The inhabitants of the Imperial Dawn Starfield were engulfed by the light pillars of the World-Shifting Net. There was panic, fear, and despair in the hearts of many as they were encapsulated without reason or justification. Was this an invasion? A natural phenomenon? An event far outside of their understanding?
Be it the little infants that cried out for their mothers or the elderly that could barely walk, their vision dwindling, and their senses fading, they were all taken by the World-Shifting Net without the slightest ability to resist. They were all brought to a new scenery.
Amongst these former inhabitants of the Imperial Dawn Starfield was a skinny old man dressed in grey, sporting a long dark-grey beard, and clutched a jade box as if it was his life's greatest treasure. With a pair of energetic eyes, scanning the world before him, Tuo Bihan saw this new scene.
A world of dimly lit off-white color, almost beige, without any clouds of sun, yet the sky itself seemed to emit light without source. The surface beneath his feet felt as if it was forged from porcelain, being extremely smooth yet fragile. There was nothing outstanding throughout the world, no mountains, no brilliant stars, no clouds, or even the faint grass. It was completely lacking any plant life.
The horizon was still, seemingly endless, which indicates that this surface lacked a spherical shape, being completely flat and motionless..
Tuo Bihan's hands gripped the box tightly with apprehension in his heart and its spiritual light flowed and integrated into his body at an absurdly swift speed. He couldn't react, but he felt the spiritual seals and information about the accompanying spell to pass it along to others. Each spiritual seal was marked, effusing a unique aura that correlated to one of the eighteen spatial rings contained within the box.
Zum! Zum! Zum! Zum! Zum!
Without end, there were numerous bursts of multicolored light that originated from the cloudless sky, and with each burst, a new life aura would seemingly arrive. Tuo Bihan was one of the first that had arrived, so he observed it all. The space that was mostly empty, seemingly limitless, was being filled to the brink with various life auras at an astounding speed.
As a Realmlord, his spiritual sense was terrifyingly powerful, even allowing him to pierce through the veil of spatial folds, so he was keenly aware of the new arrivals' identities. He felt the distinct auras of demons, elves, humans, and hybrids of these three races.
The Imperial Dawn Starfield was a cultivation civilization, so the vast majority of inhabitants cultivated, and while they weren't all at the highest level, the vast majority were at the Qi Condensation Realm. Not only were they cultivators, but the total populace reached trillions in numbers, and that was a safe estimate.
He heard the nascent cries of infants, wailing of children, gasps and shrieks of teens, and the stench of horror and confusion from adults. They were varied and clearly included all ages, races, genders, and cultivations.
'Is every last existence in the Imperial Dawn Starfield being transported here?' He wasn't hasty in acting, taking his time to analyze the situation, recalling Wei Wuyin's words from moments earlier. It was that calm attitude of his little boss that allowed him to remain levelheaded despite his outstanding power and endless questions.
However, not everyone was like him.
BOOSH!
An eruption of terrifying power exploded out as a demonic aura permeated the world. It belonged to a demon cultivator at the Light Reflection Phase, the Fifth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, and his first thoughts were to fight. His natural instincts took over and he shot towards the cloudless sky.
Tuo Bihan noted that the gushing flow of demonic force from that cultivator was halted by a thin membrane that glowed on the surface of everyone's skin. Be it the uncultivated newborns or cultivators at the Astral Core Realm, they were all protected by this membrane to the point their hair hadn't even been tussled by that torrential power.
The demon cultivator was fast, reaching a thousand feet high in the matter of moments. Then, as he reached that height, a burst of light arrived from the sky, and this light was accompanied by a needle-like comet that sped towards the demon. It was incredibly fast, and Tuo Bihan barely saw it before it zipped through the demon and vanished into the far distance.
The flow of power from the demon was halted, shortly followed by a shocked and surprised exclamation. Then, that exclamation became horror as the demon started to fall from a thousand feet height. With arms and legs flailing, the demon tried to grasp the ambient mana or use his demonic force to maintain altitude, yet it did no good.
With a shriek, the demon crashed into the ground with a soft, unexpected sound. There was no dust or burst of air from his landing, nor a crater from his heavy, energy-refined body.
"My cultivation!" The demon shouted in panic, unhurt by the fall as a thin membrane had protected him. He realized that his Astral Soul and meridians were thoroughly sealed, and the world's ambient mana was unable to be manipulated. With his cultivation sealed, he was unable to even fly.
Soon, bursts of light soon came from the distance as well. Tuo Bihan heard the endless shrieks of horror, and screams of terrified discovery. There were numerous cultivators that believed themselves powerful, trying to escape or seek answers yet were only met with the flying needle-like comet that sealed them completely.
Besides that, the bursts of light that indicated new arrivals were ceaselessly resounding. Just from his spiritual sense alone, he felt the lively presence of tens of millions around him, and the number was increasing. They were all roughly five feet or so apart in distance, giving them ample room to move about. Clearly, the space was terrifyingly large.
Moreover, it seemed as one of the first arrivals, the arrivals became more and more distant from his current location. It was like the burst of light was running away, and he could see how they moved further and further away.
