Chapter 1297: Skirmish
"However, most void beasts are very dangerous, short-tempered, and ferocious. They will tear apart any living creature they see. If you encounter them, run back to your Demiplane as quickly as possible, and then shatter the coordinates you've left behind.
"Your Natural Demiplane has already been developed to a point where it can accommodate fixed coordinates, but it's still dangerous to shatter the coordinates you left behind. You won't be able to own fixed coordinates for a long time afterwards.
"It may even affect your control over your Natural Demiplane. Don't do that unless you get lost, and make sure you're safe. You must not enter your Demiplane in battle.
"Any living creature here is capable of destroying your spatial coordinates. If they shatter your coordinates, the space may tremble, and the fixed coordinates you've left may become useless.
"Also, the powerful void beasts that are adept at space laws might be able to break into your Natural Demiplane through the coordinates."
Lin Yun knew many of the things that Agalon mentioned, but not as much in detail as Agalon did. There were simply too many dangers in space. On many occasions, one lapse in judgment might cause death.
The extraordinary lives were qualified to travel to the boundless void, but only qualified. For the low-level Heaven Rank mages, traveling in the void was no different than suicide.
The iron warship soundlessly traveled in space. Its trajectory was not a straight line, but followed a certain route. Standing on the warship, Lin Yun had detected more than 20 dangers that were hidden in space.
They were dangerous space undercurrents that were congregations of destructive energy. Like undercurrents in the ocean, they would swallow anything that passed by and tear it apart, turning it into part of themselves.
If one thought that one could just sail in a straight line in the void because there were no obstacles, one would be committing suicide.
In another few hours, they saw a barren crimson planet ahead of them. The surface of the planet was all pits and bumps that were caused by meteors.
"This is a place where you can take a break at the edge of the space battlefield. There's no air, mana, or life there. It's just a fairly large asteroid. However, it has gravity, and it's safer to rest on the asteroid than to stay in the void.
"This asteroid is so huge that even the biggest void beast won't be interested in it. It has no valuable resources except iron."
Lin Yun was silent for a long time. For a long time, he thought that Noscent was just a planet in the universe. However, after reading a lot of books in the decaying library, he discovered that it wasn't so simple.
Every plane where lives had been born had a unique spatial barrier, which couldn't be found on any planet. At least, all the planets in the void were desolate. Some might contain special resources, but never lives or spatial barriers.
After he traveled from Noscent to the void, he could see nothing but the void. There was no sign of Noscent at all, just the boundless void, which was a forbidden area. The locals, the terrifying void beasts, were all extraordinary lives.
The voyage was quite boring. Traveling in the peaceful void was like traveling on the ocean. The scenery remained unchanged. Those desolate planets looked like lone islands in the ocean. They were too insignificant compared to the vast ocean.
Many of the meteoroids they encountered on the way contained special substance. Agalon simply seized them. A lot of materials that didn't exist in Noscent could be refined from them.
After sailing for a dozen days, the space ahead became an absolute mess, with obvious lingering battle waves. A lot of chaotic energy had gathered into storms that ravaged the void. A million kilometers away, there was a storm that looked like a glittering vortex, which tore apart and swallowed all approaching meteoroids.
Lin Yun could see three chaotic energy storms that were powerful enough to rip him into pieces. However, those storms were too far away, and only presented a splendid view for him.
"This is already the space battlefield. The energy storm 100 kilometers away has existed for thousands of years. Previously, experts beyond the Heaven Rank fought here. The aftermath of their battle caused three energy vortexes that have been building up each other, and therefore keep their forms.
"This part of the journey is much more dangerous. Although the space battlefield has been peaceful recently, void beasts are more likely to appear at such moments…
"Our exploration will begin with that planet. There are supplies and a lighthouse there."
Agalon pointed at the boundless void as he spoke solemnly.
There were three energy vortexes ahead. Two were like glittering stars, and the last resembled a burning torch, except that there weren't any flames in it.
