“Tell me about the Wastelands you mentioned earlier.”

The seven swordsmen from the Wastelands could not help but shudder under Xiao Chen’s stern and firm look. In his eyes that never once blinked with doubt, they could feel his greatness and his valor in battle earlier left them in awe that they would have readily bent their knees to him.

“The Wastelands are not part of the Five Continents. But its size is not smaller than the Five Continents put together…” The leader spoke carefully, although he paused in the end with a hint of hesitation.

Xiao Chen held him in a glare that shredded him and uttered, “Go on.”

Humbled by Xiao Chen’s commanding stature, he gulped hard and nodded before he went on, “Then again, the Wastelands are not without a power structure of its own—societal hierarchies that include mages and common folk of the Wastelands—which is free from the influence of the Immortals’ League. Only…”

“Only what?” Xiao Chen pressed.

The swordsman paused uncertainly before he went on, “The Wastelands are thus called, because much of the ground is either dry, barren, or desolate. Most of the Wastelands are covered by miles and miles of swamps and desert, unlike the lush verdant steppes of the Violet Manor, which is what the natives of the Wastelands call the Five Continents.”

Xiao Chen took in a long, heavy breath. “Am I now on the brink of ruin, on the run from the Immortals’ League, that I have to seek refuge in the desolate Wastelands?”

The leader of the swordsman saw his expression and guessed that Xiao Chen must be disparaging life in the Wastelands. He explained, “It is the harshness of life in the Wastelands that demands the survival of the fittest. The strong grow stronger and the weak remain powerless. By virtue of this, the various factions wielding considerable influence and power inside the Wastelands are no weaker compared to their counterparts in the Violet Manor, especially…”

“Especially what?” Xiao Chen pressed, looking deeply at him.

“Especially the place called the Wasteland Sea. There is a city there, known as Sea City which serves as the seat of one of the strongest factions that terrorized the Wastelands, the Desolate Seas. The Desolate Seas gang has nine powerful lieutenants, called the Nine Lords of the Shining Stars. Each of them wears a mask and none alive has ever seen their true faces…”

“I know enough about the Wastelands myself,” Gu Xian interjected suddenly, “The Wastelands are divided into eight provinces: Life, Aged, Sickly, Death, Sea, Abyss, Sky, and Hades, no? The first four regions are the four most barren places in the Wastelands where most of the common folk live. And that Desolate Seas gang you mentioned? They are in the Wasteland Seas, are they not?”

“You’re right on all counts, dear Sir,” the leader of the swordsmen smiled, “You seem to know a lot about the Wastelands. Have you been there before?”

To everyone’s surprise, Gui Xian snorted disdainfully and said nothing else, visibly displeased.

The leader of the swordsmen chuckled and continued, “The Wastelands are different from the Violet Manor. Like what I’ve said before, the Wastelands are governed by one and only one law: the survival of the fittest. Hence there are no distinctions between Good and Evil, only Strong and Weak.”

Xiao Chen’s forehead creased in grim anticipation. “Must I really go to the Wastelands to escape the pursuit of the Immortals’ League? Is there really no other way?” Still, he asked, “How can we enter the domain of the Wastelands?”

“Go north from here. Pass through the Northern Continent and through the Mountains of Kunlun, then through the Arctic Wilderness far north, and last you’d be entering the region of the Wastelands by then. The journey would take around a month.”

“No! Not now!” Gu Xian barked suddenly. He glowered from the front of the flying stone conveyance, “You need to have your arm reattached in seven days, Boy. Or else… You will have to forfeit it forever.”

The mention of his arm reminded Xiao Chen of his own wound and the bloody stub twanged with a shot of pain as if in a cue. Despite being temporarily dressed by a layer of his True Energy, the pain was still very much real to him. His teacher had gone through great lengths to resurrect him, his parents have always hope only the best for him, yet today, a Rogue Immortal of the League had clove off his arm in a stroke! A stroke that he’d remember forever, and the taste of vengeance would be sweet then!

Xiao Chen cracked his knuckles lividly as the memories of what happened just now came back to him. “If only I have enough strength to match Xuanxuzi, if only I have enough power to tame the cantankerous Immortals’ League… But I will return. Someday I’ll return nonetheless and I’ll make sure vengeance is dispensed!”

