Chapter 1: Perceiving Space (Part 1)

Li Ran took out the Boundary Breaker, but this time he remained silent. Here, there was no need to use it—by directly entering the collapsed area, one could access the Void. Guo Shier received the Radiant Ring. He and Seraphine stood in the center, while the others maintained the Five-Star Formation, each occupying their position. Everyone focused their altars above their heads to gain maximum strength. Purple chains connected them all, and as Guo Shier activated the Radiant Ring, a halo enveloped them.

Guo Shier said, “Alright, let’s charge out!”
The seven of them rushed forward, diving headfirst into the collapsed passage.
An unimaginably vast force violently tore at them. Li Ran and the others had cast the Vision-Clearing Curse, and their soul waves kept emanating to probe the surroundings. The Radiant Ring emitted a dazzling light. In just a few seconds, the force that could turn all matter to nothingness suddenly disappeared, and they entered a world of nothingness. This world was utterly unfamiliar to them; even with the Vision-Clearing Curse, they couldn’t see anything.

However, the detection via soul waves was highly effective, far better than sight. Observing this world through soul waves gave them a strangely wonderful feeling. Among the seven, only Seraphine could see nothing—everything she could see was the symbolic light emanating from their bodies, the purple runes forming chains, and the brightest of all was the halo from the Radiant Ring. She was extremely nervous, clinging tightly to Guo Shier’s waist, trembling slightly as she felt an intense thrill.

Guo Shier gently patted her hand gripping his waist and said softly, “Don’t be nervous. It shouldn’t be that dangerous here.” After entering the Void, he realized that the entrance point was exactly where they had come in—once inside, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Li Ran said with surprise, “The Void isn’t as dangerous as we thought. Hehe, as long as we learn how to enter and exit it, we can harness its power.”

Qi Wuzhen smiled and said, “I see. Hehe, Xing Yunzi and Lan Landai tricked us. It’s nothing special. Give me some time, and I can find a way to enter and exit the Void too. With even more time, I could utilize its immense power.”

Ku Mu said thoughtfully, “The power of the Void… seems to only unleash its terrifying strength when space collapses. If space remains stable… it’s hard to detect such power. Just like here—we hardly feel anything.”

Monier said, “If you succeed in your research, pass it on to me.” She wasn’t polite at all.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Masteress, don’t worry. No matter who figures it out, we will all receive the knowledge.”
The halo of Hui Ning Ring protected everyone steadily. Guo Shier said, “We can try to see what happens when runes are used outside—this way we can determine whether the void repels or integrates with them.”
Li Ran nodded and said, “Let me give it a try.” He stretched out his hand, and a purple chain extended out, reaching far into the distance in an instant. Surprised, he exclaimed, “Great! So that’s how it works!” Then he left the group and flew outside the halo of Hui Ning Ring, causing everyone to gasp in shock.
Li Ran took a few steps in the void, his body glowing with rune light. In just a few moments, Guo Shier and the others clearly saw him switch through several types of rune defenses. Soon, his rune defenses stabilized. Guo Shier was amazed, “He’s actually walking!” Because Li Ran wasn’t flying at all—he was simply moving through the void.
After a while, Li Ran returned to the group and said, “Interesting. It’s true that flying isn’t possible here, but walking is. And it works very well in combination with runes. I tried a few types of runes… that are suitable for use in the void. Let’s not rush. Let’s conduct more tests to master as many techniques as possible. We don’t know what other dangers might exist in the void, so we need more ways to defend ourselves if we encounter them.”
Everyone agreed. One after another, they stepped out of the Five-Star Formation to test in the void and then shared their experiences with the others. Through mutual learning and discussion, everyone gradually gained a better understanding of the void, and various techniques were developed, especially the use of runes in it.
It was unclear how much time had passed, but the group now had a basic understanding of the void and was no longer completely ignorant.
More than a dozen effective runes were added to each person’s defenses, especially those on the altars—everyone placed runes on their altars. Guo Shier also added several particularly effective runes to Gu Xi Bi, giving him the ability to move his tentacles in the void.

The defensive sacrificial artifact was also inscribed with similar runes. The Moon Blade was engraved with runes by the handsome old man and then further refined. After incorporating elements of the void, Guo Shier found that the power of his altar and sacrificial artifact had increased significantly. This discovery quickly spread among everyone, who were overjoyed. At their level, even a slight increase in a weapon’s power made a huge difference in strength.

