Swallowing the Stars: The Wind Sword Master.

Chapter 108 Dark Universe

1962.

Late September.

A chubby little boy was running barefoot on the living room floor, making a thumping sound. His steps were very steady, but his running posture was a bit reckless.

Suddenly, the little boy, who was running steadily, fell forward as if something had tripped him. He flew four meters away, his chubby little face about to hit the ground.

Just at this critical moment, a pale golden figure appeared in front of the little boy, a pair of large hands embraced him, and above him was a square face full of love.

"Ouch, my dear grandson, slow down."

"There's something there!" The little boy wasn't afraid of falling at all. Instead, he turned around and looked behind him with curiosity. Something had tripped him up, but now he saw that there was nothing there.

Ning Hua turned her head slightly annoyed. "The child was running perfectly fine, why did you trip him?"

"Dad! You should train Ning Chen the way you trained me!" Ning Ze raised his head from the sofa and spoke slowly, his voice somewhat cold.

He was a planetary-level being when he had a child, Shu Yi was also a war god, and Ning Chen was born close to the warrior level. He began absorbing cosmic energy while nursing and sleeping, and by the time he was a full moon, he had the strength of a warrior.

Now that he's a year and a half old, bumps and bruises are nothing to worry about. He's even stronger than he was in college, and he's not as fragile as he looks at all.

Ning Hua's lips twitched. Grandparents love their grandchildren more. Can a son be treated the same as a grandson?

Besides, there are no monsters on Earth now, and there isn't that much pressure to survive. He didn't want his child to suffer.

"He's still young, don't be so strict with him," Ninghua tried to explain.

Ning Ze smiled slightly, looking down at the cute, puffed-up little face, as if questioning, "Daddy, did I fall down because of you?"

"If you dare glare at me again, I'll beat you up!" Ning Ze said nonchalantly.

Ning Chen immediately became a little scared. He lowered his head, his round eyes seemingly thinking about how to take revenge.

Ning Ze chuckled softly, then looked up at Ning Hua. "Dad, if I go into the wilderness, at least you can arrange for Uncle to train with me. But if this kid grows up and goes into space, it will be even more dangerous than the wilderness."

"Now I am the strongest person on Earth. Even if it's just because I'm his father, he still has to pay a heavy price to gain recognition. Don't underestimate this little guy just because he's young; he's much smarter than I was at a young age. He's already quite sensible. If we don't teach him now, when will we? Are you sure that instead of helping him, you're indulging him?"

Ning Hua's face showed a hint of conflict. "You really have the heart to do that. You were running so fast, you must have tripped and fallen pretty hard."

"He's not like me when I was a kid. Just like walking, he learned too fast and learned a lot without encountering many difficulties." Ning Ze said softly with his arms crossed. "I taught him before to save his energy. If he can trip while running, it means he's still clumsy. There are different ways to fall. Using your face to brake is the dumbest. He deserves to feel the pain."

Ning Chen glared angrily at Ning Ze, then turned to Ning Hua and quickly put on a pitiful look.

Ning Hua's expression was conflicted for a moment, but in the end, she let go.

"Snapped!"

Suddenly losing his support, Ning Chen's face and hands hit the ground. The pain shot through his brain, and he couldn't help but twitch his nose, wanting to cry, but seeing his father's mocking face, he held back.

He stood up and looked at Ning Hua with a wronged expression.

Ning Hua didn't dare to look his grandson in the eye, and awkwardly scratched his head.

Seeing this, Ning Chen felt even more aggrieved. He took short steps and ran upstairs to find his mother!

"Snapped!"

He tripped while running too fast and fell face-first onto the floor. His nose stung, and Ning Chen gritted his teeth and carefully ran upstairs.

Seeing the little figure disappear, Ning Ze finally revealed a bright smile. Suffering a little from a young age will make one's character more resilient, so that one won't feel anything when suffering in the future.

"what?"

Ning Ze turned his head, his face full of curiosity. Why was he here?

"squeak!"

The door opened.

Luo Feng walked in. "Uncle, Brother Ning."

"Luo Feng is here. You guys chat, I'm going to check on my grandson," Ning Hua said, heading towards the stairs.

"You're looking for me to fight?" Ning Ze asked uncertainly. Since he advanced to the Hengxing level three months ago, Luo Feng had not fought him.

Because his planetary-level genes underwent another transformation and evolution, his defensive capabilities were further enhanced. Whether or not Luo Feng was there to fight him became irrelevant, so the two stopped their sparring activities.

Is he coming to see me now because he has made progress?

Luo Feng's lips twitched. Combat was indeed beneficial to cultivation, but being tortured was not!

After Ning Ze advanced to the Hengxing level, he could easily defeat him without even activating his domain, making the battle meaningless.

