Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 161 Mysterious Palace
"Qian Yue, what are you doing here?" Ling Xuan walked forward with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the edge of the Void Abyss shrouded in clouds and mist in the distance.

Venerable Qianyue strode forward, his silver-white gradient body armor rustling softly with each step. The rounded breastplate on his chest outlined his full curves, and his silver ponytail swept across his round and pert buttocks, leaving behind delicate, swaying arcs.

She stopped beside Ling Xuan, slightly raising her head to look up at him, her eyes filled with undisguised admiration: "Teacher has been ordered to guard the Chaos Ruins, and I am here to help you with some trivial matters. Just now, I heard from the immortals on duty that the Divine Kingdom Passage is going to welcome a Lord of the Universe. I thought that apart from my uncle, no one else would come to this border region recently, so I came to wait."

Her words clearly stated her purpose while subtly revealing Ling Xuan's identity, and her tone was so natural that there was no hint of deliberate flattery.

Ling Xuan understood, and his smile widened: "I've made you make an extra trip."

“It is only right for Qian Yue to welcome Martial Uncle.” Qian Yue looked up at him with a serious expression in his eyes. As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly, his ponytail brushing against his hips and his clothes taut. “I heard a few days ago that Martial Uncle had broken through to become the Lord of the Universe. I am truly impressed.”

"You already know that? You're very well-informed!" Ling Xuan said with a smile. He was quite fond of this junior apprentice.

She is sensible and adorable. When she was weak, she gave her "uncle" enough face. Now that her strength has greatly improved, she doesn't feel like she's in a different world or that things have changed. She doesn't realize that the other party's status and position have changed because of the change in strength.

A powerful individual like him, whose cultivation speed is extremely fast, dislikes nothing more than changes in relationships and ways of getting along due to changes in strength.

"The story of Emperor Yan's battle against the strongest being in the demon race, the Dream Demon Ancestor, has long been known throughout the entire universe."

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Ling Xuan's shoulders, and her tone softened slightly: "Uncle-Master just came from the Ancestral God Sect and is about to explore the depths of the Ruins Abyss. He must be tired. I've learned some massage techniques from my teacher. How about I give you a shoulder massage to help you relax?"

Before Ling Xuan could respond, Qian Yue had already circled behind him and gently placed her fingertips on his shoulder.

The cold, hard feel of the armor had barely touched him before it was replaced by the warmth of her palm—she had quietly removed her gloves, and her delicate fingertips pressed on the acupoints on Ling Xuan's shoulders and neck with just the right amount of pressure.

With the movement, her body leaned slightly forward, her soft chest gently resting against Ling Xuan's back. Through the thin armor, a faint warmth and soft touch could be felt, even her breath carried a subtle warmth, brushing past Ling Xuan's ear.

“Uncle-Master, you are now the Lord of the Universe, able to contend with the strongest. Who in the entire universe does not admire you?” Qian Yue’s voice softened, his fingertips gently massaging the stiffness in his shoulders and neck. “I have been stuck in the Venerable Realm for many years. Although I have learned some skills from my teacher, they are nothing in the vast universe, and I have not been able to advance any further. If I could follow a strong person like Uncle-Master, even if it is just serving tea and water or handling miscellaneous matters, I would feel more at ease.”

Ling Xuan could clearly feel the soft touch on her back and the sincerity in her tone. He smiled and said, "You know how to talk. It just so happens that my teacher is urging me to leave a clone behind to guard a key location. I don't have any useful people under my command. Qian Yue, you can help me come up with some ideas."

Qian Yue's fingertips paused, and she leaned forward a few more times, the soft touch becoming more pronounced. Her ponytail brushed against Ling Xuan's arm, bringing a slight tickle: "Then this disciple awaits good news from Uncle-Master. In the future, as you oversee a region, if you need someone to manage branch affairs or relay messages, this disciple will do her utmost and will never distract you."

Ling Xuan raised his hand and pressed it against her wrist, his fingertips touching the thin layer of sweat on her palm. His tone was tinged with amusement: "Let's talk about it after I get back from the Ruins. Go and see if there are any other suitable Universe Venerables for me now. I don't want to deal with those trivial matters."

"Don't worry, Uncle-Master, Qian Yue will do his best." Ling Xuan nodded in satisfaction, then bid farewell to Venerable Qian Yue and turned to head towards the Ruins.

"Emperor Yan, your nephew is quite extraordinary." The Void Mirror deity rarely took the initiative to speak to Ling Xuan. The usually aloof Supreme Emperor Weapon now showed a hint of respect in its attitude towards Ling Xuan.

"Which aspect are you referring to, senior?" Ling Xuan asked, his face full of curiosity and his eyes filled with doubt.

"Which aspect are you referring to?" Void Mirror countered, his tone revealing a hint of disappointment.

"Qian Yue only spent 100,000 epochs to break through and become a high-level universe venerable. His talent is indeed quite good."

Ling Xuan thought about it carefully and replied seriously, "Does Senior want me to take her as my disciple? I have no plans to take on disciples for the time being, and as you know, others cannot cultivate the Void Scripture."

