137: Chapter 137 The Heavenly Fleet Sets Sail!
The sixty-year agreement had arrived.
Li Xuan stood at the prow of the zhou tian star boat.
He only said two words.
"Set sail."
The voice wasn't loud, yet it spread in all directions.
The entire Void Realm was deathly silent.
The next second, everyone was stunned.
Hum.
A muffled sound came from the core of the immortal boat.
This giant ship, suspended outside the Southern Heaven Gate, had been a lifeless object.
Now, it was alive.
On the hull, billions of Formation patterns lit up at once.
The light was blinding.
Starlight erupted from the patterns, flowing wildly across the massive ship body.
They connected and wove together.
In the blink of an eye, a map of the Zhou Tian Star Array covered the entire immortal boat.
This was Li Qiankun's handiwork.
With his Hongmeng Array Body, he had carved the Zhou Tian Star Array into the ship.
Three hundred and sixty-five main Formation nodes exploded with intense light.
Each node became a small sun.
The Void Realm was compressed and distorted by this power.
Around the main ship, nine escort ships also lit up with light curtains.
They arranged themselves in a Nine Palaces Formation, protecting the zhou tian star boat in the center.
A fleet had taken shape.
It was filled with an aura of steel and slaughter.
On the viewing platform of the Southern Heaven Gate, there was dead silence.
Everyone forgot to breathe.
A new Disciple of the Heavenly Court Academy clenched his fists until they turned white, his body trembling slightly with excitement.
"Is, is this our Heavenly Court Fleet?"
A small Yao Beast next to him waved its claws and shouted.
"So cool! Mom! I want to fly a big ship too when I grow up!"
Most of them had struggled at the bottom of the Immortal Domain wasteland their whole lives; they had never seen such a scene.
Seeing the Divine Might of the Heavenly Court today, their hearts were suddenly filled with a sense of pride.
Li Cai, wearing a small golden vest, stood at the very front with an air of precocious authority.
Looking at the fleet, his face was full of pride. He waved his little fists with all his might and shouted in his milky voice.
"Father is invincible! Big Brother, Second Sister! Come back early! I will earn lots of money to buy you candy!"
Li Qiankun beside him was very serious.
In his eyes, countless Formation diagrams were rotating rapidly, checking his masterpiece.
"Main Formation energy circuit normal."
"Energy output one hundred percent."
"Three hundred and sixty-five star nodes perfectly synchronized."
"Not bad, it is my work."
Protector Xuanfeng watched all this, feeling only relief and admiration.
He was glad he had made the decision to surrender back then.
This was the most correct thing he had ever done in his life.
"Respectfully send off the Heavenly Emperor!"
Someone didn't know who shouted it first, kneeling down.
Then, the entire Southern Heaven Gate knelt down.
"Respectfully send off the Heavenly Emperor!"
"May the Heavenly Court flourish forever! Sweep across the heavens!"
"Wishing Your Majesty a safe journey to trample the Lingxiao and suppress the ages!"
The roars of tens of thousands of people almost overturned the sky.
In everyone's eyes, fanaticism burned.
The cheers behind him didn't affect Li Xuan.
He wore black imperial robes and stood at the prow.
The wind blew his robes.
With his hands behind his back, his gaze crossed endless time and space, landing on the distant Jade Pool.
Behind him, Li Changsheng, dressed in white, gripped his small wooden sword tightly, his little face full of eagerness.
Divine light flickered in his double pupils as he was already looking for his first opponent.
Li Taiyin stood quietly on the other side, wearing cold, elegant palace attire.
She wasn't as warlike as Li Changsheng, but she wasn't afraid either.
Her gaze was more focused on checking the operational status of the fleet.
Li Shikong, whom Li Xuan was holding, was the happiest.
The little body twisted and turned, chewing on his fingers, his big eyes curiously watching this sea of stars.
A huge black flag unfurled at the highest point of the prow.
On the flag was an ancient "Li" character branded with star patterns.
Li Xuan looked ahead, ignoring the cheers behind him.
He spat out a word indifferently.
"Go."
The order was given.
The zhou tian star boat shook violently.
The light of the three hundred and sixty-five main star nodes gathered on a diamond-shaped crystal at the very front of the prow.
A solid beam of light shot out.
It didn't shoot anywhere else; it struck directly at the Void Realm in front.
No sound.
No explosion.
The sturdy spatial barrier was cut open by a huge gap by the beam.
The cut was terrifyingly smooth.
Powerful Law energy fixed the opening.
Through the gap, one could see the colorful, chaotic Void Realm inside.
The power of the Formation continued to output.
The gap was pushed open, expanded, and shaped.
A few seconds later, a ten-thousand-zhang space gate cast from starlight stood in front of the fleet.
This was the Heavenly Court.
This was Li Xuan.
