The Silent World’s Puppet Master

Within the desolate void of the Ancient Ruins, waves of spatial turbulence ceaselessly crashed against one another.

Whoosh.

A spatial vortex appeared in the void. From within it stepped a white-robed youth. He stood there, gazing into the distance at the vast, endless continent of ruins that stretched before him.

“According to what my master told me, the forces led by Fuxi and Tathagata are currently in the Silent World.” A flickering light burned within Ji Ning’s eyes, and the distant landmass became clear. He quickly locked onto a region in the far distance of the endless continent of ruins. “That’s it. That’s the Silent World.”

The Ancient Ruins had been divided up by many different alien races, split into many different worlds.

The closer one was to the core, the more powerful the world was.

The ‘Broken Horn World’ that Ji Ning had encountered back then was a power on the very fringes, and relatively speaking, it was quite weak. The three Mother Queens, its strongest beings, had not even reached the True God or Daofather level. Back then, Empyrean God Red Snow, leading the Seven Radiance Empyrean Gods, had been able to fight them, three-on-one, for a very long time. With a single casual palm strike, Patriarch Subhuti had completely annihilated them. This showed how weak the Broken Horn World truly was.

The Silent World was vastly stronger than the Broken Horn World.

Within the Ancient Ruins, the Silent World.

Riiiiip.

Space was forcibly torn open. From within the spatial tear, a white-robed youth, seated atop his boat, flew inside.

“Silent World. Truly silent and desolate.” Ji Ning’s gaze swept the area. The sky was a dim, gloomy gray, and everything seemed to be covered by a thin layer of faint gray mist. Not a single sound could be heard.

“I wonder where the Daofathers like Fuxi and Tathagata are.”

Ji Ning’s Primaltwin was in the Tristar Crescent Major World. He had even manifested a separate incarnation to spend time with his daughter, Brightmoon. This incarnation could converse with Patriarch Subhuti at any time. According to intelligence from the Three Realms, Fuxi, Tathagata, and a group of True Gods and Daofathers were currently in the Silent World. However, their exact location was difficult to pinpoint.

The main reason was the chaotic spacetime here. One could sense a spatial coordinate, but after tearing through space to reach it, one would find that the actual location was… ludicrously far off.

This was precisely why Subhuti had sent Ji Ning to the Realm of Annihilation, allowing him to use his Void Boat to reach the ‘Silent World’ on his own.

“Let me investigate.” Ji Ning activated his Heartforce. Whoosh. Like ripples on the surface of a lake, his Heartforce spread in every direction, covering the heavens and the earth. This was a minor technique that World God Northrest had taught him. With this technique, throughout the Three Realms, and even the Ancient Ruins, there was no alien race that could escape his detection.

The Heartforce swept across a vast area.

It passed over mountains and lakes, over some native alien lifeforms. These lifeforms were all extremely weak, far inferior to even Celestial Immortals.

“Oh?” Ji Ning frowned.

In some areas, space was broken, and time was distorted. His Heartforce was completely unable to penetrate them.

“The range of my detection is only a few hundred thousand kilometers. I can’t penetrate any further.” This was Ji Ning’s first time truly entering the Ancient Ruins, and even the Silent World was considered a relatively stable area. He now understood why this place was called a ‘Ruin’. With such a harsh environment, it was simply unsuitable for large-scale reproduction or survival.

“I didn’t find Fuxi and the others… but, over to the east, there are signs of a battle.”

Whoosh.

Ji Ning transformed into a streak of black lightning, instantly flying over two hundred thousand kilometers, arriving at the site of a battle.

‘East’ generally referred to the direction of the sun’s rising. Thus, within the Three Realms and the Ancient Ruins, the ‘East’ of many different worlds could have different meanings.

“Here.” Ji Ning stood in mid-air, looking down at the enormous basin below. The basin was shaped like a palm print and covered an area roughly a thousand kilometers in size. The ground within it had been completely carbonized. “A palm? Could it be Tathagata’s work?”

