"The area we are currently in doesn't belong to the Crimson Realm, and with the Space-Time Door shielding us, their auras won't be detected by the Crimson Mother."
Yuan Kong explained.
Truthfully, even as a plane master, one might not necessarily detect every movement within the plane.
Only when there's a strong presence of an equal-level power entering the plane's domain can there be some kind of sensation.
But it was only a slight sensation.
Moreover, similar to planets, planes also need the other party to be within a certain distance from the planet to detect them, let alone this plane that spans vast star regions.
Even if a battle erupted at the edge of the Crimson Realm, the Crimson Mother might not necessarily sense it, let alone now when the four were outside the influence range of the Crimson Realm's plane laws.
Xu Yuan stopped worrying further.
In fact, he was mostly just making a sarcastic remark.
The four moved forward in the same direction.
Ahead of them, in the seemingly endless deep starry sky, there seemed to be a huge crimson crack swallowing everything around it.
The crimson crack resembled a gaping wound, devouring the surrounding starlight, staining it with a deep red hue. Even the stars themselves seemed to be moving towards the deepest part.
Soon, the four left the territory of the Sacred Heart Plane.
Here, although the Sacred Heart Plane bordered the Crimson Realm, they weren't seamlessly connected. There was a buffer zone in between, where the opposing forces of the two planes' laws had reduced it to pure cosmic space.
Of course, the four didn't rely solely on flying to travel. After entering this unclaimed territory, they began to slightly deviate from their course.
Upon seeing a barren star come into view, Yuan Kong and the others sighed in relief.
Xu Yuan also noticed something different about this barren star—the spatial force was too dense, giving a very solid feeling, as if space itself had been compressed.
This feeling was like a space wormhole.
However, this wasn't a space vortex in the universe but a substantial planet.
With a puzzled mind, Xu Yuan landed on this barren star.
He looked at Yuan Kong.
Knowing that Xu Yuan was unfamiliar with the situation here, Yuan Kong explained: "In the universe, distance is the biggest obstacle for planes to connect. Unless there are two interconnected wormholes appearing beside each plane, true substantive contact could be established.
Because of this, in reality, very few planes in the universe have direct territorial contact. Apart from our Sacred Heart Plane and the Crimson Realm, which expand their territories to cover entire galaxies, other planes are scattered points. Space wormholes connect these points.
These wormholes connecting different points sometimes span quite long distances, possibly crossing other planes between them. So, planes that seem to have direct contact or conflicts and engage in wars actually don't have direct territorial borders. It's just that a wormhole exists, linking the two areas."
Xu Yuan nodded.
So, while the universe seems to have six directions—up, down, left, right, front, and back—one must also consider the existence of wormholes.
These wormholes distort and fold different stages of the original cosmic space, making the entire universe abstract. This forms special high-dimensional regions.
This is the root of indirectly increasing a plane's dimension by expanding its territory—a three-dimensional body twisted into a quasi-four-dimensional or even quasi-five-dimensional form.
"However, a wormhole connects two points across vast distances, truly twisting space-time. What we see here is another way of traveling in the universe."
"This is the Space-Time Corridor. Its formation principle is very similar to a wormhole, formed by the accidental concentration of dense spatial forces. But instead of exploding into an energy state wormhole, it combines with materialized matter."
"Of course, Space-Time Corridors are rarer. Not only do they require the conditions for a wormhole to form, but they also need compatible material as a carrier. Most importantly, they must be able to carry in terms of spatial position. For example, if you load cargo onto a truck and all the cargo piles up at the rear, it will upset the balance of the truck. The same goes for the carrier."
"So, Space-Time Corridors are harder to form, very rare, and not only that, their transmission efficiency isn't high either. They lack the characteristic of instantly spanning infinite distances like wormholes. Instead, they still rely on flying to travel. However, the highly compressed spatial corridor significantly shortens the distance along this line."
Listening to Yuan Kong's explanation, Xu Yuan was speechless.
So, rare and impractical, this thing...
"These two points make Space-Time Corridors not widely known in the universe, but they have a very important characteristic—stealth."
Stealth?
Xu Yuan pondered.
