Chapter 595: Chapter 400: Crossing the Spiritless Land, the Oppressive and Desperate Land of the Far North!
Though Zhong Heng wandered the mortal world, he did not waste time.
"What a pity, I can feel there’s a flicker of Spiritual Light within me."
"But I have no time to wander the mortal world and seize this flicker of Spiritual Light."
Zhong Heng sighed softly.
This flicker of Spiritual Light is extremely rare, a chance encounter not sought after, if a cultivator who has been trapped at Nascent Soul Perfection for hundreds of years were to obtain this flicker of Spiritual Light.
Perhaps they could directly transform their Nascent Soul into a Primordial Spirit and achieve Divinity Transformation.
Unfortunately, Zhong Heng was still at Mid-Stage Nascent Soul; this flicker of Spiritual Light came at the wrong time.
"Divinity Transformation first requires Mortal Transformation..."
"The bottleneck of Divinity Transformation is no longer a hindrance to me."
He was currently sitting cross-legged in a Taoist temple, draped in a wide Daoist robe.
Below him were dozens of disciples, among whom there were surprisingly more than ten shadows that turned out to be animals.
A sea breeze fluttered Zhong Heng’s hair.
Strands of gray and white drifted in Zhong Heng’s vision.
At this moment, Zhong Heng appeared to be an old Daoist.
He opened his eyes and said to the disciples below: "Our destiny is now at its end."
A monkey wearing a Daoist robe surprisingly spoke: "Master, Master, I still want to learn more."
Zhong Heng pointed to the distance.
There lay a vast blue sea.
"On the other side of the sea is a continent imbued with Spiritual Qi, where you can gain Extraordinary Power."
"Whether you can cross the sea and grasp the opportunity depends on your fortune."
Zhong Heng looked to the other side of the sea, his eyes seemingly reflecting the stories of that continent.
The Cultivation Realm over there seemed to have encountered some trouble.
Zhong Heng slowly stood up, his appearance gradually becoming youthful.
His form gradually integrated with the heaven and earth...
Beyond this sea lies the only Spiritual Land north of the Wanlang Mountains.
This Spiritual Land is not large, equivalent to the territory of two or three large-scale Cultivation Realms.
But because it borders the Void Abyss directly, the folk customs are fierce, and the cultivation techniques are inclined towards slaughter, somewhat similar to the Void.
However, a great change occurred in this place two hundred years ago.
The Demon Lord, sunk within the Void Abyss, defeated the numerous Righteous Sects, shattered the original order, and brought oppression and despair to this continent.
Most of the time, the Land of the Far North is shrouded in dense clouds.
Because the Demon Lord dislikes sunlight.
Also due to the lack of sunlight, the Land of the Far North has insufficient crops, and the lack of food represents perpetual chaos among the mortals.
Cultivators face gloom unimaginable to mortals.
The entire Land of the Far North is engulfed in an atmosphere of oppression and despair.
Inside a tavern in a rarely seen Cultivation Market, it was somewhat quiet, only low exchanges of voices and dense Divine Sense fluctuations.
Most do not want their words overheard by others.
"The Demon Lord gained the power of the Void Abyss two hundred years ago; he gained enormous strength."
"Even Elder Celestial Essence, the foremost of Long Sky, was beaten to death by the Demon Lord..."
"Yet the Demon Lord did not form any kind of organization; he destroyed the original five Overlord Sects and captured a group of Elders."
"Even those few patriarchs did not escape unscathed."
"Now everyone in Long Sky Continent knows that cultivation is merely a trap..."
A young cultivator whispered to an elderly elder beside him.
The young cultivator had not yet mastered Divine Sense Communication.
The elder beside him did not look pleased.
"Martial Uncle, these are things I learned from my master."
"The Demon Lord captured nearly all Golden Core Nascent Soul Cultivators."
"He didn’t establish anything like a Demon Sect, but he seems to be experimenting with mastering the Void Abyss’s power, and among his minions, there’s a group of monstrous beings, each possessing formidable power..."
The elder listened as the young disciple recounted the experiences of these years.
After a long time, he slowly spoke: "I didn’t expect the coincidence I encountered all those years ago to be two hundred years past."
"Nor did I expect such changes in today’s Long Sky Continent."
"The sect is gone... and the only disciple I could find is a fledgling like you who doesn’t yet know how to cultivate."
