Focusing on my storage space… Was it even right to call it a storage space anymore? I had a few bunkers for storing items, but most of the space was no longer simply for storage. As the Earthly Dao had told me, it was a true world now.
Focusing on my… ‘inner world?’ I couldn’t help but notice that its boundary was now covered in a faint opalescent glimmer. Was this an embodiment of the Laws of Heaven and Earth?
After taking a moment to appreciate the changes to the world’s exterior, I focused my mind on what was happening inside of it.
People were panicking.
Everyone had just been going about their daily lives when, suddenly, they were all teleported into the middle of the apocalypse. Then, without even a word of explanation, I had forcibly shoved them into my inner world.
To say that people were panicking was an understatement.
I wasn’t sure exactly how many people the Earthly Dao had sent me, but it was definitely well over a thousand, and they were all in a frenzy to find their loved ones. With everyone spread out randomly across an area of two square kilometers, that wasn’t an easy task.
As I watched, several brawls broke out between various groups of anxious individuals who were all just searching for their family members. Thankfully, even though nearly everyone was a powerful cultivator, only a fraction of them could use their qi, so the damage these fights caused was minimal. Also, several King- and Emperor-level earth cultivators, people who could use their qi, were rapidly moving through the crowds, putting an end to the fighting, and calming things down.
Unsure of what I could do that wouldn’t just make the situation worse, I sought out ShouLi and the other members of the clan’s leadership.
When I found them in the town hall of the space’s small settlement, I was slightly surprised. I hadn’t kept track of the clan’s politics in recent years, so I hadn’t been aware that the clan’s leadership team had grown a bit.
Nine people sat around a large circular table, and they were clearly divided into three different groups. ShouLi was flanked by Liang and NiangBa, Mo sat between RuLan and Chang—one of the alchemists who had competed against Rudy—and GuiAi was joined by GuiMing and an older woman I didn’t recognize.
When I first looked in on them, Liang was in the middle of addressing the group.
“I have a team of earth cultivators out there trying to calm everyone down. They should be able to stop the rioting, but until we can tell everyone what’s happening, there are going to be problems.”
Mo shook his head. “We can’t say anything. Some of the people… They aren’t from the clan. Some are high-ranking members of the guilds, and some are random people I’ve never even seen before. I only had a few minutes to look around, so I can’t say who all has joined us, but I’m certain that there are people out there who haven’t taken the Oath. Telling them anything would mean breaking it.”
I had to wonder about this. The sanctity of an Oath was maintained by the Heavenly Dao. My inner world should be completely cut off from the Heavenly Dao, so while inside it, breaking an Oath probably wouldn’t have any effect.
NiangBa gave a soft snort. “Even without an Oath, what would you tell them? I don’t know what’s going on, do you?”
When everyone just grimaced, NiangBa let out a wry chuckle of amusement.
Everyone at the table was a Ruler—everyone except for the old woman—so, since I was in the Wastes, I couldn’t pull them out to talk to them directly. Instead, I pulled out a brush and a piece of paper, jotted down a note, and then sent it onto the table in front of ShouLi.
As you are all aware, you are currently inside my world orb. However, there are a few things that you need to be made aware of.
First, the calamity you witnessed was caused by this world advancing to become a true Small World. This should allow people to use and cultivate earth qi freely. In time, other elements will be unlocked, but that will take decades, possibly centuries.
Second, I must tell you an important truth. One that some of you may have already guessed at.
During the calamity of this world’s ascension, I died. This caused my blessing to activate. It sent me back in time, back to when I was only 16 years old, one year before any of you were even born. Right now, I am a 16-year-old boy sitting in the middle of the Su Clan’s training compound.
After reading these words aloud, ShouLi sank into her chair with a mix of confusion, depression, and hope on her face. However, looking around the room, I didn’t see any signs of actual surprise. Even though most people had been confined to the Nine Rivers Sect during my last life, it wouldn’t have been hard to find out a bit of information about the status of the Su Clan.
Something about ShouLi’s reaction was off, though. While reading about our trip back through time, her voice was too… excited. It was also too… desperate.
ShouLi looked up at the ceiling. “Ancestor, what… what comes next?”
Right now, there is no place for us on this continent. As Martial Emperors, you cannot enter the Wastes, and you cannot rejoin the Nine Rivers Sect. While we could try to find an empire or two to conquer, doing so would attract attention, and without the protections of the sect, the Sovereigns would be free to kidnap or kill anyone they wanted.
However, I believe I have a solution. The Wastes. I am not entirely sure yet, but I believe we will be able to set up an empire within the Wastes. A place where we can freely grow without needing to worry about anyone attacking us. To the best of my understanding, not even the Sovereigns will be able to touch us there.
This will take time, though. There is a Rank 7 formation blocking anyone above Grandmaster from entering the Wastes. I have been studying it, and I am pretty sure I know how part of it works, but it will take me time to fully understand the consequences of altering it. For now, I hope that you can all be patient.
After a few moments, he looked around, confused.
“F… Fang, what’s… going on?”
I patted him on the shoulder.
“Let me gather the others first so that I can fill everyone in all at once.” I looked at him sheepishly. “I might need a bit of help with this.”
Before he could respond, I looked away and subvocalized, “System, teleport the following people here: SuYin, Yan, JiaQi, LiTing, and LuYao.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 33,349,500 credits. 900,045,930,484 credits remaining.
