wall behind it, sending up a shower of ice crystal fragments.

The speed of the Celestial Temple soared to 90 times the speed of light. The deeper it flew into the rift, the denser the ice blades became. They attacked silently from the shadows at tricky angles, gradually making Ling Xuan feel somewhat troubled.

"Fine, rather than avoid it, we might as well just crush it." Zhou Heng's clone frowned slightly, a resolute glint in his eyes, deciding not to waste any more time and to fully activate the Heavenly Palace.

In an instant, the temple shone brightly, transforming into a fiery red dragon with scales gleaming like metal, baring its fangs and claws as it charged towards the swarm of ice blades.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"—tens of thousands of ice blades slashed across the sky with the power to tear everything apart. They shattered into countless smaller ice blades as they collided with each other, sweeping across like a rainstorm. However, the dragon managed to block them all. The ice crystal fragments collided with the flames, stirring up bursts of white mist, but they could not hinder the dragon's progress in the slightest.

The deeper one goes into the crevice, the denser and faster the ice blades become, gradually forming an ice storm that sweeps across light-years.

However, the fire dragon formed by the Heavenly Temple was unstoppable. With a thunderous roar, countless ice blades were deflected and shattered, and the collision of flames and ice caused the surrounding void to distort.

The dragon's speed increased rapidly, rushing straight into the core of the ice blade storm. Suddenly, a hole with a diameter of tens of millions of kilometers appeared in front of it, with strange crystals that had been melted by the high temperature and then instantly frozen at the edge of the hole.

"Roar—" The fire dragon let out a roar that shook the universe, its speed increasing again. Like a red lightning bolt, it pierced through the cave and disappeared into the deeper darkness in an instant.

“This is the first region on the route, spanning about 2100 light-years.” Ling Xuan looked at the ice blade storm gradually receding into the distance and murmured to himself, “Although each of these ice blades is comparable to the full-force attack of an ordinary universe lord, and their sheer number can cause serious injury, they are ultimately not considered a dangerous place.”

According to the plan, there are 892 extremely dangerous places along this route.

The area in front of us can only be considered "ordinary" – firstly, the power is still within a controllable range, and secondly, we can use our domain to explore in advance and teleport to avoid it.

Ling Xuan flew in this area for three days, and after thoroughly figuring out the patterns of the ice blades, he began to advance efficiently: he would teleport whenever possible, clear a path when needed by the Flame Beast Heavenly Domain, and force his way through dangerous and important areas by relying on the Heavenly Dome Temple.

The journey was fraught with peril! Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance. The Little Nine Nether clone, placed in the World Ring, was always in the Heavenly Palace. Even if the Zhouheng clone encountered an accident and was instantly annihilated, the Little Nine Nether clone hiding in the Palace could survive the crisis and protect the Flame Beast Heavenly Domain and other treasures.

(End of this chapter)