Chapter 374: Land of the Dead

Taohuayuan, a paradise beyond the world, a place of peace and happiness.

But if one looks into it closely, in a World where Heaven and Earth have already rotted and mutated, and where the rules have been twisted and subjected to Pollution, can a so-called paradise beyond the world or a place of peace and happiness truly exist?

If it does, then it can only be a place for the dead.

Originally, Li Heng did not pay much attention when he first saw that Taohuayuan, but it was not until he told the Three Sages about the existence of the three Saint Statues in Taohuayuan that the Three Sages' reaction became very strange, their expressions turning somewhat Weird.

"Exalted One, this shouldn't be. The Yi-Zi First Shelter, Taohuayuan? Didn't this shelter perish long ago?"

The elderly Saint said in surprise.

Perished? Li Heng raised his eyebrows slightly.

He cast his gaze toward that Taohuayuan once more, and after issuing a main quest to Xiao Hao through the Savior System, he began to observe carefully, wanting to see through to the truth of this Taohuayuan.

Sure enough.

Looking down from above, this Taohuayuan was wide in the front and narrow in the back, shaped like a coffin, with wisps of deathly aura faintly permeating within, though it seemed to have been hidden by some power.

Taohuayuan is a coffin, a grave mound?

"When did Taohuayuan perish?"

Li Heng said nonchalantly.

"In fact, we do not know either, but it should have perished after we lost our connection to the statues. In other words, as long as a statue loses its connection, the shelter corresponding to that statue can basically hardly escape the First Tribulation." The elderly Saint shook his head and said.

"Then how many statues do you have left now?"

"This..."

The elderly Saint hesitated for a moment, then spoke respectfully again.

"In our perception, there is not a single statue left."

"Doesn't that mean the human race has been wiped out?"

Li Heng asked in surprise.

"This is also a point of confusion for the three of us. If the human race were completely wiped out in the future, we would have dissipated long ago. But if the human race has not perished, why have our statues lost their connection?"

The elderly Saint frowned as he spoke.

Li Heng was also lost in slight contemplation.

There are many possibilities for this situation: either the three of them have faulty perception, or all humans are dead, or perhaps, the human race is gradually dying!

He leaned toward the third possibility.

Because... he cast his gaze toward Taohuayuan once again.

At this moment, Xiao Hao was circling the three Saint Statues, carefully pondering and studying them, attempting to figure out exactly what was wrong. However, before he could achieve any results, he was hauled over by Xiao Lietian, who had finished talking with the others.

"You rebellious son, stop touching and poking things. This is not our own home; we are currently living under someone else's roof." Xiao Lietian urged Xiao Hao with a helpless expression. This brat had been acting strange ever since he woke up from his coma, making him feel baffled as well.

Xiao Hao nodded blankly.

Just as he wanted to collect his thoughts and planned to settle down before continuing his research, he caught a glimpse of a small cyan spot on Xiao Lietian's arm.

"Huh, Dad, what is this?"

Xiao Hao asked, pointing at the small cyan spot in confusion.

"What?"

Xiao Lietian was somewhat baffled.

"It's this right here, the small cyan spot."

Xiao Hao's finger pointed directly at that small spot.

Xiao Lietian was even more baffled. He looked at his own arm and was speechless. "Where is there any small spot? Your father here has the cultivation of a Heavenly Human; I wouldn't have this level of mutation."

"Stop being so jumpy."

Xiao Hao was stunned upon hearing this. His father didn't see it, didn't sense it?

He suddenly remembered something and hurriedly checked himself as well.

He discovered that cyan spots had also appeared on his own arm, and the spots were already densely covering an area, even more severely than his father Xiao Lietian's situation.

This is... corpse spots!

His scalp suddenly went numb.

On Li Heng's side, he withdrew his gaze, lost in thought.

What happens when a living person enters a coffin?

First, they become a Living Dead, and then, they become a dead person.

He had just used Source Power to coat his eyes and take a look, discovering that this Taohuayuan was truly a large coffin, a series of grave mounds; it was a genuine land of the dead.

Except for Xiao Hao and the others who had just arrived at Taohuayuan.

Everyone else was already dead, turned into the dead.

Moreover, even Xiao Hao and the others who had just entered Taohuayuan had developed things that only dead people would have, such as corpse spots; if they stayed any longer, they would become dead people and be unable to leave.

This is the truth of the Pure Land of Serenity, Taohuayuan.

Li Heng recalled some recorded texts about Taohuayuan.

For example, "At first it was narrow, only allowing one person to pass."

Isn't this equivalent to the entrance of a tomb?

But why would this phenomenon appear in Taohuayuan?

Why would a shelter that had already perished turn into a land of the dead? Since Taohuayuan has also experienced this situation, are other shelters the same?

While Li Heng was deep in thought, the Three Sages looked at each other.

To tell the truth, they had not expected that a shelter which had already perished would reappear in the Present World, and according to what this Exalted One said, the humans inside the shelter were still living well.

But how could this be possible?

As the historical spirits of the human race, they could clearly perceive the current state of the human race: the number of pure humans, or rather, humans who had not completely mutated into monsters, was becoming fewer and fewer.

Even when situated within a sanctuary, there is a risk of being subjected to Pollution.

Under such circumstances, how could the human race possibly live well?

They even managed to create things like a Pure Land of Serenity or a Taohuayuan.

"Can you perceive the locations of other sanctuaries?"

Li Heng spoke up to ask the Three Sages.

The Three Sages shook their heads.

"Reporting to the Venerable One, we were indeed able to perceive them some time ago. But for a period now, the marks we left on the human race have vanished once again, and we are unable to perceive the locations of other sanctuaries."

"Moreover, these sanctuaries are each a small Cave Heaven or small World; their coordinates are not fixed and they drift about between Heaven and Earth to prevent those monsters from discovering them, so even if we knew their previous locations, it would be of little use."

Li Heng was speechless.

Is the situation of these three Spirits of History really that difficult?

No wonder they want to run away.

The Spirits of History, who should have been closely connected to the human race and able to sense every movement, large or small, occurring within the human race, have had their connection to the human race directly severed.

It seems there is an invisible giant hand manipulating all of this; this does not seem like something only the two monsters of Fear and Treachery could accomplish. As expected, there is definitely a mastermind lurking behind the scenes.

"However, since the Venerable One has found the location of that Taohuayuan sanctuary, we might be able to deduce information and locations of other sanctuaries through that Taohuayuan sanctuary."

The elderly Sage proposed.

Li Heng smiled and shook his head.

"Your horizons are ultimately still too narrow."

"To deal with this kind of situation, there is no need for any calculations or arrangements; one should jump out of the chessboard and simply flip the board over! Serious people do not play chess; playing chess is a distraction that leads to the neglect of one's goals."

With a movement of his mind.

Li Heng's true self, located outside the Desperate Future, cast down his power!