Everyone's playing Red Giant? I, Black Hole, devour everything!

The discussion in the channel grew increasingly heated, with countless people stunned by this suddenly appearing, unfamiliar name.

In these discussions, many people also mentioned another name.

Lu Xuejian.

"By the way, where does Lu Xuejian rank? She's a genius at Lancheng High School, and her family owns a mining company!"

"Let me see... I found her, Lu Xuejian, ranked eighth."

"Eighth? No way! I thought she'd at least be in the top three!"

"Her combat power index isn't low either, at 3200, but the people ahead of her are even more outrageous, especially Lin Tian, ​​who's far ahead of her. How can we catch up with that?"

"Lu Xuejian only ranked eighth? What kind of incredible route is this black hole taking to become so powerful?"

"Who knows? Anyway, this Lin Tian is definitely not simple..."

……

At this moment, somewhere in the Seventh Star Sector, Lu Xuejian was also looking at the leaderboard.

Her gaze fell on the name in the first line, her expression extremely complex.

Eighth place.

Given her background and talent, this ranking among the newcomers in the entire Seventh Star Zone is enough to make countless people envious.

After all, there are over 60 million observers in the Seventh Sector, and at least hundreds of thousands of them are novices.

Being ranked in the top ten out of hundreds of thousands of people is a huge affirmation in itself.

But her goal was never to be in the top ten.

Her goal is to be number one.

And the person who took first place was her most familiar rival.

Lin Tian.

"Brightness zero... Volume zero..." Lu Xuejian murmured these two lines of data, a feeling that was hard to describe welling up inside her.

She recalled that three days ago, when Lin Tian triggered the hidden route, she was still wondering how far this path could lead.

But now, the answer is clear.

Not only did they go far, but they went so far that it was impossible for anyone to catch up.

A combat power index of 12,800 is almost four times that of her!

How can you compare these?

"How did this guy...do he do that?" Lu Xuejian bit her lip, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes.

But soon, she took a deep breath and suppressed her resentment.

"Fine, eighth place is fine... Anyway, Xinghua University has more than one spot."

……

Just as everyone was still shocked by Lin Tian's combat power index, another announcement popped up.

[Sector Announcement: To facilitate the growth of novice observers, the Seventh Sector will open a temporary blessed land—the Nebula Secret Realm—in one hour.]

The density of the secret nebula is 15 times that of a standard star region, and its duration is 96 hours.

All observers who rank in the top 100 of the newbie leaderboard will receive the coordinates of the Secret Realm Star Sector.

[Coordinates have been distributed. Eligible observers, please check your inbox/context.]

In an instant, many people were excited.

"Fifteen times the density?! My God, am I seeing things?"

"Fifteen times the density of a standard star sector! What the hell does that mean? Do you even know what fifteen times the density means?"

"What does that mean? Doesn't it just mean fifteen times more nebulous matter?"

"Bullshit! You know nothing! For stars, density and the efficiency of absorbing nebula matter increase almost exponentially! Doubling the density doesn't just mean doubling the absorption efficiency!"

"That's right, the denser the nebula's matter, the more concentrated the gravitational field, and the faster it devours matter!"

"So, spending ninety-six hours in this blessed land is equivalent to several months of hard work outside?"

"Almost! Maybe even more! This is practically a free gift for newbies!"

The newbie channel was in complete chaos, with countless messages scrolling like a tidal wave.

It's important to understand that for most novice observers, every day after the start of Sector Conquest is incredibly precious.

Whoever can snowball in the early stages will be able to maintain their lead.

And this nebula secret realm is undoubtedly the best place to snowball.

With such a huge temptation, who could resist?

In an instant, the entire Seventh Star Sector was abuzz with activity.

Countless novice observers changed direction, urging their stars to race toward the coordinates.

They had only one thought in their minds—speed!

We have to be quick!

This kind of opportunity may only come once in a lifetime; once missed, it will never come again.

……

At that moment, Lin Tian was also looking at the coordinates that popped up on the panel.

His gaze was calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

"Nebula Secret Realm... Fifteen times denser..."

During this time, he has been searching for more substances to feed the primordial black hole.

Although black holes have reached an astonishing mass, this is still far from enough.

For a black hole to continue evolving and reach a higher form, the amount of matter required is astronomical.

Simply consuming ordinary nebula matter is far too inefficient.

Without the acceleration card that lasts for hundreds of millions of years, Lin Tian could consume countless nebula materials even if he kept swallowing them for ages.

However, an acceleration card costs tens of thousands of star coins, which is not something he can afford at present.

And now, this nebula secret realm has appeared.

"We absolutely cannot let this opportunity slip by."

Without any hesitation, Lin Tian immediately changed the direction of the Primordial Black Hole.

With the gravitational field fully released, the black hole began to move rapidly toward its coordinates.

His speed was extremely fast, and the surrounding space was slightly distorted by the pull of strong gravity, as if he were being pushed forward by an invisible hand.

Nebula matter along the way was swept by his gravitational field and fell into the accretion disk, becoming part of the black hole.

However, these scattered materials are insignificant compared to his current size.

……

About half an hour later, Lin Tian arrived at the area where the coordinates were located.

However, when he looked at that area from afar, his brows furrowed slightly.

Because he was blocked.

To be precise, he wasn't the only one who was blocked.

At this moment, hundreds of novice observers have gathered at the entrance to the Nebula Secret Realm.

Their stars floated in the void, emitting light that was sometimes bright and sometimes dim, illuminating the originally dark space.

But all of these people were kept outside.

No one can get in.

"What's going on?" Lin Tian turned his gaze forward.

Soon, he saw the source of the obstruction.

A pale blue light curtain stretched across the front of the Nebula Secret Realm.

This light curtain was enormous, stretching for hundreds of millions of kilometers, like a high wall with no end in sight, enveloping the entire secret realm.

The surface of the light screen shimmered with a faint glow, like a semi-transparent film of water, seemingly fragile but actually extremely sturdy.

No matter how much the novice observers tried to break through, the light barrier remained completely still.

"Cosmic barrier..." Lin Tian's gaze narrowed slightly as he immediately recognized the object.

The so-called cosmic barrier is a defensive measure in "Cosmos Online".

An observer can create a protective layer within a certain area by consuming a large amount of energy, using their own star as a node.

This protective layer is not a wall in the physical sense, but an energy barrier composed of highly compressed nebular matter and a gravitational field.

It can block the entry of external observers and also isolate the flow of nebula matter.

However, the cost of creating a cosmic barrier is extremely high.

It not only requires a large amount of nebular matter, but also continuously consumes the star's energy.

Generally speaking, only seasoned observers with deep experience and expertise would resort to such methods.

And now, this cosmic barrier has actually appeared at the entrance to the beginner's secret realm.

This means that someone has set up a checkpoint here.

"Why won't they let us in?!"

"These are coordinates issued by the will of the universe! We are all qualified to enter! What right do you have to stop us?!"

People's voices were amplified through communication channels, immediately resonating with others.

"Exactly! Why? We're all in the top 100 of the newbie leaderboard, who's worse than whom?"

"We also have coordinates. This secret realm doesn't belong to you, so why are you blocking our way?"

"Let us in right now! Can you afford to compensate us for the time we've wasted in developing our children?"