Chapter 215: Space-Time Cage

Seeing Lin Qing's relaxed smile, His Highness Su also smiled and asked, "Do you want to hide Earth right now?"

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and asked, "Will those already within this region of several hundred light-years be hidden as well? Can they leave this area?"

"You can slightly manipulate the space-time power of this region to seal them within a certain area or expel them; it is up to you." His Highness Su said, "As the Gravekeeper, you do have this authority."

Lin Qing nodded slightly and asked again, "His Highness Su, are you certain... even if a Level 2 civilization arrives, they will not find the hidden Earth?"

"Even a 2.9-level civilization is the same." His Highness Su said casually, "This is an independent space-time that has already broken free from the universe. When your understanding of space-time is deep enough, you will naturally understand."

"That is good."

Lin Qing breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "How should I repay the ten thousand points I advanced?"

"Three methods." His Highness Su said, "First, as I told you before, as long as you can find suitable successors for these deceased buried in the Vacuum Great Tomb, you will receive a certain amount of points based on whether the successors satisfy them."

Lin Qing nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Regarding the requirements of these deceased, can you provide me with specific data?"

"Of course." His Highness Su looked at him with a smile and said, "But actually, it makes no difference whether I give it or not, since it does not rely on your own search."

"Not rely on me?" Lin Qing was somewhat confused.

His Highness Su smiled slightly, then flipped her hand and produced a small, exquisite Jin Zita. It was as beautiful and dreamy as glass, with seven-colored light rippling within.

"This is the Heart of Limitless."

His Highness Su said, "You only need to fuse with this Heart of Limitless. It will automatically sense living beings within a certain range and, based on the requirements of the many tomb owners, observe space-time on its own to search for suitable successors."

She looked Lin Qing over with a smile and said, "What you need to do is also very simple: find the successors confirmed by the Heart of Limitless, cultivate them until they can pass the tomb owners' trials, and you will receive a corresponding amount of points."

Lin Qing had an epiphany and asked, "What is the sensing range of the Heart of Limitless?"

"How large a range? It could be considered as large as 'one spatial domain'." His Highness Su said casually, "For example, one universe domain, or one void secret realm; as long as the space is not split, it is within its sensing range."

"That big?"

Lin Qing exclaimed, "One universe domain?"

One universe domain covers a range of hundreds of millions of light-years, with interstellar civilizations counted in the hundreds of millions; yet they are all within the sensing range of the Heart of Limitless?

"Of course, the environment in the universe is not ideal." His Highness Su said, "Geniuses born with spatial talent are already miracles; geniuses of your caliber are miracles among miracles. Even if the Heart of Limitless searches the entire universe domain, it might take countless years for even one to appear that meets the requirements."

Lin Qing said as if he half-understood, "So, I need to search within the Level 2 civilizations of the Void Star River?"

"That is correct." His Highness Su nodded slightly, "Generally, only geniuses born from at least a Level 2 civilization have a chance."

Lin Qing committed this to memory and said again, "His Highness Su just mentioned three methods; what are the other two?"

"As for the other two..."

His Highness Su said, "One method is that if you find a new Gravekeeper, you can also receive points. The other method is that every time your life level evolves to a new energy level, you will receive points; for example, evolving into a Void Being will grant you one hundred thousand points."

"Does it count if my clone breaks through?" Lin Qing couldn't help but ask.

"If your clone is a native of the Primordial Realm, then yes." His Highness Su said.

"Alright."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly, "Finding a new Gravekeeper is more reliable."

His Highness Su looked at him and reminded, "Each Gravekeeper can give you fifty thousand points, but including you, you only have ten slots for Gravekeepers."

Lin Qing nodded.

He already had an idea in mind.

"The authority to manipulate space-time power in the Vacuum Great Tomb has been given to you." His Highness Su said, "For the cultivation room, you can maintain a tenfold acceleration for free; higher speeds will require points."

She casually added, "The number of treasures is ultimately limited. Although there are no treasures available for you to exchange, after you help the tomb owners find successors, besides points, you may also receive some treasures or partial inheritances, provided the successors you find satisfy them enough."

Lin Qing silently committed this to heart.

"Very well, go about your business; find me if you need anything." His Highness Su said no more and vanished.

Lin Qing immediately began to sense carefully, using the space-time power of the Vacuum Great Tomb to probe the region of several hundred light-years where Earth and the Solar System are located.

"Within the range of several hundred light-years, there are four hundred and twenty-seven star deities who are not from Earth, and only one Void Being... The Nine-Star Emperor has gone to the Bronze Demon Mountain again?"

