Chapter 1 The Enigma

Amidst the swirling white light, the immense serpent's body lay sprawled across the starry sky, cold and eerie.

Within the coils of the serpent in the void, if one approached closely, a faint figure of a youth could be seen within the grotesque coils.

Whoosh~

In places invisible to the naked eye, nearly endless venomous insects surged from the serpent's body, whistling back and forth.

Within the starry sky, all things visible and invisible were devoured.

Far away, within the wreckage of a star completely enveloped in white light, yet not entirely consumed, a will struggled to evade the illumination.

"Ah!"

The will was violent and pained, groaning.

Everything was gone.

Looking at the shattered star and the barely recognizable Sky Suspension Mountain, Old Ancestor Xuan Kong felt only misery.

Gone, gone, everything was gone.

Recalling the giant serpent that kneaded the vast Sky Suspension Mountain into a ball and swept across the starry sea, even with only his nascent soul will remaining, he couldn't stop trembling.

This was the second time since he achieved the Sitting-in-Oblivion realm that he felt a true life-and-death crisis.

The first time was Qin Yu.

This giant serpent might not be comparable to Qin Yu, but when facing Qin Yu, he still had the assistance of various holy land sects in the Dragon Erosion Realm, and even the great gods of the upper realm.

But facing this giant serpent, he was severely injured and not yet healed, and he was in a desperate situation. Even the Heaven Sealing Talisman was breached.

"What kind of world is this... What is that giant serpent?"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong murmured in his heart, looking at the giant serpent, which was nearly half the size compared to when he first saw it, his heart heavy, even with a hint of despair.

In his life, he didn't know how many desperate situations he had entered, but he had never seen such a bizarre world.

Not only was there no spiritual energy, but it was also devouring all the dissipated spiritual energy at an unimaginable speed, making one shudder.

The body of this giant serpent was incredibly strong, and its supernatural powers could be described as terrifying. In a world with spiritual energy, it could even cause a world-destroying calamity.

However, in this desperate situation, it had only spread to dozens or hundreds of star systems before showing signs of decline.

If this continued, it wouldn't be long before this serpent's body would be completely drained and disappear into the vast starry sky.

If the giant serpent was like this, how could he be an exception?

Even with the Heaven Sealing Talisman protecting his nascent soul from destruction, he could feel his nascent soul irreversibly heading towards decay.

It seemed irreversible.

"I am not resigned!"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong tried his best to gather the remaining spiritual energy in the wreckage of Sky Suspension Mountain, his will reaching its limit, wanting to find a chance of survival in this desperate situation.

The Sitting-in-Oblivion realm allowed one's thoughts to travel beyond the void, one's nascent soul to merge with heaven and earth, to be one with the Dao, able to trace the past and penetrate the void dimensions.

He had entered the Sitting-in-Oblivion realm for who knows how many years, and with a treasure in hand, urged at all costs, he finally sensed the location of life within the shroud of this poisonous white light.

"That is..."

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong's mind was in a trance. Under the swirling white light, he actually saw a person.

Unlike the unknown corpse coiled within the serpent's body, this was a real living being!

"Haha, heaven has not forsaken me!"

The great stone in Old Ancestor Xuan Kong's heart finally fell, and with a thought, the streamer transformed from the Heaven Sealing Talisman roared away, wrapping his remaining will.

……

"Autonomous division? No, it's not just that. These venomous insects are not independent individuals, they are connected to each other, yet not connected... In other words, they can share damage with each other, and they can also gather damage in one place..."

"Given the characteristics of these things, spiritual Qi particles shouldn't be able to escape their devouring..."

"They seem to be afraid of spiritual Qi? Or is it..."

Su Jie strolled through the white light, feeling the venomous insects devouring spiritual Qi, frowning slightly.

If the white light wasn't broken, Xuan Xing couldn't truly step out into space. Even with the blessing of the Talisman Dao, he couldn't stay in it for too long.

The white light shrouded nearly endlessly. Su Jie traveled at high speed for months, but still couldn't see the edge, or even see anything else.

All he saw was white light, as if walking into an ocean of venomous insects.

Finally, he stopped.

"There are only 900 days left until Ying Long's predicted anomaly..."

Su Jie sat cross-legged in the void.

Calling it the void wasn't accurate, because endless white light and venomous insects came one after another, even making him feel crowded.

His expression was solemn, his fingers constantly stroking the crystal skull.

No one was more familiar with this skull than him, but only on the outside. He had never truly touched its true inner core.

Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to cause even greater disasters.

"The Great World of Gods, is it..."

