Chapter 346: Narrow Paths for Rivals

Half a year!
Su Che had spent half a year on Witch Yellow Star, amassing wealth so much that he could hardly count it—all kinds of valuable items piled up beyond calculation, only known to Lao He.
Simply put, within the ten-thousand-mile area of the first layer of the Immortal Prison, nearly half of it was occupied by various cultivation materials.
All the precious materials from the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star were piled up in huge quantities here…
Of course, for the entire Witch Yellow Star, these were just a drop in the ocean. Even warriors like those of the Witch tribe, who were giants standing a thousand feet tall, couldn’t exhaust such a large planet in just half a year.
He had become rich!
Su Che knew this was the real chance to become extremely wealthy. Compared to what he had gained on Qi Yuan Star before, this was nothing.
In fact, the wealth piled up in the Immortal Prison alone was more than the combined accumulation of the ten top immortal sects on Qi Yuan Star over ten thousand years.
Moreover, since the entire Witch Yellow Star was nominally under his control, even if he and Tian Yin returned to Qi Yuan Star, the Witch Yellow tribe would continue to exploit its resources. In fifty or sixty years, once the Five Elements Star Lock Formation was broken and a teleportation array could connect directly to Qi Yuan Star, Su Che could return and collect even more.
During these six months, Su Che had gathered wealth everywhere, while Tian Yin wasn’t idle either. She used some of the newly mined precious materials to rebuild a portable teleportation gate.
Today, this long-distance teleportation gate was finally completed, marking the time for Su Che and Tian Yin to leave Witch Yellow Star.
At the farewell, the third elder, Huang Li, solemnly promised, “Please rest assured, Lord. Within fifty years at the latest, I will personally lead a team to Qi Yuan Star to fulfill the Witch Yellow tribe’s duty of protecting you.”
“Thank you,” Su Che replied seriously. “I’ll be waiting on Qi Yuan Star for all my brothers from the Witch tribe.”
“Let’s go,” Tian Yin said with a smile.
Su Che nodded and waved his hand, storing the towering teleportation gate before him inside the Palace of Great Wealth. Next, they would leave Witch Yellow Star, break free from the influence of the Five Elements Star Lock Formation, and find a suitable planet where they could retrieve the teleportation gate to travel long distances.
“Farewell, Great Witch Tian Yin, and may you protect our lord.”
On the plain, several elders of the Witch Yellow tribe, along with hundreds of warriors, bid them farewell in unison, their roars echoing through the heavens.

Su Che rode the Star Emperor Compass upward, quickly breaking through the atmosphere and re-entering the Five Elements blockade barrier. Even the thick barrier posed little resistance to him and Tian Yin as they left.
“This trip wasn’t in vain.”
After entering space, Su Che said softly, “Tian Yin, I still need to express my gratitude to you.”
Tian Yin smiled and nodded, accepting his sincere thanks.
Next, Su Che summoned Tai Wu; only by having him control the compass could its true power be unleashed.
Following the star map, they headed toward the nearest lifeless, desolate planet, located over 80 million miles away, with a flight time of about eight days.
Things were different this time—Su Che was full of confidence during this space journey, even hoping to encounter some reckless opponents who would try to stir up trouble. This was because he believed the little black creature in his dantian would be extremely powerful and surely give those Yuan Ying cultivators a hard time.
“Let’s see who gets hit first. I wonder if I’ll run into those from the Netherworld Sect and the Immortal Holy Word Sect again…”
Su Che, like a warlike man, was eager for action.
Besides the little black creature, there was another significant change. Due to the Witch God’s true blood, the four drops of Demon God’s true blood in the Devouring Sky Rat had been stimulated and merged into its own life force. Over the past six months, Su Che’s muscles, organs, life force, and every part of his body had been continuously strengthened and transformed.
Since he hadn’t fought during his half-year stay on Witch Yellow Star, the energy in his life force hadn’t been wasted but used to strengthen his physique. Not only had his physical strength improved greatly, but the power of his Destruction Art had also increased significantly. It was estimated that it now had the strength to inflict serious damage on early-stage Yuan Ying cultivators.
Their current flight direction was toward the location of Mu Lan Star, though it was even farther away, about 230 million miles. The desolate planet chosen by Su Che and Tian Yin was situated between Witch Yellow Star and Mu Lan Star.
Therefore, Su Che thought there was a chance they might encounter cultivators from Mu Lan Star again—assuming they were still on a mission to patrol the star regions…
Tian Yin, who was always highly sensitive, could sense Su Che’s high fighting spirit and wondered, “Apart from that Devouring Sky Rat’s magical ability, has he mastered any other powers or skills?”