This encounter with the Rogue Immortals had also taught him a lesson. There were too many powerful individuals here around the world. Nevermind the true demigods and the Immortal Kings in the Heaven Realm, even a Rogue Immortal now could easily vanquish him with a lift of his finger and it was imperative that he improved himself.

He inhaled another deep breath and looked at Gui Xian. “Can my arm be reattached, Senior?”

Gu Xian watched him wordlessly. Yi Tong’s finger winced once but he too was silent. No one said a word. Huangfu Xin’er was still unconscious and the Flying-cloud Stone sailed on quietly, save for Koo-chee’s soft moaning.

The Flying-cloud Stone shook violently and Gu Feng and Xiao Ning, who were resting at the edges, were jolted awake. Xiao Chen roused abruptly and his hands went immediately to his weapon. But before he could stand up, Ziyun’er held him down. “You need rest, My Lord! Leave this to us!”

The commotion stirred Huangfu Xin’er awake. Her eyes first caught the glimpse of Xiao Chen’s missing arm and she reeled with disbelief. “So it’s true… It was not a dream… Not a dream at all…”

Xiao Chen saw the morose look on her face and the beads of tears brimming her eyes and pulled her close. “It’s fine, Xin’er,” he cooed softly, “It’s all fine…”

BOOM!

The Flying-cloud Stone gave another lurch, tossing Koo-chee off his feet and the little creature rolled like a barrel. When he finally got up, he cast a long bewildered look into the distance and saw several other Flying-cloud Stones racing towards them. There was already another just at their rear which the leader of the swordsmen spied and cried, “Dammit! It’s the Immortals’ League! They’ve found us!”

He had barely finished when a deadly column of energy from one of other Flying-cloud Stone to their flank came and Gui Xian frantically maneuvered their stone conveyance to evade the giant death ray just in time.

“It’s the League’s Hit Squads! They’re using Energy Cannons!” the man in green said hurriedly.

The Flying-cloud Stones of the League’s Hit Squads were all retrofitted with Energy Cannons. These were flying stone conveyances used specially for aerial assaults on fugitives or outlaws and one single volley from one of these cannons is enough to penetrate the protective barrier of ordinary Flying-cloud Stones and destroy them.

“Hold on tight!” Gui Xian screeched and struggled to pick up more speed even as he ducked and evaded every energy volley the Hit Squads were throwing at them. Ziyun’er and everyone grew dizzy by the violent rocking and some of her sisters of the Levitating Dark Fragrance who were wounded were already on the verge of fainting.

A loud Hum from overhead marked another impending volley. Gu Feng rose up, seething with indignance. He swung his saber and fired a magical missile at the incoming volley of energy. A terrible explosion ensued with both the skies and the earth quivering wildly and the shock rattled their Flying-cloud Stone that Gu Feng nearly fell off board.

“Don’t try anything brash! A volley from these Energy Cannons is like a full-blast from a Rogue Immortal!” Gui Xian warned as he jerked the Flying-cloud Stone right to evade another volley coming from their left flank.

Before long, Xiao Chen and his companions were tailed by seven to eight Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stones with each sending destructive volleys of energy at them whenever they could. The sky was sprinkled with myriad-colored rays crisscrossing and many-hued explosions that would have looked like celebratory fireworks from afar. But on the Flying-cloud Stones, Ziyun’er and the rest of the passengers were gripped by intense fear; not one of them, save maybe Gu Feng and Xiao Ning, would survive a crash from so high an altitude if they were hit.

“Koo-chee! Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The little creature hugged tightly at Xiao Chen’s leg to avoid being toss overboard while Xiao Chen hugged Huangfu Xin’er tightly in his arms. It was all up to Gui Xian now.

The Hit Squads kept at their heels like bloodhounds on a scent with some even managing to overtake them and would have managed to stop them, if not for Gui Xian’s quick reflexes at the helm.

“Brothers, look around!” The leader of the swordsmen yelled above the din, “This Flying-cloud Stone might have a cannon of its own too!”

