Chapter 526: Hunting Ends

After slaying an Emperor, Meng Chuan remained calm and rushed out of the formation at full speed.

Having stayed on Black Dragon Star for so many years, and with his strength increasing, he had also purchased other suitable tribulation-realm treasures.

For example, the Five-Tribulation realm treasure 'Thunder Domain Seal' allowed him to cast a domain by combining it with his Cloud Mist Dragon Snake movement technique. Because of his cultivation of the 'No-Self, No-Form Sword', Meng Chuan had deep accumulated experience in the domain aspect, making his self-created Cloud Mist Dragon Snake movement technique extremely proficient in the void domain. Meng Chuan had also decided to focus the 'Cloud Mist Dragon Snake movement technique' primarily on the void domain, complementing it with suitable tribulation-realm treasures. This made him so formidable in the void domain that even peak Emperor-level experts might not be stronger than him.

As for killing enemies?

He would use his ultimate profound techniques combined with the 'Thunder Star Child' to kill! With one suppressing through his domain and the other engaging the enemy, Meng Chuan believed that by combining these two, he could contend with peak Emperor-level cultivators.

"However, I still can't contend with Tribulation Realm mighty figures," Meng Chuan knew this clearly. His current strength, comparable to pure-blooded dragons and phoenixes in their youth, represented the pinnacle of Venerable-level power. The peak of the Venerable level could not fight against Tribulation Realm mighty figures! This was experience passed down through generations.

Though it sounds slow in description, after revealing his strength, Meng Chuan no longer concealed his speed; it soared rapidly. Coupled with a fiftyfold time flow rate, he, like a bolt of lightning, had already rushed out of the formation's range.

"Whoosh." As he rushed out of the formation's range, Meng Chuan waved his hand again, discarding some items.

After slaying that Emperor, Meng Chuan, at his current realm, could instantly scan through the spoils of war. Common items like tribulation-realm treasures, outer-realm primal crystals, outer-realm primal stones, rare flowers and exotic herbs, and life-saving artifacts could be kept. However, anything suspected of being related to the Black Demon Palace, such as indecipherable talismans, Meng Chuan discarded without hesitation, to prevent any tracking methods.

The moment he burst out of the formation's edge, Meng Chuan glanced back.

It was still an expanse of darkness; each formation blocked all prying eyes! However, Meng Chuan could sense waves of combat, indicating that the cultivators trapped within the formations were also struggling.

"I'm leaving."

After that final glance, Meng Chuan unhesitatingly activated the Void Minor Shift Talisman he carried.

Due to his proficiency in the void, Meng Chuan could now instantly teleport eighty thousand miles. However, this was far inferior compared to the 'Void Minor Shift Talisman'.

For a moment, Meng Chuan felt he had discovered a new perspective. All of space-time seemed distorted and bent. After activating this minor shift talisman, he could see the surrounding stars collapsing, falling into a warped space-time. The space-time he could perceive seemed to have become box-shaped.

"This is true space-time," Meng Chuan understood clearly. As his cultivation realm improved, his comprehension of space-time deepened. The perception of 'space-time as a thousand-layered cake' was for ordinary Venerables; true high-level cultivators would understand that space-time consisted of countless 'boxes'. Perhaps Seven-Tribulation and Eight-Tribulation mighty figures could perceive another layer of space-time, or what one saw before a Nine-Tribulation 'Eternal' existence would be different again. Different realms revealed different truths even when viewing the same scenery.

At this moment, he was like a small 'ant' within a box. With the help of the Void Minor Shift Talisman, this little 'ant' leaped from one side of the box to another.

"Whoosh." Meng Chuan felt the scenery before him shift. He was already in another part of the outer-realm void. Turning around, he could no longer see Black Dragon Star or the Yin-Yang Star Formation; he had fled untold billions of miles.

"The distance traversed is immense," Meng Chuan marveled. "My Cloud Mist Dragon Snake movement technique, though specialized in the void lineage, would need to reach the Five-Tribulation mighty figure level to normally execute such a move."

Compared to the 'Void Shift Talisman', which was prohibitively expensive and unobtainable, the Void Minor Shift Talisman was generally easier for Emperors to acquire. Priced at approximately forty units of outer-realm primal crystals, they could afford it by gritting their teeth.

"It's expensive for a reason; it really gets you far," Meng Chuan thought. "Even if those lunatics from the Black Demon Palace have Five-Tribulation mighty figures, they might not possess the means to perform such a Void Minor Shift. Even if they do, with so many cultivators, they shouldn't waste time chasing me, right?"

What if they did pursue him? A pursuit by a Five-Tribulation mighty figure? Meng Chuan knew he wouldn't escape even by exhausting all his treasures; the gap was simply too vast.

In fact, Five-Tribulation mighty figures wouldn't even deign to notice him. With tens of thousands of cultivators fleeing for their lives, the Black Demon Palace was constantly hunting. How could a Five-Tribulation mighty figure abandon this crucial hunting ground just to chase one escaped Emperor? Without formation obstructions, intercepting an Emperor who escaped using a Void Minor Shift would be extremely difficult. In that same amount of time, they could easily kill three to five Emperors without 'Void Minor Shift Talismans'. Furthermore, the three Five-Tribulation figures of the Black Demon Palace were not allowed to separate during a hunt; they had to be ready to join forces at any moment to prevent 'accidents' – this was a rule.

