The Era of Gods-Chapter 437 - : The First Exploration

Chapter 437: Chapter 437: The First Exploration

Ye Chenyu stretched his hand out and grabbed at the air, gathering the surrounding Void Energy into a mass. With a flick of his finger, the energy mass split into dozens of Void Energy Arrows, shooting out and piercing through the several dozen Void Fish encircling him.

Seizing the opportunity, he transformed into a beam of golden light and burst forward, scattering the Void Fish around him like a bowling ball breaking through the pins.

They were only minor Void Fish, and he was not particularly pleased by this action; after quickly determining his bearings, he aimed in a direction and flew swiftly.

In the vast and boundless Void, his small sphere of light was inconspicuous; as the waves of the Void rose, he was submerged, with the corrosive Void Energy constantly eroding the protective globe of light. He needed an endless supply of Divine Power to maintain the Divine Shield that protected his body.

Although the consumption was minimal, amounting to a mere trifle of Divine Power over several hours, it was an incessant drain nonetheless.

One must understand, the Void is boundless; who knows how far the nearest plane might be? If luck was not on his side, he could drift for dozens of years—add to that the constant danger that consumed Divine Power, and his Divinely Powered Incarnation, which had amassed over a hundred thousand units of Divine Power, might not last till the end.

In theory, a Demigod Stage Divine Incarnation could carry an unlimited amount of Divine Power, carrying as much as a hundred million units if possible.

Of course, Ye Chenyu was not that affluent; or rather, he could produce a hundred million Divine Powers by exhausting all his wealth, but most of that would be in the form of General Divine Power Crystals, suitable for trade but not made from the Divine Power gathered from the faith of his followers.

General Divine Power Crystals could be used to power Arrays or Magic Items, or to unleash their vast potential in a burst to repel enemies, yet they could not be directly absorbed by Demi-gods. The assorted thoughts and residual spiritual Brandings within the crystals would need extensive time to be refined before use.

If there were ample time and leisure, one might refine them slowly, but in the midst of the Void, constantly in motion, who has the patience for such refinement?

Although Ye Chenyu held a military rank, he was merely a private, and so he was unentitled to any advantages but had to honestly make his way slowly.

After making his escape roughly a thousand kilometers from his initial arrival point, he felt a surge of a Void Storm coming from behind and quickly infused more Divine Power into the Divine Shield in preparation for the impact.

“Bang!”

Lin Xiao felt the Flying Snake No. tremble slightly, as if it had hit something, and looked curiously at the observer by the ship’s bow.

The observer said,

“It seems we’ve collided with some larger Void Creature; it’s nothing serious.”

“Oh, then it’s fine.”

With that, he lay down at ease and closed his eyes to rest.

In the Void, Ye Chenyu was spinning and was thrown several kilometers before he stabilized himself. Staring into the pitch-black Void where the silhouette had vanished, he cursed:

“Dammit, what’s the rush to be reborn!”

While the Flying Snake No. thought it had hit a Void Creature, he knew all too well that it was a Void Ship that had struck him.

If it were an ordinary fall into the Void, he would have shouted for help to hitch a quick ride, but at the moment, he dared not speak, nor even curse aloud, for fear of drawing the attention of the Void Ship; if someone onboard were a senior, whether a sophomore or junior, it would mean trouble.

As he struggled to swim on one side, and on the other, somebody was comfortably lying in a big chair with eyes closed, resting—the disparity…

It may seem unfair, but in college, this is the norm.

In any university, even ordinary ones, such inequalities occur. The school teaches through practical experiences about the nature of unfairness and how to deal with it when encountered.

Those born into wealthy families can leverage their Clan advantages to widen the gap with less privileged peers, while those from humble backgrounds can earn their own advantages through their abilities.

The very first lesson in university clearly tells students from humble backgrounds how to bridge the gap with wealthy students: enlist in the military.

It’s not necessarily the only way, but it certainly is the simplest, most direct, and fairest means.

While the military might also have its internal human affairs, if you accrue merit and rise in rank, you will not be shortchanged the treatment you deserve.

Just like Lin Xiao, among his peers in class, he came from one of the least privileged backgrounds, but thanks to his own skills and the advantage of his military rank, he had already established a lead over the other students from the start, and it was a gap that would only grow wider.

The Void is vast and limitless. The Flying Snake No. maintained full Speed for twenty whole days before it detected its first plane.

It was a lone, pale Red sphere floating in the Void, coincidentally discovered after passing through a Void Storm that spanned over a hundred thousand kilometers.

Looking through the porthole, nothing unusual could be seen, not resembling a trap set by Void Creatures. The Void Ship was only a few thousand kilometers from that plane at this point, and the presence of Void Creatures in the surrounding Void had significantly diminished, fitting all the criteria of a genuine plane.

Once certain, Lin Xiao immediately ordered the Flying Snake No. to cautiously approach.

Soon, they arrived near the plane, clearly observing the Red plane’s Crystal Wall laced with black lines like a spider web. Flying Snake No. circled the entire plane, finding the black web sprawled across its entirety.

