Several weeks later, Bai Lufeng started to pilot the skyship through the vast expanse of dark space. As he did, his eyes revealed a rare calmness. The empty space and dim lighting felt soothing to him. There was no one around to be seen or heard. This feeling was cathartic. It made him take the helm and the major role of pilot.
Just him and the endless space.
"The Elysian Realm…" Bai Lufeng muttered. The Elysian Realm wasn't a neighboring realm of the Xiantu Emperor, it was actually a little further than that by several decades of standard travel.
In the Elysian Realm, there was a rumor about a unique location. This location connected to hell, the realm of all souls, and as long as you're willing to pay a price, you can talk to the dead. Many would travel far and wide to arrive there. And, unlike Xiantu Realm, it was a fifth-level heavenly-tier force.
After hearing about this, Yan Zaizen decisively decided that it'll be his first location. Tao and Bai Lufeng also wanted to check out the rumor. Imagine, a location that allowed you to talk to the dead. Who wouldn't wish to travel there?
However, they'll still need to pass the Deluge Realm. It was rumored to house all sorts of unique beasts and even different human races. When Yan Zaizen learned about this, he was shocked. Humans were classified as a large, large group of varied species in a similar way beasts were.
There were humans who were born with wings, third eyes, gills, and even four or six arms! Shockingly, they weren't beasts or hybrids but variants of humans. The difference between a beast and human, despite both being able to take the form of the other, had to do with their internal systems.
Divine beasts had different types of hearts, lungs, brains, and different species within its classification. They even had different digestive systems. Humans were similar and could easily be differentiated. Humans synonymously share core traits while beasts do as well in their race line.
For example, a humanoid race with wings would be the same internally as any other humanoid race, classified as the same species. A divine beast bird would have wings, but their traits would only be shared with other birds. A divine beast serpent would be fundamentally different, yet still classified as a beast.
The only true similarity amongst races of humans and beasts were distinguishable auras. With this, you can tell if someone is a beast or a human regardless of race.
This characteristic is why hybrids were different. They have the aura and bloodline of beasts and humans, capable of cultivating both paths.
Yan Zaizen was quite excited to see other races of humans. He recalled how the female cultivators of his race were lackluster in the Essence Path, he wondered if other races have similar peculiarities or restrictions.
Bai Lufeng was quietly looking at the dim, dark space, traveling according to a compass set to the Deluge Realm.
"Hm?" His eyes caught glimpse of movement. Spreading his senses outward, he discovered nothing. It was still only dim, dark and empty space ahead. Several minutes later.
Swoosh!
A faint swooshing sound resounded. It felt remarkably close. Bai Lufeng's ears perked and his eyes widened in an attempt to visually see what that was. He spread his sense out the furthest he could but discovered nothing in the empty space.
"What…?" Bewildered, he decided not to take chances like before. He called Tao. Tao arrived with a solemn gaze, looking outwards from the helm, his senses spread outwards. However, he found nothing as well. He was about to dismiss Bai Lufeng's belief and return to cultivating.
Wait.
He turned to the left to see a skyship soaring in the distance. From where he was located, it was like a small dot of light in the vast darkness. It seemed to be of a lower quality than the Heretical Lightning Skyship, but it was traveling at full speed.
Before long, three more lights that were moving faster appeared. They seem to be chasing after the skyship in front. As if noticing them, the fleeing skyship suddenly shifted directions, coming towards the Heretical Lightning Skyship.
When Tao and Bai Lufeng noticed this, their expressions darkened. They pondered whether they should inform Yan Zaizen or not, by the speed difference and distance, it's unlikely the fleeing skyship will arrive where they were before the chasing skyships catch up.
Bai Lufeng quivered for some odd reason. At the corner of his eye, he could've sworn that a shadow passed by. He recalled memories of debating to inform Yan Zaizen or not before. This lead to his capture and subsequent torture.
Immediately, Bai Lufeng transmitted a message to Yan Zaizen. Several seconds later, he arrived with a sleepy and lazy look on his face. Looking outwards, he could see the lights in the distance.
"Young Lord, what should w-"
Suddenly, Yan Zaizen's eyes widened in absolute shock. "STOP!!!" He shouted loudly, causing Bai Lufeng and Tao to jump in fright. Tao took the helm and immediately ceased movement with zero hesitation. Bai Lufeng barely got out of his fright before Tao took action. He, however, didn't feel embarrassed at his startled response. After all, it was too sudden.
"How...do they not see this?!" Yan Zaizen was shocked as he asked himself. In his vision, the dim, dark space wasn't dim. Instead, there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of planet-sized fat, purplish creatures illuminating a faint light.
They were like puffballs, hairs as thick as trees, and teeth as large as mountains. They didn't have eyes, only a single mouth with thin, crusty lips. They were truly spherical in shape, but shockingly, they were moving at insane speeds despite their vast sizes.
They were circling around both the Heretical Lightning Skyship and the other skyships like children at a playground. They bobbed up and down, weaved left and right, and avoided touching the light like they were playing a game. If it wasn't for Yan Zaizen eyes being particularly special, all he would see was tree thick hair.
Yan Zaizan was shocked in fright, but his eyes revealed a trace of calmness. He had the faint feeling that these creatures could kill even the current him. He swallowed a wad of saliva and looked at the approaching ships.
"What the fu-?!" Pinaka was aghast. Despite having lived for a very long time and traveled the vast realms, this was the first time she saw these creatures. It was only because she saw them through Yan Zaizen's eyes. However, her or Yan Zaizen's spiritual sense couldn't detect them.
