Chapter 19: Three Springs Star

In the blink of an eye, ninety-two years had passed.

On a planet called 'Three Springs Star' in the 'Qianyun Region', a territory extremely far from the Damo Region, where the core inner formation of a spacetime teleportation array was arranged, light burst forth within the spacetime teleportation array, space-time twisted, and then two figures appeared.

They were a white-robed youth carrying a sword on his back and a woman in a fiery red robe—Ji Ning and Su Youji, who had come from the distant Damo Region.

'Three Springs Star.' Ji Ning and Su Youji walked out of the formation and gazed into the distance.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

In the distance, there was a water fountain, fully ten thousand zhang high. Under the starlight in the high sky, it shimmered with colorful light. Because of its special internal structure, this planet had three super fountains, each as towering as a lofty mountain, hence it was called Three Springs Star.

'Finally arrived at Three Springs Star.' Su Youji's expression also turned serious. 'Master, next is the most dangerous place—the Dark Sea.'

'Mm, once we cross the Dark Sea, we won't be too far from the Heavenly Cang Palace.' Ji Ning nodded.

Ninety-two years...

Ji Ning and Su Youji had passed through many regions. In some places, they had to rely on flying and spatial teleportation to advance! That was why it had taken so long. Along the way, they had encountered dangers—some harsh environmental hazards, and even cultivators who wanted to rob and kill them. But to Ji Ning and Su Youji, these were not much trouble.

Daring to rob Ji Ning? That was indeed seeking death.

'From the Damo Region to the Heavenly Cang Region, the most dangerous part is the Dark Sea.' Ji Ning and Su Youji stood side by side on a high mountain, gazing into the distant void. Ji Ning spoke, 'To traverse the entire Dark Sea, at our speed, it will probably take eight hundred years!'

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Suddenly, three streaks of light flew over from afar and soon appeared before Ji Ning and the others, revealing three powerful cultivators, all with the aura of World-level cultivators—two men and one woman.

'Two fellow Daoists.' The leading burly man smiled as he walked over. 'Coming to Three Springs Star, are you planning to cross the Dark Sea?'

'Yes.' Ji Ning nodded without denying it.

The burly man laughed and said, 'I am Xiang Lu. This is World God Fengyou, and this is Chaos Immortal Shuilan.' The handsome man in purple beside him also nodded to Ji Ning and the others: 'Fengyou greets the two fellow Daoists.'

'Shuilan greets the two fellow Daoists.' The female Chaos Immortal, whose beauty was not inferior to Su Youji's, had a temperament even more alluring than Su Youji's.

If Su Youji was like a flame, full of attraction.

Then this female Chaos Immortal named Shuilan was like a pool of soft water.

'I am Beiming, and this is Fire Fairy.' Ji Ning also introduced them.

'Fellow Daoist Beiming, Fellow Daoist Fire Fairy.' The leading burly man said, 'We saw you two coming out of the spacetime teleportation array from afar and lingering here, so we guessed you were planning to cross the Dark Sea. I believe you are well aware of how dangerous the Dark Sea is and how long the crossing takes. During the crossing, danger can strike at any time. For three or five World-level cultivators to attempt crossing the Dark Sea is very difficult and extremely dangerous.'

Ji Ning and Su Youji both nodded.

Yes.

It was indeed very dangerous! The journey from the Damo Region to the Heavenly Cang Region was long and fraught with dangers, but the Dark Sea ranked first in danger! Even Ji Ning, with his strength, dared not claim absolute certainty.

'So fellow Daoists who want to cross the Dark Sea usually join forces and set out together.' The burly man smiled. 'This time, we plan to gather ninety-nine World-level cultivators to form a formation and cooperate, then set out together to cross the Dark Sea. We already have over eighty fellow Daoists. The three of us came to invite you two to join us.'

'Gather ninety-nine?' Ji Ning and Su Youji exchanged glances.

'Don't worry. When we have the full number, all the World-level cultivators will make a simple life oath, at least not to harm their companions.' The burly man said, 'With ninety-nine World-level cultivators working together, the chance of crossing the Dark Sea exceeds ninety percent.'

Ji Ning agreed.

Ninety-nine! Among so many World-level cultivators, there might even be some at the World-level peak!

Once they coordinated with a formation, with the formation's boost, the strength of a World-level peak cultivator would greatly increase, comparable to A Luoyi! The other companions would not be weak either. Working together, they might even make a One-step Dao of Life and Death cultivator keep his distance.

