55: A chance encounter on a starship, a bubble of emptiness
The Void Realm is not absolutely silent. Besides the occasional shattered worlds, dangerous spatial storms, and those incomprehensible, bizarre existences, one sometimes encounters other travelers traversing the myriad heavens.
Liu Qingtian journeyed through the Void Realm for an unknown amount of time. Guided by the faint directions of the star key and the acute perception of energy flow provided by the Primordial Ancient Wood Visualization Diagram, he avoided many dangerous areas, and his injuries had mostly healed.
One day, as he was slowly traveling, enveloped in starlight, a faint speck of light suddenly appeared in the far distance ahead. That speck of light was not a world, but rather an artificial object, and it was navigating at a relatively stable speed.
As the distance closed, the outline of the object gradually became clear.
It was a uniquely shaped boat! Its entire body was crafted from a mixture of dark silver wood and metal, with a long, sleek hull. Complex runes were carved into its surface, emitting faint spatial fluctuations and defensive spiritual light.
The bow was carved with a Star Falcon totem poised for flight, and its sails were not made of cloth, but rather condensed starlight, drawing in the thin energy of the Void Realm to propel the starship forward.
A starship capable of navigating the Void Realm!
Liu Qingtian's tree soul stirred, raising his vigilance. Those who could travel in the Void Realm were certainly not weak. He slowed down, restrained his aura, and his massive tree body concealed itself against the Void Realm's background, quietly observing.
The starship seemed not to have noticed him, maintaining its original course. From the energy fluctuations it emitted, there should be a Late-stage Heaven Enlightenment Realm or Heaven Enlightenment Realm Perfection Cultivator presiding over it, in addition to several Penetrating Seclusion and Spirit Refining Realm auras.
It looked like a Void Realm merchant caravan or an exploration team from a Sect.
Liu Qingtian did not wish to cause trouble and was preparing to bypass it.
However, at this very moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
Directly ahead of the starship's course, a seemingly calm patch of the Void Realm violently twisted without warning! It was as if an invisible soap bubble was being blown up, instantly expanding and fiercely swallowing that area, along with the starship!
After the 'bubble' swallowed the starship, a stream of light flashed across its surface, and it quickly became transparent and hidden, almost merging with the Void Realm, as if it had never appeared.
But Liu Qingtian, with his powerful perception and the star key's sensitivity to space, clearly captured that momentary spatial anomaly!
"A Void Realm trap? Or some naturally formed spatial bubble?" Liu Qingtian was startled. The starship was clearly trapped unexpectedly.
He hesitated. Should he help? They were strangers, and he had many troubles of his own; it was truly inappropriate to invite more complications.
But to stand by and do nothing seemed to go against some of his deepest principles, though as a Demon Willow, these principles were already very faint.
More importantly, he was very interested in the 'bubble' that had suddenly appeared and disappeared. That thing seemed to be able to perfectly conceal itself, even the starship's detection runes failed to discover it beforehand. If he could master this ability, it would be of great benefit to him for traveling in the Void Realm and avoiding powerful enemies in the future.
After pondering for a moment, Liu Qingtian decided to approach and investigate. If it was within his power, he would try to help; if not, it wouldn't be too late to retreat.
He cautiously approached the area, raising his perception to its peak. Indeed, there was an extremely subtle spatial fold there, like a perfect transparent bubble, isolating the interior from the external Void Realm. Had he not seen it with his own eyes and possessed special perception, he would have barely noticed it.
He tried to extend a willow branch, gently touching the 'barrier' of the bubble.
His fingertip felt a tough yet elastic sensation; it wasn't a hard spatial barrier, but more like an... energy membrane? And the nature of this energy membrane was very peculiar; it seemed to be constantly changing, simulating all the characteristics of the surrounding Void Realm, thereby achieving the ultimate concealment effect.
Liu Qingtian tried to increase his strength; the membrane wall deeply indented but did not rupture, and its rebound force was extremely strong.
"Interesting." A trace of investigative desire arose in his tree soul. This was not a simple spatialblockade, but more like a living, or at least possessing some kind of adaptive ability, spatial barrier.
He activated the Primordial Ancient Wood Visualization Diagram, mobilizing a trace of the chaotic seed vortex power, mixed with the Qi of Life and Death, slowly injecting it into the tip of the willow branch, and once again pointed it at the membrane wall.
This time, the change in the nature of the power seemed to have an effect. The membrane wall's simulation mechanism experienced a momentary disorder, revealing faint multicolored flowing light, but it quickly tried to adapt and assimilate Liu Qingtian's power.
"It can adapt and simulate various energies?" Liu Qingtian's heart stirred, and he thought of that wisp of Power of Annihilation. Annihilation represents the ultimate 'nothingness,' the end of order; perhaps it could interfere with or even restrain this simulation?
