Chapter 3 The Teleportation Array

Seeing these five, the old demon Qi Xiu felt his very soul tremble. He swallowed hard and said respectfully, "Greetings, five seniors."

Heavens?

He should have been the pinnacle of this world, invincible—how could there be beings far more terrifying than him?

"I have some questions for you," said Feng Yi Xinjun with a smile.

"Please ask, senior." Qi Xiu was inwardly cautious, yet he did not notice that deep within his heart, he was beginning to trust the thin, red-robed, bald young man before him.

"What is this continent called?" Feng Yi asked.

"This continent is vast, spanning hundreds of billions of li in both directions," said Qi Xiu. "Because it teems with countless mortal beings, we also call it the 'Mortal Realm.'"

Feng Yi nodded slightly. "Is there any way to leave the Mortal Realm and go to another continent?"

"Only one way: take the ancient teleportation array to the Spirit Immortal Realm," said Qi Xiu.

"Spirit Immortal Realm?" Feng Yi pressed. Ji Ning, Qingheng, Huo Jin, and Tianhuo Mangya, who were listening, all smiled—they could leave this place.

The edges of this continent were surrounded by spatial storms, with no escape.

They had to first teleport to another continent, then leave.

"There is only one ancient teleportation array on the entire continent," said Qi Xiu. "It is said that in the distant past, a great power from the Spirit Immortal Realm descended and personally set up this ancient teleportation array. The cultivators of our Mortal Realm simply cannot arrange such a complex ancient array."

Ji Ning and the others smiled. A great power from the Spirit Immortal Realm setting up an ancient teleportation array? It was probably a Dao Lord who personally arranged a spacetime teleportation array.

"In our Mortal Realm, the world's energy is thin; forming a Nascent Soul is already remarkable. Cultivating to the 'Divine Transformation' stage is even harder," said Qi Xiu. "Thus, countless Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables from all over the Mortal Realm gather here and travel through the ancient teleportation array to the Spirit Immortal Realm. According to some Divine Transformation venerables who have returned from the Spirit Immortal Realm, the world's energy there is far richer than in our Mortal Realm, making cultivation easier and increasing the hope of surviving the tribulation."

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

What they called Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation were merely terms for one type of qi refinement.

In the Three Realms, there were the stages of Zifu, Wanxiang, Yuanshen, Returning to Void, and Tribulation Transcendence—the most complete qi refinement methods in the Three Realms.

In the endless territories, and even in other universes, the mortal stages before becoming an Immortal had various qi cultivation methods with different names.

"Where is the ancient teleportation array?" Feng Yi pressed.

"Here is a map." Qi Xiu immediately brought out the map he treasured.

Feng Yi glanced at it, then also searched Qi Xiu's memories, erasing everything that had just happened.

"Let's go," said Feng Yi. The five of them vanished into thin air.

"What happened?" Qi Xiu looked around. "I feel like something's off..." He frowned, trying to think, but couldn't figure it out.

Afterward, Ji Ning and the others found two other 'Divine Transformation' cultivators who were considered extremely powerful on this continent and chatted with them. Everything was much as Qi Xiu had said.

...

Riding on clouds, Ji Ning and the other four looked down at the land.

"The world's energy on this continent is indeed thin," Ji Ning nodded. "For mortals, cultivation becomes difficult."

If there were no energy at all, cultivation would be impossible.

The energy on this continent barely allowed cultivation to the Yuanshen Daoist stage; reaching the Returning to Void Earth Immortal stage was extremely difficult. The old demon Qi Xiu they had questioned earlier, judged by the standards of the Three Realms, was at the Returning to Void Earth Immortal stage.

"It's because of the formation covering the entire continent," said Feng Yi. "This formation spans the whole continent, drawing in vast amounts of surrounding power. As a result, the world's energy on this continent becomes very thin! But thanks to this formation, it can also neutralize those spatial storms."

"The Spirit Immortal Realm is probably another continent with normal world's energy," said Huo Jin. "But the beings of this continent call it the 'Spirit Immortal Realm.'"

"Differences in the density of world's energy naturally create a hierarchy."

Talking and laughing, Ji Ning and the others soon rode clouds, tearing through space to arrive at the location of the ancient teleportation array.

Looking from afar.

The ancient teleportation array occupied an extremely vast area; the formation itself spanned billions of li, and its core was intricate and complex.

"It really is a spacetime teleportation array," Ji Ning and the others recognized at a glance.

"Wow, it's bustling," said Prince Qingheng, looking down in amazement.

