Chapter 153: Journey into the Universe (Part One)

Listening to his father's words, Qin Ming felt tangled, helpless, and deeply vexed.
He did not know that when Qin Yichen returned to the other side, he immediately repeated what he had just said to his wife.
"Will this actually work?"
"I put it to him so sternly; I refuse to believe he won't go out and find us a daughter-in-law!"
"What if it doesn't work?"
"If it doesn't work... if it still doesn't work, we can't count on him anymore. But the Qin family line through me cannot be left without an heir. Then there will be only one option left. My dear, this time, we really need to prepare ourselves. Fortunately, I've reached the Planetary level, and you've regained your youth as well—giving it a second spring is definitely feasible!"
"You old ghost, you're getting up there in years, yet you're still full of wicked tricks!"
"I only keep my wicked tricks for you. How about we start tonight?"
"..."
Beep, beep, beep!
The communicator on his wrist rang. Qin Ming answered it, and Luo Feng's voice came through: "I'm ready!"
"Where are you?"
"Right above your head, ten thousand meters in the air!"
"You used stealth?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright, I'll be right there!"
Qin Ming turned off the communicator and vanished in a flash. His flight didn't even stir the surrounding air currents; only the space around his body warped slightly, propelling his speed to the absolute limit.
The ten-thousand-meter distance was bridged in the blink of an eye, and he saw Luo Feng waiting for him.
At that moment, the God of Thunder and Hong arrived as well.
They turned their gazes toward the now-visible spacecraft, their eyes glowing with excitement. The spaceship was shaped like a black flying saucer, roughly one hundred meters in diameter, with a winged dragon emblem stamped onto its hull.
Babata popped out and announced, "This Black Dragon ship has been mostly retrofitted. Only the auxiliary propulsion system hasn't been installed yet, so it can't perform space jumps, but all other navigation functions are completely fine!"
"If it can't perform space jumps, how are we supposed to travel to other living planets?" Qin Ming frowned. "Flying normally, even at the speed of light, isn't very reliable, is it?"
"Modifying the auxiliary propulsion system is extremely difficult and will take a few more months!" Babata said with an aggrieved tone. "Who told Earth to be so barren, lacking this and that? But for now, we can fly at sub-light speed—that's one hundred thousand kilometers per second. In other words, we can reach Mars in just one hour!"
"One hundred thousand kilometers per second?" Hong clicked his tongue in amazement. "If this thing crashes into something, it's definitely going to be toast!"
"You would definitely be toast!" Babata retorted. "Don't look at the fact that you've stepped into the Star Traveller level; the moment you get hit by this, you'll go *bang*, exploding into a mist of blood."
"Put that way, using this to deal with enemies wouldn't be bad at all," the God of Thunder said, pinching his chin.
"It works in outer space!" Babata glanced at him sideways. "How many Star Traveller level cultivators can fly into outer space? On solid ground, would anyone dare start this thing up? So, what you just said was complete nonsense."
"Fine, I didn't think it through!"
With that, the group boarded the spacecraft.

"Let's go! Begin our journey into the cosmos!"
Luo Feng waved his arm.
Without a sound, the spacecraft activated, instantly vanishing into the upper firmament and entering outer space in the blink of an eye.
"I'll turn on the panoramic external simulation for you!" Babata said, explaining further, "Spaceships are generally made of solid metal, making it hard to see the outside. We can display the exterior through external simulation, and the realism can reach one hundred percent!"
"Then turn it on!" Qin Ming felt a surge of excitement in his heart.
Even though he was currently at the Star Traveller level, space travel was still a first-time experience for him, and his heart naturally fluttered with emotion.
"Turn it on!" Luo Feng, Hong, and the God of Thunder also said without hesitation.
"Alrighty!" Babata acknowledged. The next moment, the tables, chairs, and metal walls inside the control room vanished from view, leaving only a thin layer of breathable atmosphere around them.
With a single glance, they saw a massive blue sphere rapidly receding in the distance.
A blue so thorough and profound that it struck awe into their hearts.
"Earth!"
Qin Ming and the other three spoke in unison.
This was the first time they had looked back at their homeland from outer space, and for a moment, all their attention was captivated. Afterward, they looked toward another direction to see a smaller sphere: the Moon.
Further away, a gigantic fireball burned fiercely—the Sun.
Traversing through outer space like this and gazing upon these massive celestial bodies delivered a profound impact to their souls.