He cautiously guided out a faint trace of the Power of Annihilation, attached it to the tip of the willow branch, and pointed it out again.
Hiss~
As if a red-hot iron had met ice water, the place where the membrane wall touched the Power of Annihilation instantly became unstable, the multicolored flowing light flickered violently, no longer able to perfectly simulate and conceal, revealing a blurred outline several meters in diameter, and it was still expanding!
It worked!
Liu Qingtian increased the output of the Power of Annihilation, while simultaneously circulating the Qi of Life and Death, drilling towards that unstable point like a drill!
Puff!
With a soft sound, a small hole was finally drilled through the membrane wall!
Through the small hole, Liu Qingtian saw the scene inside—the starship was entangled by countless multicolored energy threads, like viscous spider silk, unable to move, and the ship's defensive spiritual light was being rapidly eroded.
The Cultivators on the ship desperately attacked the energy threads, but to little avail; their energy attacks seemed to be absorbed or even reflected back by the threads!
And below the starship, in the Void Realm, a colossal, entirely transparent, jellyfish-like bizarre creature was suspended! Its tentacles were the source of those multicolored energy threads, and its massive body slowly wriggled, emitting joyful mental fluctuations, seemingly enjoying this 'feast'.
A Void Jellyfish? Or some unknown Void Realm creature?
The moment Liu Qingtian broke through the membrane wall, the Void Jellyfish suddenly trembled, clearly sensing the intrusion from outside! It let out a sharp mental shriek, and countless multicolored energy threads immediately abandoned the starship, coiling like frenzied venomous snakes, and shot towards Liu Qingtian at the breach!
At the same time, the broken membrane wall began to rapidly self-repair!
Liu Qingtian's tree eyes turned cold; since he had acted, there was no turning back.
"Wither and Flourish Domain, open!"
The chaotic Domain instantly unfolded, blocking the breach! Those multicolored energy threads shot into the Domain, immediately being frantically ground down and dissolved by the power of life and death cycles! But their number was too great, and their tenacity extremely strong, causing the Domain to fluctuate violently under the impact.
"Tree Venerable, save us!" On the starship, the old Cultivator at the Late-stage Heaven Enlightenment Realm, seeing Liu Qingtian, grasped at him like a drowning man, urgently crying for help. Other Cultivators also cast hopeful glances.
Liu Qingtian had no time to respond, his entire mind focused on dealing with the Void Jellyfish's attack. This jellyfish's strength was roughly in the Early Kaishan Realm, but its energy properties were bizarre and extremely troublesome.
While maintaining the Domain to resist, he urged his roots, fiercely plunging them into the breach of the membrane wall, frantically devouring and absorbing the peculiar spatial energy that constituted the membrane wall! The characteristics of the Myriad World Roots were now fully displayed; no matter what kind of energy, it could be devoured and transformed!
At the same time, several of his willow branches, entwined with the true meaning of Return to Void, shot like lightning towards the jellyfish's massive transparent body!
The jellyfish let out an angry mental roar, its body suddenly expanding, emitting a strong mental impact, attempting to interfere with Liu Qingtian's tree soul, while more tentacles swept towards him!
Liu Qingtian's tree soul was stable, visualizing the Primordial Ancient Wood, easily resisting the mental impact. The Return to Void willow branches collided with the jellyfish's tentacles, and the Power of Annihilation fiercely consumed the strange multicolored energy, emitting sizzling sounds.
For a time, they were at a stalemate!
Liu Qingtian was secretly startled; this Void Realm creature was indeed troublesome. He no longer held back, and the star key imprint on his head lit up!
"starlight, slash!"
An incredibly condensed starlight blade appeared out of thin air, carrying the sharpness to cut through space, and fiercely slashed towards the jellyfish's core!
The jellyfish felt the threat, all its tentacles retracted, interweaving in front of it to form a thick multicolored shield!
Boom!
The starlight blade slashed onto the shield, erupting with dazzling light! The shield trembled violently, cracks appeared, but it did not completely shatter!
However, at the moment the jellyfish was fully defending against the starlight blade, Liu Qingtian's roots, which had been plunged into the membrane wall devouring energy, suddenly erupted!
"Enough devouring! Open... for me!"
Vast energy was forcibly injected into the membrane wall's breach by the roots, mixed with the Power of Annihilation, and suddenly exploded!
Rumble!!!
The tough membrane wall could no longer hold, and a huge gap was violently blasted open!
Terrifying void turbulence instantly surged into the bubble!
The jellyfish let out a mournful shriek; itsOntology seemed to be closely connected to this bubble, and with the bubble broken, it itself suffered heavy damage, its aura instantly wilting!
Opportunity!