Other forces had to spend huge resources to open a one-time teleportation array.
He used an immortal boat to forcibly open an exclusive "highway."
"Damn, is this the legendary infrastructure fanatic?"
On the viewing platform, a Transmigration Disciple was stunned, subconsciously blurting out a phrase from his hometown.
"Move."
Li Xuan ordered again.
The massive zhou tian star boat took the lead and quietly sailed into the space passage.
The nine escort ships lined up in two rows and followed.
Soon, this fleet that terrified any force in the Immortal Domain could no longer be seen.
The huge space gate slowly shrank, closed, and finally turned into a silver line and disappeared.
Outside the Southern Heaven Gate, it returned to silence.
Only inside the Southern Heaven Gate, the mountain-shaking roars hadn't stopped.
Every face was filled with fanatical expressions.
An era of conquest belonging to the Heavenly Court had begun.
In the space passage where light and shadow were chaotic, the zhou tian star boat sailed steadily.
Outside the portholes were retreating Chaos-colored bands and turbulence.
Those turbulences, even a wisp of them, could tear a Golden Immortal to pieces.
But when they hit the protective starlight of the immortal boat, they couldn't even stir up the slightest ripple.
Inside the immortal boat, it was another mobile immortal palace.
Pavilions, small bridges, flowing water, spiritual plants, Immortal Plants—everything was there.
Pure Immortal Qi turned into faint mist.
Li Xuan was standing in front of the huge glass window of the main control hall, watching the outside.
It was Li Changsheng's first long voyage, and he was unbearably excited.
He pressed his face against the window, eager to rush out and practice sword skills with those turbulences.
"Wow, Father, look at that! A big round ball!"
"And that one, it's a big eyeball! It's glaring at me!"
Li Taiyin was much quieter.
She wasn't watching the fun, but took out her lunar mirror to record and analyze the Law fluctuations and energy nodes in the passage.
The happiest one was the youngest, Li Shikong.
The little guy ran back and forth in front of the window, giggling.
The space-time distortion caused by high-speed travel here was a deadly danger to others.
But for his Space-Time Dao Body, he felt like a fish in water.
From time to time, he would reach out his little hand and gently grab at a distortion point outside.
A piece of "time fragment" was grabbed out.
The fragment shone in his hand, containing blurred shadows of the past and future.
Then he happily stuffed the fragment into his mouth and ate it, looking satisfied.
Dan Lingzi, who was accompanying them, watched this scene, his old face twitching.
"Eating time fragments as snacks..."
"I have lived for so long, this is truly eye-opening..."
He felt that his worldview was being reshaped every day after coming to the Heavenly Court.
At this time, Li Xuan turned around, his gaze falling on the children.
"Seen enough?"
he asked with a smile.
"Not enough! Father, this is so fun!"
Li Changsheng answered excitedly.
Li Xuan smiled and shook his head, then his expression became serious.
"It's fun because you are inside the boat, and I am protecting you."
He pointed to the deadly turbulences outside the window, his voice deepening.
"Remember, the Immortal Domain is huge, much larger than you think."
"These things outside the window are the true appearance of the Immortal Domain."
"It looks beautiful, but it is full of traps everywhere; even a Golden Immortal would die if they entered."
"The Jade Pool Grand Assembly this time is even more so."
Li Xuan's tone became solemn.
"You are Prodigies, born extraordinary, and I am proud of you."
"But remember, there is always someone better."
"None of those invited by the Jade Pool are weak."
"Many of them are old monsters who have slept for several eras, just waiting for this opportunity."
"Their means, their schemes, you cannot even imagine."
"Going this time is an opportunity for you to broaden your horizons."
"It is also a trial."
"Do not be arrogant, do not underestimate the enemy."
"But, there is no need to fear anyone."
Li Xuan looked at the three children, his eyes gentle, but his words carried an unquestionable majesty.
"Because behind you is me, and the entire Heavenly Court."
"Go."
"Let go and make trouble, go and venture!"
"Let all the races in the Immortal Domain see what the sons and daughters of Li Xuan look like!"
"Even if you poke a hole in the sky, I will mend it for you!"
Li Changsheng and the others were filled with blood-boiling excitement and bowed together.
"Children obey orders!"
Li Xuan nodded and waved for them to go play.
His gaze turned to the dark Void Realm outside the window.
Jade Pool.
The chess game.
Everything had just begun.
The Heavenly Court Fleet traveled at high speed in the space passage like a silent lightning bolt.
It tore through the long silence and rushed toward that distant land of legend.
In the holy land of the Immortal Domain's Central Province, the abyss of the North Sea, the burial hill of swords in the Western Extreme, and the mist of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge in the Southern Border.
Pairs of eyes—some old, some domineering, some strange, some deathly—slowly opened.
Their gazes were all cast in the same direction.
Jade Pool!