In the Primordial Universe, in an unknown nebula.
This nebula had just been born, and there were only a few newborn stars. Planets were very rare, and even if there were, they were still in their nascent stages. There was no suitable environment for life to grow.
This place didn't belong to any faction, and was filled with boundless loneliness. Only the magnificent and resplendent scenery of the universe could be seen.
However, in the depths of this nebula sat an incomparably enormous black pagoda. It unabashedly emitted surging waves of demonic Qi.
As the black pagoda emitted waves of energy, the demon experts hidden in the surroundings gathered.
A carriage slowly flew out of the pagoda.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Disperse. This is a classified mission. There's no need for you to follow."
"As you command."
The experts of the Devil Race concealed their figures and disappeared.
The horse carriage did not stop and continued to charge out of the nebula. The surrounding nebula was like a white steed flashing by, and the horse carriage traversed an unknown number of light years at an extraordinary speed, arriving outside the nebula.
"I'll send you off here," said Little Fairy Spirit. "There should be a small cultivation realm nearby. Once you get there, it'll be easy to find the way to the Great Thousand Realms."
She reluctantly bid farewell to Lady Providence, then turned the carriage around and headed back.
Only Su Chen and Lady Providence remained in the silent, cold starry sky.
"Let's go."
Lady Providence grabbed Su Chen's wrist and used the Limitless Void Technique. With a single leap, she brought Su Chen to a star system.
Su Chen's eyes suddenly lit up.
He saw an azure planet.
This azure planet made Su Chen's mind instantly think of two words — Earth!
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
It was just very similar.
Although this planet was full of vitality, it hadn't yet developed into a civilization. It was still in the Ancient Era, where large carnivores ruled supreme.
Su Chen was curious as to why Lady Providence had brought him here. She waved her sleeve, and Su Chen watched as the Earth-like planet instantly disintegrated. It dimmed, then gradually disappeared, leaving behind only a strand of pure natural energy. Lady Providence grabbed it and swallowed it whole.
"This …."
Lady Providence swallowed an entire planet in a few seconds?
"To maintain the energy consumption of a Saint King, you need to absorb energy from other places. There's no spiritual energy of heaven and earth here, so you can only absorb elemental energy from basic materials. Now you know why the Will of the Heavenly Dao constantly inflicts tribulation punishments on cultivators to control the number of top-level cultivators....."
Su Chen nodded.
It was easy to understand if one thought about it. Once the top Immortal Cultivators overflowed, it would be a catastrophe for the entire universe even if they did nothing but maintain the minimum amount of energy required for daily consumption. The Immortal Cultivators were like an army of locusts that kept swallowing the energy of the entire universe. One day, they would devour the entire universe.
If there were no heavenly tribulation, the number of cultivators would have to be controlled. That would be an unimaginable scene. At that time, there would be no room for low-level life forms to survive, and all the elemental energy in the universe would be divided among the top-level cultivators.
Mercy?
To cultivators, such things didn't have any binding power.
In the eyes of top-level cultivators, low-level life forms that hadn't even developed intelligence couldn't even be considered life. They were no different from flowers, vegetables, and even fruits in the eyes of ordinary people.
Next, Lady Providence swallowed a few other lifeless planets in the solar system. After replenishing her strength, she used the Greater Distancing Technique again and brought Su Chen to an even more vast solar system.
He could already faintly feel the fluctuations of spiritual energy.
A place with spiritual energy, even if it wasn't the cultivation world, was definitely close to it.
It was nice to have someone to rely on. If Su Chen had been alone, even if he could use the Great Leapfrog Technique, he wouldn't have been able to tell which direction he was going. Who knew where he'd end up?
"Huh …. Why does this constellation look so familiar?"
Su Chen suddenly observed it carefully for a moment and suddenly exclaimed.
"Isn't this the Milky Way?"
Although he couldn't be a hundred percent sure, Su Chen was at least eighty percent sure that this was the Milky Way.
If this really was the Milky Way, then didn't that mean he was close to home?
"You've been here before?" asked Lady Providence.
Su Chen thought for a moment, then said, "This is my hometown. Later, due to some accident, I ended up in a small cultivation world, then in the spirit mountains of Jingzhou."
"Since you're back, then go home and take a look. It won't take long anyway," said Lady Providence kindly.
"Then …. that's fine."
Su Chen nodded.
When Su Chen had first obtained the directional teleportation card, he'd wondered whether or not he should return to Earth. At the time, he'd been hesitant, but now that he was so close, he definitely had to take a look. After all, people shouldn't forget their roots. As someone who'd been born on Earth, he'd achieved meteoric success. With his current conditions, he could easily raise Earth's level of civilization by several levels.
Furthermore, Su Chen was quite curious about Earth. After all, there were a few legends about the cultivation world, which proved that Earth had probably once been part of a small cultivation world. As for why it'd later embarked on the path of technological civilization, that was still a mystery.
Whatever, he'd first go back and take a look.
Su Chen grabbed Lady Providence's hand and stepped forward, leaping through space and arriving at the third spiral arm of the Milky Way.
Su Chen wasn't too sure about the exact location of the solar system, but based on the changes in the stars, it wasn't difficult to find. Although Su Chen couldn't remember Earth's stars from his previous life, he could buy them from the System Store.
As long as he used the stars as a reference, he could easily determine Earth's approximate location.
Su Chen wandered around the surrounding star system, comparing it to the star chart and narrowing down the area. Finally, after an hour, he found the sun!
Finding the sun was equivalent to finding Earth.
With just one more step, Su Chen would arrive at his homeland.
At this moment, even though Su Chen was in a calm and composed state, he could not help but feel uneasy.
This was what it meant to be nervous when one was close to home.
Seeing this, Lady Providence smiled. "Could it be that you have some shameful past that you don't want to reveal to me?"
Su Chen blushed with shame. "Of course not."
Then, in a spurt of energy, he took Lady Providence directly into the solar system.