Chapter 515: Mortals as Livestock, Demons Rule the Land

Old Man Ku Mu stared at Zhou Chen for a long time.

In the next instant, the pressure receded like a ebbing tide.

Old Man Ku Mu sighed, a trace of fatigue appearing on his face.

"Forget it."

"No matter who you are or what your purpose is… at least you didn't give the Inscriptions to the Demon Palace."

He pulled a token from his robes and tossed it to Zhou Chen.

"This is the activation token for the Heart Questioning Pagoda."

"Go. Since you have chosen this path, then go and take a walk through the Heart Questioning Pagoda."

Zhou Chen took the token, somewhat surprised. "Grand Elder, you…"

"Don't misunderstand."

Old Man Ku Mu waved his hand and turned to look at the distant sea of clouds.

"I am not helping you; I am helping the Xuantian Sect, helping this Spirit Realm."

"The Eternal Night Demon Palace has gone mad, and the Spirit Realm is about to fall into chaos. We need a variable."

"And you…"

Old Man Ku Mu looked back deeply at Zhou Chen. "Perhaps you are that variable."

"Remember, the Mortal World Heart Refining is fraught with danger. If your will is not firm, you will be lost inside forever."

"I will protect your Physical Body. As for whether you can return alive… that is entirely up to you."

After speaking, Old Man Ku Mu's figure flickered and vanished.

Zhou Chen gripped the cold token in his hand, a warm current rising in his heart.

Though this old man was a bit fierce, he wasn't a bad person.

"The Heart Questioning Pagoda, huh…"

Zhou Chen looked toward the ancient pagoda deep within the Sect that towered into the clouds.

This was the only passage leading to the Lower Realm.

"Tianxuan Continent, I, Hu Hansan… have returned."

The Heart Questioning Pagoda was ninety-nine stories high, piercing straight into the sky.

The tower's body was forged from an unknown black material, emitting an ancient and weathered aura.

The pagoda doors were tightly shut, carved with complex runes that faintly shimmered with flowing light.

Zhou Chen stood before the pagoda and took a deep breath.

He did not enter directly.

Although Old Man Ku Mu promised to be his Protector, one must always be on guard against others.

He hid his true body within his internal Small World and only sent out a wisp of his Divine Soul to possess a Puppet Clone refined from special Materials.

This Clone possessed thirty percent of his true body's power, enough to handle sudden situations.

"Open!"

Zhou Chen pressed the token against the pagoda door.

Rumble—

The heavy stone doors slowly opened, revealing the deep darkness within.

Zhou Chen controlled the Puppet to enter and sat down cross-legged.

In the next moment…

A powerful suction force arrived, instantly swallowing Zhou Chen's Divine Soul.

After a bout of dizziness…

An unknown amount of time passed.

When Zhou Chen opened his eyes again, a pungent smell of blood and rot hit his face.

"Cough, cough…"

He couldn't help but cough twice and looked up.

Everything in sight was a heart-palpitating dark red.

There was no sun here, only a pale moon hanging in the sky, emitting a cold, desolate light.

The ground was covered with massive cracks that seemed bottomless.

Black Devilish Qi constantly seeped from the cracks, eroding the Spiritual Qi of the Tianxuan Continent.

This place… is the Tianxuan Continent?

Zhou Chen frowned.

The Tianxuan Continent in his memory, although thin in Spiritual Qi, had beautiful scenery with clear waters and fragrant flowers.

But now…

He raised his hand, and a wisp of Divine Sense swept across a radius of a million miles.

Everything he saw was ruins.

Once-prosperous cities had turned into scorched earth.

Towering city walls had collapsed, and the streets were piled with bones.

Traces of Devilish Qi still remained on the bones, clearly left behind after being consumed by demons.

"The Spiritual Qi has dried up."

Zhou Chen's heart sank as he sensed the Spiritual Qi in the world, which was so thin it almost didn't exist.

At this level of Spiritual Qi, even Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators could not Cultivate.

His Divine Sense continued to spread outward, covering the entire Tianxuan Continent.

In the next moment, he saw even more chilling scenes.

The Small Worlds of the various academies had all fallen, except for the Jixia Academy, which was forcibly detached by the Old Jìjiǔ.

Chaos Academy, Taixu Academy, Xuan Yuan Academy, Tianji Academy… these former Holy Lands of cultivation were now all occupied by demons.

The Cultivators within the academies were either killed or kept like livestock as blood-food for the demons to increase their power.

Mortals were treated even more like cattle, locked in massive cages; every day people were dragged out and never returned.

Wenxian Sect.

When his Divine Sense landed on the location of the Wenxian Sect, that Sect which once stood tall in the Southern Region was now nothing but a field of ruins.

The Sect's main hall had collapsed, the spirit fields were barren, and the Mountain Protecting Grand Array had long since shattered.

The entire Sect was filled with Death Qi.

The Jixia Academy Small World.

This was the last pure land of the Tianxuan Continent.

A tiny world, complete with mountains and rivers, but everything appeared a bit gray, as if covered in a layer of dust.

In the center of the Small World, an ancient academy stood quietly.

On the Stargazing Platform in the deepest part of the academy, an old man in a coarse hemp robe with white hair and beard sat cross-legged. His frame was withered as if a gust of wind could knock him over, but his eyes remained clear, carrying a trace of unyielding stubbornness.

He was none other than the Old Jìjiǔ of Jixia Academy.

For a hundred years, he had exhausted his heart and blood to maintain the operation of this Small World, protecting the last spark of the Human Race on the Tianxuan Continent.

On the stone platform before him sat an Ancient Bronze Lamp; its flame was small as a bean, so weak it looked like it could be extinguished at any moment. This was the Legacy Sacred Artifact of Jixia Academy, linked to the Luck of the entire Small World.

The lamplight had grown darker and darker.

The Old Jìjiǔ knew that the Spiritual Qi within the Small World was about to be exhausted, and with demons surrounding them, they could not hold out much longer. In ten years at most, when the lamp was completely extinguished, it would be the day the Jixia Academy's Legacy was severed.

His face was filled with an indelible sorrow and powerlessness.

Could it be that Heaven truly wants to destroy my Human Race?

Just as the Old Jìjiǔ felt despair…

Buzz—

The entire Small World violently trembled without any warning.

"What's happening?" The Old Jìjiǔ's expression changed, and he suddenly stood up.

An earthquake? No, that's not right!

He discovered in horror that the ground beneath his feet was not shaking, but… moving!

The entire Small World was like a small boat that had broken away from its course, being forcibly pulled by an irresistible grand power toward some unknown location.

"Who is it?!" The Old Jìjiǔ was terrified.

The first thing he thought of was the Demon Lord of the Bone Demon Palace. Had the opponent found a way to break the spatial barrier of the Small World and intended to uproot them entirely?

The spiritual power within him surged wildly as his hands formed seals, attempting to stabilize the space of the Small World.

However, his power was as insignificant as a mantis trying to stop a carriage before that majestic Divine Power.

The Small World's movement speed grew faster and faster, and the spatial barrier emitted overburdened 'crackling' sounds, as if it would shatter at any moment.

It's over!

The Old Jìjiǔ closed his eyes, his heart turning to ash.

However, the expected spatial collapse and demon invasion did not occur.

A few breaths later, the violent sensation of trembling came to an abrupt halt.

The entire world fell into an eerie calm.