Neutral Territory, Northeastern region of the Galaxy, Sector number 7, Solar System number 11, planet number 5.
A lone figure stood still just near the outer edge of the atmosphere of the greenish planet. His eyes were stuck in a certain direction above.
Past the radiant star at the center of the solar system, on a distant, expansive orbit, the seventh planet of the system was buried beneath a layer of smoke.
From where he stood, he could clearly examine the marred exosphere of the seventh planet. Amidst the endless smokey tides covering the planet's sky, more than a dozen 'objects' had emerged. Each of these objects was shaped like a mountain, each of their peaks pointed straight at the sun.
Xing Ji's fists were clenched, shaking from the sheer fury coursing through his veins as he was forced to accept this loss.
An entire solar system. It would be lost just like that?
He could almost see the look of mirth on the faces of those monstrosities who occupied the seventh planet of the solar system now.
Gnashing his teeth for a moment, Xing Ji turned away to focus on the job for which he had sent this clone to planet number five.
The Celestial Mandate prevented him from entering the Neutral Territories unless it was to solve certain specific emergencies. Even in the case of encountering such emergencies, he couldn't walk into this region in full force. Much discretion and secrecy were to be maintained on this issue, especially since he was certain that each and every move made by his clone was under the scrutiny of some Nocturna scums sitting one planet away.
The power holding him up disappeared as his body dropped down into the atmosphere of the planet. The thin layer of frost that had formed over his skin melted away. He looked entirely unperturbed by the terrifying momentum his body was gathering with each second.
As his free-falling body entered the range of vision of the powerful cultivators down on the ground, he nullified all reflections and refraction of light interacting with his physical body. Then the suppression of his spiritual being followed. For the final step, he put a covering over any spiritual leakage emanating from his body, regardless of which totality that body belonged to.
Xing Ji landed on a beach that stretched dozens of miles, sporting a distinct absence of life of any form. That was understandable, considering how many of the residual rifts from the Great Sundering still existed above the sea in front of him.
Xing Ji was not particularly skilled in matters of space and time, but he could still sense the thick, yet chaotic flow of the space-time continuum churning above the sea.
Nature was trying its best to heal the sundered space here, but that attempt at healing was what had created the messy agglutination of isolated spatial regions, each of which ran on the exact same principles as the others, separated by the chaotic time-flow of the unhealed void gnawing at the continuum.
Xing Ji had imagined that some curious cultivators with considerable insight into the dao of space and time might walk into this place in order to explore. But upon landing here, he realized his mistake.
Thousands of cultivators were occupying the isolated spatial regions above the sea! At least more than fifteen thousand!
How many cultivators did this planet even have? Xing Ji wanted to verify his doubts about what he was sensing from outside, but that would be tantamount to leaking his existence. The Nocturna scums hadn't overstepped the boundaries of the agreement yet, frustratingly. He didn't want to be the one to do that and trigger an even more intense war.
Carefully, Xing Ji tried to trace the exact spatial region from where the aura of a taboo-breaker had leaked out a moment ago.
Half a second later, Xing Ji's clone disappeared and reappeared a thousand feet above the sea, standing still on empty air. A spot right below his feet took over his focus. He had calculated all the possible routes for the Extinction-grade Calamity to invade the agglutinated space and strike the cultivator who had just attempted to take over another cultivator's body fully, expelling the original owner into his own body. The heavens didn't tolerate such insolence against its way!
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He linked the consciousness of the nature with the command of the Celestial, and almost instantly, the color of the sky turned opaque, dark red clouds rushing in towards him at a speed to match the Celestial's fury.
Red sparks were birthed into existence by the clashing clouds, and they continued to increase in both number and volume until the entire sky was turned into an infestation of roiling red lightning, ready to rain down upon the blasphemous.
With a motion of his arms, Xing Ji leaned forward and directed the storm of punishing tribulation at the criminal hiding inside the cracked space. The mass of clouds surged by his body, hiding him behind their red, icy tendrils.
A picturesque scene formed above the sea. If a mortal stood here, he would see the vortex of red rage being directed into empty air far above his head.
If a cultivator stood here, he would see another vortex of torn space below it, being ripped open by the heavenly tribulation.
Xing Ji's breath froze a moment later.
It seemed that something... or someone was blocking the route taken by the tribulation clouds. It couldn't proceed forward at the speed it was supposed to!
"Impossible!"
That was the first word Xing Ji uttered on this planet.
There was no cultivator on this planet capable of resisting a heavenly tribulation! Even an overlord qualified to step into the heavenly court had to suffer the testing tribulations!
Rapidly, Xing Ji's mind spun, seeking out possible reasons for this blockade. What authority had the capability to achieve this?
He only knew of one. One related intricately to the Great Sundering. One hailing from the previous millennium.
Watching the vortex of tribulation beneath his feet struggling to enter the isolated spatial region, Xing Ji had little doubt that it could be the work of some other force.
