The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1196: Umbral Starreach Sector, Dangers of Void Travel

Emprean Oceanheart waved her hand, and a planetary-sized, vast blue starship appeared in the void, summoned from her storage space.

This starship was called the Azure Wanderer, an Empyrean-grade True Divinity-rank Magical Artifact, capable of travel, defense, and offense. Of course, it contained a vast realm within, providing various facilities to sustain and accommodate life during long travel periods.

"Be prepared. We may face unexpected dangers during this trip to the Grand Unity Human Clan," Empyrean Oceanheart warned.

Indeed, given Vaan’s infinitely close fated death, it was impossible to avoid dangers.

Moreover, the vast and boundless void was originally unkind to life, to begin with. Various dangers lurked within its darkness, with some void regions being capable of threatening even True Divinities.

It was for that reason that even a mighty figure such as Empyrean Oceanheart would use an Empyrean-grade True Divinity-rank Magical Artifact to travel the cruel void.

"We’ll face dangers, even with your protection, Empyrean Oceanheart?" Vaan casually asked.

"Naturally." Empyrean Oceanheart calmly nodded and said, "Our destination lies in the Umbral Starreach Sector. Although we can take the Water Rift Network to leave the Eternal Darkheaven Sector and reach it, we will still have to cross a vast region of void to reach the Grand Unity Human Clan."

"Generally, such vast regions of the void throughout Chaos possess all sorts of dangers, more commonly in the form of Void Beasts."

"However, certain environment dangers and anomalies also exist, some are even capable of threatening True Divinities. As such, crossing the void has never been absolutely free of risk for anyone, whether you are a True Divinity or not."

"The void has never been kind to life, let alone such a vast territory of ungoverned space. If we encounter any problems, it will likely happen in this void region," Empyrean Oceanheart stated.

"If we truly encounter any True Divinity-level dangers, we won’t be able to do anything, even if we were prepared or not. We can only rely on you to ferry us through, Empyrean Oceanheart."

Vaan lightly smiled.

With someone mighty like Empyrean Oceanheart as their guardian, Vaan and Seraphina would be able to avoid most dangers. They simply needed to stay put within the safety of the Azure Wanderer and leave everything else to Empyrean Oceanheart.

"Mm." Empyrean Oceanheart calmly nodded before smiling. "I’m just letting you know, so you won’t feel surprised when the time comes."

However, her expression quickly turned stern before adding, "Still, this trip will likely be even more dangerous than usual, given your previous divination results."

"Right." Vaan nodded.

It could be said that Empyrean Oceanheart’s intention to send Vaan to the Grand Unity Human Clan wasn’t completely selfless and pure.

In fact, she wanted to send Vaan away to avoid the Myriad Sea God Palace falling into ruin with him.

However, it was also true that only by going to the Grand Unity Human Clan would Vaan have a better chance at overcoming his fated death. Of course, there was also the risk of encountering his fated death on the way.

Still, compared to staying in the Myriad Sea God Palace and awaiting a slow but certain death, it was better to fight for the slim chance to overcome his fate.

Inside the Azure Wanderer’s bridge, Empyrean Oceanheart summoned up a star chart, outlining the route to their destination.

"This is our Eternal Darkheaven Sector, home to four Empyrean-level Holy Lands, and is also the ancestral home of the Dark Fae God Clan, who rules over the entire Darkheaven Chaosverse it is situated in." ꞦаɴꝊꞖĚŞ

"Our destination, the Umbral Starreach Sector, is also within the Darkheaven Chaosverse, neighbouring our Eternal Darkheaven Sector."

"However, an extremely vast and boundless void region exists. Naturally, we can also cross this great void to reach the Grand Unity Human Clan, but the extreme energy cost usually makes it not worthwhile."

"Moreover, this great void region contains even more unpredictable dangers, such as Void Fractures. These Void Fractures can appear anywhere at anytime in the great void regions, and absolutely must be avoided, even for True Divinities."

"That’s how dangerous Void Fractures can be, and also why it’s better to use the Water Rift Network to leap-jump into the Umbral Starreach Sector instead," Empyrean Oceanheart strictly said.

Speaking of Void Fractures, even she felt some dread despite her Empyrean Cultivation.

"Why do these Void Fractures randomly appear?" Vaan asked curiously with interest.

