Chapter 3: The Power of the Void (Part 2)

Sericeline immediately felt weak all over. It was the first time she had experienced Guo Shier’s initiative, leaving her frozen. In fact, Guo Shier was merely asking her not to hide behind him. Soon, Sericeline regained her composure. Her body grew weak as she leaned closely against Guo Shier and wrapped her arms around his waist. After all, she was also a skilled fighter who made decisive moves. It was a rare chance to get so close, and of course she wouldn’t miss it, even though her face was red with embarrassment.

Space collapse was a terrifying phenomenon, especially when two collapsing spaces collided. In that instant, the entire space trembled, manifesting as a massive earthquake with the ground shaking violently. Li Ran shouted, “Go!” The seven of them quickly formed a Five-Star Formation and fled toward the outside of the collapsing area, as it was expanding rapidly.

After flying thousands of miles in one go, they finally slowed down. Guo Shier said with lingering fear, “If we hadn’t flown fast, we might have fallen into it.”

The collapsing area continued to expand, though not as violently or quickly at first. Soon, they managed to bypass it. It took about half a day of flying before they found their way back.

Li Ran said, “I hope there aren’t too many obstacles ahead.”

Guo Shier laughed, “This place is full of oddities; anything can happen. So… Brother Li Ran, better not get your hopes up.”

Just as they spoke, a group of Void Worms appeared ahead, rushing out from the spatial cracks. There were thousands of them, and they immediately pounced on them as soon as they saw them. The others’ eyes lit up—while they didn’t want to encounter anything else, they would welcome more Void Worms.

The Five-Star Formation disintegrated, and everyone rushed at the Void Worms. There weren’t enough of them to warrant forming a formation; they could simply capture them individually.

Guo Shier flew out of the Soul-Calming Cauldron and dived straight into the swarm. Sericeline felt her body tighten as a purple chain extended from Guo Shier and instantly secured her to his back. She was already used to this. In fact, she liked it. She wrapped her arms around Guo Shier’s neck like a little monkey, clinging tightly to him. A sense of peace and joy filled her heart.

A ring of white light curled around the mouth of the Soul-Calming Cauldron, instantly trapping the approaching Void Worms inside. In just a few breaths, thousands of them were swept away. Their speed in collecting the worms became extremely fast, thanks to Guo Shier and especially that monstrous sacrificial artifact—the Soul-Calming Cauldron. If they were even slightly slow, they would get nothing. Even so, most of the Void Worms ended up in Guo Shier’s hands.

Wang Dayang said with a wry smile, “Shier, you’re too amazing. You’ve already caught half of these worms by yourself!”

Guo Shier said proudly, “It’s because I have this sacrificial artifact. Hehe, it’s an excellent tool for catching worms!”

Qi Wu Zhen gave him a disdainful look and said, “Won’t it be a problem if you just put them into the Soul-Calming Cauldron?”

Li Ran laughed and said, “He has helpers.”

Guo Shier fawned, “Big Brother Li Ran is really smart. He figured it out at a glance.”

After this small incident, everyone set off again.

……

Three days later, they stopped once more. The journey had been extremely difficult, with countless spatial cracks and collapsed areas, plus Void Worms everywhere. Fortunately, they had ways to deal with the Void Worms and managed to catch quite a few. Strange dangers also appeared from time to time, so Li Ran’s team’s speed couldn’t increase and they could only move forward slowly.

Li Ran said, “There are many spatial cracks ahead. They’re not dense yet, but we don’t know what’s inside. Should we take a detour or try to go through?”

This question had been raised countless times. Every time they encountered such large-scale spatial cracks, Li Ran would seek everyone’s opinion. Wang Dayang said, “Let’s take a detour. Spatial cracks are more complex than collapsed areas. No one can tell what’s ahead. For safety’s sake, it’s better to detour. We’re not in a hurry…”

Guo Shier said, “Not necessarily… We weren’t in a hurry before, but now it’s different.”

Wang Dayang asked, “What do you mean?”

Guo Shier replied, “There are more and more spatial collapses, and the cracks are becoming denser. I suspect… the time before the entire space collapses isn’t long. I just can’t determine when it will happen. Once the whole space collapses, we’re all done.”

Qi Wu Zhen shook his head and said, “Not yet, but… indeed, we can’t predict when it will collapse. It could be now or ten years from now. I can sense that this space won’t hold much longer.”

Kumu said, “Take a detour. Haste makes waste.”

