Opening the cloth sack, Dongbo Xueying peered inside.
Inside the sack, there were only two objects: a dark golden bracelet and a crystal orb. The bracelet faintly shimmered with a dim, dark glow, clearly extraordinary, while the crystal orb appeared relatively ordinary.
“Gone?” He took these two items out and placed them on the ground, then carefully examined the inside of the sack. It was completely empty, with no other items remaining.
“Buzz!” Suddenly, the crystal orb on the ground emitted a glow.
This startled Dongbo Xueying, who quickly turned his head to look.
The orb’s light formed a figure above it—a black-haired old man with a domineering and cold gaze.
“I am Heifeng,” the black-haired old man said coldly.
“Senior Heifeng?” Dongbo Xueying’s heart stirred. He knew this was merely a recorded image left within the orb—the true Heifeng Patriarch had long perished. “Even from this projection, one can tell that Heifeng Patriarch was an extremely domineering and ruthless figure. Who would have thought that this individual, regarded as the strongest demigod in nearly a hundred thousand years, would possess such a formidable presence?”
Indeed, Heifeng Patriarch had once been unrivaled beneath the heavens. To ascend to godhood, he had even done something incredibly reckless, further enhancing his power.
Thus, his strength had risen to an extremely terrifying level.
He had surpassed all other demigods of his era, earning the title of the strongest demigod in nearly a hundred thousand years!
“You who have received my message must be of strength close to mine,” the black-haired old man said coldly. “You must be the strongest among the Xia Clan of your era.”
Dongbo Xueying murmured inwardly.
Close?
He still had a long way to go! In a direct confrontation, he could not defeat the ‘Five Shadows’ or the black rat, nor could he break through some of the terrifying formations later on. He had only succeeded by relying on his ability to traverse the Void.
“As the strongest demigod of your era among the Xia Clan, you have the capability to shoulder the responsibility for the Xia Clan!” the Heifeng Patriarch said coldly. “I do not demand that you act immediately, but you may wait until near the end of your lifespan before taking on this responsibility!”
“Responsibility?” Dongbo Xueying was puzzled.
“You may be confused, perhaps even perplexed,” Heifeng Patriarch said indifferently. “Or maybe… the Palace Master of your era’s Xinfeng Palace has already informed you of this secret. Regardless, I shall reveal this secret to you first.”
Dongbo Xueying listened attentively.
Heifeng Patriarch was involved in many secrets that even Palace Master Chen had refused to speak of.
“The workings of the world are shrouded in countless mysteries,” the Black Phoenix Patriarch murmured, his eyes gleaming with an eerie light as if discussing something entirely unrelated. “The birth of a realm and its nurturing of life is but a natural cycle. By the laws of nature, after eons pass, the world shall wither with age, culminating in a cataclysmic collapse! The Xia Clan, along with the native spirits and the demonic beasts, shall all meet their doom! And when the great calamity subsides, the Xia World shall be reborn anew—a mundane mortal plane where life thrives once more… Perhaps humanity will rise again, but they shall no longer be the Xia Clan we once knew!”
“However, a world that gradually ages and eventually collapses can be considered a complete cycle of rebirth,” Heifeng Patriarch continued. “Sometimes, a world may collapse prematurely due to unexpected external circumstances.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
Indeed.
Take those small and large supernatural worlds, for example. If their source stones are excessively mined, these supernatural worlds will collapse prematurely.
The same principle applies—
Even more stable, grand, and perfect ‘mortal worlds’ could also collapse prematurely, though mortal worlds are too stable, making it difficult for them to collapse prematurely.
“Mortal worlds are very stable and can generally self-regulate and recover from normal circumstances,” Heifeng Patriarch frowned. “In the 56005th year of the Donghou Calendar, an event occurred that nearly caused the destruction of our Xia world!”
The 56005th year of the Donghou Calendar?
Dongbo Xueying immediately calculated in his mind—this was 1.1 million years ago. ‘Donghou Emperor’ was also one of the powerful ancestors of the Xia Clan who had ascended to godhood.
An event that nearly destroyed the mortal world? What exactly happened 1.1 million years ago?
“It seemed like an ordinary day, a normal noon!”
“Suddenly, a crimson beam of light fell from the heavens!”
“This crimson beam pierced through all obstacles in the material world, penetrated every membrane and barrier of the mortal world, and crashed into our Xia world,” Heifeng Patriarch said. “Its impact turned a ten-thousand-mile radius into ruins, annihilating all living beings. Even within this devastation, two of our Xia Clan’s supernatural beings perished—one of them was a demigod!”
Dongbo Xueying listened with a racing heart.
The devastation from its fall alone reached ten thousand miles? In normal combat, a demigod could indeed cover a thousand-mile radius with intent, but usually, the power would be focused rather than dispersed. Thus, the range affected by a typical demigod’s attack was relatively small, with dozens of miles being a common range.
The wider the range of the power transmission, the more difficult it is to achieve.
Yet merely falling down could affect ten thousand miles? More terrifying than a god!
“This wasn’t even the worst part,” Heifeng Patriarch continued. “After it crashed, soon after, a group of visitors from other worlds arrived! Teams of time temple reincarnators also rushed in. It is said… that these visitors from other worlds and the time temple reincarnators were among the absolute elites of demigods, most of whom were as strong as me. Some were even stronger than I was!”
Dongbo Xueying’s expression changed.
Stronger than Heifeng Patriarch?
And ‘visitors from other worlds’… One must understand that mortal worlds are very stable, making it difficult for outsiders to enter. Like the occasional channels formed in the Dark Abyss, which are irregular, allowing only a few demons to occasionally enter.
For visitors from other worlds to arrive, there was generally only one way—requesting the Time Temple to transport them into a mortal world! Transporting items into a world is vastly different from transporting people, and the cost is much higher!
So why did so many powerful beings rush in after that crimson beam fell?
“You’ve probably guessed it. Yes, it was that crimson streak of light that fell,” Heifeng Patriarch said. “The Divine Realm and even the Dark Abyss dispatched some of their demigods. Time Temple reincarnators also came! All for that crimson streak of light. They kept coming in waves, only to perish in waves. Very few survived! Perhaps not even one in ten lived!”
“At that time, our Xia Clan could only watch in fear and trembling. Only two demigods ventured inside to investigate, but they never returned. During that era, our Xia Clan was like fish caught in a fire, suffering greatly!”
“We could do nothing!”
“They were all top-tier demigods dispatched by major forces from the Divine Realm and the Abyss.”
“Because of their heavy casualties and the great cost of sending more powerful beings, these visitors from other worlds gradually became fewer,” Heifeng Patriarch continued. “However, every few thousand years, a new batch of visitors still arrived. Those who survived usually managed to bring out some treasures. The major powers of the Divine Realm and the Abyss still clung to their hopes, eager to obtain the fallen treasure.”
“This fallen treasure was a mountain!” Heifeng Patriarch declared. “Through our interactions with these visitors from other worlds and the time temple reincarnators, we learned that they referred to this mountain as ‘Red Stone Mountain’! It is the source of the threat that I believe could lead to the destruction of our mortal world!”
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