Song Zining’s group of three remained on the wall, waiting for news of Qianye’s whereabouts. Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan never arrived as planned, but Zhao Yuying didn’t really mind since the two girls weren’t very close to her.

Some people walked out of the fortress and carried the corpse of the four-armed warrior into the fortress. A person later arrived before the trio, saying, “Elder Qi asks for you.”

Elder Qi was well known for his strength. The three performed their salutations before taking their seats.

Elder Qi was almost eighty but looked no older than fifty. He was tall and lean, with a fearsome expression and a sharp glint in his eyes. Without seeing him in battle, one would hardly believe that he was able to operate a giant, human-height bow and deal damage equal to a grade-eight firearm.

Elder Qi’s residence was a three-roomed building behind the main complex. The living room in front wasn’t big. The decoration was also quite simple and devoid of fine objects.

Elder Qi smiled. “My place is rather simple. You all come from major families, so do bear with me.”

Song Zining replied hurriedly, “No, no.”

Elder Qi sighed. “I remember myself a bit older than you all when I entered the Great Maelstrom, but my cultivation was lower. Our Qi family can barely be considered a low-ranking aristocratic family. We had to spend our entire fortune in order to get me into the Great Maelstrom. After seeing you lot, I finally realize how deep the major clans’ inheritances are.”

Song Zining knew quite a bit about the past. “Elder Qi was a genius of your generation. You’ve also been safeguarding the fortress for dozens of years. Surely, the Empire won’t forget your great contributions.”

Elder Qi shook his head with a sigh. “Back then, I was lucky enough to obtain some resources in the Great Maelstrom, and that allowed me to break through to the divine champion realm. But my foundation isn’t good, and the quality of my origin power is rather low. Every step after the upgrade was fraught with difficulties and problems. Sigh, but it’s already too late to switch to a different cultivation art.”

Wei Potian said, “Your contributions should be enough to exchange for an extremely powerful art. Even if you can’t use it yourself, your descendants can.”

The old man nodded. “Makes sense, but no one in the family is capable. I just hope they’ll last for a couple more generations.”

Wei Potian was a designated heir since many years ago. With his current development, succeeding the family head position was only a matter of time. The Wei family had been nurturing him all this time, so his objective in every matter was focused on the clan. Elder Qi came from a small aristocratic family, standing as the pillar of the clan for dozens of years. That was why the two of them had a fair bit to talk about.

Zhao Yuying wasn’t too patient—she was too lazy to even take part in the Duke You residence’s affairs, opting to roam the land and join battles everywhere. Song Zining, on the other hand, had founded the Ningyuan Heavy Industries on his own and was prepared to develop in this direction. He had also given up on the tradition of succeeding the family business. Hence, these two didn’t quite resonate with the old man.

After some idle chatter, Elder Qi got to the main topic. “I’ve been in the Great Maelstrom for many decades, but recently, I’ve been feeling a bit excited for some reason. These four-armed natives usually won’t come to this place for no reason. Creatures from the core region can’t stay here for very long.”

What the old man said was reasonable. Song Zining said, “It’s indeed strange, but there’s no way to perform divination inside the Great Maelstrom, so we can only play it by ear. After landing in the core-region, we ran back without stopping to escape the frigid night. That’s why we don’t understand much about the situation over there. I don’t know why they’ve run over here, either.”

Since Song Zining wasn’t mentioning it, Zhao Yuying naturally wouldn’t talk about Zhao Ruoxi bringing the Red Spider Lily into the neutral lands and causing a huge ruckus.

Elder Qi nodded with a worried expression. “The reason is no longer important. Right now, I’m just afraid that this empty fortress won’t be able to handle it if hundreds of four-armed warriors descend upon us. All we have is a small airs.h.i.+p that can take us back to the empire.”

“Just one?” The trio’s expressions s.h.i.+fted.

“How can that be enough? Don’t we usually have three in the fortress?” Song Zining asked with a frown.

Elder Qi laughed wryly and beckoned to the group. “Follow me and you’ll know.”

The trio followed Elder Qi out of the main building and arrived in a sealed backyard. There was a row of workshops here, as well as the keel of an airs.h.i.+p sitting in the courtyard. The keel had just been completed, and the wood stacked nearby went to show that the framework was about to be installed next.

As someone who built wars.h.i.+ps, Song Zining knew that this was an airs.h.i.+p construction yard after seeing the workshop and the keel. It was just that their craftsmans.h.i.+p was from several centuries ago. The s.h.i.+p’s movement came from kinetic sails, and their levitation and defense drew power from an origin array.

Such an airs.h.i.+p was basically all hand-crafted. The materials harvested in the Great Maelstrom were extremely st.u.r.dy and could be installed as armor plates on an airs.h.i.+p.

Elder Qi pointed at the keel. “Where do you think all these s.p.a.ce traversal airs.h.i.+ps come from? Each and every one of them was built here. We build one every year, and we go back once every two years, one s.h.i.+p carrying people, and the other, goods. The Great Maelstrom has just opened up, and we still have half a year’s time until a new s.h.i.+p is completed. The one airs.h.i.+p we have left is an emergency reserve.”

