They walked on the gray path in utter darkness for a long time.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared in front of them.
Amidst the empty space, there was a huge altar floating in the nothingness.
"Climb onto it,"
the beast instructed Austin and the twelve zodiac animals as it stepped onto the altar.
Austin and the zodiac animals followed suit and stepped onto the altar as well.
The moment all of them were standing on the altar, it trembled.
With great force, a space passage appeared and teleported everyone on the altar away.
When the space passage spat everyone out and vanished into thin air, Austin gasped.
There was a shocking scene in front of him.
They were in a boundless void that was densely packed with broken worlds, continents, universes, and
stars. Fragments of all these things were floating around aimlessly, littering the void like dust particles.
And yet, all the colors and shapes looked oddly beautiful together, like a masterpiece. The sight took
Austin's breath away.
Staring into the distance, he tried to perceive what was out there with his spiritual sense.
No matter how far he looked with his spiritual sense, he was met with the same sight.
Standing in the middle of these numerous broken worlds, continents, universes, and stars, Austin
suddenly felt very insignificant, like a grain of sand on the beach.
"This is the Absolute Space Sea!"
the twelve zodiac animals said excitedly at the same time.
It seemed that they knew what this place was.
"That's right.
This is the Absolute Space Sea.
It's the final home of all the chaotic spaces, universe communities, worlds, universes, continents, and
stars,"
the beast explained with a nod.
"Recently, there has been a powerful spiritual sense perceiving the Sea of Chaos from here.
That's what caused the disturbance.
We suspect that there's a powerful creature that is interested in the Sea of Chaos,"
the beast continued.
Upon hearing this, the twelve zodiac animals shuddered involuntarily and their faces paled.
They seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation right away.
"Are you serious?" they asked in unison.
"Yes.
It seems that the Sea of Chaos is being targeted,"
the beast confirmed with a solemn expression.
"Let's go, Austin.
We shouldn't stay here any longer,"
the twelve zodiac animals immediately told Austin in a panicked tone.
"Okay."
Although Austin was brimming with questions, he agreed right away after seeing the frightened state
that the zodiac animals were in. Above all, he trusted their instincts. If the zodiac animals thought that
this was a dangerous place to stay in, they must be right.
"Let's go back.
The Absolute Space Sea is too dangerous for you,"
the beast remarked.
Then, it stretched out its claws and drew a circle in the air, causing an altar to materialize in front of
them.
Once they all stepped onto the altar, they were once again teleported through a space passage back to
where they came from.
More than ten days had passed by the time they returned to the palace.
The moment they set their feet back on solid ground, they all felt safer.
When they walked out of the palace gates, they found the other beast still standing guard there.
"Thank you, sir."
Austin bowed to the beast respectfully.
Then, he straightened up and looked at it with a curious gaze. "By the way, how are my nine friends
doing?"
He wanted to know where the gnome and the Eight Stone Saints were.
"They are fine.
They have been cultivating all these years.
I don't want you to disturb them.
However, I can show them to you."
As soon as the beast finished speaking, a window into an enormous universe bursting with energy was
slowly projected in the space in front of it.
Through that window, Austin could see the gnome and the Eight Stone Saints.
A few of them were cultivating in seclusion, a few others were practicing secret techniques, and the
rest were battling powerful beasts. However, they all had one thing in common.
"They are all genuine divine gods!"
Austin said, extremely pleased by this discovery. He could sense an overpowering amount of strength
from the gnome and the Eight Stone Saints.
When the nine of them had first entered the Divine Tomb to train, they had only been at the Divine
Realm.
Now, in just a few years, all of them had become genuine divine gods.
Their cultivation speed was impressive, even for Austin.
While he stood there in shock, voices began to echo from the window to the enormous universe.
The gnome and the Eight Stone Saints seemed to have sensed Austin looking at them.
They all raised their heads and looked in his direction even though they couldn't see him.
"Is that you, Austin?"
Asa asked aloud.
"I feel your aura, Austin!"
the other Stone Saints also cried out in surprise.
"Austin, it's amazing that you found us here.
We are in a supreme universe. The last few years have been amazing,"
the gnome said, looking up at the distant space.
"A supreme universe?!"
Austin was taken aback.
Although he had sensed that the universe they were in was filled with much more energy than most
universes, he hadn't expected it to be a supreme universe. It was truly an honor to enter one.
He had just wanted to know if the nine of them were okay, but now, he was truly content with how well
they had been taken care of.
"Thank you for guiding them,"
he said gratefully, turning to the two beasts.
He didn't know why they had chosen the gnome and the Eight Stone Saints and sent them to cultivate
in a supreme universe.
But whatever the reason was, it was a great opportunity for them.
All of a sudden, a booming voice rang out. "Who on earth tore this gap in space?
You two don't have the ability to do that!"
It was the sky-devouring dog, staring at the gates of the palace.
"We didn't tear it.
It's complicated and we can't tell you more about it,"
one of the beasts answered.
The sky-devouring dog merely snorted in response.
"Well, now that you've finished what you came here for, you should leave,"
one of the beasts said.
"Let's go."
The sky-devouring dog took the lead and walked out of the Divine Tomb, followed by the other zodiac
animals.
However, Austin lingered behind.
With a cheerful smile, he bid a proper goodbye to the two beasts.
He was very grateful to them for giving the gnome and the Eight Stone Saints such a great opportunity.
It was far beyond what he had expected for his nine friends.
Right before he turned to leave, one of the beasts spoke up, as if reading his mind.
"Don't worry. It is our duty to guard these gates.
We are not interested in anything else in this chaotic space."
"Understood." Austin believed their words wholeheartedly.
After saying that, he used his bodily movement skill to catch up with the twelve zodiac animals.
Watching his receding figure, the two beasts at the gates spoke to each other. "If he had come earlier, I
might have chosen him.
He is very talented,"
one of them said.
"Unfortunately, he has already been chosen by a god of chaos.
We're not lucky enough to have him with us,"
the other beast replied with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Austin and the twelve zodiac animals exited the Divine Tomb.
"Sirs, what's the Absolute Space Sea?"
Austin finally asked the question that had been weighing down on him for the past few days.
"Let me put it this way. The Sea of Chaos is a chaotic space.
The space outside it is known as the Absolute Space Sea, or the ultimate space.
It is the highest level of space and the end of all spaces.
All the chaotic spaces are born in the Absolute Space Sea, and in the end, that's where they perish.
In a word, the Absolute Space Sea is the beginning and the end of all spaces,"
the sky-devouring dog explained.
"The ultimate space, the highest level of space, the end of all spaces..."
Austin murmured to himself in shock as he tried to digest this new information.
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