Chapter 345: Galloping Through Space

Hu Li was running, galloping through the vast sky.

Blazing fox fire, like a meteor tearing through the sky, left a striking blue flame trail across the horizon; the silver-white nine-tailed demon fox trampled the layered clouds, constantly accelerating within the thick atmosphere of the Tai Xu Star. The demon fox's leaping steps were as graceful as a startled goose, elegant yet carrying an extreme, almost transcendent wildness that seemed to surpass heaven and earth. With every step she took, she leaped a greater distance, until her entire form was wrapped in a thick layer of protective spiritual energy. Outside this energy, the plasma flame generated by violent friction with the atmosphere pierced into space from the atmosphere like a sharp sword.

Beside this sky-tearing demon fox was the Immortal Boat, also rapidly escaping the atmosphere—a light and agile celestial vessel wrapped in streams of flowing light. As it crossed the top of the atmosphere, it gradually accelerated while continuously emitting streams of spiritual power, using a celestial secret technique to call out to Hu Li and Yu Sheng: "That fairy up ahead! Slow down a bit! There is an Alliance outpost at the top of the atmosphere... Fairy, you are speeding!"

"Benefactor~~ In my hometown, you have to be five times faster than this to be speeding~~" Hu Li said, slightly turning her head while "running" through space, her voice carrying the joy of finally being able to run wild after being cooped up at home for several months, "Their speed limit here is truly ridiculous!"

"If I tell you to slow down, then slow down!" Yu Sheng, riding on Hu Li's back, instinctively grabbed the silver-white fur beside him despite the protective spiritual energy around them and the fox girl shielding him with her large tail. He shouted loudly at the nine-tailed fox who had already entered a state of wild play, "Isn't the first cosmic velocity enough for you to run?"

"Ai~ Okay!" Hu Li then slightly controlled her speed, but still mischievously rushed over to circle the Immortal Boat up, down, left, and right several times. Only after the latter issued a solemn protest through space-transmitted sound did she obediently return to her own "lane," turning her head to grin and bare her teeth at Yu Sheng, "Benefactor, happy~"

"I can see you are happy." Yu Sheng looked helplessly at the space fox turning her head to grin foolishly at him, and then his gaze involuntarily fell on the distance.

They had already crossed the top of the atmosphere, passed the faint glow of what appeared to be the "Immortal Realm Barrier" above the Tai Xu Star. The faint light from the sky faded away, and the dark, deep space rushed toward them.

But this was completely different from the lonely space he felt when he merged with the "Pillar of Order" (now the Otherworldly Traveler Hotel).

This was not only because a warm and noisy big fox was by his side at this moment, but also because the space here was not empty—the "Spectacular Scenery" centered on the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, along with the distant and endless starlight, flooded into Yu Sheng's eyes.

The glowing horizon of the Tai Xu Star gradually became a distant background in his field of vision, quickly shrinking into a magnificent planet like a gem. After rapidly crossing the near-earth orbit, Yu Sheng saw many massive objects emitting hazy light clusters. The Immortal Boat led the way ahead, taking Hu Li past some of these light clusters. Yu Sheng saw that they were pavilions and towers floating in space—majestic Gao Ta, light-cast long bridges connecting between palaces, and continuous stretches of artificial land. On that land, there were even thick ecological domes. Inside the domes, one could vaguely see the reflection of lakes and water, with green trees providing shade.

These palaces and large and small "space floating islands" floated unsupported in the cosmic space surrounding the Tai Xu Star. Meanwhile, large and small Immortal Boats and brilliant light streams shuttled back and forth among them, resembling a logistics network or commercial passenger flow in space.

Xuan Che's voice crossed the space, transmitting directly from the Immortal Boat into Yu Sheng's ears: "The few temples and buildings we just passed are the space port hubs built by the 'Woyun Ten Halls'. The Woyun Ten Halls are the premier sect for artifact refinement and city construction in the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, extremely skilled in mechanical craftsmanship. The Woyun Ten Halls is both the name of their sect and refers to their ten floating grand halls drifting in the clouds. These were the earliest permanent floating architectural complexes on the Tai Xu Star..."

"Two-thirds of the space port buildings and mechanical giants on the Tai Xu Star orbit were constructed by the Woyun Ten Halls."

"Those floating islands with ecological domes are mostly properties of the Yaoyan Sect or the Nether Valley. They split mountains and tore earth from the Han Guang and Han Ding stars, dragging mountain ranges containing spiritual ore near the sun to refine them using the power of the scorching sun. Once the ore veins were exhausted, they melted the remaining mountain slag into islands, dragged them to the orbit of the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, covered them with ecological domes, and cultivated forests and lakes to serve as settlements. In the terminology of your Borderland, they are the largest 'mining and real estate developers' on the Tai Xu Star."

"As for the Immortal Boats you see, shuttling between the grand halls and floating islands, most are made by Heng Xu or my Qianfeng Lingshan. Although my Qianfeng Lingshan is unmatched in the Tai Xu for pills and talismans, we have also achieved some success in artifact refinement. However, our path of refinement emphasizes lightness and agility, which is not the same approach as the 'heavy industry faction' like the Woyun Ten Halls, who often build thousand-meter star shuttles and heavy star fortresses."

