Chapter 1673 Void-Piercing Shuttle
Sun Hao had envisioned many, many scenarios.
But in the end, even Sun Hao himself hadn’t expected that he would obtain his qualification to enter Middle Void in such an absurd manner.
Picking up a little witch in a tavern casually, he had hitched a ride to become a glorious Guardian Knight, envied and admired by millions of Barbarian Tribe Warriors.
He didn’t need to fight to the death on the blood-soaked arena.
He didn’t need to expose his true strength, thus keeping his background and origins concealed. Effortlessly, he slipped into Middle Void.
Of course, there were downsides too. Entering this way resulted in a rather awkward position for Sun Hao. His employer was scatterbrained, and his own strength hadn’t been displayed, causing the employer’s brother to label him a trash Knight. It seemed many rights typically afforded to Knights weren’t guaranteed, though naturally, obligations were also fewer. Sun Hao’s main task turned out to be simply playing happily with Little Lan.
With Border Collie around, the pair and the dog weren’t lonely.
The longer he interacted with her, the deeper Sun Hao’s understanding of Little Lan became. He began to feel that perhaps Little Lan finding him wasn’t entirely accidental—it might have been both chance and destiny.
Little Lan seemed naturally ditzy, a little slow-witted. Yet, like many animals possessing a primal sense for danger, she had her own inherent judgment regarding the strength of others. She might not be able to articulate it, but perhaps among all the cultivators from Middle Void who had come down to select recruits, she alone sensed his peculiarity.
Little Lan’s comprehension was problematic; she often claimed not to understand much that Border Collie said.
However, she understood Sun Hao’s words immediately, every single time, without exception. None of his words ever flew over her head.
This was another strange thing about her. Reflecting much later, Sun Hao faintly grasped that this might be because his Heart-Tempering cultivation had attained a certain level. Little Lan instinctively shared a form of Mind-Reading Insight with him – perhaps the very reason she instinctively wanted to contract with him.
Furthermore, the Knight Guardian Contract itself was of a very high grade. Its main target was undoubtedly meant to be a Hero.
Sun Hao suspected Little Lan had approached a Barbarian Tribe Hero beforehand. Perhaps the Hero hadn’t been satisfied with Little Lan’s… condition, or perhaps Little Lan hadn’t approved of the Hero. Either way, a contract hadn’t materialized.
If she were to contract a Warrior instead of a Hero, the difficulty finalizing a Knight Guardian Contract would be immense, involving a lengthy process.
But Sun Hao’s true identity was the First Hero of Lower Void, and quite possibly, the very First Hero of the entire Void Realm.
With his First-grade Purple-Gold Belt, completing such a contract was absurdly simple.
The potency of the First-grade Purple-Gold Belt manifested itself here. Sun Hao discovered that if he chose to, after entering Middle Void, he could sever the contract autonomously and leave whenever he pleased.
This was because Little Lan’s Knight Guardian Contract was directly inscribed upon the First-grade Purple-Gold Belt itself! Moreover, the name of the contractee could even be modified freely by Sun Hao.
His actual real name, “Sun Hao,” was actually placed as a former name, after the name used in the contract.
At first, Sun Hao hadn’t noticed this detail. Unintentionally, Little Lan had glimpsed the character “Sun.” Luckily, Little Lan was befuddled and utterly clueless, never asking further. Had it been someone more perceptive, they would have questioned Sun Hao’s origins and probed relentlessly.
Having unexpectedly found a way into Middle Void, Sun Hao settled his mind. He would accompany Gerlane and prepare for his journey within Middle Void. Calming himself, he reviewed his experiences as his Headless Blood Savage Avatar. Sun Hao realized that although this period had been arduous, his gains were substantial. He had significantly consolidated the major advancements in his cultivation base after his rise, laying a strong foundation for future progress.
However, reflecting seriously still brought a fine sweat to Sun Hao’s brow. His ultimate escape from the relentless chase had been aided significantly by external forces, besides his own stubborn will to live. The Little Immortal Pear Tree body’s ability to mask his aura, the bizarre appearance of his skeletal remains within the Ten Thousand Extinctions Ancient Graveyard, and finally, the mysterious aid of that unfathomably powerful being – all these provided indispensable external help in his rebirth.
Of course, all these interventions required him to be exceptionally tenacious himself, enduring long enough to receive that help.
Thinking back, Sun Hao also pondered some abilities he couldn’t clearly understand, only guessing at their origins: Why did the Little Immortal Pear Tree grant him such potent aura masking? How did his Wilderness Body Immortal Technique transform into the Barbaric Decapitated Deity Art? And why did that final mysterious figure instruct him to treat Gerlane well? These questions hung like mist around him, offering no clear answer.
Perhaps an answer wasn’t needed. Focusing on the present was all he needed to do.
