Chapter 10: Flying into the Vast Universe (Part 2)

Li Ran also felt a headache. He said, “If nothing else works, we’ll have to force our way through. Everyone, be mentally prepared. If something goes wrong, we’ll just have to accept our fate.”
Everyone understood what he meant—once they entered the void, if their protection wasn’t sufficient, people would die. As for who would die, only heaven knew.
Kumu said calmly, “No problem!”
Monier took Kumu’s arm and smiled, “I’m fine too. As long as I’m with Muto, it’s okay.”
Wang Dayang knew he wouldn’t live much longer anyway, so he was quite resigned. He said, “I’m responsible for my own life. Hehe, if we’re lucky… maybe we can directly enter the next passage.”
Guo Shier and Qi Wuzhen also seemed indifferent, having long lost fear of life and death. What could they do if they couldn’t let go? At this point, there was no room for regret. Sericlin clung tightly to Guo Shier’s waist. She thought that if Guo Shier died, she wouldn’t survive either, so she remained calm.
Guo Shier said, “We can only move in a straight line. If this area happens to be curved, it’s just bad luck for us. But based on my estimate, it’s very likely to be straight, so it’s worth taking a gamble.” There was no choice but to gamble here; otherwise, they wouldn’t dare move forward.
Li Ran finally made up his mind. He activated Break the Barrier and said, “Let’s go together!”
Qi Wuzhen instinctively stood beside him. At this moment, the team’s formation changed into a spindle shape—Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen at the front, Kumu and Monier on the left, Guo Shier and Sericlin on the right, with Wang Dayang at the back. Hui Ning Ring was also placed in Wang Dayang’s hands for him to control.
With Guo Shier’s Virtual Star Defense, as long as Sericlin held on tightly, they could stay within its protective range. Even if they fell into the void, they would still survive.
Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen chanted spells together, and Break the Barrier was instantly activated. A beam of light shot forward. Li Ran shouted, “Be careful! Let’s go!” The dazzling light flashed, and everyone felt their bodies tighten. Since they were all connected by purple chains, they were like grasshoppers on a rope, linked together, enveloped by Break the Barrier, which shattered the spatial barrier and sent them rushing into the void.

In just a few breaths, everyone felt as though countless years had passed—a sensation extremely uncomfortable. Immediately afterward, the Breakthrough Realm halted abruptly, and Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen shouted at the same time. The small secret realm within the Breakthrough Realm shattered violently, creating a small passage that allowed them to rush through quickly. Everyone was overjoyed; they understood that once such a small secret realm exploded, it meant there was a spatial barrier ahead, and they had entered the other end of the passage.

Sure enough, they heard Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen cheering simultaneously. Both of them were also very nervous, fearing that if they missed the passage, it would be terrifying—after all, they didn’t know how to move through empty space. Without the ability to navigate it, even with the Huining Ring for protection, they would be trapped in the void. The Huining Ring required energy to function, and once the spiritual jade was exhausted, their fate would be certain death.

As the Breakthrough Realm created the passage, numerous spatial cracks appeared. Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen cast countless spells to begin reining in the Breakthrough Realm, as there was no longer a need to use it to block the spatial cracks. The two quickly brought the Breakthrough Realm under control. At the same time, Wang Dayang used the Huining Ring to envelop everyone, allowing them to push forward for a while until no more spatial cracks appeared. Li Ran shouted, “Stop!”

Everyone hovered in the middle of the passage. Guo Shier asked, “What’s wrong?”

Li Ran frowned and said, “The Breakthrough Realm needs to be reforged.”

Guo Shier was shocked and said, “This isn’t a place for refining!”

Li Ran replied, “I know, but it needs a little refinement. It’s fine; I’ll handle it as quickly as possible.”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let me help you.”

Li Ran nodded and said, “Good. I’ll try to summon an altar. I’m not sure if it will work here.”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Okay.”

An altar the size of a fist appeared above Li Ran’s head. He exclaimed happily, “This place doesn’t reject altars. Haha, that makes things much easier.”

The others were overjoyed at this news. After all, if an altar could be summoned, a professional’s strength could increase exponentially. It was very difficult to summon an altar when sacrificing to the stars, due to some unknown restrictions. But here, those restrictions disappeared, which was a great boon for everyone.

Li Ran didn’t dare to enlarge the altar; instead, he kept it above his head, about the size of a water tank, while he and Qi Wu Zhen carried out the refinement below. This wasn’t a large-scale refinement—it was merely to repair the Breakthrough Realm, so it wouldn’t be too complicated.

After a simple ritual, they restored the state of the boundary-breaking device. Li Ran didn’t expect it to return to perfect condition—they didn’t have much time and needed to pass through this passage quickly. He knew that the space of the Luotian Ruins would collapse soon, and once that happened, it would affect this passage as well; likely, the entire passage would collapse. If they hadn’t passed by then, they would be thrown into emptiness, with no way out at all.

