Chapter 378

Chapter 378: Investigations Completed

At this moment, everyone understood why their ancestor told them to scatter and flee.

It was truly terrifying; a Great Ascension stage saint had been killed in just one strike.

From their ancestor’s words, it was clear that he could not match the opponent. The instant death of the Great Ascension stage saint confirmed this.

So, at this moment, many only wished to escape as far away as possible.

On the ground, Ye Jian still remained unaware that the disciples of the Sky Sword Sect had all begun to flee due to the limitations of her divine sense perception range.

After eliminating the Great Ascension stage cultivator, she directly brought her tribe to a mountainous area.

Once there, Ye Jian purchased an immortal formation from Liu Hongxia, set it up among the mountains, and settled her tribe within the formation.

In this situation, she did not have to worry about her tribe’s safety.

Previously, it was impossible to set up a formation on the barren prison because the colorful fragments absorbed all the spiritual energy.

But now it was different.

After her biological father took the colorful fragments away, Ye Jian had noticed that spiritual energy began to appear above the barren prison.

This energy came from outer space.

So, the barren prison was not devoid of spiritual energy; rather, it was absorbed by the colorful fragments when it reached the planet, making the barren prison appear lifeless.

After setting up the immortal formation and securing her tribe, Ye Jian then left the formation to check the situation elsewhere.

Soon, she learned that in recent times, wars had erupted across all the nations on the barren prison, resulting in countless casualties.

Ye Jian understood that this chaos was undoubtedly caused by the cultivators who attacked her.

Fortunately, after those cultivators left the barren prison, peace quickly returned to the area.

The nations that had been engaged in fierce battles had suddenly ceased hostilities.

At this time in the Qian Yuan Empire, the entire country was in mourning.

Just a few days ago, the emperor, the princes, and most of the court officials, along with the generals, had all died almost simultaneously.

No one knew the reason for this.

While the Qian Yuan Empire mourned, the rulers of nearly all the empires on the Abandoned Prison Star were also in mourning.

The emperors and ministers of these nations had similarly died at the same time as those of the Qian Yuan Empire.

With all the emperors and ministers dead, there could be no more wars.

In the Qian Yuan Empire, the emperor had died, but a country could not survive a day without a king.

So, in a balance of power, the Fourth Prince ultimately ascended to the throne.

After the coronation ceremony, the Fourth Prince became the emperor of the Qian Yuan Empire, but he showed no signs of joy.

The deaths of his Father Emperor, several brothers, and many civil and military leaders had truly terrified him.

Though he had become emperor, he was uncertain when he might suddenly meet the same fate.

“Your Majesty, we have found something.”

In a palace, an Old Eunuch hurriedly entered and excitedly spoke to the newly crowned emperor.

“What have you found?”

“Your Majesty, based on the information we’ve gathered, this matter is likely related to the Immortals.”

“Immortals?”

“Your Majesty, this is recorded in a document from the palace’s forbidden area. Please take a look.” The Old Eunuch quickly handed a book to the emperor.

The emperor took the book and began to read. As he read, his expression gradually relaxed.

It turned out that this book contained records about the Immortals.

Indeed, there were Immortals in this world.

The Immortals were high above, rarely seen by ordinary people.

However, every three hundred years, an Immortal would descend and control the upper echelons of various countries to instigate wars.

Each war would cause the population of the nations to shrink to less than thirty percent.

Although the population decrease was severe, it did resolve many social conflicts caused by land consolidation.

Every three hundred years, a cycle would begin again, redistributing resources, which allowed many empires to sustain themselves for long periods.

For instance, the Qianyuan Kingdom had lasted for over thirty thousand years.

Immortals might reduce the population, but they would not destroy a nation. Additionally, outside of the wars every three hundred years, countries were not allowed to fight each other.

If a nation’s emperor dared to initiate a war, he would die within a few days for various reasons.

It seemed that this was controlled by the Immortals.

The Immortals prohibited nations from recording histories of war, so with time, as peace persisted in the common folk’s lives, the descendants of ordinary people would quickly forget the past.

Then, the cycle would start again after three hundred years.

However, while the Immortals did not allow countries to document their histories of war, royal families generally kept records, and as long as this information was known only to a few, the Immortals would not intervene.

After reviewing the historical book delivered by the Old Eunuch, the Qianyuan New Emperor stared blankly for a long time without saying a word.

“If history is correct, every time the population is reduced, it has been by seventy percent. Why did this time end before it truly began?”

The emperor did not understand.

Since the Immortals started to reduce the population, why did they leave after only a small decrease?

With the current war situations between nations, this time’s reduction might not even be one percent.

Many freshly conscripted soldiers hadn’t even reached the battlefield, yet it seemed to have ended already?

This situation made the emperor uneasy.

He suspected that the Immortals might have left temporarily for some reason and could return later.

If the Immortals returned, it would likely mean his demise.

Nonetheless, since he had already become emperor, there was no turning back.

If the Immortals returned, he had no means to resist.

“Issue a decree for all conscripted soldiers to return home.”

The emperor instructed the Old Eunuch.

“Understood.”

Just as the Old Eunuch was about to withdraw, suddenly, hurried footsteps approached.

“Your Majesty, over ten court officials, led by the Prime Minister, are here urgently requesting an audience.”

A Eunuch rushed to report to the emperor.

“Admit them,” the emperor quickly ordered.

Soon, a group of court officials hurriedly entered the hall.

These officials had all been promoted alongside the new emperor.

“We pay our respects to Your Majesty.”

“No need for formalities!”

“What urgent matter has arisen, my dear ministers?” the emperor asked the group of officials.

“Your Majesty, lower officials have reported that a massive canyon has appeared in Shanling County and Zhuozhou County. The canyon is several kilometers wide and stretches over a hundred kilometers long.

When the canyon appeared, it also caused severe earthquakes. Additionally, because of its location, Hongye City has been completely destroyed…”

Upon hearing the minister’s words, the emperor couldn’t help but gasp.

The moment he heard the report, he immediately understood the situation.

He suspected that this must have been caused by the Immortals; perhaps a battle had occurred there.

Besides the Immortals, he couldn’t think of anyone else capable of causing such devastation.

“My dear ministers, I am already aware of this matter. Such occurrences will undoubtedly lead to many refugees, so I ask you to quickly devise a rescue plan…”

As the Emperor of the Qianyuan Kingdom spoke, suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air in the hall.

It was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, her clothing flowing as she floated in the air.

This sight left everyone stunned.