Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 1

Volume 7 Chapter 1: The World Is Divided, a Letter From Afar (Part 1)

Time is a very strange thing; when you are in a hurry, it seems to hurry too, making you feel like there is never enough time. But when you are relaxed and bored, it flows slowly, making your leisure or boredom feel much longer.

Since the great battle when human cultivators united against the returning Shura Clan, thirty years have passed without anyone noticing.

For most people in the world, these thirty years have passed extremely quickly. This is because in these thirty years, humans have been very busy, constantly teetering on the edge of life and death.

After that great battle, most of the Shura Clan escaped. Because the Shura Clan members are much stronger than human cultivators, Immortal Zizhen feared they would take their anger out on the mortals of the Shenzhou Continent. Therefore, he decided to scatter the cultivators of the Righteous Alliance to gather all the remaining mortals across the Shenzhou Continent.

Although this decision was very risky, it later caused great losses to the cultivators of the Righteous Alliance.

This was because, after a century of disaster, very few mortals remained on the Shenzhou Continent. And humans are the foundation of the cultivation world.

Most humans lived in the prosperous Middle-earth, which was divided into eighteen states. Before the disasters, all eighteen states had large populations and were bustling with activity. However, when Zizhen decided to gather the mortals, many years of war, the rebellion of the Eight Wilderness Hall, the Beast Madness disaster, and the invasion of demon beasts from the Southern Wasteland had caused immense destruction. Plus, the Zhong family had wiped out all the mortals along the eastern coast. When the cultivators of the Righteous Alliance gathered the remaining mortals, they were shocked to find that even the Yongzhou State, where "Ronghua Mountain" is located, could not hold them all.

Just as Great Brahma, the leader of the Shura clan, threatened, there will be a hunt by the Shura Clan against humans in the days to come.

When human cultivators gathered ordinary people from the world in the later stages of their actions in Yongzhou State, the Shura Clan members moved out in groups of two or three, targeting cultivators with fewer than a hundred members. They would strike quickly and then retreat, leaving no trace behind. Under their hunt, cultivators active in the bustling lands of Middle-earth were killed, and after their deaths, the torn bodies were thrown at the borders of Yongzhou State to intimidate humans.

Later, whenever human cultivators acted, if there were fewer than five hundred people and less than three masters present, they dared not leave the boundaries of Yongzhou State. Yet, the Righteous Alliance had only fourteen masters, and they could not cover every area. Among the seventy or so fleeing Shura Clan members, at least fifty possessed strength above the level of masters, with ten of them having power comparable to Zizhen and Mr. Liu. Even when they acted in groups of five hundred with three or more masters present, many small teams were defeated, and even the defending masters had to flee in embarrassment. In fact, in the second year, one master was wiped out completely while leading a team to search for Shura Clan members!

By then, within the Righteous Alliance, there were only fifteen masters remaining, and two had been killed by the Shura Clan.

It took human cultivators three years to gather ordinary people from the thriving lands of Middle-earth. During these three years, human cultivators and the ordinary people they gathered suffered even more casualties, resulting in heavy losses.

Later, human cultivators gathered several times to form the "All Immortals Formation" and launched collective actions, hoping to find the Shura Clan for a major battle to defeat them completely. Unfortunately, the Shura Clan not only avoided a direct confrontation but also assembled to attack the human stronghold of Yongzhou State. Fortunately, Mr. Liu and Immortal Zizhen were well prepared, so humans did not suffer great losses.

Thus, whenever human cultivators left the land of Yongzhou State around Ronghua Mountain, if their numbers were small, they would be hunted by the Shura Clan. If their numbers were enough for self-defense, the Shura Clan would avoid fighting, leaving the stronghold’s defenses weak, allowing the Shura Clan to strike at the heart of the human forces.

If they gathered together, human cultivators could match the Shura Clan in strength by outnumbering them. Unfortunately, they could not be gathered together all the time.

It should be known that in this war, there was no ambush or trickery involved because when many cultivators acted, the Spirit Qi fluctuations from their bodies combined, becoming highly noticeable and impossible to hide, thus the Shura Clan would easily detect them.

