“Right. They had to have been calling for reinforcements.” Eastherd’s face turned solemn. “Our return to Vastheaven Palace will probably be a difficult one.”

“Difficult?” Ji Ning looked at Eastherd.

“What difficulties are there?” Pillsaint asked.

“The feud between Clearwind Temple and our Vastheaven Palace is an old one. Both sides have accumulated countless grievances over the course of many years. You could call us ‘mortal enemies’, I suppose. They aren’t any weaker than us,” Eastherd said. “Clearwind Temple has four Daolords, one of which is a Daolord of the Fourth Step. Two are at the third step, while one is a Daolord of the First Step who only broke through thanks to a Pseudo Samsara Pill. Just now, when you attacked, those five World-level cultivators all shattered their jade medallions to send out distress calls. When Clearwind Temple notices so many of its cultivators sending out distress signals simultaneously, they’ll send at least a Daolord of the Third Step. They might even send out their Daolord of the Fourth Step, Patriarch Clearwind himself.”

“A Daolord of the Fourth Step,” Pillsaint murmured softly. The nearby Su Youji looked rather solemn as well.

Ning nodded, then smiled. “No need to worry. Use generals to deal with soldiers, use earth to defend against floods.”

He felt quite confident. He had five mighty golems by his side; he truly wasn’t worried about most Daolords of the Third Step. In addition, the Brightshore Kingdom’s star map was so incredibly detailed that it even included information regarding the Daolords of Clearwind Temple.

Clearwind Temple only had a single member who would pose a threat to Ning. That person was the temple’s founder, Patriarch Clearwind. He was extremely formidable, on par with Daolord Solesky! Even amongst Daolords of the Fourth Step, he was extremely formidable.

“If we really are so unlucky as to encounter Patriarch Clearwind, I’ll have no choice but to use up one of my Dao-seals,” Ning mused to himself. “If that really does end up happening… I’ll just chalk it up to helping Vastheaven Palace get rid of a mortal enemy.”

The deceased Hegemon’s Dao-seals possessed unfathomable power and could easily slay Daolords of the Fourth Step. Alas, Ning only had two such Dao-seals. He wasn’t willing to use them unless absolutely necessary. These items couldn’t simply be purchased anywhere!

……

The flying vessel continued to advance at high speed. Aboard the vessel, Eastherd said with worry, “The Daolords of Clearwind Temple can move much faster than us. It’ll take us half a year to reach Vastheaven Palace, but that’ll be more than enough time for them to catch up to us.”

“Mm.” Ning nodded. He was roughly comparable to ordinary Daolords of the Third Step in speed, but if they elected to pursue him they would send Daolords who were skilled in movement techniques or in the manipulation of space.

“Why don’t we take a roundabout path?” Ning suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Pillsaint said immediately. “Vastheaven Palace isn’t that far off anyhow. I’d rather we take a long detour and spend an extra year or two. That way, we can avoid some trouble.”

“Right.” Eastherd revealed a slightly embarrassed look on his face. “There’s… something else I need to disclose.”

“Please feel free to say anything,” Ning said.

Eastherd waved his hand, causing another figure to appear on the armored deck of the flying vessel. It was a very muscular youth whose skin was tinged with red. Flames were brimming in his eyes, while his head was completely bald. He actually looked like a Fiendgod who had been birthed from flames.

“Master.” The youth immediately fell to his knees.

“This gentleman over here is your uncle-master, Darknorth.” Eastherd introduced the nearby Ji Ning.

“My respects, Uncle-Master.” The youth was extremely respectful.

Eastherd continued, “This is the young disciple I spoke to you about earlier. His name is Sparrow and he’s quite talented.”

“To become an Elder God within twenty thousand years of cultivation… he is indeed quite talented,” Ning praised.

“This disciple of mine offended Clearwind Temple because he sought to harvest a certain treasure to rescue his Dao-companion,” Eastherd said.

“Save his Dao-companion?” Ning’s heart suddenly shook. He once more glanced at the flame-wreathed youth before him, his gaze much softer than before.

“Just now, he begged me to send him back to his homeland and let him save his Dao-companion.” Eastherd looked at Ning rather awkwardly. “But my disciple’s homeland is within a territory that’s close to Clearwind Temple. It’s entirely possible that we’ll run into one of their Daolords.”

Ning laughed. “Haha, I imagine Clearwind Temple wouldn’t expect us to actually dare to double back! And, based on what I understand, none of those four are skilled in Numerancy. We’ve already chosen to take a roundabout path; we might as well first pay a visit to young Sparrow’s homeland.”

“Thank you, uncle-master Darknorth.” Sparrow felt tremendously grateful. He actually knew that this request of his was rather excessive. This had started out as a rather minor matter, but things only grew worse and worse, causing the World-level cultivators of both sides to get involved. However, he truly was worried about his Dao-companion. He was afraid that if he took too much time, his Dao-companion’s truesoul would disperse.

