Chapter 1376: Torsha Ancient Emperor's Reputation Shattered

But Lin Feng, seeing the crowd's puzzled expressions, was not surprised at all.

Because in the original work, these people's level of understanding of the primordial emperor Qi.

That is, they only knew that this thing could help a Dou Saint peak cultivator break through to Dou Emperor.

Then Lin Feng stood with his hands behind his back and explained to the crowd: "Source Qi, also called primordial emperor Qi, was not initially visible to people. Or rather, people back then simply did not know that such a thing existed."

After all, back then source Qi was abundant to the point of excess, leading people to think that this substance was merely a part of Heaven‑and‑Earth energy. Hence, that is why the ancient strongmen, after becoming emperors, desperately gathered source for their families or factions—because such behavior, if placed in today's world, would be like frantically collecting Heaven‑and‑Earth energy for one's own descendants, essentially a pointless indulgence.

As for when source Qi gradually ran out, I think it was around the time my father‑in‑law was born.

While speaking, Lin Feng instantly glanced at Zhu Kun, whose face had just turned black.

The latter was probably regretting that he was born a little later.

"I see."

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately showed looks of sudden realization.

Then the demon‑eyed one frowned and said: "I'm wondering why the ancestors of the great Dou Emperor families, or our own long‑heritage clans, have no source Qi reserves, nor many records about this thing. In ancient times, this stuff was everywhere!"

At this point, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads and smile wryly, thinking that they were not born in a good era.

But they could also recall that tens of thousands of years ago it was just an ordinary kind of energy.

Today, tens of thousands of years later, it drives the continent's strongest to fight tooth‑and‑nail just to obtain a share of that source Qi.

"Hey, how is that source Qi generated, and what are its exact birth and death details?"

Not long after, the frustrated Zhu Kun immediately followed up with an irritated question.

Just thinking that if he had been born a few years earlier, he could have seized that source Qi and advanced to Dou Emperor, made him fume to death.

Consequently, his tone was naturally not very pleasant.

But Lin Feng was not at all bothered by this.

After all, he knew that if the roles were reversed, he would be equally infuriated.

After all, if he had been born a little earlier, the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Clan wouldn't have had to suffer such severe losses, and Zhu Kun likewise wouldn't have been forced to be separated from his own relatives, trapped in Gu Di Dong Fu, waiting bitterly for thousands of years.

Then Lin Feng continued: "Source Qi only came onto the historical stage at the end of the Dou Emperor era, when ancient strongmen began calling it 'the Source.' The Source is a strange energy born of Heaven and Earth; only a Dou Saint peak‑level cultivator who has absorbed the Source can smoothly break through the barrier and step into the highest cultivation realm on the Dou Qi Continent—the Dou Emperor!"

"However, the Dou Qi Continent is not the center of all humanity. In this universe, besides the Dou Qi Continent, there are many other continents. For example, the members of the Tong Ling Sect—its ancestors followed an ancient Dou Emperor ancestor from another continent to the Dou Qi Continent, intending to seize this land and later treat it as a back garden."

"What?!"

Upon first hearing this shocking news, everyone present, except for a few women who already knew, was instantly horrified and then looked at the speaker with disbelief on their faces.

After all, this information was indeed hard for them to accept.

For years they had believed that the Dou Qi Continent was the universe's one‑and‑only place with humanity.

At the same time, all things in the universe revolved around the Dou Qi Continent.

Its very purpose of birth was also to serve the Dou Qi Continent!

Now Lin Feng tells them that the world they inhabit is not the universe's unique existence.

Moreover, this universe contains a great many other worlds.

How could such a statement be accepted by them?

Even Zhu Kun, at this moment, wore a similar expression to the others—unable to accept this news that overturns the common knowledge of his past ten thousand years.

After all, from childhood to now, they have been taught that

the entire universe, their Dou Qi Continent, is a unique, living world.

At the same time, everything in this universe—sun, moon, countless stars—circulates around their unique world.

Yet at this moment, Lin Feng tells them that all of that is false.

In the universe, such worlds are countless and essentially worthless.

For them, this feeling is like having lived with their parents for years and suddenly being told

that they actually picked you up, never valued you at home, and left you to fend for yourself outside.