"Naturally, that has to do with Law Users throughout the cosmos," Empyrean Oceanheart casually answered before adding, "The universal laws govern the world, and comprehending the laws allows us to wield some of their powers."

"Did you think unrestricted usage of Law Powers would have no consequences?" Empyrean Oceanheart asked.

"I see." Vaan quickly understood and said, "Excessive use of the laws interferes with heavenly operations."

The great void regions were the weakest points in the heavenly laws’ governance. Thus, any deficiencies in Law Power for heavenly operations would lead to heavenly collapse, which would ultimately create Void Fractures.

Furthermore, since the appearance of Void Fractures couldn’t be predicted, traveling through the great void regions at high speeds would naturally increase the risk of colliding with one.

"The Void Fractures are incredibly sharp, enough to slice through True Divinity. Moreover, Nihility Power also leaks from these Void Fractures. As such, traveling through the great void regions at high speeds is tantamount to suicide," Empyrean Oceanheart said.

"Denizens of Chaos are granted the gift of eternal life at the Divine rank, but laws become progressively difficult to comprehend. I suppose this is a fair price for eternity."

When Vaan heard this comment, he couldn’t help but mentally add that the cultivation power was also reduced compared to the Primal Chaos Era. Otherwise, his Astral God Divine Body wouldn’t possess the strength of Divine Knights at the Divine Warrior level after breaking free from the heavenly shackles.

That said, it was also fortunate that Chaos was capable of self-repairing these Void Fractures.

Otherwise, Chaos would have ceased to exist long ago.

"If we follow the Water Rift Network, we will arrive here, in the Star River Realm, which brings us this close to the Grand Unity Human Clan."

Empyrean Oceanheart directed Vaan’s attention to a point that was situated just outside of the Grand Unity Human Clan’s own version of the Dark Horizon, called the Umbral Edge.

Just like the Dark Horizon, the Umbral Edge was a nebula-like ring of dark clouds, filled with exotic matter, oddities, and strange lifeforms, an abundance of opportunities and dangers so deeply intertwined that they couldn’t be separated from one another.

However, unlike Dark Horizon’s round ring formation, Umbral Edge’s formation was sharper, like a diamond.

More surprising was the Grand Unity Human Clan itself.

This Empyrean-level Holy Land was noticeably darker than the Myriad Sea God Palace, or any galaxy formation for that matter. The number of stars within its multi-layered ring orbit was hardly close to the number of planets invested to achieve its unprecedented planetary scale.

As a result, the Grand Unity Human Clan was rather dimly lit in the cosmos compared to other major celestial bodies. Evidently, an incredibly large number of stars were missing, destroyed, or consumed during the formation of the Empyrean-level Holy Land.

Vaan suspected that a fraction of the stars had been used to lay the foundations of the Empyrean-level Holy Land, allowing it to possess its immensely powerful gravity to keep itself whole and operational.

In essence, the incredible marvel of the Holy Land was simultaneously a life planet and a star.

The Grand Unity Human Clan might not be brightly illuminating the dark cosmos like other places, but it possessed its own majesty, beauty, and charm. Anyone who lays eyes on it would feel it’s a land of endless opportunity and potential.

"The Umbral Edge has multiple clear void paths passing through it. Since we are located here, we will take the Southern Pass to reach the Grand Unity Human Clan. Besides the local dangers of this star region, our greatest concern should be the dangers from the Southern Pass."

As Empyrean Oceanheart explained their travel path, she couldn’t predict how the dangers in the Southern Pass would evolve base on Vaan’s fated death.

Even so, she believed the Southern Pass was their greatest concern due to the unpredictable nature of the Umbral Edge. After all, they were not familiar with it.

That said, even if it was the Dark Horizon, they would still have to treat it with absolute caution.

"I will grant you and Seraphina control of the Azure Wanderer. Should we face a threat beyond our means during this journey, I want you to take the Azure Wanderer and continue without me."

"I will do my best to delay the threat and create an opening for your escape. Of course, this is just a precaution. There’s no need to give me such looks."

"Let’s hope such a time doesn’t come."

Empyrean Oceanheart smiled lightheartedly as she expressed her determination to sacrifice herself for their safety.

Seraphina’s heart trembled. She certainly didn’t wish for such a time to come.