In his years of travels collecting souls, Bai Xiaochun had come to a much better understanding of the void around him.
And yet, despite all the ruins he had seen, nothing left him as shaken as watching millions of coffins floating by in front of him.
Eventually, he turned his back on the void and sat down thoughtfully. As of this point, he was absolutely convinced… that this void was a place of death, with the only life existing in the Eternal Immortal Domains.
“The only things left are the souls, and spirit automatons like Xiaochi.” Sighing, he looked over at Bai Xiaochi, and suddenly felt profoundly sorry for him. His own mood had sunk over the past few years, a period of time that was nothing compared to the immense span of time that the spirit automaton had floated alone through the void. It was no wonder that his attitude had been so bad when they first met.
Time continued to pass in silence. Year after year, one set of ruins after another. One day… the fan suddenly began to slow down. It wasn’t the work of Bai Xiaochun, nor Bai Xiaochi. Apparently, the fan was about to reach its final destination. Off to the side, Bai Xiaochi was panting, and his eyes flickered strangely, as though he was familiar with the location they were approaching, but at the same time, unfamiliar.
The region up above was filled with so many ruins that it’s overall size surpassed anything Bai Xiaochun had seen so far during his travels. In fact, it was impossible to see where these ruins ended!
There were destroyed buildings, crushed boulders, and innumerable destroyed magical items. Occasionally, it was even possible to see plants that were so dried and withered that they would collapse into dust if they were touched….
There were also slight fluctuations in the area that instantly caused Bai Xiaochun’s aura to retract slightly, and his eyes to shine.
“Immortal energy!” he murmured, rising slowly to his feet. As soon as he sensed that energy, and looked out to determine which path the fan was following, a monumental possibility occurred to him.
“I bet that this place is… the Immortal World mentioned by the sovereign owner of the fan!!
“In the past, it was the most flourishing location in the starry sky, and home to the most advanced civilization!!
“It was also where… this fan was created!!”
He looked over at Bai Xiaochi and could see that strange look in his eye, as if he recognized this place, but at the same time, found it unfamiliar. That only seemed to bolster his speculation. And as he examined his surroundings more closely, he came to be convinced that he was looking at a shattered continent!!
From the endless dust-covered ruins, it was possible to guess how spectacular the Immortal World of the past had been. Soon, an image appeared in Bai Xiaochun’s mind… of a land mass that surpassed the Eternal Immortal Domains in size by nearly a hundred times!!
In the area surrounding that enormous land mass were hundreds of thousands of spherical objects. Although it was impossible for Bai Xiaochun to determine what those objects were, the evidence of their existence was clear, based on the wreckage that remained.
“Home….” Bai Xiaochi murmured.
Shaken, Bai Xiaochun looked around at the ruins as they slowly drifted through them. Although the fan had clearly slowed down, it was still moving as quickly as a celestial.
Even moving at that speed, years passed without any end in sight. During that time, Bai Xiaochun studied the ruins around him, passing hundreds of locations that pulsed with fluctuations that caused even him to shiver with fear.
Even looking closely at such locations didn’t provide any further information about them. However, considering Bai Xiaochun’s progress with the Essence of time, he was able to determine that they were the auras of powerful experts who had died countless years in the past.
At the very least, such auras were at the level of an archaean…. From these ruins, Bai Xiaochun began to gain an understanding of what the Immortal World of yesteryear had been like. The sheer glory and power of this place defied imagination.
It was impossible to even imagine what level of power, what catastrophe, could bring an end to the majestic Immortal World.
“The continent shattered,” Bai Xiaochun murmured. “The hundreds of thousands of spheroids were crushed. All of the archaeans were exterminated, and the Immortal Imperatrix died a bitter death. All the Immortal Imperator could do was create this fan and send it away, along with a clone projection. He… died here….” Months passed. Eventually, when the fan reached a certain area, it decelerated rapidly!
When that happened, Bai Xiaochun looked around at the ruins, and realized that he felt something tugging at him, some huge object!
And that object was none other than the destination of the treasured fan!
Or perhaps… that enormous object had summoned the fan to it!
It was what appeared to be… a shockingly enormous pale white spheroid, fully 30,000 meters tall!!
Bai Xiaochun gasped. As for Bai Xiaochi, as soon as he saw the object, his lips quivered as though he wished to speak, and yet no words came out. However, his eyes radiated what could only be intense pain.
Soon, Bai Xiaochun had an idea of what was happening. The fan began to slowly orbit the object, and as it reached the other side, Bai Xiaochun’s mind began to spin. Off to the side, Bai Xiaochi let loose a weeping cry.
“Milord!!”
“Immortal Imperator!!” Bai Xiaochun blurted. This was no random sphere, it was… a gigantic head!!
As its facial features became visible, Bai Xiaochun realized that they perfectly matched those of the projection of the Immortal Imperator that he had met in the hundredth level of the treasured fan!
Crusted blood oozed out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His eyes were still open, even in death, and even after all of the countless tens of thousands of years which had passed since then, it was still possible to see the immense defiance within them.
Just by looking into those eyes, Bai Xiaochun could almost hear a roar of rage that shook him down to his soul!
Although he had previously speculated that the treasured fan had been summoned by the very sovereign who had created it, when the moment arrived that his theory was proved correct, he simply couldn’t remain calm. In fact, the grief and rage contained within the head influenced the area around it, causing everything to distort from the pressure.
If it weren’t for Bai Xiaochun’s particularly powerful fleshly body, and the fact that he was on the fan itself, he wouldn’t have been able to even get close. Even with all that protection, he still felt out of sorts, and had trouble breathing. After a bit of time passed, and he acclimated a bit, he clasped hands and bowed deeply to the Immortal Imperator.
After expressing his thanks to the Immortal Imperator for creating the treasured fan, he rose from his bow and looked at the head.
“Eee?” he murmured. Sending some divine sense out, he attempted to make contact with the head, and although it was difficult, with help from the fan, he succeeded.
In that instant, he trembled, and his Daoseed began to tremble as if with desperate anticipation. Shaken, Bai Xiaochun realized that there was power lurking within the sovereign’s head!!
It was a strange power, neither immortal energy, nor cultivation base power. It actually reminded him of when he had become a celestial, and the Eternal Mother had whispered into his ear.
“It’s qi flow!” Bai Xiaochi whispered. “I know why the fan came here. It wasn’t summoned by my master, but rather… from what exists inside my master’s head. It’s… the qi flow of the Immortal World!
“Bai Xiaochun, you are milord's successor, and thus you qualify to absorb the last bit of qi flow from the Immortal World! If you do, then breaking into the Archaean Ream… should be as easy as turning over your hand!!”