First Exploration of the Universe Boat

The Universe Boat was a colossal warship over a hundred million light-years long and tens of millions of light-years tall.

Its hull was a mottled black and purple, covered in countless scars and cracks. After enduring endless ages, the Universe Boat still retained a faint trace of vitality, ceaselessly devouring the surrounding Chaos Airflow and even the occasional Miniature Universe that drifted nearby. A sliver of its vast energy leaked out, forming a wondrous spectacle around the boat where the eight lower laws interwove and shone.

Shi Yan even suspected that if a supreme expert skilled in refining treasures were to refine and repair it, this ancient, unparalleled supreme treasure could be reactivated.

"No wonder... even a superpower needs an entire elite legion to pilot a Mechanical Path treasure."

By now, Shi Yan had already left the Holy Sound Ship and stood atop its bridge, gazing into the distance at the immense Universe Boat.

In terms of size, even a True God's Miniature Universe was larger than the Universe Boat, but in terms of might, even a Holy Land Universe paled in comparison.

"Origin Continent..." Shi Yan murmured to himself, a surge of fervor rising within him. "I must break through the cycle of reincarnation!"

After gazing for a while, Shi Yan returned to the Holy Sound Ship and piloted it toward a massive crack on the outer surface of the Universe Boat.

This was a colossal rift tens of kilometers long, resembling a deep, bottomless valley. Yet, given the sheer enormity of the Universe Boat, it was merely an insignificant scratch.

Recalling the intelligence on the Universe Boat stored in his mind, Shi Yan quickly charted a route to the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

The Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space was a renowned region within the Inner Domain of the Universe Boat. Here stood sixteen Heaven-Reaching Demon Pillars, which radiated an endless torrent of mental pressure at all times. Moreover, the closer one approached the pillars, the faster time flowed. For any expert, this was an excellent place to temper their will, to the point that several famous True Gods had taken up long-term residence here to hone their mental fortitude.

Shi Yan had no immediate plans to cultivate here for an extended period, but since this place was so famous, he intended to see it for himself.

The Holy Sound Ship plunged into the deep rift and soon entered the Universe Boat.

According to the map of the Universe Boat that Shi Yan currently possessed, there were over a dozen rifts that could be used to chart a path to the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

The rift he had chosen was naturally the closest, with relatively fewer dangerous zones along the way.

Most of the so-called "danger zones" in the Inner Domain of the Universe Boat were perilous for Universe Masters. For True Gods, the threat was minimal, but correspondingly, the treasures produced here were mostly top-tier treasures suited for True Gods, with very few Peak Supreme Treasures.

As for Supreme True Treasures...

"Even in the Three Great Forbidden Lands, Supreme True Treasures only emerge near the edges of the core regions with any frequency." Shi Yan piloted the Holy Sound Ship, frowning as he thought.

He had no maps of the core regions of the Three Great Forbidden Lands, so venturing there would inevitably be fraught with danger.

"Still, I have some advantage in controlling time and space. If I'm careful, I have a decent chance of exploring the core regions." Shi Yan analyzed his strengths and weaknesses in his mind while observing the outside world.

This was an ordinary area within the Universe Boat—a mountain range made of metal, where fierce winds howled. It seemed unremarkable, but if a Universe Venerable were here, they would be reduced to a bloody pulp in just a few breaths.

Mixed within the gale were tiny metallic particles, easily capable of piercing through the bodies of ordinary Universe Masters.

Yet, the danger level of this area was only average within the Inner Domain of the Universe Boat.

The metallic particles were formidable, but they could be detected in advance and were not too dense. A Universe Master with some skill could dodge them in time, or use various means to counter them if caught off guard.

Traveling here was tiring, but almost no one would fall. With a decent palace-type treasure, it would be even easier.

After observing for about half a day, Shi Yan lost interest in these so-called "danger zones" of the Inner Domain.

"Roar! Roar..."

Endless pale white mist tried to obstruct the Holy Sound Ship's flight, while dozens of bizarre ice-formed giant birds, each possessing the power of an ordinary Universe Master, surrounded it.

But...

"Chaotic Space-Time!"

Over a hundred light-years around, space-time twisted. The cold air and the strange birds alike were completely suppressed.

"True Gods and Universe Masters really are two different kinds of beings." Shi Yan shook his head, then accelerated the Holy Sound Ship to ten thousand times the speed of light, quickly leaving this danger zone rated as "extremely dangerous." He then began to teleport the ship.

Even a True God without a domain, relying solely on their divine body, could not be threatened by those puppet-like birds and a bit of cold air.

Having witnessed the dangers of the Inner Domain, Shi Yan finally gained a clear understanding of his place in the ecosystem of the Universe Ocean.

With that, the Holy Sound Ship began to charge recklessly toward the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

Sometimes teleporting, sometimes accelerating to tens of thousands of times the speed of light, it occasionally encountered other experts along the way, who all gave it a wide berth upon seeing such an exaggerated method of travel.

Five days later, the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space came into Shi Yan's view.

Around the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space, a hazy mist spread. Within the mist's range, space was frozen, preventing experts from teleporting.

"Swoosh!"

