The Grand Star Chart

Lord Cui said, “By the time you formally became a disciple of Patriarch Subhuti, your parents from your previous life were still alive. I altered their fate; both lived peacefully past a hundred years before passing away. After that, their souls were reincarnated into other Pure Land worlds, where their lives proceeded smoothly and without trouble.”

Ji Ning nodded gently.

Living an ordinary life and reaching a hundred years of age… that was also good.

“Reincarnated into other Pure Land worlds?” Ji Ning was puzzled.

“Lady Nuwa created many small worlds in other time dimensions, all of them Pure Lands,” Lord Cui explained. “Even after the Six Paths of Reincarnation collapsed, reincarnation into these Pure Land worlds was unaffected. Even if they died and were reborn, they would still be reborn into a Pure Land world—perhaps Earth, perhaps another Pure Land world.”

“But back then, I entered the Netherworld Kingdom, didn’t I?” Ji Ning pressed.

“Because I chose you,” Lord Cui said. “Those small worlds are Pure Lands. But you were chosen by me to cultivate immortality… and those small worlds were simply too small; they weren’t really suitable for the growth of an Immortal cultivator. So I directly transferred your soul to the Netherworld Kingdom.”

Ji Ning understood now.

No wonder.

In all these years, he had never encountered a second reincarnated soul from Earth. It turned out that Earth was a Pure Land. Unless there were special circumstances, souls from Pure Lands would never be reincarnated into major worlds like the Grand Xia.

“I wonder if these Pure Lands will survive this coming cataclysm,” Lord Cui said, shaking his head slightly. “By the way, I heard that you killed the four Emperors of the Ancient Ruins?”

“Yes,” Ji Ning confirmed.

“You should have their leftover treasures. Search through them and see if you can find any Star Charts,” Lord Cui said. “Star Charts are maps that record the routes through the endless Chaos. From the Primordial Era to the present, we have killed quite a few alien races of Chaos. The more powerful ones, like Rao and the Lord of All Demons, both had subordinate Empyrean Gods and Daofathers under them. We killed many of them and obtained some Star Charts. But the more complete a Star Chart is, the better.”

Ji Ning was startled, then smiled. “I haven’t examined them yet, Lord Cui. Please wait a moment.”

Star Charts…

The endless Chaos was boundless and filled with danger. Even the territory of the Three Realms contained dangerous places like the Roaring Ground and the Endless Sea. The dangers within the Chaos were far more terrifying. Even a World God, blindly flying through the Chaos, could easily get lost or even enter a death trap. Thus, route maps were essential—just as mortals needed nautical charts to navigate the seas… Fiendgods needed Star Charts to navigate the endless Chaos. They were called ‘Star Charts’ because the primary method of traversing the Chaos was through—

Teleportation via ‘Spacetime Teleportation Arrays’!

The Chaos was far too vast. Slowly relying on void-shifting by Fiendgods was far too slow. ‘Spacetime Teleportation Arrays’ were constructed by ancient powers within the endless Chaos, who would refine massive planets and use them as nodes to forge a single teleportation array. One could go from one Spacetime Teleportation Array to another, distant one in an instant.

Only by teleporting again and again could one travel to distant destinations more quickly.

Because ‘Spacetime Teleportation Arrays’ were forged using enormous planets as array-bases, the maps recording these routes were called ‘Star Charts’.

“Some Immortals and Fiendgods destroy the Star Charts after looking at them,” Patriarch Subhuti added. “Some keep them for possible trade. So when we kill alien races, we occasionally obtain Star Charts. Usually, the more powerful the owner, the broader the Star Chart, and the more complete it is.”

“Found one.”

Ji Ning suddenly revealed a delighted expression. He flipped his hand, producing a scroll that gleamed with metallic light. As he unrolled it, the metal-like surface sparkled with tiny points of light.

“Each of these points of light represents a Spacetime Teleportation Array,” Patriarch Subhuti said, pointing at the Star Chart. He was clearly very familiar with them. “These unremarkable little dots represent Chaosworlds.”

“Three Spacetime Teleportation Arrays… seven hundred and twenty-one Chaosworlds.” Ji Ning murmured softly.

“Truly crude,” Fuxi commented, shaking his head.

“Indeed, very crude. It seems the owner of this Star Chart was very average in strength,” Lord Cui also shook his head. This Star Chart had actually been left behind by Emperor Quietdark. Back when Emperor Quietdark had followed the Lord of All Demons, his strength was not as great as it was now. Obtaining such a crude Star Chart was actually quite impressive.

“Ji Ning, come with me,” Lord Cui said. “From the Primordial Era to the present, we have collected many Star Charts. We combined them all to create a Grand Star Chart. I’ll take you to see it.”

“Oh?”