"The so-called Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables are truly numerous," Feng Yi also laughed. Because this was the only ancient teleportation array on the entire continent, it attracted countless Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables from all over, making this place extremely prosperous. A huge city had been built here.

Within the city, almost everywhere were Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables, numbering in the billions.

Ji Ning was secretly amazed. This continent spanned hundreds of billions of li, far larger than the entire Three Realms. Although it was far inferior in quality to the Three Realms, its vast size made it easy to gather billions of Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables. If they were scattered across the continent, each would be a regional overlord.

"Let's enter the city."

"Let's go take a look."

Walking through the city, Ji Ning and the others headed straight for the core of the spacetime teleportation array.

"I've been stuck at the late Nascent Soul stage for too long, but the world's energy is thin. I failed twice in breaking through to Divine Transformation. Once I reach the Spirit Immortal Realm, I can achieve Divine Transformation, and even hope to survive the tribulation and ascend," some Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables were saying to each other.

"I've reached the early Divine Transformation stage, but I can't improve further—the world's energy is too thin. In the Spirit Immortal Realm, maybe I can become a Celestial Immortal."

"This ancient teleportation array opens once every hundred years. There are still sixty-one years to go. The wait is truly agonizing."

"Brother, you've waited thousands of years; what's a few decades?"

Throughout the city, the countless Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables almost all had eyes full of anticipation.

In this Mortal Realm, their path of cultivation had reached a dead end.

Only by going to the Spirit Immortal Realm could they continue.

None of them knew that the five seemingly ordinary men walking beside them, even brushing past them, were almighty beings with heaven-defying power! Even the Celestial Immortals they dreamed of could be annihilated by the billions at a flick of these five's fingers.

"Once every hundred years?" Tianhuo Mangya frowned. "This spacetime teleportation array only opens once every hundred years."

"Each opening consumes some energy. When that great power built this spacetime teleportation array, he left behind some chaos crystals as a lure, absorbing the surrounding free world energy and cosmic force to accumulate. It takes a hundred years of accumulation to gather enough for one activation," said Feng Yi Xinjun. "I suspect the Spirit Immortal Realm is a relatively close continent, so it can be activated once a century. If it were farther, once a millennium would be normal."

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

In the endless territories, spacetime teleportation arrays could be activated at any time as long as one was willing to pay chaos nectar.

In the ancient domain of the other universe, it was a free service provided by the great powers. Or perhaps arranged by the 'Divine Destruction Court.'

"Let's go find a place to wait. We'll come back in sixty-one years," said Feng Yi.

"We have no choice," Tianhuo Mangya said helplessly.

Although they could infuse energy and forcibly activate the array.

But once the spacetime teleportation array was activated, whether on this continent or the one they were teleporting to, if a Dao Lord was living in seclusion, they would immediately notice something was wrong. Because the array opened once a century, an early activation would definitely be suspicious.

Ji Ning and the others could only wait patiently.

...

On this continent, at a place called 'Dongshan.'

Ji Ning and the other four lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests, occasionally drinking and making merry, occasionally fishing by the lake, occasionally sparring and competing. They passed the time leisurely, quietly waiting for the day the spacetime teleportation array would activate.

"Splash."

With a pull of the fishing rod, a large fish leaped out of the water and fell to the ground nearby, still flopping about.

"Haha, we'll have fish soup," said Ji Ning, carrying his fish basket and rod as he walked through the forest. He had lived here for over thirty years, living like a mortal.

"Hum, hum, hum." Not far away came a continuous sound.

Ji Ning walked over.

A young man in simple clothes, his sideburns already white, sat there pulling a wooden drill, boring holes into a piece of wood.

The wooden drill spun, making a humming sound.

"I haven't seen you before," Ji Ning said with a smile. "New here?"

"Just moved in." The young man with white sideburns looked up and smiled at Ji Ning.

"Young as you are, you don't live in the city or a village, but alone in this desolate deep mountain. That's strange," said Ji Ning, shouldering his fishing rod.

"Being alone might be better," said the young man.

Ji Ning paused, then smiled.

Interesting. He could tell at a glance that this young man was under thirty, but his eyes were as calm as the sea, and his state of mind seemed extraordinary—better than many Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Transformation venerables. Ji Ning regarded him with new respect.

"My name is Beiming. I live just a li or two ahead. By the way, what's your name?" Ji Ning laughed.

"My name is Qingzhu," said the young man, continuing to pull the wooden drill.