Chapter 197: They actually all know!

Guangfei, you've flown for several thousand years?

Seeing the description of Xue Xiaohei and the other's movements, Zhao Siro fell into thought:

"This game generally wouldn't describe useless things; since it deliberately highlights how long Xue Xiaohei has flown, it must contain relevant information..."

The longer a person's journey time, the more it indicates two basic problems:

One is slow speed, the other is great distance.

There's not much to say about Xue Xiaohei's speed; the flight speed of modern Xuan immortals is not noticeably different from that of ancient Heavenly Court Xuan immortal troops.

But he flew at full speed for several thousand years before entering Zhongzhou from Xihuang...

When Jin Bing fought in the past, hundreds of thousands of Xuan immortal troops could sweep across the Honghuang, and there was no hearing of his tactical mistakes being due to overly long marches.

"So, all things considered, this seems to be indicating something to me..."

"Honghuang... has grown larger?"

This answer doesn't require much thought to reach, but faced with this obvious answer, Zhao Si found it difficult:

How could Honghuang grow larger? Or rather, what does Honghuang growing larger actually mean?

And what necessary connection does this have with the collective disappearance of the sages?

"If this problem can be solved, then clearing the game shouldn't be far off."

Now it's up to Xue Xiaohei, whose protagonist halo is maxed out, to see whether he can obtain the relevant information from this journey to the immortal realm...

【After several thousand years, you have finally flown to the destination of this journey: Zhongzhou!】

【Gazing upon that heaven-toppling, earth-standing ancient divine mountain, your long-numbed feelings during the prolonged flight suddenly surge with excitement: At last, we've arrived!】

【Frankly, you don't fear death, since you can restart; even being killed by a high-ranking immortal of the immortal realm with a single Great Wasteland Prison Heaven finger is preferable to this endless tedious trek; compared to death, you fear boredom more.】

【Fortunately, all efforts are rewarded; now that you've reached Zhongzhou, you only need to go to the foot of Mount Buzhou to personally see that legendary immortal realm and see whether it is truly an apocalyptic immortal paradise or a dark realm that devours people without spitting out bones...】

【Upon arriving in Zhongzhou, you quickly noticed the obvious differences between this place and Xihuang.】

【Xihuang is currently in a typical dark age; not only do cultivators of the orthodox and deviant paths practice twisted methods of eating people to cultivate immortality, but the court is filled with corrupt officials and decadent rulers, natural disasters recur year after year, misfortunes occur frequently; along the way, every ordinary person you've seen in Xihuang struggles in dire straits!】

【It is precisely in this boundless despair that people like your parents cling to hope for an illusory paradise, wishing to escape the sea of worldly suffering and enter the 'Western Pure Land,' only to ultimately perish at the hands of cultivators...】

【From what you've seen and heard, Xihuang has long been a hopeless, futile hell; even though you and Jingxin Daoren have been dedicated to upholding justice, it only treats symptoms, not the root cause—the corruption and decline of Xihuang stem from the inherent harshness of heaven and earth, and human effort cannot overturn fate.】

【And since Xihuang is such a hell, the other realms of the Honghuang should be no different; anyway, you don't believe that even if the nest is overturned there could be any intact eggs—the degenerate era is fair, and even the much-longed-for 'immortal realm' you don't think highly of.】

【In your imagination, Zhongzhou should also be like Xihuang, plagued by natural and man-made disasters, where the people cannot make a living!】

【But in reality, Zhongzhou...】

Zhongzhou, within a certain mortal kingdom.

Xue Xiaohei stood dumbfounded on a street; people came and went, everywhere was a scene of prosperity:

All trades flourished, crowds gathered, the sounds of hawking, storytelling, and laughter filled the ears.

Every person seen had faces beaming with happiness; every household had enough food and clothing, and people's vitality was clearly different from that of Xihuang's common folk.

These signs all show that their life is truly stable and harmonious!

This sight and scene made Xue Xiaohei almost think he was in the capital of a powerful dynasty.

But he also clearly knew that this was not the capital of any major state, but merely a small rural town.

Is there still such a pure land in the world?

Xue Xiaohei muttered to himself, feeling both doubtful about life and an indescribable emotion:

It seemed like envy, seemed like shock, seemed like confusion...

This place... is very strange.

Jingxin Daoren furrowed his brows, his divine sense swept over this prosperous small town, then extended outward:

Shady green trees, no wild beasts... even, no farmland!

The whole small town is like a carefully crafted flower, beautiful and naturally beautiful, fresh and naturally fresh, yet it is overly deliberate, full of an indescribable... impracticality.

A city with hundreds of thousands of people, yet outside there isn't even any farmland—how is that possible?!

Jingxin Daoren lost his composure:

If one must make a metaphor, the town's strange prosperity is like... a flower growing in the wild, with neither roots nor leaves, only a cluster of bizarrely vivid blossoms...

That is entirely possible.

Xue Xiaohei closed his eyes and then opened them, his eyes showing a hint of realization:

In a natural state, a flower without roots or leaves certainly cannot survive—unless... it is artificially placed in a vase!