"Am I talking about talent?" Void Mirror was amused by Ling Xuan, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"Didn't you mention talent, senior? But Qian Yue's strength isn't particularly outstanding among high-level Venerables." Ling Xuan frowned and asked seriously, completely unaware of the deeper meaning in Void Mirror's words.

"If I say you're stupid, you've accomplished in just five thousand years what the world's strongest could not achieve. If I say you're smart, you couldn't even see through Qian Yue's little scheme."

Ling Xuan immediately looked embarrassed, scratched his head awkwardly, and said in a simple voice, "Please give me some pointers, senior."

"Your junior disciple wants to sleep with you." The Void Mirror deity said bluntly without any hesitation. The directness and vulgarity of his words instantly stunned Ling Xuan.

Ling Xuan was speechless for a moment, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer, completely shocked by the sudden words of the Void Mirror God.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat dry and tight, unable to utter a single word.

After a long while, he stammered out, "Senior...you must have seen wrong. Qian Yue...she has always respected me and has never...never acted like this before."

"Heh~" Void Mirror let out a mocking laugh. He really didn't expect that a supreme being of the highest order would be so oblivious when it came to matters of love.

While Emperor Dawei himself wasn't as promiscuous as Emperor Hengyu, he still had no shortage of beautiful women by his side. In comparison, Ling Xuan was far inferior in this regard.

Ling Xuan became increasingly embarrassed by the laughter. He moved his lips, but ultimately did not respond.

The Void Mirror, being sensible, knew when to stop and had no intention of dwelling on the topic any longer.

After all, they had already arrived at the Ruins during the short time they were talking.

Right now, we must go all out to deal with everything that is about to happen.

The desolate abyss that came into view was completely different from the raging tides that had occurred before; it now presented a chilling calm.

Space seemed to be solidified by an invisible force, resembling an incredibly hard rock layer, without any sign of flow or change.

At the bottom of the abyss, the thick, inky darkness seemed to be alive, slowly churning and surging, resembling a bottomless maw of an abyss, as if ready to mercilessly devour the entire universe at any moment.

Eerie lights flickered in the darkness, like countless eyes hidden in the abyss, coldly watching over all things, sending chills down one's spine.

The surrounding light twisted and bent in this eerie place, forming strange and terrifying scenes. The winding and refracted paths of the light seemed to be telling the story of the indescribable and mysterious rules of this place.

The entire Ruins Abyss is like a huge, unhealable wound on the body of the universe, emanating a chilling aura, as if warning all creatures that dare to approach that this is a forbidden place, full of unknown dangers.

After adjusting his state, Ling Xuan flew directly inside.

The Abyss wasn't untouched by powerful individuals; at least in most areas, top-tier cosmic overlords possessed the ability to survive within it. The moment Ling Xuan stepped into the Abyss, he felt the space beneath his feet suddenly become viscous.

It wasn't a physical obstacle, but a kind of stagnation in the rules—when he raised his hand, his fingertips actually traced several subtle spatial ripples. Those ripples should have dissipated instantly, but at this moment, they were like solidified water waves, lingering in the air for several breaths before slowly disappearing.

The next second, the ripples suddenly straightened, transforming into thin, cicada-wing-like blades of the void, their blades glowing with a pale purple light, silently attacking from all directions.

These blades are not physical objects, but rather "wounds" left after space was forcibly torn apart. Wherever the blades swept, even light was cut into tiny specks of light. If it were an ordinary cosmic venerable, even just being swept by the blade wind would cause his divine body to collapse along with space.

Ling Xuan raised his eyes slightly, and with a seemingly casual clench of his right hand, a silver light suddenly condensed in his palm—it was the sincerity of the Ancestral God Sect, a supreme treasure, the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Sword.

The blade is dark silver, with the tip divided into three sections. The main blade in the middle is long and sharp, while the secondary blades on both sides are curved. The back of the blade is engraved with fine cloud patterns, which are now shimmering slightly, radiating the unique pressure of a top-tier treasure.

With a slight flick of his wrist, the blade flashed a silver arc as it slashed across the ground. The moment the arc passed, the incoming void blades, like thin ice meeting the blazing sun, emitted a faint "sizzling" sound, then transformed into countless tiny spatial fragments that dissipated into the air.

Even more ingeniously, the residual force of the blade's energy spread along the folds of space, smoothing out the space that was originally riddled with cracks, leaving behind a temporarily stable area.

Ling Xuan did not stop, following the path cleared by the blade's light, and continued to advance deeper into the area.

After traveling only a few hundred million kilometers, the space ahead suddenly began to tremble violently.

The stagnant air, like boiling water, kept churning out transparent bubbles. Each bubble burst, tearing out a hair-thin spatial rift.

These fissures expanded at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, they intertwined into a huge spatial net covering thousands of miles. The mesh of the net emanated a dark suction force, as if it wanted to devour everything around it.

Once trapped in this net, even the most powerful beings in the universe will be repeatedly cut apart by the rifts and eventually turn into dust in the spatial turbulence.

