Chapter 335: Calm Before The Storm
Southeast War Domain Central Region boundary.
Suddenly, a teleportation gate opened, and a white-clothed figure appeared here.
Immediately after, three cultivator armies followed and crossed domains.
They neatly hovered in the void, all staring at the white-clothed figure ahead.
Ning Qi held a communication jade slip in his hand, silently browsing the messages sent back by True Martial Realm cultivators within it.
It was precisely because of these messages that Ning Qi had figured out the situation of this domain.
According to the intelligence sent back by the congregation, Ning Qi learned that the Central Region was the same as the Lower Region, with a total of six domain armies, half from each of the two realms.
Among them, Mountain Sea Realm’s were Tianhuo Domain, Dijing Domain, and Tengmu Domain, while Haoran Realm’s were Yangchun Domain, Summer River Domain, and Qiushi Domain.
Among the six domain armies, only Tianhuo Domain and Summer River Domain were the strongest, so only these two strongest domain commanders led their subordinate cultivators to act independently.
As for the other four domains, they adopted the method of two domains combining forces to explore the entire Central Region.
At this moment, Mountain Sea Realm’s three domain cultivators had already captured nine nodes in the Central Region, averaging three per domain.
Ning Qi put away the communication jade slip, then took out the Soul Seeking Node Disc and injected mana into it.
With the complete data from the Lower Region as support, the gap between the Central Region and the Lower Region was not large, so even after arriving in the Central Region, the data Ning Qi had obtained before could still be used.
Thus, in less than a moment, a node distribution map of the Central Region was automatically generated on the compass.
Ning Qi focused his gaze on the map.
On the map, thirty-six nodes flickered with different lights, lighting up one by one.
Among them, nine nodes were dyed in cyan-blue, which were exactly the nodes taken by Mountain Sea Realm’s three domains.
Besides these, another ten were dyed in faint gold, which were the territories taken by Haoran Realm’s three domains.
In other words, cultivators from the two realms had together captured nineteen nodes in the Central Region, plus six hidden nodes, leaving seventeen nodes in the Central Region unoccupied.
The entire Central Region was even more vast compared to the Lower Region, and for the two realms’ cultivators to capture so many nodes so quickly was quite impressive!
After all, they did not have the compass in Ning Qi’s hand that could detect node locations.
Behind Ning Qi, Sword Ancestor, Qi Keqing, and Zhu Yanchuan stood together.
The three domain cultivators were commanded by these three, and to coordinate the three domain armies well, the three had to stay together in the Central Region to discuss.
At this time, the three also took out compasses in their hands, checking if they could detect the Central Region’s nodes on them.
Injecting spiritual power into them, with a hum, the pointers on the three’s compasses immediately reacted, but pointed in different directions.
The reason for this result was also the function Ning Qi had set specifically on their compasses.
To avoid showing the same position nodes, causing the three armies to go together to capture them, which would waste the strength of the three armies?
As for the three domain armies behind the congregation at this time, they were all silently motionless, like sculptures, waiting for the orders from Ning Qi and the others.
Ning Qi’s gaze flashed.
Suddenly, six more light spots gradually appeared on the map on the compass in his hand.
These light spots moved at any time, sometimes sparse, sometimes condensed, dispersing and aggregating like mist, and they represented the positions of the six domain armies in the Central Region.
Looking at these light spots, Ning Qi once again modified the colors of the six light spots based on the intelligence sent back by True Martial Realm cultivators.
Mountain Sea Realm’s Tianhuo Domain, Dijing Domain, and Tengmu Domain armies had been marked by him with red, gold, and green respectively.
As for the enemy Haoran Realm’s three domain armies, since there were currently no True Martial Realm cultivators acting as internal agents to send back intelligence, Ning Qi could not make special marks like for Mountain Sea Realm’s three domain armies.
But it did not matter, as they were all Haoran Realm cultivators anyway.
“You three, lend me your compasses for a bit, I’ll add some more functions for you!”
Hearing this, Sword Ancestor and the other two behind him were slightly stunned, and involuntarily looked up at Ning Qi, their faces slightly surprised.
More new functions? Was it really this powerful?
If calculated by age, the youngest among the three was dozens of times older than Ning Qi.
They had extensive knowledge, but at this moment, all that knowledge seemed extremely pale in front of Ning Qi.
It was as if Ning Qi was the one with broader knowledge and knew more, while they three were like new recruits, left only with bewilderment and obedience.
The three immediately manipulated spiritual energy to send the compasses to Ning Qi.
Ning Qi did not take them, but instead formed a hand seal with both hands.
Immediately, three intensely colored small fireballs rose in the void, each wrapping a compass in the fire.
The congregation viewed with spiritual sense, and their compasses tumbled inside like small boats on the sea.
Suddenly, three beams of blue light shot out from Ning Qi’s hand, entering the fireballs and instantly drilling into the compasses.
