The Godly Extinctions raged for nearly half an hour.
Only then did they slowly fade away, and the annihilated void returned to silence.
The River of Fate still flowed on, calm and steady, as though nothing had ever happened.
Yet deep within the void, a faint light flickered, leaping across time and space unnoticed by anyone.
Looking closely, at its core lay a bead.
The Primordial Chaos Bead.
It carried Xu Zimo’s divine soul, threading its way through the countless bolts of Godly Extinction.
Like a lone skiff in a storm-tossed sea.
But this seemingly ordinary skiff was one the storm could not overturn.
The heavenly strikes could not destroy it. It passed through layer after layer of void, drawing ever closer to the River of Fate.
Just as it neared, the vast river suddenly stirred.
With a thunderous crash, its waters churned, sweeping through the void.
The Primordial Chaos Bead was instantly hurled far away.
Xu Zimo’s eyes hardened. His soul emerged from the pearl, Primordial Chaos Bead in hand, primordial energy spreading across his body.
Even with Heaven-Earth Dharma-Codex and God-Demon Creation Atlas, before the River of Fate he was still insignificant.
“Open!” Xu Zimo roared.
He wrapped himself in the Primordial Chaos Bead and charged straight into the River of Fate.
The river split open a gap, and his figure vanished within.
The River of Fate roiled, shaking the entire void. Outside, Godly Extinction raged, endlessly searching for Xu Zimo.
But it dared not strike, for fear of harming the River of Fate.
Only after a long while did the river gradually calm, and the heavenly wrath fell silent forevermore.
Then, in that empty world, there was a bang. Xu Zimo was flung out of the river.
Blood spilled into the void. Clinging to the Primordial Chaos Bead, he hastily retreated.
Tearing through the void, his body, battered and bleeding, fell back into the God World.
“Master!” Paimon and the others rushed to him.
But thanks to the Tree of Life within him, his wounds were already beginning to mend.
“I’m fine,” Xu Zimo waved off their attempts to heal him.
“How did you end up like this?” Infernal Archon Seven-Face asked.
In his memory, Xu Zimo had never suffered such severe injuries. And with Xu Zimo’s usual caution, he would never throw himself into danger recklessly.
Xu Zimo did not answer. His eyes stayed calm as he gazed at the sky.
He had gone to the River of Fate to confirm several doubts,
The identity of Miss Jing. The identity of Elder Zhuo. And the identity of the old man from Unfinished Palace.
He had barely glimpsed Miss Jing’s identity and nearly lost his soul.
Before he could even peer into the Unfinished elder’s fate, the backlash had already struck.
That horror was unlike anything Xu Zimo had ever known.
He hadn’t even the power to flee, if not for the Primordial Chaos Bead dragging him out, he would truly have been erased into nothingness.
The backlash of the River of Fate depended on the importance of what one sought.
If he probed the fate of an ordinary mortal, he could endure it.
Miss Jing’s fate was terrifying, but he survived.
But the old man of Unfinished Palace, Xu Zimo hadn’t even begun, and already he was nearly destroyed.
As for Elder Zhuo, he hadn’t even had the chance to look.
Xu Zimo fell silent. He felt as if everything was part of a vast snare. From the moment he became this generation’s Infernal Lord, from the moment of his resurrection, someone had been laying out the pieces.
He rose slowly from the ground.
“Master, are you truly all right?” Paimon and the others asked in concern.
“I’m fine,” Xu Zimo shook his head. “But we need to move faster.”
“You mean to break the seal on the Primordial Demon Cave?” Paimon asked.
“Yes. Otherwise, our strength is still too thin,” Xu Zimo nodded.
After a few brief instructions, he withdrew from the God World.
Though doubts gnawed at his heart, now was not the time to return to the River of Fate.
He rested a night at the inn. The next morning, Xu Zimo arrived at the northern gate. Miss Jing was already waiting there.
“You’re late,” she smiled.
“No matter, I knew you’d wait,” Xu Zimo replied.
“Let’s rent an Airship,” Miss Jing suggested. “That way we can reach Brahma City quickly and safely, without trouble along the way.”
Xu Zimo nodded. “I don’t know the customs here. You handle it.”
The two walked together toward Heaven’s docking grounds for Airships.
As they went, Miss Jing explained, “Brahma City was founded by Saint Sovereign Brahma himself, meant to link the ends of heaven and sea.”
“And what exactly is this so-called Heaven's End, Ocean's Edge?” Xu Zimo asked.
“An ancient land left behind from bygone eras,” Miss Jing replied. “Our Nine Heavens have passed through four great ages, the Primordial, the Ancient, the Desolate, and the Middle Age. The first two are nearly unseen today, but after the fall of the Desolate and Middle Ages, many ancient lands remained. Those places are rich in spiritforce and full of opportunities. Many people dwell within them. During his life, Saint Sovereign Brahma discovered that particular ancient land at the world’s edge, and of course it fell under his control. Later, when he vanished, it passed into the hands of his sect, the Brahma Monarch God Realm in the west.”
Xu Zimo nodded slightly.
As they spoke, they arrived at the Airship docks.
Before their eyes stretched fleets of millions of Airships. Like aircraft carriers, they had the shape of great vessels, yet each bore two wings.
With booming roars, the ships soared overhead, swift as lightning. They ran only on spirit stones, fast, reliable, and convenient.
“Once, in North River City, there was a superpower called the Gongsun Imperial Clan,” Miss Jing said. “Their founder, Gongsun Shu, was a true genius of mechanisms. He believed machinery could replace manpower. He invented these Airships. They spread across the Nine Heavens like wildfire. And his battle puppets, the strongest of them could fight even Grand Emperors.”
“So powerful?” Xu Zimo raised a brow.
“I’m telling you, the other eight domains look down on us here in the Mortal Ascension Heaven, thinking it’s the most backward world.” Miss Jing laughed softly. “But even here, people have risen to fame across all Nine Heavens.”
They reached the rental yard.
But to their surprise, every Airship had already been taken. There were no private rentals left, only shared passage with others.
Miss Jing frowned slightly. It was the first time she’d ever heard of ships running out.
After all, North River City was the birthplace of Airships. Such a thing had never happened before.
“Where are you headed?” the manager asked.
“To Brahma City,” Miss Jing replied.
“Perfect,” the manager chuckled. “There’s a ship bound for Brahma City right now. You two can share it with the others.”