"This is a death zone," said Song Yu. Her expression darkened as he stared at the old Chancellor. "Are you trying to lead us to our deaths?"
The old Chancellor studied the scene more closely, and his face immediately fell as well.
He murmured, "How could this be? Impossible... This place... What now?"
His expression revealed a rare hint of panic. The old Chancellor had been the most composed and patient among them. He had adjusted the navigation route again and again, as though no difficulty could shake his resolve. But now, he was flustered.
Li Xiaofei’s eyes narrowed as he looked ahead.
In the far distance, a massive nebula bloomed in a deep violet hue. It appeared dazzling and breathtakingly beautiful against the black vacuum of space. Just one glance was enough to captivate the soul.
This nebula was highly recognizable. That was why the old Chancellor had identified it at a glance.
"What’s with this death zone?" asked Li Xiaofei, turning to Song Yu.
Song Yu pointed at a cluster of faint, barely noticeable blinking lights at the edge of the nebula. "See those? Those are legion beacons. They're broadcasting to everyone that this nebula is a zone of certain death, and warning our kind to stay away. Judging from the frequency and luster of the blinks, this is the most extreme kind of super-fatal zone. Even experts in the Five Dragons Realm or Six Gods Realm would not survive entry."
Li Xiaofei sucked in a sharp breath. That wasn’t a joke. They had finally found a trace of Heaven, and it turned out to be in an absolute death trap.
Although Li Xiaofei considered himself lucky after having survived countless deadly encounters, he didn’t believe his luck would always hold out. Especially not in a place where even Six Gods Realm beings feared to tread.
"Old man, are you sure you’re not mistaken?" asked Li Xiaofei as he turned to look at the old Chancellor.
For a brief moment, he even wondered if the old man was plotting to trick him into marching to his death.
"Impossible. This is the place. Back then... more than five hundred years ago, this wasn’t a forbidden zone. Why is it now?" The old Chancellor muttered to himself.
It was clear that he wasn’t willing to accept the outcome. His expression didn’t seem faked in the slightest.
Li Xiaofei rubbed his forehead. He returned to his seat and plopped down, propping both feet up on the metal table as he asked, "So what now? Let me be clear, I’m not going to die just to find Heaven." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn nοvelfire.net
Song Yu remained silent. No one knew what she was scheming. The old Chancellor looked as if he had suffered a serious blow. His face was dark, and he too fell into silence.
Li Xiaofei wasn’t anxious in the slightest. If they couldn’t locate Heaven for the time being, he was perfectly content to stay on the Star Battlefield. The Cemetery of the Ancestors might just allow him to reverse the tide again and again. He was more than willing to fight it out on the battlefield.
A long while later, the old Chancellor finally spoke, "We need to figure out what happened here. Let’s find a nearby human outpost and ask around."
Song Yu thought for a moment and said, "That works."
Li Xiaofei agreed without hesitation. "I’m in."
After a brief discussion, the Shennong began to circle around the nebula’s outer edge.
Three days later, they arrived at the nearest human outpost, a planet named Shang Yu. This was still within the region patrolled by the Xiao Kuang Legion.
Thanks to the identification credentials provided by the old Chancellor, the Shennong entered Shang Yu’s orbit without incident and landed in the planet’s only city, Starblossom City.
This was a war zone. As such, the city was a mixed bag of different types, and detailed identity checks were lax. As long as someone was confirmed to be of the human race, they were allowed to move around the city with few restrictions.
Since the three of them didn’t fully trust one another, they moved around together after disembarking. Starblossom City didn’t leave much of an impression on Li Xiaofei. In fact, it even felt vaguely familiar.
Come to think of it, wasn’t this the futuristic world I had once seen inside the refined realm of the Light Core?
Towering metal skyscrapers reflected the severe neon light pollution. The air was also a little oppressive. After all, Shang Yu was a dead planet, with an extremely harsh environment. The most prominent feature was the extreme temperature difference between day and night. Daytime temperatures exceeded two hundred degrees Celsius, while at night, it dropped to over a hundred below zero. Surviving in such conditions was exceedingly difficult even for cosmic lifeforms.
Thus, Starblossom City was the only habitable place on the entire planet. It was a fusion of technology and runic civilization. Of course, there wasn’t much else that stood out. There were shopping centers, though the most commonly sold items were weapons, armor, energy blocks, and various types of metal ingots.
There were pharmacies and hotels; spaceship repair docks and weapon maintenance workshops; and martial arts arenas, closed-door cultivation rooms, and beast-fighting pits. There were also countless entertainment and relaxation venues.
Gambling dens, bars, and coliseums were the most popular forms of entertainment. Of course, everything had to operate under the strict laws enforced by the city’s stationed troops.
The most stringent inspections in the city were still aimed at Reapers. The highest, ironclad law was that collaborating with a Reaper meant execution without mercy. Any signs of a Reaper had to be investigated thoroughly. Any discovered Reapers had to be eradicated completely.
In fact, this was the highest law across all human territories within the Star Battlefield, the First Charter. Li Xiaofei was extremely intrigued by the survival ecology of humanity on the Star Battlefield. So he wandered all over, endlessly curious, asking anyone he could find. Eventually, he reached one conclusion—
The Great Xia language was the official language of the human race across the Star Battlefield. And Great Xia characters were the only official written script. Languages like Yiggs and other minor tongues were virtually nowhere to be seen.
The storefront signs along the streets, the advertising content, everything was in the language of Great Xia. This made things rather interesting.
When Li Xiaofei saw individuals with obvious Yiggs features speaking fluent Great Xia dialect, and even cursing with classic Great Xia insults, it gave him a comical sense of time travel.
Eventually, the group arrived at the entrance of the largest nightclub in Starblossom City: Cloudborne Brocade Hall. A few security guards in light exoskeletal power armor blocked their path.
The first step was human identity verification. It resembled an infrared scan, though far more advanced. Next came financial verification. This was a high-end, all-in-one entertainment venue, offering drinking, gambling, women, and duels. It was rumored to even include an auction hall. Without a certain level of wealth, one wasn’t even allowed inside to loiter.
The old Chancellor pulled out a pre-prepared anonymous card and swiped it across the mechanical palm of the head of security.
"Honored guests, please come in." The security chief, his face covered in a thick beard, suddenly adopted a far more respectful tone.
It was obvious that the old Chancellor’s card carried quite a lot of celestial jade. Once they were inside the nightclub, at the old Chancellor’s request, a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed hostess led the group to the eighteenth floor.
They entered a massive hall known as Adventurers' Paradise. Thousands of people filled the place. There were merchants, adventurers, retired soldiers, and military personnel on leave from various star systems. The air was filled with noisy chatter and drunken laughter. Scantily clad and seductive waitresses flitted about like butterflies in bloom.
Beautiful girls dressed in various cosplay outfits danced gracefully inside stage cages positioned throughout the venue. Alcohol stirred up hormones; the entire atmosphere was thick with indulgence and flirtation.