Senior, You Wouldn't Want That

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. For Ling Xuan, who was immersed in pleasant conversation with Puff, it felt like nothing more than a short nap.

"Master, Master! Look, the Zhulong Secret Realm is right ahead!"

Puff hopped around the cockpit in excitement. Her once neatly tied high ponytail was now a bit messy, with a few strands of hair playfully dangling beside her rosy cheeks. Her fluffy tail wagged rapidly like a propeller, stirring the surrounding air into motion.

"We've finally arrived. I hope to find some good things this time. The coming-of-age ceremony last time was too rushed, and I didn't get a chance to explore properly," Ling Xuan said.

Just then, the surrounding space seemed to solidify. A vast divine might descended, and the Crimson Flame spaceship was restrained by a terrifying force, nearly shattering on the spot.

Just as Ling Xuan thought he was under attack and prepared to summon his Imperial Weapon to defend himself, a voice containing supreme divine power echoed.

"Who goes there? How dare you approach the sacred grounds of my Zhulong Clan without authorization? State your name."

Ling Xuan was startled, realizing it was one of his own.

"Senior, this junior is Ling Xuan from Manlong Planet. I have come to train in our clan's sacred grounds under the orders of our Temple Envoy."

"A Manlong Planet native?" The mysterious voice murmured, and the force that had enveloped the entire ship instantly dissipated.

"That fellow Meng Yi didn't even bother to give a heads-up. Honestly, he nearly scared the little one. Come on in."

"Thank you, Senior."

The Crimson Flame continued its flight. This time, it faced no further obstruction and successfully passed through layers of nebulae to enter the secret realm.

Phew, that was close. My strength is still too poor. It's a terrible feeling to have my life in someone else's hands at any moment, but I've been cultivating for too short a time to improve my strength quickly.

In the world of Swallowed Star, time is the least valuable commodity. It often takes hundreds of thousands of years to cultivate to the level of an Immortal, let alone the lofty Universe Masters and True Gods.

Even Luo Feng spent over a hundred million years (including time acceleration in the Beast God World) to reach the combat power of a Universe Master.

Even without considering time acceleration, it would still take over a hundred thousand years—an undeniably long period.

Wait, I can cultivate the Zhetian Method, can't I? Ling Xuan suddenly remembered that when he broke through to the Star Level, the Heart of the Martial God had passed on not only the Void Mirror, an Imperial Weapon, but also the supreme scripture that was the crystallization of the Void Emperor's life work: the Void Sutra.

If it couldn't be cultivated, the Heart of the Martial God wouldn't have given it to him.

"Let's give it a try." Ling Xuan made his decision on the spot to attempt cultivating the Void Sutra to enhance his combat power, though his primary focus would remain on the laws of Swallowed Star.

After all, the Void Sutra alone wouldn't allow him to achieve immortality. Life has its limits, and even becoming an Emperor is difficult. The Void Sutra was the path of the Void Emperor and might not necessarily suit Ling Xuan.

Moreover, even with Emperor-level combat power, an Emperor's status in Swallowed Star is extremely awkward; they are akin to "cosmic medicine." One need only look at the fate of the natural-born Beast Gods.

If he couldn't find a way forward, he would likely be hunted by the entire universe.

But as long as he became an Immortal, he could successfully avoid such an awkward predicament.

"Puff, scan the secret realm first and mark the locations of treasures and spirit beasts. I am going into seclusion."

"Yes, Master."

Ling Xuan strode toward the cultivation cabin. The moment the door closed, he sat cross-legged on the floating platform, pale golden flames rising around his body.

"The Great Dao is unfathomable, the ancestor of all things, harmonizing with the light and mingling with the dust..."

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the golden characters of the Void Sutra slowly emerged. However, when he tried to open his Bitter Sea according to the scripture, he felt as if he had fallen into an endless fog.

Those profound characters were clearly visible, yet they seemed separated by a hazy veil. No matter how hard he tried, he could not grasp their true meaning, as if they were truly impossible to cultivate.

But Ling Xuan was, after all, a Star Level powerhouse. His brain capacity was countless times greater than that of Ye Fan when he first started cultivating, and his computational power was even stronger. Combined with the explanation in the final passage of the Void Sutra, Ling Xuan found the real reason.

