Chapter 249
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 249: Title
The Underworld made no attempt to conceal its turmoil. Not only the mortal realm, but even those lingering within its borders learned of the disturbance through varied channels.
Yet observing the composed demeanor of the Underworld’s big shots who seemed utterly unperturbed, visitors held their tongues. This remained the Underworld’s internal affair—intruding without invitation would be improper, particularly when no assistance had been solicited.
Following the Ghostly Emperor’s departure, Yama concluded the ceremony after a measured pause, permitting free exploration of the realm while offering early departure through the gates of the dead for those wishing to return to the mortal realm.
With these declarations, Yama withdrew alongside the Underworld’s spectral officials.
"Abrupt conclusion? Just as well—we might seek diversions elsewhere." Leng Xingwen rose, brushing imaginary dust from his robes.
Xiao Tianji smoothed his sleeves with deliberate care. "You’d do well to accompany me."
"Why the haste? We’ve scarce glimpsed the Underworld’s wonders."
"Think me capricious for mentioning the gates?" The diviner’s lips quirked as he observed the exodus swelling around them. "Gathering clouds portend tempests."
Every invited guest represented pivotal figures from yang realms.
Thus when whispers of mortal-plane disturbances began circulating through coded messages and mystical missives, most chose immediate departure. However rare this Underworld visitation proved, yang realm ties pulled stronger.
Though Leng Xingwen often mocked Xiao Tianji’s cryptic ways, crisis transformed jibes into instinctive trust.
"Truly so dire?"
Lin Jing approached, his lowered voice blending with the dispersing crowd. "Did you foresee this, Master Xiao?"
Leng Xingwen’s gaze sharpened. "What tidings reached you?"
"Only urgent summons," Lin Jing admitted. "No details beyond immediate return."
"My messenger pigeon go astray?" The swordsman frowned.
Xiao Tianji’s palm met his companion’s shoulder in a dismissive tap. "Need you separate warnings when I stand beside you? Fetch your blade—we’ll miss the critical hour if you tarry."
As they departed, the diviner’s gaze briefly tracked a lone figure drifting against the crowd’s current before snapping forward. "Hasten, unless you fancy being last to witness history."
"Nagging harpy!" Leng Xingwen growled, though his blade obediently expanded into a broader platform.
Lin Jing paled as the elongated sword surged forward, fingers whitening on its hilt. While his companions stood relaxed against the screaming wind, he bitterly reconsidered his choice—better safe tardiness than breakneck velocity hurtling toward catastrophe.
(Let this not become our second deathday…)
…
"We’ll proceed no further." Yama materialized at Ghostly Mountain’s base alongside the Judge, having vanished earlier from the assembly. "Follow this pass to its end—His Majesty awaits within the peak’s palace."
No wandering soul dared approach this forbidden slope, leaving the exchange unobserved.
"Our gratitude, Lord Yama, Honored Judge."
"Merely accompanying an old friend’s whim," the Judge chuckled, adjusting his ink-stained sleeves.
They watched Xuanfeng’s ascent until the phoenix vanished into mists.
"Curious he didn’t inquire about the summons," the Judge mused.
"Know you the reason?"
"Not I."
Yama snorted. "Then let spectral chickens roost. Weren’t you eager to inspect those mortal-realm tea shops?"
“Have you heard His Majesty mention anything?”
“No.”
“It’s rather simple to deduce.” The Judge paused meaningfully. “I suspect it concerns the esteemed figure by His Majesty’s side.”
The Ghostly Emperor remained solitary in his mountain peak palace above the underworld, seldom summoning his subordinates. All believed him companionless until chance revealed a mysterious woman’s presence.
Her mere proximity to the throne warranted caution… None could have imagined the animated obsidian phoenix adorning the imperial robes was no mere embroidery, but an ancient demoness whose lineage predated the underworld’s current rulers.
Within the hollowed halls, Ye Linlang observed the approaching figure—no, the approaching demon.
“Xuanfeng pays homage to Your Eminence.”