I didn’t include Bao or Cao because they were both in the Twin Mountains Sect, and I wanted them to stay there, at least for the moment.
I also didn’t include YuLong’s sister, YuHua. She was still young, so she shouldn’t be in any sort of danger. Grabbing her now would only upset her parents unnecessarily.
The moment everyone appeared, I ran to the person nearest me, SuYin, and implanted the memories of her most recent life.
As I did this, JiaQi glared at me. “Who the hell are you? What are you doing?”
YuLong stepped in between us. “Please, calm down.”
Ignoring the two of them, I quickly turned to LiTing and implanted her memories as well.
JiaQi looked around like a cornered animal. LiTing and SuYin were in a trance as they processed their memories, YuLong was acting as my muscle, Yan had backed away and was eyeing everyone with suspicion, and LuYao was looking around in confusion.
Making her choice, JiaQi grabbed LuYao and pulled her away.
Ignoring the two of them, YuLong and I walked up to Yan, and I held out his orb.
“Take this.”
A series of thoughts flashed across his face, but eventually, he sighed and lifted the orb from my hand. The moment he did, I activated my Implantation ability.
Finally, I turned my attention to JiaQi and LuYao, who were running toward the edge of the plateau like scared rabbits.
“System, teleport LuYao to my side.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 500 credits. 900,045,929,984 credits remaining.
The moment she appeared, I forced her orb into her hand and activated my ability.
“System, teleport JiaQi to my side.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 500 credits. 900,045,929,484 credits remaining.
The moment she appeared, JiaQi swung a fist at my head.
Thankfully, YuLong was there to catch it.
I pulled out her orb, pressed it against her neck, and activated my ability.
Even after several minutes, LiTing and LuYao were still shaking from the experience of absorbing the memories from their orbs. Memories recorded ‘in the moment’ were much more vivid than those recorded after the fact, and the memories in these orbs had been recorded during the height of a lightning tribulation.
After giving everyone some time to calm down, I did my best to explain our situation.
“Like last time, I only want to give you all one life’s worth of memories at a time, but I thought it would be best if it was the most recent one so that you can all better grasp where things currently stand. Unfortunately, this may mean you are missing some basic knowledge, but that can’t be helped.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. “As for that tribulation… It was the result of interference from the Earthly Dao. I can explain things in more detail if you want, but, in short, my ‘world orb’ has advanced, and people can now cultivate inside of it. Only earth qi, though.”
YuLong nodded at this, but he didn’t seem too concerned about it. “What now?”
I smiled. “Now? Now, I plan to create a new empire in the Wastes. From what I’ve seen—from what I understand—it should be possible. This will take time, though.”
I looked at Yan. “If I understand things correctly, the Wastes will provide us with a fortress that is safe from Rulers and Sovereigns alike. I want to develop our forces here, and when we are ready, I want to strike out at the Zhuge Clan. However, like I said, this will take time. You can stay here and cultivate with us if you wish, or I can send you back.”
Yan tapped his fingers together a few times and then grinned maliciously. “Send me back. I think it’s time that I finally return to the Zhuge Clan and join them. It is the proper thing to do, after all.”
I nodded and looked at YuLong. “What about you? I believe I can build an empire here, but for the moment, only Warrior Tier cultivators can enter the Wastes. You can stay, you can go back and try doing your own thing, or you can try bringing your family here. Your choice.”
YuLong looked down in thought for several moments. “For now, I’ll stay, but we’ll see where things stand in a few years. Joining the Nine Rivers Sect feels like it would be a mistake, but I need to get karmic energy from somewhere. If you can open up the Wastes, staying here might be for the best, but if not, I’ll have to consider other options.”
After that, SuYin, LiTing, and LuYao all agreed to stay in the Wastes as well.
“SuYin, I would like you to rejoin the Verdant Fields Sect. I know that the memories I gave you don’t contain any information about it, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem. I’ll give you a Wood Essence Gathering Formation, and with it, you should be able to raise your affinity high enough to deal with any problems.”
SuYin slowly nodded. “Alright, Master, but… why?”
I grinned. “I want you to take it over. I want to control the Wastes, and the sects are a part of it. For now, try not to draw too much attention from outside forces, but try to put yourself in a position where you will be able to claim the title of Sect Master without too many complaints.”
SuYin was too stunned to respond, so I turned to JiaQi.
As I looked at her, my eyes widened in horror. “Oh… Oh no…”
JiaQi cocked her head to the side, confused.
“LuLu.”
Mimicking me, JiaQi’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh…”
“You heard everything. You can decide what you want to do. For now, I’m sending you back.”
Immediately, I turned away and subvocalized, “System, send JiaQi back to her carriage.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 1,884,000 credits. 900,044,045,484 credits remaining.
Hopefully, she would make it there in time to stop an Emperor-level deer from going on a rampage.
I turned my attention back to the rest of the group.
“System, send LiTing, LuYao, and YuLong to a secluded spot in Dragon Gate City. Send Yan back to South Gate City. And send SuYin to a secluded spot in the village on the outskirts of the Verdant Fields Sect.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 13,168,500 credits. 900,030,876,984 credits remaining.
Once everyone was gone, I nodded in satisfaction.
“System, send me back to my tiny house in the Su Clan.”
Purchase confirmed. Cost 1,071 credits. 900,030,875,913 credits remaining.