As long as someone tends it specially, even a rootless, leafless flower can bloom for a long time!

【Soon, with your two immortals' methods of inquiry, the local situation became completely clear...】

【You guessed right; this place is indeed someone specially supported, and the ones supporting the local populace are none other than the local cultivators!】

【Unlike the orthodox and deviant paths of Xihuang, the cultivators of Zhongzhou are not particularly violent toward mortals, or rather, they are extremely good to mortals!】

【Under normal circumstances, even if cultivators' attitude toward mortals is favorable, at most they kill corrupt officials, suppress deviant sects that break the rules, and occasionally help mortals quell floods and droughts; achieving these three points already makes them paragons of cultivators!】

【But Zhongzhou's cultivators... are quite strange.】

【They not only help mortals survive natural and man-made disasters, but even actively support them; what's warding off floods and droughts? They can even directly deliver grain!】

【The cultivators here use spells to plant various crops and raise livestock; the produced grain, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, etc., are then sent directly nearby for mortals to freely take.】

【Besides food and drink, the cultivators also create various entertainment activities, games, toys, and even popular education; everyone is expected to be as learned as five carts of books, and not studying is unacceptable!】

【Under this utterly parental-like arrangement, the mortals of Zhongzhou live completely differently from the folks of the other four wastelands; one flies in the heavens, one crawls on the ground, one has grown tired of mountain delicacies and sea flavors, another is so hungry they can't even chew tree bark...】

【The cultivators replaced the governments of all states, achieving peaceful unification of the Zhongzhou realm; with supernatural power, they forcibly created a heavenly kingdom on earth amidst the desperate Honghuang world!】

【No war, no corruption, no oppression, no worries about food and clothing, endless joy... inexhaustible delicacies, endless silk, endless blessings.】

【Mortals living here, from birth to adulthood, then marriage, and finally old age and death, need not worry about anything; the cultivators will take care of everything!】

【However, mortals enjoying such blessings naturally have a price; as an exchange, if a mortal dies, their soul will be seized by the cultivators and transformed into spiritual energy...】

Mortals and cultivators have formed a simple yet effective symbiotic relationship: cultivators guarantee mortals a happy lifetime, while mortals repay with their souls the enjoyment they had in life.

Every mortal knows their happy life comes at a price, but… they are willing!

The scene of human hell outside Central State is the best contrast; they even feel fortunate to have been born in Central State, otherwise they'd have to fight outsiders for tree bark…

In short, both sides are quite satisfied with this.

But in your heart, the more you look, the more distressed you feel: 'Eating people… they actually are willing to be eaten!'

You of course know both sides are quite satisfied with this deal, but… wrong is wrong!

'No matter what, eating people is wrong!'

The life or death of primordial beings has never been judged by whether the physical body dies; the soul is the source of a person's consciousness, and whether it's death from old age or any other means, it cannot affect the soul.

As long as the soul is placed into a new body, it can be revived, so in practical terms, even mortals are naturally 'eternal life'!

But now, mortals only care about the life and death of their physical bodies and enjoyment, choosing to let their eternal life completely die out… this… this…

'This is wrong!'

Seeing the smiles on people's faces, you feel increasingly distressed and frustrated: 'This must be that people have been deceived!'

'How is this any different from raising livestock!'

Your eyes gradually glow with a bloody red light; you decide to use the most brutal means to slay all Central State cultivators, thereby awakening the deceived common folk!

'Fellow Daoist, wait…'

Your thought makes Jingxin Daoren widen his eyes; he tries to dissuade you, but your obstinate self at this moment simply cannot hear anything, nor do you want to…

Thus, under the bewildered gaze of the townsfolk, you step into the void, facing the hundreds of thousands of astonished eyes in the city, and you seize the cultivators who are distributing food and clothing in the city and engaged in various work!

Below the level of a Profound Immortal, these cultivators who aren't even True Immortals have no capacity to resist; they are terrified and uneasy, yet they don't know what they have done to provoke you, this High Immortal.

'High Immortal! I am a disciple of the Wandering Immortal Grotto-Heaven—I haven't done anything!'

'High Immortal, spare my life! High Immortal, spare my life!'

"…"

Hearing their incessant pleas for mercy, your heart feels ever more twisted, and the bloodlight in your eyes grows ever more ferocious!

You were about to expose the cultivators' cannibalistic true nature before the common folk, but before you could speak, the townspeople spontaneously dropped to their knees and begged you.

'High Immortal, please release them!'

'High Immortal, if you need souls, we will immediately commit suicide—enough for you!'

'High Immortal! High Immortal!'

"…"

One hundred, one thousand, ten thousand… the tens of thousands of neatly dressed men, women, old and young in the city all knelt before you, begging you to release those cultivators.

You hear their pleas, but your heart feels as if wounded; the earlier obstinate luck vanishes in an instant…

Because you have realized a reality you don't want to face, seeing you remain silent and unmoved, Jingxin Daoren, who has been advising you, also sighs softly: 'Fellow Daoist, don't be like that.'

'They actually know everything…'

"…"

(End of chapter)