Nested within the Ghostly Emperor’s guise, Ye Linlang inclined her head regally. “We summoned you to meet another.”
“Xihua.”
At this utterance, the phoenix upon the imperial hem blinked into sudden animation, its gilded form soaring toward Xuanfeng. A tall woman materialized two paces away, stormcloud hair cascading past shoulders squared with timeless pride.
“Well met, fledgling,” the apparition chimed, golden tassels dancing through her ponytail. “This ancestor welcomes her descendant.”
Xuanfeng: “…”
Were it not for the metamorphosis she’d witnessed, the Demon Lord would never have acknowledged this exuberant creature as kin. Her silent gaze rose toward the throne, questioning the Emperor’s design.
Ye Linlang’s voice sliced through the tension. “Xihua.”
The green-clad figure straightened instinctively. “Your command?”
“The mortal realm stirs with transformation. Accompany your junior into this turbulence.”
Xihua blinked. “But where—”
“To humanity’s domain.”
No further discourse permitted, the Ghostly Emperor’s sleeve swept outward. Reality twisted.
They materialized upon the Glass Pathway’s dizzying heights, pressed between gasping tourists and vertiginous drops. Recognition came swift as screams erupted:
“The Xuanfeng Demon Lord!!”
Chaos erupted. The walkway’s crystalline surface crackled beneath stampeding feet. Cowering visitors clutched guardrails as bolder souls leaned perilously for glimpses.
Xuanfeng’s jaw tightened as Xihua grinned at the bedlam. Without ceremony, the Demon Lord seized her ancestor’s collar and surged skyward—
But the pandemonium’s tide had already broken.
The moment they appeared was swiftly captured by quick-handed onlookers. Soon after, a post titled #Encountering Xuanfeng at Taishan Glass Pathway# surfaced in the ‘Xuanfeng’ supertopic on Yunlang Weibo.
Had Blue Star not recently experienced turmoil, this news would have easily climbed the trending list, given how rarely demon lords of spirit cultivators besides Bai Ze made public appearances.
—One hour earlier—
Blue Star basked in vernal radiance on this exceptionally tranquil day.
Creatures of all races attended to their daily routines—some laboring, others cultivating. Idle observers scrolled through phones, engrossed in live broadcasts of the underworld’s spectral festivities.
The anomaly struck without warning.
Even ordinary souls sensed the cosmic shift as heaven and earth trembled. Practitioners endured worse—the world’s Spiritual Energy erupted in chaotic frenzy, primal forces rampaging through the atmosphere.
Though momentary, the cataclysm shattered meditation for countless cultivators. Those attempting realm breakthroughs suffered worst, blood spraying from mouths as energies spiraled out of control.
Titanic vortexes of condensed Spiritual Energy warped spatial fabric. Sacred cultivation sites quaked despite their abundant energies, while celestial storms raged above—thunderheads boiling with electric fury.
Above it all materialized the River of Ages, seen but twice since the Awakening of Spiritual Energy. Pure energies amassed around it, coalescing into a radiant river of concentrated power.
As the Spiritual Energy river solidified, it mirrored the temporal waterway beneath. None could perceive the phantasmal lights within this reflection—countless humanoid silhouettes flickering into existence before dissolving.
Only Huaxia’s newly launched fifth-generation ‘Thousand-Mile Eye’ satellite captured the spectacle through time-lapsed imaging. Yet this technology preserved merely visuals, not the temporal river’s ephemeral essence.
…
Huaxia Spiritual Energy Monitoring Bureau.
The typically sedate department became a hive of activity twenty minutes post-event. Flooded with reports of energy anomalies, staff desperately multitasked under mounting pressure.
"Vortex compression rates exceed norms by 100%. Seventy percent exhibit spatial fracturing—though energy-wrapped cracks remain stable, showing no predicted dimensional storms."
"Analysis suggests early secret realm formation phases, consistent with historical…"
The bureau director maintained stoic composure, though her stern expression betrayed gravity. "Simultaneous secret realm emergences? At such velocity? What of the temporal river analysis? Consequences of the energy river absorbing its mirror?"
"Still unknown."
