Chapter 3: The Power of the Void (Part 1)

Guo Shier’s experimental insect talismans piqued everyone’s great interest. Thus, Qi Wu Zhen suggested that each person design their own talismans and then combine everyone’s ideas to create the best refining plan, so that they could obtain a highly powerful weapon. This temptation was irresistible to the six top professionals. They immediately dispersed, finding quiet places to start experimenting with the sealed Void Insects.

Li Ran made it clear from the start that their stay would not exceed ten days. Even if they achieved nothing after ten days, they must leave. He was somewhat worried about the stability of this space, fearing they might not find a point to cross over. If the space collapsed, no point would be useful, and it might be impossible to find such a fragile space or a clear spatial passage again.

After seeing the relics of the Ancient Tianling Clan, Li Ran became convinced that there must be a point to cross over to the greater world here. He even suspected the existence of a direct passage to the greater world that didn’t require breaking through boundaries. However, this passage might have partially collapsed, blocking the way back, which is why the Ancient Tianling Clan was forced to enter the Star Sacrifice. If they could find such a passage, the route to the greater world and universe would be much smoother.

The group stayed in place for ten days. Guo Shier and the Old Handsome Man discussed repeatedly, while he himself kept refining and testing. Ten days passed swiftly, and they gathered again to show off the Void Insects they had refined. Due to the nature of the talismans, everyone’s approaches were similar, except for Qi Wu Zhen, who created a highly powerful insect talisman.

She combined over a dozen Void Insects for refinement and added her own control over fire. Once activated, this talisman could be filled with flames to form a defensive layer, with the flames only being extinguished by the talisman’s own power once it exploded.

In the end, two refining methods were identified, and everyone received the knowledge to refine them whenever they had time. The overall concept still came from the Old Handsome Man. Truly a veteran, his strength was far inferior to that of Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen, even less than Guo Shier’s, but his creativity far surpassed everyone else.

One refining method involved stimulating the Void Insects’ ability to tear through space. The other was an insect talisman that functioned like a bullet attack, designed like a grenade—extremely powerful once activated. Through discussion and continuous improvement, these two methods became more refined, greatly enhancing the power of the resulting insect talismans.

Everyone had refined a few insect talismans to test against enemies, while the rest were used in large quantities to seal the Void Insects. Guo Shier and Li Ran were exceptions—each of their spirit aids had its own unique characteristics but could both assist their masters in refining items. Especially the handsome old man’s spirit aid was unparalleled, ranking among the finest; Guo Shier essentially had an advanced professional as a helper.

It took a total of twelve days, and Li Ran could no longer wait. That day, he said, “Let’s set off now. I hope we can find a way out as soon as possible.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Brother Li Ran, there’s no need to rush. Since that place has existed for so many years, it won’t collapse just in a few days. Let’s take our time. Hehe, ever since entering the Luotian Ruins, aside from these past ten days that were relatively easy, we’ve been running around everywhere. It’s too exhausting.”

Qi Wu Zhen also smiled and said, “Yes, it’s better if we move slowly. Going too fast makes it hard to spot dangers. There are some places here… even we can’t handle them. It’s best to avoid them. Our spiritual energies are too limited to withstand too much depletion.”

Li Ran nodded and said, “Alright, we won’t fly too fast.”

……

The space of the Luotian Ruins had become even more unstable due to the ravages of the Void Insects. In some areas, the space had already begun to collapse, forming large areas of devastation. Those places were bizarre and extremely dangerous.

This time, various races suffered heavy losses in the Luotian Ruins. Some of these losses were caused by insect swarms, but more were due to the dangers posed by unstable space. Often, a spaceship flying along a well-detected route would suddenly be swallowed by the void or torn apart by suddenly appearing spatial rifts, causing it to plummet from the sky. Unless one was an exceptionally skilled fighter, survival was impossible.

Li Ran’s team found themselves blocked in an area of collapse. They had noticed this region earlier but still refused to give up. As they approached to take a closer look, they were immediately stunned by what they saw.

The ground seemed to have been twisted by a giant hand, with countless bottomless ravines of bizarre shapes that were impossible to imagine. In the distance, everything was pitch black—a darkness that was equally strange, standing upright between heaven and earth like countless black tombstones. Everything around them was breaking apart and then swallowed by the darkness. Li Ran and his companions heard sharp howling sounds—those were the sounds of the wind. Even the wind, once drawn into the collapsed areas, was quickly extinguished, as if emitting cries before death.