"The fleet groups of the Nine-Star civilization are all stationed on Mars, and the five surviving Imperial Princes have actually all come..."

"There are quite a few wormholes in this range of several hundred light-years; they all seem to be newly created by the Nine-Star Emperor."

Lin Qing could use the Vacuum Great Tomb to search and filter at will, and could also project his consciousness to any location within this range of several hundred light-years at any time using space-time power.

"The Nine-Star Ancestor hasn't arrived yet..."

He pondered for a moment, "I will not hide Earth for now. When the Nine-Star Ancestor arrives, I will seal him and the Nine-Star Emperor together, and deal with the entire Nine-Star imperial family."

Since the Nine-Star Ancestor knows of Earth's special nature, he will come sooner or later.

Lin Qing naturally would not let this opportunity slip.

Since he could manipulate the space-time power of the Vacuum Great Tomb at any time, he naturally had to wait a bit, striving to catch the entire Nine-Star civilization in one net. Even if he could not kill them, he would first seal them with space-time power.

"Wait first." Lin Qing maintained his space-time probe and waited patiently.

Mars.

As a crack appeared in space, a short man with long blue hair stepped out from within.

It was none other than the Ancestor of the Nine-Star civilization.

"Finally arrived..."

The Nine-Star Ancestor breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Five hours ago, he was at the other end of this universe domain, a full hundred million light-years away from here. He traveled through space at his fastest speed and, at great cost, directly opened a wormhole on the nearest route to arrive in such a short time.

Normally, one waits patiently until a large group gathers before opening a wormhole. To open a wormhole in advance, one must not only bear the missing portion alone but also pay a sufficient price to help stabilize the wormhole.

The price he paid on this journey was quite high.

But to welcome that dignitary from the Level 2 civilization, he had no choice but to hurry over.

"Sai Kules, the dignitary from the Level 2 civilization is preparing to descend. You should come out."

The Nine-Star Ancestor immediately sent a communication request to his son—the Emperor of the Nine-Star Civilization—via the Second Universe Network.

The Emperor on the other end couldn't help but ask, "Father, I've already reached over twenty-nine thousand layers. Can't I..."

"Hm?" The Nine-Star Ancestor's eyes turned cold, and he spoke in a chilling voice, "I told you to come out!"

"... Yes."

The Emperor could only bow his head and agree. Although he was the Emperor of the Nine-Star Civilization and an immortal Void Being, he had long ago signed various contracts and was ultimately bound by this father; in terms of strength, he was far inferior to this Ancestor who had lived for nearly ten million years.

Moreover, after reaching the twenty-ninth thousandth layer of the Bronze Demon Mountain, he clearly felt the pressure increase drastically; he himself had no confidence in reaching the thirtieth thousandth layer.

Although Mars was hundreds of millions of kilometers away from Earth at this moment, for a Void Being skilled in traversing space channels like him, it was merely a single step.

After the Emperor arrived on Mars, the Nine-Star Ancestor immediately flipped his hand and produced a crystal-blue, nine-story small tower that looked like a model.

"Open."

With power being infused, this crystal-blue nine-story small tower instantly erupted with terrifying might, as if it had been fixed deep within the void.

In the next moment, this nine-story small tower seemed to connect with some existence in the endless distance; the nearby void suddenly collapsed, forming a dark hollow with a diameter of several hundred meters.

The father and son, the Emperor and the Ancestor of the Nine-Star Civilization, watched this scene and couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.

As Void Beings, the two of them could naturally tear apart the fabric of the universe.

But the Nine-Star Emperor, with strength at the peak of the tenth layer, could only tear space into small openings no thicker than a finger; the Nine-Star Ancestor was even stronger, yet could only tear space cracks as thick as an arm.

Yet now, a space rift several hundred meters in diameter was torn open in a single instant!

The gap was so vast that no words were needed.

No mistake, one sentence, one release, one content, all in one read!

"Hmm... It's been a long time since I returned to the True Universe..."

A sigh quietly sounded; a tall man wearing a magnificent white-gold long robe walked leisurely out of the space rift, as relaxed and carefree as taking a stroll.

After the man in the white-gold long robe appeared on Mars, that huge space rift slowly closed.

"You are the Nine-Star?" The man in the white-gold long robe glanced casually at the Nine-Star Ancestor.

"Yes, my lord."

The Nine-Star Ancestor lowered his posture greatly, his attitude extremely respectful.

