Chapter 338: Contest of Fortune

With the discovery of the Xuan Yuan Order, it was confirmed that the region Hua Changxi and the other five had broken into was indeed the City Lord's Mansion of Xuan Yuan City.

The City Lord's Mansion of the largest immortal cultivation city in the Central Continent was not as majestic and spectacular as everyone had imagined; instead, it resembled a battlefield in ruins—desolate and bleak.

The broken walls and scattered debris everywhere indicated that before it was sealed away, a tragic and magnificent world-destroying battle had taken place here.

Looking at this, Hua Changxi recalled that when Danyuan Peak appeared, it was the same—traces of battle everywhere: "The invasion war before the extinction of ancient spiritual energy must have been more tragic than we can imagine."

Yan Zhenzhen nodded. The Artifact Saint Palace was the best example; almost no intact palace remained.

Even the holy land suffered such devastating damage, so other places must have been even worse.

After crossing the spatial rift, Hua Changxi and the other five arrived at this square. Once they obtained the Xuan Yuan Order and could move freely, Hua Changxi and Yan Zhenzhen walked around the square. At the suspected main gate on the south side of the square, they saw a fallen plaque shattered into several pieces.

Hua Changxi and Yan Zhenzhen exchanged a glance, then stepped forward to piece together the plaque.

"Xuan~"

Yan Zhenzhen pieced together the character "Xuan." The moment she looked directly at it, her vision went black, and she staggered and fell to the ground.

Hua Changxi was almost done piecing together the character "Yuan," but was startled by Yan Zhenzhen. He hurriedly supported her and found blood trickling from the corners of Yan Zhenzhen's eyes: "How could this happen?"

Yan Zhenzhen not only felt a sharp pain in her eyes but also dizziness: "Don't look at the characters on the plaque—there's something strange."

"What happened to you two?"

At that moment, Jing Le also picked up a Xuan Yuan Order and walked over anxiously.

Yan Zhenzhen still didn't dare open her eyes. Hua Changxi supported her with one hand and pointed at the plaque fragments with the other: "We tried to piece the plaque together, but as soon as Zhenzhen looked at the characters, her eyes started bleeding."

Jing Le saw this and walked toward the plaque. When he saw the pieced-together character "Xuan," his eyes also stung a little, but he could still endure it.

Seeing Jing Le squat down and continue piecing the plaque together, Hua Changxi helped Yan Zhenzhen sit down nearby and then went over to help: "You looked at the characters on the plaque—are you okay?"

Jing Le: "It's fine. I can still endure it."

Hua Changxi did not look directly at the characters on the plaque, only scanning them with his peripheral vision. Even so, his eyes stung: "These aren't ordinary characters, are they?"

Jing Le nodded slightly, quickly assembling the plaque: "I once read a record in an ancient text that the central cities of the five continents were all personally named by the Four Spirit Emperors."

"The Vermilion Bird City, Black Tortoise City, Azure Dragon City, and White Tiger City of the four cardinal continents—their city names and the plaques of the city lord's mansions were undoubtedly bestowed personally by the Four Spirit Emperors."

"I suspect the Central Continent is no exception. The characters on the plaque of the Xuan Yuan City Lord's Mansion should also be from the hand of one of the emperors."

"Even if countless years have passed, the personal calligraphy of an emperor is not something that we infant-condensation cultivators can look at directly."

Hua Changxi nodded after hearing this.

With the joint effort of the two, the plaque was pieced together—Xuan Yuan Mansion!

With Yan Zhenzhen's lesson in mind, Hua Changxi was very careful and did not look directly at the three characters. But Jing Le stared at them without concern—not only staring, but also studying them carefully.

Hua Changxi shouted a warning: "Jing Le, your eyes are bleeding! Don't look anymore!"

Jing Le's mind was completely absorbed by the three characters "Xuan Yuan Mansion." He couldn't hear Hua Changxi's voice and was unaware of the blood streaming from his eyes.

At that moment, what he saw were no longer three characters.

The three characters transformed into a series of golden runes, twisting and shifting in the air, finally coalescing into a loess-colored Qilin.

But this Qilin was in a very bad state—not only deep in slumber, but withered and emaciated, appearing as if it could dissipate at any moment, on the verge of death.

Seeing that Jing Le was risking his life like this, Hua Changxi had no choice but to intervene physically. With a hand-chop, he knocked him to the ground and forcibly dragged his gaze away from the plaque.

"Don't you want your eyes anymore?"

"Hiss~"

Only then did Jing Le feel that his eyes hurt terribly.

Seeing him writhing in pain, Hua Changxi found it both amusing and exasperating. He took out three top-grade tier-three Life-Growing Pills and gave them to him.

Tier-three pills were already quite limited in effect for infant-condensation cultivators, so he could only take several to alleviate the pain.

"Zhenzhen, Jing Le—what happened to you two?"

Tong Yao and Hua Liulang had finally picked up their Xuan Yuan Orders. As soon as they arrived, they were shocked to see Yan Zhenzhen and Jing Le bleeding from their eyes.

Yan Zhenzhen could finally open her eyes by then: "I'm fine."

Jing Liao remained silent, resting with his eyes closed to ease the pain in his eyes.

Hua Changxi, along with Tong Yao and Hua Liulang, told them about the plaque and warned them not to stare directly at the three characters "Xuanyuan Residence."

Tong Yao waited until Jing Liao could slightly open his eyes before asking, "What did you see? How did you end up like this?"

Jing Liao did not answer directly but instead said, "In ancient times, humanity flourished greatly, and the central cities of the Five Continents were all controlled by humans. One saying is that every central city actually carries the fate of the human race."

Tong Yao nodded: "I've also seen this claim in ancient texts. What about it?"

Jing Liao said, "The Central Continent lies in the middle of the Four Continents, representing the Virtue of Earth. The 'Totem of Virtuous Governance' of Earth's Virtue is the Qilin auspicious beast."

"I saw that the three characters on the plaque transformed into a Qilin auspicious beast."

"But the Qilin auspicious beast's condition is very poor."

Hua Changxi could understand every word Jing Liao said, but when strung together, she became somewhat confused, so she looked at Tong Yao, waiting for him to clarify.

Tong Yao indeed began to explain: "Xuanyuan Residence is the center of Xuanyuan City, and Xuanyuan City is the center of the Central Continent, guarded by the Five Holy Lands. Because it suppresses the Demon Prison, Xuanyuan City bears a very important responsibility in the conflict between humans and demons."

"The Qilin auspicious beast's condition is poor..."

"It should be that after the Great Ancient Extinction, the system of virtuous governance built on the foundation of humanity is disintegrating and weakening!"

Hua Changxi listened, utterly confused: "What are you two talking about?"

Tong Yao looked at her solemnly: "The conflict between humans and demons is still ongoing. It did not disappear with the Great Extinction; on the contrary, with the revival of spiritual energy, the horn has been sounded once again."

"In one realm, resources are limited. If humans take more, then demons naturally take less."

"In the Four Spirit Realms, either humanity will greatly prosper, or the demon race will greatly prosper."

Hua Changxi frowned: "Can't a balance be maintained?"

Tong Yao shook his head: "Demons are bloodthirsty; competition and expansion are their nature. They never stop. This is not something human strength can change."

"The conflict between humans and demons, put simply, is the struggle for the realm's fate between the human race and the demon race."

"The Qilin auspicious beast borne by Xuanyuan Residence represents, to a certain extent, the fate of the human race. The Qilin's poor condition means that, after the revival of spiritual energy, the Four Spirit Realms have not favored humanity, and the future of the human race remains uncertain."