The Central Territory Alliance suffered a devastating blow in the Southern Territory. Of the seven Ancestor Immortals, four were lost, leaving only Divine Sword, Yinming, and Li Yang to successfully escape. Out of tens of millions of cultivators, only a slim hundred thousand managed to flee; the rest were annihilated, becoming nutrients for the Evil King in the Evil Realm. This situation caused an uproar in the Central Territory, and the entire cultivator community suffered a heavy blow, leading to a generational gap and other related problems. The Sect's Forces also subsequently waned. However, this did not enable Loose Cultivator Forces to rise; the saying "a starved camel is still bigger than a horse" was not without truth.
"They have no martial virtue! These people seriously lack martial decorum. They could have just obediently awaited their demise, but they still chose to rush to their deaths," Wang Linchi commented. He had witnessed everything concerning the Central Territory Alliance. It had been making grand gestures for a month, something he could have perceived even if he were blind. After all, the Ancestor Immortals never intended to hide the matter. But the force the opposition ultimately brought out was indeed somewhat beyond Wang Linchi's expectations.
Unfortunately, their cheat was still too weak. They only managed to elevate to the first realm of the Chaos Divine Realm Cultivation System. If they could have ascended to the final realm, they might still have stood a chance. The Four Territories of the present time have already been devoured by the fourth decay of the Heaven and Man Five Decay that I created. This is akin to a virus entering the very marrow of the Green Nether Fairyland. The Ancestor Immortals using the Sky Crying Blood Array against the Four Kings of the Four Realms is tantamount to confronting the entire Green Nether Fairyland—a downright suicidal act. Furthermore, the power of the God-human Realm is the upper limit of the cultivation system within the Green Nether Fairyland, not the limit of the Green Nether Fairyland itself. As the integrated Four Kings, they naturally hold no fear. Unless their opponents can directly sever the North, South, East, and West Territories, they can never defeat them. Human capabilities have their limits, so unless they cease to be human, there's no way for them to resolve this issue. Wang Linchi did hope they would stop being human; they simply lacked sufficient means.
Four Ancestor Immortals have perished along with the vast majority of cultivators. If the Virtue Giant Tribe comes next, what will they fight with? I see nothing but a massacre ahead... Wang Linchi couldn't help but contemplate this, his expression somewhat helpless. If there were still tens of thousands of years, they might have a chance to rebuild. However, he estimated only about half a year remained, with a margin of error not exceeding one month. Half a year wasn't enough time, even if they tried to force growth.
That said, with so many people dead, it's a significant reshuffle among the cultivator classes of the Green Nether Fairyland, Wang Linchi glanced around, finding the situation somewhat amusing. Theoretically, the cultivator classes are largely fixed; it's impossible to carry out cycles similar to dynastic changes. Individuals with strong martial power and long lifespans—how could one deal with problematic upper echelons? The seven Ancestor Immortals at the apex of the hierarchy had long enjoyed power and monopolized vast resources. Yet, they bore no responsibilities nor made any corresponding contributions to the entire cultivation ecosystem. This top-down oppression rendered the Green Nether Fairyland as stagnant as dead water. Fortunately, the Green Nether Fairyland was adept at sustaining itself by bloodsucking from its lower-realm colonies. However, this couldn't stop the cultivator population from swelling. Tens of millions of cultivators, all high-level, would be impossible for an ordinary world to sustain.
A large amount of resources formed through colonization has been freed up. Given enough time, the entire cultivator community of the Green Nether Fairyland will... regress to its previous state of decay. Change was impossible. As long as the disaster in the Four Territories didn't affect the Central Territory, after this devastating defeat, no one would suggest taking action again. Even the remaining three Ancestor Immortals would feel the same. They would only turn a blind eye, not interfering too much. Moreover, even if they wanted to act now, there was nothing they could do. Having escaped from the Southern Territory, it was impossible for them to have emerged unscathed. Of the three who escaped, two were severely injured and went into secluded cultivation immediately upon their return. The remaining one, though only lightly injured, stepped up to temporarily stabilize the Central Territory. But that was the extent of his capabilities; he lacked the means to do more.
