The tear above the altar began to stabilise.
What had initially been nothing more than a chaotic distortion in space gradually became a passage, its edges no longer violently twisting and collapsing as the formation continued to circulate beneath it. The purple-black rock embedded within the centre of the altar pulsed faintly, its strange radiance spreading through the intricate runes carved into the stone, while the Spirit Jades surrounding the altar continuously dimmed as their spiritual energy was drawn into the formation.
Lou Feng stood several steps away, staring at the scene with unconcealed astonishment.
With every passing breath, the distortion became clearer.
At first, he could only see darkness beyond the tear, but as the spatial fluctuations settled, faint images began appearing within it. Mountains, clouds, and an indistinct stretch of land seemed to exist on the other side, separated from them by an immeasurable distance yet somehow visible through the opening.
It was almost like looking through a doorway.
Except this was not a doorway connecting two rooms.
It was a passage through space itself.
Lou Feng's eyes widened.
"Master, is that the other side?"
Lin Sheng nodded.
"Yes."
His gaze, however, was not focused on what lay beyond the passage.
Instead, his eyes remained fixed upon the surrounding void.
There was something else he was concerned about.
The Void Entity.
His experience the first time he had travelled through the spatial passage had left a deep impression on him. At that time, he had barely possessed enough strength to protect himself, and when the strange creature emerged from the darkness of the passage, he had been forced to flee for his life.
Back then, he had wondered whether that encounter was simply bad luck.
Now, with his understanding of the world considerably deeper, Lin Sheng knew that the matter was not quite so simple.
Void Entities did not attack travellers without reason.
They generally remained hidden within the endless darkness between worlds, only becoming active when a spatial tear was sufficiently unstable, when the passage itself produced fluctuations capable of attracting them, or when the travellers passing through were weak enough to be treated as prey.
There was another important point.
Rank 4 experts did not normally encounter attacks from Void Entities.
Lin Sheng's strength had already far surpassed what it had been when he first travelled through the passage, and his physical body was now powerful enough to withstand spatial pressure that would have crushed ordinary cultivators into blood mist.
Even if a Void Entity appeared, he was no longer the helpless traveller he had once been.
Still, Lin Sheng did not become careless.
The void was too vast, and there were too many things he still did not understand.
He glanced at Lou Feng.
"Once we enter, don't be alarmed by anything you see."
Lou Feng immediately became serious.
"Is there danger?"
"There can be," Lin Sheng replied calmly, "but you don't need to worry about it. Stay close to me, and don't attempt to move away from my protection regardless of what happens."
Lou Feng nodded firmly.
"Understood, Master."
Lin Sheng looked towards the passage once more.
The spatial tear had now completely stabilised.
The opening stretched several metres across, its surface rippling like water disturbed by an invisible breeze, except that there was no water behind it. There was only the endless profundity of space, filled with countless tiny points of light.
Lin Sheng stepped forward.
The moment his foot entered the passage, the world changed.
There was no sensation of walking.
There was no sensation of falling either.
Instead, his entire body suddenly became weightless, as though every force that normally existed within the world had disappeared at once.
Lin Sheng's expression remained calm.
This feeling was familiar.
He allowed his body to naturally adapt to the strange environment, his physical strength stabilising his entire form almost instinctively. The surrounding spatial pressure pressed against his body from every direction, but his Golden Body merely released a faint invisible force before the pressure was completely neutralised.
Lou Feng entered behind him.
He felt nothing.
The moment he crossed the boundary, the spatial pressure that should have crushed his body was completely blocked by Lin Sheng's protective force. His feet left the ground, yet he did not experience the slightest discomfort.
Then he looked around.
His mouth slowly opened.
"Master..."
Even Lin Sheng could hear the awe in his voice.
The spatial passage was beautiful.
It was an endless expanse of darkness, but it was not truly dark. Countless tiny lights surrounded them from every direction, some no larger than grains of sand, others resembling distant stars, flickering constantly as they moved through the passage.
Every time a moment passed, countless points of light flashed.
Some disappeared immediately, some stretched into thin lines before vanishing, while others suddenly appeared much closer before being swallowed by the darkness again.
It was as though they were travelling through a river of stars.
There was no sky.
There was no earth.
There was no distinction between above and below.
Then something even stranger happened.
The two of them began moving downward.
Lou Feng instinctively looked beneath his feet.
There was nothing.
His body continued descending, yet after only a few breaths he realised that something was wrong.
They were not actually falling.
Their perception of direction itself had been reversed.
What had once been down had become up.
The spatial passage had no fixed orientation, and the laws governing direction were completely different from those of the Martial Continent.
Lou Feng turned his head repeatedly, staring at the countless flashing lights surrounding them, his expression filled with fascination.
