Somewhere amidst the vast stretches of the Desolate Plains, five silhouettes suddenly appeared as if they emerged out of nothingness.
Even a slight ripple couldn't be detected when the five silhouettes manifested in mid-air.
The scorching sun flashed and their blurry silhouettes became visible.
Behind them was a huge spatial gateway that looked translucent. It slowly faded away from existence as if it had never subsisted before.
One of them who walked out of that place clenched their fists as a mutter escaped their mouth, "It's been more than two decades..."
It was a womanly figure. After a silent pause, that womanly figure echoed with renewed determination, "I'm finally back!"
Her voice reverberated through the scorching lands, even picking up gust in the process.
Suddenly, the womanly figure had its hand pried open as another figure grasped and interlocked their fingers. They looked at each other and a smile lit up their face.
"... Mother, what does that black dot in the sky signify? Is that a sign of something untoward?" Another figure asked, startling the other four as they simultaneously looked at the sky.
These five were none other than Davis, Evelynn, Logan, Claire, and Princess Isabella. They had just stepped out of the concealment of the individual spatial gate and truly stepped into the First Layer, Tripart.i.te Alliance Territory, Desolate Plains.
Davis opted to keep the huge Peak-Level King Grade Artifact, the Earth Dragon's Abode inside his spatial ring, afraid that it would attract greater trouble once they arrived at this side; the Tripart.i.te Alliance's Territory.
Besides, he didn't want to test if the Earth Dragon's Abode could handle the transportation stress caused by crossing the spatial gateway. If he were to lose it for this silly reason, he would've really come out as a loser.
Furthermore, he really did see how much of a commotion it could cause, and the possible unrest and panicking that it would create as an after effect.
It was right when the Guardian Alliance spotted the towering Earth Dragon Abode a few hundred kilometers away from the secret entrance of the Grand Sea Continent and attacked it, fearing that it came from the Tripart.i.te Alliance Territory.
The situation was swiftly handled by Davis and Logan, and it also created a curbing effect for people secretly trying to take this opportunity to attack or create unrest in the Loret Empire.
It successfully made them think that offending the Loret Empire at this point was extremely detrimental to them, so they withdrew their greedy and opportunistic minds at once and pointed it at elsewhere.
Besides, most of the members of the Guardian Alliance were recluses and other than pursuing the cultivation path, they rarely exposed themselves to the outer world.
In accordance with this, and upon seeing Emperor Loret coming out of the Earth Dragon Abode, they all indirectly expressed their wishes for them to enter the First Layer.
Emperor Loret didn't mince his words and said that there will be once a day where the people of the Grand Sea Continent will be able to pursue their paths in the First Layer.
To his statement, they all sang praises and delivered their congratulations in hopes of being taken away next time to the First Layer.
"I don't know..." Claire replied belatedly with a bewildered tone. It could be seen that she was unsure of what it even was in the first place.
Davis narrowed his eyes. He could feel a vague sense of danger silently emanating from the dark speck of light in the sky.
"That looks ominous..." He commented and the other four nodded their heads in agreement.
"Can you feel something from that dark spot?" He asked again but the other four looked at him suspiciously before shaking their heads.
Davis frowned even more. He could see that the other four couldn't feel what he was sensing.
'Could it be because of the Karma Laws that I could feel danger?' Davis inwardly mused and posed his question towards Fallen Heaven.
"It should be..." Fallen Heaven replied with an unsure tone, "I said that these entire three layers were created by this existence who sealed me, so that black spot in the sky could possibly represent something tearing open this world from the outside..."
'W-What!??'
Davis became stunned!
"Are you sure?" He inquired as he shouted inside his soul sea.
This matter was way out of his cultivation base if Fallen Heaven's words were true! Someone could pry open this world should be an equal existence to the being who sealed Fallen Heaven here.
He didn't want to face such an opponent and risk losing himself or his family for no reason!
"Maybe... The spatial ripples from that dark speck of light are vague but real. The only possibilities I could infer from that is either this sealed world had reached its end or it is being pried open from outside."
Davis was absolutely flabbergasted. Both weren't a good scenario! How was he supposed to react to this!?
He could feel a type of law emanating from the ripples created by the black dot but only with the words of Fallen Heaven was he able to tell that it was spatial laws.
From Fallen Heaven's words, both of the scenarios seemed likely...
In fact, if Fallen Heaven's words became true, then he felt that he should stay clear of this danger and let the two great ent.i.ties fight each other till death!
But a battle at their level might undoubtedly involve trillions of lives in the First Layer, even involving them. At that time, he felt that he should at least become a powerhouse above the Ninth Stage and take his family out of this s.p.a.ce containing three layers.
"Or, something entirely different could happen as well. It's not like I know much about spatial laws since I am aligned with death."
With another warning from Fallen Heaven, Davis's expression turned solemn as he silently gazed at the black dot.
'Why?' Davis inwardly lamented, 'This dark speck of light in the sky did not exist when I was in the First Layer...'
'Why? Why did it suddenly appear? From when did it appear? And why can I feel a vague sense of danger emanating when I look at the dark speck of light?'
A sense of urgency to get even stronger welled up within himself but the words that Fallen Heaven said next, made his heart turn tranquil.
"In any case, it took me an unknown amount of years, probably numbering in the billions for me to break out of the seal. It should be the case for this black dot in the sky. Even if it weren't a million years, it should at least a few hundred thousand years before it can break open this vast world."
Davis imperceptibly nodded his head to its not so optimistic views.
Even if it weren't so many years, he garnered that he would reach the Ninth Stage within 500 years just by cultivating pa.s.sively. So the sense urgency that welled up within him vanished as he cast a look in a direction.
Just a moment ago, he swept his Soul Sense and managed to find a peculiar scenery that first attracted his attention.
In the location where he concentrated his senses, there was a huge ice mountain, encasing the surface of the sandy plains. The area around looked as if it had been scorched to some degree but the center where the ice mountain was present gave the place an oasis.