This bureau’s jurisdiction spanned all Spiritual Energy phenomena across Huaxia—overseeing spirit cultivator clans, cultivation sects, and forbidden zones barred to most citizens.
These energy-rich regions now posed greatest risks. The Special Bureau had already mobilized to secure restricted areas and maintain order.
"Oceanic monitors detected massive reactions before destruction by energy surges. Deep sea status remains unverified."
"Contact General Ao of spirit cultivators. Marine domains are his expertise."
"Acknowledged."
Celestial phenomena persisted for an hour before vanishing. Visible energy vortexes dissipated, leaving calm that belied recent chaos.
Yet coordinates streaming from printers proved the events’ reality. Similar occurrences manifested globally across Blue Star, disregarding day-night cycles.
Astute observers speculated—was this the prelude to Blue Star’s next epochal shift after four centuries? None could predict whether these omens heralded salvation or ruin.
Amid the planetary turmoil, Xuanfeng—recently emerged from underworld gates near Taishan—retreated to a secluded peak after causing stir.
Xihua’s reaction contrasted sharply, his curiosity about events outweighing any displeasure at Xuanfeng’s unilateral actions.
As an elder, one shouldn’t lose their temper with juniors.
“The mortal realm appears rather intriguing these days,” Xihua remarked with keen interest.
“Since I’m unfamiliar with this world, I’ll need your assistance. Would you guide me through it?”
Xuanfeng hadn’t yet deciphered why the Ghostly Emperor had sent Xihua to accompany him. Hearing her request, he reflexively replied, “I, too, am unacquainted with the human realm.”
This was truth—unlike Bai Ze, Xuanfeng seldom walked among mortals.
Xihua observed, “You’re wondering why His Majesty permitted me to join you.”
Xuanfeng’s silence confirmed her words.
“The anomaly in Wangchuan signals turmoil in the mortal domain. My presence here stems from the spirit cultivators’ entanglement in these events.”
“Before departing the underworld,” Xihua continued, “His Majesty foretold an approaching calamity. It’s for this crisis that I journeyed with you.” Her tone softened. “Long ago, His Majesty rescued me and granted sanctuary—thus I survived since the Ancient Era’s collapse.”
“Mishandle this disaster, and the world itself may perish. Knowing our kind currently lacks seasoned leaders, His Majesty summoned me back.”
Of the nine demon lords governing the spirit cultivators, all had been mere fledglings when entering the Mountain and Sea Realm eons past. Though long-lived, none could endure millennia unscathed—the cataclysmic era bridging pre-Ancient times saw to that.
Xihua’s casual delivery belied her extraordinary endurance. The faint death-essence clinging to her hinted at untold trials beneath the Ghostly Emperor’s patronage.
Uninterested in courtly secrets, Xuanfeng focused on essentials: a confirmed kinswoman warning of impending disaster. Their priority became returning to the spirit cultivators’ domain—though he wondered if this crisis connected to Bai Ze’s recent predicament.
“Do your people still dwell in the Mountain and Sea Realm?” Xihua’s intelligence seemed outdated.
Typically reticent, Xuanfeng found himself explaining current affairs under Xihua’s persistent queries. By the time he’d outlined the spirit cultivators’ modern state, the spires of tier-nine demon lords City loomed ahead.
*
Ye Linlang observed her creations’ harmonious rapport with satisfaction.
Releasing Xihua and Xuanfeng hadn’t been mere whimsy. Post-Awakening of Spiritual Energy, most spirit cultivators were her handiwork—unlike humanity’s organic growth. Yet she’d deliberately omitted placing an avatar among them.
Originally, their confinement to the Mountain and Sea Realm made oversight unnecessary. Even demon lords couldn’t breach those borders, rendering puppetry redundant—and maintaining multiple avatars proved tiresome.
But times had changed.
With demon lords pivotal to combating the looming catastrophe, inserting loyal elements became crucial. Thus ‘Xihua’ emerged—an unwitting proxy unaware of her creator’s tether.
The avatar’s manner amused Ye Linlang; each incarnation revealed fresh facets of her own psyche.
