Chapter 331: Perilous Turn on the Reverse Path Breaks the Established Order

Blinding light surged forth like a tide, so intense that everyone could barely keep their eyes open.

Scorching energy battered their bodies; every step felt like walking on the edge of a blade, searing pain spreading from skin all the way to bone marrow.

Guangming Shizhe let out a muffled grunt and stumbled; Zhang Cheng caught her with quick reflexes and said in a low voice, "Hold on!" The energy within him surged, forming a protective membrane around his body, sharing part of the pressure for Guangming Shizhe.

Xingji Xiake took the lead, his burly frame like cast iron, forcibly carving a path through the blinding light.

He clenched his teeth, sweat sliding down his angular face, every step making the ground tremble slightly.

The psycher Li li followed closely behind, nimbly weaving through the turbulent energy currents like a fluttering butterfly.

Xingling xue zhe silently chanted an ancient incantation, and a pale blue halo enveloped everyone, slightly easing the scorching of the intense light.

The metal components on mechanic A li's body crackled with zizzling sounds; he clenched his teeth, gripping the wrench in his hand even tighter, as if resisting the blinding light.

Alien scientist Karl, meanwhile, continuously recorded the changes in surrounding energy, murmuring to himself as if performing some complex calculation.

Interstellar warrior Mark advanced in silence, his gaze unwavering, like a guardian deity, constantly vigilant against surrounding dangers.

Just when everyone thought the blinding light would persist endlessly, Xingji Xiake suddenly came to a halt.

His tall frame trembled slightly, his voice low and hoarse: "Wait... we can't go any further."

Xingji Xiake, who had always charged forward without hesitation, was actually proposing to halt the exploration?

This was completely contrary to his usual style, greatly surprising everyone.

Zhang Cheng looked at him with puzzlement: "What's wrong?"

Xingji Xiake drew a deep breath, a rare flicker of hesitation crossing his eyes: "I... I sense a powerful force behind this blinding light. For us to rush forward like this is far too dangerous." He paused, his tone growing more resolute, "We should fortify our defenses first, then make our plans."

Xingyun Zhizhe adjusted his glasses, his gaze flickering as if pondering something...

He spoke slowly: "I..." Xingyun Zhizhe pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a sharp gleam reflected off the lenses.

"The Xiake's intuition has always been keen," he said in a low voice. "I too sense that the crisis lurking behind this blinding light is not as simple as it appears on the surface." With that, his hands moved in a blur, strange energy runes flowing from his fingertips as he swiftly constructed a complex array on the ground.

Pale blue runic light flowed and shifted, forming an energy barrier that enveloped everyone within.

The scorching sensation of the intense light immediately weakened, and everyone was at last able to catch their breath, looking at Xingyun Zhizhe with eyes full of admiration.

Just as everyone began to relax slightly, a cold, sinister aura spread from the depths of the blinding light.

Immediately after, several dark shadows shot out from the intense light like phantoms, their forms flickering and erratic, as if composed of pure shadow.

Xingji Xiake roared in fury, brandishing a massive energy blade and charging at the nearest shadow—yet the great blade passed straight through the shadow creature's body, dealing no damage whatsoever!

The shadow creature let out a shrill screech, its sharp claws raking across Xingji Xiake's armor and leaving several deep gashes.

Seeing this, interstellar warrior Mark immediately raised his energy cannon and fired, but the dazzling energy beam passed through the shadow creature once again, as if striking empty air.

The shadow creature let out an ear-piercing laugh, its speed surging suddenly as it transformed into a streak of black shadow and coiled around Mark, its razor-sharp claws tearing through his combat suit and leaving several bloody gashes.

Mark grunted and struggled to break free, only to find that these shadow creatures clung to him like parasites on bone, impossible to shake off.

The psycher Li li knitted her brows tightly, condensing a dazzling orb of psychic energy in her hand, and said softly: "These things... are rather strange..." She slowly brought the psychic energy orb in her hand toward one of the shadow creatures...

The instant the psychic energy orb touched the shadow creature, it dissolved rapidly, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun!

Li li cried out in alarm and hastily withdrew her psychic energy.

The shadow creature let out a sharp screech, seemingly greatly terrified by Li li's psychic energy, and quickly retreated several steps.

A glint of understanding flashed in Li li's eyes—she seemed to have discovered these shadow creatures' weakness!

"They're afraid of high temperatures!" Li li exclaimed excitedly. "My psychic energy can't directly harm them, but it can drastically raise the surrounding temperature!"

With that, Li li's hands moved in a blur, nimbly manipulating her psychic energy as clusters of blazing psychic flames danced at her fingertips like blooming fire lotuses.

She gave a sharp cry and hurled every last bit of the psychic flames in her hands at those shadow creatures.

