Translator: CinderTL
Above a southern region of the Profound Yellow Great World's Heavenly Vault, a colossal sphere with a diameter of 60,000 miles hung suspended.
Were it not for the Profound Yellow Great World's vastness, this artificial sphere alone would have qualified as a medium-sized star.
Yet compared to a true star, this sphere surpassed it by orders of magnitude in terms of structural integrity, construction cost, and energy reactivity.
Li Chunjun, who had cultivated the innate void dao physique and specialized in the Void and Destruction Daos, could clearly discern that this sphere's location marked one of the Profound Yellow Great World's most concentrated nodes of the great dao light net's Void Law.
It was akin to a naturally ordained crossroads.
The Void Law emanating from this point would instantly traverse the great dao light net to its farthest reaches, linking with the great dao light nets of other Great Worlds to complete Void-level translocation.
At this moment, Supreme Sage Wu Chen and Li Chunjun stood quietly outside the sphere, awaiting their turn.
As they traveled, Daoist Wu Chen explained, "The Profound Yellow Great World has six super star gates, similar to the one we're using, which utilize internal Void collapse for interstellar travel. These gates are located in the north, south, east, west, upper, and lower directions. The four cardinal direction gates activate every six months to a year on average. The upper gate is reserved for wartime use and only activates during major inter-racial conflicts. The lower gate serves as a backup, activating only when the other gates are severely damaged."
"Six months to a year? Will we make it to the Star Ring Great World's trade fair in time?"
"Yes, we've already planned Supreme Elder Li's route. The Southern Star Gate last opened eight months ago, and according to the schedule, it will reopen in three days."
Daoist Wu Chen continued, "Through the Southern Star Gate, we'll reach the True Dragon Great World, which has four super star gates. The next one to open requires only half a month's wait. After the True Dragon Great World comes the Eternal Day Great World, where we'll need to wait another two months. Once we cross the Eternal Day Great World, we'll finally arrive at our destination—the Star Ring Great World."
"Profound Yellow, True Dragon, Eternal Day, Star Ring..."
Hearing Wu Chen announce the name, Li Chunjun couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. "The human race's three thousand Great Worlds..."
"They're called three thousand Great Worlds, but only a fraction are truly open to outsiders. Many have effectively become the private domains of a few supreme powers."
Wu Chen continued, "It's not just supreme powers like the Supreme Research Institute, the False God Hall, and the War Commission. Even forces like the Heavenly Principles Sect, with their Supreme Sovereign, have claimed entire Great Worlds. Some top-tier sects among the Council-level Powers, such as the Heavenly Palace and the Celestial Qin Dynasty, rule their respective Great Worlds with absolute authority."
He sighed. "Less than a third of these worlds are truly suitable for Supreme Sages to undergo trials."
"To treat an entire Great World as private property..." Li Chunjun wasn't sure how to react.
"Among the Human Race, excluding those who remain hidden, the publicly known number of Law-Life beings should be around eight hundred thousand. If you include those who remain secretive and the Foreign Race Supreme Sages who serve major powers, that number would at least double. But..."
Wu Chen glanced at the Southern Star Gate. "Even the True Dragon World and Eternal Day World we'll be passing through have fewer than a hundred Supreme Sages. This alone shows the immense gap between senior councilors, Council-level Powers, and ordinary Immortal Alliance forces."
"With the resources of an entire Great World supporting a single sect, it's no wonder experts emerge in endless succession," Li Chunjun remarked.
But that was all he said.
Soon, the Southern Star Gate began its activation sequence.
Terrifying Void Law Power was drawn in, pouring ceaselessly into the super star gate, which spanned sixty thousand miles. The resulting shockwaves radiated outward, affecting an area stretching tens of millions of miles.
Li Chunjun could visibly see the great dao light net being disrupted, though only slightly. For cultivators of the Void Dao within a radius of ten billion miles, Void Travel would likely become impossible.
In other words, the mere activation of this super star gate created a "no-fly zone" across a region ten billion miles wide.
Of course, with his current cultivation level, Li Chunjun could achieve a similar effect. However, even by concentrating such vast Void Power, he couldn't traverse between Great Worlds.
The underlying principles of the great dao of the void involved were beyond the comprehension of a cultivator who had yet to achieve dao unification.
The Southern Star Gate remained open for a full three days.
After this period, the void passage activated, and all cultivators who had registered and purchased tickets entered.
Those traveling by warships or Flying Boats had to pay additional fees.
The cost of transiting a Great World often reached millions of spirit stones, far exceeding the wealth of most Primordial Spirit cultivators.
Only Void Refining experts from major sects could typically afford such tickets.
The extended activation period of super star gates served two purposes: first, it allowed the Dao disturbances caused by their operation to dissipate; second, it likely reflected the low passenger volume.
Without sufficient ticket sales, these super star gates might not activate at all.
The journey through the super star gate proceeded smoothly, without incident.
Li Chunjun even had time to ponder the underlying principles of the Star Gate's operation, hoping to gain insight into the workings of the great dao of the void.
His efforts yielded meager results.
The Star Gate technology represented the culmination of effort by an Ultimate Powerhouse from the Starry Sky Group, along with numerous Supreme Sovereigns and Dao Venerables. It stood as one of the greatest achievements in human history.
It was precisely through these Star Gates connecting the human race's numerous Great Worlds that humanity could project its power across the cosmos, allowing them to claim dominion over three thousand Great Worlds in the starry sky.
Even with his innate void dao physique, Li Chunjun found it no easy task to comprehend the operational principles of this clan-guarding treasure, the Star Gate.
Crossing the Star Gate, the True Dragon Great World sprang into view.
This was a world where humans and dragons coexisted.