The elder sighed.
He walked outside the tavern.
Looking at this relatively modest market.
This was the largest market he could find among dozens of nations.
"Two hundred years... already the sea has changed into mulberry fields."
Two hundred years ago, the Five Great Sects governed over a thousand minor sects, and the Long Sky Continent thrived with vitality.
Foundation Establishment Golden Cores emerged one after another, and the legacy of Nascent Soul cultivators continued generation after generation.
Although according to ancient texts, the resources of Long Sky Continent were much poorer than in ancient times, the Cultivation Dao continued to develop.
But now...
The entire Long Sky Continent is shrouded in darkness.
Clouds hang over the mortals year-round, and mortals never see the sun; not only are the crops sickly, but the elder can even detect that the mortals are sickly, their constitution not as healthy as it was two hundred years ago, and their lifespan shorter.
And the Cultivation Realm also has its clouds.
The original order has collapsed.
The new ruler has no intention of establishing new order, and the entire Cultivation Realm is in chaos.
Chaos requires strength to suppress, but no one can wield absolute strength.
All cultivators breaking through to Golden Core are captured by the Demon Lord’s minions immediately.
A vast cultivation realm devoid of a single Golden Core Master, many cultivators suppress their cultivation at the Foundation Establishment, not daring to break through.
The legacy of Golden Core is slowly being severed.
In some places, history is even forgotten, cultivators discover that breaking through to Golden Core will attract monsters, and thus call cultivation a trap.
A few celestial prides trying to resist are captured by the Demon Lord’s minions after breaking through, their whereabouts unknown.
"Martial Uncle, where do we go from here?"
Upon learning that his legacy was actually the direct lineage of the Five Great Sects, the young disciple’s first reaction was joy.
His second reaction was worry and fear.
It was clear his Martial Uncle had formidable strength.
Foundation Establishment... or Golden Core? Golden Core would attract the Demon Lord’s attention.
The lifespan of Foundation Establishment cultivators is only two hundred years.
The truth is slowly fading, and no one dares to mention events from two hundred years ago, and those from that era are almost gone.
People seem to only know that breaking through to Golden Core leads to death, yet fewer and fewer know the reason why.
Yet this cannot stop cultivators’ yearning for the Great Dao.
Celestial Prides refuse to allow their fear to halt them at Foundation Establishment.
Like moths flying into flames, every once in a while, somewhere on the vast Long Sky Continent, a celestial pride breaks through to Golden Core to confront the Demon Lord’s minions.
There are patriarchs nearing the end of their lifespan who break through, only to choose to self-destruct their Golden Core to perish along with the Demon Lord’s minions.
Courage, the ode belonging to humanity.
"As long as the Demon Lord can be expelled!"
A spark of fire appeared in the elder’s eyes.
His aura suddenly expanded.
The aged body became larger.
He swallowed something in one gulp, and then soared into the sky.
True Essence roared violently around him, as if venting indignation.
A massive storm tore through the heavy clouds accumulated over the sky for years.
Sunlight once again bathed the earth.
The elder could feel a gaze from afar piercing through the vast lands, locking onto him.
The young disciple was stupefied as he watched his Martial Uncle rise into the sky, falling to the ground in shock.
The elder had transformed into a middle-aged form, draped in a somewhat faded gray robe.
His eyes shone brightly, and his figure was like the sun dispelling the shadows on the earth.
"Cyan Cloud Sect, first direct disciple, Chu Manor."
He proudly announced his name.
The stunned cultivators in the market below looked up at the sky, utterly astonished.
"A cultivator from the Five Great Sects?"
"There are still experts from the Five Great Sects alive!?"
"This power must belong to a Golden Core Master."
On Chu Manor’s body, a continuous emergence of life force appeared.
Just now, he had refined the opportunity gained from his chance encounter, forcibly stepping into the Fake Nascent Soul stage.
Fake Nascent Soul, signifying he had lost the chance to break through to Nascent Soul.
And all for the sake of... utterly expelling the Demon Lord!
Within half an incense stick’s time, roars echoed from afar.
But Chu Manor paid no heed to those roars, steadfastly facing the intensifying dark clouds.
He intends... to draw the Demon Lord into the Five Elements True Immortal Inheritance Space!
Using the opportunity that changed the course of his life... to perish together with the Demon Lord.
This was the debt he owed to his sect.