Thus, the Shura Clan followed the principle that when the enemy is strong, they would disturb them, and when the enemy is weak, they would strike. With just seventy members, they managed to gain a big advantage in the war. The human cultivators, with no other choice, could only defend Yongzhou State tightly, setting up countless magical formations to strengthen their defenses, practicing the "All Immortals Formation" at all times, and working hard to improve their skills, but they did not dare to leave Yongzhou State at all.

Thus, the situation of humans ruling the Shenzhou Continent came to an end. At this time, the once prosperous Middle-earth had only Yongzhou State still in human hands, while the other seventeen states fell into chaos. Except for Haizhou State, which was under the Zhong family’s control close to the East Sea, the remaining sixteen states could be described as the battlefield between humans and the Shura Clan. However, the harsh truth was that they had already been occupied by those seventy Shura Clan members.

Over seventy members of the Shura Clan hunted tens of thousands of human cultivators and millions of humans, occupying most of the Shenzhou Continent. It might seem strange, but in a situation where there were not many top-tier practitioners, this was an undeniable fact. After all, aside from formations, battles between practitioners still relied on these top cultivators.

Meanwhile, the Zhong family occupying Haizhou State remained silent, and it was unclear what they were doing. Seeing the Shura Clan so steady, they concentrated all their efforts on hunting the Righteous Alliance, so for now, both sides kept to themselves. However, the Righteous Alliance noticed that after the Shura Clan killed their cultivators, most of the bodies were taken away by the Zhong family. With countless bodies collected, the Zhong family’s power grew explosively.

Thus, the world was divided into three parts: the remaining human forces were trapped in Yongzhou State and did not dare to venture out, the Zhong family occupied Haizhou State, quickly gaining strength while the two sides were in conflict, and the remaining sixteen states had all been taken over by the Shura Clan, who roamed around Yongzhou State every day, waiting to hunt any human who dared to leave.

This situation lasted for a whole three years.

After three years, a white cloud silently floated into Yongzhou State. Then, the Righteous Alliance allied with Zhang Xusheng again. Upon learning that the dark blue pearl could greatly increase the number of Shura Clan members, the Righteous Alliance felt urgent. On the advice of Mr. Liu and Zhang Xusheng, the Righteous Alliance gathered every three years to strike deep into North Iceland, because according to Zhang Xusheng’s information, the dark blue pearl should be hidden somewhere in North Iceland. At the same time, Zhang Xusheng’s Disaster Cloud was fully mobilized to secretly track the Shura Clan and investigate the hidden location of the dark blue pearl.

Thus, under the siege and hunting of the Shura Clan, humans naturally did not dare to leave Yongzhou State easily. However, under the restraint and monitoring of humans, the Shura Clan also did not dare to expand their population freely.

However, the patience of the Shura Clan was limited, and Zhang Xusheng, Mr. Liu, and Immortal Zizhen would not allow the dark blue pearl, which could lead humans into despair, to remain untouched. Amidst their continuous battles of wits, it was as if a string had been pulled tighter and tighter in the west, destined to snap one day.

And so, without noticing, thirty years have passed.

※※※※

Yongzhou State, Ronghua Mountain.

Over these thirty years, under the protection of human cultivators, the ordinary people who came to Yongzhou State from various places in the Shenzhou Continent have rested and thrived, gradually regaining some strength.

During these thirty years, the Righteous Alliance cultivators have taken on many apprentices, no longer being so picky as before. Now, any ordinary person with even a slight talent for cultivation, whether they want it or not, will be forcibly accepted by a cultivator as an apprentice to cultivate, in order to strengthen their ability to fight against the Shura Clan.

Suddenly, the number of cultivators in human society seemed to explode. Thirty years ago, during the battle at Black Emperor Cliff, there were fewer than fifty thousand cultivators in the cultivation world, with only about four thousand having reached the Condensed Core Stage. Now, thirty years later, there are actually six hundred thousand cultivators. Although the various spiritual herbs collected over countless years and the materials from the battle with the Southern Wasteland demon beasts were provided generously to those with decent talent, the number of Condensed Core Stage cultivators has only just broken five thousand. Essentially, the strength of humanity has not improved much.

