Chapter 00499: The Ink River Void
# The Ink River Void
Chapter 499
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 499: The Ink River Void
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of deafening explosions reverberated through the air.
Lan Xiaobu was overjoyed to discover that the last five foundation stones of the grand transference array had been destroyed simultaneously.
With over ninety percent of the array's foundations obliterated, his explosive formations were no longer restrained.
At full power, the final five explosive formations detonated at once.
Once all the transference array's foundations were destroyed, the aura of annihilation seemed to be cut off, ceasing its relentless intensification.
At this moment, cultivators who had fled into the void from various immortal domains across the immortal world noticed the change.
After six immortal domains had been ravaged by the calamity, the cataclysm appeared to have halted.
Many breathed sighs of relief.
Fortunately, this calamity was a minor one and hadn't wiped out all hundred-plus immortal domains of the immortal world.
Whether the Heavenly Pivot Formation Flags had played a role was no longer a concern—what mattered was that the calamity had stopped spreading.
Calamities of this magnitude rarely paused once they began, making this cessation a stroke of luck for all.
At the bottom of the Void Swamp Mud River, Lan Xiaobu exhaled deeply and stowed away his Reincarnation Pot and the Devil Spirit Tortoise Shell.
Without these supreme-grade defensive treasures, he wouldn’t have been able to complete this mission.
He would’ve been torn apart countless times by the distorted spatial rifts.
His immediate thought was to find Luo Caisi.
But before he could act, he sensed something amiss—the space around him seemed to be shifting.
Extending his divine sense, Lan Xiaobu was shocked to discover that the entire riverbed was slowly forming an egg-like structure, its shell gradually enclosing him.
Was this the birth of a new realm?
As he sensed the shattered rules of the calamity slowly coalescing into new ones, he confirmed his suspicion—this was indeed the formation of a new boundary.
He needed to leave immediately.
But when he scanned with his divine sense, he realized it couldn’t penetrate the closing boundary.
Then, a figure flashed at the edge of his perception, darting through the still-forming boundary before vanishing.
Zha Yu? Lan Xiaobu immediately recognized the fleeing figure as Zha Yu.
He quickly gave chase but halted at the exit.
His divine sense couldn’t discern what lay beyond.
What if this exit led to the divine realm?
That was entirely possible.
With the transference array destroyed, the divine realm’s experts wouldn’t let this slide.
The divine realm might currently be suffering the calamity’s wrath, and its powerful figures would likely seal the Void Swamp Mud River for later retribution.
But reaching this place wouldn’t be easy.
Lan Xiaobu’s Heavenly Pivot Formation Disk had locked the only passage.
Even if the divine realm sealed the riverbed, they wouldn’t be able to access it…
Wait—this sealing didn’t seem to be the work of divine realm experts.
No matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t completely seal the riverbed into a new realm, allowing shattered rules to reform.
This was likely a natural phenomenon post-calamity—a restructuring of the world’s rules.
Once sealed by natural laws, this place would drift away from the immortal world, becoming untraceable even to divine realm experts.
Perhaps it was already moving.
Zha Yu, that cunning old fox, must’ve sensed something and fled first.
He probably guessed Lan Xiaobu would silence him, so he didn’t dare linger.
As the boundary neared completion, Lan Xiaobu hurriedly sent a message to Luo Caisi via his communication pearl.
To his delight, Luo Caisi received it and replied that the immortal world’s calamity had ended.
She and Gu Dao were en route to the Five Realms Immortal World.
Relieved, Lan Xiaobu instructed her not to follow him if he ended up in the divine realm.
Given the enemies he’d made there, bringing her along would only endanger her.
Even if Zha Yu kept quiet, the divine realm might eventually trace the destruction of the transference array to him.
He told her to wait until he’d established himself before joining him.
He also mentioned that while the Silent God Valley was the calamity’s epicenter, its passage to the divine realm likely remained intact.
If possible, he might return to the immortal world through it.
As the boundary sealed completely, Lan Xiaobu rushed out.
The moment he crossed, an overwhelming force seized him, freezing even his thoughts.
This power was beyond mortal control.
Time became meaningless.
When his awareness returned, the spatial rules around him had shifted entirely.
These rules differed from the immortal world’s, yet they didn’t feel like the divine realm’s either—the aura wasn’t potent enough.
Lan Xiaobu immediately tried contacting Luo Caisi.
If she replied, he’d still be in the immortal world.
No response came.
This wasn’t the immortal world’s void.
His connection to the Heavenly Pivot Formation Disk had also vanished.
Frowning, Lan Xiaobu realized the newly formed realm must’ve fully sealed, distancing itself from him.
But he wasn’t worried.
Once his cultivation advanced, he’d reclaim it.
For now, he needed to determine his location—was this the divine realm’s void, or somewhere entirely new?
Summoning the Reincarnation Pot, Lan Xiaobu soared into the void, extending his divine sense to its limits.
A year passed.
Lan Xiaobu began to suspect he’d arrived in an uncharted realm.
During that time, he’d encountered barren stars and countless meteors—but no living beings.
Regret gnawed at him.
He should’ve captured Zha Yu.
As a divine realm cultivator, Zha Yu might’ve known where this was.
After several unanswered messages, Lan Xiaobu gave up and switched to an ordinary flying immortal artifact.
In this directionless void, speed mattered little.
Seated on the deck, Lan Xiaobu attempted to cultivate with the Longevity Technique.
But no matter how he circulated it, he couldn’t absorb a wisp of immortal or divine spiritual energy.
This place lacked spiritual sources entirely.
Even with his own reserves, cultivation was impossible—the rules here were too fractured.
One day, as Lan Xiaobu scanned the void as usual, his divine sense caught a rapidly approaching shadow—a flying treasure.
After two years of solitude, this was his first sign of life.
Excited, he steered his ship toward it.
Halfway there, he realized the flying treasure was heading straight for him—they’d spotted him too.
Judging by its speed and aura, this was a higher-grade artifact than even Feng Luan.
Lan Xiaobu halted.
If this was the divine realm’s void, it made sense for even random flying treasures to surpass Feng Luan’s caliber.
But if this was the divine realm, its spiritual energy was far scarcer than even Zha Yu had claimed.
The ship stopped nearby, revealing eight figures on deck—all surpassing Cai Shang’s cultivation level.
Lan Xiaobu’s heart sank.
He should’ve fled instead of waiting to ask questions.
A square-faced man with a fierce aura scanned Lan Xiaobu and his ship before asking, “Why are you alone in the Ink River Void?”
The Ink River Void?
This was the first Lan Xiaobu had heard of it.
Playing along, he replied, “Our ship was destroyed in the void. Everyone scattered, and I’ve lost my way.”
Given their attire and demeanor, they seemed like a hunting party.
If they could team up, so could he.
Pretending to know the rules, he played ignorant of the “Ink River Void.”
The man nodded, unsurprised. “Standard procedure—hand over your ring for inspection, then join our fleet.”
“Understood.” Without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu surrendered his storage ring.
If this was standard, then lone cultivators in the Ink River Void were routinely searched before recruitment.
His ring contained only common immortal herbs, a few mid-grade immortal spirit veins, and some immortal artifacts—nothing incriminating.
(That's all for today's update.
Goodnight, friends!)
(End of Chapter)