Chapter 647: Delicious

The ritual with the Zhongwei Birds was extremely difficult, as they had to resist the immense gravitational pull of the super-massive Black Hole, as well as the torrent of super-heated matter accelerated to near light speed at the event horizon.

That was the Black Hole's accretion disk.

An accretion disk is a structure composed of many materials, rotating around a central body, much like a vortex. The accretion disk rotates around the Black Hole at an extremely high speed, overcoming friction to cause the gas to gradually spiral downwards and be accreted into the Black Hole.

During this process, some matter will be ejected, flung into the distant Void Realm, becoming part of the World Fountain.

And some other matter will be swallowed by the Black Hole, increasing its mass and making it ever larger.

During this process, matter is continuously accelerated by the Black Hole in a cyclical manner, generating immense heat and friction. Even the center of the sun is not a fraction of the temperature here.

To work here, one must resist temperatures high enough to vaporize all matter, as well as the torrent of matter rushing at near light speed. A slight mishap would lead to being swept in, and getting out then would be troublesome.

If swallowed by the Black Hole's event horizon, you can never get out again, at least for a Fifth-Rank Cultivator.

However, these dangers were within controllable limits for Li Qi's Fifth-Rank team. Their danger level was no higher than fighting a powerful Fifth-Rank Cultivator from the Human Dao.

After all, fighting also means risking one's life, and exploring here now is naturally the same.

Upon arrival, everyone began their work.

"Are the three anchor points fixed?" Li Qi, guarding one anchor point, asked the others.

Powerful communication spells pierced through the interference of the matter torrent, transmitting the message to the others.

"I'm all set here," Youxiong Gong said.

"Almost, I ran into a small problem, give me five minutes," Shao Chi replied.

"Don't rush, take your time. The matter torrent here is very troublesome. We only brought fifteen sets of spare equipment, so there's limited room for error," Li Qi cautioned, then fell silent, turning his gaze around.

Although the surroundings were in the Void Realm, and nothing could be seen, he could still feel the distorted spacetime and the immense gravitational pull around him.

Even as a Fifth-Rank Cultivator, he had to rely on powerful Spiritual Artifacts to stand firm under such gravity.

What Spiritual Artifact?

The answer was the Dingfeng Bead.

The matter torrent in the accretion disk around the Black Hole, rotating at near light speed, was essentially a kind of 'wind'. Although the temperature was extremely high and the impact force immense, with a Dingfeng Bead for each person, they could stably set up the ritual nearby.

The three anchor points supported a safe area. As for the center of the ritual, that was the place for the technical expert Yan Cong. He would perform the ritual there to communicate with the Zhongwei Birds.

As for Li Qi and the other two, they were responsible for maintaining the surrounding safe environment with the Dingfeng Bead, buying him time.

Their redundant design was very generous, so after Li Qi finished his own task, he could still take some time to observe the super-massive Black Hole.

It truly... lived up to the word 'super'.

A colossal black sphere, of course, it itself had no color, but the surrounding accretion disk had dazzling colors, from visible light to invisible light. With the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, Li Qi could see countless colors.

However, at the center of these colors, there was a massive black hole, as if space itself had collapsed.

A hole spanning a full three hundred thousand light-years.

That was the Black Hole's event horizon. Entering it might not mean death, but one certainly couldn't get out.

Because you would have to surpass the Heavenly Dao's limit to escape from a Black Hole, and as is well known, the Heavenly Dao's limit cannot be surpassed, so you will be trapped within the Black Hole and unable to leave until you have the ability to surpass the Heavenly Dao.

Moreover, this distortion of spacetime can even sever the connection of Karma, and you will completely lose all contact with the outside world.

As mentioned before, within the light cone is destiny.

However, within a Black Hole, the light cone is independent and has no interaction with the outside world. It can even be said that the Black Hole's light cone is its event horizon itself. Entering it means being forever trapped, unless you can reverse the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, Black Holes are the most dangerous celestial bodies in the Universe, and the Black Hole in this otherworldly spectacle, the 'World Fountain,' is the largest Black Hole Li Qi knows of.

It's a wonder the Zhongwei Birds can survive in such a place...

However, according to their nature, these material and energy impacts probably don't exist for them. They are only affected by gravity, and gravity is 'matter' to them. Therefore, this massive Black Hole is their greatest Treasure Trove.