“What is this?”

This seemed abnormal. With so many recorded planes in the Main World, those that were strange like this one were likely problematic—statistically, more than eighty percent of such strange planes were not normal.

“What do you think?”

He asked Shen Yuexin, who hurried over after hearing the news.

His girlfriend observed carefully for a moment, then said thoughtfully,

“`plaintext

“Generally, this type of plane is likely to have issues, but there’s a slim chance it’s a special one. If you’re not in a hurry, it might be worth exploring a bit.”

“Hmm!”

Lin Xiao fell silent for a moment before saying to the marine platoon leader Flying Snake, “The ship should have some magic machinery designed for exploration, right? After we approach the plane, let’s drop one down to take a look.”

Flying Snake nodded. “There are five types of small magic machinery on the warship, all of which need to be placed at the edge of the plane. Otherwise, they’re likely to be blown away by void storms.”

“Then let’s move closer and see.”

Following that, the warship slowly approached. The closer it got, the clearer the black web that covered the entire Plane Crystal Wall became. It was like an enormous spider’s web laid over the inner edge of the Plane Crystal Wall, yet obscured by one layer of the crystal wall.

The warship came to a stop about a kilometer away from the plane, the closest distance considered safe for exploration of a Different Domain. If it moved any closer, practically touching the Plane Crystal Wall, escaping would be impossible in the event of a sudden change.

A mechanical flying snake was released, metal wings unfolding, with several nozzles at the rear expelling streams of air to slowly push it toward the plane.

It was made of purely mechanical components, powered by a simple jet system, devoid of any transcendental elements.

With limited functionality and no real combat power, it had the advantages of safety and stealth.

After all, the void is perilously dangerous—possessing Superhuman Power would easily attract the attention of some unknown entities.

A purely mechanical creation, extracting and reemitting void energy for power, generally would not draw attention from Transcendent beings. In theory, as long as it was subtle enough, it might even remain undetected under a dragon’s foot.

The Flying Snake, moving at an extremely slow speed, wobbled across the kilometer of void, perched on the Plane Crystal Wall. Four metal claws embedded directly into it, and then its head transformed into a sharp metal drill that penetrated the crystal wall.

The Plane Crystal Wall and the Crystal Wall of the Crystal Wall Universe were fundamentally quite similar—both were a layer of film separating the void and protecting everything within the plane.

The film itself wasn’t very hard; many things could easily drill through it, like this detection machinery, but that did not mean just anyone could enter.

Generally, even planes without a Plane Will could instinctively repel the entrance of Superhuman Power not native to them. Therefore, even a minor plane would reject someone like them, a Demigod from a Different Domain, but not this detector.

At this moment, the display on the Flying Snake showed a blurry and violently shaking image—it was the detector penetrating the Plane Crystal Wall.

Nearly half an hour later, the image gradually became clear, revealing a world enshrouded in gray mist.

The fog was thick, with visibility on the display limited to about five meters before becoming utterly obscured, let alone discerning the conditions within the plane.

Meanwhile, the data from the detector indicated that the fog within the plane contained a corrosive component, which was slowly corroding the probing Flying Snake.

According to a preliminary analysis by the exploration machinery, the highly durable alloy making up the snake-shaped detector would be completely corroded within roughly a year.

Five minutes later, Lin Xiao shook his head and ordered, “Retrieve the detector. We can’t enter this plane.”

Although it was certain that this plane wasn’t a trap set by Void Creatures, the initial exploration suggested it was uninhabitable for living beings. Even solid alloy could be slowly corroded, so flesh and blood would certainly dissolve in minutes.

A discouraging start, the first discovered plane was of no value.

He wasn’t disheartened, though. Exploring the void of Different Domains was inherently a long journey. How many wandered the void for years before stumbling upon a valuable plane? If he had found a valuable plane on his first try, he would have been suspicious.

He chuckled and shook his head, ready to turn back when suddenly, an immense shadow swept across the gray fog on the display, an intangible pressure rising spontaneously. The gray fog surged, obscuring everything in front, blurring the screen.

“That’s huge!”

Lin Xiao pondered for a few seconds and then gave an order, “Retreat the Flying Snake ten kilometers away.”

The view onscreen rapidly receded. The Flying Snake detector slowly rose from the Plane Crystal Wall and started flying backward toward the Flying Snake No.

Nothing unexpected happened next. There was no scene of a colossal creature tearing through the Plane Crystal Wall and emerging.

After retrieving the detector, Flying Snake No. swiftly turned and left the plane.

Lin Xiao brought up the Star Chart, marked a point on it, and added a note—

Unknown Plane: Characteristics ‘Gray Fog, Corrosive’. Observed an unknown creature of colossal size. Uncertain if it can leave the plane.

Drawing a Star Chart is a requisite skill for an explorer.

Mapping explored planes on the Star Chart, one can sell the chart for money or exchange it for merit upon returning.

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