"A Minor Shift Talisman?" The long-browed elder also stopped upon seeing this, feeling quite unwilling.

"Such a simple mission, yet we lost one of my five Emperors," the long-browed elder grumbled. The slain red-haired Emperor had been forced to serve the Black Demon Palace, but now that this true body had died in battle and his treasures were lost, his true body in his home world would surely cultivate another and would no longer return to be enslaved by the Black Demon Palace. From the Black Demon Palace's perspective, this was a loss of strength, and the long-browed elder would bear some responsibility.

"Kill," the long-browed elder muttered, his eyes filled with rage, as he flew out of the formation to intercept other fleeing cultivators.

Outside the Yin-Yang Star Formation, the slaughter continued.

Old Ancestor Black Dragon stood in the void with the silver-haired woman beside him; both watched the outside world from afar.

"Buzz." Waves of invisible fluctuations probed the surroundings. With Old Ancestor Black Dragon's strength, he could naturally see clearly once the Black Demon Palace's formation was completely exposed.

Hundreds of formations were scattered around the periphery of the Yin-Yang Star Formation, intercepting approximately thirty percent of the cultivators. The remaining seventy percent were frantically fleeing.

Among the fleeing cultivators, Venerables fared relatively well, but Emperors would still be pursued, unless they possessed a 'Void Minor Shift Talisman' to escape far from the area.

"Many Emperors were reluctant to buy a Void Minor Shift Talisman, and now they're in dire straits," the silver-haired woman remarked.

"You are of the Dragon race; you wouldn't understand," Old Ancestor Black Dragon said calmly, watching the various battlegrounds outside. "Those Emperors vary in strength. The stronger ones might be willing to buy a minor shift talisman. But the weaker ones, whose entire fortune might only be eighty or ninety units of outer-realm primal crystals, would rather buy tribulation-realm treasures or cultivation techniques. How could they bear to spend half their assets on a minor shift talisman they might not even use?"

The silver-haired woman paused, then nodded slightly. On average, Emperors adventuring in the outer realms possessed treasures worth about two hundred units of outer-realm primal crystals. However, this average included 'peak Emperors, late-stage Emperors, mid-stage Emperors, and early-stage Emperors'. Those who had cultivated from lower life worlds, particularly early-stage and mid-stage Emperors, were generally truly poor! They would rather use their outer-realm primal crystals to buy cultivation techniques to leave in their home worlds, or a common, yet guiding, 'tribulation-realm treasure' for their own cultivation. Spending half their assets on a minor shift talisman? It was unrealistic.

"I was just like that back then," Old Ancestor Black Dragon said, pointing to the struggling battlefields, the hunted and slaughtered cultivators, and those frantically and thankfully fleeing outside. "I lived cautiously, and various dangers kept me constantly vigilant. Only after becoming a Tribulation Realm mighty figure did I gain the right to set rules."

The outer realms were indeed like this. Even Meng Chuan, after desperately escaping from the Prison of Expulsion to the Heavenly Peak River System in a sorry state, was immediately intercepted upon arrival. It was only by relying on his seventh-level Primordial Spirit and the recovery abilities from the 'Primordial Spirit Star' legacy that he managed to break open the immortal's cave. Otherwise, he would never have obtained the treasures left behind by Pang Ming.

Gradually... the fighting outside the Yin-Yang Star Formation subsided, and the Black Demon Palace's hunt was nearing its end.

"Of the tens of thousands of cultivators, slightly over seventy percent escaped, which was within my expectations," Old Ancestor Black Dragon said calmly, watching the scene unfold. "More than half of the Emperors were intercepted, either enslaved or killed. And among the five Tribulation Realm figures who tried to escape, only one succeeded."

"Old Ancestor, you have done your best," the silver-haired woman murmured.

"It's not really 'doing my best'," Old Ancestor Black Dragon said serenely. "I merely offered some help while ensuring my own safety. In truth, those Emperors and Tribulation Realm figures fared much better; at most, they lost some treasures or a true body. It's the Venerables who are truly pitiable... if they die, they are truly gone. In these outer realms, only with great strength can one truly control their own destiny."

He then turned, took a single step, and vanished, returning to Black Dragon Star.

The silver-haired woman looked at the outside world, then turned and departed as well.

Meng Chuan entered the River of Space-Time and continued to flee for another five days, traversing an even greater distance. Within the River of Space-Time, Meng Chuan flew slowly, observing countless distant stars and life worlds, understanding his position within the Heavenly Peak River System.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Meng Chuan focused on a particular spot. From afar, it resembled a 'darkness' the size of a human face, appearing so 'large' even within the vast River of Space-Time. In normal void, it would be unimaginably enormous.

"Is that a black hole?" Meng Chuan's eyes lit up.

"My cultivated 'Black Hole Realm' bears many similarities to a true black hole. I've always wanted to find one to closely study and cultivate, so this is it." Meng Chuan fixed his gaze upon it.