Does it mean this place is sufficiently concealed?
Recalling his earlier perception from afar, it was indeed much weaker than impulsively emitted fluctuations, very restrained.
"The so-called stealth isn't about this barren star being hidden." Yuan Kong smiled and said, "Stealth is because we are practically corresponding to different nodes along the journey within the corridor."
"A whole corridor allows us to jump out at any point in the middle and return to cosmic space. As we walk through the Space-Time Corridor, as long as we don't cause significant spatial fluctuations, we cannot be perceived in the corresponding cosmic space."
Xu Yuan suddenly understood.
How stealthy!
Suddenly, someone jumps out next to you.
Before they jump out, you might not even feel their presence at all.
"In that case, wouldn't it mean the opponent can't even trace the entrance to this Space-Time Corridor based on your appearance location?"
Xu Yuan also thought of a key point.
Yuan Kong nodded with a smile.
"Yes, even if a wormhole leading to the core of the Crimson Realm is accidentally discovered, after one teleportation, there's a high chance that the exit will be found and sealed by the Crimson Realm. A Space-Time Corridor, however, won't be discovered."
Therefore, last time when Yuan Kong and the other two descended upon the core of the Crimson Realm to hunt the Crimson Mother, they could directly respond to Xu Yuan now without worrying about teleportation issues, thanks to this Space-Time Corridor.
After all, the Crimson Realm's territory was vast. If they relied purely on flying, it would take more than ten or twenty years to reach the core region.
How could that achieve a surprise attack effect?
"The Space-Time Corridor is also attached to real cosmic space, so it has a physical length. From here to the core region of the Crimson Realm, it will still take about three days of flying."
Three days?
Three days was quite acceptable.
"I'm curious, how did you three retreat last time?"
Xu Yuan suddenly thought of this question.
"It's simple, space wormholes," Empress Life Bai Ling said with a grin.
Xu Yuan's eyebrow twitched.
You old woman of tens of thousands of years, stop pretending to be a young girl.
However, Bai Ling only provided this much information, and Xu Yuan already knew the complete answer—forcefully intruding into the space wormhole controlled by the Crimson Realm.
The three half-step God Kings, working together, couldn't kill the Crimson Mother, but they weren't afraid of her either.
If they wanted to retreat, naturally they would charge recklessly, directly 'borrowing' nearby wormholes.
"Near the Deep Red Star, there's a wormhole connecting to the Starry Anomaly. We'll leave from there and then return to the Sacred Heart Plane via the wormhole in the Starry Anomaly," Yuan Kong said.
Xu Yuan found the location of the wormhole mentioned by Yuan Kong on the star map.
"Well, we can set off."
Yuan Kong stood at the forefront. He mobilized spatial forces and sketched out the shape of a small portal in front of him. This small portal resembled the Space-Time Door, but though it looked similar, there were obvious differences.
As the small portal landed on the barren star's surface, it was as if a doorway had been opened in the barren star's ground. Within the portal, a vortex rapidly expanded.
Yuan Kong jumped in first.
Xu Yuan and the other three followed closely behind.
---
The scene inside the Space-Time Corridor shocked Xu Yuan.
There was nothing to see or hear here. Relying on one's own perception to feel the surroundings, one would find themselves still on the previous barren star.
"How magical."
Xu Yuan was experiencing a Space-Time Corridor for the first time.
"Inside the Space-Time Corridor, it feels like entering the inner world of cosmic space. If you carefully perceive, you can sense the outside, but inside the Space-Time Corridor, everything is unknown."
Yuan Kong's voice rang out.
He was already flying ahead.
Xu Yuan followed.
The four traveled through the tunnel.
Three days later.
In his perception, the stellar forces around even cut through space, leaving deep red halos.
They had arrived at the core of the Crimson Realm.
"Three of you, let me remind you. The Crimson Mother is ferocious and ruthless, stopping at nothing. When she's truly cornered, she might fight desperately."
Bai Ling looked seriously at the three, especially Xu Yuan.
She was giving Xu Yuan the final reminder.
"The desperate fight of a plane master is fatal to us. So during the battle, don't aim for a one-hit kill. Just ensure you have reserves to handle the Crimson Mother's frantic counterattack."
