Chapter 245: The Impact Approaches, the Secret of the Catastrophe

Just as Chen Zhantang and the other disciples were obtaining their identities and thirstily learning the basic common knowledge of the Yuanling Heaven cultivation world.

Only a few months later, a shocking piece of news reached Longshan Immortal City.

Upon learning the news, Lu Yuan fiddled with the Communication Talisman in his hand, his gaze narrowing slightly:

"The Century Impact has arrived after all."

As his voice drifted, he mounted a light breeze and flew out of Zizhu Peak, heading toward the Immortal City's core administrative office, Yixian Hall.

Arriving inside the great hall, he saw that over a dozen Golden Core cultivators were already waiting solemnly; these cultivators were male and female, some with the bearing of immortals, others graceful and charming, and the vast majority bowed in greeting when they saw Lu Yuan.

After all, in Longshan Immortal City, there were only three or five cultivators at the Jiedan Late Stage, and Lu Yuan was not only at the Jiedan Late Stage, but after joining the Immortal City, he was also highly trusted by True Monarch Huanglong and had risen rapidly; anyone would give him some face.

This included True Monarch Huanglong's other two disciples, Xiao Ruxue and He Zhenyue, who also greeted him very politely.

After Lu Yuan returned to the Immortal City, although these two had not been refined into clones, they had long since been brainwashed again at every opportunity using the Nightmare Prayer Divine Ability, and there were no longer any suspicions regarding the identity of the Liuyun clone.

At this moment in the hall, Qin Ruoning and Su Lingyue were also present, though the two did not step forward to avoid suspicion; however, beside Su Lingyue, an old woman leaning on a dragon-headed wooden staff with snow-white hair and a frail, aged appearance brought Su Lingyue to greet him:

"Fellow Daoist Lu, you have come as well."

"Old Matriarch Su."

The person who had come was none other than Su Lingyue's great-grandmother, the Array Dao Grandmaster of the Su Family, Old Matriarch Su. Because of Su Lingyue, Lu Yuan had once visited the Su Family as a guest, so he nodded in return:

"Resisting the Century Impact is a duty for every one of us cultivators. Since the Immortal City has issued a summons, I naturally had to come. However, Old Matriarch, you are advanced in years; logically speaking, you should be holding down the rear, so why?"

Old Matriarch Su shook her head:

"I naturally cannot leave because I must hold down the Immortal City, but this girl of my family will likely be unable to avoid heading to the dangerous front. I have already heard that this outbreak of the Century Impact at Longyuan is heading toward Beiling Immortal City. The Corpse Demon tide is vast and mighty, likely numbering in the tens of millions. This city is only seven or eight thousand li from Longshan Immortal City; if one is not careful, it could potentially spread to Longshan Immortal City.

And in order to resist the impact, it is inevitable that Array Dao Grandmasters from various cities must be mobilized to provide support, so I would like to trouble Fellow Daoist Lu to look after my granddaughter a little. If she encounters any danger, please lend a hand to save her life. I, and indeed the entire Su Family, would be eternally grateful."

As she spoke, she bowed deeply, but Lu Yuan raised a hand to stop her and smiled:

"This is a small matter. Old Matriarch Su, there is no need for such formalities; I, Lu, will agree to it."

He knew why the other party was asking him: on one hand, he was ostensibly at the Jiedan Late Stage and was currently quite prominent in Longshan Immortal City; on the other hand, it was because of the lower realm and asking for advice on the Dao of arrays—some time ago, Su Lingyue would come to find him from time to time, and this back-and-forth might have reached the ears of Old Matriarch Su, who mistakenly thought there was some unusual relationship between the two.

However, Lu Yuan could not be bothered to explain this.

Seeing that he had agreed without any hesitation, a smile appeared on Old Matriarch Su's aged face:

"That is wonderful. With the help of Fellow Daoist Lu, this trip will surely—"

Before the words could finish, a powerful aura surged in, and two figures were seen stepping into the hall one after another, causing the many Golden Core cultivators waiting in the hall to bow in succession:

"Greetings, Lord Huanglong."

"Greetings, True Monarch Wei."

The arrivals were none other than Lu Yuan's Huanglong clone and Wei Bufan, a Guest Monarch of the Immortal Alliance who had yet to discover any clues.

Arriving at the hall, the two True Monarchs took their seats at the head, and the Huanglong clone waved his long sleeves, getting straight to the point:

"I will skip the pleasantries. The reason I have summoned you all here is that the Century Impact has already begun, and it has been launched from Longyuan, heading straight for Beiling Immortal City.

The number of Corpse Demons in this impact is in the tens of millions; the strength of a single Immortal City is almost unable to withstand it, so the Immortal Alliance has ordered the five surrounding Immortal Cities to pool their strength and mobilize cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level and above to provide support.

Our Longshan Immortal City has received the order to dispatch thirty Foundation Establishment masters, ten Golden Core Real Persons, and one Nascent Soul True Monarch to provide support. Because I must hold down the Immortal City, this time True Monarch Wei will lead ten of you, along with other standby Foundation Establishment cultivators, to go. Are there any questions?"

