I want to tread the heavens

The greyish-white Death Star "Grey Skeleton" still carried a terrifying gravitational pull, etched into the depths of his soul a mark of despair. Even though he was far away, the suffocating feeling of impending death still lingered. The Meteorite, dragging its damaged port side and slightly dimmed energy shield, continued its journey through the silent void. He no longer fully immersed himself in the jade pendant's senses, but instead raised the sensitivity of the detection array to its maximum, not missing a single abnormal fluctuation in space, gravity, or energy.

The navigation continued to mechanically perform calculations using those vague "punctuation marks," but the compass needle no longer vibrated as violently as before, though it remained in a general direction. He still had to constantly be distracted to make corrections, which was extremely mentally taxing. Fa Cai remained highly vigilant, but in his amber eyes, in addition to alertness, there was a deeper, more profound look.

Repairing and adjusting the navigation system continued without pause. He exhausted all available materials and knowledge of array patterns to barely stabilize the damaged port secondary circuit, but the loss of transmission efficiency and the persistent sluggishness constantly reminded them of the danger they had just experienced. A significant amount of the low-grade spirit stones reserved for emergency array repairs had been used, further depleting their already meager resources.

After this period of high alert and slow repairs continued for some time, the view ahead changed again.

No longer monotonous, the swirling pale gray energy clouds were no longer dark. Instead, there was a cosmic spectacle that Ling Xiao had never encountered or imagined in his previous life, a spectacle that paled in comparison to any landscape in his old land.

Directly ahead on the flight path, at the far end of sight, the void seemed to have been violently crushed and carelessly scattered by an invisible giant hand, transforming into a vast, boundless, and dazzling "ocean of light." No, not light, but countless tiny, broken stars, fragments of some kind of crystal containing strange energy, fragments of unknown substances. They varied in size, from as small as grains of sand to as large as mountains and pavilions, refracting a myriad of dazzling colors under the light generated by their collision and friction in the unknown dark space: deep blue, golden red, silver white, amethyst, serene dark green... as if a galaxy had been shattered, and all the fragments of stars had been spread across the entire void.

"Scattered Star Veins..." Ling Xiao murmured, recalling a seemingly insignificant corner of the jade pendant's inherited information that mentioned this peculiar natural phenomenon in the universe. It typically appears in the remnants of ancient galactic collisions, supernova explosions, or star graveyards utterly destroyed by powerful forces. The scale of this strait before him far exceeded his expectations. Although the energy reactions contained within the fragments were mostly weak and chaotic, when aggregated, they formed an astonishingly strong and extremely unstable energy background field.

"Wow...so bright...so many stones..." Fa Cai was also stunned. It stood up from the passenger seat, its front paws resting on the porthole. Its amber pupils reflected the magnificent sea of ​​shattered stars, filled with awe and a mixture of curiosity and fear. Its animal instincts made it feel a little afraid of the overly complex and massive scene, but it was mostly attracted by the light and color.

"It's also very dangerous." Ling Xiao quickly recovered from his initial shock, his tone grave. Beneath the beautiful exterior lay deadly danger. Any one of those high-speed debris striking the Meteorite would cause serious damage, especially given the current poor condition of the port side. And the energy ripples generated by the collision, though seemingly weak, would be enough to interfere with or even penetrate the shields if located at the epicenter. Not to mention the extremely complex gravitational environment and energy turbulence of this area.

"We must get through." Looking at the dual directions indicated by the star map calculations and the jade pendant's sensing—that blurry "punctuation mark"—there was no possibility of taking a detour; this remnant was like an insurmountable barrier across the shipping lane.

He took a deep breath and boosted the Meteor's shield strength to the highest level (despite the painfully low energy reserves), while simultaneously activating the "point defense array" specifically designed to counter small, high-speed impacts (this also consumed a significant amount of energy). The main engines reduced power, entering high-precision maneuvering mode. He had to navigate this labyrinth of death like the most agile butterfly.

"Fa Cai, your eyes and nose are more important than any detector right now," Ling Xiao said in a deep voice. "Keep an eye out for those particularly dangerous debris flows, and... hidden energy vortexes."

With a surge of energy, Fa Cai immediately got to work. It brought its head close to the porthole, its pupils slightly contracting, as if switching to a different visual mode, not only observing the trajectory of the fragments but also "sniffing" out the invisible energy flows in the space.

The Meteorite adjusted its attitude and, like a cautious diver, slowly "immersed" itself in that deadly ocean of shattered stars.

Upon entering the debris field, the view outside the porthole instantly transformed from "watching" to "being there." Countless colorful fragments streaked past the sides and up and down of the starship, sometimes seemingly within reach. The silence was replaced by a low, continuous, subtle "rustling" sound, like millions of grains of sand rubbing against glass—the sound of high-energy particles, tiny fragments, and energy ripples washing over the shield. The starship began to experience extremely slight, continuous swaying, as if sailing on a riverbed strewn with pebbles.

Ling Xiao was completely focused, his hands moving like blurs across the control panel. He not only had to pilot the starship along the pre-set, relatively sparse "channels," but also had to constantly deal with sudden changes in the direction of debris flows or "escaped" debris crashing in from the side. The point defense array lit up intermittently, shooting out thin but precise high-energy beams to vaporize or push the more threatening debris off course in advance.

The early warning system also played a crucial role. It repeatedly "smelled" or "saw" those invisible energy turbulences or gravitational anomalies that were difficult for the naked eye and detectors to detect, allowing Ling Xiao to avoid them in advance.

The journey was slow and arduous. Energy readings continued to decline, and his mind remained constantly on edge. But after the initial tension, Ling Xiao's state of mind was gradually filled with an indescribable sense of vastness and insignificance. Traveling through this magnificent graveyard of star remains, the brevity of individual life and the eternity of the universe, the brilliance of creation and the cruelty of destruction, formed an incredibly stark contrast. He seemed to sense the lingering stellar aura of a distant era on each fragment—sometimes fiery, sometimes icy, sometimes violent, sometimes silent.