Just as Li Qi was using the Dingfeng Bead to create a windless zone for the technical expert Yan Cong, making it easier for him to set up the ritual, suddenly, a flash of light appeared outside.

This flash was a clear signal, and it was using the common light signals of the world.

Someone was sending a message to Li Qi's team.

Li Qi immediately called out to the others: "Everyone! Be careful, someone is outside nearby, greeting us. They shouldn't be hostile, but still be cautious."

"Understood," Shao Chi replied.

"Captain, those are people from the Dao of Reason. They often use this set of signals for communication," Youxiong Gong provided Li Qi with a piece of information.

"People from the Dao of Reason? I understand. You maintain the Dingfeng zone, I'll go communicate," Li Qi said, keeping the Dingfeng Bead by his side and flying towards the light.

The spacetime here was inherently distorted, and increasing the Heavenly Dao's limit of light speed here was very difficult. Fortunately, with the Dingfeng Bead, they were unaffected by the surrounding matter torrent, allowing Li Qi to accelerate to about a thousand times the speed.

Soon, Li Qi arrived not far from the group of Dao of Reason members.

Not far in the Void Realm, it was about two hundred million li away, but this range was already sufficient for both sides to communicate, observe each other, and even engage in combat.

"Your Excellency, from where do you hail? Why have you intruded upon our energy station?" The Dao of Reason Cultivator there spoke to Li Qi, his voice transmitted to Li Qi's ears through a spell.

"We are from Shaman Dao, from the Guanghan War Zone, here on a mission. Greetings to you all. You say this is your energy station? That means you are from the Dao of Reason?" Li Qi also replied.

It should be the Dao of Reason, because Li Qi knew that the Dao of Reason indeed did this.

While in the East Sea, Li Qi had communicated with Wang Dun, a member of the Dao of Reason. The Dao of Reason also had a set of The Axis of All Realms, and the energy they used was extracted from Black Holes, utilizing the tidal forces of the Black Hole's accretion disk to extract large amounts of energy (See Chapter 451).

"Yes, so you are Shamanes. You wouldn't affect our energy station, would you?" The guarding Dao of Reason members were somewhat wary.

"Of course not, rest assured," Li Qi nodded.

Shamanes still had some credibility. After all, Shaman Dao was also a relatively peaceful Dao Orthodoxy, so these Dao of Reason members nodded: "Good, then please proceed. Just don't break anything. Guarding a Black Hole is very difficult work."

"Good, please rest assured, everyone," Li Qi nodded, then left.

Before he left, he glanced at these people.

Although Cultivators could maintain their decorum, their aura still gave a sense of being tattered and dirty.

Indeed, guarding a Black Hole was hard work. It was said that within Shaman Dao, guarding a Black Hole was also a difficult task, usually used as a form of punishment.

But it couldn't be ignored. As the most dangerous celestial body in the Universe, a Black Hole naturally possessed the characteristics of resisting all Karma and distorting all spacetime, making it very peculiar. It also possessed immense energy and gravity, so someone definitely had to guard it.

After bidding farewell to the nearby Dao of Reason members, Li Qi returned, continuing to maintain the Dingfeng zone and reporting his situation.

The others also responded, then continued to vigilantly help Yan Cong maintain the anchor points.

About a month later, Yan Cong finally finished preparing.

"I'm done here. The ritual begins. Be sure to block all interference," Yan Cong's voice came.

"Understood."

"Good."

"Leave it to me."

The three answered in unison.

As the captain, Li Qi immediately began tactical deployment. In the previous month, the three of them had already set up some Formations, precisely for this moment.

Generally speaking, there wouldn't be any problems. After all, Shaman Dao was too strong, and this place was too dangerous. Aside from these Dao of Reason people, it was very rare for there to be life near a Black Hole in other circumstances.

But all preparations were just to be prepared for contingencies, so Li Qi had done them very seriously.

Better safe than sorry; he deeply understood this principle.

Another tense seven days passed.

During this period, the three were meticulous, not daring to relax in the slightest, fearing any unexpected occurrences.

However, everything went smoothly. After all, how many accidents could there be in the world?

Seven days later, a strange gravitational fluctuation flashed through the ritual site.

The ritual was successful.

The appearance of gravitational 'fluctuations' represented the changes here.

