85: Void Interception

Inside the spatial passage, silver light flowed and shimmered in silence, broken only by the faint buzzing sound created by the passing spacecraft.

However, this silence was quickly broken.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Several shuttle-shaped objects, dark as ink and wrapped in ominous bloody light, shot out without warning from the depths of the distorted Void Realm like vipers lurking in the shadows, accurately smashing into the spacecraft's energy shield with ear-piercing shrieks!

"Enemy attack! They are Void Realm bandits!" Experienced passengers on the ship immediately cried out in alarm, and the entire vessel instantly fell into chaos.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Violent explosions erupted on the energy shield surrounding the spacecraft. The shield's light flickered intensely, unstable, and the ship itself shook violently.

These black darts were clearly extraordinary, containing immense corrosive and penetrating power, specifically designed to counter the spacecraft's defenses.

"Hehehe! If you know what's good for you, hand over all your wealth and leave the women, and perhaps we can spare your dog lives!"

Arrogant and cruel laughter came from outside the Void Realm. More than a dozen figures, controlling black bone wings similar to gliders, pierced through the spatial turbulence and appeared around the spacecraft, surrounding it completely.

Every one of these bandits possessed a fierce aura; the weakest were at the Dou King level, and the three leaders had reached the Dou Huang rank. One of the one-eyed strong men had an aura that had clearly reached the Five-Star Dou Huang level!

They were enveloped in dense Evil Qi, clearly indicating they were desperate outlaws who lived by the sword.

The captain of the ship's guard, a Three-Star Dou Huang, stepped forward with an ugly expression and shouted, "This is a 'Wind Travel Merchant Guild' ship!"

"Which faction are you from? Don't you fear the Wind Venerable's pursuit order for daring to hijack our ship?"

"The Wind Venerable? Heh heh, in this desolate Void Realm area, if we kill you, who will know we did it?"

The one-eyed strong man sneered, swinging the ghost-head broadsword in his hand. "Brothers, stop wasting time with them! Break this turtle shell, kill them all, and loot everything!"

The bandits roared in unison and attacked even more fiercely, beams of various Dou Techniques raining down upon the shield.

The captain of the guard led the ship's protectors in a desperate resistance, but they were outnumbered and outmatched in strength. The shield's light dimmed at a visible rate, clearly about to give way.

Inside the VIP cabin, Li Ao watched the slaughter outside through the window with a cold indifference.

He did not want to meddle, but these people were blocking his path, and furthermore... he sensed the one-eyed strong man's gaze sweeping over the area of his VIP cabin several times, filled with undisguised greed.

Clearly, the opponent viewed him as an easy target.

"Seeking death," a cold light flashed in Li Ao's eyes.

Just then, with a crisp "crack," the spacecraft's energy shield finally succumbed to the bandits' focused assault and shattered!

"Kill!" The bandits howled excitedly like sharks smelling blood, swarming forward to clash with the guards and some resisting passengers, instantly resulting in splashing blood and endless screams.

That Five-Star Dou Huang level one-eyed strong man transformed into a streak of bloody light, his target clear, rushing straight toward the VIP cabin where Li Ao was located!

He had long since used special methods to sense that the energy fluctuations emanating from this room were the purest, meaning there must be a big fish inside!

"Brat, get out here! Hand over your storage ring and all your treasures!"

The one-eyed strong man laughed maniacally, the ghost-head broadsword in his hand carrying a spatial-tearing shriek as he slashed at the VIP cabin's protective Formation!

"Boom!" The VIP cabin's Formation shattered instantly, sending wood splinters flying.

However, the moment the Formation broke, a slender palm covered in a faint dark-gold sheen reached out from the broken opening, as if piercing the Void Realm itself, grasping the blade of the powerful ghost-head broadsword—a blade heavy enough to split mountains and cleave peaks—with perfect precision!

"What?!" The cruel sneer on the one-eyed strong man's face instantly froze, and his pupils contracted sharply!

He felt that his strike, powerful enough to severely injure a Dou Huang of the same rank, seemed to have hit an eternally indestructible divine metal. Not only could he not advance an inch, but the backlash caused the web between his thumb and forefinger to split open, blood flowing freely!

He stared in disbelief at that hand and at the young man in green robes who slowly walked out from behind the shattered cabin door.

The young man's expression was calm, his eyes like ancient ice, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

"You..." Just as the one-eyed strong man was about to speak, an irresistible massive force suddenly erupted from the blade!