"We've finally taken the first step!" Qin Ming murmured softly.
"Once you take the first step, the second step isn't far behind!" Hong nodded.
Next, they saw planets, drifting space rocks, and even comets, yet the eternal keynote of space remained a silent stillness.
After the initial shock wore off, the novelty began to fade!
The four of them chatted among themselves, preventing the journey from feeling lonely.
"Big Brother, when did you break through?" Qin Ming asked.
"A month ago!" Hong smiled. "I had a sudden epiphany, sat in meditation for a month, and with the support of a large number of wood spirit crystal buds, I finally broke through. It wasn't until the day before yesterday that I completely consolidated my breakthrough and restrained my aura."
"Congratulations, Big Brother!"
"Compared to you, I'm still far behind," Hong said. "What about you? What level have you reached?"
The God of Thunder and Luo Feng also looked over.
They were equally curious about what level Qin Ming had actually attained.
After all, nearly two years ago, he had suppressed the Golden Horned Beast single-handedly. He was already a solid Planetary level back then, let alone now!
"If I say it out loud, I'm afraid it might crush your confidence?" Qin Ming smiled.
"We've long since gotten used to your crushing blows!" the God of Thunder said. "Back then, in terms of cultivation realm, looking across the whole of Earth, my level was the highest—even though I wasn't a match for Big Brother. Later on, I was first surpassed by you, and soon after, Big Brother caught up to me as well. I originally thought Little Four would spend a long time chasing after me, but who knew that through a soul-snatching possession, he'd ride a rocket ship and leave my big brother far behind."
"Now, Big Brother has broken through as well, leaving only me hanging around the ninth rank of the Planetary level!"
"Sigh, it's depressing!"
"Little Three, hurry up and tell us—what exact Star level have you reached? Give me some pressure. Let pressure turn into motivation, and who knows, maybe I'll break through soon!"
While complaining, the God of Thunder didn't forget to urge him for an answer.
"Qin Ming, I still want to spar with you!" Luo Feng said with a smile.
"Even if you unleash the Golden Horned Beast, I only need one slap to swat it away!" Qin Ming stopped keeping them in suspense and said, "Right now, I am at the sixth rank of the Star level!"
"Sixth rank of the Star level?" The God of Thunder shrieked.
Hong was struck dumb.
Even Luo Feng widened his eyes in shock.
They knew all too well how difficult it was to advance in rank once one reached the Star level. Generally speaking, without a few years of effort, one couldn't even raise their level by a single tier.
Under normal cultivation, going from the first rank of the Star level to the ninth rank required at least several decades.
On Earth, being able to advance one rank every ten years was already considered phenomenal.
Yet this guy had quietly reached the sixth rank of the Star level without them even noticing.
Even Luo Feng felt a sense of despair.
"Getting your ego crushed, aren't you?" Babata chimed in. "Don't talk about yourselves; even knowledgeable old me had my jaw drop in shock. You must know that the Golden Horned Beast Luo Feng possessed can continuously improve simply by devouring metal, without encountering the slightest bottleneck. The speed at which its cultivation grows would normally drive you to despair, but compared to Qin Ming, even the Golden Horned Beast would despair!"
"This isn't pressure anymore, this is pure emotional damage!" The God of Thunder wilted.
Hong could only shake his head.
After overcoming his shock, Luo Feng remained eager to try: "Qin Ming, my Golden Horned Beast has reached the second rank of the Star level, and coupled with the special secret techniques and innate secret techniques I've practiced, I might not necessarily lose to you!"
"Luo Feng, stop looking for a beating!" Babata discouraged him. "Back when you were gestating your human body using the Golden Horned Beast, Qin Ming's domain had already reached the ninth stage."
"Ninth-stage domain? Cough...!" Hong spat out a mouthful of tea.
The God of Thunder shivered violently.
"Ninth-stage domain?" Luo Feng's mouth hung open, and then he let out a vulgar curse. "There's no point in competing anymore. I only just realized that my former classmate is quite literally a humanoid starry sky behemoth—no, even more of a starry sky behemoth than a starry sky behemoth!"
He was thoroughly devastated.
Qin Ming only chuckled.
If he were to let them know the progress of his cultivation in the Cleaving Void Saber Technique and the Myriad Thread Flow, he wondered what kind of expressions they would make.
At that moment, Mars had arrived.