Tuo Bihan tried to sense the presence of the other Myriad Monarch Sect members, but even in the first ten million, they were nowhere to be found. While he noted some had auras that resembled the Myriad Monarch Sect's Main Planet, Wuyu or Junia, they were all individuals of low cultivation or age.
He brought out a piece of cloth from his robe and tightly wrapped the jade box that Wei Wuyin gave him, remembering every word Wei Wuyin had said. Tuo Bihan knew that Wei Wuyin was likely not here, and that the little boss was aware that this was bound to happen, so he decided to set his priorities.
First, find other members of the Myriad Monarch Sect!
Just as he was about to leave, he saw someone running through the crowd, passing through the five feet gaps with outstanding speed. It was a female elf, and she was at the Spatial Resonance Phase. Unlike the others that took to the sky, she was traveling on the ground with a purpose. Her astral force empowered her movements as she dashed across.
However, just as she got a little distance away, one of those bursts of lights exploded directly above her, and she vanished. Tuo Bihan's pupils shrunk.
Alright…
So, first, stay put…
While the speed of her disappearance was fast, Tuo Bihan could sense that one of those pillars had arrived and she was taken away. He didn't know if being taken away was good or bad, but he did not mind never finding out for himself.
Fortunately, the life aura of that female elf had entered his spiritual senses after he expanded his search, realizing that she was sitting down with her cultivation thoroughly sealed. Her face was quite unsightly, but she seemed to become very behaved after.
In the matter of a few minutes, his spiritual senses reached their utter limits, and he realized the entire surface of this world was above the surface area of the Myriad Monarch Sect's Main Planet. To frighteningly add, it was entirely flat and consistent. There were no clouds, mountains, sporadic profusions, signs of flora or fauna, or even anything seemingly resembling a natural environment.
'I've counted roughly thirteen billion, and the numbers are growing. My senses can only reach so far, and there might be trillions here.' Tuo Bihan counted the life auras in this strange world, which consisted of some auras he found familiar. He tried to send transmissions out, but he found that there was something directly interfering with it, preventing him from doing so. Without any means to directly communicate, he could only wait where he was.
After gauging the situation, he tied the box wrapped in cloth around his torso, carrying it like a pouch. This was extremely important, so he didn't even want it to be in his spatial ring for fear of the unknown.
Soon, the souls that have arrived were all conversing with their neighbors, asking questions, seeking answers, but with ignorance abound, it did little good to alleviate their concerns. The only bonus was the smart few that reassured others that if the one who brought them here wanted them dead, then they would be dead. Why waste the effort?
Regardless, an explanation was bound to be incoming, so they just had to be patient. Unfortunately, the environment was extremely unsuitable for resting, and any object that was taken out of their storage or spatial ring would abruptly vanish without an explanation. It seems the spatial fluctuations would trigger some defensive mechanism.
Tuo Bihan noted that this might not be an intended effect of this world, but an inherent flaw in its design. After all, someone tried to utilize their spatial force, likely some Realmlord from that new continent, and they vanished. Another light burst occurred in that area, and a new lifeform took their place.
Clearly, that human Realmlord was not returned.
It was highly possible he was trapped somewhere or dead, so Tuo Bihan felt relieved that he hadn't acted rashly.
He wasn't the only one who was inspecting the world, and he felt numerous spiritual senses sweeping across him. Some of them carried familiar auras, such as Qin Rui's. Knowing that she was nearby, watching, he formed some hand signs to indicate for her to not make rash actions.
This was the only method that was usable with the restrictions present. Fortunately, when he discovered her, she gestured with her hands to assure him that she wasn't going to act recklessly. They then proceeded to communicate with hand signs, performing a little charade of sorts until they understood the other well enough.
If it wasn't for fear of provoking some calamity, they could use their astral force to write out characters in the air. Even if it would be read by others. A few even tried to do so, especially after seeing Tuo Bihan and Qin Rui communicate.
Yet they had their cultivation bases sealed, including their spiritual senses as a consequence. It seemed that spiritual sense usage was not prohibited, but astral force or qi would provoke a direct response that resulted in its restriction. This was an utterly terrifying world.
BOOM!
A thunderous sound grasped everyone's attention, even children and infants stopped crying as they were attracted by the event above them. A single face, large, massive like a lunar satellite, emerged above. It plastered in the cloudless sky, replacing the white scenery that emitted light without a visible source.
The face was of a handsome middle-aged man with a trimmed stubble and a short-tied ponytail. While the colors of his features couldn't be determined, as it was an aurora of bright colors, one could tell he was human. The follicles of his stubble were abundantly vivid, giving him an animated and alive feeling. This was no automaton.
The face had a stern and calm gaze as it seemed to be staring at you yet also at everything and everyone present.
"Greetings, Citizens of the Desolate Sky Domain!" The male voice spoke, and his voice was extremely loud yet brought no discomfort to anyone, be it the infants or the adults. It was soothing, in fact. The low reverb it carried comforted the heart, making it difficult to bear hostilities.
However, the experts were startled by his words. Desolate Sky Domain? Citizens? What?!
The voice cleared its throat and continued: "You must have a lot of questions, keep them for later. For now, I must tell you about why you're here: Your starfield, your planet, your continent, your home is about to meet its end!"
"…!" Trillions paled!