As his voice fell, the well-prepared group of Golden Core cultivators, regardless of their inner thoughts, responded one after another:

"We obey the City Lord's arrangements."

But the most senior, Old Matriarch Su, said:

"May I ask, Lord City Lord, I have heard that in this Century Impact occurring at Longyuan, it is certain that there are existences at the Heavenly Corpse King level, and perhaps more than one?"

As her voice fell, all the Golden Core cultivators' expressions tightened.

A Four-Tier Heavenly Corpse corresponds to a Nascent Soul, and a Fifth-Rank Heavenly Corpse King is equivalent to a Transformation Spirit Giant; they can no longer be viewed as muddled demonic creatures, but as supreme evil demons capable of plunging the world into misery. Such an existence is itself the source of the most terrifying corpse energy and death energy; even if it just stood there doing nothing, the surging corpse energy and death energy it emitted could potentially contaminate living beings within tens of li into Corpse Demons.

And if such an existence were hidden within the Century Impact, then this support mission would be a narrow escape from death for any cultivator.

However, the Huanglong clone responded with a calm expression:

"You need not worry. To guard against the Century Impact, the Immortal Alliance has long since invited Zhuhuo Tianjun Gu Taicang and Lingjian Tianjun Yu Jianping to support the border in this area. These Tianjuns have already gone to contain the Heavenly Corpse Kings within the Corpse Tide; Beiling Immortal City only has to face a few Heavenly Corpses and a large number of Corpse Kings and the Corpse Tide."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and set their hearts at ease.

Compared to a Fifth-Rank Heavenly Corpse King, the gap between lower-level Corpse Demons is as vast as the gap between a Transformation Spirit Tianjun and lower-level cultivators. If such an existence truly existed, they would never dare to gamble with their own lives.

But now that a Transformation Spirit Giant of the Immortal Alliance was bearing the greatest risk and pressure, they had nothing to fear.

Seeing the reactions of the Golden Core cultivators, Lu Yuan asked at the appropriate time:

"Lord City Lord, may I ask who the specific personnel for this support mission are, and when will we depart?" The Huanglong clone said indifferently:

"The Century Impact is already heading toward Beiling Immortal City, and a great battle may break out in two or three days. Naturally, the sooner the better; you will follow and depart today. As for the list, it will be my disciples Xiao Ruxue, He Zhenyue, Elder Lu Yuan, and..."

Clearly, the candidates had already been decided before he arrived. He listed ten names in a row; most of the Golden Core cultivators present who were named twitched their faces slightly, but they had to voice their compliance.

After all, the few Golden Core Real Persons who were not named were basically those with deep seniority like Old Matriarch Su, who also possessed exquisite skills in alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, and arrays, and could supply the front lines—cultivators who could play a greater role than in direct combat.

As for Lu Yuan—

The reason he was named by the clone was naturally because he wanted to witness the Century Impact, as well as the existences at the Fifth-Rank Heavenly Corpse King and Transformation Spirit Giant levels.

At the same time, it was also to take advantage of this rare opportunity to harvest a good amount of Heavenly Dao Merit.

Just like that, after the roll call, Wei Bufan, who had been sitting to the side and had not spoken until now, slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone from a high position:

"Since the personnel are decided, please gather your troops and depart with me."

Although Wei Bufan was only stationed in Longshan Immortal City and was not responsible for specific affairs, his status was basically on par with True Monarch Huanglong. The cultivators immediately complied and then left the hall to assemble the thirty Foundation Establishment masters waiting outside.

After the personnel were gathered, Wei Bufan raised his hand and released a jade-like Flying Boat, which grew in the wind, transforming into a giant boat over ten zhang long, and then carried Lu Yuan and the others through the air, rushing toward Beiling Immortal City.

This Flying Boat of Wei Bufan's was clearly a Dharma Artifact approaching a Fourth-Rank Spirit Treasure; the space inside the boat was vast and its speed was extremely fast. In just two or three hours, they had rushed across thousands of li of mountains and land, and from high above, they could already faintly see a magnificent, imposing city in the distance.

Brilliant spiritual light flickered around this city; it was clear that the city-protecting array had already been activated. When they flew over the city, Lu Yuan scanned it and discovered that the scale of Beiling Immortal City was only larger, not smaller, than Longshan Immortal City; the core area alone was over a hundred li in size.

At this time, several large Flying Boats were already hovering above the Immortal City, and on the boats were also various cultivators with murderous expressions, clearly cultivators about to be sent to the front lines to fight. After Wei Bufan piloted the Immortal Boat to arrive, it was not long before several figures flew out from the other party's fleet of boats to welcome them:

"I am Yang Xianlin, City Lord of Beiling Immortal City. Is the visitor the Guest Monarch of Longshan Immortal City, Fellow Daoist Wei Bufan?"

Wei Bufan flew out from the Immortal Boat and cupped his hands in greeting:

"Formally, by the order of the Immortal Alliance, I, Wei, have specifically led the cultivators of Longshan Immortal City to provide support and join the fellow Daoists of Beiling Immortal City in resisting the evil demons together. I wonder if the fellow Daoists from the other four Immortal Cities have arrived?"