'Alright.' Ji Ning nodded and smiled. 'We were also troubled about how to cross the Dark Sea. Joining forces with many fellow Daoists will make it much safer.'

'Fairy Shuilan, take the two fellow Daoists over.' The burly man instructed, then said to Ji Ning, 'Brother Fengyou and I have to keep watch here and invite any World-level cultivators we see, so we can't escort you two.'

'No need.'

Ji Ning and Su Youji flew off into the distance with Chaos Immortal Shuilan.

'The fellow Daoists are gathered not far from here.' After flying for only a short while, they saw a plain where quite a few World-level cultivators were scattered in twos and threes. There were already eighty-three on the plain.

'You two fellow Daoists can rest here. When we have ninety-nine, we can set out. I'll go back to Brother Xiang Lu and the others.' Chaos Immortal Shuilan took her leave and departed.

...

Although quite a few World-level cultivators had gathered here, only twenty to thirty percent were from the Qianyun Region itself. The rest were from surrounding regions. Few, like Ji Ning and Su Youji, came from the distant Damo Region.

Since most did not know each other, and there was no need to—after crossing the Dark Sea, they would naturally part ways—everyone was scattered in small groups, with little interaction.

'Let's wait patiently.'

Ji Ning and Su Youji also sat cross-legged in a spot, drinking some immortal brew and waiting silently.

While waiting, Ji Ning also split off a small amount of divine power to form a 'divine power avatar' and entered the cave world of the Snowscape Painting Scroll, repeatedly sparring with the sword masters of the three great cave worlds.

The golden-robed emperor, the fisherman, and the assassin.

Since they all maintained equal power and only competed in swordsmanship, forming a divine power avatar allowed him to spar in swordsmanship as well.

Ji Ning's true body devoted a small part of his attention to cultivating the 'Golden Statue Divine Ability'. At the beginning, he had spent over three hundred cubes of chaos gems to upgrade his divine body to the 'Dao-level divine weapon' level. Later, he cultivated slowly, occasionally supplementing with a few chaos gems...

Upgrading from the Dao-level divine weapon level to the 'top-grade Dao-level divine weapon' level still required a long time. Ji Ning was not in a hurry; he would cultivate slowly.

...

Fortunately, they only waited eleven years on Three Springs Star before gathering ninety-nine World-level cultivators.

'Fellow Daoists.'

World God Xiang Lu smiled at the over ninety World-level cultivators on the plain. 'We have now gathered ninety-nine World-level cultivators. It is time to set out into the Dark Sea. Here are formation plates. Each fellow Daoist, refine one plate.'

Before him appeared ninety-eight discs of light, which flew toward all the other World-level cultivators present.

'This is a very simple formation. A brief look will make it clear.' World God Xiang Lu laughed.

Ji Ning also received a formation plate. With a slight sense, he understood it completely. It was indeed a very simple formation, allowing the mana of all cultivators to merge into one, so that the power of the formation could be bestowed upon all cultivators, greatly enhancing everyone's strength.

There were formations with greater power, but because the World-level cultivators present were not familiar with each other and did not fully trust one another, this simple formation with no hidden dangers was the one everyone agreed to use.

'Hum.'

'Hum.'

'Hum.'

...

One by one, the formation plates were refined. Light shot into the sky, and the ninety-nine beams of light connected into one. Instantly, all the World-level cultivators received the boost of the formation's power.

'I swear by my life...'

'I swear by my life...'

'I swear by my life...'

The ninety-nine World-level cultivators simultaneously sent their mana into the central Oath Stone. At that moment, all the World-level cultivators swore the oath, and everyone sensed the oaths of the others.

The oaths were identical.

During the journey through the Dark Sea, they must not actively attack their companions. If anyone violated the oath, without others needing to act, the life oath would backfire, causing their true spirit to be extinguished and die.

...

Once the oath was established, the atmosphere among the cultivators present relaxed considerably. At least there was a certain degree of trust.

'I am Feizhen. This flying boat of mine is a top-grade Dao treasure, best at flying. It should be quite suitable for crossing the Dark Sea.' A bald man with silver eyes spoke up. 'Let everyone ride together. If anyone has a better flying treasure, they can also bring it out.'

Soon, the cultivators decided to take this fellow Daoist Feizhen's flying boat to cross the Dark Sea.

'Set out!'

The ninety-nine cultivators all boarded the flying boat, maintained the formation, then teleported through the void, leaving Three Springs Star and heading toward the Dark Sea.