Chapter 451 - 405: Entering the Ship, Searching for Liu Zili, the Bloodthirsty White Tiger’s World-Shocking Unity

Seeing the sheer scale of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship with his own eyes didn’t frighten Jiang Qiu. While it was true that one could glimpse the whole from a single part—a clear indication of the power wielded by Zuo Xuan, one of the Nine Venerables of the Nine Venerable Great Realm, and the terror of his Emperor Blue Lizard Clan—it didn’t change his mind. He was determined to enter the Eight-direction Reversing Ship with Xue and Shangguan Yue today and get their people out.

Even if the rescue failed today, they had to extract key intelligence. At the very least, they needed to find out which sector held the people from Blue Star and identify the core region.

That was today’s objective.

Of course, the risks were enormous. If their infiltration of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship was discovered, Jiang Qiu would almost certainly be targeted and hunted down by Zuo Xuan. He couldn’t defeat Zuo Xuan as he was now. Getting caught would likely mean facing an instant-kill blow. An expert at the Peak of Unity Realm could one-shot most practitioners in the Half-Step Realm; it was hardly more difficult than killing someone in the Fusion Realm.

It was for this very reason that Jiang Qiu chose to act on the day the Thunder Clan was set to join Zuo Xuan in attacking the Thunder Restricted Area. In fact, Yang Lei had already had people staking out the location for days. He was the one who had informed Jiang Qiu of the approximate time the major assault would begin. This wasn’t a reckless charge; Jiang Qiu wasn’t worried about running into Zuo Xuan.

And just moments ago, Xue had detected a faint, barely perceptible spatial fluctuation at the Unity Realm level. This confirmed it: Zuo Xuan had departed the Eight-direction Reversing Ship. He had undoubtedly left for the front lines of the Thunder Restricted Area to rendezvous with the Thunder Clan and prepare for the assault.

This made it the perfect time to enter the Eight-direction Reversing Ship.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Qiu took Shangguan Yue’s small, delicate hand. With a WHOOSH, he vanished on the spot along with Xue. When they reappeared, they were inside a vast, mechanical space. All around them were strange, metallic structures. Patrol drones made of some highly advanced alloy hovered in the air. They seemed to be in a corridor wider than any city square on Blue Star. Overhead, countless flying vehicles zipped past with a constant SWOOSHING sound.

Jiang Qiu stared, momentarily stunned. He extended his senses and realized they were inside a massive, self-contained spacetime. It completely blocked off perception from the Outer Realm, like an uncracked egg.

This was the interior of the Eight-direction Reversing Ship. Many of its regions were impossible to probe clearly. Their current location seemed to be near an "entrance" of sorts, far from the core.

The massive pocket dimension was similar to those found in spatial rings, likely the result of some incredibly advanced spacetime technology that made the ship’s interior vastly larger than its external appearance. He couldn’t yet tell just how big it was, but judging from the sheer spaciousness, Jiang Qiu suspected it could house the entire population of Xia Country.

"Jiang Qiu, I sense some kind of detection-type Laws at work here..."

Shangguan Yue murmured, looking up and gazing at this world with curiosity. But her grip on his hand tightened subconsciously. Her palm was clammy, and a hint of fear brewed in her clear eyes.

This wasn’t the first time she had seen such a sight, but it was only the second.

The first time, upon entering the "gate," she’d been confronted with bizarre species and technology that shattered her understanding of the world. Then, in a flash, she was captured and thrown into a cell.

The cells hadn’t been spacious like this. This area seemed designed to be a grand facade; not every corner of the ship was this open and vast. The prison cells certainly weren’t.

Back then, before she could even process the initial shock, she had been thrown into a cell. Seeing this place again inevitably stirred that fear in her heart. ’I’m afraid... afraid that I’ve walked right back into the lion’s den, that I’ll be locked away again, never to see the light of day...’

Jiang Qiu gave her soft hand a reassuring squeeze. "Instructor Shangguan, you can block those Laws, right?"

"Yes." Feeling the warmth from his hand, Shangguan Yue nodded, an inexplicable comfort spreading through her. "Those Laws don’t register me as an enemy. Since you and Xue are with me, you aren’t seen as enemies either. As long as we’re not personally seen by an Emperor Blue Lizard Person assigned to detect anomalies, we shouldn’t be discovered."

She was right. The Path of Returning to Simplicity was naturally harmonious with most Daos. Unless it detected intense aggressive intent, it wouldn’t be flagged as an enemy by those Laws. And with Shangguan Yue’s tacit consent, the Laws didn’t perceive Jiang Qiu and Xue as threats either.

Thus, as long as an Emperor Blue Lizard Person didn’t physically spot them sneaking in, they were unlikely to run into any trouble.

The chances of an Emperor Blue Lizard Person actually laying eyes on them were slim. For one, the Eight-direction Reversing Ship was enormous, and they didn’t know the patrol routes or the locations of special surveillance systems. For another, with Jiang Qiu’s Space-Time Travel ability, it was nearly impossible for anyone to detect him.

As for the ripples created by Space-Time Travel?

Shangguan Yue had neutralized those, leaving no trace.

"Alright then, let’s start looking for Liu Zili." Jiang Qiu’s resolve hardened. ’The core region... I should travel deeper inside, right?’ He gazed toward a general direction. "That way?"