Chapter 3: Star Chart

Prefect Cui said, "When you became a disciple of Patriarch Bodhi, your parents from your previous life were still alive, so I changed their fate, allowing them to live peacefully past a hundred years. Afterward, they reincarnated into other bliss worlds, naturally smooth and favorable."

Ji Ning nodded lightly.

Being able to live an ordinary life and reach a hundred years was not bad.

"Reincarnating into other bliss worlds?" Ji Ning was puzzled.

"The many small worlds created by Goddess Nüwa in other time dimensions are all bliss worlds," Prefect Cui said. "The Six Paths of Reincarnation collapsed, but reincarnation in these bliss worlds was unaffected. Even if they die and are reborn, they still reincarnate into bliss worlds—maybe Earth, maybe other bliss worlds."

"But didn't I enter the underworld back then?" Ji Ning pressed.

"Because I chose you," Prefect Cui said. "Those small worlds are bliss worlds. But you were chosen by me to cultivate immortality... and those small worlds are too small, not very suitable for immortal cultivation. So I directly moved your soul into the underworld."

Ji Ning understood.

No wonder.

In all these years, he had never encountered a second reincarnated soul from Earth. It turned out Earth belonged to a bliss world, and without special circumstances, souls would never reincarnate into those major worlds.

"I wonder if this bliss world can survive the coming calamity," Prefect Cui said softly. "By the way, I heard you killed the Four Imperial Sovereigns of the Ancient Ruins?"

"Yes," Ji Ning nodded.

"You should have obtained their legacies. Look through them and see if there's a star chart," Prefect Cui said. "A star chart records routes through the endless chaos. From ancient times to now, we've killed many chaos outsiders. The more powerful ones like Luohou and Lord of All Things had subordinates at the True God or Daofather level. We've slain many and obtained some star charts, but the more complete the better."

Ji Ning paused, then smiled: "I haven't checked yet. Prefect Cui, please wait a moment."

Star chart...

The endless chaos was vast and boundless, filled with dangers. Even the Three Realms had perils like Earthmoan Mountain and Endless Sea, but the dangers in chaos were far more terrifying.

Even World Gods, flying recklessly within it, could get lost or even die in desperate situations. Thus, route maps were necessary, just as mortals needed sea charts. When gods and demons traveled through the endless chaos, they needed star charts! The name 'star chart' came from the main method of travel in chaos—

Teleportation via 'spacetime teleportation arrays'!

Chaos was too vast; slowly void-shifting as gods and demons was too slow. 'Spacetime teleportation arrays' were forged by ancient beings in the endless chaos, using many stars as foundations. One could teleport from one array to another far away.

Through repeated teleportations, one could reach desired places faster.

Because 'spacetime teleportation arrays' were forged using huge stars as array bases, the maps recording routes were called 'star charts'.

"Some immortals and demons destroy star charts after viewing them," Bodhi added. "Others keep them for trade. So when we slay outsiders, we occasionally obtain star charts. The stronger the being, the broader and more complete their star chart usually is."

"Found one."

Ji Ning suddenly showed joy. He flipped his hand and brought out a metallic scroll. Unrolling it, the metal-like page shimmered with tiny lights.

"Each light represents a spacetime teleportation array," Bodhi pointed at the star chart, clearly familiar with it. "These inconspicuous dots are chaos worlds."

"Three spacetime teleportation arrays, seven hundred twenty-one chaos worlds," Ji Ning murmured.

"Quite crude," Fuxi said, shaking his head.

"Very crude. It seems the owner of this star chart was of average strength," Prefect Cui also shook his head. This chart was left by the Imperial Sovereign of Netherdark. When he followed the Lord of All Things, he wasn't as strong as now; getting such a crude chart was already decent.

"Ji Ning, come with me," Prefect Cui said. "From ancient times to now, we've collected many star charts and compiled them into a grand star chart. I'll take you to see it."

"Oh?"

Ji Ning's heart stirred, and he quickly followed.

He had sworn a lifeblood oath to find the Heavenly Astral Palace. Although Northrest World God had left him a very vast star chart, Northrest had fled through dangerous places to escape, losing his own way back. That vast chart clearly covered a region deep in the endless chaos, temporarily useless to Ji Ning.

"A grand star chart? I hope it overlaps with Northrest World God's chart. Then reaching the Heavenly Astral Palace would be much easier," Ji Ning thought. But he also knew that Northrest had stayed in the Three Realms for a long time without finding a way back. The hope of overlap was slim.

...

A moment later.

Ji Ning, Bodhi, Fuxi, and Prefect Cui arrived before an elegant wooden house.

Prefect Cui waved his hand, and a metal scroll flew out from the house. It unrolled automatically, rapidly expanding into a huge membrane-like wall suspended in the air, a hundred zhang long, covered with countless stars. At the center was a massive light like a sun.

"This is the star chart we compiled," Prefect Cui said, pointing at the giant chart. "We obtained star charts from chaos outsiders of various eras. In ancient times, when Goddess Nüwa roamed the chaos, she encountered a chaos outsider named 'Qiusa' and slew him, obtaining a very detailed star chart. Our grand chart is mainly contributed by that 'Qiusa'."

Ji Ning was astonished.

Such a detailed star chart!

"This star chart records twenty-one spacetime teleportation arrays and eighty-six thousand one hundred twelve chaos worlds," Prefect Cui marveled. "When I first learned there were so many chaos worlds in the endless chaos, I was stunned."

"Over eighty thousand chaos worlds, and our Three Realms is just a remote corner," Bodhi sighed.

Ji Ning was merely amazed at the chart's detail; he wasn't surprised by the number of chaos worlds, having seen Northrest's chart.

"This chart has twenty-one arrays and over eighty thousand chaos worlds, a vast region... yet Northrest World God's chart has no record of it," Ji Ning thought. "It seems reaching the Heavenly Astral Palace will be very difficult. Fortunately, I have a chaos cycle of time."

"Look," Prefect Cui pointed at a dim dot in the northernmost corner of the giant chart. "This dot represents our Three Realms."

"The Three Realms is here?" Ji Ning was surprised. "Then we should easily reach other chaos worlds."

"No," Bodhi shook his head.

"It's not that easy," Fuxi also shook his head, pointing at the chart. "Zoom in."

Prefect Cui nodded, and the chart immediately magnified a hundred times, becoming ten thousand zhang long. The remote Three Realms became much more prominent.

"This is our Three Realms," Fuxi pointed at the dot. "From ancient times to now, no outsiders have ever invaded from other directions. All outsiders came to our Three Realms through this 'Vortex Space'."

"The environment around our Three Realms is very harsh, with many unknown dangers. To reach the Three Realms, one must come through this Vortex Space," Fuxi indicated.

Ji Ning observed carefully, quickly memorizing.

Having a safe route through chaos was crucial.

"These harsh environments also protect our Three Realms, making it difficult for chaos outsiders to enter. They must survive the perilous 'Vortex Space' to get here," Fuxi said. "Thus, from ancient times to now, we've encountered only a few chaos outsiders."

"Vortex Space?" Ji Ning was puzzled. "Did Goddess Nüwa leave through this Vortex Space?"

"Yes."

Fuxi nodded. "To reach the Three Realms, one must enter through Vortex Space. To leave the Three Realms, one can only exit through Vortex Space. If one can safely reach the other end, then it's easy to reach those chaos worlds."

"What is this huge light like a sun?" Ji Ning pointed at the massive brightness at the center of the entire star chart.

Fuxi, Bodhi, and Prefect Cui looked at that huge light, their eyes burning with passion.

"It is called the Da Mo Eternal Realm," Fuxi said softly.