The three vortexes attracted each other, and kept each other in a fixed position. Not far away up ahead, there was an enormous planet that looked like an abnormal potato. It was yellow and barren, and could be more than 100,000 kilometers in diameter.
The iron warship sailed towards the enormous planet quietly and sent out signals, contacting the residents on the desolate planet.
However, 10 minutes after the signals were sent, there was no reply. Agalon became solemn.
"There has been no war in this area. Noscent occupied this planet a long time ago. They haven't replied in 10 minutes. Something must've happened to them."
Receiving no reply, Agalon decisively abandoned landing. The iron warship didn't proceed. Instead, it decelerated and tried to sail away from the potato planet.
Hardly had the iron warship started decelerating when a beast head that was at least 1,000 meters tall emerged from the back of the planet. It looked like the head of an enormous lizard, and quickly soared from the planet.
Its body was at least 50 kilometers long. However, its skin was not covered in scales, but a substance that looked like black rock. In the dim void, it looked like an enormous shadow. The only thing that could be seen was its big eyes that were emitting bluish light.
After the beast appeared, ripples were spreading in space. The beast slithered quickly as if it was swimming in water. The ripples were like the water currents that it had stirred. However, Lin Yun knew that anyone below the Heaven Rank would've been ripped into pieces when those ripples hit them.
A terrifying vibe burst out. Lin Yun could feel their horror even though he was millions of kilometers away. He would die miserably even if he was accidentally hit by such an enemy.
"I'll lure it away." Agalon solemnly left his instructions, and disappeared from the iron warship.
Lin Yun gravely gave commands to the alchemy puppets in the iron warship. More than 300 puppets, led by three Heaven Rank puppets whose wisdom had been awakened, were flying the iron warship.
They might not be very strong, but they were better pilots than human beings were.
The beast that looked like an enormous lizard was long and thick, and seemed like a creature that lived in the ocean. It moved very fast in the void, and carried the vibe of at least level 48. However, it was so huge that it might be able to fight a level-9 Heaven Rank expert.
Lin Yun wouldn't be able to break its defense even if he were to attack it for 10 years while it remained asleep.
Agalon left the warship, and appeared in the void, unleashing his powerful aura. The starry light in the void was distorted, and quickly concentrated into a giant hand that was almost 3,000 meters long. It slapped the lizard in the face.
A series of spatial explosions spread from the lizard's face. The chaotic energy was like booming fireworks. The lizard trembled and rolled thousands of kilometers in the void. Its green blood gushed in the void, and gradually spread as spheres.
Facing the terrifying attack, the lizard soon regained balance and roared at Agalon. There seemed to be a lot of blood spraying out, but the lizard only had a minor wound on its right cheek. The black armor that covered the lizard's skin crumbled into rocks, but it was healing very quickly. Even the shattered protection was recovering fast.
Agalon solemnly extended his hand, and a two-meter-long staff made of starry light appeared in his hand. On the top end of the staff was a deep blue gem that was as big as a human head.
Immediately, countless stars seemed to be appearing around Agalon. Those stars quickly expanded. In the blink of an eye, countless laws and runes filled up the space within 100 kilometers. Like stars, those laws and runes span around Agalon on a fixed trajectory.
Immediately, dazzling starlight emanated. A pillar of light that was at least 10 kilometers thick was launched towards the lizard. The lizard was huge but terrifyingly agile in space. It wriggled and dodged the thick pillar of light.
However, the thick pillar of light changed its direction, and hit its abdomen. The starry light around it seized the chance to tie up the lizard like a huge rope, trying to wreathe the lizard.
The countless runes around Agalon glittered like stars. The starry light that enshrouded the lizard seethed. Roars that worked directly on the souls were echoing in the void.
Infinite starry light was concentrating. A dozen seconds later, the ball of light exploded, illuminating the dark space. The lizard was blown thousands of kilometers away as if it had been kicked by a giant.
