Chapter 1296: Waiting

The avatar was already moving toward the central region of heaven using his movement technique. He had already stored his cruiser yesterday since he was already close enough, which prompted him to use his movement technique instead.

At this moment, he was in a snowy area that could make even Immortal Overlord cultivators tremble from the cold, while anyone below that realm would freeze to death. He stopped on one of the high grounds where he could see the distant scenery much more clearly.

The gargantuan black sphere, with a faint light exuding from all of its edges, which was the true center of the central region of heaven, was less than two hours away from where he stood.

From this distance, he could see that the black sphere was located beyond the domain's border.

Beyond the domain's border was darkness, just like the space in the first heaven but without any stars. To reach the center of heaven, he had to pass through the darkness that he could see from where he stood.

However, to reach that space, he would need to get past the heavy patrols of the Immortal Saint cultivators.

From his observations, the Immortal Saint cultivators patrolled in groups, with each group consisting of three Immortal Saint cultivators.

The weakest among them was at Middle Immortal Saint stage, and every three minutes he could see another group passing by.

After waiting for ten minutes, he had already seen three different groups, and he could not help but feel impressed that the temple could spare so much manpower just to guard the central region of heaven.

From the information he had obtained, the temple maintained direct security around the central region of heaven.

Since their relationship with Tarius' followers had worsened, the security around the central region of heaven had become even stricter.

The Sacred Temple Domain had the strictest security, followed by the other domains surrounding the central region of heaven. The same kind of Immortal Saint security patrols were also deployed in the other domains, albeit at different intervals because of the limited manpower.

The fact that Immortal Saint cultivators, figures who were supposed to be the ultimate powerhouses among the powers across the second heaven, had been reduced to serving as guards in this place showed how important the central region of heaven was to the temple.

That also showed how mighty the temple's power in the second heaven was. They had so many powerhouses to spare just for this duty. With this power, they maintained their authority across the second heaven.

'With this kind of security, there is no way anyone from the higher heavens could pass through without being detected. The moment anyone came out from the center of heaven, they would be detected, as the disturbance would surely be noticed by the patrols.'

The avatar smiled.

'No wonder those Avergis' followers were confused by their own misunderstanding. They thought the attacks came from Tarius' followers who had descended from the higher heavens, so they believed those people were using some unknown trick to avoid being detected by the patrols.'

The avatar kept observing the patrols before looking at the black sphere. He took a deep breath before releasing it to calm his mind.

From this distance, the calling from the black sphere was truly strong. He was genuinely tempted to just barge in and tell his main body to create his domain.

He suppressed that sensation before deciding to sit on the snowy ground. A moment later, his body slowly sank into the ground until he disappeared beneath the surface.

He did not leave behind any trace that could show someone had been standing on the snowy ground.

One of the patrols actually sensed a slight disturbance for a split second when the avatar buried himself underground. They immediately appeared at the place where the avatar had just been and looked around.

One of them touched the ground to feel if there was anything strange beneath it.

After a few moments of observation, one of them spoke.

"I believe I just sensed a small disturbance of energy in this place. The disturbance was very slight, but there is no mistake that something caused it."

"Yes, I felt it too, but... there are no traces whatsoever after the disturbance disappeared. What caused that disturbance?" another asked, his voice filled with wonder. This was the man checking the ground.

"Whatever it was, the fact remains that the disturbance looked like it was caused by something or someone. Let's include it in our report. Don't let any detail slip by."

The three of them then disappeared once again.

Unknown to them, deep underground, the avatar sat in a meditative position. There was no empty space around him. His body was truly buried within the ground without any gaps.

Darkness was all that filled his sight, but he had already expected it. He did not need to see in this place anyway.

He also could not breathe here, but he did not need to breathe. The circulation of heaven and earth energy within his body was enough to sustain him.

He closed his eyes to sense his surroundings, and he knew that a patrol group had just checked his location. They must have sensed the disturbance of the energy in the ground when he buried himself.

However, he did not panic, nor did he find it surprising that they had sensed it. He also did not mind that they would report it to someone. With the current situation, at worst, they would assume that someone from Tarius' side was the cause of the disturbance.

'This place is good. Now my role here is done. What is left now is to wait,' the avatar thought before his mind turned silent.

In the darkness beneath the ground near the central region of heaven, without anyone from the temple realizing it, a body already lay waiting to give even Avergis a surprise.

----------------------------

On the next morning, an announcement that caused an uproar across the second heaven spread. The temple declared total war against the followers of Tarius, announcing that they would uproot every one of his influences in the second heaven.

Many people did not know the significance of total war, but since it was the first time the temple had declared something like this, they could only assume that the situation had become extremely grim and serious.

Just the name "total war" itself already gave an ominous feeling.

The ones who were most shocked, of course, were those who knew the significance of the announcement. They knew what total war meant and how they should respond to it.

With total war declared, the temple would take the lead in the war. They would hold the highest authority, and all the powers across the second heaven had to obey their commands. Their decisions were the same as the decisions of god Avergis.

They would have to mobilize their ancestors if the temple ordered them to, and failure to obey would be considered mutiny against both the temple and god Avergis. There would be severe consequences after the war for those who committed mutiny.

Many wondered if the temple grandmaster's decision to declare total war was because of what had happened recently in the capital cities of many domains. They knew that the temple and the many other powers ruling over their territories still could not prevent the attacks from Tarius' followers in those capital cities.

There was no telling which cities would be attacked next, which made many nobles and the temple feel restless.

Was total war the answer the grandmaster had come up with to break this situation? Was it really necessary to go that far?

However, many supported this decision. They knew that if they did not show their resolve with retaliation on this scale, it would only be a matter of time before the entire second heaven reached the point where Tarius' followers would dominate it.

Not in terms of numbers, but in terms of quality. With many powerhouses across the second heaven being killed, Tarius' followers were slowly evening the balance of power between the two factions.

Moreover, this was also meant to show everyone that the temple was still the strongest force, one that could not be shaken by anyone. They wanted to restore the faith of the many people whose confidence had already been shaken while also crushing the momentum of Tarius' followers.

They would show the whole heaven that they still stood as the true rulers of the second heaven.

After the announcement of total war, many powers instantly began preparing for war. They mobilized many of their cultivators, and the temple in each domain took the highest command in coordinating them.

Those whose domains did not have any of Tarius' followers' territories started moving toward the domains that had them.

Although Tarius' followers were hiding somewhere, they were determined to find them wherever they were and eradicate them.

The common people could only watch as countless cultivators mobilized aboard their cruisers. Their hearts trembled as they witnessed, for the first time, trillions of cultivators moving with the same purpose.

They saw many strong and famous cultivators among the troops.

The same sight could be seen in the Purple Lotus Sect Domain. In Purple Lotus City, the Purple Lotus Sect, together with many of the noble families and sects, had already gathered many of their cultivators.

Shen Yuan and Breuze's group were also in this city, having arrived a few days earlier. They had actually come to try to track down any of Tarius' followers there, as those followers liked to attack the capital city of a domain.

However, they did not expect the grandmaster to declare total war.

Breuze frowned as he watched the large-scale mobilization across the city.

'To think that total war was declared. Has the situation already reached that point?' he thought.

'It looks like there is no turning back between us and Tarius' faction.'