Shi Yan's figure appeared outside the Holy Sound Ship. He flipped his hand to retract his palace treasure into his body, then accelerated toward the interior of the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

Maintaining a speed of a thousand times the speed of light, Shi Yan soon arrived inside the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

Compared to the outer perimeter, the inner space was free of mist. In other words, teleportation was possible here.

This was another important reason why many experts were willing to cultivate here.

Within the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space, sixteen Heaven-Reaching Demon Pillars connected heaven and earth, extending into the endless white mist at the edges. The pillars were covered in intricate and profound Secret Patterns, and no one knew how long they truly were.

In fact, no one in the entire Universe Ocean had ever been able to actually touch these sixteen black stone pillars.

The profound Secret Patterns and the advantage of accelerated time attracted many experts to cultivate here in seclusion. In the current era, three True Gods and nearly a hundred Universe Masters were permanently stationed here for training.

The three True Gods were Star Lord Beichi of the First Reincarnation Era, Blood Orchid Ancestor of the First Reincarnation Era, and the Rampaging Demon God of the Second Reincarnation Era.

Among them, Star Lord Beichi was a good-natured fellow who simply stayed in the 2nd Stone Pillar Space, focusing on cultivation and studying the Secret Patterns on the black stone pillars. Occasionally, when he gained insights, he would even give lectures to the Universe Masters.

Blood Orchid Ancestor, on the other hand, was utterly domineering. She occupied the 9th Stone Pillar Space alone. As a plant lifeform, within the millions of kilometers covered by her roots, any other lifeform that appeared would be attacked.

As for the Rampaging Demon God, he had the most eccentric temperament. He was moody and unpredictable, did not cultivate in a fixed area, and enjoyed changing his appearance to toy with newcomers unfamiliar with him. Once provoked unintentionally, he would not hesitate to attack.

Of course, the Rampaging Demon God still showed face to the territories of Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor, and would not go to those places to stir up trouble.

But without a doubt, if some poorly informed Universe Master were to come here for the first time, they might very well lose their lives.

However, while Universe Masters feared the Rampaging Demon God, Shi Yan did not.

"That Rampaging Demon God's combat power is mediocre at best; he relies entirely on his divine armor's defense, and can only bully Universe Masters."

Avoiding the 2nd and 9th Stone Pillar Spaces where Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor were located, Shi Yan casually chose the 15th Stone Pillar Space and flew toward the stone pillar.

"I wonder how far my willpower is from the Void Level," Shi Yan thought silently.

Worried about being targeted by the Rampaging Demon God, the vast majority of Universe Masters cultivating in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space stayed in the 2nd Stone Pillar Space under Star Lord Beichi's protection. Only a few Universe Masters confident in themselves, or True Gods who occasionally came here, would cultivate in other stone pillar spaces.

Waves of willpower impact spread outward from the Black-Veined Stone Pillar, also striking Shi Yan's soul.

But Shi Yan's willpower was now at the peak of the True God level; such weak impacts were not even a spring breeze brushing his face.

Around the towering Black-Veined Stone Pillar, a large number of massive boulders revolved endlessly around it, mixed with some exquisite and conspicuous black spired buildings.

Those corresponded to the spaces of the "Black," "Cyan," and "Silver" tokens unique to the Universe Boat—the most common of the three tokens being the Black token.

The three types of tokens seemed to be some kind of credential recognized within the Universe Boat. With such a token, the danger in many areas of the Universe Boat would be greatly reduced, and one could also have an exclusive Cultivation Space, such as those black spired buildings.

Moreover, within the Cultivation Space, there might be some unexpected surprises. For instance, the God Eye Race's "Master Wuhun," who now had a considerable reputation in the Universe Ocean, obtained his precious Mad Demon God-Extinguishing Armor from a Black token space.

And that space also contained a very complete map of the Three Great Forbidden Lands. Apart from sparse records of the core areas, the Inner Domain was recorded in extremely detailed fashion.

If not for not knowing where Master Wuhun was currently roaming, Shi Yan would probably have been unable to resist going to kill him and take his goods.

As he continuously approached the Black-Veined Stone Pillar, the willpower impact Shi Yan received grew stronger and stronger. At a certain moment, the willpower impact suddenly underwent a qualitative change.

"This is already a True God-level impact. As for the time acceleration multiplier... it's 12,000 times. It seems the gap in willpower between a True God and an Eternal True God is truly ridiculous," Shi Yan marveled inwardly.

From his memories, he knew that the limit of the consciousness impact emitted by the Black-Veined Stone Pillar was at the Eternal True God limit level, and the time acceleration there exceeded 600,000 times.

"Let's continue." After a brief sigh, Shi Yan flew further into the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space.

As early as when he was a Universe Master, Shi Yan's willpower had already broken through the True God level. This bit of willpower impact was still far from reaching his limit.

20,000 times... 50,000 times...

As he went deeper, the surrounding willpower impact grew increasingly fierce, as if countless black-armored warriors were shouting battle cries in his ears, shaking the soul.

The time acceleration around him also became increasingly exaggerated.

80,000 times... 85,000 times...

Gradually, his speed slowed down more and more. At 90,000 times, Shi Yan finally stopped his swift movement.