Chapter 3834 The Initial Route
After Davis, Evelynn, and Isabella returned, the two ladies informed the others of the situation after it took off. Hence, the flying ship turned eerily silent, knowing that Davis wasn’t the type of person to abandon his people, much less his friends.
Yet he hadn’t said a single word other than that he was going to take some rest and lock himself in his room. He didn’t exactly lock the room, but the loud sound of the door closing was more than enough to say that he wasn’t exactly fine with the situation.
Isabella was glad that he would take rest, but this wasn’t why she wanted him to take rest.
The already bleak situation turned even more black.
"..."
Evelynn and Isabella stood in front of the Nine-Treasured Immortal Ordeal Palace, wondering if they should tell the others.
Of course, he left the Nine-Treasured Immortal Ordeal Palace in the hall so that the others could come out as they pleased if they asked Lereza to transfer them. Therefore, even if not for Evelynn and Isabella or the others on the flying ship, the situation would eventually be known.
To avoid confusion, they decided to announce this information after gathering everyone on the ground floor of the Nine-Treasured Immortal Ordeal Palace.
"We have encountered a difficult situation."
"What? Is this related to a new woman?" Mingzhi giggled.
"..."
Evelynn couldn’t help but wryly smile, "This time around, I wish it would be the case, but it isn’t."
"...?"
Mingzhi blinked and looked away before she returned her gaze.
"How serious?"
"It’s not so dangerous to us, but it could potentially impact our plans moving forward," Evelynn replied, her tone serious. "We need to discuss our next steps as a group."
"Alright..."
There were still some sisters who hadn’t arrived. In ten minutes, everyone gathered. Shirley also entered, saying she tried to talk with Davis but couldn’t get him to answer the door, causing Evelynn and Isabella to wryly smile.
They could feel his hopelessness, as saving them would prove to be quite impossible.
Evelynn explained the gist of it to the others, and their expressions sank.
"Is it confirmed that they are already caught? Is this a ploy to lure him out?" Myria narrowed her eyes.
Evelynn nodded, "It is indeed a ploy to lure him out regardless if they have caught them or not, but it is highly possible that his friends have been caught and are currently transported to the Obsidian Crystal Turtle Realm to be executed."
"How is husband doing?" Shea asked with an expression full of worry.
Evelynn shook her head and said, "Not good. He denied resting for most of the time but went ahead to rest now. Of course, resting during space travel was already planned, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Don’t worry. Stella and Tanya are outside, watching out for space bandits, and I’ll return soon to keep watch."
"..."
The ladies weren’t worried about such a thing.
They were downcast that Davis was not his cheerful self.
Mingzhi scratched her head, trying to think of something.
"I’m sure he’s thinking of something secretly, as he would not dare include us if he went to save them, but let’s come up with some plans. Bring out the Starmap." She suggested.
Evelynn took out an Imagery Stone. It displayed the projection of the Starmap of the Third Layer consisting of forty-eight Lower Realms. She had bought it during her journey with Zenova Artoria.
The projection appeared to show three regions at different altitudes.
The realms in the lower altitude were called the Lower Strata, the realms in the middle altitude were called the Central Strata, and the realms in the upper altitude were called the Upper Strata.
Shirley couldn’t be anymore familiar with this Starmap as she practically ran for her life when being chased by the statue of the Celestial Transcendent in the Ninth Hidden Pagoda. Just seeing the Starmap gave her the shivers.
Nonetheless, she explained where they were to the others, who had no idea.
The Central Strata was made up of a circle with ten Lower Realms and within that circle were an inner eight point star and an outer eight point star, each point denoting a Lower Realm, making it a total of twenty six Lower Realms.
The Lower Strata and Upper Strata were practically similar, with one bigger circle near the Central Strata and one smaller circle further away. Both of these circles had five Lower Realms each. Furthermore, both the smaller circles in the Upper Strata and the Lower Strata were connected to a realm further away from the Central Strata.
Shirley pointed at the topmost point.
Where they were trying to go was the uppermost Lower Realm, the Azure Tree Lower Realm. It was in the Upper Strata.
However, it didn’t mean that it was closer to the Upper Realms; it just meant that it was above every Lower Realm in altitude.
Nonetheless, she redirected to where they were and charted a path.
"Look, we’re in the Eastern Central Strata, making it to the Southern Central Strata, where the Earth Dragon Lower Realm lies. From there, we’re making it further south to the Dark-Winged Tiger Lower Realm, which is in the outer circle, and from there, we’re heading diagonally above north to the Whispering Wildlands Lower Realm in the Upper-Mid Strata."
"Wait, Upper-Mid Strata?" Fiora looked confused.
Where did this term come from? She knew a bit as she went through the Starmap in a scroll provided by Myria, but she hadn’t heard of it.
"Yeah, the bigger circle near the Central Strata in the Upper Strata. That’s the name for it, if you want to be specific. As for the bigger circle near the Central Stata in the Lower Strata, it is called the Lower-Mid Strata." Shirley explained.
Everyone looked at Myria.
"Accurately, that circle has gone through many names, so I didn’t even bother writing it down." Myria excused herself from the blame.
She felt a bit embarrassed. After all, she was from the Upper Realms, and it wasn’t like she came to the Lower Realms to sightsee. She was on the run all the time, barely having time to think about something like the study of the Starmap since many places had so many variations of the same freaking map.
It made her want to chart her own map, but she obviously didn’t have the time or energy for it.
They nodded and continued listening.
"From the Whispering Wildllands Lower Realm, we’re heading east to the Silken Cherry Empress Lower Realm. After we land there, we will head diagonally above north to reach the Starlight Jade Wolf Lower Realm and further diagonally head above northwest to reach the Verdant Vale Lower Realm, and finally the Azure Tree Lower Realm."
"Ohhh..."
Everyone instantly understood the projection and Shirley’s explanation. It was easy to understand.
"Wait," Sophie suddenly raised her hand, "After reaching the Whispering Wildlands Lower Realm, can’t we just diagonally head above north and reach the Lightning Kirin Lower Realm and easily reach the Azure Tree Lower Realm further up? Why is there a need to-oh..."
Sophie looked like she realized something while asking the question.
She looked at the point in the Upper-Mid Strata in the east.
It was because the route she suggested didn’t have the Starlight Jade Wolf Lower Realm in its path.
"Precisely. Husband wanted to see if his friends were safe and decided to go through the Starlight Jade Wolf Lower Realm during the journey. Otherwise, forget going through the Lightning Kirin Lower Realm. Just heading towards the Fire Phoenix Lower Realm would have limited our journey to crossing five Lower Realms instead of seven Lower Realms, allowing us to quickly reach the Azure Tree Lower Realm at least two to four days earlier."
Shirley explained, but it cast even more of a draining cloud in their hearts, knowing he had intended to see them all along only to chance upon the information that they were already arrested and being transported to the Obsidian Crystal Turtle Minor Realm to be executed.