Agalon flashed several times in the void, and caught up to the lizard, continuing to attack. Gradually, both Agalon and the lizard disappeared into the darkness.
Standing in the command room, Lin Yun held his breath, and watched the battle with undisguised shock in his eyes.
He'd never felt his insignificance until he set foot in space. He didn't know how strong the experts were until he really saw their battle.
Agalon probably only used 30 percent of his strength, but if he unleashed the same strength in Noscent, he probably could destroy half of the Andlusa Kingdom. Such experts who were like walking nuclear weapons could easily wreak havoc in a radius of hundreds of kilometers. They could destroy dozens of cities or a kingdom for fun…
However, such strength could only infuriate the lizard, which seemed incapable of resisting Agalon. Still, Agalon's horrifying spells only caused minor bruises to the lizard. It wasn't gravely wounded at all.
After Agalon disappeared, Lin Yun was still feeling shocked. He looked back at the planet that looked like an abnormal potato which was full of battle marks. The enormous cracks that spread for hundreds of kilometers were likely caused by that giant lizard.
Needless to say, there was not a single survivor left on the planet anymore. This was just a remote location in the space battlefield. Even if something had existed here before, it must've been destroyed already.
Lin Yun waited for Agalon to come back. Exactly at this moment, a Heaven Rank puppet on the warship sent an alarm. A "small" lizard that was more than 15 kilometers long had slithered out from the back of the planet.
Seeing the small lizard, Lin Yun looked quite awful.
He remembered that the big lizard had been completely suppressed. Although it was natural that Agalon could crush a level-48 void beast, the lizard didn't seem to counterattack at all, even though it seemed huge and strong. It was only charging crazily.
At this moment, Lin Yun suddenly realized that there was more than one void beast in this place.
It was very hard for void beasts to reproduce. The lone void beasts could all give birth to offspring independently. The void beasts that had genders almost always acted in groups.
It took a terrifyingly long amount of time for the lone void beasts to give birth. Their offspring was naturally born as extraordinary lives!
Also, the longer the pregnancy, the stronger the void beasts would be after they were born. The long pregnancy made the reproduction of void beasts very difficult.
This small lizard, which was over a dozen kilometers long, seemed to be born no more than 1,000 years earlier. At this moment, the big lizard would kill all lives it saw, including other void beasts, for the small lizards to grow up. They would try to avoid any danger.
The small lizard flew out of the back of the planet even faster than the big lizard. Its body was covered in dark silver light. It wriggled in the void, and then vanished. When it reappeared, it was only several hundred kilometers away from the warship.
After it reappeared, the lizard spouted out a black water ball that was 800 meters in diameter. After being spouted, the sphere vanished while surrounded by twisted light. A second later, the rear half of the warship, which didn't have time to dodge, was hit by the water ball that appeared out of nowhere.
200 meters of the warship was instantly gone. The blast of the water ball broke the vessel apart. The part that was covered in the water ball melted in no more than three seconds, as if corroded by powerful acid, even though it was made of magic iron.
A Heaven Rank puppet fell into the black water ball, and completely dissolved in only two seconds.
The remaining half of the warship swirled in the void. The small lizard dashed forward and swallowed it, as if it was having a sweet chocolate. After swallowing the warship, it slithered back to the hideous planet, and lurked in the shadow of the said planet.
The warship, along with the puppets and Lin Yun on it, was swallowed. Lin Yun was solemn and anxious.
That void beast, which seemed unremarkable except for its sturdiness, had given birth to a space beast that could make use of spatial power…
Void beasts, universe beasts, space beasts…
Void beast was just their general name. They were also most common. The stronger ones that knew how to make use of energy could be called universe beasts. The rarer ones that knew how to make use of spatial power were space beasts, which were hardest to deal with.
The lizard seemed no higher than level 45, but it was definitely stronger than an ordinary level-5 Heaven Rank mage. Because of a congenial difference, it might be 100 times stronger than another creature that was on its level…
To be continued