This was not the world of Zhetian, and he was not a person of Zhetian. He did not possess the human body secret realms that use the body as a seed; his dantian had already developed nine stars. Where was he supposed to open a Bitter Sea?

"I'd better ask Senior Void Mirror. He is the one who understands the Void Sutra best."

Ling Xuan immediately entered his Origin Core world.

A scorching heatwave rushed toward him. A flame continent ninety kilometers wide and long stretched out beneath his feet, with crimson magma flowing across the surface like blood vessels.

Before Ling Xuan breaks through to become a World Master and transforms this into a true world, it cannot contain other objects.

But there are always exceptions that can break this rule.

For instance, the Void Mirror standing in the void of this flame world.

The silver threads falling from the mirror's surface wove into a net, and wisps of spatial power seeped into the sea of fire, creating a tranquil domain amidst the flames.

Ling Xuan bowed respectfully, his voice resonating through the heatwaves: "Senior, this junior has long admired the methods of the Void Emperor, but unfortunately, I cannot find the way in. I ask for your guidance."

Silence!

Stillness enveloped the flame continent.

The mist on the surface of the Void Mirror surged slightly, but there was no response.

Ling Xuan persisted, repeating his request over and over, yet there was still no reply.

He could only sigh helplessly: "Senior, you wouldn't want the inheritance of the Void Emperor to gather dust in my hands, would you?"

"Kid, why are you talking so strangely? I advise you to change the way you speak to me," a cold, majestic snort suddenly exploded.

Ling Xuan was pleasantly surprised and quickly adjusted his wording: "Senior, if the Void techniques could shine brightly in this world, wouldn't that be a continuation of the Emperor's Dao and life?"

"Very well. Passing down the Emperor's lineage in this world is an achievement far beyond the reach of other ancient Emperors. It can be considered a way to prove that the Emperor far surpasses them. In that case, I will teach you how to open the Bitter Sea."

The spirit of the Void Mirror sighed.

The surface of the Void Mirror shone with intense brilliance, and a silver beam of light as thick as a barrel crashed down with a roar.

Wherever the beam passed, the Flame Continent trembled violently, and magma surged into the sky like boiling water.

Ling Xuan was suspended in mid-air, held fast by divine power, watching helplessly as the beam acted like a giant whale drawing in water, swallowing all the flames within a radius of five miles.

Those volatile flames were rapidly compressed within the divine power, eventually condensing into a walnut-sized crimson-gold seed, its surface flowing with mysterious patterns where fire and space intertwined.

"Enter!"

With a thunderous shout, the seed shot like a meteor into the spot three inches below Ling Xuan's navel.

Immediately following this, the Heart of the Martial God emitted a corresponding ripple, and a certain substance flowed from his heart meridian toward his dantian.

In an instant, it felt as if a sun had been dropped into his dantian, and scorching energy exploded outward in a ring.

His originally sturdy meridians shattered inch by inch under the excruciating pain, only to be rapidly reconstructed under the nourishment of the nine stars above his dantian and the replenishment of the substance flowing from the Heart of the Martial God.

Ling Xuan's insights regarding the laws of fire gradually converged into his dantian, where a particle glowing with crimson-gold light slowly took shape, its surface churning with flame-like ripples that resonated strangely with his heartbeat with every pulse.

Ling Xuan immediately sat cross-legged to seize the time for cultivation, operating the Void Sutra under the Dao aura of the Void Mirror, as the world within his body continuously infused the power of fire into his Bitter Sea, helping him strengthen it.

Boom—

The particle gradually expanded and grew, slowly taking on the appearance of a Bitter Sea, though his was not the common pitch-black color, but a fiery red. Above the Bitter Sea hung nine stars symbolizing the ninth rank of the Star Level, appearing like nine great suns.

"It seems that in this world, only you are capable of inheriting the Great Emperor's ultimate arts."

The Void Mirror sighed helplessly, its intention to establish the Great Emperor's orthodoxy instantly vanishing into thin air.

"Senior, this world can grant eternal life; as long as I am here, the Great Emperor's orthodoxy remains." Ling Xuan immediately took advantage of the situation to curry favor.

However, the Void Mirror ignored him.

Ling Xuan had no choice but to cultivate silently on his own, striving to open up his Bitter Sea.

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I've been focusing on cultivation to quickly transition through the plot; you wouldn't want to see me fighting at the Planet Level for ages, right? There will be plenty of fighting later on, brothers, please show your support.