Star of Death Omen, Styx

With the Best Star Path calculated by Bai Yuantang, Bai Xiaowen's journey ahead became much simpler.

Whenever he arrived on a planet, he no longer needed to scout the surroundings or gather planetary information, nor did he need to calculate the next leg himself. He only had to find the corresponding Planet Teleportation Gate and spend a Divinity Core to activate it.

Whenever he ran short of Divinity Cores, he simply found some Native Monsters to kill.

It had to be said, having someone powerful backing you really was comfortable.

And so, after a week, Bai Xiaowen arrived at the "Key Planet" marked on his father's star path.

"Star of Death Omen..."

Bai Xiaowen had now accumulated some knowledge of God's Script. After seeing the planet's Boundary Stele, he quickly recognized the planet's name.

It was not a very auspicious name.

Yet it suited the planet's environment perfectly.

The sky over the Star of Death Omen was utterly dim. Streams of freezing Nether Qi Vortices roamed freely through the heavens. Once these Nether Qi Vortices touched a living being, they would continually Devour its energy and stamina. Once its stamina was exhausted, they would begin Devouring its life force, until the creature became a pile of white bones.

Flying beneath such a sky was extremely dangerous.

Moreover, the Star of Death Omen was permeated by a peculiar Coercion restriction that seemed to exist only in the air. One could not sense the restriction while walking on level ground, but once airborne, Spiritual Power would burn away ten or even a hundred times faster.

Compared to the no-fly zone of the Prophecy Temple, the restriction on the Star of Death Omen was another kind of "flight prohibition." Its effect was not as powerful as that of the Prophecy Temple, but its range far surpassed it—the Prophecy Temple only prohibited flight in the Square's statue area, while this Coercion restriction covered the entire surface of the Star of Death Omen.

Walking was dangerous as well. The ground of the Star of Death Omen was covered in crisscrossing fissures, like wounds in the earth.

From these fissures, pale-white Nether Fire erupted intermittently.

Nether Fire posed little less threat to living beings than Nether Energy. Once it latched onto someone, failing to shake it off quickly could prove fatal.

Bai Xiaowen gazed into the distance and saw a great river on the far horizon. Its waters were murky and surged rapidly, yet made no sound at all.

It was a Styx, stretching endlessly into the distance. There was not a soul in sight upon its surface for thousands of miles.

Bai Xiaowen walked to the bank of the Styx.

He spotted someone.

More precisely, it was a human subspecies. His body was covered in white hair, and he was powerfully built, resembling a White-haired Gorilla.

The White-haired Gorilla and Bai Xiaowen exchanged a glance, and both held a trace of wariness in their eyes.

Bai Xiaowen knew that this White-haired Gorilla, being able to appear on the Star of Death Omen, had most likely also received a star path bestowed by a Deity. That meant he was someone upon whom a Deity had placed great hopes, an elite powerhouse among the Chosen.

"Hello, my name is Yeti." The White-haired Gorilla took the initiative to speak, sending over a Thought Wave.

"Hello. May I ask... which Deity's Chosen are you?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

The White-haired Gorilla, "Yeti," shook his head. "To avoid unnecessary conflict, it would be better if we did not reveal our backgrounds to each other."

"That makes sense." Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly and pointed to himself. "You can call me Dio. Yeti, why aren't you crossing the river?"

Yeti said, "I'm waiting for the ferry."

Bai Xiaowen was a little astonished.

Could a river really stop an Evolutionist?

After all, in the world of the Awakened, even the greatest martial arts masters could cross rivers on a reed or tread over duckweed and water, let alone Evolutionists who could fly.

Although flying was impossible in this restricted environment, one only needed to borrow the slightest buoyancy from the water to walk upon the waves effortlessly.

Unless...

Bai Xiaowen tore off a strip from his sleeve and tossed it into the Styx.

The cloth landed on the Styx and sank rapidly as though filled with lead.

The Styx's Weak Water offered no buoyancy whatsoever.

For an Evolutionist to cross the river, they could only fly across. Given the restriction that caused Spiritual Power to be consumed more rapidly the longer one remained airborne, as well as the river's immeasurable width, Bai Xiaowen truly could not guarantee that his Spiritual Power reserves would be enough to fly across the Styx.

What surprised Bai Xiaowen even more was that there really was a ferry.

Out of the thin mist over the river, a wooden raft slowly approached. A shadowy figure stood atop it, holding a long pole.

A crisp Bell Sound rang out from the raft.

"The boat is here. Conceal your Spiritual Power fluctuations and Spirit Sense, then follow behind the line," Yeti said.

At the same time, Yeti suppressed his own Spiritual Power fluctuations until they were nearly undetectable.

With Bai Xiaowen's current Spirit Sense, even at such close range, he could barely sense Yeti's existence. Unless he fully activated the Mind Cultivation Method in conjunction with Antahe's Psionic Secret Art, he would not be able to detect anything unusual.

What line? Bai Xiaowen sent out a Thought Wave to convey his question. He looked around, but the riverbank held only himself and Yeti.

Yeti did not answer.

As the raft drew closer, the Bell Sound became increasingly crisp and loud. Bai Xiaowen suddenly felt a surge of yin energy rushing toward him from behind.

When he turned around, he saw pale, hazy figures emerging from the cracks in the ground.

These figures radiated chilling yin energy. They were clearly Shades, moving mechanically and stiffly as they automatically formed a line at the sound of the Bell Sound and slowly advanced. Not a single Shade noticed Bai Xiaowen and Yeti, who had concealed their auras.

Bai Xiaowen finally understood. This raft ferry was used to transport the dead.

By then, the raft had drawn near enough for the Boatman's face to be clearly visible. Its horrifying visage could make a child stop crying at night.

The Boatman had no facial features. There were only three deep holes where his eyes and mouth should have been, like a bizarre figure in a Ghost costume on Halloween.

The line of Shades slowly boarded the raft, and Yeti directly followed at the very end of the line.

Bai Xiaowen followed him aboard, standing behind Yeti.

Ordinarily, this position would have made Yeti very uncomfortable. After all, no one liked having a Stranger stand behind them, in a position from which they could launch an attack at any time. Yet Yeti said nothing, perhaps because his skill gave him confidence.

Bai Xiaowen sent a Thought Wave. "Thank you." He felt that this Yeti was actually quite decent.

Yeti replied, "I simply don't want you to alert the Watcher of the Star of Death Omen and disrupt my trip across the river. If I miss this one, I will have to wait another Seven Days for the next boat."

Seeing Yeti's indifferent attitude, Bai Xiaowen did not continue the conversation.

The two followed at the end of the line of dead and boarded the raft.

Though both of them held their breath and borrowed only the slightest bit of support from the raft, they still had weight compared to those Shades. The instant they stepped onto the raft, it trembled almost imperceptibly.

The Boatman turned his head to "look" at them, but like the line of Shades, he failed to notice the two who had concealed their auras.