If anyone with keen eyesight were to look closely, they would discover it wasn’t a blood moon at all, but an impossibly massive serpent.

Its body, like a continuous mountain range, stretched majestically across the night sky, currently coiled into a sphere.

A strange, bloody light shimmered on the surface of its black scales. Though motionless, it gave one the distinct impression of being alive.

This was no illusion. The event from half a month ago was no secret. While not everyone on Earth Star witnessed it, information traveled at incredible speeds in this digital age. It took only half an hour

for news about it to hit the headlines of every major news outlet, social media platform, and short-form video app.

But there was something strange.

No matter what equipment was used to photograph it, the result was always a blurry, pixelated mess.

It could only be seen clearly with the naked eye.

Some people, either because they hadn’t seen it themselves or out of morbid curiosity, tempted fate by insisting on staring at the giant serpent.

As a result, they suffered mental breakdowns and were reduced to drooling imbeciles.

After this news broke, everyone began to avoid looking at the coiled serpentine mass as if it were the plague, not daring to gaze at it for any extended period.

Compared to ordinary people, some Secret Martial Artists had stronger Resistance, but they were still affected.

Only Refining God Venerables who had opened the Celestial Heart Divine Treasure, broken through the Divine Barrier, and ignited the Three Gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit could manage to ignore the interference.

Therefore, regardless of whether they were ordinary people or Secret Martial Artists, no one could stop a sliver of panic from rising in their hearts when they thought of this thing.

Although the Xia Federation issued a bulletin stating that there was no danger as long as people didn’t look at it,

it wasn’t enough to completely eliminate the public’s fear.

During the day, the sun’s light concealed it, making it less obvious. But once night fell, people didn’t dare to look up at the sky.

Some even claimed the black serpent was an incarnation of the Grim Reaper and that staring at it for too long would get your soul reaped.

There was no shortage of such fear-mongering rumors.

This situation only died down after the authorities arrested a few batches of rumor-spreaders, providing them with room and board.

Regardless, any sane person wouldn’t dare to look at the thing. They wouldn’t even go out at night unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, the world has never been short of thrill-seekers, adventurers, and daredevils who court death. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Even knowing that prolonged staring could easily lead to mental collapse and madness,

some people still tried to observe it, and they even figured out a system.

They discovered that as long as they set an alarm in advance and timed it just right,

they could avoid the disastrous consequences.

...

In the countryside, the nights were free of the city’s clamor and glamour, filled only with the rustle of wind sweeping through the fields and the occasional chirp of insects.

On the roof of a two-story bungalow,

stood an astronomical telescope. Its barrel was aimed at a certain point in the night sky, its white frame glinting with a cold, metallic sheen under the moonlight.

"To be able to ignore the harsh conditions of space—the radiation, the low pressure, the vacuum... It’s simply a miracle of the Creator.

And a body this massive... it defies all scientific principles.

It can’t be a carbon-based life form. Could it be... some kind of silicon-based organism...?"

A middle-aged man with disheveled hair and a stubbled face was observing the black serpent coiled in space through the eyepiece.

His eyes were filled with obsession, as if he were gazing upon the most perfect creation in the world.

RING RING RING!

Just then, the ringtone of a nearby phone suddenly blared.

Hearing the sound, the man reluctantly tore his gaze away.

He had a reclusive personality and was a zoologist.

He loved nothing more than to delve into the animal kingdom through field observation, experimental research, and data analysis.

After learning about the incident half a month ago,

he couldn’t resist buying an astronomical telescope to get a more detailed look.

In the city, openly staring at the entity was forbidden—getting caught was treated as a crime.

Furthermore, the city’s severe smog made it difficult to get a clear view of the night sky.

That was why he had returned to his hometown.

No matter how many times he looked, the sense of awe the giant serpent inspired in him never diminished in the slightest.

’What a shame. If only I could touch it.’

As he thought this, he prepared to pull his gaze away.

A single observation of the ’blood moon’ couldn’t exceed thirty seconds; he had to rest for half an hour between viewings.