The ghosts of the past millennium... Are they about to return?
Face pale, Xing Ji recalculated the route of the heavenly tribulation, forcing it to crawl deeper into the agglutinated space. At the same time, he sent the message to the Heavenly Court, seeking guidance.
Hardly had the clouds forced their way into the spatial zone where the target was hiding when another unexpected development took place.
The trace of the broken taboo disappeared.
Xing Ji was dumbstruck for a good few seconds before managing to sense the nature of the incident. From the input of the natural laws that had taken root inside the spatial zone, he surmised that the wrongdoer had noticed the incoming tribulation and reversed whatever mechanism he had used to possess another cultivator's body.
Still, this hardly meant that he didn't deserve to be punished. So Xing Ji continued to channel the tribulation clouds.
By the time enough energy had been created inside the spatial zone for a punishing strike, Xing Ji's mind felt overloaded with stress.
As if to rescue him, a familiar voice sounded directly inside his head.
"Leave it be. We have received news that the first phase of the Solar Transformation has already been initiated. Nocturna authorities are masking the operation to surprise those of us who have business left in the solar system. It's a trap that can clamp down at any moment. Leave!"
In his shock, Xing Ji lost control of the heavenly energy, causing the tribulation cloud to weaken rapidly. But his focus no longer returned to that task. His eyes were glued to the sun overhead, still shining like a beacon.
Even he hadn't been able to tell that the transformation had already begun.
Roaring in frustration, Xing Ji punched the air, rattling every element in the space near him. A second later, his body appeared outside the planet, standing atop a round, mountain-sized rock that was orbiting the planet.
He cast an unsteady gaze upon the greenish planet in front of him. Layer by layer, he detached the control he had formed over the consciousness of the planet.
"Xing Ji...are you still there?" a hesitant voice suddenly spoke to him in his mind.
"Yes!" Xing Ji responded quickly. "I've left the boundaries of the planet.
"Are you alright? You didn't try to complete the mission after I warned you, did you?"
The concern in her voice made him smile despite the storm ongoing in his heart.
"I'm fine. The cultivator who attracted the tribulation got scared and reversed the possession. You don't need to worry about taking responsibility," he replied.
"...Whatever. I'm sending somebody to strike him down in the dao domain, anyway. You come back as fast as you can. The fifth planet isn't the only one that hosts life in that solar system. The third does too. Nocturna will place great importance on that area now. It's best not to start a conflict."
Xing Ji, despite being annoyed at her nagging tone, sighed and agreed to return. The cosmic rock he was standing on contained the Transportation array. He'd be soon beyond the spatial intersections shrouding this faraway constellation.
Right as he had decided to activate the transportation array, she sent another message from her court.
"Xiao Ji! Stop whatever you're doing!"
"...What now?" he asked, unable to hide the irritation in his heart.
"The person I sent to the Dao Domain has sent a message back! He can't find the taboo-breaker's dao tower! It's gone!"
"...." Xing Ji genuinely shuddered this time. Had his body not been refined to near perfection, he would have perhaps started sweating profusely by now.
How could that be? This planet hadn't been transformed by the Nocturna forces yet. The cultivator whom he had tracked down had been a genuine cultivator registered under the authority of the heavenly laws. It wasn't possible that in just one moment, without the intervention of Nocturna forces, he could've switched sides and become a Nocturna cultivator.
"I've just checked the Slate of The Forsaken!" She nearly shouted in the message.
"Why? Shouldn't you be sending a message to the spies hiding among the Nocturna forces? They're the ones who can ascertain if a new cultivator from this solar system has joined their ranks," Xing Ji said in confusion.
"....Yeah, no, Nocturna cultivators don't have what it takes to detach a Dao tower from our Dao Domain without us knowing. Besides, my instinct wasn't wrong. Something really did happen on the Slate of the Forsaken!"
A sense of grave foreboding was born in Xing Ji's heart.
"Is it a ghost cultivator?" he asked hesitantly.
"What?! No! Why would you think that?" the lady on the other side sounded confused.
"Well, this place is so close to the rift, so, you know..." Xing Ji trailed off, deciding not to reveal his suspicion yet. "So what is it? Do we have a name? Any clue?"
"That's the strangest thing," she answered. "The slate contains no description, no name, not a single clue to this person's identity. It's literally a blank placeholder in the list."
"What the fuck is even going on?" Xing Ji muttered to himself. "Which category is the new addition under? At least that will narrow the search down for the spies."
"I don't know much about the category except the title. It's called Fusion Seed. The only other person in the category used to be an Overlord, at least. His title is Lord Crimsontide."
Xing Ji didn't know who that was. But he knew that he couldn't just leave now that such a huge scandal had been unearthed. He'd probably be sent on a new mission to find out who this new 'Fusion Seed' was.