Cave Lord Venom Cloud proceeded through the Disarray Star Sea alone. Her every step traversed tens of thousands of kilometers. Although she was hesitant, she decided to seek out the cause for the Disarray Star Sea’s Heaven Earth Essence Qi stir.
It was also because she had discovered through karma that her old opponent, Demon King Motu, had already gone one step before her.
“The Heaven Earth Essence Qi stir originates from deep in the Disarray Star Sea. It might be dangerous, but it could also be an opportunity.” Venom Cloud had a look of anticipation in her eyes. “I just need to be careful.”
She did not know Major Void Transference.
She took an hour just traveling before she arrived deep in the Disarray Star Sea.
“Boom~” The surrounding void was warped, with swirls of distorted lustrous light. Asteroids could be faintly seen floating amid the warped void.
“The disorientation zone deep in the Disarray Star Sea has expanded?” Venom Cloud stopped. In front of her was a large warped void.
“Haha, Sister Venom Cloud, you are here too?” A black-robed elder with a cold expression laughed loudly.
Venom Cloud saw the black-robed elder at a glance. She said, “Motu, how can I not come when you are here? What have you figured out?”
“Didn’t you notice? The disorientation zone has expanded,” said Motu. “It’s several times bigger than it used to be. Furthermore, it’s constantly expanding.”
Venom Cloud also noticed it.
The warped void was slowly spreading outwards, causing the zone to expand.
“With the speed at which it’s going, it will probably expand five thousand kilometers in two hours.” Venom Cloud was alarmed. “Back then, it was due to the Disarray Star Sea’s mineral reserves that I built a cave abode here. I discovered that the core region of the Disarray Star Sea’s void was warped. It makes void teleportation impossible and only allows slow flight. Furthermore, it’s easy to get lost. But I always believed that this disorientation zone was formed naturally. I never expected it to have expanded so many times and that it’s still expanding. Even the Heaven Earth Essence Qi have turned violent.
“What is going on deep inside the Disarray Star Sea?”
Venom Cloud was increasingly puzzled.
Something must have happened.
“I’ll send an avatar in to take a look.” With a thought, Venom Cloud immediately split out two avatars formed from Dharmic powers. They flew into the warped zone.
She did not dare enter the disorientation zone with her true body.
“Venom Cloud has come as well. I believe more immortals and fiendish demons will come too. I have to find the source of the stir. Perhaps, it’s a huge opportunity.” After Motun shot a glance at Venom Cloud, he ignored her. He had also sent two avatars into the disorientation zone to probe, but they had been searching fruitlessly all day.
******
Night.
Qin Yun silently left his room and departed the Qilan Nation’s capital. He left the Changyu Great World and traversed the distant void, arriving in the Disarray Star Sea immediately.
“Disarray Star Sea.”
Qin Yun stood in space as he looked at the Disarray Star Sea.
The Disarray Star Sea was expansive, but a pinnacle mighty figure like Qin Yun could explore it in its entirety with a thought.
“This Disarray Star Sea must have formed by the Heavenly realm fragment when God King Gonggong slammed into Mt. Buzhou. The ancient Heavenly realm fragment formed Great Worlds while many tiny fragments formed Small Worlds. But even smaller fragments… were unable to form Small Worlds. Perhaps they became these asteroids of varying sizes.” Qin Yun made a guess. “These countless asteroids then formed the Disarray Star Sea.
“Strange, why is the Heaven Earth Essence Qi in the Disarray Star Sea so agitated?” Qin Yun looked deep into the Disarray Star Sea. “Deep in the Disarray Star Sea is a region of fifteen million kilometers. The void is warped and anyone who can’t match a mighty figure will be lost in it.
“According to intelligence, the disorientation zone of the Disarray Star Sea spans just five million kilometers. Why has it increased to fifteen million kilometers?”
Qin Yun was somewhat astonished.
He carefully observed, but discovered that the depths of the Disarray Star Sea were shielded by an invisible energy that prevented him from seeing through it.
“This is quite interesting.
“It’s a little different from the intelligence. Furthermore, the Heaven Earth Essence Qi agitation stems from the deepest depths.” Qin Yun’s interest was piqued. “Yes, I’ll venture in after saving those pitiful cultivators.”
Disorientation zone.
It was very dangerous to many, but it was nothing for mighty figures.
Even more so when Qin Yun’s strength was one that could fight a perfected Great Dao existence.