Otherwise, he risked mental collapse, psychosis, and total confusion.

Just then, however, he caught something in his peripheral vision.

A jolt of excitement shot through him, and he quickly aimed the telescope at the sky once more.

"The... the giant serpent... it’s moving!"

In the boundless expanse of space, the body of the black serpent—previously coiled and motionless, as large as a planet—suddenly stirred.

Its tightly shut eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of Crimson, slitted pupils.

The instant he saw those Crimson pupils,

the middle-aged man was hit by an unimaginable psychic assault. The blood vessels in his sockets swelled like writhing earthworms, threatening to burst, and his eyes turned completely blood-red.

The next moment, a horrifying scene unfolded.

With a dull THUD, the man’s head exploded like a ruptured watermelon, splattering red and white matter everywhere.

THUMP.

The headless body slammed onto the roof, and the thick stench of blood filled the air.

This man’s fate was not an isolated incident.

Some, in their quest for a better view, had used even more sophisticated instruments.

And just like him, the moment they saw those blood-red pupils, their heads exploded, reducing them to headless corpses.

Among the victims were even some Secret Martial Artists.

For a time, gasps of shock and horrified screams echoed endlessly.

By the time anyone could process what was happening, they realized the giant ’blood moon’ that had been hanging in the sky had vanished without a trace.

...

「In the boundless, empty, silent expanse of space.」

Hu Qi opened his eyes.

The part of his abdomen that had been massively swollen was now flat.

He had completely digested Mother Earth.

Suddenly, lines of blood-red text began to appear before his eyes.

Modification Point +3 (13%)

Modification Point +6 (39%)

...

"Hm?"

Hu Qi instantly understood what had happened.

He immediately reined in the terrifying Power of the Heart that was leaking from him.

His power was now so immense that even the unconscious leakage of his Power of the Heart could cause unimaginable harm to any ordinary person who saw him.

Fortunately, he was in space. Had he been on Earth Star, the death toll would have been far higher.

With this thought,

his massive serpentine body began to shrink and contract, transforming back into his human form as Hu Qi.

After days of digestion, he had also gained full control over the silvery-white light radiating from his body, retracting it completely.

He glanced around.

He didn’t linger.

He took a single step, and ripples spread through the void.

His figure faded and vanished.

When he reappeared,

he was already in the Valley of the Earth Abyss, deep within the Inner Earth World.

On the cracked ground, rivers of lava still flowed in some places, while in others, they had already cooled and solidified.

The thick scent of sulfur hung in the air.

Hu Qi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes gazing down at the churning lava below.

He lifted his foot slightly and stomped. In an instant, an invisible ripple spread rapidly outward from him.

The scorching lava on the ground seemed compelled by some mysterious force, parting to either side as if pushed away by a pair of invisible, giant hands, like the parting of the Red Sea.

Seeing this, Hu Qi strode forward.

The surrounding lava radiated heat intense enough to warp the very air, and terrifying waves of heat washed over him. Yet, to Hu Qi, it had no effect whatsoever.

His expression was nonchalant, the hem of his clothes fluttering gently in the hot wind.

Before long,

the surrounding lava was gone.

In its place was a massive cave entrance.

Looking up, he saw the fiery-red lava, radiating terrifying heat, roiling overhead like a crimson ocean.

Yet not a single drop could enter this place.

He couldn’t even feel a hint of the intense heat.

It was as if everything was held back by some Invisible Power.

And none of this was Hu Qi’s doing.

It was because of something within the cave.

As Hu Qi walked into the cave,

stalactites of all sizes hung from the cavern ceiling, some as thin as needles, others as thick as pillars.

Light from the lava above filtered through cracks in the rock, illuminating the dry ground and stalactites, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow.

He hadn’t walked far

when Hu Qi came to a halt.

His gaze fell upon a certain spot ahead, and a lush green light illuminated his face.

’So this is the Spirit Realm Sea Eye?’