The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1085: Crystal Anomaly

Outer Palace Region, Sea Beyond the Sea Realm

Above the vast, clear sea, and within the domain of infinite starlight, a magical realm of mana was hidden among the dense clusters of stars. To mortals, it was considered the celestial realm of legends, the land of immortals.

However, in the vast Myriad Sea God Palace, it was merely a place of residence granted to Divine Kings in the Outer Palace.

Despite being in proximity to such a large and dense cluster of stars, the Sea Beyond the Sea Realm was neither scorching hot nor of blinding brilliance. On the contrary, it was quite cool.

Given the illusion-like white brilliance of the clustered stars surrounding the realm, the place seemed most sacred and holy. In fact, it was the holiest land of cultivation for Outer Palace disciples.

The realm was blessed with immense, raw, and purified mana that had not merged with seawater thanks to the infinite refinement of the myriad Divine Furnaces surrounding it.

More magically, beings within the realm could see the vast, dark void outside, beyond the boundary of the Myriad Sea God Palace, despite being drowned in the infinite light of the stars.

Outsiders could not see inside, while the beings inside could see outside; the realm was like a reciprocal mirror.

Naturally, Divine Kings could not enjoy the great benefits of the Sea Beyond the Sea Realm without its accompanying responsibilities; they were the vanguard of the Myriad Sea God Palace, the first responders to external threats beyond the reach of their Holy Land.

As such, the mortality rate for Divine Kings was also higher than that of others.

The brighter the light, the greater the shadow it casts. Or rather, the greater the mass, the greater the force of attraction.

Given the immensity and magical traits of the Myriad Sea God Palace, it was bound to be a focal point in the vast cosmos. All things, living or non-living, would naturally gravitate toward it, whether it be consciously or due to an invisible force.

Void beasts, spatial anomalies, debris fields, chaotic storms, incomplete realms, or anything drifting in the void would find their way to the periphery of the Myriad Sea God Palace.

Even with many safe routes opened between the Myriad Sea God Palace and beyond, it was no exaggeration to say that countless dangerous regions of space lurked all around. However, where there were dangers, opportunities and fortunes also awaited.

As such, existing threats outside of the Myriad Sea God Palace weren’t completely eradicated, but reduced to manageable levels and assessed.

Various tasks would then be issued by the Mission Hall, giving lower-ranking disciples opportunities to explore and earn contribution points.

From the standpoint of the beings above, it was not much different from mine owners hiring laborers to work their mines. The trivial job of harvesting resources from the assessed danger regions was delegated to the lower disciples.

Tens of thousands of white starships, made from Celestial Jade, venture in and out of the dark region known as the Dark Horizon on a regular basis.

Although Divine Kings were fully capable of stellar travel, even they wouldn’t recklessly venture into the Dark Horizon without the protection of a Celestial Jade Starship due to its myriad dangers.

...

At this moment, a Celestial Jade Starship carrying 300 Divine Kings was sailing through the Dark Horizon’s space region, heading towards the coordinates of a newly discovered space anomaly. řÁΝÓꞖĚ𝙨

"Everyone, stay alert! We are about to reach the anomaly’s coordinates, so quit messing around and get your acts together!" A trident-wielding Divine King strictly scolded his companions whilst his stern gaze remained fixed on the black hole-like distorted space ahead.

The large, spherical, and distorted space region displayed erratic patterns and seemed unstable.

Although it looked like a black hole, it didn’t seem to possess any noticeable gravitational pull. On the contrary, large volumes of impure stellar energy would surge out from its dark depths at irregular intervals, crystallizing any matter that came in contact with them.

As a result, all the icy bodies drifting in the region had transformed into red, purple, and green crystal bodies.

Furthermore, these crystal bodies merged as they clashed against each other, forming a slowly expanding crystal boundary outside the spherical distorted space.

The singularity point was gradually obscured as the crystal mass expanded, limiting the openings for the outburst of impure stellar energy and creating extended tentacle-like crystal structures that stretched into the void for tens or even hundreds of kilometers.

Eventually, a crystal planet was formed.

When the crystal mass completely obstructed every opening for the outburst of impure stellar energy, every subsequent energy outburst became a planetary pulse, seemingly giving life to the crystal planet as the crystal tentacles shifted.

Given the crystal’s aggressive nature to assimilate and expand, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call the crystal planet a virus cell, albeit on a cosmic scale.

"I don’t have a good feeling about this place, Captain Lester... It’s only been a few hours since abnormal energy readings were detected from this region, and yet, a new realm has already been formed..." a male Divine King said apprehensively as the crystal planet gave him an ominous feeling.

Captain Lester took a deep breath of celestial energy to steady his unsettled heart before replying, "Too late for regret now. We have already accepted this mission. We can’t leave until we obtain substantial data on this new realm."

"Start scanning the crystalline mass and the remnant energy. I want to know if it’s safe to land," Captain Lester demanded.

"Understood, Captain!" the other Divine Kings answered without hesitation, though some thought such precautions weren’t necessary given the Celestial Jade Starship was seemingly indestructible.

However, problems quickly arose while the Celestial Jade Starship navigated around the new crystal realm to conduct its preliminary survey.

"Captain! There’s a problem with our left engine. We are losing thrust!"

"There’s also a problem with the feedback system! I can’t find out what’s wrong with the left engine! The cameras aren’t responding, and there’s no return data!"

"What?" Captain Lester uttered with astonishment before quickly barking, "Then, send someone to the left engine room to find out what the problem is right away!"

"Oh, no! The right engine is also unresponsive!"

"Dammit, what the heck is happening!?"

Everyone on board the Celestial Jade Starship was unnerved by the series of problems arising. No one wanted to be stranded in the depths of the Dark Horizon, especially next to a new realm they knew little to nothing about.

It didn’t take long before several Divine Kings on the deck suddenly dropped to their knees, throwing violent fits of coughing. They grabbed their throats while gasping for air like they were suffocating despite their lack of need for it.

The despair and horror were clearly seen in their eyes.

Within a matter of seconds, the violent-coughing Divine Kings became motionless corpses on the deck. Time seemingly froze as everyone remained rooted on the spot, petrified by the unexplained event.

However, they shortly found their answer.

Crystalline mass emerged from the orifices of the seven corpses, and everyone nearby retreated several steps, eyes widened in horror.

"Crystal dust! It’s the crystal dust! Be careful not to inhale the crystal dust, or you’ll be joining them!"

"Dammit! Don’t we have a barrier?! How did it enter the deck!? No, how did we even miss it?! We should have seen a crystal dust cloud!"