Chapter 12: The Patrol Envoy

The Black Mist World God, the Void Serene Immortal, and the Mistrock Star Lord in the great hall were all slightly startled.

“Heavencalming Palace?” Mistrock Star Lord looked doubtfully at the two beside him. “I’ve been to relatively few places, just five territories like the Great Mo Territory and the Flying Cicada Territory. You two have traveled more than I have.”

“I’ve never heard of it either,” the Black Mist World God also shook his head. “Void Serene, you’ve wandered the endless chaos—have you heard of Heavencalming Palace?”

The Void Serene Immortal looked down in confusion: “Northming Progenitor God, what is this Heavencalming Palace you speak of? Is it a place, the name of a palace, or a faction?”

“A faction, and a very strong one, I believe,” said Ji Ning.

“Never heard of it.”

The Void Serene Immortal was puzzled. “Around the Great Mo Territory and other territories, even farther ones, I’ve wandered for endless ages, visited many places, and collected many star charts. But I’ve never heard of a faction like Heavencalming Palace!”

“On my Mistrock Star, other World-level cultivators have traveled far less than Void Serene. If even Void Serene hasn’t heard of it… Heavencalming Palace must be extremely distant, or very remote, and might even have been destroyed countless chaos cycles ago,” said Mistrock Star Lord.

Ji Ning’s heart chilled.

Northrest World God, how exactly did you flee back then? You fled until even a divine sword like ‘Purple Light Qiong’ was heavily damaged, and you fled until you no longer recognized the Great Mo Territory.

This was truly troublesome now!

Northrest World God didn’t recognize the Great Mo Territory.

Mistrock Star Lord, Black Mist World God, and Void Serene Immortal also didn’t know Heavencalming Palace! One must know that Heavencalming Palace ruled the entire Heavencalming Territory, and should have been quite famous. Yet Void Serene Immortal, who had wandered through many territories, had never even heard of it. From this, one could imagine how vast the distance between the Great Mo Territory and the Heavencalming Territory was.

“Can I find it within one chaos cycle?” Ji Ning worried.

“Regarding Heavencalming Palace… I will ask a few other World-level cultivators and some of my friends to see if anyone has heard of it,” said Mistrock Star Lord.

“Thank you, Star Lord,” said Ji Ning.

Mistrock Star Lord looked down at Ji Ning and shook his head with a smile: “This is all I can do for you. But since even Void Serene Immortal hasn’t heard of it, my other friends are unlikely to know either. Hmm, the life oath for joining my Mistrock Army can be slightly modified.” With that, he pointed from afar.

Radiant starlight instantly descended, enveloping the scroll in Ji Ning’s hand, and the content on the scroll was revised.

“What do you think?” asked Mistrock Star Lord.

Ji Ning looked down. The restrictions were much looser; once he became a World-level cultivator, there would be almost no restrictions.

“If you are willing, then swear the life oath,” said Mistrock Star Lord.

“Yes,” Ji Ning said respectfully, holding the scroll. The scroll itself had the effect of an ‘oath stone’.

“I, by my life, swear…”

…

From this moment on, Ji Ning was truly a member of Mistrock Star. Even billions of years later, no matter how powerful he became, he would still be a member of Mistrock Star.

Inside the hall.

After Ji Ning swore the life oath, Mistrock Star Lord, Black Mist World God, and Void Serene Immortal looked at him with much warmer gazes, for they were now on the same boat.

“Since you have just joined my Mistrock Army, according to the rules, you will receive some gifts of treasures, techniques, and so on,” said Mistrock Star Lord. “I will have Fuzhe take you to collect them shortly.”

“Yes,” Ji Ning replied.

“But my Mistrock Star has many cultivators; I cannot give all the treasures to you alone,” said Mistrock Star Lord. “So beyond the basic gifts, if you want more, you need to earn merits. Now, would you prefer to reside permanently on Mistrock Star, or are you willing to go on external campaigns for my Mistrock Star?”

“I am willing to go on external campaigns,” Ji Ning said respectfully.

Mistrock Star Lord nodded with a smile.

“Star Lord,” Ji Ning quickly said, “I want to ask… in the entire Great Mo Territory, how many are there who know the Black Lotus Secret Art, are heartforce cultivators, and have at least the strength of a peak Progenitor God?”

“The Black Lotus Secret Art is the unique art of Black Lotus God-Emperor and is never passed on. Just as the true arts of my Mistrock Star cannot be passed on, only some less important arts are taught,” Mistrock Star Lord said with a smile. “Those who know the Black Lotus Secret Art, are heartforce cultivators, and have at least peak Progenitor God strength… that would be the Heart General among his Nine Divine Generals.”

“Does the Heart General have a second avatar?” Ji Ning pressed.