In a four-on-one situation, killing the Crimson Mother wasn't some desperate task.
So, as long as they didn't get greedy and kept reserves, it was achievable.
Attack with three parts, reserve seven parts.
Regarding this, Xu Yuan expressed experience.
Not long ago, he had just dealt with one, no, two plane masters. One was pathetically weak, providing no reference value, the process overly smooth. The other self-destructed at the last moment but was kicked out of the qualification to self-destruct by Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan couldn't guarantee interrupting the Crimson Mother's self-destruction.
After all, this was a real equal-level powerhouse.
So, caution was necessary.
After Bai Ling's final reminder, the four exchanged glances and immediately broke through the Space-Time Corridor.
They had found the aura of the Crimson Mother.
"Hmm?"
The Crimson Mother woke from her slumber.
Her eyes were blood-red, her pupils resembling rubies, reflecting a dark red galaxy.
In the void, a figure gradually condensed, as if formed from space.
She wore a dark red long dress, and deep red energy swirled around her.
At this moment, the Crimson Mother was full of anger.
Looking at Yuan Kong and the others, she angrily said, "It's you again!"
Rage burned in her heart.
Last time, these three wreaked havoc in her plane, causing her to make no progress until now, only compensating for the plane's losses.
Though she retaliated, both sides suffered.
For the Crimson Mother, who aspired to become a God King, such a long delay drove her mad.
Now that Yuan Kong and the others attacked again, the Crimson Mother vowed that no matter how much damage her Crimson Realm suffered, she would destroy at least three administrative stars of theirs!
Administrative stars were roughly planets in the Sacred Heart star region equipped with teleportation arrays.
The Crimson Mother's gaze fixed intently on Xu Yuan.
Who is this?
A new half-step God King?
With one more person, can they really deal with me?
"Yuan Kong, just wait. Whatever the loss to the Crimson Realm this time, I'll double it in your Sacred Heart Plane!"
This time, the Crimson Mother changed her strategy.
Though her retaliation against Life Star and Starry Anomaly wouldn't be less, she felt she had to hurt one side deeply, like the Sacred Heart Plane.
After saying this, the Crimson Mother prepared to retreat.
Speaking the toughest words but doing the most cowardly things.
Xu Yuan already sensed the spatial fluctuations. Feeling speechless, he immediately locked the Crimson Mother with his Holy Attraction.
The Hunyuan Spear in hand, he thrust out a spear strike.
The Crimson Mother was startled and involuntarily drew a divine crescent blade, fiercely slashing towards Xu Yuan.
She didn't understand why she suddenly attacked this newcomer.
She clearly intended to teleport.
Damn.
Just in an instant, the Crimson Mother realized the situation was dire.
This newcomer was definitely invited by Yuan Kong and the others to target her!
This time, Yuan Kong and the others were determined to kill her!
"Sir, I bear no grudge against you. Why must you fight me to the death? This is the core of my plane. If I fight desperately, grabbing one person and not letting go, I absolutely can kill them. Sir, there's no need to risk a one-in-four chance of death."
The Crimson Mother immediately began trying to persuade them to surrender.
Though she wasn't sure how much of a threat Xu Yuan posed, she still chose to try persuasion first.
Besides, she was also probing Xu Yuan's origins.
If she survived this time, she would definitely retaliate, fiercely retaliate!
A newly born half-step God King, and his cultivation system wasn't from the existing half-step God King forces, obviously from a newborn plane.
Only one newly born half-step God King's plane dared to provoke her—it was outrageous!
No grudge?
Xu Yuan sneered inwardly.
We have a blood feud!
The momentum of his Hunyuan Spear didn't diminish. Wrapped in runes, it gathered cosmic spatial forces, blasting out a thick spear beam.
The Crimson Mother was enraged. A crescent-shaped divine artifact appeared in her left hand. She wielded two blades, each releasing a blade qi.
The blade qi released by the two crescent blades were completely different.
These were two different divine artifacts.
One exuded a bloodthirsty aura, while the other was filled with elemental energy.
The two blade qi—one compressed massive elemental forces, the other contained pure murderous intent.
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