Fortunately, he felt that this kind of battle wouldn't be effective against Ning Ze, so he quickly ended their fight. He'd rather use that time to practice the Golden Horned Beast's secret techniques than suffer through the torture.

"The spaceship is finished. I'm going to space. Ning-ge, do you want to come?" Luo Feng transmitted his voice.

Ning Ze's eyes lit up. "Of course, how could we miss something like this! When do we set off?"

"This time I won't be gone for more than a month. I'm planning to leave first thing tomorrow morning. I'll tell my family I'm going into seclusion for a while, and I'll be back soon anyway," Luo Feng transmitted his voice.

"Okay! Call me before you leave!"

Luo Feng nodded, chatted for a few more minutes, and then turned and left.

Stepping outside, Luo Feng asked Babata curiously, "Didn't you and Brother Ning not get along? Why did you decide to invite Brother Ning to go to space this time?"

He originally planned to go into the universe to take a look first, since Ning Ze's clone was different from his own. As long as his life core remained intact, both clones could be created.

If Ning Ze's clone were to disappear—not truly disappear, but to recreate it—the resources required would be enormous. At the very least, they certainly couldn't afford the treasures needed to restore a clone right now. Especially for the original Earthling body, this flesh-and-blood clone is even harder to restore than an energy clone.

Babata smirked. "That's because this kid looks stronger than you."

"Stronger than me? Just because of that? Does that mean we'll have to fight after we get there?" Luo Feng frowned, a sense of crisis rising in his heart once again.

"We don't need to fight, but you can at least make your act more convincing," Babata said meaningfully.

Luo Feng nodded thoughtfully. He had told him before that when he went into the universe, he should pretend to be a member of a powerful force or a large family.

A young star-level being is clearly more promising than a young planetary-level being, and is more like a genius from a large family.

the next day.

Early in the morning, Luo Feng came over and called Ning Ze to go out.

As usual, the two flew directly out of the base city, but this time their destination was not the Atlantic Ocean, but outer space!

Two figures, one in black and one in white, streaked across the sky.

"Babata. Where is the spaceship?" Luo Feng asked directly.

Ning Ze looked up at the sky, where it seemed as if nothing existed, but in his perception, there was a huge object floating outside the atmosphere.

suddenly.

A huge black flying saucer-shaped spaceship with a diameter of about 100 meters appeared out of thin air above their heads, with a winged dragon printed on its hull.

Ning Ze remained calm. A diameter of 100 meters is certainly not small; a football field is only 120 meters wide, but it's not considered large either. Luo Feng's Golden Horned Beast clone has grown a bit and is now over 270 meters long.

The outer hatch opened, and the two quickly flew inside before the hatch closed.

Then it quickly broke through the air and flew towards outer space.

Inside the Black Dragon spaceship's control room.

Ning Ze looked ahead curiously. It was a child who was a little over a meter tall. It was wearing a strangely styled black robe, had two small horns on its head, and had a pair of scarlet eyes that looked a little scary.

It floated in the air, its figure appearing very solid, just like a real person.

"Babata?"

Ning Ze greeted him, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. This intelligent life form was even stranger than his 'Time of Wind' clone.

This was the first time he had ever seen Babata.

Perhaps because he refused when Luo Feng first tried to introduce him, Babata has never revealed himself in the past three years, showing a somewhat arrogant personality.

At this moment, Babata was also staring at Ning Ze. Previously, he had only "seen" him by converting electronic waves into data; this was their first face-to-face exchange. His gaze was more serious than ever before, as if searching for something different. How could a native boy comprehend the laws? And at such a weak stage as the planetary level!

Luo Feng smiled slightly, "How long do you two want to keep watching? Babata, tell us about the spaceship."

From the beginning, Babata harbored resentment towards Ning Ze, but after learning about Ning Ze's talent, Babata's attitude changed considerably. This intelligent life form was somewhat snobbish.

Babata grinned, revealing two fangs in his mouth. "Now that we've left Earth, the great demon Babata is at your service."

Ning Ze chuckled. This intelligent life form was indeed somewhat narcissistic, but it was perfectly normal for it to be arrogant, having once been an immortal servant.

"Our destination is a prosperous and powerful planet, 32 light-years from Earth—Qiulong Star!" Babata continued. "Currently traveling at 21 kilometers per second, we expect to reach the speed of light in three minutes. After that, the spaceship will enter the dark universe."

"Light speed!" Ning Ze looked out but could only see darkness. He couldn't help but close his eyes and silently sense it.

At first, the acceleration of 500 kilometers per second squared didn't feel like much, but as time went by, his speed unknowingly reached a terrifying level.

At that moment, he felt himself speeding along! Even his own senses became blurred.