Guo Shier immediately brought out his altar, enlarging it to the size of a water tank, then sat cross-legged on it. Due to the limited space, Cereslin sat in his arms. By this point, Cereslin’s attitude was clear—regardless of whether Guo Shier felt love for her, she didn’t care. She was determined to stick to him as long as she was alive. Of course, Guo Shier also didn’t mind; at his level, having one more companion or one less made no difference.

Everyone else also brought out their own altars. Kuumu couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is the fighting stance of true professionals.”

Wang Dayang was even more moved. Ever since arriving at the Star of Sacrifice, he had never fought while sitting on an altar and had almost forgotten that sense of omnipotence. Only by sitting on his own altar did he feel strong again.

Not only Wang Dayang but everyone else felt this intense sense, even believing they had the ability to fight even if they encountered spatial rifts. Cereslin, who understood nothing, sat in Guo Shier’s arms and noticed the uncontrollable joy on everyone’s faces. She asked softly, “Shier, why are they so happy? Is it because of this thing we’re sitting on?” Although she was sitting on it, she couldn’t see the altar clearly—only that the runes on it were glowing. She had no idea what it was.

Guo Shier knew that those from outside the World of Runes wouldn’t understand the meaning of the altar nor be able to see it clearly. Because of the runes, the altar appeared completely different to outsiders compared to what professionals saw—they simply couldn’t perceive its true nature.

The purple chains were no longer connected to individuals but linked together between the altars, forming a very strong connection. Beneath Guo Shier’s altar, several tentacles were gently swaying—those were the tentacles of Guxi Bi. Having remained inside the Soul-Calming Cauldron for so long without using the altar, Guxi Bi automatically returned to the bottom of the altar as soon as it was brought out. This was Guo Shier’s trump card, specifically designed against spirit beasts. But for humans with weak souls, its terror was unmatched.

After the altar was deployed, all six classes could use some powerful weapons. Li Ran smiled and said, “I didn’t expect the rules here to not restrict the altar. I hope in the greater world, there are no rules limiting us either. Hehe, by then, we won’t have to fear experts like Xing Yunzi and Lan Landai—their strength should be around ours, haha.” Everyone laughed happily. Improving their strength was every class member’s wish, and being able to boost their combat power so much in an instant left everyone satisfied. Li Ran said, “Alright, let’s keep moving forward. The Breakthrough Ritual is complete. This time it wasn’t too bad—only a small secret realm appeared, along with a few thousand souls. Hopefully, there will be fewer blocked passages ahead.” There weren’t many small secret realms left in the Breakthrough Ritual, and if there were many blocked areas in the passages, they would be in trouble. Everyone understood this, but at this point, they had no other choice but to press on bravely. The group rushed forward through the passages, no longer caring about the tiny spatial cracks. They pushed forward under the protective aura of the Huining Ring. The passage was very long; they flew for seven days at high speed. As time went on, their hearts grew heavier, and a strange pressure began to build. Fortunately, they could deploy the altar, which allowed them to hold on. On the eighth day, they finally reached the collapsed section of the passage. The group hovered above the collapse site. Unlike the previous blocked area, this place had an unparalleled sucking force and numerous spatial cracks. They looked solemnly into the distance. With the help of the Mingmu Spell, they could clearly see a pitch-black opening ahead—that was the void. Thanks to the Huining Ring, they also had the strength to resist the void. After observing for a while, Li Ran asked, “Should we go straight through this time too?” Guo Shier said, “Straight! We can only choose straight—what else? Up, down, left, or right?” Qi Wu Zhen nodded and said, “Shier is right. Going straight is the most likely option.” Li Ran thought for a moment and said, “We have to take a risk. If we use Breakthrough directly… we won’t be able to judge, because the speed of Breakthrough is too fast. We won’t have time to change direction; we can only charge straight ahead. Once we realize we’ve made a mistake, how can we turn back?” Guo Shier nodded and said, “So you mean… since we have the Huining Ring for protection, we should all enter the void and wait until we find the other end of the passage, then use Breakthrough to force our way in?” Ku Mu said, “That’s one way!”

Wang Dayang agreed, “I agree.”
Qi Wuzhen said, “Actually, I also want to enter the void to see just how amazing it is!”
Li Ran smiled and said, “Since everyone agrees, fine. That’s indeed my idea too. Not only are everyone curious, but I am too. If we can walk in the void, our future path will be much smoother, and it will also be of great help in improving our strength. Hehe, let’s take this gamble!”
Guo Shier said, “Everyone should activate their strongest defenses. But the outermost defense still relies on the Hui Ning Ring. Once we enter the void, we can see how long our defenses can hold up. Hehe, with the Hui Ning Ring’s protection, we won’t be in too much danger during the experiment.”
Li Ran clapped and said, “Great idea! We just don’t understand the void yet, but once we do, we’ll find a solution.”
Qi Wuzhen’s eyes shone as he said, “The void… walking in the void! It’s so exciting! Let’s go!”
Book 49: The Outside World