Chapter 493: Annihilation of Immortals

Gu Yuan did not conceal his aura.

His terrifying aura, belonging to a formal Apostle of Zang Tian Ge and mingling true‑immortal‑level pressure with pure annihilation‑source power, instantly raised a towering wave in this silent world.

Almost at the same moment as his arrival.

At the very center of the Yuan Realm continent, within an ancient temple built entirely of black monoliths, a divine thought also radiating annihilation‑source power surged skyward, confronting Gu Yuan from afar.

That divine thought carried a hint of vigilance, a hint of doubt, and a hint of numbness worn smooth by long residence in one place.

"Who comes?"

"Zang Tian Ge, 49th Apostle, Gu Yuan." Gu Yuan's voice was icy, devoid of any feeling.

Upon hearing the code "49", that divine thought visibly trembled; the numbness and vigilance were instantly replaced by a subordinate's awe toward a superior.

"So the 49th Great Person appears in person. I am 73, and have been waiting here for a long time."

The divine thought quickly contracted, and the black temple's doors slowly opened. A figure clad in the same style of black robe, though his aura far less solid than Gu Yuan's, stepped out, bowed deeply toward Gu Yuan's direction from a distance.

Gu Yuan's form flickered, ignoring spatial distance, and in the next instant appeared before the temple.

The Apostle codenamed 73 lifted his head, revealing a withered, desiccated face beneath his hood; his eyes were clouded as if bearing the dust of ages.

"49th Great Person, you... arrived earlier than the reports indicated."

Seventy‑three's voice was hoarse; he looked at Gu Yuan, a barely perceptible flash of startled doubt crossing his eyes.

The intelligence he had received stated that the newly appointed 49th Apostle was a reserve from the lower realm, promoted exceptionally due to his reckless conduct and extraordinary talent.

At first, he felt some resentment toward the newcomer.

After all, a newcomer just arrived, ranking right at his own intellect.

Yet after sensing the opponent's overwhelming pressure and the pure annihilation‑source power, even he, an old‑veteran Apostle who had guarded this place for over a hundred thousand years, felt a series of palpitations.

He instantly thought it wiser not to act rashly before the other.

Perhaps... it truly could be fatal!

"The senior of the Great Hall sent me to inspect the seeds and, incidentally... clear this wasteland," Gu Yuan said succinctly, stating his purpose outright.

"Yes, yes."

Seventy‑three hurriedly nodded and bowed, stepping aside to make a path, "Please, sir, all seeds have been accounted for and sealed within the underground palace, awaiting your arrival to commence the final harvest ceremony."

Gu Yuan strode into the temple.

Inside, the temple was spacious and gloomy, its walls adorned with massive reliefs.

These reliefs, in a chronicle style, recorded how this world gradually fell from a flourishing Immortal Dao civilization to the present wasteland.

Seventy‑three followed behind Gu Yuan, like a diligent guide, and with his unflinching voice began to brief his newly arrived superior.

"The Yuan Realm, eight hundred thousand years ago, was a relatively prosperous mid‑thousand world on the periphery of the Great Wilderness Immortal Domain, called Qinghua Realm."

Seventy‑three pointed to the first relief.

It depicted towering immortal mountains, spirit energy turning into rain, countless cultivators soaring on swords, flourishing sects—a scene of immortal grandeur.

"At that time, Qinghua Realm's strongest had reached the true‑immortal pinnacle, just a step away from becoming an Immortal King; according to the master's assessment, it was an exceptionally promising seedbed."

"Thus, the first phase of the sowing plan commenced."

Seventy‑three pointed to the second relief.

In the scene, a meteor radiating multicolored afterglow sliced the sky and fell into Qinghua Realm's largest ancestral vein—the Qinghua Immortal Vein.

"We publicly claimed it was a divine relic from heaven, an ultimate immortal affinity that could help one break the Immortal King's shackles; all sects in Qinghua Realm went mad for it, sparing no sectal foundation to erect an unprecedented super spirit array atop that vein, aiming to refine the divine stone."

A cruel smile curled at Seventy‑three's mouth.

"What they didn't know is that the so‑called divine stone was the Source of Corrupt Immortals, forged by the senior of the Great Hall himself; it indeed can aid a breakthrough, but after breaking through one must rely on the blood of fellow immortals to suppress it, otherwise the contamination will backfire completely, turning the user into a monster that only kills."

Gu Yuan looked at the third relief.

In the image, an elder clad in a cyan Dao robe bathed in multicolored afterglow, his aura breaking true‑immortal shackles, with an Immortal King Dao Fruit formed atop his head.

"The first to breakthrough was then Qinghua Realm's top cultivator, the Qinghua Ancestor," Seventy‑three said with a hint of mockery. "He proclaimed himself 'Qinghua Immortal King,' believing he had received heavenly favor, claiming to be this realm's first Immortal King in all ages."

"But he soon realized something was amiss; the power from the Source of Corrupt Immortals constantly eroded his Dao Fruit and divine soul, and only by devouring the essence blood of fellow immortals could he barely suppress the raging contamination."

"At first, he merely hunted some rival sects' true immortals in secret, but as his power grew and the contamination deepened, his appetite expanded; eventually he shed his disguise, demanding that all sects in Qinghua Realm regularly offer living immortals as blood food to him."

"After devouring the essence of over a hundred true immortals, his strength surged within a brief span, soaring from a nascent Immortal King to the level of Jue Dian Immortal King, becoming this realm's sole and final king."

Seventy‑three pointed to the fourth relief, its scene shrouded in gray gloom.

"And he, along with his polluted subordinates, endless extraction and slaughter, wholly accelerated the Source of Corrupt Immortals' erosion of the entire world."

"Spirit energy was cut off, laws collapsed, the Immortal Dao lineage was severed, and future beings would call that era the End Times."

With the onset of the End Times,

Qinghua Realm's spirit energy grew murky, flora withered, and spirit veins broke.

Countless cultivators went mad during practice, their bodies exploding and perishing.

Those once lofty true immortals and heavenly emperors saw their immortal bodies decay, black spots appearing on their Dao Fruits, and ultimately, in resentment and despair, turned into skeletal remains.

The entire Qinghua Realm fell into apocalyptic panic and chaos.

"When they finally realized the spirit energy was flawed, it was already too late."

A hint of satisfaction tinged Seventy‑three's voice,

"The Immortal Dao severed, the lineage collapsed; a glorious cultivation civilization, within merely three thousand years, completely collapsed, regressing to a barbaric age of flesh‑eating."

"And that Immortal King, after losing his blood food, became the final monster, sealed by us at the bottom of the world."

"This is the annihilation of immortals."