The entire process of casting the spell and refining the artifact was extremely fast, and in just a moment, the fireballs converged, and the three compasses flickered with faint light, hovering in the void.
Watching Ning Qi’s seamless technique, whether Sword Ancestor and the other two or the artifact refining cultivators among the three domain cultivators, all were mesmerized.
When a skill approaches the Dao, to a certain extent, even just appreciating it gives a pleasurable feeling.
Ning Qi had added to the three’s compasses the entire Central Region node distribution map displayed on his compass, as well as the distribution of the six domain armies.
Of course, as before, Ning Qi quietly hid the existence of the six special nodes in the Central Region.
After all, those six nodes were not invaded by the two realms’ wills, and were places he, Ning Qi, wanted to take alone, to seize their space and integrate it into True Martial Realm—no matter what, he could not let them know.
The three compasses turned into streams of light and returned to Sword Ancestor and the other two’s hands.
With an ancient base, smooth streamlined surface, and a transparent crystal spirit jade cover over the compass.
Ning Qi had designed this Soul Seeking Node Disc in the style of a pocket watch, so it looked no different from a craft item.
Sword Ancestor and the other two focused on the new compasses in their hands, slightly injecting spiritual power.
In an instant, besides pointing to the nearest node direction from them, the compass also refracted a full panoramic map of the Central Region nodes on the crystal surface.
Looking at this extremely clear node panoramic map, Sword Ancestor and the other two’s faces immediately showed extremely excited expressions.
They never imagined that Ning Qi’s ability was already so terrifying.
To figure out the entire Central Region’s node distribution right after entering the Central Region.
Sword Ancestor praised, “With this map showing the full picture, it is truly too advantageous for us!”
Qi Keqing and Zhu Yanchuan both nodded heavily.
The more they followed Ning Qi, the more they discovered their dependence on him.
The two stared at Ning Qi, increasingly feeling the importance of following him.
Even without mentioning Ning Qi’s help to them, just this compass function alone made it extremely difficult for them to part with Ning Qi!
If at this moment they were asked to give up this compass, and like when they first entered the war domain, send cultivators everywhere to probe node locations, blindly exploring and flying in the war domain, they would definitely go mad!
As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality—they would rather die than return to that state of bewilderment!
Therefore, Qi Keqing and Zhu Yanchuan’s hearts were once again firm: no matter what, they must lead their subordinate armies to follow Ning Qi!
Even if Dao Integration Realm experts could enter the war domain later, and their sect seniors arrived, they would absolutely not leave to follow Ning Qi!
The two said nothing, but the gaze they cast at Ning Qi had a trace of heartfelt adoration.
And this adoration would not dissipate; instead, it would grow thicker the longer they followed Ning Qi.
Probably, they had never looked at their sect’s old ancestors with such eyes!
Sword Ancestor looked at the map and said in surprise, “Why are Haoran Realm’s three domain cultivators quickly moving toward the Upper Region direction?”
Qi Keqing replied, “It must be that they have learned of our cross-domain arrival.”
Zhu Yanchuan looked up at the sky, as if sensing the situation here, before saying:
“This place can also sense Haoran Realm energy; it should be that the Haoran Realm Will has perceived everything and notified the Haoran Realm three domain armies.”
Sword Ancestor and the others nodded in agreement.
Zhu Yanchuan looked at Ning Qi and said again, “Domain Lord Ning, I have a bad guess; would Domain Lord Ning like to hear it?”
“Speak.” Ning Qi said indifferently.
Zhu Yanchuan frowned slightly; his gaze swept over the faces of the few before saying:
“Since the Haoran Realm Will has detected our existence, I think as enemies, they will not just watch us cross domains, causing an imbalance in the Central Region’s two realms’ situation. So, what I worry about is that they will specifically target you, Domain Lord Ning, with some actions!”
Zhu Yanchuan did not mention the impact on the three domain cultivators, because he understood that they could cross domains not because of them, but because of Ning Qi’s existence.
Naturally, that Haoran Realm Will also knew this.
Hearing this, Sword Ancestor and Qi Keqing’s expressions also changed, becoming slightly heavier.
Zhu Yanchuan’s words were perfectly reasonable; if they were Haoran Realm, they would absolutely not sit idly by and would definitely set up a trap against Ning Qi.
They involuntarily looked worriedly at Ning Qi.
Unexpectedly, Ning Qi saw through their thoughts and smiled:
“You need not worry; even if they want to target me, they need time to send people in. Otherwise, with the cultivators of Haoran Realm in this domain, even if the three domain armies unite, they cannot harm me in the slightest. What’s more, they have to be able to find me first!”
Ning Qi’s calm expression eased the three’s heavy expressions somewhat.
Then, Ning Qi said to the few, “With matters here settled, I’ve given you all that should be given; as for what remains to be done, you three discuss and handle it with your subordinate armies!”
The three came back to their senses and found that Ning Qi had already disappeared from in front of the congregation, not even a shadow to be seen, and could not help but exchange helpless smiles.