Liu Qingtian's myriad willow branches, like mad snakes leaving their holes, instantly entwined the wounded jellyfish. The Wither and Flourish Domain contracted, and the power of life and death cycles frantically ground down its vitality, while his roots directly pierced into its transparent body, frantically devouring its Origin energy!
The jellyfish struggled violently, but it was beyond salvation, its body rapidly shriveling.
Finally, it let out an unwilling wail, completely dissipating, transforming into pure energy absorbed by Liu Qingtian, leaving only a multicolored, constantly changing energy core suspended in place.
Liu Qingtian retracted his willow branches, feeling the increased energy within him, and nodded slightly. The Origin of this Void Jellyfish was indeed a great tonic.
At this time, the starship finally broke free from its restraints, and the Cultivators on board, still shaken, looked at Liu Qingtian with awe and gratitude.
The Late-stage Heaven Enlightenment Realm elder, supported by his companions, flew out of the starship and came before Liu Qingtian, respectfully saluting: "Junior Mo Qiu, steward of the Star Falcon Merchant Guild, thanks Tree Venerable Senior for saving our lives! If not for Senior's timely intervention, we would surely have become food for that Void Jellyfish today!"
Liu Qingtian's massive tree body swayed slightly, and his will transmitted: "It was nothing. What is this?" He pointed to the multicolored core.
Mo Qiu hurriedly explained: "Replying to Senior, this is the core of the Thousand Illusions Jellyfish, an extremely rare spatial illusionary beast. Its core is a supreme treasure for refining spatial Magic Treasures and even Cultivating spatial Divine Abilities! The 'Illusory Void Bubble' it lays before its death is even harder to detect; we were caught off guard and fell into its trap."
Liu Qingtian understood in his heart; it was indeed a good item. He calmly put away the core.
Seeing this, Mo Qiu naturally dared not have any objections, but became even more respectful: "Senior's great kindness in saving our lives is beyond repayment. Our Star Falcon Merchant Guild frequently travels the Void Realm and has accumulated some resources. If Senior has any needs, please just command! Or, Senior, would you grace us with your presence on board, so we may fulfill our host's duties?"
Liu Qingtian was just about to inquire about information and obtain a star map, so he readily agreed: "Alright."
He shrunk his tree body to ten zhang in size and entered the starship with Mo Qiu.
The space inside the ship was much more spacious than it appeared from the outside, clearly utilizing spatial expansion technology. The Cultivators looked at Liu Qingtian, this talking, powerful Demon Willow, with both curiosity and reverence.
After taking their seats as host and guest, Mo Qiu offered spiritual tea. After some conversation, Liu Qingtian learned that they were a merchant caravan belonging to an organization called the "Star Falcon Merchant Guild," specializing in trade between various Minor Thousand Worlds and Middle Thousand Worlds. This time, they were transporting a batch of goods to a world called "Flowing Wind Realm."
Liu Qingtian's heart stirred, and he inquired: "Do you know of the Nihility Cult?"
Mo Qiu's face changed slightly upon hearing this, and a trace of apprehension flashed in his eyes: "The Nihility Cult? Senior also knows of this evil organization? Their activities have become increasingly frequent in recent years, spreading doctrines of destruction and nihilism in many worlds. Their influence is expanding rapidly, and their methods are ruthless. Many merchant caravans and worlds have fallen victim to them. As merchants, they are what we fear encountering the most."
Indeed! Liu Qingtian continued to ask: "Do you know where they usually operate?"
Mo Qiu shook his head: "Their whereabouts are very secretive, but it is said that they are more likely to be found in places where world barriers are weak, or where ancient ruins appear. If Senior wishes to seek them out, you must be extremely careful."
Liu Qingtian noted this information and then asked: "Do you have a star map of the surrounding Star Domain?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Mo Qiu hurriedly took out a Jade Slip. "This is a partial Void Realm star map drawn by our merchant guild. Although incomplete, it covers the locations and general information of thousands of large and Small Worlds. Please accept it as a small token of our gratitude, Senior."
Liu Qingtian took the Jade Slip, and his Divine Sense swept through it. The information inside was indeed extensive and valuable. He nodded: "In that case, thank you very much."
After conversing for a while longer, Liu Qingtian clarified the direction of the Flowing Wind Realm, finding it inconsistent with the direction indicated by his star key, so he stood up to take his leave.
Mo Qiu and the others bowed repeatedly in thanks, seeing Liu Qingtian off the starship.
After leaving the starship, Liu Qingtian took out the core of the Thousand Illusions Jellyfish, feeling the strange spatial and illusory power contained within it. A glint flashed in his tree eyes.
Perhaps, he could use this core to comprehend a stronger concealment Divine Ability.
He chose the direction indicated by the star key and once again embarked on his journey. This time, his goal was clearer: to find the Nihility Cult, hunt for Origin, and incidentally, search for the next fragment.
In the Void Realm, the hunter quietly set off.