It did not take long for the swordsmen to find the controls for the Energy Cannon. Only none of them were trained in using such contraptions. Fiddling with the controls desperately, they tugged at every lever, poked at every button, and jerked at every control column they found until suddenly, a huge Boom erupted and they saw a destructive volley of energy fired from their cannon at a Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stone that had managed to overtake them again.

The commanding Steward and the Envoys onboard could only watch with wordless horror. But it was too late for them to do anything. A huge boom ensued with a blinding explosion and in its wake, a mushroom cloud that barreled up the sky. Nothing of the Flying-cloud Stone remained, including its passengers which had been reduced to bits and cinders.

The shock from the blast shook Xiao Chen’s flying stone conveyance. One of the swordsmen slapped his thigh with delight, “Gods in Heaven! Look at that! That’s awesome! Let’s have another go!”

They fired another blast of energy at another Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stone and destroyed it with ease. The swordsman who has been observing with glee broke into a fit of guffaws, “Damned, don’t these things made by the Immortals’ League work so well! Let’s have another!”

Only Gui Xian remained dour. With the opening left by the two Hit Squad Flying-cloud Stones being struck down, he quickly steered them away from the others and sped towards North.

Came dusk, they finally arrived at the Changyin Mountain Range that bordered the Northern and Middle Continents. By then, Xiao Chen has suffered a few times from the side-effects of using the Immolation Spell of the Three Elements, but fortunately, there was Gui Xian to help him through them.

The seven swordsmen introduced themselves, including the leader who revealed his name as Yang Qing. He had been pursued by enemies through the Wastelands and escaped into the Five Continents with twenty of his men, where they were later wanted for other crimes by the Immortals’ League.

“Are we entering the Northern Continent now?” Xiao Chen gasped, his face was as pale as death and his voice feeble.

Gui Xian nodded. “The Immortals’ League’s reach is far and wide inside the Middle Continent. Going to the Northern Continent looks like our safest option for now. At least until we get your arm reattached.” He paused and sighed. “The second phase of the Annihilation Times is indeed upon us. Even the Immortals League is not sparing any expense now; they are allowing their mages, including the Rogue Immortals, to consume enhancement supplements to increase their power to reach the Grand Completion Realm.”

In fact, most, if not all of the mages of the Immortals’ League present today were all artificially-enhanced using supplementary pills or elixirs. Only the Envoy named Zhuo, who had been fighting to isolate Su Ying away from Xiao Chen and the others, fought using his true strength. It was only mages like him and Su Ying who wielded true power. True power that could have easily vanquished any other artificially-enhanced mages who would have been nothing but mere expendables in the face of the Annihilation Times.

None-flower Dust scoffed. “The Immortals’ League is digging its own grave,” he commented flatly, “What can these inept fools do with their artificially-enhanced power when the true second stage of the Annihilation Time is indeed here? They’d be nothing but scraps on the table for the Strong. Come the second stage, I would be allowed to unseal more of my power and I’d be able to easily pound them to dust with a lift of my finger.”

“The North Continent…” Xiao Chen’s voice murmured suddenly out of nowhere, “Fort Raksasa’s there…”

In his delirium, Xiao Chen dreamt of what Su Lianyue told him about her Blue-water Lagoon at her abode in the Northern Continent and the joke they shared about him coming to see her. “Am I going to see her now? To take refuge with her?” The recollections of the time they shared together during their infiltration of the Corpse Refinery Sect came back to him and he shuddered.

“You should not concern yourself any more about Good and Evil, Boy… Not when the League’s hunting you now…” Gui Xian muttered under his breath but he was cut off before he could say anymore by a violent rock of the Flying-cloud Stone that followed with a whining siren.

“Blasted! An ambush!”

A rumble of thunder shook the sky and another column of energy came before Gui Xian could maneuver their Flying-cloud Stone away. The flying stone conveyance gave a great jolt as if wincing in pain as the column of energy gashed at its left edge and it began spiraling rapidly downwards, losing altitude quickly.

“Hold tight!”

With their Flying-cloud Stone’s protective barrier destroyed, the stone conveyance plunged from the sky with the winds howling by everyone’s ears and brushing by their faces as they braced with horror.