Clearly, they all wanted Ning Qi to be the commander, but Ning Qi insisted on making the three take charge.
Ning Qi played the role of hands-off three armies commander: say he was unqualified, yet he had done everything that should be done; say he was qualified, yet he did not stay with them at all.
However, the three also understood Ning Qi’s good intentions: one was to prevent them from depending too much on him and to grow up quickly, and two, Ning Qi doing this was also to protect them.
If they continued to stay with Ning Qi, then the arrangements Haoran Realm made against Ning Qi afterward would surge toward all of them, and at that time, the three armies would inevitably suffer casualties.
Sword Ancestor’s sword-like brows slightly furrowed as he said to the two:
“We three should discuss first; with the three domain armies under our command, we cannot let him shoulder everything alone—we should also try to share some pressure for him.”
Qi Keqing responded, “My Fuyao Region is willing to fight for Domain Lord Ning!”
“Our Langya Domain is the same!”
…
Ning Qi, like a lone wolf, once again roamed alone in the Central Region.
He did not first go to trouble Haoran Realm cultivators; he did not care if the struggle between Mountain Sea Realm and Haoran Realm led to the heavens and earth collapsing, as long as it did not hinder his and True Martial Realm’s survival.
Ning Qi would definitely first choose to capture those six nodes, letting True Martial Realm with a hundred paths gathered further strengthen—this was the source of his confidence.
As for Haoran Realm possibly laying traps against him?
If he could resolve it, he would do so casually; if not, he could just hide in some corner, and they probably would not find him.
Unless they brought some treasure from Haoran Realm that could detect his existence.
…
The Haoran Realm three domain armies fleeing in panic never imagined that the Ning Qi they feared had no intention of joining forces with Tianhuo Domain’s three domain armies to quickly wipe them out.
As for how Sword Ancestor and the others would decide in the face of the current situation, Ning Qi had no intention of managing it.
Whether they captured the remaining nodes in the Central Region or prepared to join forces with Mountain Sea Realm cultivators in the Central Region, Ning Qi left it to them to handle as they wished.
However, although Ning Qi did not care, others in the Central Region might.
At this time, Tianhuo Domain’s army was following Commander Fantian, speeding toward the Upper Region direction.
Fantian was always arrogant and conceited; upon learning that Haoran Realm cultivators were fleeing, he believed it was his prestige that made them escape.
How could he not seize such a good opportunity? He immediately led the army to pursue the Haoran Realm cultivators.
Not long after, Fantian suddenly pointed to the horizon and laughed, “Did you see it?”
The people behind him all shook their heads.
Fantian’s cultivation was extremely close to Dao Integration, so his spiritual sense range was broader, allowing him to see places the congregation could not.
However, a clever one responded, “Commander Fantian, have you discovered the whereabouts of Haoran Realm cultivators?”
“Your cultivations are really too poor; not a single one can keep up with me.”
Fantian first mocked the congregation before arrogantly saying, “Indeed, this commander has spotted Haoran Realm cultivators’ figures; you all accelerate now, do not let them escape!”
The congregation could only acknowledge.
Their speed increased again, and soon after, everyone saw the figures of Haoran Realm cultivators.
And Haoran Realm’s cultivators naturally also saw the pursuing army behind them.
This Haoran Realm cultivator army was precisely from Summer River Domain within Haoran Realm.
Their commander was named Fei Bing, an extremely calm person with astonishing talent.
At this moment, Fei Bing glanced at the rear, and cold eyes reflected the pursuing cultivators.
“Do you know who is following behind us?” he asked the people beside him.
A cultivator immediately stepped forward and said, “Reporting to Commander Fei, this subordinate has fought them before; judging by their attire, they should be Mountain Sea Realm Tianhuo Domain cultivators!”
Fei Bing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Have they also learned from Mountain Sea Realm Will that Ning Qi led three domain armies to cross domains, so they are pursuing us relentlessly?”
That person lowered his head and said, “This subordinate does not know, but if Commander Fei needs someone to intercept them, this subordinate is willing to lead people there!”
Fei Bing pondered slightly and said:
“No need to split forces; the current priority is to rendezvous with the other two domain armies, then capture the nodes near the Upper Region direction.”
“Yes!”
Fei Bing’s gaze fell on Fantian leading Tianhuo Domain at the rear, then said:
“Since the guy behind is willing to chase, let him chase; let’s see what expression he has when facing our Haoran Realm three domain armies then, hmph hmph!”
“As for Ning Qi, even if he entered the Central Region, it is absolutely impossible for him to catch up so quickly.”
Thus, the two domain cultivators, one in front and one behind, one accelerating and the other following suit, maintained a trend of hanging onto each other, gradually heading toward the Upper Region direction.
Behind, Fantian saw that Summer River Domain’s army had clearly discovered them yet still dared not stop to fight, which immediately made his confidence surge!
It must be his, Fantian’s, prestige shaking the world that made Haoran Realm cultivators flee at the sight!
