Chapter 290: Another Fragment of the Sky-Shattering Map

“Elders, I have been in seclusion for hundreds of years and only recently emerged. I have no idea where these insects came from.”
Chen Xiao’s eyes showed confusion. From within the spatial seal deep in this shattered galaxy, such terrifying creatures could emerge—even a Divine King would perish if confronted by them. Even without the yellow-robed woman who had taken human form intervening, the countless Blood Spirit-level insects alone would be enough to devour a Divine King.
“This…”
The thirteen Blood Spirit deities exchanged glances before it was the Purple Spirit who spoke. Among them, the Purple Spirit had the highest cultivation level, and it seemed the others followed his lead.
“Deep within this galaxy lies a spatial seal left by ancient deities. These insects have escaped through cracks in that seal.”
“Originally, three Blood Spirit deities at the seventh level guarded the seal, but it seems they are now in grave danger.” The Purple Spirit’s expression was grim.
In fact, these thirteen individuals, including the True Gods behind them and the three Blood Spirit deities at the seventh level deep within the seal, all belonged to the same faction, under the command of the same Divine King. Losing any of them meant a loss to their own side.
However, Chen Xiao was unaware of the situation here.
“Three Blood Spirit deities guarding it…”
Chen Xiao pondered for a moment before saying, “I want to go and take a look at that spatial seal.”
“That’s not possible!” The Purple Spirit frowned and said firmly, “The seven Divine Kings have issued orders—no one, not even members of the enforcement team, is allowed to approach that spatial seal.”
“Do you think I can single-handedly eliminate that terrifying insect nest with my own strength?” Chen Xiao wasn’t bothered by the Purple Spirit’s words. Smiling, he said, “Behind me is a Divine King who remains hidden from the world. If that Divine King also joins in guarding the seal, do you think the insects’ chances of escaping would be any greater?”
Hearing Chen Xiao’s words, the Purple Spirit and the others’ eyes lit up.
“Still, we should report this to the Divine King,” said a man with golden hair and golden robes, still somewhat uneasy.
“I’m not going in there on my own. With my strength, it would be suicide.”
Chen Xiao’s expression turned cold.
“You mean…” The Purple Spirit and the others’ expressions changed.
“The will of the Divine King behind me is always with me. What you’ve just said has already reached his ears. If he’s displeased, he might stop interfering here immediately.”
There was a hint of threat in Chen Xiao’s tone.
“Very well. In that case, young brother Shang Weiting, I’ll accompany you,” the Purple Spirit said. “You guys search around here, kill more insects, and inform headquarters to send more troops. The rest of the team should return.”
The other twelve Blood Spirit deities, upon hearing the Purple Spirit’s words, fell silent and left with their thousand True Gods.

“Young Chen Xiao, come with me.” Zi Ling smiled at Chen Xiao and flew toward the core of the Shuixing Galaxy. Chen Xiao’s mind moved, and the Black Pearl emerged from his body, appearing at his feet. “Senior Zi Ling, let’s get on the ship,” Chen Xiao said. He had a high opinion of Zi Ling—during the battle against the insects, the other twelve Yuanling Gods had been cautious, but Zi Ling had risked everything, using forbidden techniques to kill one of the insects. If not for Chen Xiao’s timely arrival, he would likely be dead now. “Hehe, if you don’t mind, just call me big brother,” Zi Ling said. Though his appearance was cold, it was clear he was warm inside. Chen Xiao’s actions not only saved his life but also likely saved countless beings in this universe. If that terrifying insect nest appeared in another galaxy, it would be a devastating blow to that galaxy. Zi Ling smiled, moved, and boarded the Black Pearl directly. “That kid was just a bit arrogant,” Chen Xiao chuckled. “Big brother Zi Ling, thank you for your courtesy.” Chen Xiao bowed slightly to Zi Ling. Zi Ling nodded and then asked, “I wonder which God King is behind you, young brother?” he asked tentatively. “Hehe, my master is known as the Emperor of Sorrow. But he hasn’t appeared in ages; many gods have even forgotten his name now,” Chen Xiao replied casually. After all, this universe was vast, with countless reclusive powerhouses, and it was impossible for them to verify each one. “The Emperor of Sorrow? Could he be an ancient god?” Zi Ling had never heard of this title before. But judging from Chen Xiao’s strength—possessing a true spirit artifact and wielding formidable combat power as a practitioner at the Domain Realm, comparable to a Yuanling God—it was clear he had a powerful true spirit God King behind him. As for Chen Xiao’s strength, it could no longer be hidden in front of a second-tier Yuanling God. Even if he could conceal the fluctuations on his body, his soul was still mortal, not divine, and thus couldn’t be hidden. Chen Xiao was aware of this but had no solution. The ninth level of the Domain Realm and the Void God Realm didn’t seem so difficult to break through to in the eyes of other cultivators, but for Chen Xiao, they were extremely challenging. Currently at the Zixiao Heaven Realm, to advance to the next realm, he seemed to need to find another Fragmented Sky Map to draw down the shadow of the next realm in order to break through. It was almost impossible for Chen Xiao to advance to the next realm right now. Chen Xiao urged the Black Pearl beneath his feet, tearing through space and teleporting through the void. After a while, he and Zi Ling arrived in front of an incredibly huge black hole. This black hole was enormous, even larger than a solar system. It emitted terrifying devouring power in all directions, swallowing all surrounding forces.