Li Ran gave the withered tree a strange look, as what this guy was saying wasn’t something common in the world of runes but rather something unique to Earth. He glanced at Guo Shier, and then it dawned on him that he must have heard these words from Guo Shier. He nodded and said, “Hmm, let’s take a detour!”
Boom!
The world trembled violently, leaving everyone stunned. Wang Dayang asked in surprise, “What happened?”
Guo Shier pointed at the area filled with spatial cracks, too shocked to speak, for he saw a pair of hands emerging from one of the cracks. The only thing he knew for sure was that those hands weren’t real—they were massive hands formed from some kind of energy, similar to rune hands.
Li Ran’s pupils constricted rapidly as he shouted, “Be on guard!” He didn’t know what it was either, but since such massive hands could emerge from spatial cracks, it was clear their owner must be extremely powerful.
Everyone was already familiar with the Five-Star Formation. As soon as Li Ran shouted “Be on guard,” the formation took shape. Guo Shier and Seraphine stood at the center, while everyone stared at those massive hands.
It was terrifying to think about—who could emerge from nothingness? Everyone fixed their eyes on those hands.
Gradually, those hands emerged from the spatial crack, slowly encircling both sides of it before yanking hard. The space, already unstable, split open instantly, triggering a fierce wind that turned everything on the ground to nothingness in an instant.
A faint light glowed from the spatial crack, and a person slowly stepped out of it. After emerging, he waved his hand backward, and the torn gap, which was about to form a new collapse zone, disappeared silently.
Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, Guo Shier, the Withered Tree, Monique, Wang Dayang, and Seraphine were all stunned, their mouths agape. Having spent so much time in this hellish place, they knew full well that the power of nothingness was beyond human comprehension. Yet here they were, witnessing someone casually stepping out of it—what kind of strength was this? It was utterly terrifying. Was this even human?
The man wore a silver robe adorned with rising suns, moons, and twinkling stars. His long hair was tied back with a crown featuring a slanted piece of jade—light red in color, with flames seemingly rising on it. His face was extremely delicate, with long black beard on his chin and silver eyes that glowed as if containing two stars. With his hands behind his back, he noticed the seven people in the distance and showed a hint of surprise, probably not expecting to encounter anyone here.

The figure staggered slightly before suddenly disappearing, only to reappear in front of Li Ran and the others. Li Ran was extremely surprised; with his knowledge, he couldn’t identify the person’s origin. Even with memories of the greater world, he couldn’t think of any race that could traverse space barehanded in such an effortless manner. What scared him the most was how the person had simply erased the spatial rift with a wave of his hand—a technique far too terrifying. Out of respect for the strong, Li Ran said sincerely, “Hello!” The person scanned the group. Anyone whose gaze met his felt an urge to flee—his gaze was cold, heartless, and piercing. After muttering a few words, all seven were stunned due to the language barrier. The person spoke a few more sentences, each with a different tone and rhythm. They realized he was speaking different languages, but they still couldn’t understand a word. Guo Shier also tried speaking a few words in various languages, switching through seven or eight different tongues, but the person remained expressionless, clearly not understanding, with a hint of impatience in his eyes. Anxious, Guo Shier cursed, “Damn it! I know quite a bit, but who the hell is this guy… and where did he come from?” He spoke in Mandarin, the language of Earth. The person’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Who are you?” Not only did Guo Shier breathe a sigh of relief, but Li Ran also smiled. The person could speak Mandarin, meaning that even if he wasn’t from Earth, he must have some connection to it, otherwise he wouldn’t know this language. Li Ran replied, “We’re from the Spellcraft Clan. I’m Li Ran.” Guo Shier added, “I’m from the Spellcraft Clan too. Guo Shier.” … Seline said timidly, “I’m from the Blade Clan. Seline.” She was truly terrified; she had never even heard of such a technique, let alone seen it. Seeing the expressions of her companions, she realized this person was stronger than everyone present. Guo Shier acted as the translator. The person asked doubtfully, “Spellcraft Clan? Blade Clan? What are those?” Li Ran asked, “Do you know what place this is?” The person shook his head. “I don’t. I just sensed that this space wasn’t stable, so I came to check it out. This place… well, it must be a spatial rift. There are countless such rifts in the void.” Li Ran replied, “That’s right. This is a stable space formed by a spatial rift, but it’s about to collapse now. Hehe, this place connects to the projected world. We came from the projected world.”

The man’s eyes lit up as he said, “A projected world? The legendary… world in the void? It’s said to be composed of countless small worlds, but no one has ever been able to enter it… Can we go there from here?”
Li Ran nodded. “Yes.” He didn’t mind telling the man the truth; they were going to leave anyway.
The man glanced at the others again, which annoyed Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, and Guo Shier. But because of his astonishing appearance, the three hesitated to confront him.
Qi Wu Zhen let out a slight snort, and a thin layer of flame suddenly enveloped him.
Li Ran frowned slightly, andFulu lights swirled around him, instantly blocking the man’s attempts to probe.
A ripple spread from the Soul-Calming Cauldron within Guo Shier’s body. The ripple didn’t spread far but floated above and below his body.
The man was astonished. Hisdetection couldn’t penetrate the defenses of Li Ran and the others. Among them, he could only detect Monier, Wang Dayang, and Serichelin. He couldn’t figure out Kuumu’s defenses either, as Kuumu remained completely unreactive to anydetection, truly like a piece of wood.
Wiping his beard gently, the man’s eyes sparkled with a faint silver light—unknown what he was thinking.