Her contemplation shifted as holograms flickered—sleek warships streaked through void towards Blue Star’s coordinates.
Abandoned by the dormant Consciousness of Heaven, she single-handedly strategized against the Six Hundred Years crisis. Atlantis’s emergence was meant to herald cosmic neighbors, not serve as battlements.
Humanity remained unprepared—their oceanic defenses leaning on technology and marine spirit cultivators. Insufficient.
Ye Linlang’s fingers drummed rhythmically as Atlantic abyssal charts glowed—the sunken continent demanding reassessment.
*
Meanwhile, Xiao Tianji and Leng Xingwen’s underworld excursion took an abrupt turn. Lin Jing’s invitation to the Special Bureau headquarters was interrupted when Moon Lake Wonderland recalled Leng Xingwen mid-journey, leaving Xiao Tianji to proceed alone.
At their destination, an eager envoy awaited—not for Lin Jing, but the celestial strategist himself.
When Lin Jing previously called to report his whereabouts, he mentioned Xiao Tianji’s impending arrival. This news lifted the spirits of the entire Special Bureau staff, who had been overwhelmed by recent anomalies. They gathered specifically to meet Xiao Tianji, hoping he could shed light on the celestial disturbances.
The Special Bureau headquarters stood in Capital City’s outer ring. Unlike centuries past when secrecy was paramount, its location now served as an open secret – though only fools would dare challenge this bastion of Huaxia’s supernatural authority. Survival instincts prevailed; assaulting these premises promised consequences worse than death itself.
The rooftop helipad accommodated both non-humans and cultivators with equal ease. As Leng Xingwen’s group landed, waiting staff approached immediately.
"Young Master Leng, Director Lin." A crisply dressed woman nodded to both men before addressing Xiao Tianji with deference. "Sir, the council awaits your presence in the meeting room."
"Assistant Gu." Lin Jing acknowledged.
"Lead on," Xiao Tianji responded with accustomed ease, his reputation ensuring royal treatment wherever he wandered.
Leng Xingwen nudged his stationary companion. "Your authority seems diminished before our celestial guest."
Lin Jing retorted dryly, "Weren’t you leaving?" With a flash of sword light, Young Master Leng departed.
Lin Jing proceeded to the elevator, knowing the impending meeting likely concerned underworld anomalies. The Special Bureau complex sprawled across multiple structures and gardens, its central tower piercing the sky like a crystalline spear – a hundred stories of cutting-edge architecture blending science fiction with Spiritual Energy Technology.
The seventy-eighth floor’s meeting chambers shifted dimensions through formations, each space reconfiguring as needed. Lin Jing entered to find colleagues assembling.
"Apologies for my delay."
Zhang Yuhai waved dismissively. "We’re still waiting on distant members. Impressive speed from the underworld, though."
Xiao Tianji occupied the head seat like a enthroned sage, the Bureau director acknowledging Lin Jing with a nod. "Swift transportation," Lin Jing explained, settling into a vacant chair.
The documents before him revealed staggering developments during his absence: divine warnings across multiple pantheons, Practitioners worldwide foreseeing apocalypse, simultaneous anomalies spanning hemispheres and Small Worlds. Spiritual Energy riots birthed secret realms while temporal river echoes lingered ominously.
Post-Awakening global cooperation proved crucial now. From Western priests to Eastern diviners, all Practitioners agreed – this crisis offered no divine salvation. Civilization itself faced trial, a planetary crucible where even deities observed neutrality in the war between worlds.
The convergence of countless living beings gives birth to worlds. When realms clash, their conflicts often measure the might of creatures nurtured within each domain—a universal truth even deities transcending cosmic laws cannot alter.
Though Blue Star possesses ancient foundations, its developmental timeline remains brief. Moreover, deities dwell beyond mortal boundaries, their direct intervention complicated. All understand these divine beings serve as humanity’s safeguard while sacrificing immeasurably for this world, their powers still unrecovered to this day.