It should be much quieter for the next few months, Wang Linchi mused. He knew that after this crushing defeat, the entire Central Territory was gripped by fear, apprehensive of an invasion from the other Four Territories. However, Wang Linchi had no such intentions. He had created the Heaven and Man Five Decay primarily to experiment with the cultivation system of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Otherwise, why would he bother tinkering with it for no reason? Of course, besides experimentation, it had other uses, like creating world-colonizing weapons, which was a convenient byproduct. It was multifunctional, or in layman's terms, maximizing utility. If it were so costly and had only one function, wouldn't it be a net loss if it failed? But with multiple functions, even if one aspect or feature failed during development, Wang Linchi could pivot to others, thus avoiding excessive sunk costs. This was a form of cleverness. The investment for such an approach didn't decrease—in fact, it increased—but that wasn't an issue for Wang Linchi.
Eh? My Fate has changed? Wang Linchi detected a shift in his Fate. Essentially, it seemed the Green Nether Fairyland felt Wang Linchi was slacking off too much and intended to replace him as its protagonist. This wasn't a major issue. After all, Wang Linchi had been too conventional in this respect. The current Green Nether Fairyland didn't need a steadily developing 'tool person'; it needed a new 'tool person' capable of finding unconventional paths to rise rapidly in a short time. During previous stable periods, a 'tool person' like Wang Linchi, who developed steadily, was excellent. But not anymore. The Green Nether Fairyland itself was on the verge of destruction; how could it spare time for a 'tool person' to develop?
As for why Wang Linchi's Fate was being stripped, it was quite simple: the Green Nether Fairyland couldn't remove the other two Fates. The Fates of the orthodox and demonic paths, originally intended for their respective protagonists, had been co-opted by Wang Linchi as 'tool persons.' This effectively locked these two Fates, rendering them immobile. The Green Nether Fairyland lacked the means to retrieve them. Thus, the only movable Fate remaining was Wang Linchi's. He hadn't tampered with his own Fate much previously, in order to conceal his identity, so it was relatively easy for the Green Nether Fairyland to reclaim it.
"Hold on! You're taking back my Fate, but you're also trying to repossess my cheat system?" Wang Linchi sharply perceived that the Green Nether Fairyland was attempting to unbind his Golden Finger—his Innate magical treasure.
That's a bit too stingy, isn't it? But on second thought, this Innate magical treasure is indeed extraordinary. After all, it was meant for a protagonist of Fate, so it must be of superior quality. Taking it back to give to another protagonist is perfectly reasonable. This is called making the best use of things.
As for Wang Linchi, the 'former protagonist'—well, that was no longer the Green Nether Fairyland's concern. It could barely fend for itself, so how could it possibly have the spare capacity to care about Wang Linchi, a now-useless 'tool person'? So, if Wang Linchi died, he died. Who asked him not to be more ambitious? If Wang Linchi had shown more initiative, he wouldn't have been cast aside like a pawn.
"You've gone too far with this!" Wang Linchi's expression fell as he grabbed the Innate magical treasure, which was about to fly away. "Since you're not showing me any consideration, I won't show you any either!"
Wang Linchi felt that the Green Nether Fairyland was truly trying to screw over its new protagonist of Fate. If it had given the new protagonist any other Innate magical treasure, not one snatched from him, Wang Linchi might not have reacted so excessively. But now, it had practically handed him the opportunity to mess with this new protagonist. If he didn't tamper with this Innate magical treasure, wouldn't he be wasting the Green Nether Fairyland's 'kindness'?
"Perfect. Since you're scheming in the Central Territory, I'll turn this treasure into a signal beacon," Wang Linchi decided.
With this signal beacon, when the Merit Giants piloted their Merit Gold Crystal Towers for landing, they would have a guide and wouldn't have to worry about a blind descent. Initially, the plan was indeed a blind landing, mainly because constructing a signal beacon would incur costs. Besides, a blind landing wasn't such a big deal. The Central Territory is so vast; there was only a four percent chance of landing in one of the Four Territories, with the remaining ninety-six percent probability being a landing within the Central Territory itself. Now, with a signal beacon, not only would they avoid a blind landing, but all the Merit Giants could also land in the same area, preventing them from being scattered. This would shift the strategy from scattered engagements across the land to a concentrated battle. This change had its own pros and cons. Alright, the main reason was to vent his anger and ensure that the new protagonist of Fate, painstakingly nurtured by the Green Nether Fairyland, would be crushed to death by a Merit Gold Crystal Tower, he thought with grim satisfaction.