Listening to Xuan Che's explanation and looking through the "protective spiritual energy" beside Hu Li at the halls, floating islands, and ships rushing past in the distance, Yu Sheng had long forgotten to speak.

He only felt overwhelmed by the sights, with everything he saw and heard leaving him in awe.

"... This is truly a vast family and a grand enterprise," he couldn't help but sigh, "To be honest, when I first saw those special 'floors' in the Special Operations Bureau building, I thought that was already impressive enough..."

"Mr. Yu is too flattering. These 'Spectacular Sceneries' of the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot were not built overnight, but are the crystallized efforts of many generations of fellow Daoists. As for 'impressive'... you must not have seen the real 'big guys' that the Special Operations Bureau has truly hidden. If we truly talk about 'impressive', the Borderland does not occupy the position of 'Universal Pivot' for nothing."

Yu Sheng fell silent for a moment, guessing what the "big guys" hidden by the Special Operations Bureau might look like, imagining what the "Council Controlled Zones" that Bai Liqing had mentioned to him outside the Borderland might be like. Just as he was lost in these wild thoughts, the Immortal Boat and Hu Li began to accelerate again.

Hu Li's protective spiritual energy and a certain "Otherworldly Immortal Technique" provided protection. Yu Sheng hardly felt any discomfort from these accelerations. He only felt a slight vibration beneath him, and then the orbital facilities near the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot quickly turned into small and large light points in the distance, disappearing into the starry background.

Just then, his peripheral vision caught something flashing in the distant space.

Even with Yu Sheng's dynamic vision and keen perception, which far surpassed humans now, he could only vaguely make out that it was a massive gray-white structure, looking vaguely like a giant stele standing in space. Around the giant stele, lights flickered, and many buildings that seemed to be later additions surrounded it.

Due to the lack of reference objects, Yu Sheng could not judge how big that flashing giant stele actually was, but just looking at the approximate shape of the buildings around it, he felt that the size of the "stone stele" was probably beyond imagination.

"What was that just now?!" Yu Sheng asked instinctively.

Xuan Che's voice quickly rang out: "You mean that giant stele that just swept past nearby? That is the Qian Yuan Stele."

Yu Sheng was curious: "Qian Yuan Stele? What is that for?"

"... I don't know."

"Huh? You don't know?"

"Indeed I don't know," Xuan Che explained. "The Qian Yuan Stele is considered one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, and even the entire Feiyu Star Domain. No one knows where it came from, who built it, or how long it has stood in this void. Since the reshaping of heaven and earth, when the cultivators on the Tai Xu Star first stepped out of the earth, that giant stele has already stood in the high orbit of the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot."

Stopping for a moment here, probably to organize his words, he then continued: "Some speculate that the giant stele was created by 'Divine Beings' in ancient times to record the great Dao truths when heaven and earth first opened in the primordial chaos. Others speculate that the giant stele was originally part of an ancient divine tomb. Because of the great disaster that annihilated all things, the Divine Being's tomb collapsed, leaving only the stone stele drifting in orbit. Anyway, there are all sorts of speculations, but none have been verified."

"The Qian Yuan Stele is extremely solid. Its surface is cast from an alloy that is difficult to penetrate, and its interior has powerful prohibitions. Even the divine sense of top-tier great experts cannot look into it at will. Over the past thousand years, many people on the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot have wanted to unravel the secrets of the Qian Yuan Stele, but not a single one succeeded. Those with good luck merely returned without accomplishing anything; those with bad luck even perished and their Dao vanished after rashly peering into it. Over time, no one dared to have designs on this matter anymore."

"Later, gradually, the Qian Yuan Stele became a 'holy land' near the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot. People said that this giant stele was an 'ancient legacy' left from the old world, a barrier formed by the collective death and Dao disappearance of the ancient Divine Beings to fight against the annihilation disaster. Although this barrier ultimately failed to withstand the great disaster that caused the collapse of all realms, the Ancient Holy Spirits still restored it when reshaping heaven and earth as a tribute... There are all sorts of stories. Regardless of how it is told, everyone eventually agrees on one thing: the 'Qian Yuan Stele' is a supreme treasure of the Tai Xu."

"The result is what you see: we have built numerous outposts around this 'space lone stele' far from the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, turning it into a 'lighthouse' next to the mother planet. To this day, it remains the most important navigational beacon for long-distance Immortal Boats and star shuttles returning to the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot."

"So that's how it is..."

Yu Sheng muttered, his heart inevitably filled with many reveries due to the stories and legends Xuan Che had told. He turned his head again, wanting to take one more look at that mysterious giant stele floating in space, but he could no longer see it.

Then, he felt a slight vibration coming from beneath him again.

Hu Li was still running in space, but clearly began to slow down. Several fox tails were adjusting the angle of the fox fire jets, as if preparing for an orbital change.

A streak of silver light appeared at the end of the field of vision.

One of the three moons above the Tai Xu Spirit Pivot, the largest natural satellite in the area, "Tai You", has arrived.

(End of this chapter)