In the endless star domain, a dark warship drifted onward at a leisurely pace. It appeared unhurried, but in truth it was hurtling through space at tremendous speed, covering dozens or even hundreds of li in the blink of an eye.
Through the transparent windows, everyone gazed in wonder at the colossal star flanking the warship's hull, murmuring their amazement.
Many among them had never observed the Dark Star from this angle before. Only now did they grasp just how magnificent and awe-inspiring the star that had birthed and raised them truly was. Confronted by such a sight, each person felt a surge of reverence rise naturally from the depths of their hearts.
The warship traveled at extraordinary speed, yet its flight was perfectly smooth. Within the hull, no one felt the slightest bump or vibration.
All around, scattered meteoroids drifted past, while lifeless dead stars slept like cold giants in the depths of the star domain.
A million li extending outward from the Dark Star constituted the safe zone.
The major powers on the Dark Star that possessed warships regularly dispatched them into this region to search for and harvest minerals. Though the yields were seldom significant, it never dampened their enthusiasm—occasionally, one could find genuine treasures among those meteoroids and dead stars.
These were things that the Dark Star itself had never produced.
But beyond that million-li boundary lay the danger zone.
There, perpetual star domain gales howled—winds fierce enough to tear warships apart. Star storms of all sizes formed and dissipated throughout, nearly omnipresent. Meteoroids streaking through at breakneck speed could crush any living creature or moving object that dared enter their path into fine powder.
The Death Domain!
This was the first barrier separating the Dark Star from the outside world, and the most formidable one at that.
It encircled the Dark Star from a million li away like a protective membrane, allowing no one to leave and no one to intrude.
Over tens of thousands of years, plenty had aspired to depart the Dark Star, to explore the vaster world beyond, to witness a more splendid existence. Not one had succeeded. All were halted here, at the threshold of the Death Domain.
As the warship plunged into this region, every palm was slick with sweat.
Yang Kai ordered the disciples to reinforce the warship's defenses to their absolute limit, with no regard for the consumption of holy crystal sources.
Fierce star domain gales swept in like the claws of an invisible beast raking across the warship, attempting to rend it apart and drag those hiding within to their doom as nourishment.
A sharp, grating screech resounded from outside the hull, accompanied by relentless creaking. Every face aboard wore a grim expression.
Massive meteoroids carried by the gales slammed into the warship with thunderous booms, setting the entire vessel rocking.
Like a lone skiff tossed upon a raging tempest, the warship careened and lurched wildly through the Death Domain, swaying from side to side. The disciples could not control its heading at all—they could only surrender to the currents and let fate take its course.
Panicked alarms and cries of terror rang out continuously.
Yang Kai bellowed commands, projecting his divine sense beyond the hull to probe the conditions outside, directing the disciples' every action.
Yang Xiuzhu and the other four peak Void Return Realm experts followed Yang Kai's instructions and charged into the engine room, seating themselves upon the formation arrays and driving their saint power to the limit, channeling their own strength into the warship to provide whatever assistance they could.
They were trading blows with death itself.
There was no room for even the slightest error. A moment's carelessness anywhere could spell the annihilation of the ship and the loss of every soul aboard.
In such a terrifying place, the strength of any single individual was laughably insignificant. This Death Domain beyond the Dark Star was a place where even a Void King Realm cultivator attempting to force passage might well be entombed, let alone the people aboard this warship.
Only by pooling their efforts together could they weather this ordeal.
The chaos gradually stabilized. Once everyone realized that the warship, though battered and brutalized, remained as solid as a fortress, their panic subsided and they settled back into their roles. Order was restored.
Against all expectations of disaster, the Void King-grade warship forged by Yang Yan had provided them with a safe and dependable lifeline.
A full month later, the Lingxiao Sect's warship finally tore free of the Death Domain's grip and burst into the vast, boundless star domain beyond.
The strange noises ceased. The warship no longer swayed. When the disciples confirmed that they had truly escaped the Dark Star, an enormous cheer erupted within the vessel. Every person wept tears of joy, every soul brimming with exhilaration.
Yang Xiuzhu and the others appeared before Yang Kai with ashen faces, each looking like a frost-bitten eggplant, their auras feeble and utterly spent.
"All of you have worked hard." Yang Kai gave them a nod.
"Yang Kai, did you sense anything?" Qian Tong asked, his expression grave as he fixed Yang Kai with a probing gaze.
Yang Kai inclined his head slightly.
He had noticed it the instant the warship plunged into the Death Domain, but over the past month, every moment had been fraught with peril, every second hanging by a thread. He simply hadn't had the chance to dwell on it.
Now that they had escaped the Death Domain, he finally had the leisure to revisit that sensation.
"So you sensed it too. I thought I was mistaken," Qian Tong said, his expression solemn.
"Emperor Might," Mo Yu added. "That Death Domain is saturated with the power of Emperor Might—and not just one source."
"That's right. Two streams of Emperor Might!" Qian Tong nodded gently. "One resembles the aura emanating from the Emperor's Garden. The other, however, is entirely unfamiliar. What do you make of that?"
"I have a theory, but I'm not certain enough to state it as fact…" Mo Yu adopted a contemplative expression.
Everyone turned to look at him.