Even the faint light from other galaxies is drawn in and can never escape.
“Is this the Space-Time Seal?” Chen Xiao asked, looking at the massive black hole. Although the black hole’s devouring power was terrifying, for someone as strong as Chen Xiao, it was negligible—completely unimpactful.
“The Space-Time Seal lies deep within this black hole. In fact, this black hole was created by those devouring insects.”
“Aren’t black holes formed from dead stars?” Chen Xiao blinked. According to Earthly science, stars evolve into red giants at a certain stage; after dying, they become white dwarfs, and eventually black holes.
But after some thought, Chen Xiao realized that if Earthly science were true, there would be no gods in the world.
Suddenly, a small insect nest, about the size of the moon, slowly flew out of the black hole, covered in countless dark insects.
As soon as it left the black hole’s range, the nest began to disperse. It seemed almost alive, sensing Chen Xiao and Zi Ling’s presence, and turned slightly in another direction.
“Ah, it seems the three guardians here have truly perished.”
Zi Ling sighed softly. With a wave of his hand, countless purple lightning bolts surrounded the moon-sized insect nest. In just moments, it turned to ashes in the universe.
The leading golden insect was also killed by Zi Ling’s lightning.
“What a waste…”
Chen Xiao shook his head slightly, feeling regret. He knew clearly that the Main God Space had just acquired a new higher realm that was in need of believers. Though these insects were not highly ranked, their sheer numbers could boost faith in that world.
Moreover, the divine master Chai Yunkē had already taken all the corpses of the gods in the Main God Space to that higher realm to feed the insects. After consuming those corpses filled with the power of death, the devouring insects began to evolve.
And that woman in yellow, Huang Shang, had now become the divine envoy to suppress this world. If Chen Xiao had enough strength, he could summon her to fight for him.
Without the Main God’s intervention, Huang Shang’s strength was invincible.
…
“Brother Zi Ling, that’s enough. I want to go in and take a look.”
Chen Xiao turned to Zi Ling and said.
Zi Ling lowered his head slightly, thought for a moment, then replied, “If that’s the case, I won’t stop you. But be extremely careful.”
“Mm,” Chen Xiao nodded.
Then, Zi Ling left the Black Pearl, and Chen Xiao, without hesitation, transformed all the power of the Main God within him into the most primal power of the Water God, pouring it into the Black Pearl.
Suddenly, a faint black light burst forth from the Black Pearl—it was the primal power, transformed by Chai Yunkē into the power of Death Water. Among all forms of water power, Death Water had the greatest destructive force.
“If I’m to make a breakthrough, it has to be now.”

In Chen Xiao’s eyes, two strands of ice-blue flame light flashed. Within this black hole, he had actually unleashed the power of his primordial spiritual fire.
Chen Xiao could sense that within this spatial seal, there seemed to be a will calling to him, just as the Heavenly Map had called to him back in the Tianlong Secret Treasury.
Clearly, there was something here that shared the same origin as the Heavenly Map—probably a fragment of it.
“We’ve arrived!”
Suddenly, Chen Xiao’s eyes lit up—the Black Pearl had reached the end of the black hole.