After some close inspection, Yan Zaizen came to the conclusion that these creatures didn't have mass or matter. They were like ghosts the size of freaking planets. The only reason he could see them likely had to do with the soul-based regalia refined into his brain. Pinaka could only see them because she was connected to Yan Zaizen's senses.
"What is it?" Tao asked, curious if someone they knew was on the skyships. However, Yan Zaizen didn't even respond. Instead, he looked to the left and right in curiosity. Those planets were just hovering and floating around the skyships. They didn't attack and would actively avoid coming into contact with them.
"Wait…" Yan Zaizen saw something abnormal in the distance. There was a purplish mouth-ball that was stationary. The rest were in constant motion, but this one stood still. It also had a faint redness to it as well as being dozens of times smaller. Its mouth was closed, looking just like a hairy ball with thin lips.
This abnormal ball was located fairly close to the skyships coming their way. Yan Zaizen noted that they wouldn't come into contact with it. However, his instincts told him something would happen.
Just like he imagined, the skyships were hundreds of thousands of il away, but the moment they broke past it, a faint swooshing sound resounded. He trembled slightly at this sound.
Bai Lufeng abruptly said, "That sound, I heard it before..." When he said this, Yan Zaizen looked at him with curiosity. Just as he was about to ask a question, the small hairy mouth ball trembled. Its mouth opened wider than all the others and then, with a speed that left Yan Zaizen absolutely terrified, shot towards the four skyships.
In a second, it closed the distance.
In another second, it was already beside one pursuing skyships. In the eyes of everyone else, they just saw a skyship's light disappear. However, Yan Zaizen's eyes revealed a different reality. The disbelief and shock were mounting to intense levels.
"It...how?" The abnormal mouth-ball ate one of the skyships. Not only that, it's black tongue licked its lips in delight afterward as if it just enjoyed a delicious meal.
Afterward, the mouth-ball trembled and turned into a normal mouth-ball the size of a planet and lost its redness. This transformation happened in the time it takes to snap one's finger. Then, it started to playfully circle around the remaining skyships like the others.
Just then, another mouth-ball appeared out of nowhere and gulped another skyship. This time, it was the fleeing one. Yan Zaizen trembled. He didn't even notice the other one approaching!
He heavily gulped. It must've been quite a distance away when it started its pursuit. Considering they were chasing and fleeing, they could've met another one.
For some odd reason, he felt a sensation of someone or something breathing down his neck.
"What? Two disappeared?" Tao said in disbelief. The other ships noticed this and stopped. Then, a third odd mouth-ball appeared, but it stopped before consuming another. It just waited there, silently, patiently, as if waiting for its prey to move before taking action. The chills that ran across Yan Zaizen's spine when he saw the odd mouth-ball just linger left him feeling insecure.
Wait.
"It...stopped...when the ships stopped?" Yan Zaizen's mind was far more efficient at picking up information and piecing them together. Tao and Bai Lufeng turned towards him with questioning gazes, but they also had a deep fear in their eyes at the sudden disappearance of the two skyships. After all, the Border Expanse was a mystery to many.
Yan Zaizen recalled the events thus far.
The skyships passed the odd mouth-ball.
A weird sound resonated, resembling swooshing.
It chased after them, consumed a ship, and transformed.
Another appeared, consuming another one.
A third appeared but didn't consume the others when they stopped moving.
Yan Zaizen was thinking...he recalled Bai Lufeng's mention of hearing the sound before. The sensation of having something or someone breathing down his neck.
With widened eyes, he had an itchy desire to turn around. Slowly, very slowly, he turned. As he did, his pupils constricted to its absolute limit as, an inch away from their ship, there was a squirming hair as thick as trees and purple skin with a tinge of redness. Upwards, a set of teeth the size of mountains were frozen.
He didn't know how long it had been there, but from the distance, it stopped from the others…
It's possible...it was right next to them just as they stopped. A split second, maybe far, far less away.
"Escape..." his voice came out as an inaudible whisper. He was calm, but his heart was filled with intense, dreadful fear.
Bai Lufeng and Tao was ignorant, they both asked, "What?"
"ESCAPE!" Yan Zaizen slammed his palm on the skyship. His true-essence erupted with everything he had, covering the skyship completely and thoroughly. With a popping sound, the skyship merged into chaotic space.
While in chaotic space, Yan Zaizen's shock didn't cease as his eyes flickered with silver light. Observing outside, the mouth-ball released a vast, thunderous, swooshing sound from its mouth. Instantly, the planet-sized balls went absolutely batshit crazy suffused with intense madness. It released an odd screech that sounded like rushing water and widened its mouth to seemingly impossible limits.
A split second later, the two skyships vanished in the bellies of two planet-sized mouth-balls nearby. Even the smaller mouth-balls were consumed. Before long, the planet-sized mouth-balls seemed like they were given the signal to commit mass cannibalism and self-genocide.
With powerful chomps, they started to devour each other. After several minutes, there was one left...and it was the size of a small mountain. Yan Zaizen looked at the ball for a second, but before he could get a good look, it vanished.
He didn't know if it traveled at a speed he couldn't see or if it entered a different dimension. Regardless, there was no longer any mouth-balls in sight.
"Such...abnormal...creatures…" In his complete confusion, he said weakly. Death was so close yet they didn't even know. Actually, he wasn't sure getting eaten lead to death, but he knew it wasn't good.
At least, they survived this.