One day, among the human cultivators, Mr. Liu, one of the three top masters, after a discussion with other high-ranking humans, is now flying on a cloud toward his home, frowning with worry, no longer carefree as he once was.

There are many things troubling him, mainly two. One is the current situation of humanity; the Shura Clan could reproduce in large numbers at any time, and the Zhong family has been growing in strength very quickly. In contrast, humanity’s strength has increased very slowly and could easily become a part of the history of the Shenzhou Continent.

The second matter, as always, is because of Zhang Xusheng.

When Zhang Xusheng first arrived at "Ronghua Mountain" to discuss alliance matters with Mr. Liu and Immortal Zizhen, Immortal Zizhen suggested that to better fight against the Shura Clan and to find the whereabouts of the dark blue pearl, he wanted Zhang Xusheng to donate his "Disaster Cloud" for shared use. Zhang Xusheng surprised everyone by agreeing without even thinking about it.

However, Zhang Xusheng stated that the "Disaster Cloud" was the home for him and his followers. If both sides shared it, his followers would not have a place to settle. He hoped that Immortal Zizhen and Mr. Liu would allow his followers to temporarily stay in Yongzhou State. Immortal Zizhen and Mr. Liu thought that since Zhang Xusheng was making such a big concession, and both sides had the name of an alliance, with the number of righteous alliance cultivators far exceeding Zhang Xusheng’s followers, they agreed.

Now, both Mr. Liu and Immortal Zizhen wish they had not made such an agreement.

Living on the edge of life and death, uncertain of the next moment, this kind of pressure is not something everyone can bear. After several battles with the Shura Clan, all the cultivators longed to greatly increase their power. However, although the righteous cultivation method is profound, it is slow and steady, making it hard to meet their desires.

Who can help them quickly strengthen their abilities?

Zhang Xusheng!

Thus, when Zhang Xusheng’s followers mingled with the Righteous Alliance, they began to persuade many eager cultivators to increase their strength. To date, nearly a thousand Condensed Core Stage cultivators have secretly started practicing Zhang Xusheng’s secret techniques, unknowingly becoming his supporters, with an even larger proportion of cultivators below Condensed Core Stage.

Under Zhang Xusheng’s clever arrangements and strategies, unknowingly, over thirty years passed. Both mortals and cultivators not only accepted the ways of the dark path but many even yearned to become part of it, with Zhang Xusheng becoming their goal and source of inspiration.

By the time Immortal Zizhen and Mr. Liu realized the problems, Zhang Xusheng had already gained the power to contest for dominance over humanity. If it weren’t for the external enemies, an internal conflict would have been unavoidable. The righteous path’s long-established image and reputation were completely shattered by the special circumstances of war that Zhang Xusheng took advantage of.

"I must find a way to stop Zhang Xusheng. If this trend keeps getting stronger, before the Shura Clan destroys us, we will be destroyed by Zhang Xusheng first!"

Mr. Liu thought of Immortal Zizhen’s words, and his brow furrowed even more tightly. Essentially, he was also a dark path cultivator, free and unrestrained, but he believed that the dark path was not as suitable for leading humanity, especially since the person leading the dark path was Zhang Xusheng.

Just as Mr. Liu was lost in thought, he found himself at the entrance of his courtyard.

Although the number of cultivators had increased over the years, and the core area of Yongzhou State, "Ronghua Mountain," was becoming crowded, Mr. Liu, one of the three leading figures of humanity, still had his own secluded courtyard, with few daring to approach within a three-mile radius.

But when Mr. Liu landed in front of his courtyard and was about to push the door open, he was surprised to find a fairly powerful cultivator quietly sneaking toward his courtyard.

This person had already reached the peak of the Golden Core Stage, close to the Mahayana Stage. There were only a handful of cultivators of this strength in Yongzhou State, and Mr. Liu knew them all; however, based on this one’s aura, he had never seen them before.

Who is this person, and why do they need to sneak around to see me?

Curious, Mr. Liu stood still, hands behind his back, waiting for the person to arrive.

After a moment, a serious and resolute middle-aged cultivator approached the courtyard. When he saw Mr. Liu waiting for him, he was startled but quickly regained his composure and respectfully said, "Junior Wang Zegang, greetings to Senior Liu."