"I am one of the One Hundred and Eight Pillars of the Tower Wheel Civilization," the man in the white-gold long robe said in a calm voice. "If what you say is true, and this Earth is indeed formed from a 2.9-level civilization secret realm fragment, then you will have achieved great merit."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across, also observing the Earth hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

Beneath the Nine-Star Ancestor's respectful expression, his heart was filled with excitement.

He knew something about the Tower Wheel Civilization, a 2.3-level civilization, and naturally understood how special the status of the One Hundred and Eight Pillars of the Tower Wheel Civilization was!

These One Hundred and Eight Pillars were all experts far surpassing him.

With such a renowned expert present, he need not worry about failing to receive any reward.

"So this is Earth?"

The man in the white-gold long robe observed Earth from a distance for a long while before nodding slightly and saying, "On such a small life planet, there is actually a spatial structure even I cannot fathom; it is indeed extraordinary. It seems it really could be a relic of a 2.9-level civilization..."

The Nine-Star Ancestor respectfully said, "My lord, would you like to go see that Bronze Demon Mountain?"

The man in the white-gold long robe smiled faintly and said, "There is no rush. First, let's capture those little ones on Earth and question them."

"My lord, there are Five-Phase Void Energy Bombs on Earth," the Nine-Star Ancestor reminded.

"Five-Phase Void Energy?" The man in the white-gold long robe sneered. "Even if it explodes right before me, I can ensure not a single speck of dust can harm me."

He floated up, just about to take a single step to Earth—

"Boom!"

At that very moment, an invisible roar suddenly sounded; in the vast starry sky, countless stars seemed to distort at this instant, and invisible ripples of space-time spread with teleportation-like terrifying speed, instantly covering a range of several hundred light-years.

Afterwards, the universe space within that several-hundred-light-year range underwent strange changes.

As if covered by an invisible veil, everything within that several-hundred-light-year range seemed to have vanished from this universe.

"Hm?"

On Mars, the three Void Beings naturally sensed this change as well, and their expressions all changed.

At the same time, invisible and vast space-time power descended, instantly enveloping the three of them separately, forming invisible boundaries like cages.

It seemed as if nothing existed, yet they could feel layers and layers of spatial barriers completely overlapping, forming this prison.

"This is..."

The Nine-Star Emperor's pupils contracted; he tried to unleash power to break through this space-time cage, only to find that his meager strength within the cage was like a gust of wind hitting an incredibly hard wall of bronze and iron, unable to shake it in the slightest.

"What's going on?" He felt somewhat panicked, then immediately comforted himself: "With a big shot from the Tower Wheel Civilization here, it shouldn't be able to trap him..."

Meanwhile, the Pillar of the Tower Wheel Civilization—the man in the white-gold long robe—now looked even paler.

"How is this possible..." His heart trembled. "This is absolutely not the power of a second-level civilization... Even a 2.9-level civilization doesn't have such means. Could it be..."

As one of the high-ranking officials of a civilization, he had also communicated with the three major 2.9-level civilizations in this Void Sea and naturally had some understanding.

But even those three major 2.9-level civilizations could not achieve this!

At this moment, he didn't even need to try; he knew that no matter what, he could not shake this space-time cage.

"So a terrifying figure like this has come..."

Inside the Vacuum Great Tomb, Lin Qing used space-time power to probe everything on Mars, observing the man in the white-gold long robe, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Could he be from a second-level civilization? This aura is simply too terrifying..."

Compared to him, although Lin Qing now possessed the strength of the tenth layer of the Star Abyss, the difference was still worlds apart.

"Fortunately, I became the Gravekeeper; otherwise, Earth would not have been able to withstand such a terrifying existence..."

Lin Qing took a deep breath, feeling somewhat frightened.

The Five-Phase Void Energy Bomb, in front of such an existence, was as exaggerated as the difference between the flame of a small match and a nuclear explosion.

"I wonder what level of Void Being he is..." Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

However, he still did not understand the tiered classification of Void Beings; he only knew that recognizing the true form of any spatial entity could make one a Void Being.

He could only wait to understand more slowly in the future.

"These three, seal them off first; when I have the strength, I will kill them one by one."

Lin Qing pondered silently, "Those beneath the Void Beings, lock them up first as well, especially those five Imperial Princes; they can be used to help Qi Lingxiao and the others increase their authority. If I can make Qi Lingxiao the Gravekeeper, that would be even better..."

At this moment, he actually felt very relaxed.

A ten-thousand-year period of truce; he had only lived for a few decades so far.

Ten thousand years of time were enough for him to earn points.

"Hmm..." Lin Qing planned silently, "After resolving this matter, I will cultivate slowly first, improve myself; once I reach the limit, then I will participate in the Star God Trial."

(End of this chapter)