Under the manipulation of True Monarch Tian Hua, the speed of the starship gradually increased. In the initial stage, it was very slow, not even as fast as ordinary Golden Core realm cultivators in flight.
As time passed, the starship's speed continuously climbed, reaching one-tenth the speed of light.
One-eighth the speed of light.
One-fifth the speed of light.
One-third the speed of light.
When traveling by starship, the acceleration phase is the most time-consuming part of interstellar travel, as the starship must reach near-light speed to meet the conditions for spatial jumps.
After nearly a day of acceleration, the starship overcame resistance and finally met the conditions for a spatial jump.
"We're about to perform the spatial jump."
Only when the speed reached near-light speed did True Monarch Tian Hua begin to fill the spatial stones, preparing for the spatial jump.
Everyone's vision blurred, countless stars flashed by like streaks of light. With a low hum resonating in their minds, the surrounding space plunged into an endless darkness, where even divine senses could not detect any matter.
An instant later, their vision returned to normal. The starship was flying through space.
"How does it feel?"
Zhang Fan looked down at Qin Luoshui beside him and asked.
"It's a magical feeling, as if a long time has passed, yet it felt like only an instant. It's a bit like the feeling of weightlessness when bungee jumping in high school," Qin Luoshui replied.
"En."
Zhang Fan nodded. "Although it was only an instant, that spatial jump has allowed us to traverse a distance of over a hundred light-years."
"A hundred light-years?"
Qin Luoshui, Lin Haotian, and the others were all incredulous. Places that light takes a hundred years to reach were traversed by them in an instant with this starship.
"Don't be surprised. The vastness of the universe far exceeds your imagination. This starship is merely a rudimentary form of interstellar transport. Without the assistance of stellar teleportation arrays, it would take two to three years to fly out of this Milky Way alone using just the starship," Zhang Fan explained.
After a spatial jump, the starship's speed becomes very slow. To perform another spatial jump, its speed must be increased again.
Therefore, when using the starship for travel, the most time wasted is in acceleration.
With the first jump behind them, everyone became much more accustomed to subsequent spatial jumps. What they initially thought would be an interesting journey through the stars only lasted for less than a week. They soon realized how monotonous it was, constantly accelerating and jumping, with only cultivation to pass the time.
Zhang Fan had already cultivated two top-grade Golden Cores, so he would not encounter any bottlenecks in his cultivation for a considerable period, allowing him to cultivate all the way to the peak of the Golden Core realm.
As for the Myriad Domain God Body he cultivated, it had also reached the minor accomplishment stage of the divine body, but only the early stage of minor accomplishment. The great accomplishment stage was still an immensely distant goal.
Therefore, Zhang Fan planned to use the next few years of travel to first improve his qi cultivation to the peak of the Golden Core realm. His combat power would at least increase by a major level.
As everyone entered a state of cultivation, the starship fell silent, with only the occasional soft sound of qi circulation and breathing audible.
Unbeknownst to them, as they advanced, they were also steadily approaching danger.
In the fourth month of entering space, through continuous spatial jumps, Zhang Fan and his group were now over ten thousand light-years away from Earth. 138 Reading Network.
Boom!
A scorching black flame appeared out of nowhere, suddenly engulfing the starship. The starship, which was in the acceleration phase, rapidly decreased in speed and shook violently. Everyone who was cultivating was startled awake.
"What's wrong?" Xue Jing stood up and looked outside the starship. All he could see was an endless expanse of flames, and nothing else.
"We've been targeted," Zhang Fan's immense divine sense spread out, detecting several powerful auras. There were human cultivators, as well as powerful demons.
"Everyone be careful and prepare for battle."
Zhang Fan led everyone out of the starship, casually collecting it into his Star Phenomenon Space. Simultaneously, the power of his triple domain surged out, dispersing the endless flames.
In the distant starscape, a hawk-nosed middle-aged man stood, his eyes cold and sharp like a falcon's as he fixed his gaze on Zhang Fan and his group.
On either side of the middle-aged man stood nearly ten Golden Core realm cultivators, both human and demon.
"Who is he?"
Xue Jing glanced at True Monarch Tian Hua beside him and asked.
He could feel the powerful threat emanating from the middle-aged man in the center. With his current strength, only someone who had survived the second Nascent Soul tribulation could pose such a threat.
True Monarch Tian Hua shook his head, a hint of doubt in his eyes. He could also sense the middle-aged man's power. Logically, he should have known of such a powerful individual, even if he had not met him.
However, in reality, he knew nothing.
Despite the opponent's power, they were not overly worried, as they had all witnessed Zhang Fan's terrifying speed. Even if they couldn't win, they could still choose to escape.
"Hahaha, isn't this that genius array master, True Monarch Tian Hua? I thought you had perished in the land of opportunity. Now it seems you have surrendered to the natives of the land of opportunity?"
"Oh, so you've already broken through to the Nascent Soul realm. No wonder you survived."
The Black Flame King looked at Zhang Fan's group, and seeing that True Monarch Tian Hua was still alive, he showed a hint of surprise.
"It seems they are not here with good intentions!"
Hearing the cold middle-aged man's words, everyone understood. The opponent was targeting the land of opportunity. The information he had about it also revealed that some of the cultivators who fled from Earth's outer space had fallen into his hands.
After all, cultivators from the Wu Shan Star Domain would not be so fast. This person might have been lurking outside the Wu Shan Star Domain and, upon noticing the disappearance of the formation blocking Nascent Soul cultivators from entering the Milky Way, had entered the galaxy.
This coincided with the time when those fleeing from Earth's outer space made their escape.
"Who are you?"
Zhang Fan stared at the leading middle-aged man and asked.
Only when Zhang Fan spoke did the Black Flame King turn his attention to him. Seeing that he was merely a Golden Core realm cultivator, yet standing before two Nascent Soul cultivators, a hint of curiosity arose within him.
"It seems you have obtained the opportunities. I wonder what True Immortal Zi Wu left behind in the land of opportunity? Can you tell me?" the middle-aged man asked politely.
"No," Zhang Fan gave him a knowing smile and replied concisely.
The human and demon cultivators standing beside the Black Flame King were stunned. They cast looks of pity towards Zhang Fan. Such a mere Golden Core realm cultivator dared to defy their great Black Flame King. They had to admit, he was very bold.
However, they could also imagine that this group would all suffer a tragic fate because of this single sentence from the Golden Core realm cultivator.
...