Ling Xuan's expression remained unchanged, and the ultimate laws within his body suddenly erupted.

A heavy, oppressive aura, like a ballast rock in the deep sea, emanated from him. Crimson light slowly spread outwards, and wherever it passed, the spatial rifts that were about to close were forcibly opened. The spatial fragments at the edges of the rifts retreated to both sides like water flowing against a barrier.

The three-pointed double-edged sword drew a complete arc above his head, and a ring of sword light spread out with the intent of piercing through illusion. The moment the sword light collided with the spatial net, it made a piercing metallic friction sound. The originally indestructible spatial net was torn open by the sword light, like a fragile spider web.

Using the gap, Ling Xuan instantly crossed the danger zone.

As they delve deeper, the space of the Ruins becomes increasingly unstable.

Suddenly, a spatial collapse zone with a diameter of ten thousand miles appeared ahead—the space at the center kept concave inward, forming a pitch-black vortex. The light at the edge of the vortex was twisted into a spiral shape, and even the energy fluctuations in the distance were forcibly pulled over, turning into thin ribbons of light that rushed into the vortex.

Even more terrifying, the space surrounding the collapse zone was disintegrating at a visible speed, turning into countless tiny spatial fragments that rained down on Ling Xuan like a storm. Each fragment carried the power to pierce through the divine body of a cosmic venerable.

Ling Xuan stopped in his tracks, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes.

He could clearly sense that the power of this collapsing zone was enough to pose a fatal threat to ordinary universe masters. If they were not careful, they would be swept into the center of the collapse and their divine bodies and treasures would be crushed into nothingness.

He held the three-pointed double-edged sword horizontally in front of him, his divine power flowing through the blade. The cloud patterns on the back of the sword instantly lit up, and the crimson imperial might of the supreme path merged with the silver light of the blade, creating a strange black and white dual light.

He swung his sword fiercely, and a sword beam that stretched across the sky slashed towards the collapsed area. This sword beam did not attack directly, but instead followed the trajectory of space, drawing a stable spatial barrier around the collapsed area. Where the sword beam passed, the originally disintegrated spatial fragments were actually re-coalesced, and the suction force of the collapsed area was temporarily blocked by the barrier, forming a brief safe passage.

Seizing this fleeting moment, Ling Xuan moved like a ghost merging into space, weaving through the gaps at the edge of the collapsed zone.

With each step he took, he landed precisely on the most stable point in space. Even if some spatial fragments occasionally slipped through the net and attacked, they were repelled by the imperial might surrounding him. Those fragments were shattered into even finer dust by the crimson pressure as soon as they got within three feet of him.

A moment later, he finally passed through the collapse zone. The space behind him continued to collapse, and the suction of the vortex could even affect the space thousands of miles away, but it could no longer pose a threat to him.

Just then, a faint, ethereal force emanated from ahead.

This power had no violent intent whatsoever; instead, it carried an ancient and pure gentleness, like a spring that had been dormant for millions of years, slowly permeating his senses.

Ling Xuan's heart stirred, and he stopped, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

The power of the void surged into his sea of ​​consciousness like flowing water. He could clearly feel the fluctuations of the origin of space, and even vaguely touch the core of the laws of space.

During this brief period of contemplation, his understanding of space deepened, and the spatial fluctuations around him became increasingly refined.

When he opened his eyes again, a glint of light flashed in them. The nine Emperor characters in the Sea of ​​Wheels Secret Realm became even more solid. Now his realm was almost on par with those Great Emperors who had comprehended the Heavenly Heart Mark.

He continued forward for a while, and then an even richer aura entered his senses—this aura did not come from space, but rather carried a majesty that surpassed ordinary treasures, like a cosmic artifact that had been dormant for billions of years slowly awakening.

This aura was understated, yet it possessed an irresistible weight, as if it could suppress the spatial turbulence of the entire universe.

Ling Xuan was overjoyed and sped up his flight toward the source of the aura. This time, he didn't even need to deliberately use his movement technique; the space around him spontaneously opened up a smooth path for him.

As he drew closer, a magnificent palace gradually came into view.

This palace is not suspended in the void, but rather "embedded" in the gaps of space. From the front, it is a complete nine-story building, but from the side, the rear half of the palace can be seen hidden in the folds of space, as if it exists in multiple spatial dimensions at the same time.

The palace was entirely dark gold, its surface covered with intricate spatial runes. Each rune shimmered slightly, and the space between the runes rippled like the surface of water, occasionally reflecting scenes from other universes: burning stars, frozen galaxies, and even powerful alien beings locked in battle. Yet, no scene could linger on the runes for more than a moment.

The palace's nine stories increase in height, with the top floor piercing the clouds and shrouded in a thin layer of spatial mist. Within the mist, countless spatial nodes can be vaguely seen flickering, like a star map at the dawn of the universe.

Even more awe-inspiring is that the palace is surrounded by nine spatial halos, each slowly rotating. Wherever the halos pass, space is distorted into various strange shapes, yet no one can get close to the palace, as if an invisible barrier is protecting it.

It was as if the entire palace was part of this space.

(End of this chapter)