Lord of the Rending Stars

Void Divine Crystal is one of the core auxiliary materials for refining time-space attribute treasures, and it is priceless.

Qingyang had nearly emptied his savings by refining the Time Realm Palace. If there truly was an undiscovered vein of Void God Crystals...

"What a coincidence," Qingyang murmured softly, his brows furrowing slightly.

Two channels, two pieces of information, both pointing to the same thing. The Forging Star Pavilion's archived report and the intercepted signal from Chris's legion appeared before him at just the right time.

Qingyang did not rush into action, but vaguely sensed the subtlety of the situation.

Uneasy, Qingyang logged into the Virtual Universe Company's intelligence system and, with the authority of a Class A weapon refiner, checked the danger level assessments of all known cosmic secret realms on the edge of the human race's territory over the past hundred eras.

The distorted zone, marked in the report, is called the "Meteor Abyss" and has an "unknown" danger level. The most recent exploration record was a few days ago when a team of immortal kings entered, and all members perished without a trace.

Qingyang then sent an email to King Jiuyu inquiring about the Meteor Abyss, having learned during a previous chat that King Jiuyu was still exploring the borderlands of the human race.

A moment later, the Nine Universes King's divine power avatar found Qingyang, a solemn expression on his face. "I know that place. One of my friends was in the team that perished a few days ago. Abnormal mineral reactions were indeed found in that secret realm, but it doesn't seem to be a normal source of Void God Crystals."

"I don't know the more specific information. You could ask Bingfeng to help you retrieve the patrol records of the Meteor Abyss Clan's outpost," King Jiuyu suggested.

"Jiuyu, thank you," Qingyang said, cupping his hands in thanks.

After a moment of silence, Qingyang dialed Bingfeng's communication. Bingfeng's cold face appeared on the screen, his silver eyebrows slightly raised.

"A vein of Void Crystals has been discovered in the Meteor Abyss on the border of our clan's territory? Qingyang, you're looking for me...?"

"I'd like to ask you to do something for me: Virtual Universe Company has several outposts on the border of the Meteor Abyss. Could you retrieve the patrol records from the past three months and see if there are any anomalies in that area?" Qingyang said, looking at the ice peak on the light screen.

Ice Peak is a core member of the Virtual Universe Company and a disciple of the Primordial Ancestor. His authority is far higher than that of ordinary King-level Immortals, so retrieving the patrol records of the outpost is not difficult for him.

"Yes, but it will take time," Bingfeng said without asking any further questions. "I will give you an answer in three days."

Three days later, the ice peak's reply arrived on time.

"We retrieved three months of patrol records from the outpost, and there were no abnormalities in that area," Bingfeng's voice came from the light screen. He paused and then added, "But there is a strange record: a few days ago, a Fengwang squad entered the area and then lost contact. The search and rescue team sent out by the outpost did not find any trace of anyone or any signal."

"Out of contact?"

"Yes, the team leader was a high-level King, and the three team members were all low-level Kings. Their last communication was a report of discovering an 'abnormal mineral reaction,' and then there was no further news."

Qingyang's gaze sharpened slightly. "Was that area previously rated as dangerous?"

"Of course there are. The rating is 'dangerous,' with the main threats being spatial turbulence and the occasional appearance of special life forms. But with the strength of a high-level King, it shouldn't disappear silently," Bingfeng paused, "unless there's a danger there that exceeds the rating."

"Thank you," Qingyang said before ending the call.

"Qingyang, where are you going?" Bingfeng called out to him.

"I will go, but not now. There are things there that interest me," Qingyang replied.

After the communication ended, Qingyang sat in the workshop, gazing thoughtfully at the Zhuochen Cauldron. Through Jiuyu and Bingfeng's descriptions, he already knew that there was a problem in that area, and that it was a problem specifically set up against him.

"The area of ​​the Meteor Abyss is close to both the God-Slaying Clan and the Fireworm Clan. Which clan is behind this conspiracy?"

Ten days later, Qingyang's human avatar rose from the Jiazi Nine Peaks workshop, while his Yuanhua clone emerged from the divine kingdom, transforming into a humanoid giant 100,000 kilometers tall. It then quickly shrunk back to the size of a normal person, concealing all its aura, and appeared like an ordinary human immortal.

The two bodies, one in front of the other, left the holy city.

He didn't bring either the Time Shadow Beast's true form or the Wandering Heaven Kunpeng's clone. One of his two strongest bodies resided in the Divine Kingdom, while the other remained hidden in the Holy City. If the Meteor Abyss truly was a trap, then that trap was only fit to see his two clones.

If that wasn't a trap, these two bodies would be enough to retrieve the Void God Crystal.

As for Zhenmo City and Lei Zejia, Qingyang entrusted them to his Yuanhua clone. Since the human main body was the smallest, even if it perished, it would have the least impact on Qingyang's overall strength, so he only carried the two treasures.

