Chapter 598 - 375: Deep Space Voyage, The Lonely Road (Part 2)

Chapter 598: Chapter 375: Deep Space Voyage, The Lonely Road (Part 2)

One night.

After informing a few friends, including Dean Wu and Bobo Man, that he would be away for a while, Han Ning flew alone on Egg Pancake to the public area outside the Barbaric Beast Race’s territory.

Above the calm sea, space rippled, and Fei Lin’s figure emerged from the Soul Beast Space.

Han Ning held the Bobo Family’s Star Map. Under a surge of his Spiritual Power, the Star Map automatically rotated, pinpointing his current location and the moving coordinates for Yalan Tuo, the main star of the Sea of Death Stars in the Purple Jade Star Realm.

Star Domains aren’t stationary. They are in constant, high-speed motion, following specific patterns.

The Star Map had to calculate the approximate trajectory of the Star Domain.

A blue light flickered for a few seconds before a line of information appeared in Han Ning’s mind.

"Estimated travel time: three months and seven days."

This was the shortest possible travel time. In reality, most journeys through Subspace rarely matched the Star Map’s minimum estimate. The vast expanse was filled with too many variables—battles between High-Level Soul Beasts, the destruction of a Main World rippling into Subspace, and more—all of which could affect the route.

"Fei Lin, follow my spiritual guidance. Let’s enter Subspace!"

With all preparations complete, Han Ning recalled all his Soul Beasts except for Fei Lin and nodded to her.

During Subspace travel, every additional High Tier Soul Beast by his side would place a huge burden on Fei Lin.

"Yee!"

Fei Lin responded, drew her platinum longsword, and with a light slash, cut the empty space where Han Ning was focusing his Spiritual Power.

The sharp blade sliced through the surface of space, revealing the kaleidoscopic interior of Subspace.

’Let’s go!’

Han Ning, wreathed in Starlight, followed Fei Lin and stepped inside.

WHOOSH~

The moment they entered, an endless tide of Subspace radiation rushed toward them like a tsunami.

Fei Lin let out a cold snort as Sword Qi erupted from her body. In a flash of light, she transformed from her human form into a platinum longsword approximately seven meters long and two meters thick.

Seeing this, Han Ning sat cross-legged on the sword’s surface. The phantom of a Star Dream Unicorn emerged from his body, emitting a radiant glow of Telekinesis that added another layer of protection.

To conserve Spiritual Energy, the range of the sword’s light was minimized as it shot off in the direction Han Ning indicated.

In the vast sea of Subspace, there was no sound.

The platinum sword-light, like a star with a comet’s tail, silently carved a long trajectory through the void.

Without atmospheric resistance, Fei Lin’s speed increased dramatically. The pressure of an Emperor Level Soul Beast kept weaker creatures from daring to approach.

Despite the riot of color and the strange creatures that occasionally drifted by, the initial curiosity soon wore off, and the rapidly passing scenery became dull and monotonous.

One day later, a completely distorted, deep blue sphere, like something out of an oil painting, appeared below them.

In Subspace, gravity is minimal. Up, down, left, right, forward, and back are all viable paths. Without a precise Star Map, one would quickly become lost.

’We’ve left the bounds of the Purple Crystal World...’

Leaving the bounds of the Purple Crystal World, the surroundings became even more desolate. Only every few hours would they see a patch of color, large or small, streak past in the distance.

The various radiation particles and the violent Spiritual Energy of every element filling the void became even more turbulent.

If a Soul Beast below the Upper Monarch level were here, it probably wouldn’t last more than a few days before its body was pierced by the high-speed particles.

’Interstellar travel is so boring.’

Han Ning sat blankly for a moment, then chatted for a while with the little ones in his Soul Beast Space before composing himself and sinking completely into Meditation.

...

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, three months had gone by.

As they approached the Purple Jade Star Realm, the scenery flitting by on either side gradually grew richer.

The journey over the past three months had not been smooth sailing.

