Beyond the Realms

A thick pillar of light, more than a hundred li in diameter, streaked across the frigid universe and slammed head-on into the shadowy figure.

The figure paused slightly, then slowly came to a halt. The hazy glow surrounding it gradually faded, revealing a nine-clawed golden dragon more than a hundred thousand li long, its whole body seemingly cast from gold. It coiled in the starry sky, radiating a pressure that made the blood run cold.

The planet-piercing annihilation cannon had left no more than a scratch on those dazzling golden scales.

"Saya... What kind of creature is that? What's its strength level?"

Aboard the warship, the captain swallowed and questioned the artificial intelligence.

"Judging by its appearance, it likely belongs to a branch of the Dragon Race. Its strength is unknown. A conservative estimate would place it at the equivalent of level eight."

Level eight...

At the AI's answer, silence fell over the warship. Level-eight power existed only among civilizations above level eight. There were few such powerful civilizations in the entire universe.

There was no doubt: they couldn't afford to offend a single one of them.

The captain clenched his palm. His blue-green skin turned deathly pale as he stared at the colossal dragon before him, utterly at a loss.

The ship's interior was deathly quiet. The joy of reaching their destination moments ago had vanished without a trace, replaced by the fear of death that now enveloped the entire warship.

The golden dragon paused for only a few breaths, then continued onward, as if it had no intention of paying the warship any mind.

The shadow flickered and shifted through space. Countless stars seemed to fall behind it as it crossed several star systems in an instant, passing within a few million li of the warship.

Only when