161: Activate the teleportation array! Arrive at the Chaotic Star Sea!

Chapter 161: Activating the Formation! Arriving at the Chaotic Star Sea!

"Weng—!!!"

In the next instant, a low and powerful hum, sounding as if it came from the primordial past, exploded from the core of the teleportation Formation!

Like a space-time behemoth that had slumbered for ages, it completely awakened at this moment!

The light from the five Mid-grade Spirit Stones surged as a massive amount of pure spiritual energy was frantically extracted, transforming into five bucket-thick pillars of brilliant light that crashed into the Formation's base!

On the platform, tens of thousands of ancient runes seemed to come to life, lighting up one by one and erupting with an unprecedented, blazing radiance!

Milky-white spiritual light soared into the sky, instantly condensing into a thick yellow pillar of light over three zhang in diameter, completely swallowing the six people on the platform!

This surge of energy was so vast and boundless that it completely ignored the dozens of zhang of hard rock and earth above. The top of the light pillar pierced directly through the cavern's dome, ignoring all obstacles to project a brief but blinding milky-white halo, like a miracle descending upon the desolate Ghost-Gaze Gorge!

Within the light pillar, space began to twist and fluctuate violently, emitting fine "crackling" sounds like glass shattering.

Lu Qiu felt his vision instantly filled with endless white light. The light was not static but was spinning and flowing frantically, forming a bizarre channel of grotesque and distorted colors.

In his ears was the terrifying howl of space being forcibly torn, compressed, and stretched. His body felt as if it had been thrown into the center of a violent vortex, with indescribable tearing forces coming from all directions, as if he would be completely decomposed in the next moment!

At this critical juncture, the "great teleportation token" held tightly in his left palm suddenly emitted a soft azure halo.

The azure light was not intense, but it was exceptionally stable, spreading quickly to form an oval-shaped pale azure light shield that firmly protected the six people on the platform.

The spatial tearing force, which was enough to instantly shred a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to pieces, hit the azure shield and was immediately weakened and smoothed out by more than half.

Although he could still feel violent jolts and pressure, it was no longer fatal.

Lu Qiu's Divine Sense was locked tightly onto his companions within the shield, confirming that no one had been thrown out or encountered any accidents.

The next moment—

The white light in his vision became intense to the extreme, as if a sun had exploded before his eyes!

Then, all light, sound, and the sensation of tearing... suddenly vanished!

Absolute darkness and silence descended, as if he had fallen into eternal nothingness... His head... felt so heavy!

His consciousness was like a stone sunk at the bottom of a cold sea, slowly and painfully floating upward.

This was Lu Qiu's first sensation after regaining perception, as if he had experienced a long-lasting hangover; his Divine Soul and Physical Body felt briefly detached.

However, with his powerful Divine Sense, which had already touched the threshold of the Middle Stage of Core Formation, this intense discomfort caused by ultra-long-distance spatial teleportation lasted for less than a breath before being forcibly suppressed and dispersed.

Before his eyes was pure darkness, so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. There was no natural light, and even the air seemed stagnant, filled with an old, unfamiliar scent mixed with the smell of the sea, earth, dust, and faint Spiritual Qi.

Beneath his feet came a solid, cold touch with fine, uneven patterns—it was the teleportation platform!

His Divine Sense spread out quietly like mercury on the ground, feeding back the surrounding environment to his mind in an instant.

It was a closed stone chamber about ten zhang in diameter and three to four zhang high.

Aside from the hexagonal teleportation Formation beneath his feet, which was almost identical to the one back in the State of Yue, and the faint spatial fluctuations rapidly dissipating in the air, the entire stone chamber was empty.

Only in the direction directly facing them stood a massive, thick stone door, covered in a thick layer of dust and tightly sealed.

The teleportation was a success!

This was the Chaotic Star Sea!

Lu Qiu's heart settled, but he did not relax in the slightest.

He immediately thought of the earth-shaking scene caused by the teleportation back in the State of Yue.

That soaring pillar of light, even in the remote Ghost-Gaze Gorge, could not be guaranteed to go unnoticed by passing Cultivators or even Mortals.

If someone curiously investigated and found the teleportation Formation deep in the mine... although they would also need a great teleportation token to activate it, even a one-in-ten-thousand possibility was enough to be a hidden danger.

His thoughts raced, and a cold light flashed in his eyes as he decided to sever this potential worry.

He extended his right index finger, and atop the fingertip, a wisp of sharp Sword Qi, condensed to the extreme and appearing dark azure, quietly emerged.

He lightly slashed at a seemingly inconspicuous auxiliary Formation pattern node on the edge of the teleportation Formation, which was actually crucial for the stability of the short-range spatial positioning.

"Chi—"

A slight but clear tearing sound rang out. An inch-long, half-finger-deep neat crack appeared on that Formation pattern, and the internal spiritual circuits were completely cut.

While it wouldn't cause the entire Formation to collapse, the direct and stable spatial coordinate connection between the teleportation Formation in the State of Yue and this place had been destroyed.

