After a period of teleportation that turned sun, moon, and stars upside down, along with spatial directions and the flow of cause and time, the nine Dao Children appeared in a neutral region among the Nine Great Immortal Sects of the Nine Spirits Domain.
Yes, even the nine Dao Children were not allowed to know the exact location of the passage between domains. It was a secret of the highest order.
In this neutral stretch of starry sky, each of the Nine Great Immortal Sects had its own teleportation array and stationed personnel. The Immortal Sect's garrison was a starfleet under Vast Sea Heavenly Lord's command, while the other Immortal Orders had stationed Void Refining Daoist soldiers here. Together, they formed the Nine Spirits Domain's second line of defense, prepared for the worst.
Jiang Ding swept his divine sense across the surroundings and flew toward Vast Sea Heavenly Lord.
"Jiang Dingzi."
A voice came from behind him.
It was Ji Liuyue, the Azurewood Daoist Heir. Her voice was soft and ethereal, carrying the aura of Grand Unity Azurewood and instinctively stirring goodwill in anyone who heard it.
It was humanity's natural yearning for life and vitality.
"Speak," Jiang Ding said without looking back.
Silence lingered behind him for a moment.
"I hope..."
"That I'll still see you a thousand years from now. Don't die."
Ji Liuyue spoke softly.
The other eight Dao Children were about to enter a thousand-year slumber, quietly waiting for time to pass and the miniature immortal-path ecosystems within them to grow.
As for sword cultivators, their path was less certain.
Yu Qianzi, for example, would not sleep. She would remain active on any battlefield where blood and death bloomed, for a full thousand years. Even when she was frail and stooped with age, she would draw