The incomplete, top-tier palace treasure of Zhenmo City had never been shown to anyone in his possession. He publicly claimed it was just an ordinary, valuable palace, and even if the Zerg and the Machine Race knew the details, they wouldn't publicize it out of respect for their race. At this moment, it hung quietly in the Yuanhua Avatar World Ring, ready to be deployed at any time.

Qingyang did not choose the divine kingdom teleportation option, as that would reveal the divine kingdom's coordinates. He traveled in an ordinary G-class spaceship, speeding through the dark universe at a hundred times the speed of light, taking a winding route and changing direction from time to time, like a cautious explorer.

The spaceship traveled through the dark universe for three years.

In the third year and four months, the spaceship emerged from the dark universe and appeared in a desolate star field. Several human outposts could be clearly seen there.

Directly in front of Qingyang is a massive spatial depression with a diameter exceeding one light-year. The abyss formed by it is constantly twisting and deforming. The normal dense distribution of stars here comes to an abrupt end, replaced by countless fragments of broken continents and asteroid belts.

Qingyang stowed his spaceship and transformed into a streak of light, flying towards the depths of the Meteorite Abyss. His Yuanhua clone remained hidden in the shadows, transforming into a fragment of a shattered continent floating millions of kilometers away.

After flying for several more months, the abyss ahead began to show abnormalities.

The spatial structure there presents an unnatural distortion, as if an invisible hand has kneaded this space.

As starlight passes through this area, it is stretched, distorted, and even folded, creating a bizarre and fantastical visual illusion.

In the deepest, most distorted part, a crack could be faintly seen, which was the entrance to the Void Crystal Mine described in the intelligence report of the King-Sealing Squad.

Qingyang stopped tens of thousands of kilometers from the entrance, carefully probing the surrounding spatial fluctuations with advanced detectors. No race or expedition team was detected.

"This is very abnormal."

Qingyang did not hesitate for long. He took a deep breath, and his human form transformed into a stream of light, disappearing into the crack.

The Yuanhua clone did not follow, but instead found a hidden spatial fold outside the entrance of the secret realm, completely concealed its aura, and transformed into a floating meteorite, waiting quietly.

Inside the crack was a hazy, gray void.

There were no stars, no continents, only endless gray mist slowly churning. Occasionally, a streak of light would flash through the mist—a distorted fragment of space drifting by.

Qingyang's human form teleported continuously within the mist, the Heavenly Flame Blade hovering beside him, the Soul Annihilation Pearl slowly rotating deep within his soul. Qingyang flew millions of kilometers further, but still found no trace of any mineral vein.

The reflection characteristics in the spectral data have no corresponding counterpart in this space.

Qingyang stopped and stood in a relatively stable void, gently shaking his head.

It was indeed a trap.

At that very moment, a sudden change occurred, and the surrounding space was sealed off.

The surrounding gray mist churned like a living thing, and countless invisible divine powers surged from all directions, flooding into Qingyang's mind like a tide.

They tried to delve into the depths of his consciousness, to break his will, and to enslave his soul.

An ordinary immortal king would be completely controlled in an instant by this attack.

But Qingyang was no ordinary king. "You want to enslave me? You want me to perish forever? Dream on!" Kanai's ethereal divine power could not shake Qingyang's will at all. "Buzz~" The light released by the Soul Annihilation Pearl, which was located deep in his soul, was easily weakened and blocked.

"Um?"

A cold voice came from the depths of the mist, tinged with surprise, "I directly burned my divine power, yet I couldn't even control the soul of a human King-level Immortal."

The mist parted, and a figure instantly appeared in front of Qingyang.

It was a figure a hundred meters tall, with skin covered in fine black scales, and its vertical pupils flashing with a fierce, blood-red light.

"Since that's the case, then shatter your divine body and let the so-called genius of the human race witness the power of me, Kanai," Kanai narrowed his vertical pupils, raised his right claw covered with black scales, and the space around the Qingyang human race's true form suddenly froze.

shhhhhh!

The enormous claws came crashing down, and Kanai continued to burn his divine body. Qingyang used a secret technique to try to escape, but the speed of the Universe Venerable's attack was incredibly fast. He grabbed Qingyang's human form, and Qingyang, who was wearing ordinary heavy treasure armor, was instantly crushed.

The Azure Sun Divine Body continued to condense, its aura weak, its eyes cold, staring directly at this alien cosmic venerable.

"Die!" Kanai continued to strike with lightning speed. The Azure Sun Divine Body was completely annihilated, leaving behind only a top-tier treasure, the Heavenly Flame Blade, an ordinary treasure armor, and a world ring he always carried, among other items.

Kanai waved her hand and picked up the treasures left behind by Qingyang's annihilation. Her hoarse voice, carrying a faint emotional fluctuation, echoed in this deathly silent space.

"King Liefeng, your soul and will have exceeded my expectations, but... we won't be so lucky next time we meet."