Chapter 1667: Star Pirate Crew

In Lu Ye's original plan, after sending Li Shang back to her ancestral land, he would have to return to the Myriad Manifestations Star System. From there, he would use a wormhole to reach a place called the Three Saints Star System, and only after passing through the Three Saints Star System could he finally arrive at the Void Star System.

Following that route would undoubtedly consume a lot of time. In contrast, traveling directly from the Soul Clan's ancestral land to the Void Star System highlighted the clear difference in travel efficiency.

However, the Void Star System… Lu Ye vaguely felt it sounded familiar. After a moment's thought, he recalled that after he and Tang Jun accidentally drifted into the Myriad Manifestations Star System years ago, he had sought information and encountered a cultivator from the Void Star System, who claimed to be from the Ancient Cold Realm.

Furthermore, on the Myriad Manifestations Sea, there seemed to be a Void Island.

To occupy a Spirit Island in a place like the Myriad Manifestations Sea indicated that the native powers of the Void Star System must be formidable, at least having a Sun Illumination realm expert in residence.

In such an unfamiliar place, Lu Ye naturally refrained from acting ostentatiously. He traveled alone in his starship, proceeding quietly.

According to the star map, at his current speed, he would leave the Void Star System's boundaries and enter the desolate star region in about another month.

However, even after reaching that region, he would still need to travel further to arrive at the location of the Yin-Yang Great Grinder.

While traveling, Lu Ye didn't idle. He dedicated part of his mind to refining his precious blood. He currently possessed three drops of this blood, which had numerous wondrous uses, so naturally, the more, the better.

Lu Ye could feel that, with his current strength, it was becoming increasingly difficult to condense more precious blood, which might be related to his own foundational reserves.

Still, being idle during travel was unproductive. Since he couldn't enter the azure hall within his tusk to train, refining precious blood was his only option.

The journey was peaceful. A month later, comparing his position with the star map, Lu Ye had indeed exited the Void Star System.

The star map given to him by the woman was no longer very useful at this point, as it only encompassed the Void Star System and lacked markings beyond its borders. However, having arrived here and with a general direction, Lu Ye felt it shouldn't be difficult to locate the Yin-Yang Great Grinder. After all, this stellar marvel was said to be enormous and visible from a great distance.

In fact, several days prior, Lu Ye had already sensed the desolation of the surrounding starfield. This desolation wasn't merely due to a lack of inhabitants or traces of realm existence; even the stellar energy, usually abundant in space, was noticeably thinner than in other areas.

This phenomenon became more pronounced the further he traveled.

Lu Ye subtly guessed that this was related to the Yin-Yang Great Grinder.

This stellar marvel was continuously growing slowly. As it grew, it naturally required nourishment, much like plants need water and sunlight. The growth of a stellar marvel was undoubtedly dependent on stellar energy.

The scarcity of energy was due to its absorption by the Yin-Yang Great Grinder.

Therefore, theoretically, by following these traces, Lu Ye could easily find the Yin-Yang Great Grinder.

From this perspective, the future of the Void Star System seemed grim. If the Yin-Yang Great Grinder continued to grow at this rate, it would eventually absorb the Void Star System's territory. Not only the Void Star System but all star systems near this stellar marvel would suffer unless some great power could alter the situation.

But who could stop the growth of a stellar marvel? There weren't any major problems currently, but what about thousands or tens of thousands of years from now?

This wasn't something Lu Ye needed to worry about. He had simply realized this implication. The Void Star System had Sun Illumination realm experts; it was their headache to deal with.

After entering the desolate star region, he traveled steadily for another half month.

One day, as Lu Ye was distracted, refining his precious blood, he suddenly frowned and peered ahead. His starship's speed rapidly decreased, coming to a halt.

Although there was nothing visible ahead, he had an persistent feeling that something was amiss.

He examined carefully but found no abnormalities, yet the unsettling feeling persisted.

Activating his spiritual power, intricate patterns immediately covered his eyes, enhancing his perception.

The next moment, Lu Ye's expression solidified. With the aid of the Perception Spirit紋, re-derived by the Talent Tree, he vaguely saw a colossal phantom ahead. This phantom was spherical and enveloped a vast expanse of the starfield!

A formation!

A grand formation had been laid here, and its caster possessed profound mastery in the art of formations. This was why, despite sensing an anomaly at first, he couldn't discern any details. Even now, with the Perception Spirit紋's enhancement, he couldn't grasp much about it.

He only confirmed that the vast stretch of starfield ahead was engulfed by an enigmatic grand formation.

Without a second thought, Lu Ye hastily activated his starship and turned to flee.

Regardless of what this mysterious formation was or who set it up, it was always best to keep away. He was fortunate to have detected it; otherwise, crashing into it and alerting the caster would only worsen the situation.

Anyone capable of laying such a formation would be at least a Moon Illumination realm cultivator, and not an ordinary one at that.

Yet, just as he made his move, ripples suddenly appeared in the void behind him. Immediately after, a palm print materialized out of thin air, grabbing at Lu Ye as if he were a chick.

The palm print was enormous, formed purely from magical power. Sensing the fierce fluctuations within it, Lu Ye's expression became grim, for he realized that the attacker was a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert!

