The weight of Grand Elder Theron's revelations settled heavily in the small tent, a silence thick with the gravity of a world suddenly made vast and terrifying. Li Yu's mind was a storm, trying to process the new, continent-spanning map of reality that had just been laid out before him.
The factions, the realms, the sheer scale of the conflicts—it was overwhelming. But amidst the chaos of his thoughts, a single, glaring question rose to the surface, a point of logic that refused to be reconciled.
He finally broke the silence, his gaze sharp and focused as he looked at the ancient Grand Elder. "Grand Elder Theron," he began, his tone respectful but firm, "I must ask. If the world is truly structured this way, with six known continents, why is this not common knowledge? The Golden Shell Guild has a large information network. We have a lot of information gatherers and contacts in a lot of the different sects, towns, and kingdoms on this continent. And yet, in all our archives, in all our intelligence, there has never been a single, credible mention of another continent, let alone five of them. How can a truth of this magnitude be so completely hidden? We had only known of the White Tiger Continent through a friend of ours that joined our guild."
Lysander, who had been sitting in stoic silence, let out a bitter, pained chuckle. "Because it is meant to be," he rasped, his eyes dark with the memory of his own brutal initiation into this secret. "It is the great, unspoken burden of the powerful."
Theron nodded, his expression somber. "Your question is a wise one, Li Yu. And Lysander is correct. The silence is deliberate. It is a secret kept by the strongest forces on each continent, a conspiracy of silence maintained for centuries. On the two weakest continents, your Central Plains and the Barren Plains, the secret has been kept so perfectly that the knowledge has been lost to all but myth and legend. On the more powerful continents, like my Southern Jade, this information is a privilege reserved only for those sects and powers who have reached a certain threshold—typically, those who have at least one Soul Formation expert in their ranks, or a heritage and foundation roughly equivalent to one."
"But why?" Cyra pressed, her voice laced with a confusion that mirrored Li Yu's. "Why go to such lengths? To hide the very nature of the world from its inhabitants seems… counter-productive."
"Is it?" Theron countered, his ancient eyes filled with a deep, weary sadness. "Child, you have just witnessed the very reason for the secrecy. You have seen what happens when just one of these continental powers, a single faction like the Midnight Infernal Hegemony, manages to cross the sea. Look at the devastation they wrought. This entire northern region of your continent has been bled dry, tens of thousands are dead, and they nearly succeeded in tearing open a permanent rift to the Demonic Realm. The powers of this continent, as strong as they are in their own right, were simply not enough to fight them off. If we had not followed them here, if your own Grand Elder had not intervened… they would have succeeded. That is why we keep the secret."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a low, intense tone. "The secrecy is meant to protect the peace, as fragile as it may be. It is meant to keep radical groups and their accursed ideologies isolated to their home continents. Can you imagine what would happen if the fanatics knew of a weaker, less-prepared continent ripe for conquest? It would be a slaughter. The secret and the difficulty of crossing the continents was supposed to help protect. The secret is a cage, meant to keep the wolves from the sheep. But it seems the walls of the cage are beginning to crumble."
The stark, brutal logic of his words was undeniable. The horror they had just witnessed was the exception, not the rule. It was an anomaly, a breach in a system designed to prevent exactly this kind of cross-continental invasion. The peace of the Central Plains Continent was an artificial one, a product of ignorance that had been carefully maintained by powers far beyond its shores.
That peace seems to be breaking however.
Li Yu felt a chill run down his spine. "You said the other continents are stronger," he stated, his mind now racing to quantify the threat. "How much stronger? What is the difference in power?"
Theron paused, considering his words carefully. "It is not an easily quantifiable thing, and you must understand that my perspective is that of the Southern Jade Continent. The difference in spirit energy is not so exaggerated that Soul Formation experts are a common sight. Beings of my realm are still exceedingly rare, even on the more powerful continents. I am considered one of the supreme powerhouses of the south. But… the overall foundation is deeper, the average strength is higher."