“Reverse.”

Ji Ning willed it, and he began to execute a Time Reversal technique.

In a place like the Ancient Ruins, where the Heavenly Dao did not exist, it was extremely difficult to perform a Time Reversal technique.

However, Ji Ning’s insights into the Ninefold Chaos Seal had grown increasingly profound. He had even reached a point where he could vaguely see past events concerning mortals with a single glance. He was already able to easily pry into the past, and the ‘Time Reversal’ technique was, in essence, a method of prying into past events.

Ji Ning accomplished this with ease.

Whoosh.

Scenes from the past began to appear within the basin below, soon reversing to a scene of four mighty cultivators appearing.

The four mighty cultivators were led by a smiling figure radiating a warm, yellow light—the Buddha, Tathagata. By his side, three other Buddhas followed, each emitting boundless Buddhist light.

“Silence. You think such a paltry trick can stop me?” Tathagata spoke, stepping forward on a cloud of auspicious light, a smile on his face. “It’s best you reveal yourself now. Otherwise, this Silent World of yours… might not be safe.” As he spoke, he extended his left hand. The golden, glowing hand descended from the heavens, slamming directly onto an area of the ground.

The ground rumbled and trembled as it was slammed into a massive basin.

“Tathagata!” A piercing, angry roar began but was instantly silenced.

“This Silent World Emperor is a famous mighty cultivator of the Ancient Ruins. He watched as we destroyed one formation core after another in his world, yet he still refused to show himself. Whatever scheme he is plotting is surely significant,” Tathagata said.

“Buddha, there is no need to worry about his schemes. Let us just destroy his worlds, one by one, and move on.”

“Let’s go.”

Tathagata nodded. With his three subordinate Buddhas, he rode his clouds onward.

After a moment.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Gray-skinned alien lifeforms, all wearing gray robes, flew down from the high skies and landed in the basin. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with rage and coldness. Then, with a series of swooshing sounds, they too followed the direction Tathagata and his group had taken.

Ji Ning watched the scene that had occurred roughly an hour ago and nodded slightly. “The Buddhist leader and the Human Sovereign, Fuxi. They were already leaders back in the primordial age. Even if they haven’t broken through to the Elder God level, their methods are surely even more perfect. With the two of them leading, and split into four squads to attack a single world, there is no world in the Ancient Ruins that can stop them.”

Swoosh.

Ji Ning also followed the same direction that Tathagata and his group had taken, heading off in pursuit.

Although the Silent World had many stable spacetime regions, it also had many chaotic, twisted zones. The alien lifeforms who had lived there for generations were very familiar with these changes, daring to venture into certain areas. Their experience… had been accumulated with the lives of generation after generation of their companions.

“Someone’s coming.”

“A white-robed youth.”

“He hesitated for a moment out there, but now he’s come in.”

Three alien lifeforms, hidden within a twisted space pocket, gathered together. Through their restrictive formation, they observed the white-robed youth flying in from outside.

“Captain. That Buddhist leader, ‘Tathagata’, from the Three Realms, brought three Daofathers and charged in. Who is this white-robed youth now?” These three alien lifeforms all had pale gray skin, handsome features, and were draped in gray robes. Each was a top-tier Empyrean God, and they were all extremely skilled at fleeing through the void.

“Judging by his appearance, he resembles the Northmount Sword Immortal, Ji Ning, of the Three Realms,” the alien team leader said with a frown. “The Northmount Sword Immortal, Ji Ning. His sword arts are extremely advanced, and one could even say they are unmatched in the Three Realms. However, he himself is only a True God and True Immortal. His true body was already destroyed by the Seamless Gate. The one here… should be Ji Ning’s Primaltwin. From the feel of his aura, he should only be at the True God and True Immortal level as well. What I find strange is, how does a mere True God and True Immortal dare to come to our Ancient Ruins? Is he relying on that Rahu Formation? The Heavenly Dao doesn’t exist in the Ancient Ruins, so the Rahu Formation can’t draw upon that much natural power. Its power won’t be as strong as it was in the Three Realms.”