How many people could instantly accept such a feeling!

Seeing the crowd's gaping expressions, Lin Feng immediately raised a finger and smiled mysteriously: "You must have heard that in ancient times, all Dou Emperor strongmen vanished collectively in a single night, right?"

"Of course."

Hearing that, the crowd instinctively nodded.

But soon, Zhu Kun recovered, his eyes widening, and exclaimed: "Kid, you mean that those Dou Emperor strongmen who suddenly vanished across the whole continent overnight actually went to other worlds?"

At the same moment the former spoke, the others also snapped awake, all casting shocked and doubtful gazes toward Lin Feng.

"Exactly, those Dou Emperors collectively left the Dou Qi Continent back then and went to other worlds."

At this point Lin Feng paused briefly, then continued: "However, as far as I know, normally a Dou Emperor strongman, after successfully advancing, could stay on the Dou Qi Continent for a full sixty years and then ascend to other worlds via the various Ascension Platforms scattered across the continent. Yet at that time, the Upper Realm of our Dou Qi Continent apparently underwent a massive upheaval, so all the Dou Emperors were summoned up early to assist."

"At the same time, the original Ascension Passage was destroyed then—presumably because something extremely dangerous appeared in the Upper Realm. So those Dou Emperors, for safety, simply sealed off the entire Dou Qi Continent."

"What, so this actually happened?"

With those words, everyone present instantly expressed astonishment.

Who would have thought that such an event ever occurred on their Dou Qi Continent in ancient times!

However, after a moment of contemplation, Huang Tian seemed to recall something and quickly asked: "Lin Feng, according to your explanation, could the disappearance of source Qi on our Dou Qi Continent be related to the Dou Emperor strongmen collectively heading to the Upper Realm?"

Hearing that, Lin Feng nodded slightly and said: "Exactly. From what I know, above our Dou Qi Continent lies a super‑world called Da Qian Shijie, which contains countless lower‑plane worlds. Our Dou Qi Continent is one of them, and these lower planes, at their birth, generate source Qi or similar substances, allowing them to produce strongmen capable of ascending to Da Qian Shijie."

"However, source Qi extremely drains a world's fundamental essence, and because lower planes are comparatively weaker than Da Qian Shijie, they cannot continuously produce it. In other words, for a world like our Dou Qi Continent, each time it consumes a portion of source Qi or similar material, a corresponding amount vanishes from Heaven and Earth."

"And Dou Emperor strongmen, though no one has seen them, are described in ancient books; on our Dou Qi Continent they stand above all living beings. Precisely because a Dou Emperor is so overwhelmingly powerful, each time one is born it consumes a substantial amount of the continent's source Qi reserves."

"Previously, because the Dou Qi Continent was linked to the Upper Realm of Da Qian Shijie, we received its assistance and could maintain this supply‑demand balance. Tens of thousands of years ago, Da Qian Shijie underwent a calamity, the inter‑realm passage closed, and the source Qi balance was shattered. Yet our continent is filled with peak cultivators; who would willingly stay stuck in place? Thus the continent's consumption of source Qi naturally could not cease."

"Under such unsustainable consumption, the day when source Qi is exhausted inevitably arrives, which is why our present Dou Qi Continent experiences a situation where, no matter how hard you train or how high your talent, you cannot become a new Dou Emperor and are stuck at the Dou Saint peak. Because now the Dou Qi Continent no longer has any source Qi replenishment."

When Lin Feng finished speaking, the surrounding crowd could only smile wryly repeatedly.

Then Zhu Kun, who had been stuck in place for thousands of years, bitterly retorted: "This truly is the ancestors enjoying blessings while we later generations suffer; those strongmen before us drained the source Qi completely, causing such a huge trouble that we juniors have to pay for it. And if you run away, at least tell us before you go!"

Upon hearing that, the people around also nodded in agreement with the former.

After all, those Dou Emperors ahead were truly detestable; letting each of them slip away was one thing.

You damn it, tell us the facts first before running!

And to those whose anger could not be contained, Lin Feng helplessly spread his hands and said, "Actually we can't blame those Dou Emperors ahead, because after they left, the Dou Qi Continent didn't take long before the problem of source Qi was discovered. It just so happened that at that time, the Tong Ling Sect traversed interstellar space and came a great distance to invade our Dou Qi Continent, and then the strong cultivators on the continent came to this Gu Nanfang Dalu to resist the enemy."