As they ventured deeper into the heart of the debris field, the density of the surrounding fragments reached an astonishing level—

Suddenly, Fa Cai let out a low, suppressed growl filled with indescribable terror. His entire body stiffened instantly, his silver-gray fur standing on end, and even the thoughts he conveyed trembled: "Below! Big! So big! Alive! I can't look!"

Almost simultaneously, the Meteorite's self-sensing gravity field experienced extremely subtle and regular fluctuations, as if the starship was gently rising and falling with the breath of some enormous being. Outside the porthole, the fragments of stars that had been flowing along their own trajectories suddenly began to deflect and accelerate erratically, as if being stirred by an invisible vortex.

Ling Xiao was shocked. Following the direction indicated by Fa Cai, he aimed the main probe diagonally downwards into the depths of the ocean of debris.

Then, he saw it.

In the depths of that boundless, shimmering background of fragmented stars, an indescribably enormous shadow is slowly "swimming" by.

Then, an outline gradually became clear—a streamlined, colossal body somewhere between a whale and some mythical Kunpeng. Its skin (or rather, its surface) was not flesh and blood, but a deep, dark silver that seemed to absorb all light, covered with naturally formed, complex, and mysterious ethereal blue light patterns like the veins of stars. It was enormous; even just a part of its body visible in the fragmentation zone resembled a moving metallic continent covering half of the field of vision.

Its "movement" is slow and graceful, as if strolling through a sea of ​​stars. Wherever it passes, fragments of energy-rich stars are drawn by an invisible force field, changing their trajectories and converging near its slightly open, galactic vortex-like maw, where they are silently "swallowed" without even a ripple. It doesn't even deliberately "eat" anything; its very existence is like a moving black hole, devouring all matter and energy in its path.

"Void...Kun..."

Ling Xiao's breath almost stopped as a name flashed through his mind, a name found only in the oldest and most fantastical cosmic legends. A colossal cosmic beast born in the void, feeding on star debris and free energy! An adult Void Kun is comparable in size to a small planet; its very existence is a moving catastrophe! They usually slumber in the depths of the universe, rarely active, and even more rarely sighted.

At this moment, a living, terrifyingly large Void Kun was leisurely "feeding" not far below them!

Compared to this colossal cosmic entity, the Meteorite was insignificant, not even comparable to a tiny scale on its surface, like a speck of dust gazing up at a mountain. The oppressive and insignificant feeling stemming from the absolute difference in their levels of life, scale, and nature of power overwhelmed Ling Xiao like an invisible tsunami. He could even feel that the meager meteorite power within him was like a firefly compared to the vast, galaxy-like blue light patterns flowing across the surface of this behemoth.

Fa Cai buried its head tightly under its front paws, its body trembling slightly, conveying the fear and awe from the deepest recesses of its bloodline in the face of its supreme predator. If Ling Xiao hadn't been there, it probably would have already whimpered uncontrollably or fled.

The Void Kun seemed completely oblivious to the insignificant speck of "dust" above it. It continued its slow and grand journey, its massive jaws opening and closing, clearing away another band of broken stars spanning hundreds of miles, leaving only the finest dust. Its deep blue eyes, like condensed stars (if they could be called eyes), occasionally swept across the void, containing a cold, ancient, and indifferent cosmic will, as if, in its eyes, the birth and death of stars were nothing more than an insignificant flicker in the vast expanse of time.

Ling Xiao didn't dare to breathe, gripping the control lever tightly with both hands, reducing the Meteorite's power output to a minimum, even dimming the shield's glow, and shutting off all unnecessary energy radiation. He floated like a real stone in the debris stream, drifting slowly by inertia, praying that this great being wouldn't show them even the slightest interest.

Time stretched out endlessly amidst the extreme fear and shock.

It was unclear how much time had passed; perhaps only a few dozen breaths, yet it felt like an eternity. Finally, the Void Kun "swam" through the area, its massive dark silver body slowly disappearing into the depths of the Shattered Star Belt, leaving behind only the empty, plowed-through trail and the lingering, soul-chilling, immense pressure in the air.

Only when the terrifying shadow completely disappeared from the detectable range did Ling Xiao snap out of his shock, slowly loosening his clenched hands, his back soaked with cold sweat. Fa Cai finally dared to raise his head, letting out a soft whimper, as if he had survived a catastrophe.

"Go...go quickly..." Ling Xiao's voice was hoarse. He dared not linger for a moment and immediately increased the power of the Meteorite to the maximum value within the safe range. He didn't even care about avoiding the scratches caused by some small fragments and headed away from the direction where the Void Kun disappeared.

Only after they were completely away from that area, and until the density of the scattered stars outside the porthole began to decrease significantly, indicating that they were about to pass through this remnant zone, did Ling Xiao's wildly beating heart slowly calm down.

He turned back to gaze at the still magnificent, yet now shrouded in a deep awe and fear, stardust. The void kun brought not only the terror of life and death, but also a complete upheaval of his understanding of the universe. Before such a colossus, personal grudges, racial conflicts, even the destruction of stars seemed… insignificant.

But this also strengthened his resolve to continue on his path; the unknown is what needs to be explored; strength is what he should strive for!

"One day..." Ling Xiao gazed at the gradually opening void ahead, "I too will possess the power to traverse the starry sea!"

The Meteorite, carrying the weight of this soul-shaking experience, finally broke through the last edge of the shattered star trail. Ahead, a relatively stable region of void with normal starlight was faintly visible. And the vague "anchor point" sensation suddenly became much clearer and stronger.