After he placed the book on the throne, Zhou Fan teleported back to the Zhou world. Although he was ready to go back into cultivation, he needed to wait some years before the Zhou Solar System finished expanding.
Until that time, he would have to find something else to occupy him. Zhou Fan thought for a while, and since it would take the Zhou World more than fifty years to expand, he could go out and explore the galaxy again. With his current strength and speed, he would be able to travel around the full thing within fifty years even if he took it slowly.
In the past years, Zhou Fan had been able to observe and draw a map of much of the galaxy. He had come to the conclusion that it was in the shape of a spiraling circle.
The earth was somewhere in the middle section, in between the core section and the outer section of the galaxy. The Zhou Solar System was very close to the earth on the map, but they were still many many light-years away from each other.
Although he was somewhat curious about the state of the planet, Zhou Fan wanted to hold off his visit to earth for a bit longer. Perhaps he would visit after he broke through to the realm after lesser dao creation.
Until then, he decided to go outwards towards the edge of the galaxy and then circle the peripheral until he had gone around it. After that, he would sweep the entire area by going around until he finally reached the center of the galaxy and found what lies there.
At a speed that may have never been seen before in the universe, Zhou Fan flew off towards the edge of the galaxy. Everytime he found a solar system or a lone celestial body, he would stop, explore the area, and write it down on his map.
In just a month, Zhou Fan made it to the edge of the galaxy. Behind him was a field of stars and planets while in front of him was an endless darkness with the only thing past it being other galaxies.
For the first time, Zhou Fan was getting a clear and uninterrupted view of a galaxy. Just like Zhou Fan estimated his galaxy looked like, the galaxy was a spiral circle with countless stars.
One difference was that the other galaxy had an overall red hue to it while his galaxy had a purple hue to it. It was by far the most beautiful thing he had seen. There were also other galaxies within view, but the red one was the closest and most interesting looking.
Zhou Fan walked out of the boundary of the galaxy for the first time and felt an immense chill. It was as if his body was encased in absolute darkness, without light or warmth.
To Zhou Fan, it wasn't very hard to withstand, but it was still an uncomfortable and weird feeling. He estimated that someone would have to be at the lesser dao creation realm to even survive in the space between galaxies.
He didn't stay within the area too long before he went back inside the galaxy. Although the galaxy could be considered huge, the space in between them was much much bigger.
If you lined up Zhou Fans galaxy side by side in the direction of the nearest galaxy, it would take more than a thousand of them to reach the other galaxy. For that reason, Zhou Fan decided to stay within the bounds of his galaxy for a while. He was in no rush to explore the rest of the universe and as long as he kept getting stronger, he would be able to traverse its entirety in a snap.
After his encounter with the area in between the galaxies, Zhou Fan stayed within the galaxy and went around the outside edge. The entire trip took a year to complete and Zhou Fan could say that he had explored 5% of the outer galaxy.
After he reached the same place that he had left the galaxy at, he went inwards and explored the next section of the galaxy, writing the entire exploration down and creating a map.
After 25 years, Zhou Fan had finally finished exploring the outer section of the galaxy. He had seen many interesting things and even discovered a couple things no one had known existed.
Zhou Fan double checked to make sure he had covered the entire area of the outer galaxy and went to the middle section, the same area that earth and the Zhou Solar System existed in.
Although he would pass by earth, Zhou Fan decided to stay a thousand light years away from it at all times and even block his vision from seeing the area.
He truly wanted to have a surprise when he returned in the future. No spoilers could be allowed.
Zhou Fan then explored the entire middle area, discovering a few more new things and mapping the entire area. It took him 15 years to do so. Next was the core area.
The core area took up 5 thousand light years of the galaxy and was about 5% of the total area. Even so, Zhou Fan was most excited to explore it. He could feel that within the core area was the secret to how the galaxy was held together.
Unlike the solar systems, it wasn't held together by a sun, but by something producing much more gravity.
Zhou Fan slowly swept the outside of the core area and slowly rotated his way towards the center. He took much more time and mapped much more carefully.
The planets in the core area were much bigger than the planets in the other areas. Even the suns were much bigger on average. Although there was nothing the size of the Zhou World or its sun, there were some things that came pretty close.
After 7 years, Zhou Fan finally made his way to the center of the core area. Blocking his path was a field of debris similar to an asteroid belt but much thicker. It was so thick that he was unable to see past it.