Ji Ning’s heart stirred. He quickly followed.

He had sworn a Life Oath to find the Heavenly Palace of Azure. Although World God Northrest had left behind a very vast Star Chart for Ji Ning… back then, Northrest had been fleeing for his life, diving into danger wherever he could, moving as fast as possible. Even he himself couldn’t find the way back. That vast Star Chart was clearly a map of a certain region deep within the endless Chaos. Ji Ning simply couldn’t use it for now.

“A Grand Star Chart has been compiled? Hopefully, it will have some points of intersection with World God Northrest’s Star Chart. That would make reaching the Heavenly Palace of Azure much easier,” Ji Ning thought to himself. But he also understood that World God Northrest had spent a long time in the Primordial Era, even staying within the Three Realms for a long time, without finding a way back. The hope for an intersection was probably slim.

Shortly.

Ji Ning, Patriarch Subhuti, Fuxi, and Lord Cui arrived before an elegant wooden cottage.

Lord Cui waved his hand, and a metal scroll flew out from within the cottage. The scroll unrolled automatically, rapidly expanding until it floated in the air like a huge membrane, a hundred zhang long. It was covered in countless dots of light, and at the very center of those countless dots was a single massive radiance, as bright as a sun.

“This is the Grand Star Chart we compiled,” Lord Cui said, pointing at the enormous chart with a smile. “We obtained Star Charts from the many alien races of Chaos we killed over the ages. During the Primordial Era, when Lady Nuwa roamed the Chaos, she encountered an alien Chaos creature who called himself ‘Qiusha’. She killed him and obtained a very detailed Star Chart. This Grand Star Chart we compiled… mainly relies on the contributions of that ‘Qiusha’.”

Ji Ning was astonished.

Such a detailed Star Chart!

“This Star Chart records the locations of twenty-one Spacetime Teleportation Arrays and eighty-six thousand one hundred and twelve Chaosworlds,” Lord Cui said with amazement. “When I first learned that there were so many Chaosworlds in the endless Chaos, I was stunned as well.”

“Over eighty thousand Chaosworlds… and our Three Realms is merely a remote corner of it,” Patriarch Subhuti sighed.

Ji Ning was simply amazed by the detail of the Star Chart. He wasn’t surprised by the eighty thousand Chaosworlds, as he had already seen the Star Chart that World God Northrest had left him.

“This Star Chart has twenty-one Spacetime Teleportation Arrays and over eighty thousand Chaosworlds. It covers a vast region… yet the Star Chart World God Northrest gave me doesn’t record any of this,” Ji Ning mused. “It seems that reaching the Heavenly Palace of Azure will be very difficult. Fortunately, I have a Chaos Cycle to do it.”

“Look,” Lord Cui said, pointing at an inconspicuous corner at the northern edge of the enormous Star Chart, where a dim point of light resided. “That point of light represents our Three Realms.”

“The Three Realms is here?” Ji Ning was shocked. “Then we should be able to easily reach the other Chaosworlds.”

“No,” Patriarch Subhuti shook his head.

“It’s not that easy,” Fuxi also shook his head. He pointed at the Star Chart. “Enlarge it.”

Lord Cui nodded. The Star Chart immediately expanded a hundred times, becoming a hundred thousand zhang long. The remote corner representing the Three Realms was now much more conspicuous.

“This is our Three Realms,” Fuxi said, pointing at the point of light. “Since the Primordial Era, no alien races have ever invaded us from any other direction. Every single alien race came to our Three Realms through this single ‘Vortex Space’.”

“The environment around our Three Realms is extremely harsh, filled with many unknown dangers. To reach the Three Realms, one must come through this single Vortex Space,” Fuxi explained.

Ji Ning observed carefully, quickly memorizing the information.

Having a safe route through the Chaos was extremely important.

“These harsh environments have also protected our Three Realms, making it very difficult for alien races of Chaos to enter. They must go through this single ‘Vortex Space’ at great risk to reach us,” Fuxi said. “That is why, from the Primordial Era to the present, we have only encountered a handful of alien Chaos races.”

“The Vortex Space?” Ji Ning was puzzled. “Did Lady Nuwa leave through this Vortex Space?”

“Yes.”

Fuxi nodded. “To reach the Three Realms, one must enter through the Vortex Space. To leave the Three Realms, one can only exit through the Vortex Space. If one can safely reach the other end… then one can easily reach those other Chaosworlds.”

“What is that enormous radiance, as bright as a sun, at the very center of the Star Chart?” Ji Ning asked, pointing at it.

Fuxi, Patriarch Subhuti, and Lord Cui all gazed at that enormous radiance, a burning intensity in their eyes.

“It is called the Daimon Eternum Realm,” Fuxi said softly.