He thought for a moment, searching for an analogy. "If I had to assign a rough, imprecise number to it… I would say that the average cultivator on the Southern Jade or White Tiger continents is perhaps thirty percent stronger than the average cultivator here. The constant conflict, the thicker spirit energy—it forges a different kind of warrior. It's less about population and more about distribution. For example, if you took a hundred random Foundation Establishment disciples from this continent, you would have just that. But if you took a hundred from mine, you might find that thirty of them had already broken through to the Core Formation realm. The ceiling isn't necessarily higher, but more people are crowded into the upper floors in those continents."
"The Frostbound Dominion in the north is another matter entirely," Lysander interjected, his voice filled with a grim respect for the legendary, war-torn land. "Given its dual connection, its spirit energy is richer than any other. From the tales we have heard, its cultivators might be closer to fifty percent stronger than those here, probably more, not less. Every cultivator born there is a veteran of a three-way war from the moment they can fight."
Theron nodded in agreement, but then he looked directly at Li Yu, his gaze sharp and insightful. "But you must understand, these are just rough guesses, not hard facts. They are averages, generalizations. The existence of your own First Grand Elder is proof of that. The power I felt from him… he is one of the strongest individuals I have ever encountered, on any continent. True, peerless experts can and do arise anywhere. Power is not just a matter of geography, but of destiny and will."
The quiet, respectful acknowledgment of Khaos's power was a clear strategic move, but it also held the ring of genuine awe. It bridged the gap between them, a shared understanding of a power that defied all their known conventions. Li Yu gave a slight, acknowledging nod, but his mind had already moved on to the next logical step in this terrifying new puzzle.
"If the continents are so isolated," Li Yu asked, "how do groups like the Hegemony travel between them at all? You said it should be impossible."
"There are two ways," Theron explained, his expression turning grave. "The first, and the only 'sanctioned' method, is through the ancient Warp Formation Arrays. These are relics from a forgotten age, powerful teleportation circles that can, at immense cost, bridge the gap between continents. But their locations are a closely guarded secret, and they are controlled by a single, mysterious, and utterly neutral group known as the 'Gate Keepers.'"
"The Gate Keepers?" Cyra echoed.
"Yes. No one knows who they are, where they came from, or what their ultimate purpose is. Their identity is known only to the absolute top powers of each continent. They are the guardians of inter-continental travel.
They will only allow groups to pass if they have a very, very good reason—a diplomatic mission, a sanctioned hunt for a world-ending threat, something of that magnitude. And even then, the price is astronomical. The number of spirit stones required to activate one of the ancient arrays for a single, one-way trip is enough to bankrupt a major sect. They exist to maintain the balance, to enforce the isolation that has kept the peace for so long."
"And the other way?" Li Yu pressed.
"The other way," Theron said, a grim finality in his tone, "is the one the Hegemony must have used. They traveled through the Endless Sea." He looked at them, ensuring they understood the gravity of his words. "It is a journey that takes months, even for a high-speed spiritual vessel. And it is lethally dangerous. The Sea is not just water. It is a chaotic, untamed wilderness. There are massive, swirling energy vortexes that can tear a ship apart. Other random events and disasters are commonplace there. There are powerful beasts and creatures so vast they can swallow a warship whole. Near my own continent, demonic storms can arise without warning, tempests of corrosive energy that can melt a cultivator's soul. The risks are so high that for every ten ships that attempt the crossing at least nine are never heard from again."
Li Yu felt a chill through his body. He thought of Jian Xuan. His friend had crossed that sea. Alone. On a sword. The sheer, unbelievable strength, will and luck required for such a feat was staggering. He had always known Jian Xuan was powerful, but now he understood that his friend was a true, peerless expert on a continental scale, a man who had survived a journey that consumed entire armies. His respect for the quiet swordsman grew tenfold.
"The Hegemony must have been given a treasure of some kind," Lysander speculated, his voice laced with bitter anger. "A powerful spatial artifact or a one-use treasure from their demonic masters. Something that could shield their fleet from the worst of the Sea's dangers. It is the only explanation for how they could have brought so many of their forces here intact. They were willing to pay a terrible price for a foothold on your continent." The conversation concluded, leaving Li Yu with a universe of new questions, and the chilling certainty that the enemies he had faced so far were merely the vanguard of a much larger, and far more terrifying, war.