Now both civilizations stand at crossroads—the West clinging to hopes of divine deliverance, the East upholding self-reliance and humanity’s triumph over fate.
As Lin Jing studied documents, the final attendees slipped into the meeting room, initiating proceedings in hushed solemnity. Discussions proved exhaustive, departments burying past squabbles to confront the apocalyptic crisis looming six hundred years ahead.
Emerging beneath the zenith moon, Lin Jing massaged his temples while contemplating the luminous orb through corridor windows. The moon shone brightly, and the breeze was gentle—a picture of serene tranquility, as if time itself had paused in perfect harmony.
"Undoubtedly the calm before the storm," he murmured, his observation drawing nods of grim agreement.
Xiao Tianji’s chuckle broke the silence as he checked his wristwatch. "Dreadful cafeteria here. Perfect hour for supper—my treat at that beast barbecue joint."
"Count me in!" Tang Tong materialized, eyes gleaming. The Awakening of Spiritual Energy’s legacy allowed her four-century tenure as Special Bureau elder—a comfortable niche she’d maintained since the organization’s founding.
"Three’s sparse company," she mused, tapping her chin. "Shall we invite Ji Lang?"
"Elder Ji’s already here regarding Kunlun affairs," Xiao Tianji revealed, phone in hand. "Xingwen’s joining too—five total."
Lin Jing started. "Ji Lang’s present?"
"Arrived before you," Tang Tong confirmed. "Skipped the meeting for mountain matters."
As they debated dining locations, Lin Jing’s distraction became apparent.
"Earth to Lin Jing!" Tang Tong waved before his distant gaze. "Save tomorrow’s troubles for daylight hours. Tonight’s for living!"
Huaxia’s contingency frameworks had stabilized the initial panic. Though unprecedented challenges loomed, tonight’s moonlit camaraderie held its own quiet significance.
"Elder has arrived," Xiao Tianji cast a glance to the side.
Both in status and age, Ji Lang deserved the venerable title of Elder.
"Greetings, Elder." Tang Tong waved cheerfully. "How about some hotpot and barbecue, Elder?"
Xiao Tianji chuckled faintly, his feet barely touching the ground as he ascended skyward with effortless grace – before Ji Lang, he always maintained his dignified bearing.
"Occasionally soaring through the skies does hold its unique charm."
While the group enjoyed their midnight feast, other nations across Blue Star lacked the tranquility of Huaxia.
The planet had long been carved into territories by various factions, each responding differently according to their capabilities.
Though the impending crisis remained six hundred years distant, preparations had already begun in earnest. Failure to weather this storm would reshuffle Blue Star’s power structure – though how much would survive the upheaval remained uncertain.
One month later.
Lin Jing unfolded the freshly delivered dossier, his eyes widening momentarily before focusing intently.
A satellite-captured photograph nestled within the documents revealed a deep-space armada.
The Atlantean fleet loomed perilously close to Blue Star, its exact arrival time now glaring from the pages. Lin Jing’s finger tapped the calculated date… three days hence. The planet would soon erupt into frenzied activity.
With this intelligence reaching his desk, public disclosure became inevitable.
Such cosmic visitors couldn’t – and needn’t – be concealed. The populace had already been forewarned through carefully timed advisories.
True to Lin Jing’s predictions, within hours the Spiritual Network blazed with news of extraterrestrial visitors.
Millions of shares cascaded within minutes as media outlets scrambled for coverage. Within sixty minutes, every news-conscious inhabitant of Blue Star would know – the interlinked Spiritual Network and demon web ensured no soul remained ignorant. Practitioners could access these omnipresent networks through their credentials, signal-free systems rooted in the World Tree’s vast infrastructure.
At the World Tree’s zenith,
countless screens flickered autonomously, their luminous surfaces tracking celestial nodes radiating outward from Blue Star.
Each node represented a planetary system touched by Ye Linlang’s travels – worlds seeded with life now evolving at staggering rates. Were it not for the World Tree’s attenuated Spiritual Energy flow, these civilizations might have developed even faster, perhaps embracing pure Spiritual Energy paradigms.