They occasionally encountered reckless Subspace Soul Beasts that attacked Fei Lin.

However, these Soul Beasts were mostly at the Lord or Monarch level. They could only throw their weight around because they were naturally adapted to the Subspace environment; the moment they ran into a tough opponent, they were instantly obliterated.

Additionally, Han Ning encountered two Alien Race Beast Masters from other worlds.

In terms of Spiritual Quality, both of these passing Beast Masters were weaker than him.

After they ran into Han Ning, they were all intimidated by the quality of his Spiritual Power. Without so much as a greeting, they hastily commanded their Soul Beasts and vanished from sight.

Besides that, he also encountered three inexplicable Subspace storms and five Energy tides, which caused significant delays, stretching the original journey of just over three months into an estimated four.

Despite this, Han Ning was now approaching the outer regions of the Purple Jade Star Realm.

One day, while Han Ning was immersed in his Spiritual World cultivating the Spiritual Meditation Technique, his spirit suddenly stirred. He faintly heard a thread-like wisp of Alien Spiritual Power enter his mind:

"Help... help me..."

’An alien?’ He slowly opened his eyes and looked in the direction the Spiritual Power had come from.

Ahead and slightly below, at the very limit of his vision, a giant, slowly floating catfish appeared.

On its broad back stood rows of houses built from some unknown material.

These houses looked as if they had endured for eons, battered by particle storms for who knows how long. They appeared dilapidated and pitted.

The catfish was covered in wounds, and the weak pulse of Spiritual Power was emanating from its back.

He could even sense how ancient this wisp of Spiritual Power was, as if it had been sent by someone of extreme old age.

Han Ning only glanced at it once before paying it no more mind. Without the slightest pause, he swiftly passed through the area where the catfish was.

’A chance encounter, and in the perilous expanse of Subspace, no less. You’d have to be out of your mind to try and save a total stranger.’

’Even a three-year-old in the Tri-Race Alliance knew that. How could he not understand?’

’Still, a snow-white catfish over 3,000 meters long... that’s certainly interesting.’

Han Ning had lived in the Purple Crystal World for several years and had never heard of any catfish-shaped Soul Beast that could grow so large. He found it intriguing.

This matter was a small interlude in his journey and quickly slipped from his mind.

An unknown amount of time passed...

Han Ning, in a state of Spiritual Meditation, once again heard a weak wisp of Alien Spiritual Power invade his mind:

"Help... help me..."

The moment he sensed this wisp of Spiritual Power, an inexplicable chill shot up from the base of his spine.

He opened his eyes and looked in the direction the Spiritual Power had come from.

It was still in the same position, still that tattered giant catfish with its pitted buildings...

’What’s going on...? The Star Map’s route is correct, Fei Lin hasn’t sensed any danger, and my own Spiritual Power hasn’t given me any warning.’

He frowned deeply, opened the Star Map, and confirmed that he had indeed traveled some distance forward.

So why was the giant catfish below still in the same old spot?

’Wait... it’s not the same spot. It seems to have gotten a tiny bit closer.’

Han Ning narrowed his eyes. He was surprised to realize that when he had seen the giant catfish before, it was at the limit of his vision, about the size of a soybean.

But now, the catfish had magnified in his vision, becoming the size of a fava bean.

’Weird.’

Slightly steadying his nerves, Han Ning stopped paying the catfish any mind and instead urged Fei Lin to pick up the pace.

「Three days later...」

Han Ning, who was in a state of Spiritual Meditation, suddenly snapped his eyes open.

For the third time, he heard that faint, spiritual cry for help.

He subconsciously looked down.

This time, the catfish was the size of his palm!

Only now did Han Ning finally realize that he had probably run into something sinister and strange.

Once or twice might be a coincidence, but a third time is definitely not.

And what surprised him even more was that when he summoned the Star Map to check his coordinates, he discovered that his current route had already deviated from the direction of the Purple Jade Star Realm by at least 15 degrees!