Night of Despair

Heartless Belt.

Under the twinkling of endless stars.

A massive, pitch-black tree shadow slowly emerged from the void, drifting towards the deepest part of the Heartless Belt.

The shadow was so large that it was dozens of times bigger than the Star Singing Hall. Its entire body was pitch-black, without leaves, only bare branches.

On these branches, there were bizarre and peculiar black cities.

Inside the cities, there were countless humanoid shadows wearing black cloaks, with blood-red eyes.

There were also giant black dragons several hundred meters long, mighty and sinister.

Additionally, there were men and women, tens of meters tall, wearing red clothes, their faces blurred, staring blankly at the sky.

Besides these, there were various other monsters from the Black Disaster, gathered in the dark cities on the branches, waiting for something.

At the top of the giant tree, among countless branches, a huge black tower could be faintly seen, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Inside the tower.

A humanoid figure in golden armor sat quietly on a tall black stone throne, surrounded by beautiful shadows with human heads and snake bodies, flying back and forth in the air.

"Gesha."

A grand and deep voice echoed inside the tower.

"The Elemental Emperor has arrived?" The golden armor figure trembled slightly and looked up.

"Not just him, all the leaders of the forces on the Mother Tree have gathered. This round of the Great Annihilation seems relentless; we must find a solution." The grand voice continued, "It's no longer about recognizing the problem. Just now, I discovered that the Light Disaster's Great Annihilation is also spreading towards the Heartless Belt. The forces around the Ultimate Sun are also fleeing. And several Heavenly Courts in the Spirit Disaster are..."

"No one can survive the Great Annihilation, but as long as we find our own land of vitality like before, we'll be fine." Gesha responded.

"But the key now is, the lands of vitality we found before have been abandoned. This round of the Great Annihilation seems more troublesome and severe than before." The grand voice continued.

"How many leaders have gathered so far?" Gesha fell silent for a moment, then asked.

"About thirty, all of our level. Everyone is quickly harvesting their planted cognitive entities, but there are still some, like us, who don't have time to harvest everything. Our reserved cognitive entities..."

The grand voice suddenly paused slightly, as if it had discovered something.

Gesha also slightly turned his head, looking towards another direction as if something was approaching.

"Is that... a Golden Immortal of the Heavenly Venerate System?" he whispered.

"Isn't that the Floating City under the Elemental Emperor?" The grand voice asked in confusion.

"This aura, this fluctuation, it should be the Golden Immortal of Qinghe Mountain who fought with me before." Gesha regained his calm.

"A decent strength, but unfortunately, not much luck. Behind us are the Children of the Mother Tree and the Mother Tree's body. Encountering us means their misfortune." The grand voice sighed.

Both of them knew very well that if it were an ordinary day, the two Golden Immortals would be strong enough to be on the same level as them. It wouldn't affect anyone if they met, as they would remain mutually indifferent.

But this moment was different. The Mother Tree was manifesting, moving, avoiding the Great Annihilation, and there were many Golden Immortal-level forces on the branches. Around them, they could contact dozens of them.

Let alone stronger forces such as the Children of the Mother Tree and the body of the Mother Tree approaching from behind.

"How long until we encounter them?" Gesha asked through a sound transmission.

"Why? Do you want to join the fight?" The grand voice asked in surprise.

"One can never have too much cognitive entity. Besides, one of them is an old acquaintance of mine. Helping him collect his remains after this is done is the least I can do for old times' sake." Gesha sighed.

"A few more hours at most.... Our speed is much faster than theirs."

"Sigh...." Gesha fell silent, speaking no more.

*

*

*

Yu Hong sat cross-legged within the Black Black Spirit.

The state of the High-dimensional Snake allowed him to briefly and clearly see the flow of primordial particles outside.

Not long after.

A vortex formed by primordial particles surged into the safe house, brushing past him, quickly disintegrating a wooden stool into the same primordial particles.

In Yu Hong's eyes, this change appeared as if the wooden stool suddenly vanished without leaving a trace.

He understood and continued to close his eyes, sensing the changes in the external environment.

The strengthening fusion of the Black Mark had started again, but he still needed to find a way to evade disasters in this dangerous Invisible Belt.

The invisible natural disasters here were extremely dangerous.

And the viable living space outside was continuously being compressed by the Great Annihilation.

Yu Hong used mass-energy conversion to condense cultivation vitality for himself while observing the patterns of the invisible natural disasters.

Time passed unconsciously.

The cooling time for the new dimensional jump opportunity was ready again, and he activated it without hesitation.

A surge of heat flowed into his eyes.

Yu Hong opened his eyes, and in the middle of the safe house's space, a colorful oval-shaped crack suddenly appeared.

He stood up and walked towards the crack without hesitation, stepping in.

Hiss!

His vision blurred for a moment.

The next second, he suddenly appeared in a pure darkness.

All around was pitch black, without any impurities.

Looking down, he found himself on a simple gray canoe, wobbling as it flew forward.

On the canoe, besides him, there was a translucent, irregular, fist-sized stone.

'Is this a special dimension belonging to the Vitality Ship?' Yu Hong's heart trembled slightly, he speculated.

He squatted down on the ship and reached out to touch the translucent stone.

Hiss!

As soon as his finger touched the stone, a bright golden thread suddenly appeared at the front of the canoe in his eyes, guiding the canoe forward.