The Immortal City Lord of Beiling City, Yang Xianlin, was a middle-aged man whose appearance exuded an air of immortality mixed with a touch of elegance. Upon hearing this, he said:

"The fellow Daoists from the other four Immortal Cities are still on their way. I presume they will all arrive within the day. Currently, a Guest Monarch of the Immortal Alliance is already at the front line surveying the movements of the Corpse Tide. I intend to wait until all fellow Daoists have gathered before we proceed together to split the Corpse Tide and prevent them from merging. For now, I must trouble you all to rest for a moment within the Immortal City."

Wei Bufan naturally had no objections. He immediately retracted the Flying Boat, then led Lu Yuan and the other Longshan Immortal City cultivators to fly into the Immortal City, following Yang Xianlin and his group, and landed on a plaza to wait.

Another two or three hours passed.

Then, one could see grand rays of immortal light continuously streaking across the horizon at high speed. Afterward, under the guidance of the Beiling Immortal City cultivators, they hovered above the plaza; it was indeed the supporting cultivators from the other Immortal Cities arriving one after another.

The composition of these supporting cultivators was exactly the same as that of Lu Yuan and his group: led by Nascent Soul True Monarchs, followed by dozens of Golden Core Real Persons and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After the support from the other four Immortal Cities arrived, Wei Bufan and the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs were all invited into a grand hall to discuss something unknown. Su Lingyue, meanwhile, scanned the vast number of Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators present, her expression becoming exceptionally grave:

"Five Immortal Cities, over fifty Golden Core Real Persons, and over a hundred Foundation Establishment masters. With such a massive formation, it seems this Century Impact is much harder to deal with than the last one."

"I wonder how many people will be able to return safely this time, and how many will fall here."

Her voice carried a heavy weight. Lu Yuan did not feel arrogant or dismissive of the Century Impact because of his own cultivation and Supernatural Power; he simply sighed:

"Fortunately, you are a formation-path cultivator, so you don't need to charge at the front line. If we see that the situation is bad, we can retreat. It is just those low-level cultivators who will likely be consumed like cannon fodder, not to mention the hundreds of millions of mortals who might suffer if the defensive line is breached."

Su Lingyue could only heave a long sigh: "Ever since I can remember, the world has been like this. What can be done? I don't know if I will live to see the hope of ending this catastrophe."

Lu Yuan's gaze flickered, but he did not speak.

According to all the information, the root cause or source of the Corpse Demon Catastrophe in this world lay in the Dongxuan Continent, at that Primordial Cave Heaven Secret Realm explored by the Yuhua Sect.

It was precisely because they discovered and excavated this Primordial Secret Realm that it ultimately led to the Return to Void Great Abilities and even the high-level members of the Yuhua Sect turning into Corpse Demons, destroying their sect, sweeping across the entire continent, and eventually forming this terrifying catastrophe that ravaged the entire cultivation world.

In fact, the high-level cultivators of the three major continents—Central, West, and South—had already realized this problem and had attempted to explore the source to resolve the catastrophe at its root, but they had never succeeded.

The main reason was that before the Dongxuan Continent had fully fallen, Return to Void Great Abilities from other continents had gone to search and explore it, even intending to find ways to completely seal and destroy that strange Primordial Cave Heaven Secret Realm.

However, that Yuhua Sect Return to Void Great Ability, who had already turned into a supreme Corpse Demon, possessed monstrous ferocity and blocked them, causing this goal to remain unachieved.

Later, the Corpse Demon Catastrophe rolled across the cultivation world like a snowball. The entire Dongxuan Continent became a ghost realm, with countless Corpse Demons and Corpse Monsters running rampant. Aside from the Heavenly Corpse Emperor at the Return to Void level, many powerful Heavenly Corpse Kings were born, making it difficult even for Return to Void Great Abilities to fight deep behind enemy lines alone, leading to the current festering situation.

In Lu Yuan's view, relying on the mass production of nuclear weapons from lower-realm civilizations could only curb the catastrophe; it could not solve the problem at its root.

To completely cleanse the world and restore the clear skies of the entire Yuanling Heaven, the most important thing was to figure out what exactly existed within that Primordial Cave Heaven ruin and how it caused even Return to Void Great Abilities to turn into Corpse Demons. Only by solving this would it be possible to completely end the catastrophe.

However, even a vast cultivation world like Yuanling Heaven had its limits. A Return to Void Great Ability was already the supreme existence of the cultivation world. Throughout countless eras, the Return to Void realm had been the pinnacle of cultivation, with nowhere further to advance.

Yet, the Great Abilities of the Return to Void realm were not enough to uncover the secrets within the Primordial Cave Heaven ruin, causing the situation in the cultivation world to fall into a vicious cycle.

Unless one day, an existence surpassing the Return to Void realm appears among the cultivators of the world, it will be impossible to use supreme means to penetrate deep into the Dongxuan Continent, exterminate the Heavenly Corpse Emperor, and uncover the secrets of the catastrophe.