Yet Ye Linlang’s creations carried inherent maturity, their swift progress expected. Given current Spiritual Energy limitations confined to human domains, other civilizations found alternative evolutionary paths inevitable.
Three days later.
"Welcome back to the live stream, friends! Yang Xingyu here – has it really been so long since our last broadcast?"
The host grinned at the floating camera drone. "By now you’ve all seen the historic news! Today Blue Star welcomes visitors from our cosmic past – descendants of those who once inhabited the Atlantic’s Sunken Continent, officially designated… Atlantis!"
"Through Special Bureau connections, your Brother Yang secured exclusive access! Let’s witness this monumental encounter with the Atlantean civilization!"
[Brother Yang’s legendary! Scoring civilian broadcast rights for this!]
[First unofficial stream in centuries – absolute madlad!]
【I can barely focus on Brother Yang’s words now. That’s gotta be a spaceship from an alien civilization, right?】
【Its design contrasts completely with Blue Star’s aesthetics, evoking an unsettling sense of deep sea phobia.】
【Atlantis is an underwater civilization rumored to have merfolk~~~】
【I’m dying to catch a glimpse of those merfolk!】
【Wonder how they compare in beauty to our jiangshi.】
【Our Huaxia jiangshi are definitely superior! I’m rooting for Brother Baiyin!】
【Western merfolk are gorgeous too. Didn’t they claim kinship with Atlantis?】
【My vote goes to the deep blue faction.】
Yang Xingyu ignored the live stream chatter, directing his camera toward the freshly landed spacecraft. His vantage point offered a partial view behind national delegates and alliance representatives, including two merfolk ambassadors – one Eastern, one Western – their iridescent tails glimmering under artificial lights.
Blue Star’s centuries-old ban on surface landings for massive vessels had been temporarily lifted for this historic occasion. The council deemed this extraterrestrial reunion permissible, given Atlantis’ ancestral ties to their planet.
From the Atlantian craft descended merfolk nobles, their tails hovering centimeters above the metallic stairs in aquatic elegance. Behind them followed humanoid figures whose perfection of form betrayed non-human origins. The delegation presented striking contrasts: military officers in deep-blue dress uniforms standing rigid behind fluid-tailed aristocrats draped in Atlantian-style silks.
"Welcome." A Blue Star envoy greeted in Mandarin, his words instantly rendered into liquid Atlantian syllables by the hovering translator drone.
Viewers showed restrained curiosity – after encountering countless species through centuries of cosmic exploration, Blue Star’s citizens reserved their fascination for Atlantis’ dual significance as both alien visitors and prodigal kin. Newsfeeds still blazed with updates days after the merfolk’s arrival.
To honor their oceanic heritage, delegates were lodged in the Atlantic’s underwater city bearing their ancestral name. This marked one of the merkingdom’s rare public broadcasts in recent centuries. Alliance officials joined the procession, including jiangshi representatives from Eastern spirit cultivators.
A cerulean-tailed girl tugged at Bai Yin’s arm, her laughter bubbling like seawater fizz. "Government-funded sightseeing! Why the gloomy face?"
The silver-haired jiangshi permitted the contact, his moon-pale features maintaining glacial composure as they drifted through bioluminescent thoroughfares. The reconstructed Atlantis around them pulsed with alien coral architecture, its spires glowing with captured sunlight from distant surfaces.
"Returning here…" murmured a chiseled merfolk diplomat ahead, his Atlantian words reshaping into listeners’ native tongues through translation tech, "…feels like breathing after centuries in airless void."
The alliance representative smiled. "Consider this a homecoming. Blue Star would welcome permanent settlers."
Humanity understood Atlantean civilization revolved around photonic mastery – a stark contrast to their own tech evolution. Blue Star’s scientific community burned with restrained envy, particularly with the Six Hundred Year crisis looming. This diplomatic dance offered potential collaboration beyond mere cultural exchange.
As for specific negotiations? That concerned others. Bai Yin and his companion Qinglan simply glided through liquid corridors, their role being ambassadorial guides to this aqueous wonder.