Even if someone on that side forcibly activated it with a great teleportation token, it would be almost impossible to accurately teleport to this stone chamber again.

"Is this... the other end of the teleportation Formation? As expected, it is also a closed location."

Han Li's voice sounded from the side, carrying a bit of hoarseness from the recent dizziness and the instinctive alertness of arriving in a strange place.

He had also quickly recovered and was cautiously probing this dark stone chamber with his own Divine Sense.

Xin Ruyin, Xiao Mei, and Zhao Wen also recovered one after another from the discomfort of the teleportation, looking around the absolute darkness with curiosity and a hint of nervousness.

"Husband Lu, have we... have we arrived in that new world?" Xin Ruyin asked softly. Even in the darkness, her voice still carried a reassuring gentleness.

"Yes, we have arrived."

Lu Qiu answered with certainty, his gaze turning toward the heavy stone door: "Let's go out first and see what it's like outside."

He flipped his palm, and several fist-sized Moonlight Stones emitting soft white light appeared. With a flick of his fingers, they were precisely embedded into several natural depressions in the stone chamber's walls.

The soft, stable light immediately dispelled the thick darkness, illuminating the stone chamber that had been sealed for who knows how many years.

The stone chamber was indeed as simple as the Divine Sense probe had suggested; aside from the platform and the stone door, there was nothing else.

Lu Qiu walked to the stone door, pressed his hands against the cold, rough stone surface, and applied a bit of force.

"Creak—Boom..."

The heavy stone door made a dull and difficult grinding sound, slowly opening inward. Dust that had accumulated for hundreds or thousands of years fell like a waterfall, kicking up a hazy mist of dust in the light of the Moonlight Stones.

Outside the door was a narrow and steep green stone staircase, also covered in a thick layer of dust, extending diagonally upward into the deeper darkness above, its end unknown.

The dust on the stairs was a full inch thick, and stepping on it would leave clear footprints. It was obvious that no one had set foot here for a very long time.

Lu Qiu once again condensed a ball of steadily burning blazing white fire in his palm, which floated ahead like a small sun, illuminating the deep stairs.

"Follow me."

He took the lead, stepping onto the dust-covered stone steps. Xin Ruyin followed closely behind, with Xiao Mei, Zhao Wen, and the Black Fiend following in order, while Han Li walked at the very back, still maintaining a high level of alertness.

The stone steps were winding and more extensive than expected, seemingly going deep underground.

The group walked in silence, with only the sound of footsteps echoing in the narrow passage.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, a change finally appeared ahead—the stairs reached their end, blocked tightly from the outside by a large, angular brown rock.

Lu Qiu stopped his pace. His Divine Sense pierced through the gaps in the rock, perceiving a sensation from behind that was completely different from the stone chamber—it was the moist, flowing, and life-filled outside air!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a wisp of condensed scarlet gold Sword Qi flickered at his fingertip, lightly tapping the center of the rock.

With a soft "puf" sound, the internal structure of the rock was shattered by the Sword Qi.

Lu Qiu pressed his palm against it and released his magical power.

"Clatter—"

The massive rock blocking the way instantly disintegrated into countless fragments and collapsed inward.

In an instant!

Incredibly blinding and long-awaited daylight surged in like a flood through a broken dam!

Along with the light came a surge of fresh, moist air with a distinct salty scent, full of vitality!

Sea breeze!

Everyone subconsciously squinted their eyes, adjusting to the intense light.

Stepping out of the cave entrance half-covered by rubble, the view suddenly opened up!

They were on the mountainside of a desolate stone mountain that wasn't too high but was steep and sparsely vegetated.

Looking down, below was a coastline littered with black reefs and jagged rocks. White waves tirelessly crashed against the reefs over and over, making an eternal and rhythmic "hissing" roar.

Further away was the boundless, azure ocean that merged with the blue sky at the edge of their vision!

The sea and sky met in a single line, vast and infinite.

The salty sea breeze blew against them, fluttering their robes and hair, and bringing the first scent of the Chaotic Star Sea.

Lu Qiu took a deep breath of this unfamiliar air, his heart a mix of heroic ambition and caution.

He summoned the divine wind boat and signaled for everyone to come aboard.

Han Li also took out his own flying Magical Artifact.

Two streaks of Escape Light slowly rose into the sky. When they reached a height of over a hundred zhang, the view became even more expansive.

As expected, the place they were on was an island isolated in the middle of the vast ocean!

The island was not large and was irregularly oval-shaped. Aside from some low, salt-tolerant thorny shrubs and greenish-black moss growing tenaciously in the rock crevices, there was almost no decent tall vegetation. The entire island was desolate and barren, and the Spiritual Qi was pitifully thin; it was definitely not a place with a Spiritual Vein suitable for cultivation.

Looking around, as far as the eye could see, there were only vast blue waves, with the water and sky sharing the same color.

Aside from this deserted island beneath their feet and a few sesame-sized black dots faintly visible on the distant horizon, no other land could be seen.

The vast, strange, and unknown Chaotic Star Sea thus revealed a corner of its mysterious veil before them.