Although he had killed a Sun Illumination realm expert and slain several Moon Illumination realm cultivators, those were exceptions achieved under specific circumstances and were essentially irreproducible. Neither killing a Sun Illumination expert nor slaying a Moon Illumination expert was a true reflection of his strength; each time involved a significant element of luck.

Encountering a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert so suddenly, how could Lu Ye possibly contend?

The starfield… was indeed dangerous. Even though he was no longer a novice and had roamed the stars for many years, he could still feel the powerlessness of weakness.

As the palm print descended, it blotted out the sky and covered the land. Its fierce and surging magical power fluctuations even made Lu Ye feel as if he were being crushed by a mountain.

Even his starship's trajectory showed signs of stagnation.

While a starship was much faster than a cultivator's personal flight once it gained speed, even the highest-performing starship required an acceleration period.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Lu Ye knew it was impossible to evade with his starship. He immediately retracted his spirit-boat, activated his spiritual power, and employed the Art of Skimming.

The Art of Skimming, inherited from Yan Xi, not only proved useful in combat but also offered a significant advantage in evasion, especially for the current situation.

As his body darted, he narrowly slipped through the gaps between the palm print's fingers.

"Oh?" a slightly surprised voice remarked, clearly not expecting that a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert's direct intervention would fail to immediately subdue a Star Constellation realm cultivator.

However, as the voice sounded, the grasping palm print suddenly flipped its hand.

At that very moment, Lu Ye was about to detonate his precious blood and activate the Blood Race's blood evasion technique to escape…

Although precious blood was valuable, he couldn't afford to care about it at a time like this. To get away, the Blood Race's blood evasion technique was the top priority. This escape art was extremely fast and might offer him a chance to flee this dangerous place.

However, before he could detonate it, as the palm print flipped, Lu Ye's mind also became disoriented. That palm print… seemed to genuinely possess the power to overturn heaven and earth.

In a fleeting moment of daze, Lu Ye regained his senses, but by then, it was too late to detonate his precious blood. The palm print closed, suddenly retracting, and transformed into a large net, firmly trapping him!

Lu Ye felt his spiritual power suppressed within his body, utterly unable to be activated.

His heart sank.

This was it.

With his spiritual power unable to be activated, he couldn't even use his strongest trump card, the red talisman.

The starfield… was too dangerous. A Star Constellation realm cultivator's strength was still too weak. Lu Ye felt a touch of melancholy.

He wasn't particularly panicked, however, because he hadn't sensed any killing intent from his assailant. If a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert truly intended to kill, their actions wouldn't have been like that just now.

Trapped within the net of magical power, Lu Ye was dragged towards the location where he had previously sensed the formation's cover. After only a moment, he seemed to crash into an invisible barrier.

His vision cleared, and the surrounding scenery was completely different from what he had just seen.

However, before Lu Ye could fully observe, he was dragged to a specific spot, and the magical power net binding him vanished. Lu Ye dared not make any rash moves, for an extremely powerful divine sense had locked onto him.

He looked up and saw a grim-faced old man standing nearby, staring coldly at him. The man had white hair and wore a dark robe, appearing unremarkable, but the power fluctuations emanating from him undoubtedly displayed his formidable strength as a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert.

This old man was undoubtedly the one who had attacked Lu Ye moments ago.

There were several other figures around the old man, but what made Lu Ye subtly frown was their complex identities: there were humans like himself, Flame Clan members engulfed in fire, Demonic Clan members shrouded in demonic energy, and even a giant ten zhang tall.

Lu Ye even spotted members of the Insectoid Race among them.

This combination was undoubtedly strange. Glancing around at the environment again, Lu Ye's heart jolted as he realized who he had encountered.

A star pirate group!

These were organizations specializing in pillaging and robbing across the starfield, even raiding entire realms, operating lawlessly and committing all manner of evil deeds.

In the Myriad Manifestations Star System, rudimentary forms of star pirate groups already existed. These individuals gathered in small groups to commit robberies, but due to environmental constraints, their gatherings were minor, making them merely embryonic. They dared not openly display their banners and always acted stealthily.

However, in the true expanse of the starfield, such pirate groups ran rampant.

Generally, the members of star pirate groups had extremely diverse backgrounds and were typically individuals who committed all kinds of atrocities. Aside from star pirate groups, Lu Ye found it hard to believe any other organization could have such a complex composition.

He had actually encountered a star pirate group and been captured by them!

If they had continued to bind him with that net of magical power, Lu Ye truly would have been helpless to resist. However, seeing his seemingly low strength, the opponents had clearly become somewhat complacent. At this moment, he could activate his red talisman.

But activating the red talisman would have tell-tale signs. Against a late-stage Moon Illumination realm expert, Lu Ye wasn't confident of a one-hit kill.

Star pirates were known for their brutal methods. Why had they only captured him and not killed him?

Furthermore, what were these star pirates doing out here, and why had they overtly set up such a massive formation to conceal a vast area of space? Many questions raced through Lu Ye's mind, but at this moment, he only wanted to find a way to escape this place quickly.

(End of Chapter)