“Yes,” Mistrock Star Lord nodded. “As far as I know, the Heart General’s second avatar went to the Earth Dragon Star region for a campaign one chaos cycle ago and then perished.”

Ji Ning was startled.

The Earth Dragon Star region?

Wasn’t that where he had come from? Perished one chaos cycle ago? Hadn’t Source Elder been possessed in ancient times? There couldn’t be such a coincidence.

“It really is the Heart General,” Ji Ning’s eyes blazed with killing intent. That made sense; he had felt back then that the Thorny Demon God hadn’t lied. As a heartforce cultivator, he was quite accurate in sensing whether others were lying. Perhaps someone like ‘Source Elder’, a heartforce cultivator, could disguise well, but a demon like Thorny Demon God wasn’t good at lying.

“Do you have a grudge against this Heart General?” asked Mistrock Star Lord.

“Yes,” Ji Ning said respectfully.

“Oh…” Mistrock Star Lord pondered for a moment and said, “Well then, among the chaos worlds under my command, the one closest to the region ruled by Black Lotus God-Emperor is the ‘Sufeng Chaos World’. There are many conflicts there. Over three hundred Progenitor Gods and Progenitor Immortals are permanently stationed in Sufeng Chaos World. You will go to that Sufeng Chaos World.”

“There is already a leader there,” said the Black Mist World God beside him.

Mistrock Star Lord flipped his hand and produced a token shimmering with starlight, tossing it down. Ji Ning quickly caught it; on it were the characters ‘Patrol Envoy’.

“This is the Patrol Envoy Token,” said Mistrock Star Lord. “From now on, you are the ‘Patrol Envoy’ I have sent. You patrol on my behalf. In Sufeng Chaos World, you represent me, and all our cultivators there will obey your commands.”

“Yes,” Ji Ning replied respectfully.

“Also, I will issue orders to conceal your information,” said Mistrock Star Lord. “You have just arrived at my Mistrock Star, and few know of you yet. Black Lotus God-Emperor’s side likely doesn’t even know you’ve joined us. Since they don’t know you, you can earn merits and take revenge more effectively in Sufeng Chaos World. The Nine Divine Generals under Black Lotus God-Emperor often go to Sufeng Chaos World, so you will surely have a chance to encounter the Heart General.”

“Thank you, Star Lord,” Ji Ning said, overjoyed.

This arrangement was truly good.

Acting as the Star Lord’s patrol envoy indeed gave him a very high status.

“Be careful,” the Black Mist World God advised from above. “The armies under Black Lotus God-Emperor are not to be trifled with.”

“Yes,” Ji Ning said, but he was full of anticipation.

Because swordsmanship was, after all, an art of attack and killing; it could only be honed in battle. In terms of swordsmanship, he had the ‘Nameless Sword Art’, and what he needed was combat and time.

“Fuzhe, take Northming to collect his treasures now. After that, Northming can set off immediately for Sufeng Chaos World,” Mistrock Star Lord instructed.

“Yes,” Fuzhe Island Lord said respectfully.

Then Ji Ning and Fuzhe Island Lord left the main hall together.

“What do you think?” Mistrock Star Lord asked the two beside him.

“Of course it’s good,” the Void Serene Immortal said with a smile. “Having such a formidable swordsman join us is a stroke of luck. I suspect that Northming has a considerable grudge against the Heart General, which is why he chose to join our Mistrock Star. Otherwise, with his swordsmanship, he could easily join any faction except the Great Mo Institute.”

“That’s why I assigned him to Sufeng Chaos World,” said Mistrock Star Lord.

The border between the two major factions was a meat grinder.

It was very normal for Progenitor Gods and Progenitor Immortals to die there. For both factions, it was also a way to temper cultivators; honed through life-and-death struggles, they could grow faster.

…

Leaving Void Serene Palace.

“Congratulations, Brother Northming, on becoming the sixth general,” Fuzhe Island Lord said, flying side by side with Ji Ning. “This time, going to Sufeng Great World as the Star Lord’s patrol envoy, you will be the undisputed leader. The feeling of commanding a chaos world is quite good. Those cultivators in Sufeng Chaos World will all come to curry favor with you.”

“Curry favor with me?” Ji Ning was puzzled.

“Of course. Since you are the Star Lord’s patrol envoy, you can easily find fault with them. How would they dare not to curry favor?” Fuzhe Island Lord laughed. “Look, the Star Lord’s residence is right ahead.”

Ji Ning turned to look. An ancient mansion, like a huge city, stood in the distance, surrounded by countless starlight. This was the core of the entire Mistrock Star.

“The treasures and techniques you will receive are things that ordinary Progenitor God soldiers couldn’t obtain even after a chaos cycle of service,” Fuzhe Island Lord said with envy, then led Ji Ning into the Star Lord’s residence.