Divine Emperor of DeathDivine Emperor of Death
"If our goal is to hide the hostages inside a mini realm and conceal their location through our karmic abilities, I would want to go to the Voidshade Chasm. The darkness seeping there is a great place to hide almost anything, and if it is about the maddening whispers, it is either some kind of dark force like a curse or an illusion. We could ward such things with our abilities."
Mystic Diviner Hailac explained and paused slightly, "Of course, I'm saying that the darkness aids our concealment further, but it's only a recommendation from me. If even Autarchs can't survive near the Voidshade Chasm's Whispering Rift, then it doesn't matter if we keep them inside the rift or outside. We wouldn't be able to build a mini-realm in those conditions."
"…"
Davis and the others nodded.
They must first investigate the nature of the rift. If it turned out to be hostile, then there would be no point leaving the hostages there. They would just be devoured.
Otherwise, the darkness of the place couldn't be any more welcomed. It was perfect.
The Wailing Shroudveil Lake was also covered in darkness, but it was different from the air; it was water. That would interfere with the mini-realm's formation. Stella was a Void Dust Tree who was only proficient in building mini-realms in free space and not occupied space. Furthermore, the black monoliths were very suspicious. It was unknown if those monoliths truly existed, but if they did, they might be some kind of formation that disrupts almost anything in its range.
On this note, they felt that the Wailing Shroudveil Lake should be moved to last.
Tia opened her mouth, "I don't think the Demon Doomheart Forest is viable for our plan. If there is spatial freezing involved, Stella possibly can't use her spatial arts to create a new mini-realm."
"True." Stella agreed, "But if we could control the spatial freezing or even find a blindspot within the spatial freezing, it would be to our advantage. Seen from the outside, there would be no changes within since the space is frozen. Only if one enters it would they be able to see what is inside, but by then, they would be frozen."
"…"
"What about the Abyssal Mountain Maze and the other danger zones?" Seeing there was no counter to her opinion, Stella asked.
"Well," Lea responded, "Mid Stage Autarchs cannot enter, which means there's a possibility Davis cannot enter since his prowess almost reaches that level. If it is specifically mentioned that even Early Stage Autarchs with the prowess of a Mid Stage Autarch can't enter, so I presume it would be useless."
"We don't want to waste our energy dealing with Vacuous Beasts, and more than anything, we can't get caught within distorted time. If we had spent a bit of time there, many years could've passed for us in an instant without our perception being able to figure it out like in the strange time valley Davis spent, losing thirty years. On the other hand, it is also possible we would be stuck within distorted space, and time passes naturally over hundreds and thousands of years. We can't risk it."
Lea gave a long list of reasons why they shouldn't go to the Abyssal Mountain Maze, Duskveil Marsh, Shadowfang Gorge, and the Forgotten Deathmaw Desert.
Everyone couldn't help but nod at our worries.
Naturally, Davis arrived at similar conclusions, so he wanted other's opinions.
He wanted to go to the Forgotten Deathmaw Desert because there was a chance that there was a Void Calamity of death attribute hiding from the description alone. He couldn't be sure as it could just be a decay attributed Void Calamity, in which case, it could help Evelynn and Wisteria. However, that place certainly didn't help him be able to hide a mini-realm.
In any case, he decided upon-
"Let's go to the Voidshade Chasm. Although there are mysterious entities within the Autarch Grade lurking in, I could probably take care of them with pure force or with the help of my treasure. We could then hide the mini-realm within the darkness."
"I agree." Lea nodded.
The others also acquiesced, thinking that it would be the best course of action. Fortunately, it was also closer to them than any other danger zone. It was at the eastern edge, slightly bit to the south, near the Roaring Emberfall Border Town.
After spending a bit more time discussing, Davis and the others headed to the Voidshade Chasm.
With the ultra-speed boat, they arrived in four hours. Once again, the fact that this was an Empyrean Grade Boat deterred many opportunists from wanting to attack them. Unless they had a death wish or could handle them, they wouldn't bother stopping them.
Once Davis arrived at the edge, he saw a number of people before the edge, having set up a small town of sorts, having places to stay, and having set up a lot of stalls to sell a variety of goods, including fake talisman that disperses evil and what not.
The Voidshade Chasm had seven levels to it.
Davis knew that Sovereigns could enter the first three levels, but any more was dangerous. Even the third level was dangerous and wouldn't have any Sovereigns in it most of the time. Nonetheless, this explains the traffic to this danger zone.
Naturally, it was controlled by the Three-Headed Hydra Clan, so he had to pay a toll to enter.
He rented a place to stay for a few days and headed towards the edge, ignoring the peddlers and store owners who tried to hawk their wares. After arriving at the edge, there was a contraption, a metal plank that took people down. The edge was dangerous, after all. If something went wrong, people could plunge all the way down and disappear into spatial storms.
After they made it to the destination at some point, around fifty thousand kilometers deep, they stood in front of the cavern.
As they approached the Voidshade Chasm's cave, the world seemed to be still, the air growing unnaturally cold. The cave's entrance also loomed ominously, jagged rocks jutting out like the fangs of a great beast, the dark mists that rose from within swirling lazily, beckoning and taunting.
Even before entering, Davis could feel the faint whispers. It was certainly annoying at this point.
However, he saw the few Sovereigns who came with him and saw they were already shuddering a bit from fright. On the other hand, his women were all indifferent to it.
It made him smile before he led the way.
The first level of the Voidshade Chasm was eerily silent, except for the occasional distant echo. The walls were damp with condensation of heaven and earth energy of the darkness attribute, but it was also thick and suffocating. Strange markings were carved into the jutting stones, and ancient runes were barely visible in the dim light filtering from the exit.
The cave floor was uneven, littered with debris from crumbling rocks and withered vegetation that had long succumbed to the darkness.
It was pretty run down and excavated. Davis knew it was extremely hard to find treasures here as they would've already been cleared.
Davis wasn't interested in exploring and went straight toward the chasm leading to the second level.
As Davis descended deeper into the second level, the cave began to pulse with an unnatural energy. The light from the entrance faded, leaving only the faint glow of luminescent flora clinging to the cave walls. The atmosphere thickened further, and strange shadows flickered at the edges of his vision, though when he turned, they disappeared. The silence was occasionally broken by low, rumbling sounds as if something immense shifted far below.
It felt like he was stuck in some underground horror cavern.
Darkness attributed magical beasts and spirits can be seen here in more quantities than on the first level. However, he wasn't interested in killing any of them. They also retreated after sensing his might- no, the might of his women as he resumed his disguise.
It allowed him to easily reach the third level.
*Swissh~*
A breeze carrying a cold, teeth-clattering air from the chasm passed by them, making Mystic Diviner Hailac shiver. She knew from that moment on that retreat was extremely difficult for Immortal Emperors and Sovereigns since over seventy percent have gone missing from this point, which is what makes it extremely dangerous.
She was happy that Davis chose to come to the Voidshade Chasm first, as it was also her recommendation, but now, she hoped she was right.
The third level was already starting to feel extremely creepy, so she could only imagine what the seventh and last level would be like.