Babata's eyelids twitched when he saw Ning Ze's pensive expression. Was he closing his eyes because he couldn't see clearly? That's so Ning Ze! He was even a little curious about what this guy had seen.

Luo Feng wasn't surprised by the speed of light. It wasn't his first time in space; he had traveled through the solar system many times before and had seen the scenery during his flights.

At first, when the spaceship was moving slowly, the scene wasn't much different from looking up at the stars, since distant stars are measured in light-years and don't change much in a short time. However, when the speed was too fast, his planetary-level physical abilities prevented him from seeing the outside world clearly.

"Babata, what is the Dark Universe?" Luo Feng asked curiously.

Ning Ze opened his eyes upon hearing their conversation. The universe was too vast, and the spaceship was too fast. He only sensed a fleeting asteroid, and the rest was just emptiness. He felt so insignificant.

Babata replied, "The Dark Universe and the 'Original Universe' we live in have corresponding coordinates."

"However, the distance we travel will change. The ratio is 1:1008.1. If we travel 1 light-year in the dark universe, then the corresponding distance in the original universe is 1008.1 light-years."

"During this flight, whether we are accelerating or decelerating, the time in the dark universe and the original universe is exactly the same, and only the spatial distance changes."

Ning Ze was shocked. 1008 million times! That's tens of millions of times!

At a distance of 32 light-years, if their speed were the speed of light, equivalent to 1 million light-years per year, they could cross the 32 light-year distance in just over ten days. This dark universe is truly amazing.

"You just said we're going to Qiulong Star, what kind of place is that?" Ning Ze asked curiously.

Luo Feng raised his head and gestured, saying, "Babata said that place is a super planet. It's even a thousand times more prosperous than the capital planet of the Silver Blue Empire, a super planet that can be considered a gathering place for powerful people. In the universe, it's a place that upper-class people with status usually like to go to. Such a planet... actually has far fewer barbaric and bloody things, so it will be safer for us to go there."

Ning Ze nodded solemnly; Luo Feng had told him the same thing before.

Planetary level means being able to wander the universe, serving as a henchman, servant, or cannon fodder.

Even a star-level being on a remote planet in the universe is considered quite important. However, on some important planets, it's better to keep a low profile.

Cosmic level, barely qualifying as a strong entity! After all, under normal circumstances, only one cosmic-level entity is born in a single star system. Joining a cosmic kingdom would easily grant dozens of planets as territory.

A Domain Lord is essentially a regional overlord! Even nascent civilizations in the universe dare not easily provoke them, and can build their own power base. In the vast universe, Domain Lord-level powerhouses are sought after by every cosmic nation!

His current strength is stronger than that of an average Hengxing-level cultivator, but in terms of how much stronger he is, he certainly cannot be invincible at the Hengxing level.

If he were in a normal place, on a planet like Earth, he could be considered an unparalleled powerhouse.

And places like Qiulongxing...

To be considered a superior being in the universe, one must be at least at the cosmic level, and to manage such a large planet, there must be a domain lord-level powerhouse among them.

Compared to such a powerful figure, his level-one strength is a joke.

"Ten seconds left to reach the speed of light!"

"10...9...8..."

"3...2...1!" Babata was excited as he was about to travel through the dark universe.

Ning Ze calmed his mind and focused intently on sensing, completely opening his body and mind with the Great Freedom Mind Technique, and unleashing the Wrathful Wandering Spirit Technique, making his spiritual power and will incredibly vibrant.

In the vast starry sky, a black spaceship that had become blurred suddenly—

The space rippled slightly.

The spaceship has disappeared!

It's not that it disappeared because it reached the speed of light and was invisible to the naked eye, but that it truly disappeared into the universe!

At that moment, Ning Ze felt as if the world had turned into a picture, and when he turned it over, it was a different scene. In that instant, it was as if he had crossed over something, a feeling similar to when he entered that Lawful Land.

A sudden thought flashed through Ning Ze's mind, and a hazy feeling emerged from the depths of his heart. Space became blurred; he was clearly in the dark universe, but it was as if he could see a glimpse of light from the original universe.

"What does the Dark Universe look like?" Luo Feng asked curiously. He had not yet noticed Ning Ze's abnormality, or rather, he did not care, because Ning Ze often had some inexplicable insights.

"The spaceship is currently traveling at the speed of light, making it impossible to capture the external scenery," Babata said. "We need to slow down to capture it, but... accelerating and decelerating consumes a lot of energy. Luo Feng, let me simulate some scenes from the dark universe for you."

A screen appeared out of thin air, displaying a magnificent scene. It was a vast space filled with countless points of light, glowing like fireflies. These points of light filled the entire field of vision, forming an "ocean" of light.

Apart from the beautiful dots of light, there was nothing else in this vast space except for the spaceship, which was filled with an atmosphere of loneliness.

(End of this chapter)