Qi Wu Zhen was even more terrifying. She infused runes into the flames, surrounding herself entirely in fire that illuminated the dark void. Under the light of the flames, the originally ink-black void took on an iron-red hue—the color reflected by the flames. Within a kilometer around her, there was nothing, making it appear utterly pure, probably not even containing dust.

Soon, everyone noticed intense fluctuations below. Li Ran said, “The passage… is down there!”

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let’s go down and take a look.”

Flying wasn’t possible here, but everyone felt grounded, so they stepped downward as if going down stairs, moving step by step. Soon, they understood the mystery—each step covered hundreds of meters. Although much slower than flying, this speed was still tolerable.

After about a few hours, through the feedback from soul fluctuations, they clearly sensed the violent forces tugging between the void and space, a force that made them shudder. Li Ran tried extending a purple chain; the moment it touched that force, the entire chain was torn to pieces.

Guo Shier said, “Let me try!” He inscribed runes effective in the void onto the purple chain. With a gesture, a purple chain extended, with faint silver-white lights flickering within it.

As soon as the purple chain touched that force, it trembled violently. Guo Shier exclaimed happily, “It works!” He increased the power output, and the chain instantly stiffened and pierced through the boundary. It took about ten seconds before the chain quietly collapsed. Everyone was overjoyed. They understood that if the purple chain could hold up for over ten seconds, it might be able to last a minute. Continuing to study it, it might even hold longer.

Li Ran said, “Let’s not rush into the passage. Let’s test it again—this opportunity is too rare.”

Another round of experiments began, mainly focusing on various combinations of runes designed to maximize their power, along with trials of different spells. With such a favorable environment, it was an extremely rare opportunity to gain deeper understanding of runes, their combinations, and the use of spells. After these experiments, each of them saw a significant improvement in their strength.

The old man kept muttering to himself; he also wanted to try out the experiments, but Guo Shieru would not allow him to go to such a dangerous place under any circumstances—even sticking his head out from the altar wasn’t allowed. He didn’t want anything to happen to the old man in that perilous area. If anything happened to him, Guo Shieru would never be able to bear it. The old man was like family to him; after spending so much time together, he was no longer just his sacrificial spirit.

Although the old man couldn’t go out, he could convey his ideas to Guo Shieru, allowing him to conduct the experiments in his place. Truly a genius, the old man was full of innovative ideas that greatly inspired Guo Shieru, which is why his rune combinations were particularly effective. As everyone exchanged ideas, Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen couldn’t help but express their admiration. Another person with highly effective rune combinations was Ku Mu. Though quiet, he was an exceptionally talented individual.

Soon, the purple chains extended in and were able to withstand the forces tearing at space for at least two minutes. At that moment, Li Ran said, “Let me give it a try. Hehe, if it works, entering and exiting space won’t be a problem anymore.”

With that, a pair of rune-enhanced hands appeared out of thin air and plunged straight in. Li Ran controlled the hands and pulled hard, creating a large rift. Everyone sensed the change through soul vibrations. For a few seconds after the rift opened, there was stability, but then the entire rift shattered into countless spatial cracks.

Guo Shieru asked, “Has anyone noticed that there are also spatial cracks in space?”

Li Ran replied, “Hehe, I see… The same nature, just positive and negative differences.” He was overjoyed. Anyway, the Boundary-Piercing Artifact could now be preserved. After all, it was his strongest sacrificial treasure, and keeping it would allow it to play a greater role against stronger enemies in the future.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let’s each enter and try it out this time. Hehe, we won’t fear space anymore.”

Guo Shieru asked, “Who wants to go first?”

Li Ran said, “I’ll do it! Hehe, I already noticed the changes earlier. There’s enough time for me to cross over!”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Let me do it. You stay behind and watch. If there’s any danger, you don’t need to save me; I’ll withdraw quickly.”
Guo Shier took out the Virtual Star and said, “This is the Virtual Star. Activate it immediately if anything seems wrong. Hehe, this thing is pretty safe. As long as our rune defense holds for one second, the Virtual Star will protect you. Give it back to me after it works.”