……

A silver flying shuttle gleamed with light as it hurtled through the emptiness of space.

Within this flying shuttle sat a Daolord who was dressed in handsome silver robes. Behind him stood two World-level cultivators who awaited his commands. The rules of Clearwind Temple were actually quite strict.

“Darknorth of Vastheaven Palace?” The silver-robed Daolord sat there, murmuring softly to himself. “Such audacity.”

“This ‘Darknorth’ actually dared to attack within the territory under our control. He really is courting death,” one of the World-level disciples below him said.

“Don’t underestimate him.” The silver-robed Daolord said calmly, “Based on what I saw when I inverted the flows of spacetime, Darknorth was actually able to defeat the five of them with just his sword-intent alone. He even has two Daolords of the First Step as his retainers. He most likely has reached incredible heights in the Dao of the Sword. He may have even mastered a Supreme Dao!”

“But… no matter what, he’s still just a World-level cultivator. When facing me, the only result will be his death.” The silver-robed Daolord was quite confident. He was a Daolord of the Third Step. Not even the likes of Bertulu or Eastcult would be able to match him unless they first broke through to become Daolords of the First Step.

“Given what a high level of enlightenment he has reached, he must have had many strange encounters.” The silver-robed Daolord silently calculated what he should do. “I’ll capture him first. By then, his treasures will be mine.”

……

Swoosh.

A flying vessel landed atop an ice-locked, ice-covered region. The cultivators who emerged from the vessel where Ji Ning, Pillsaint, Su Youji, Eastherd, and Elder God Sparrow.

“This is one of the dangerous areas in my homeland,” Sparrow said. “This entire region is completely ice-locked, up to a distance of eight hundred million kilometers. Below it is an essence of utter cold. I sent my Dao-companion deep into that essence, relying on its power to seal her away into ice and ensure that the poison in her body slows its spread.”

Ning swept out his godsense, only to discover that there was indeed a cave hidden extremely deep within the ice. Within lay a woman who was sealed in ice.

“Go. Hurry up and save your Dao-companion,” Ning said with a laugh.

“Dumb kid, why didn’t you just ask me to come save your Dao-companion? Why did you have to take the risk of harvesting the antidote?” Eastherd shook his head.

“I couldn’t find you, Master,” Sparrow said in a low voice.

Eastherd was speechless. Although he had been occasionally watching his disciple in secret, he had spent the majority of the past twenty thousand years in secluded meditation. As his disciple grew increasingly powerful, Eastherd spent less and less time watching over him.

When Sparrow’s Dao-companion had been in danger, Sparrow had wanted to ask his master for assistance. However, he couldn’t even locate his master.

“Hurry up and go,” Eastherd barked.

“Yes.” Sparrow didn’t dare to say anything else. He immediately used an evasion skill to delve deep into the icy ground.

Enough time passed for a kettle of tea to be boiled. Two figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere atop the ice, one tall and muscular, the other slender and petite. The tall one was naturally Sparrow, while the slender one was a green-robed woman. The affection and love between the two was clearly quite deep, and it would only grow stronger after sharing this tribulation together.

“Thank you, Master. Thank you, Uncle-Master. Thank you for saving our lives.” Sparrow fell to his knees, as did the green-robed woman next to him.

“Hmph.” Eastherd accepted the obeisance in a calm manner. He had nearly died this time, after all.

Ning smiled and nodded, but he had a complicated look in his eyes. These two Dao-companions had been reunited… but how long would it be before him and Yu Wei would be?

Su Youji glanced at Ning, a hint of a blissful smile on her face. “Although the person in Master’s heart is not me, at least I’m the only one who follows him and am the one by his side from dawn til dusk. It is enough.”

“Because of you, I ended up fighting multiple World-level cultivators of Clearwind Temple. In fact, I’m afraid that even their Daolords might be getting involved now.” Eastherd continued, “Sparrow, my disciple, I’m afraid that Clearwind Temple isn’t going to just give up on chasing you. They are now chasing after both me and your uncle-master, and they’ll probably take revenge upon you as well. But… it’s for the best, I suppose. Come with me to Vastheaven Palace. As for your homeland, take what you can with you. The Vastheaven Territory is quite vast indeed.”

“Understood.” Sparrow and his Dao-companion both understood. That very day, the two of them teleported away some large continents, mountains, and rivers, then joined Ning and Eastherd in leaving this land and heading forth towards Vastheaven Palace.

……

In the blink of an eye, more than four years went past since Ning’s clash against Clearwind Temple.

A silver shuttle was halted in midair within the emptiness of space.

“Master, if we advance any further we’ll be in the Vastheaven Territory.” Two of the World-level disciples were rather uneasy.

“Vastheaven Territory.” The silver-robed Daolord, Daolord Blesswind, stared off into the distance. Indeed, the territory up ahead was the Vastheaven Territory!