Unbeknownst to them, Su Che’s few life-saving hairs had long since turned into vital energy and merged throughout his body; his current confidence stemmed from other sources.
…
Four days passed in the blink of an eye. In the vast starry sky, the Leader of the Netherworld Sect and Yan Gu were piloting a colorful dragon boat, conducting routine patrols in the star region under the Netherworld Sect’s jurisdiction.
A year ago, five planets with extremely pure elemental attributes suddenly appeared in the star region where Wu Huang Star was located. The powerful gravitational pull of these planets caused changes in climate, tides, spiritual energy, and more even on Mu Lan Star, millions of miles away. Soon after, seven major sects, including the Netherworld Sect, received decrees from the Ancestors of the Spiritual Realm, ordering them to seal off the star region around Wu Huang Star and prevent anyone from approaching it.
These seven sects were the oldest and most historically significant super sects in Mu Lan Star’s cultivation world. Taking the Netherworld Sect as an example, over tens of thousands of years, seventeen ancestors had ascended to the Spiritual Realm, and over time, they had established a significant presence there.
It could be said that the Netherworld Sect had already set up its headquarters and secured a firm foothold in the Spiritual Realm.
At this moment, the colorful dragon boat piloted by the Leader of the Netherworld Sect was merely a mid-tier spiritual treasure-class spacecraft. The original top-tier spiritual treasure-class silver spacecraft had been destroyed by Su Che with his immense wealth half a year ago. Coupled with the capture of the Supreme Elder “Yan Lin,” the Netherworld Sect had suffered heavy losses and would undoubtedly hate Su Che deeply.
“Senior Brother Leader, these monotonous patrols day after day—when will this ever end?”
Over the past half year, Yan Gu had been quite irritable, and he was no different now. He sighed, “Floating in this boundless void for a year has really worn me out.”
“Younger Brother Yan Gu, you really need to change your attitude,” the Leader of the Netherworld Sect said in a deep voice. “With your temperament, if it weren’t for that stroke of luck, you would never have been able to reach the Yuan Ying stage. If your mental state doesn’t improve, you’ll never reach the later stages of Yuan Ying in this lifetime. The path of cultivation can’t rely solely on luck.”
“Yes, Senior Brother,” Yan Gu dared not argue and could only humbly accept advice. “I’m aware of my flaws, but it’s hard to change my nature and control myself. Especially after that junior in the Golden Core stage stole my life treasure half a year ago, it’s caused me endless inner demons that I find hard to overcome…”
“If it’s hard to overcome, you must still do your best to overcome it. Otherwise, your progress will stop here.” The Leader of the Netherworld Sect had once been Yan Gu’s mentor and was accustomed to this instructive tone.

After delivering the lesson, he softened his tone and said gently, “I estimate that the blockade of Witch Yellow Star won’t end in three or five years. We must be prepared to hold our ground for a long time. Of course, all our efforts won’t be in vain. I believe that soon, the ancestors of the Spirit Realm will bestow rewards on us through some means or channels.”

“How will they bestow rewards?” Yan Gu asked curiously. “The ancestors of the Spirit Realm can’t even come down to this world. Apart from a few brief commands, they can’t give us any magical artifacts. Otherwise, we would already have a top-grade Dao instrument each.”

“This time is different!” The leader of the Netherworld Sect spoke in a mysterious tone. “As long as there are no mistakes in the task of sealing off this star region, the rewards that will come soon will surely surprise you greatly.”

“How can there be no mistakes?” Yan Gu shook his head and sighed. “Didn’t those three escape just half a year ago?”

“They didn’t escape from us. It was the Snow Goddess Palace Master who failed to act properly. She had the ability to catch up with them, but she stayed silent and gave up at the last moment.” The leader of the Netherworld Sect smiled darkly. “We, on the other hand, traveled thousands of miles and did our best. So this responsibility shouldn’t fall on my sect.”

Mentioning ‘those three,’ Yan Gu was filled with hatred again. Gritting his teeth, he said, “To be mocked and humiliated by a mere junior at the Golden Core stage—this anger is truly hard to swallow. One day, if I get my hands on him, I’ll make him…”

Things in this world often happen without warning. Before Yan Gu could finish his curses and vows, the leader of the Netherworld Sect’s expression changed. Using the enhanced vision function of the Colorful Dragon Boat, he saw a very familiar light approaching from afar in the void—like a light blue meteor.

It was the same flying style as the compass magical artifact ridden by the three who had escaped right under his nose half a year ago.

“It’s them!”

Yan Gu widened his eyes and also saw the light blue meteor flying at high speed, getting closer and closer.

“Stop them!”

Without hesitation, the leader of the Netherworld Sect activated the Colorful Dragon Boat, accelerating sharply to intercept them head-on.

Whether they could stop them in the end or catch up with them or not, since they had encountered them, they wouldn’t miss even the slightest chance. For those two top-grade Dao instruments, even if the chance was only one in ten thousand, they would strive to seize it.

A few moments later, Su Che also saw the Colorful Dragon Boat approaching. Realizing that most of the cultivators in this star region likely came from the cultivation world of Muran Star, he transmitted the image of the dragon boat to Immortal Prison for Yan Lin to identify.

The answer was: Netherworld Sect!

“The saying ‘opponents often meet on narrow paths’ does hold some truth,” Su Che said with a faint smile. “If they keep going, they’ll collide and destroy another spirit treasure spaceship for the Netherworld Sect.”
On the other side, Yan Gu also warned, “Elder Brother Sect Leader, that palace-like top-grade Dao artifact of his is extremely sturdy and can destroy our spaceship.”
“I know,” the Netherworld Sect Leader nodded slowly. “I know my limits.”