Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3156: First Unfiltered Experience Of The Void For Many

Thankfully for the strike team, Lin Mu had led them to a relatively stable area.

Here, the chaotic currents were distant, their reach blunted by a natural buffer. But even so, the unease remained.

Several cultivators, acting on instinct, tried to draw in a breath, only to freeze in alarm. There was no air. No atmosphere of any kind. They opened their mouths and found only emptiness, the realization striking them with cold clarity.

Before panic could take root, they remembered their preparations.

With practiced motions, they activated the talismans attached to their robes. At once, faint bubbles of light shimmered into being around their heads, thin yet stable, providing a steady stream of breathable air. The bubbles clung tightly, self-sustaining, allowing those less experienced to breathe normally once again.

”Good thing we had those prepared,” one of them muttered in relief, though his voice remained within the bubble.

The veterans of the group did not bother with talismans.

As immortals, breathing was not a necessity. Many could go months, even years, without air, sustained entirely by their cultivation. Yet for the less seasoned, the talismans provided comfort against the alien hostility of the void.

Lin Mu did not use one. His mastery of the Cloud Dao was high enough that he could create air from qi directly within his lungs if need be. Though he didn’t need it at all, as his vitality was strong enough to endure for months on end if need be. He did not need air to fuel his body at all.

He stood calmly, floating effortlessly as if the absence of air meant nothing to him. His expression was focused, his eyes already sweeping across the surrounding darkness.

The group followed his gaze and saw it immediately. The destination stood out against the endless black like a solitary island in an infinite sea.

It was a sphere of earth, massive and scarred, suspended in the void as though some fragment of a world had been cut away and left to drift here.

The sphere seemed small from the distance, but Lin Mu could easily estimate that it was tens of kilometers wide, just a bit smaller than a hundred kilometers in radius.

Its surface was pockmarked with craters of varying size, as though struck repeatedly by celestial impacts. Yet these were not the only marks. Scattered across the sphere’s skin were yawning holes, some small and narrow, others vast and cavernous, reaching deep into its depths. They looked less like craters and more like tunnels, as if the sphere itself was riddled with hollow veins.

Daoist Chu narrowed his eyes at the sight. ”Is that it?” he asked. ”The Hidden Cave Sect hides within that thing?”𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Lin Mu’s immortal sense brushed across the sphere, precise and unwavering. He felt the familiar tug of the coordinates he had once extracted from the key, the subtle resonance of the location he had been searching for. He gave a single nod.

”Yes. Their base lies within that sphere. The coordinates match perfectly.”

Daoist Chu let out a soft chuckle, though there was a hint of tension beneath it. ”Even here, in the Lesser Void, they stay true to their name. The Hidden Cave Sect, living inside a giant hidden cave.”

A few of the disciples exchanged nervous smiles at the joke, but no one truly relaxed. The oppressive silence of the void pressed on their nerves too heavily for that.

Grand Elder Huo folded his arms, his eyes narrowed as he studied the floating mass.

His immortal sense reached out as well, though with great caution. The sphere felt inert, devoid of active defenses at this distance. No pulses of detection arrays, no flares of hostile Qi, no ripples of resistance.

”It seems they have not noticed our arrival yet,” he said at last. His voice was calm, yet it carried a note of approval. ”That is good. We retain the element of surprise.”

The other elders nodded in agreement, their eyes fixed on the massive sphere.

For several long breaths, the group remained where they were, assessing the situation. The silence of the void made every moment feel stretched, every flicker of movement amplified. Only after they had all confirmed that no alarms had been triggered did Lin Mu speak again.

”Then we proceed,” he said firmly.

Dozens of heads turned toward him, awaiting his command. Lin Mu’s aura flared just slightly, a quiet assurance that he was in control. He raised a hand and gestured toward the sphere.

With measured precision, the strike team began to move.

They glided silently through the void, their movements controlled and deliberate.

Unlike in the skies of an Immortal world, where they would ride upon Qi currents created by them or conjure streaks of light with their movement techniques, here they propelled themselves with direct force, pushing against the fabric of space itself.

There was no push and pull of qi, they could only release qi from their bodies to propel themselves. This was also why most cultivators that entered the void had a hard time staying there for long time, as they would quickly deplete their qi merely by moving.

After all, the usual method of flying did not work, as they were not absorbing the qi and releasing it at the same time, maintaining their qi at a stable level. There was simply no qi to replenish here, as such they’d have to resort to Immortal Stones or alchemical pills to restore their Dantians.

Each motion carried them forward like arrows loosed into the dark.

The floating sphere grew larger as they approached, its cratered surface looming with a strange, foreboding presence. The holes across its face seemed almost like eyes staring outward into the void, unblinking and hollow.

Lin Mu kept his senses spread, tracking the subtle fluctuations of space around them. The coordinates within the sphere glowed in his perception like a beacon, guiding them closer. The Hidden Cave Sect was in there, buried deep within that rocky mass.

He allowed himself one steadying thought as they neared their destination.

So it begins.’