“Whoosh.”
Qin Yun took another step and arrived in Cave Lord Venom Cloud’s territory.
He came to the Disarray Star Sea for two reasons—to save the pitiful cultivators enslaved by Venom Cloud and to kill her.
“Cave Lord Venom Cloud has headed for the Disarray Star Sea’s depths? She doesn’t know Major Void Transference, so she won’t be able to escape. I’ll rid of her later.” Qin Yun was in no rush. He first landed on a massive asteroid. The asteroid spanned more than five hundred kilometers and had valuable minerals in it. Many enslaved cultivators were being used as miners.
“This asteroid is just rock with no signs of life. Those cultivators live on this?” Qin Yun took a step and entered the asteroid’s interior.
Inside the asteroid were numerous mining routes.
There were also regions that had been fully excavated. They were made into stone chambers about ten feet wide. Cultivators stayed in there.
“There are guards for every hundred cultivators?
“Each cultivator lives in such a small space? There’s barely room for a bed.” Qin Yun walked through the mine and looked at each stone chamber.
Inside the stone chambers, cultivators were either lying down or sitting cross-legged. However, most of them looked sickly and had a stupefied aura.
They had been enslaved for too long.
“Enslaving cultivators sure is convenient. There’s no need to provide them with food or drink. They just need to be forced to mine.” Qin Yun had a cold look in his eyes. “As a demon, she has enslaved so many human cultivators. The Heavenly Dao sure is heartless. Acting wantonly against mortals would imply grave sins, but to enslave cultivators, the sins involved would be much lessened.”
Dozens of cultivators returned from their mining as they flew in a numbed fashion before entering their respective stone chambers.
In one of the stone chambers.
“Dad!” A three or four-year-old child received a cultivator who entered happily.
The cultivator looked like a middle-aged man. His face was filled with weariness, but when he saw the child, he smiled. “Qian’er.”
“Dad brought you good food to eat.” The middle-aged man pulled out a bundle and opened it to reveal three dry and hard buns. He cast some Dharma spells and extracted water to infuse into the bun before raising its temperature. The bun turned soft and warm.
“Buns!” The child received it in excitement. He chomped down on it and asked, “Where’s Mom? When will Mom be back?”
“Probably soon,” said the middle-aged man. Although he was exhausted, he was still filled with hope seeing his son.
After his son was done eating, the middle-aged man instructed, “How has your practice of the saber arts I taught you been? Demonstrate for me.”
“Yes, Dad.” The child immediately picked up a wooden saber and demonstrated, stirring up winds. After he was done, the child looked at his father in anticipation. “Dad, how was it?”
“Here, follow me step by step.” The middle-aged man began teaching in frustration.
…
The cultivators in the neighboring stone chambers also heard their conversation.
“Brother Wang and his wife are really just inviting trouble for themselves. As cultivators, they do not need food or drink, but to raise their son, they have to exchange for food every day. That means they have to excavate several times more! Cave Lord raised steep conditions to begin with and the couple has to do twice that. The couple nearly went mad from the hard work. I often see the two of them laying exhausted there motionless after having all their Dharmic powers drained.”
“In such days, why have children? If I had any say in it, they should not have had children.”
“They are just too stubborn.”
The other cultivators were also discussing, but soon stopped to rest.
Work was just too tiring.
…
Qin Yun watched the middle-aged man teach his son in the dark sealed stone chamber in front of him.
Perpetual darkness.
Without plants, it was a stone chamber forever plunged in darkness.
Despite such days, the father and son both taught and learned very seriously.
“There is hope even in perpetual darkness?” Qin Yun muttered to himself. He could see the looks of anticipation in the father’s eyes and in the ignorant child’s eyes. The child wished to see his father and his mother.
Forever filled with hope.
Forever hoping to see the sky.
Even if they were considered contemptible or weak.
Over the past three hundred years of touring the mortal world, he had experienced the strength among humans. And today, he sensed it again. The Human Spirit in his heart also grew stronger.
“I am proud to be born human.”
“These humans who have never abandoned hope should see their hopes fulfilled.”
Qin Yun commanded with his mind.
The entire ore mine quaked as the enslaved people were transported out by an invisible energy. The cultivators looked in amazement while the father who was still teaching his son saber arts hugged his son tightly, looking around at the distorted surroundings flying by at high speeds.