If they only had one airs.h.i.+p, then the situation would be rather serious. Song Zining asked after a good while, “Elder Qi, is a s.p.a.ce traversal airs.h.i.+p necessary to go back to the Empire?”

Elder Qi said, “This airs.h.i.+p not only protects the pa.s.sengers but can also discern the direction and ensure a safe return. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a joke if you landed in Evernight?”

Song Zining asked once more, “What I meant is, is there any other pa.s.sage that can get us out in one piece?”

Elder Qi said after some thought, “You might be able to get through, but Miss Zhao here will suffer injuries. As for the Wei clan heir here, it’s best you don’t even try.”

Zhao Yuying was dissatisfied. “What do you mean!? Are you saying Song Seven is stronger than me?”

Elder Qi had seen his fair share of arrogant geniuses from the major clans, so he didn’t take offense at this. He merely let out a dry cough and said, “I didn’t say he’s more powerful than you, but the secret art he cultivates makes it easier for him to travel through the spatial tunnels.”

Zhao Yuying’s brows relaxed, and she soon returned to a satisfactory mood. But then she recalled the real problem. “Wait a minute! Elder Qi, what you’re saying is that we have to abandon Qianye and flee when we’re overrun by four-armed warriors.”

Elder Qi said slowly, “What I mean is that we should have an agreement beforehand. Otherwise, it’ll be too late if we’re panicking at the critical juncture.

Song Zining was in a frown because he had already noticed the old man’s intention. The Imperial fortress wasn’t very big, and could accommodate a couple hundred people at most. The only choice after being overrun by the four-armed warriors was to abandon the place and flee back to the Empire. Otherwise, they would all be buried along with the city.

He had just finished thinking when a certain person ran over. “Elder, things don’t look good! There are a lot of four-armed natives on the bridge.”

Shocked, Elder Qi shot toward the city wall. Song Zining’s group followed the elder to the wall and gazed out. Amidst a cloud of rolling dust, one four-armed warrior could be seen converging upon their location. In addition to the four-armed warriors, there was also a swarm of countless two-armed natives. The ones at the front row wielded swords and s.h.i.+elds, while those at the back were carrying luggage and driving beasts of burdens. It looked like they were here not just to fight but also to take up residence.

“T-This…” Even the experienced Elder Qi couldn’t help but tremble.

Song Zining sighed. “There’s nothing we can do, let’s go.”

Zhao Yuying was furious. “If we leave, what about Lil’ Five? Are we going to leave him here? Potian, what is your opinion?”

Wei Potian’s expression was solemn. These days of running about had left him with a short beard, which added to his maturity. He gazed silently into the distance before finally saying, “I guess that’s all we can do.”

There were hundreds of four-armed warriors and at least tens of thousands of two-armed ones. Zhao Yuying could say nothing more when that ma.s.sive figure appeared far off in the distance.

Moments later, a small airs.h.i.+p rushed into the air and flew into the dark night.

The flying vessel was packed full of people, but none of them were in the mood to talk. Finally, Elder Qi sighed. “Our human race went through the same thing back in the year. Besides, we left them the plans for building the airs.h.i.+p. If they’re lucky, they might be able to build a new vessel and head back to the Empire.”

The s.p.a.ce traversal s.h.i.+p thus vanished into the darkness. The fortress below was now filled with two-armed natives disa.s.sembling whatever they could get their hands on. It only took a short while for the fortress to turn into a pile of rocks. Only the half-destroyed main building and a few segments of the wall remained to tell of the past.

The sea of many-armed people swept over the land like a tide and moved in a different direction.

…

The edges of the Eastern Sea Continent in the neutral lands seemed unaffected. This place was filled with cold winds and tormented by void tempests year-round. It could be said that every step here was fraught with danger, and not many were willing to hang around.

A certain figure arrived swiftly, evading the spatial tears with great familiarity as he made for the duke’s wars.h.i.+p.

“Master, I’ve carried out your instructions.”

With that, Jared opened his backpack to reveal a small girl inside. This beautiful little la.s.s—curled up and sound asleep at the moment—looked like she was just eight years old.

Nighteye’s voice arrived from inside the wars.h.i.+p. “That was fast, well done. Did you run into any trouble?”

Jared smiled wryly. “She was willing to follow me only after doing what you had instructed me to. Otherwise, I might not be able to bring her back.”

“Did those natives trouble you?”

“The entire tribe was dead by the time I arrived.”

Nighteye was somewhat surprised. The wars.h.i.+p cabin doors opened slightly, whereupon a stream of blood energy emerged and pulled the little girl inside.

Jared didn’t enter the wars.h.i.+p, but instead headed over to one of the stone huts nearby. This was his new residence. He removed his upper armor and saw numerous unerasable bruises on his body. He might not have been able to bring her back if he hadn’t produced the token.

Jared heaved a long sigh, feeling that his master’s missions were getting more and more difficult.