Wherever the flames reached, the shadow creatures let out mournful shrieks one after another, dissipating rapidly like ice and snow, dissolving into wisps of black smoke and vanishing without a trace.

"Incredible!" Xingji Xiake couldn't help but marvel. "Li li, your mastery of psychic energy is growing ever more refined!" The others nodded one after another as well, expressing admiration for Li li's psychic energy manipulation.

As the shadow creatures dissipated, the intense light gradually weakened as well, and everyone finally saw clearly what lay behind the blinding light.

It was an enormous stone wall, covered in strange runes that flickered with an ancient and mysterious glow.

Xingyun Zhizhe stepped forward, carefully examining these runes, his brow furrowed tightly.

"This is a warning image left by an ancient civilization..." Xingyun Zhizhe said in a low voice, a trace of gravity in his tone. "The image prophesies an impending cosmic energy storm, one powerful enough to destroy everything..."

Guangming Shizhe looked at Zhang Cheng with worry; Zhang Cheng gently pulled her into his arms and said: "..."

"Don't be afraid, we'll face it together." Guangming Shizhe leaned against Zhang Cheng's chest, feeling utterly at ease.

Xingyun Zhizhe continued deciphering the runes on the stone wall, his expression growing ever more grave.

"The image also mentions that to stop this cosmic energy storm, a lost divine artifact must be found..." No sooner had he spoken than Xingji Xiake asked impatiently: "What divine artifact? Where is it? Let's go find it right now!" Xingling xue zhe also chimed in: "We mustn't delay; we have to find this divine artifact as quickly as possible!"

However, Xingyun Zhizhe shook his head and sighed: "The image only mentions the divine artifact but doesn't specify its exact location, leaving behind only an obscure and cryptic prophetic poem..." He recited the contents of the prophetic poem, the verses full of metaphors and symbolism, leaving everyone completely bewildered.

Alien scientist Karl knitted his brow tightly, continuously performing calculations, attempting to crack the secret of the prophetic poem.

Mechanic A li, meanwhile, fiddled with various instruments nearby, hoping to find some clues from them.

Just as everyone was at their wits' end, the psycher Li li suddenly pointed at an inconspicuous symbol on the stone wall and said: "This symbol... I think I've seen it somewhere before!" Everyone immediately gathered around, carefully examining that symbol.

Xingyun Zhizhe pondered for a moment, then said with sudden realization: "This is... an interstellar coordinate!" He quickly entered the coordinates into the star chart, and an unfamiliar galaxy appeared before everyone.

"According to the coordinates, the divine artifact should be in this galaxy!" A glint flashed in Zhang Cheng's eyes as he decisively ordered: "Set off!"

Everyone immediately boarded the interstellar spaceship and flew toward the target galaxy.

However, just as the spaceship was about to enter warp, the alarm suddenly sounded!

The spaceship shook violently, all instruments flashing with blinding red light.

Mechanic A li shouted in panic: "Engine malfunction! We can't initiate the warp jump!"

At the same time, the scene outside the spaceship changed as well.

The once-calm starry sky suddenly began to distort, and a massive black vortex appeared in front of the spaceship, like an abyss that devoured everything.

Xingyun Zhizhe's expression changed drastically as he exclaimed: "This is... a spatial rift!" The pull of the spatial rift grew stronger and stronger, and the spaceship was sucked into it like a fallen leaf.

Everyone felt the world spinning around them, and everything before their eyes went dark...

No one knew how long had passed, but the spaceship finally stopped shaking.

The group slowly opened their eyes and found themselves in an unfamiliar star system.

The star system was filled with strange energy fluctuations, and all manner of oddly shaped celestial bodies floated in the void, emitting eerie light.

Xingyun Zhizhe looked at the star chart, his expression grave as he said, "We… seem to have entered an unknown star region…"

Zhang Cheng inhaled deeply, his gaze steady, and said, "Regardless, we must find the artifact and stop the cosmic energy storm!"

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared again.

Xingji Xiake pointed at the red dot on the screen and said in a low voice, "Unidentified flying objects are approaching! In great numbers!"

Zhang Cheng walked to the viewport and looked outward.

He saw countless black warships surrounding them from all directions, clearly hostile.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he said coldly, "It seems… we've run into trouble." He turned and told the others, "Prepare for battle!"

A gruff voice crackled through the communicator, "Hehe—didn't expect there'd be any easy prey here! Leave your cargo and energy, and we'll spare your lives!"

Zhang Cheng let out a cold sneer, lifted the communicator, and said icily, "You want our stuff? Then see if you have the skill for it!"

A cackling laugh rang from the communicator, "Kid, you've got some nerve! Brothers, charge! Take everything from them!"

Xingji Xiake roared, surged forward first, and the energy greatblade in his hand slashed the void, heading straight for the enemy ship…

Ka Er suddenly pointed at a flickering red dot on the screen, his voice trembling, "What… what is that?"