"In the end, who could have imagined that the Tong Ling Sect was so powerful that the top strongmen on the continent at the time were almost all wiped out here, essentially meeting their end together with the Tong Ling Sect. Since then, this news became unknown across the continent."

At this point, Lin Feng sighed and continued, "Originally, with the Ancient Emperor Tuo She, there was a chance to let everyone know again, and once someone on the Dou Qi Continent ascended to Dou Emperor, if they could cultivate for a while longer, there would be a chance to forcibly break open the old channel, draw in new source Qi from the upper realm into the Dou Qi Continent for future generations to use."

"But who could have known that the Ancient Emperor Tuo She was a rogue fire, having no kin or cause, and he didn't care at all about the life and death of the Dou Qi Continent's beings. Thus, he not only failed to attempt drawing new source Qi into the lower realm, but instead gathered the last remaining source Qi of the Dou Qi Continent and hoarded it all in the Gu Di Dong Fu. Consequently, after him, the Dou Qi Continent could not produce any new Dou Emperor."

When those words fell, the people around almost choked up a mouthful of old blood from anger.

At this moment, they wished they could immediately run to the Ancient Emperor Tuo She and unleash a tirade of curses.

As for Zhu Kun, who suffered the most, he was so angry that his vision went black, he almost couldn't catch a breath and died on the spot.

"Ancient Emperor Tuo She, you *&; amp; amp; %￥#@, you specifically set a trap for me!"

While speaking, Zhu Kun's sandbag‑sized fists clenched tightly, then he shouted profanely toward the direction of the Ancient Emperor Tuo She's statue, "Damn you *@# Ancient Emperor Tuo She, you son of a— you didn't draw source Qi into the lower realm, I don't blame you. You gathered the last bit of source Qi on the Dou Qi Continent and hid it in your own Gu Di Dong Fu, and I still don't blame you."

"But you idiot, you actually came with two of you, I damn *￥ you fatherless bastard, are you afraid that we might live well!"

Thinking of the torment he had endured for so many years, Zhu Kun's hatred boiled inside him.

It can be said that now he harbors resentment toward the Ancient Emperor Tuo She.

Even a hundred heads of the Heavenly Phoenix Clan might not compare.

After all, the source of all these sins is damn the Ancient Emperor Tuo She!

And the others, hearing that, felt ten thousand‑fold agreement with Zhu Kun's words.

This Ancient Emperor Tuo She, you call yourself a fatherless brat; it's one thing to be indifferent to the lives of the Dou Qi Continent's beings.

Not drawing source Qi, we don't blame you.

But you, on the contrary, on top of not drawing source Qi, also hoarded the last remaining source Qi stock of the Dou Qi Continent.

Regardless of any single matter, they could forgive.

But when the two matters are combined, you damn say you're not deliberately making things difficult for them, that you don't want the Dou Qi Continent to produce a new Dou Emperor, and even if we beat you to death you still won't believe it!

"Uh, such a strong lingering resentment!"

Seeing this, Lin Feng beside them suddenly stepped back uncontrollably a good distance, then exclaimed in shock.

However, thinking of the various ancient races, almost all had been indirectly trapped by the Ancient Emperor Tuo She.

He also thought this scene was normal.

After all, if it weren't for the deeds of the Ancient Emperor Tuo She, the three major beast races could almost all produce new Dou Emperors.

And thus, it wouldn't have fallen into its current wretched state.

Because whether it's the former Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun of the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Clan, or the contemporary clan head of the Heavenly Phoenix Clan, or the Yellow Springs Demon Saint who has countless ties with the Nine Nether Dark Python Clan, all are qualified as unparalleled strongmen capable of attempting to break through to Dou Emperor.

Hmm, to put it bluntly, the three mentioned earlier only need to obtain enough source Qi.

Ascending to Dou Emperor is not too difficult for them.

However, due to the Ancient Emperor Tuo She's cold indifference and the hiding of the Dou Qi Continent's last trace of source Qi.

It thus led the three mentioned earlier to be terribly screwed. (End of chapter)