“Captain, he’s moving very fast. He’s about to leave our detection range,” one of the other alien lifeforms warned.

Placing scouting formations within twisted spacetime was already difficult. They couldn’t possibly cover a very large area.

“Let’s go test his skills.” A cold glint flashed across the face beneath the gray-robed team leader’s hood. “Let’s see just how strong this Pure Yang True Immortal really is.”

The three of them pursued him.

Moments later.

All three alien lifeforms were dead.

Ji Ning stood silently in the void, glancing at the corpses of the three alien lifeforms. “Tracking me?” With Ji Ning being a half-step Elder God, his senses were extremely sharp. The moment those three alien lifeforms had gotten close to him, he had discovered them. As for such trash at the Empyrean God level… Ji Ning had casually killed two of them and heavily wounded the third. He had wanted to soul-search the third, but the opponent had taken the initiative to destroy his own soul.

Deep within the Ancient Ruins, a domed fortress shone with a dark gold light.

Inside the domed fortress.

A mighty alien cultivator sat upon a magnificent throne. He had a long, emerald-green tail, a completely bald head, and handsome features. He sat there, one hand propping up his chin, the other lightly tapping on the armrest. Before him, six golden-armored figures stood solemnly, each radiating a faint aura that was far stronger than that of an ordinary Daofather.

“These natives do have some skill.” The alien cultivator on the throne praised them with a laugh. “They’ve already broken through twelve of the worlds under my command. That Seamless Gate is truly useless too. The formations were their own creation, but up until now, not a single True God or Daofather from the Three Realms’ side has died. It seems I can’t just rely on those idiots from the Seamless Gate. I’ll have to depend on my own people.”

“Master, this Chaosworld once produced a World God. We must not be careless,” one of the six golden-armored figures said respectfully.

“It’s all because that idiot, Lord of All Demons, is too stupid!” the alien cultivator said with a cold laugh. “He’s wandered the Chaosverse for who knows how many Chaosworlds. Back then, that Nuwa… hadn’t even become a World God yet. If I had been here back then, I would have struck directly. Setting up schemes, making two Chaosworlds slaughter each other? How boring. Wouldn’t it have been better to just destroy one Chaosworld first, and then the other? Instead, his actions allowed the natives to produce a World God. Before leaving, that World God must have left behind some techniques and methods. A Chaosworld that has produced a World God… isn’t so easy to take over. I wouldn’t have to be so cautious, waiting here for an opportunity.”

“Master, why don’t we just go back first? We can gather more power. We know the coordinates of this place now. We can come back when we’re stronger!” a thinner golden-armored figure immediately advised.

“Slap!”

The alien cultivator’s emerald-green tail suddenly swept out, sending the golden-armored figure flying.

The alien cultivator pointed at the golden figure and cursed, “Idiot. We barely made it here alive. Are you suggesting we go through that life-or-death journey again? To try and retrace our path through the Chaosverse without a major breakthrough in strength is practically suicide. It’s far better to join forces with the Seamless Gate and slowly chip away at Nuwa’s camp until we kill them all.”

“Master! Great master!” A voice suddenly came from outside.

“Is that Silence?” The alien cultivator smiled and said, “Let him in.”

Immediately, a gray-skinned man in a golden robe, radiating a powerful aura, walked in from outside. He was the ‘Silent World Emperor’, the master of the Silent World. He knelt down respectfully: “Great master, my people have just discovered… another enemy with the combat power of a True God or Daofather has entered the Silent World.”

“Another enemy with the strength of a True God or Daofather?” The alien cultivator frowned. “Who?”

“The Nuwa camp of the Three Realms,” the Silent World Emperor said respectfully. “The Northmount Sword Immortal, Ji Ning!”