Cecilin clutched Guo Shier’s sleeve tightly and exclaimed in horror, “How can we break free from this suction force?”
Guo Shier shook his head and said, “See that line? Once we step into it… there’s no way to escape. It’s too strong—this is the power of the void!”
It was a cliff that kept collapsing; large chunks of rock and soil were stripped away by the powerful suction force, then shot upward before disappearing instantly, leaving people feeling terrified. As the rocks fell away, the cliff face gradually extended backward.
Li Ran shouted, “Back up, back up!” The suction force grew stronger, forcing them to use the altar to stabilize their bodies.
Everyone retreated hundreds of miles. Guo Shier asked, “Is there another way?”
Kumu said, “Can we go around it?”
Li Ran gave a bitter smile and said, “I don’t know how far we’d have to go. This collapsed area is quite large. The only good news so far is that no large spatial cracks have formed around here; otherwise, things would be really tough.”
Qi Wuzhen said, “Then let’s try going around. If we can’t make it, we’ll think of another plan.”
Wang Dayang sighed, “This collapsed area must have formed recently. There used to be a few spatial cracks in this area, which were classified as relatively dangerous zones. But with caution, it was still possible to pass through. Now, it’s completely impassable—entering there means certain death.”
Guo Shier said, “It’s not necessarily certain death, but the cost… will be agonizing enough to kill us.” He was referring to using the boundary-breaking technique. But Wang Dayang didn’t understand, and he didn’t ask further, only showing disbelief in his eyes.
Without delay, they flew along the collapsed area. Their flight speed was very slow—this place was too dangerous. If they sped up, they wouldn’t be able to react in time if danger arose.
After flying all day, they discovered another collapsed area, no more than a hundred miles away, forming a T-shape. If they didn’t dare cross at the intersection, they’d have to enter the other collapsed area—God only knew how big it was. If they forced their way through, they had no idea what lay inside. If the two collapsed areas merged later, they’d have no way to retreat.
Li Ran stared ahead in pain and said bitterly, “Damn it! What should we do in this hellhole?” He had to seek his companions’ opinions—this place was simply too dangerous.
Guo Shier said, “I can’t judge!”
Kumu said, “There’s a high chance… we’ll get trapped inside.”
Qi Wuzhen asked, “How far is it to our destination from here?”

Li Ran said, “It’s very far… This space is actually enormous, almost on par with our Talisman World, much larger than secret realms or anything like that.”
Qi Wu Zhen shook his head. “I can’t tell either.”
Monier also shook her head; she didn’t say anything. When faced with such situations, as long as Ku Mu and Guo Shier were around, she usually didn’t express her opinion.
Li Ran pondered for a moment before saying, “If we want to be safe, we shouldn’t go in. But if we want to bypass that collapsed area, I don’t know how much time it will take.”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “We need to decide quickly—the two collapsed areas are getting closer.”
Selin suddenly interjected, “Do we really lack time?”
At those words, everyone laughed. It’s true that those involved are often confused, while outsiders see clearly. They weren’t short on time. Since time wasn’t an issue, they could take their time finding an alternative route—safety was what mattered most.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Yeah, do we lack time? Hehe, Brother Li Ran, let’s take a detour. There’s no need to put ourselves in danger. By then, it won’t just be a matter of time.”
Only then did Li Ran make up his mind. “Let’s retreat and find another route!”
After flying back a distance, they flew along the edge of the other collapsed area. Just a few hours later, they saw the collapsed area starting to shrink. After flying some more, they had formed a new mental map of the terrain—and everyone broke into a cold sweat. The collapsed area and the one they were in at first had formed a gourd shape, with their location being the entrance. Once inside, they would be trapped, and to get out, they would need to break through the barrier; otherwise, there would be no way out.
Guo Shier was the first to speak. “Selin, thank you.”
Then, Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Ku Mu, Monier, and Wang Dayang—all sincerely thanked her. If not for Selin’s words, they might have rushed in. The confidence of top experts often turned out to be their fatal weakness.
Selin was at a loss, her face red as she hid behind Guo Shier, whispering, “I didn’t do anything…” Everyone suddenly realized that the once confident and domineering Selin had become much more feminine.
Guo Shier put his arm around Selin’s waist and smiled, “If not for your reminder, we would have suffered heavy losses this time.”