He had never imagined that travelling through space would be like this.
"This is..."
He struggled to find the words.
Lin Sheng glanced at him and smiled faintly.
"Just watch."
Lou Feng immediately quietened.
He had no intention of wasting such an opportunity.
For the next several minutes, he simply stared.
The tiny lights continued flashing around them, sometimes moving rapidly, sometimes remaining completely still despite the sensation that they were falling at an incredible speed. Occasionally, a faint ripple would spread across the darkness, causing thousands of lights to distort simultaneously.
Lou Feng's eyes followed every change.
He was fascinated by everything.
To an ordinary cultivator, such a journey might have been terrifying, but to someone like Lou Feng, who had spent most of his life within the Martial Continent and had only recently begun stepping into the wider world, witnessing the void between worlds was almost like being allowed to peek behind the curtain of heaven and earth.
Lin Sheng did not disturb him.
His attention was divided between Lou Feng and the passage itself.
Although he appeared relaxed, his mental strength had already spread throughout the surrounding space.
He was not worried about the journey itself.
When he had first arrived on the Martial Continent nearly nine years ago, he had spent several months repeatedly checking the altar on the other side of the formation.
At that time, his understanding of spatial formations had still been limited, and his mental strength had not yet reached the level it possessed today. He had therefore needed to carefully examine every rune, every formation node, every spiritual-energy circulation path, repeatedly crosschecking the arrangement before making corrections.
One mistake could have caused the spatial passage to collapse.
Worse, the passage could have opened somewhere other than the intended destination.
But now things were different.
His mental strength had already transformed into something akin to a domain.
Within the range of his perception, the intricate formation was no longer as mysterious as it once had been. He could examine the countless connections within it almost simultaneously, identify problems in the circulation of spiritual energy, determine whether a rune had weakened, and correct most flaws before they could develop into serious problems.
Ninety-five percent of the potential problems within the formation could now be solved by him directly.
That was enough.
The remaining uncertainty was largely dependent upon factors outside the formation itself.
For example, changes in the spatial environment, interference from the void, or alterations occurring naturally over nearly nine years.
Still, Lin Sheng was not particularly worried.
He had personally reinforced the formation before leaving.
More importantly, the altar had remained connected to this passage for years, and the spatial coordinates had already been established.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, they would arrive safely.
The journey continued.
One hour passed.
Then another.
Lou Feng remained fascinated.
He occasionally looked towards Lin Sheng, seemingly wanting to ask something, but each time he saw his master quietly observing the surroundings, he restrained himself.
Lin Sheng noticed this but said nothing.
Instead, he watched Lou Feng.
A strange feeling suddenly emerged within his heart.
Deja vu.
The sight of Lou Feng staring at the endless void reminded him of himself.
The difference was that Lou Feng was enjoying the journey.
Lin Sheng had not been so fortunate.
The first time he travelled through this passage, he had been running for his life.
He remembered the oppressive darkness, the terrifying Void Entity, the desperate struggle to survive, the feeling of being hunted through a place where he could not even distinguish which direction he was fleeing towards.
At that time, returning home had been nothing more than an extravagant hope.
Now, nearly nine years later, he was travelling through the same passage again.
Except this time, he was no longer weak.
He had crossed countless thresholds, stepped into realms he had once only imagined, forged his body to an extraordinary level, and accumulated strength sufficient to face dangers that would have forced him to flee in the past.
And now he was finally going home.
Lin Sheng's gaze softened slightly.
How much had the Eastern Region changed?
Countless experts who had previously concealed themselves had been revealed, and the appearance of the golden runes scattered throughout the world had created opportunities that could not be measured simply by ordinary cultivation resources.
Those golden runes had appeared everywhere.
Some had undoubtedly been discovered.
Some might have been obtained by powerful martial artists.
Others might have fallen into the hands of sects, dynasties, noble families, or even people who had no idea what they possessed.
Lin Sheng wondered what kind of changes they had brought about.
Had old experts broken through?
Had new geniuses emerged?
Had ancient inheritances resurfaced?
Had the various great forces begun fighting over the opportunities created by the celestial phenomenon?
Lin Sheng looked ahead.
The countless lights continued flashing around them as they descended through the endless spatial passage, Lou Feng still staring at the strange brilliance with undisguised wonder.
Three hours passed in this manner.
Then, for the first time since entering the passage, Lin Sheng sensed something different.
A faint fluctuation appeared ahead.
His eyes narrowed.
The spatial pressure around them began to change.
The endless darkness in front of them seemed to become thinner, and beyond it, a vague radiance gradually appeared.
The other side was approaching.
Lin Sheng's expression remained calm, but deep within his heart, a thought quietly surfaced.
He was almost home.