"Crack!" That ghost-head broadsword, which was of no low grade, was actually crushed inch by inch by that bare hand!

Immediately after, Li Ao used the fingers of his other hand like a blade and casually swiped toward the terrified one-eyed strong man.

"Nirvana Finger."

A subtle silver-gray thread flashed and vanished.

The one-eyed strong man froze in mid-air, maintaining his rushing and horrified posture.

There were no wounds on his body, but the light in his single eye rapidly dimmed and extinguished at a visible speed. Along with the vast vitality and Soul within him, everything was completely erased by the absolute concept of "Return to Stillness" contained within that single finger strike!

A Five-Star Dou Huang, unable to even let out a scream, turned into the finest dust, like a sand sculpture scattered by the wind, and dissipated into the Void Realm, leaving behind only a few storage rings and the pair of black bone wings, floating weakly in place.

Silence! A deathly silence!

The battlefield, which had been filled with earth-shaking shouts of killing, seemed to have been paused.

Whether they were the frantically attacking bandits or the struggling guards and passengers, everyone stared dumbfounded at the scene, their minds completely blank.

What did they just see?

That notorious bandit leader, a Five-Star Dou Huang, had his weapon crushed by a single hand of the seemingly ordinary young man in green robes, who then casually used one finger... to annihilate him into nothingness?!

What terrifying strength was this?! A Dou Zong?! A Dou Zong so young?!

The remaining bandits finally snapped out of their immense fear, letting out terrified shrieks. Like they had seen a ghost, they abandoned all thought of robbery and frantically mobilized their bone wings, desperate to escape this deadly airspace.

"Trying to leave now? Too late."

Li Ao's indifferent voice sounded like a death sentence.

He did not pursue them; he merely raised his right foot and lightly stomped on the Void Realm deck.

"Buzz—" An invisible yet vast and boundless dark-gold Qi and blood force, mixed with the ripple of the "Return to Stillness" rule, instantly spread out across the entire battlefield from him like a wave.

All the fleeing bandits suddenly stiffened, as if trapped in an invisible mire.

They discovered in horror that their Dou Qi, vitality, and even their thoughts were being stripped away and extinguished at a terrifying speed!

There were no screams, no struggles.

In the span of just one breath, those dozen fierce Void Realm bandits, along with their bone-winged mounts, silently turned into the most basic particles, like pencil marks erased by an eraser, and vanished into nothingness.

In the Void Realm, only the damaged spacecraft remained, along with the survivors on board, whose faces were filled with stupefaction and awe.

Li Ao waved his hand, collecting the storage rings left behind by the one-eyed strong man and some of the other bandit leaders. Without sparing anyone else a glance, he turned and returned to his damaged VIP cabin, waved his hand to set up a simple isolation barrier, and sat down cross-legged again, as if he had just casually swatted a few annoying flies.

It wasn't until his figure disappeared that the people on the ship began to gasp for air, like drowning victims rescued from the water, exchanging glances filled with lingering fear and shock.

The captain of the guard wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, bowed deeply toward the direction of Li Ao's room, and said with immense respect, "Thank you, Senior, for intervening and saving us!"

The others also reacted, bowing toward that direction, their gratitude evident.

They knew that if this mysterious young man had not taken action today, all of them would likely have perished in the Void Realm.

After a brief period of chaos, the spacecraft stabilized again, and the crew began emergency repairs on the damaged shield and hull.

Rumors about this mysterious powerful expert in green robes quickly and quietly spread throughout the ship. Everyone who passed his damaged cabin door did so with immense reverence, daring not to disturb him in the slightest.

Li Ao closed his eyes and focused his mind, his Divine Sense sweeping over the several storage rings he had just acquired.

Inside, apart from a large amount of gold coins and ordinary Cultivation resources, there was nothing particularly special.

However, a black token engraved with a strange skull totem inside the one-eyed strong man's storage ring caught his attention.

"Blood Skull Fortress..." Li Ao's Divine Sense invaded the token, gaining some fragmented information. This was a bandit organization active near this Void Realm shipping lane, and it seemed... it had some unclear connection with the Black Emperor Sect.

"Mere ants." He casually shattered the token and ignored it.

Following this brief interlude, the rest of the voyage became exceptionally peaceful.

Several days later, at the end of the distorted silver passage ahead, a bright point of light gradually enlarged.

The entrance to the Pill Domain, Pill City, was almost upon them.