The Barbarian Arena battles raged on intensely. Germain kept trying to find a Barbarian Tribe Warrior with the potential for a contract akin to a Knight Guardian Contract for his little sister, but ultimately found no suitable candidate and had to give up.
Arrogant Barbarian Tribe Heroes would never deign to become a Guardian Knight for a mentally challenged witch. A Behemoth Warrior King similarly had no desire to bind himself permanently to a little witch. And below that level? Germain looked down on them. So, the matter fizzled out, unresolved.
Just as the Barbarian Tribe Warriors in that tavern had said.
Three days later, Germain lost interest in the ongoing fights. He ordered his entourage to prepare for departure. At that point, Sun Haopicked up that Germain seemed unofficially acknowledged as the leader among these Mid-Void Cultivators. When he called it quits, the Mid-Void Cultivators uniformly responded, packing up to leave.
Germain’s cultivation level was veiled within a strange blue light. Without employing specific probing techniques, Sun Hao found it hard to gauge accurately. The general cultivation level of the Mid-Void Cultivators wasn’t as high as he had imagined. Besides one or two in the Spirit Separation stage, most were in the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. Of course, cultivators at the Deity Transformation Stage like Gerlane were rare; she was the only one present.
There were slightly over forty Mid-Void Cultivators who had come to Lower Void this time. On average, each had contracted two Barbarian Tribe Warriors.
Germain himself had signed on the Behemoth Warrior King, Nick, and a formidable Barbarian Tribe Hero named Ersuo.
At Germain’s command, the farewells were said to the Ancient Barbarian City, and the journey back commenced.
Gerlane stood beside her brother. Unintentionally, Sun Hao ended up alongside Nick and Ersuo. Looking purely at height, ignoring strength, Sun Ho actually stood a head taller than them both.
Of course, Ersuo and Nick had no intention whatsoever of striking up a conversation with Sun Hao.
In recent days, the story of how Jiang Xiaoshan was struck by outrageous fortune, Gerlane shackling herself to a trash Knight, had circulated throughout Ancient Barbarian City. Arrogant figures like Nick and Ersuo would never lower themselves to chatting with Sun Hao.
Sun Hao remained perfectly composed. Following silently behind Gerlane, with Border Collie perched on his back, they set foot on the path leading to Middle Void.
It wasn’t the Teleportation Array Sun Hao imagined, nor a colossal Airship.
Standing atop the highest point of Ancient Barbarian City, Germain drew a small Flying Shuttle from his robes. Tossing it into the air, it transformed into a vessel only slightly larger than an ordinary Sea Vessel. Germain smiled and announced, “New brothers and sisters who’ve joined us, this is my Void-Piercing Shuttle! It will carry us through to Middle Void.”
Nick remarked, “Prince Germain, isn’t this Shuttle a bit… compact?”
Germain signaled to a Mid-Void Cultivator. “Ge Yu, go ahead. Then you’ll understand, Nick…”
The towering Ge Yu leapt up, landing upon the Shuttle. As his enormous frame entered the small craft, it instantly appeared shrunken, no larger than a thumb.
Nick gasped. “Incredible!”
Ersuo chuckled, “Ah, so it’s a rare spatial treasure! Very well. It seems there’s much for us to learn about Middle Void.”
Led by Germain, Sun Hao followed the group into the Void-Piercing Shuttle.
Upon entering, Sun Hao’s senses instantly told him a curious truth: none of the cultivators had shrunk in size. It was as if the Shuttle itself had grown tremendously large, accommodating them with room to spare. Truly a marvelous artifact.
Sensing the magic of the Void-Piercing Shuttle, Sun Hao suddenly felt an intense yearning and curiosity for the wonders of Middle Void.
A vast new world of cultivation awaited him.
Inside the Void-Piercing Shuttle were what seemed like permanent crew members. As the cultivators filtered in, these figures moved forward calmly and efficiently, guiding everyone to assigned quarters within the vessel.
Sun Hao gave this crew a careful examination. He abruptly realized – these uniformly polite and ever-smiling crew members were definitely not normal living beings. They resembled constructed puppets much more.
The wonders of Middle Void indeed.
As Gerlane’s Knight, Sun Hao was quartered directly next to her room. It was a prime location, envied by many Barbarian Tribe Warriors who’d been recruited – the perfect spot to observe the Void Transcendence process up close.
With a resounding BOOM, the Void-Piercing Shuttle shot skyward, ascending vertically into the firmament directly above Ancient Barbarian City.
The air rippled violently. It seemed the shuttle slammed through a barrier, a wave-like membrane. It vanished completely, as if submerged into an impossible ocean of cerulean blue.
Below, on the blood-stained sands of the Barbarian Arena, the warriors who had battled savagely, heedless of life or limb, suddenly froze. All assaults ceased as one. Their gazes lifted skyward, profound disappointment etched onto their faces.