Su Jie whispered, his divine sense entered the crystal skull from the carved talisman patterns.

For decades in reality, and hundreds of years in dreams, he had put most of his energy into this crystal skull.

Now, it was time for verification.

Buzz~

As if piercing through a layer of ethereal barrier, an extremely ear-piercing sound exploded in Su Jie's mind.

Sharp, chaotic, and eerie...

Like millions of people roaring hysterically, and like countless ghosts and gods whispering and wailing, extremely chaotic information poured in.

Like滔滔巨浪, constantly beating against Su Jie's will.

"The will impact is hundreds of times stronger than it was twenty years ago!"

Su Jie's heart shook, and his rock-solid will was shaken for a moment.

But he was prepared. With a thought, he had already calmed his mind, and under the heavy impact, he continued to invade the crystal skull.

He had prepared for this day for decades, so even though this will impact was stronger than he imagined, he still endured it.

He marched forward.

……

Whoosh~

The white light boiled, and countless venomous insects surged and galloped.

Within the envelopment of the Heaven Sealing Talisman, Old Ancestor Xuan Kong was extremely painful. The terrifying power of demise within the white light couldn't damage the Heaven Sealing Talisman.

But he was too badly injured, and his nascent soul could no longer maintain its integrity, losing too much.

"Not good, not good... If this continues, I will completely disappear in less than half a month. What longevity and immortality will all become a joke!"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong became more and more anxious. Finally, after who knows how long, he saw a youth sitting cross-legged in the white light, seemingly resting.

……

Chaos, inversion, disorder...

Su Jie slowly sensed the things in the crystal skull. Gradually, he seemed to see a constantly rotating vortex in this disorder.

"A black hole? No, a space channel? Or rather, a world coordinate?!"

Su Jie's heart suddenly lit up.

At the same time, he sensed an extremely strong warning from the will of Xuan Xing behind him!

In an instant, he felt that the crystal skull placed in front of him had become the legendary Pandora's Box, as if there was an indescribable terror within it.

Open it?

Or……

Su Jie stopped.

Not hesitation. People like him, once they made up their minds, wouldn't hesitate at all. The reason he stopped was because this vortex wanted to open in advance, and it needed a key.

Or rather, a 'sacrifice'.

"Let's call it a space channel for now, but there is a price to pay for crossing this space channel..."

Su Jie's mind raced. This wasn't difficult to understand, and he wasn't completely unprepared.

The craftsman god who attached himself to Han Fangbai's body, claiming to be a god, was just right.

But before he could act, a great warning sign arose in his heart, and a great crisis surged into his heart.

"This is?"

Su Jie's mind shook, and he had already sensed that a powerful alien spiritual force was pouring into his body with lightning speed.

It seemed to want to devour his soul and occupy his body!

"Seizing the body?! Just in time!"

A familiar feeling descended again. Su Jie wasn't surprised but smiled. Having had the experience of almost being seized the last time, how could he not have any countermeasures and defenses?

What's more, he was holding the skull in his hand at this time?

"Then I'll use you as a sacrifice! Devour!"

Almost at the same time as the alien spiritual force invaded, he moved his mind and directly activated the crystal skull.

He devoured the alien spiritual force that wanted to seize his body!

"Hmm?!"

At the same time that the crystal skull erupted, Old Ancestor Xuan Kong, who had just invaded Su Jie's body, felt something was wrong.

His spiritual cultivation was extremely high, and he was extremely decisive. Feeling something was wrong, he immediately wanted to withdraw from this body.

But how could he have time?

Before his divine sense could retreat halfway, an unimaginable pain descended.

"How is this possible?!"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong was extremely angry and frightened. He saw thirteen terrifying skulls devouring half of his nascent soul!

And along an inexplicable trajectory, they wanted to devour him as well!

"What is this thing?!"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong's mind jumped wildly. Without thinking, he burned the remaining spiritual energy, wanting to avoid the skull's devouring.

Whoosh!

At this time, Su Jie's divine sense also flowed back into his body. Seeing a stream of light flashing, he directly raised his hand and slapped it back.

"Ah!"

"Please stop, please stop!"

Old Ancestor Xuan Kong's will trembled, wanting to communicate with this unknown creature.

But Su Jie didn't have the mind to communicate with him. He released his hand, and the thirteen terrifying skulls boiled up, devouring the remaining nascent soul as well.

Buzz!

A blood-colored streamer flashed across the skull.

"Enough? There's still a surplus?"

Su Jie quickly calmed down his mind and searched along the blood color. Without hesitation, he plunged into the wide-open space channel!