Chapter 109: Delivering the Letter

Far to the north, over two hundred thousand miles from the Golden Crow Ridge and across a surging, thousand-mile-wide river, the Southern Wilderness continent comes to an abrupt end.

Standing on the riverbank, one faces an infinite void, its breadth and boundaries unknown. Gazing into the distance, one can see several floating landmasses of varying sizes drifting in the void like celestial bodies in orbit.

In this void, hundreds of massive birds with wingspans stretching for miles circle and hunt. Occasionally, they let out piercing cries that send white ripples of sound sweeping through the void, shaking the very earth for a thousand miles and whipping up hundred-foot waves on the great river below.

A flying warship, forged entirely of metal and exquisitely crafted, with dozens of delicate mechanical wings protruding from its sides, shot out from the Southern Wilderness jungles and plunged into the void.

The giant birds circling the sky turned in unison to stare at the metal vessel.

One great bird swooped past the ship with malicious intent, its massive wing striking the hull and sending the vessel into a violent tumble. The birds shrieked together, their cries filled with spiteful glee.

On the flying ship, a vertical eye emblem carved into the bow suddenly flared. With a thunderous boom, a beam of fire as thick as a water vat erupted, piercing the head of the attacking bird. The massive head exploded, and the creature’s enormous body spiraled down into the bottomless void.

The flock, startled and realizing this strange vessel was not to be trifled with, scattered to seek other hunting grounds.

The metal ship whistled as it dived into the infinite void, the vertical eye emblem on its bow flickering rhythmically to guide it at full speed. Covering over ten thousand miles every few hours, the ship traveled for three days and nights before a floating landmass tens of thousands of miles wide suddenly appeared ahead.

The vast land was lush with vegetation, dotted with mirror-like lakes and towering, ancient forests. Between the lakes and woods, countless fierce beasts hunted according to the primordial laws of survival; occasionally, when two beasts clashed, the sound of their battle echoed for hundreds of miles.

At the very center of the land, a hexagonal fortress stood atop a highland, arrogantly overlooking the entire territory.

In the heart of the fortress, a hundred-foot-tall tower pierced the sky. At its summit, a shroud of blood-red mist lingered, and within this dim fog, a vertical eye, roughly a yard in height, rhythmically opened and closed, casting rays of crimson light in every direction.

At the top of the tower, a Jia Clan warrior clad in golden armor—his skin also gleaming like pure gold—stood sturdily behind a waist-high parapet. With his arms crossed over his chest, his four sharp, piercing eyes scanned the surroundings. He had locked onto the metal ship long before it came within a thousand miles of the fortress.

"It is... this emblem. A slave transport ship of the Blood Tooth Regiment," the Jia Clan warrior muttered in a gravelly voice. "The Blood Moon lineage, property of the Di family, a branch of the Di Shi clan. According to reports from the clan, the one from the Di Shi clan is likely to be promoted to the next Ruling Emperor."

After ruminating on the background of the Blood Tooth Regiment’s patrons, the Jia Clan warrior leaned over the parapet and shouted to the mass of warriors below: "The Blood Tooth ship is here. Treat them with courtesy. Even though they are just lowly slave traders, they have powerful backers. Do not offend them... I do not wish to see your heads mounted on the stone pillars outside the death arena."

Several winged, single-horned lions took to the air, carrying Jia Clan warriors on their backs as they sped to meet the slave ship.

An hour later, a flustered Jia Clan warrior with an ashen face rushed up the tower and knelt on one knee before the golden-skinned warrior.

"Respected lord, I am Tuo Meng, the logistics adjutant of the Blood Tooth Regiment. I request your permission to use your fortress’s emergency teleportation array."

"Tuo Meng, of the Tuo surname... you are a vassal of the Di family." The golden-skinned Jia Clan warrior crossed his arms, looking down at Tuo Meng with haughty disdain. "What right do you have to make a request of me? You know the disparity in our status. If you wish to petition me, send a direct member of the Di family."

Tuo Meng gave a dry laugh and produced a fist-sized leather pouch covered in complex, glowing runes. "This is a small token of gratitude. Respected lord, our Blood Tooth Regiment has been utterly annihilated. All the direct bloodline members of the clan, including Lord Di Luo, have been killed."

Looking up at the stunned Jia Clan warrior, Tuo Meng said calmly, "We Jia clansmen who have become vassals to other houses naturally do not hold the same status as a noble such as yourself. But if you grant my request, you will surely earn the friendship of General Di Sha."

"Di Sha... the newly promoted Blood Moon general?" The Jia Clan warrior studied Tuo Meng deeply before replying calmly, "Your words entice me, Tuo Meng. I am Gang Yan, and I do wish to earn Di Sha’s friendship. Tell Di Sha that I will send him the bill for all costs incurred by using this emergency teleportation array."

Crossing the infinite void, bypassing tens of thousands of floating landmasses—some drifting, some clustered together—they reached a sprawling expanse of land stretching for countless trillions of miles. Hundreds of thousands of floating islands, large and small, orbited a central, colossal continent like a slow-moving vortex.

This central continent was unimaginably vast; if the Southern Wilderness jungle where Ji Hao lived were placed here, it would be no more than a tiny bean beside a massive mountain.

On this very land, in a fertile region where nine great rivers converged, a magnificent city stood silently on the riverbanks.

As dawn broke, mist from the rivers shrouded the massive city. Its metal walls, over a hundred feet high, loomed like a monster in the fog. Occasionally, vast swaths of runes on the walls would flare, sparking with electric flashes and sharp, crackling sounds.

With a dull, thunderous roar, thirty-six city gates, each a mile wide, opened simultaneously across the four walls. Runes on the walls ignited, and the immense power of the array pushed the ten-foot-thick gates, sliding them slowly into the city walls.

Outside the city, on a small highland within a heavily fortified military base, Tuo Meng stumbled out of a tower, his body swaying and his four eyes rolling wildly as if he were drunk. He borrowed a wolf-like mount from the fortress and spurred it into a frantic gallop, racing toward the city.

Tuo Meng shouted and whipped his mount, forcing it to dash into the city at breakneck speed.