'This is... the connection of the Vitality Ship?!' Yu Hong's heart shook, he had a vague guess about what dimension this was.

'Wait, my communicator has disappeared, and I can't contact Quan He, Yiyi, or Ku Chan, but if I am here, I have various connections with them on their bodies as well. Maybe...'

He now began to comprehend the many benefits derived from the ability of this dimension.

Like now.

After Yu Hong understood, he suddenly reached out and slapped himself.

Aside from the Water Instrument Ball, he had many items connected the most with Quan He and the others on him.

For instance...

With a click, a crane-shaped Jade Pendant gifted by Quan He floated in front of Yu Hong.

Yu Hong pressed his hand onto the Jade Pendant, surrounding it.

Hiss...

Immediately, a thin white thread extended from the Jade Pendant, leading into the unknown darkness.

"Sure enough! Here I can still find out Quan He's position."

Yu Hong's heart was overjoyed. Being able to make contact meant they hadn't encountered any trouble yet and were relatively safe; that was good.

He pondered for a moment, pinching a spell in his hand, and the Mahayana Realm mana from Qinghe Mountain rushed quickly, extending towards the direction of the thread.

As his rank rose, it seemed that his mana was also affected. As soon as the mana thread flew out, it disappeared through some unknown hole.

It seemed to find a dimensional hole to drill into, hurrying on its way.

Yu Hong's hand spell changed again.

Hiss...

Instantly, a white Water Mirror floated and gathered in mid-air before him, and he himself jumped out of this miraculous dimension, returning to the normal Black Black Spirit inside.

But after jumping back, the Water Mirror spell he had condensed remained motionless in mid-air.

Yu Hong quietly stared at the Water Mirror, trusting some instinct from the High-dimensional Snake within him that gave him considerable confidence in being able to contact Quan He and the others.

Contacting others via other dimensions was not difficult for him at this moment.

Time passed bit by bit.

Suddenly, the Water Mirror Technique trembled slightly. Inside, a surprised but happy beautiful face appeared.

"Zheng Rou! You're still alive!?" Quan He's voice came from within the Water Mirror.

"Good, finally reestablished contact with you all." Yu Hong felt relieved. Through the Water Mirror, he clearly saw several heads squeezing behind Quan He.

Ku Chan, Yiyi, and White Dragon were all there.

Not only that, another familiar voice made him tremble slightly.

"Everyone move aside, let me see. See if it's the Heart Disaster!" Feng Xuezi's voice sounded from the side.

"Uncle Master!?" Yu Hong was overjoyed. "You're here too? You're still alive!?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Senior Fu Bai and I are Golden Immortals; even if we die, it will be after you!" Feng Xuezi retorted.

"That's not necessarily true. Zheng Rou is different from others...." Senior Fu Bai's distinctive gloomy voice chimed in.

They had all gathered together!

This made Yu Hong feel both astonished and delighted.

Astonished because if Senior Fu Bai and the others had arrived, what about the Heart Disaster?

Delighted because the presence of two Golden Immortals reuniting with Yiyi and the others would ensure a certain level of safety.

"You contacted me at the wrong time, we just had a situation here." Feng Xuezi's large head squeezed closer, "The migration team of the Night Mother Tree just coincidentally met with us and is almost catching up. Things are looking grim."

"Even you and Senior Fu Bai can't handle it?" Yu Hong's heart sank.

"Impossible. The other side doesn't consist of just one or two powers. Forces comparable to the Holy Tower and the Heavenly Sun Sect are numerous within the Black Disaster. Behind us alone, there are over thirty entities." Feng Xuezi said solemnly.

"You mean, thirty Golden Immortals!?" Yu Hong's heart skipped a beat, realizing the severity.

Yiyi and the others were in an exceedingly dangerous situation.

But now he was far from reach, and with uncertain strength, he couldn't help much.

No matter how confident he was, he wouldn't claim to be able to compete with Golden Immortals.

Instantly, countless thoughts flickered in Yu Hong's mind as he pondered a solution.

"But don't worry. If it comes down to it, we can protect a few and escape rapidly. The Floating City is just too big a target, and we can't safeguard that many." Senior Fu Bai spoke again.

"Wait, you're not using the Water Instrument Ball to contact? Instead, ordinary Water Mirror Technique?" Suddenly, Feng Xuezi seemed to notice something. His expression froze.

"Yes, Disciple had a sudden breakthrough in understanding the Water Mirror Technique and then tried communicating through the special connection with Senior Sister Quan He. Unexpectedly, it succeeded." Yu Hong casually found an excuse.

"Your breakthroughs and insights are indeed numerous...." Feng Xuezi said wryly. "Alright, let's stay alert for any updates on the Mother Tree...."

"Alright, please be careful. If anything arises, you can use this Water Mirror Technique to contact me back."

"Wait, Zheng Rou, are you in the Invisible Belt now?" Feng Xuezi suddenly asked.

"Yes, Disciple...." Yu Hong was about to reply.

"How did you survive in the Invisible Belt!?" Feng Xuezi interrupted him, with a hint of urgency and anticipation.

"Disciple doesn't know.... However, Disciple seems to vaguely sense how the Invisible Belt's disasters emerge, attack, whom to attack, where they begin and end." Yu Hong lightly lied.