Chapter 78: The War Beyond

The sky was growing dark.

Just as Du En returned to the corpse-burying wasteland, Ren Li walked over with a grave expression.

This foreman had pondered back and forth, but in the end, he had not truly given up completely; after painful consideration and deliberation, and with his insights still yielding no results today, he was forced to make a decision.

"Du En, I think I need to start over from the beginning!"

You've really given up on yourself, haven't you.

Du En thought to himself, but aloud he asked: "So, you want me to go harvest Corpse Shade Grass again?"

"At the same time, with so many infants born with spiritual roots every year, the probability of geniuses appearing also increases. As for the others—the mediocre and the talentless—well, since they were painstakingly bred, we can't just leave them unused, right? We might as well put the waste to use, which is why it has developed step by step into what it is now?"

"Don't think that what I'm saying is ordinary; in fact, the two or three tens of thousands of deaths here at the Southern End Border City every year simply cannot compare to over there!"

"Yes! I actually only just found out myself. Three days ago, our Immortal Sect and our old rival, the Mucang Immortal Sect, broke out into fighting and slaughter once again. At first, it was just the usual daily skirmishes, but the day before yesterday, it suddenly began to escalate. Just last night, even Great Cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage joined the battle."

The series of questioning tones revealed that Ren Li didn't actually know the facts either and could only rely on guessing and speculation, analyzing it based on the logic and reasoning he already knew.

Hiss!

Now Ning Caize and the others understood, and they couldn't help but gasp in succession.

He had not yet stopped.

Hearing him say this, the other corpse-buryers were all astonished.

But right now, it was not the time to think about such things... the situation might truly be dire!

"Is it related to this abnormal weather?"

Ren Li said somewhat urgently, looking up at the sky, his eyes not only grave but also uneasy: "If the war escalates further and causes the True Men and True Lords to also enter the fray, then even here in the Southern Border, far from the front lines, we will be significantly affected!"

"Explain it carefully; I'm a bit confused."

The height of summer, June, had already arrived.

Du En did not say any words of exhortation, because Ren Li was now paranoid and delusional, and would not listen to advice at all.

"What? Is there finally news about the Corpse Shade Grass?"

Speaking in such a rush without having received any news—he was clearly not in a normal state.

Harboring such worries, Ren Li's previous troubles became very insignificant; at least for now, no one mentioned them again.

"Trapped at the bottom, one's vision is still too narrow!"

"Who knows? However, in the small skirmishes at the bottom, even if there are many people, they can still bite an elephant to death. Even if it takes hundreds or thousands to trade for one, this calculation is probably worth it, right?"

"Strictly speaking, the five great Immortal Sects are all in a state of hegemonic warfare, though the specific degree varies. There are two that have the most conflict with our sect and fight the fiercest, and one of them is Mucang."

Then, he changed the subject: "So, although your life here is bitter and tiring, it is actually quite good; you don't have to be cannon fodder."

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll explain it a bit more carefully."

"The Nascent Soul stage, the realm above the Golden Core stage, can be considered a boundary line. They are honored as Great Cultivators; their actions often signify that the Immortal Sect has begun to take things seriously."

Then he realized he seemed to have strayed from the main topic, so he hurriedly turned it back.

"Is there really any meaning to consuming human lives like this?" Du En asked at this moment.

In the time to come, he would likely exhaust all means to collect clues from all sides.

Du En asked this quite bluntly.

"As for the growth location, there is no news yet, but if we wait a little longer, there should be. I don't believe that in these vast Southern Border mountains and forests, there isn't a second place where Corpse Shade Grass grows!"

In the past, when mentioning these things that Du En and the others didn't know, Ren Li always had a sense of superiority, but now he didn't; instead, there was only a sigh.

However, Ren Li's expression looked a bit strange.

Seeing that Ren Li was quite agitated, Du En waited until he stopped before cutting in like this.

The Immortal Sects were fighting for hegemony, and the vast numbers of fast-tracked Qi Refining stage cultivators were just like dust and expendable materials, unable to influence the war situation at all. Yet, every year, so many people still had to be fed into it; it seemed to have no practical meaning at all.

Du En asked calmly.

On the contrary, the beginning of June this year was marked by overcast skies, and the temperature had even dropped a little.

Du En, who walked out the door in the morning, looked up at the leaden, stagnant sky and felt that things seemed unusual. He was just thinking that when he arrived at the wasteland later, he would have to find an opportunity to ask Ren Li if he knew anything.

And then, this wait of his lasted for a month.

Du En frowned slightly, concerned about one point: "With such a high attrition rate at the bottom, can it really be replenished?"

"There are five hegemons in the world, which are the five Immortal Sects. The Falling Feather Immortal Sect we belong to and the Mucang Immortal Sect I just mentioned are two of them."

As he spoke, he realized the situation, and his expression became extremely grave.

Whether it was Ren Li, who had quite a background, or Du En and the others, who were purely at the bottom, in the current situation, they were all just drifting duckweed, only able to hope they wouldn't be killed by the aftermath.

"Yes, there must have been some details I ignored before!"

"It doesn't look like a typhoon either..."

Perhaps only when he was completely disappointed and desperate would he be able to listen to his own words.

Then, Du En saw Ren Li shake his head.

However, the heat of the weather did not begin to climb further as it had in previous years.

Du En nodded; he would just wait.

"... What about the general location?"

"This fighting, big and small, has been going on for ten thousand years, hasn't it? Every year there is slaughter. The main battlefield for both sides is the Blood-Colored Desert on the northwest side, a peculiar desert space that was dyed red by the blood of cultivators, which is why it has such a name."

"The two Immortal Sects are fighting fiercely over there. Just looking at the Qi Refining stage, both sides maintain a constant number of two or three million. Basically, before a year has passed, the people have already died a round and a half; they are proper cannon fodder and dust!"

"There is still no news about the Corpse Shade Grass... No, now is not the time to think about such things; the current situation is a bit dire!"

Just as he was thinking this, he saw the information channel he had been thinking about running over in a hurry.

"In short, the basic situation is like this. This time it is not just the usual daily skirmishes; the Great Cultivators have already entered the fray. One can only hope it doesn't escalate further; otherwise, the aftermath of the war might be shifted over here to share the pressure of the front-line battlefield. When that happens, we'll be in trouble!"

Ren Li explained concisely: "Look at the total number. Like us, there are nearly ten billion people among the mortals. After ten thousand years of selection, material security, and climate adjustment, nearly ten million infants with spiritual roots can be born every year now. Although most of them are of low grade, they are barely enough to fill the losses of the war situation."

One must know that after Ren Li decided to start over, he had spent this whole month pacing anxiously, wondering why there was still no news, frequently traveling between the city and the outside, and no longer lavishly scattering food ingredients; he was visibly becoming increasingly impatient and irritable.

Ren Li felt somewhat helpless, looking at Du En and the others at this moment, feeling quite like the ignorant are the carefree.

Ren Li was clearly still emotionally unstable, speaking quickly, with all sorts of words and matters popping out forcefully; Du En could still follow along, but the others were left feeling confused and lost.

The group fell silent and set off together, heading toward the Corpse-Burial Wasteland.

Regardless of how things develop from here, in any case, everyone still had to go to work as usual today.

(End of this chapter)