These dragons were descendants of the Great Void Ancestral Dragon, and the world was even supported by a living Primordial True Dragon.
Of course, this Primordial True Dragon had joined the Supreme Research Institute. While assisting the institute's research, it also held an official position within the organization, possessing sufficient status and authority to protect its descendants. This allowed the true dragons and dragon kings under its command to thrive and propagate within the True Dragon Great World.
"The entire True Dragon Great World is divided among four Dragon Kings," Wu Chen's voice explained beside Li Chunjun. "Each Dragon King is theoretically a Quasi-Tenth-Tier being. However, Quasi-Tenth-Tier beings among foreign races are the weakest of their kind. Our human race's supreme sages can slay them with Quasi-Immortal Artifacts. In addition to the four Dragon Kings, the world is governed by numerous true dragons in the Void Refinement Realm, as well as crimson dragons, horned dragons, and flood dragons in the Spirit Refining Realm..."
In his youth, Li Chunjun had ventured out for tens of thousands of years of cultivation. While he couldn't claim to know the most distant realms, he was intimately familiar with the many Great Worlds surrounding the Profound Yellow Great World.
"Dragons."
Though Li Chunjun was merely passing through the True Dragon Great World, he had half a month to spare while waiting for the super star gate to activate. He used the time to explore the area around the gate.
However, half a month was insufficient to cover much ground. Moreover, the frequent activation of the super star gate disrupted the great dao of the void, making Void Travel difficult. As a result, he never even managed to leave the gate's radiation range.
Within this area...
Dragons were abundant.
Yet the surrounding sects and towns had been almost completely commercialized.
Most dragons transformed into human forms and busied themselves in Immortal Cities and sects.
Of course, to maintain the True Dragon Great World's unique character, many crimson dragons, horned dragons, and flood dragons still roamed the skies and oceans, even performing for entertainment.
In terms of commerce, tourism, and service industries, the True Dragon Great World had reached a certain pinnacle, surpassing the Profound Yellow Great World by an immeasurable degree.
Disguised as a "tourist," Li Chunjun had visited several Immortal Cities and even enjoyed the services of a few dragons.
Half a month later, as the Star Gate opened, Li Chunjun, based on what he had seen and heard, couldn't help but declare, "This is a world without hope."
"Hope? To survive and continue existing is the greatest hope," Daoist Wu Chen replied. "For the Human Race to have a place within their territory where they can rest, recuperate, and thrive—isn't that a blessing countless Foreign Races would envy?"
Li Chunjun couldn't help but think of the Immortal God Race's precarious existence, clinging to survival in the cracks between worlds... He had to admit, Daoist Wu Chen's words held undeniable truth.
"Among the human race's three thousand great worlds, most were originally like the True Dragon Great World—worlds where humans and Foreign Races coexisted. However, over countless ages, these worlds were assimilated by the Human Race. Take the Star Ring Great World, for example; it was once the domain of the Star Spirit Clan."
Daoist Wu Chen chuckled, adding, "The Star Abyss, where your name once resounded throughout the Profound Yellow, was left behind by the Star Spirit Clan's dao unification. It was precisely because of the Star Spirit Clan's dao unification and subsequent demise that the Creation Fortune Merchant Guild gained control of the Star Ring Great World and took over its development."
"The Star Ring Great World was the Star Spirit Clan's territory..." Li Chunjun murmured, slightly surprised.
He immediately followed up with another question: "If that's the case, why didn't the Blazing Fusion Dao Lord choose to perish in the Star Ring Great World, bestowing blessings upon his descendants?"
"As I mentioned, every original Foreign Race Great World is co-inhabited by Humans and Foreign Races. The Star Spirit Clan's population was already dwindling long before the Creation Fortune Merchant Guild took over. Their rule over the Star Ring Great World had become a mere formality. If the Blazing Fusion Dao Lord had truly chosen to perish there..."
Wu Chen shook his head. "The blessings wouldn't have benefited the Star Spirit Clan's descendants in the Star Ring Great World, but rather the three major powers that dominate its resources."
Hearing this, Li Chunjun couldn't help but glance in the direction of the Profound Yellow Great World's Star Gate. "The Human Race is on the verge of war with the Divine Race, and the Divine Race is allied with the Demonic Race and the Myriad Transformations Race. In the years to come, won't..."
"It's obvious," Wu Chen replied. "Even the mighty Divine Emperor cannot break the 129,600-year lifespan limit. At best, they can preserve their existence through Divine Authority. But once we conquer the Great World of the Gods and the current generation of God Emperors and God-Kings perish, the Divine Spirits that are born afterward will undergo a fundamental transformation."
He smiled. "At the earliest, in a few hundred thousand years, or at the latest, in a few million years, the Divine Race might evolve into something akin to 'summoned spirits.' They might even develop a summoning cultivation system for Human Race cultivators to command."
Li Chunjun was momentarily speechless.
"Compared to the Divine Race, who at least have a chance of survival, the Demonic Race... unless they all evolve into something like the Heart Demon Clan, possessing cultivation value and reduced danger, this race that threatens the Human Race will likely be completely eradicated. In a few million years, people might not even remember that races like the Heavenly Demons and Heart Demons ever existed."
Wu Chen spoke with a tone that carried both the domineering nature of a member of the Human Race and the pride of belonging to this supreme race.
Li Chunjun listened quietly, absorbing the history of the Human Race and understanding their ecological niche in the Cosmic Void.
Time flowed swiftly as Wu Chen described these fundamental truths.
With the opening of the Star Gate, the two left the True Dragon Great World and entered the Eternal Day Great World. After staying there for two months, they finally arrived at the Star Ring Great World just before the exchange conference began.
(End of the Chapter)
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