Generally speaking, gravity does not fluctuate. This force remains straight and pulls all surrounding things steadily. However, a suddenly appearing super-massive gravitational celestial body, such as a newly born Black Hole, will produce gravitational waves, like water waves rippling through spacetime, affecting large areas of spacetime distortion, and even affecting the observation of material reality.

But here, no new large gravitational source was born, nor did any celestial body descend, yet immense gravity was spontaneously generated, splashing ripples in spacetime.

Li Qi could clearly feel this, so he immediately realized that the Zhongwei Birds had descended.

Gravity was their only trace. Besides that, they would not interact with the material world in any way. They were a group of ghosts in the Universe.

He immediately focused all his attention on the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, attempting to observe the Zhongwei Birds.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see them.

He could feel the abnormal gravitational fluctuations, but... he couldn't perceive anything else. Even the True Knowledge Dao Resonance couldn't reach the Zhongwei Birds.

Life completely independent of matter, yet possessing mass at the same time.

It was almost like... dark matter.

But at this moment, suddenly, Li Qi felt a 'delicious' sensation.

Delicious? How could he have such a feeling?

It was like a person smelling roasted meat, very fragrant, very appetite-inducing.

This startled Li Qi!

The last time he felt this 'delicious' sensation was in front of the three lives ancient mirror! (See Chapter 291)

At that time, when he was Transmigrating to the edge of the Universe, he had felt this taste.

This was another wisp of True Knowledge Dao Resonance!

Li Qi immediately concentrated, transmitting a message to the others: "Everyone! Be careful, something is wrong!"

As soon as he said this, the surrounding Formations instantly activated, and countless strange phenomena arose around them.

The other members of the team knew that Li Qi was very skilled at observation. Although they might not understand the details of the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, the abilities he displayed were undeniable.

So when Li Qi called out that there was a problem, they immediately reacted.

Only Yan Cong, at the center, remained motionless. He had to maintain the ritual, so he chose to trust Li Qi and the others.

No matter what they faced, he trusted his teammates to handle it, and he only needed to focus on communicating with the Zhongwei Birds.

This was a very tiring task, as communication could only be done using mathematical language, and the two sides couldn't understand each other. Their thought processes were different, so they could only communicate very simple things with great difficulty through extensive compilation.

So he couldn't spare any attention and simply trusted his teammates outside completely.

As for the teammates...

They waited with full concentration. All of them were Fifth-Rank Cultivators, they knew there would be no joking around and very little room for error, so they were all on guard for any potential enemies.

However, they waited for a whole day, and nothing happened.

Youxiong Gong frowned and transmitted: "Nothing has happened. Did you misinterpret something?"

Shao Chi also followed up: "Captain, what do you say?"

However, their questions...

Received no answer.

Li Qi did not respond to them.

In less than ten seconds, the two instantly moved, with great tacit understanding. One rushed towards Yan Cong's ritual, and the other rushed towards Li Qi's direction.

Splash! Without a sound, Li Qi suddenly stopped speaking!?

Who? Was it a Fourth-Rank Cultivator making a move?

Impossible, even a Fourth-Rank Cultivator could not silently kill Li Qi, especially when everyone was prepared.

A Third-Rank Cultivator?

Even more impossible. In this situation, no Third-Rank Cultivator from either the human or Shaman side could spare their hands; everyone was fighting.

Therefore, this seemed particularly bizarre.

The remaining two decisively divided their tasks and went to two different locations.

It was only a few hundred million li, and they quickly arrived.

"Yan Cong is fine, the ritual is all normal," Youxiong Gong transmitted: "What about your side? Why isn't the Captain answering?"

"...Captain, I don't know if he's fine, he is indeed fine, and he's here, it's just that he seems to have... merged with the ritual?" Shao Chi was somewhat at a loss for words, but still reported truthfully.

"Huh? Merged with the ritual? What the heck?" Youxiong Gong was confused.

"Come and see for yourself," Shao Chi said.

Youxiong Gong didn't delay and quickly rushed to where Li Qi was.

Then, he too was dumbfounded.

Indeed, Li Qi was fine.

But... he had indeed merged with the ritual.

At this moment, it was no longer just Yan Cong participating in the sacrifice.

Li Qi had also entered the ritual.

No way, what's wrong with these two Invoker?