Chapter 680: Anomalies Intensify, Divisions Among the Righteous

"Have you heard? The dead volcano in the northwest has recently been emitting black smoke."

"And that black smoke smells particularly disgusting, like the stench of rotting corpses."

"And then there is the Blood River Canyon; it is said that terrifying howls can be heard there every night."

"Even those rogue cultivators who fear nothing no longer dare to go near that place."

Lin Xuan and the other two exchanged glances, both realizing that these might be the clues they were looking for.

The dead volcano in the northwest perfectly fits the conditions for the Blood Demon Sect to choose a base.

Secluded, remote, and naturally possessing an aura of evil.

"That is the place," Lin Xuan said in a low voice.

"The resonance of the Genesis Bloodline is becoming stronger and stronger; it must be that dead volcano."

But there is still a day's journey from here to the dead volcano.

And according to the warning from the bloodline, they do not have much time left.

They must arrive before tomorrow night, otherwise, everything will be too late.

"Let's go!" Lin Xuan braced himself and stood up.

"This is the final leg; we must not fall here."

The three of them soared into the sky once more, flying with all their might toward the dead volcano in the northwest.

Just as Lin Xuan and his companions were desperately rushing on their way, the anomalies across the Upper Realm became unprecedentedly severe.

The blood-red clouds that had only appeared occasionally now occupied almost half the sky.

These clouds were no longer a simple red, but a deep, dark crimson, as viscous as congealed blood.

Even more terrifying was that the shapes of the clouds had become extremely bizarre.

Looking closely, those twisted clouds actually resembled countless faces in agony.

Some had their mouths wide open as if wailing silently, while others had their eyes tightly shut as if enduring immense pain.

These faces were sometimes clear and sometimes blurred, constantly changing their forms in the sky.

Many cultivators felt a wave of nausea and fear when they looked up.

Some whose state of mind was not stable enough even fainted on the spot.

The tremors of the earth also became more frequent.

What was originally just a slight trembling had now developed into violent earthquakes.

Deep, bottomless fissures appeared in many places, with the widest reaching several dozen meters.

Black energy continuously seeped out from these fissures, an aura filled with the scent of death and decay.

Any living creature that came into contact with this aura would lose its life in an instant.

Flowers, grass, and trees withered and turned black instantly, birds fell to the ground, and even formidable demonic beasts could not resist it.

The entire area within several miles around the fissures became a true forbidden zone of death.

Some small sects located closer to the center of the anomalies began to suffer catastrophic disasters.

The Green Wood Gate was the first sect to completely vanish.

This small sect, which possessed a three-hundred-year history, disappeared from the world entirely overnight.

When nearby cultivators rushed to the Green Wood Gate's base, they found that it had already turned into a dead land.

All the buildings had turned into black powder, and not a blade of grass grew on the ground.

The dozens of disciples within the sect did not even leave behind bones, as if they had never existed at all.

The entire sect base was shrouded in eerie black mist, and anyone who approached would feel intense nausea.

Similar situations were occurring in other places.

The Flowing Water Gate, Iron Sword Hall, Medicine King Valley, and other small sects disappeared one after another.

Every vanished sect turned into the same dead land, where no life could exist.

The disappearance of these small sects caused great panic in the cultivation world.

Many rogue cultivators and small sects began to flee toward safe areas, and the entire Upper Realm fell into unprecedented chaos.

Tianmen, inside the divination room.

Xuantianzi had not rested for three consecutive days.

He kept performing divinations, hoping to find a way to resolve the crisis.

But the result of every divination was more terrifying than the last.

The latest divination showed that the entire Upper Realm would be swallowed by some terrifying power.

And the awakening time of this power was within these next few days.

"No, absolutely not!" Cold sweat poured down Xuantianzi's forehead.

"If this hexagram comes true, the entire cultivation world will be completely destroyed!"

He immediately summoned all his disciples.

"Pass on my order: immediately dispatch envoys to all the major righteous sects."

"Tell them the results of the divination and request that they temporarily set aside all grievances."

"We must unite now to face the impending catastrophe together!"

Although the disciples did not quite understand what had happened, they could see the severity of the situation from their master's expression.

They immediately split up to act, delivering the message to the major sects.

Heavenly Sword Sect, assembly hall.

Jian Wuchen was discussing the matter of hunting down Lin Xuan with several Elders.

Suddenly, a disciple rushed in.

"Sect Leader, an envoy from the Tianmen requests an audience, saying there is an extremely important matter to report."

Jian Wuchen frowned and said, "What matter is so urgent?"

Soon, the envoy from the Tianmen was brought into the great hall.

"Sect Leader Jian, our Sect Leader has discovered a terrifying omen through divination."

The envoy recounted the results of Xuan Tianzi's divination in detail.

"The Sect Leader hopes that all major righteous sects can temporarily set aside their prejudices and jointly face this crisis."

After listening, Jian Wuchen sneered.

"Alarmist talk!"

"Some ancient evil, some impending disaster—these are all nonsense."

"The greatest threat right now is that devil Lin Xuan; we must pursue him with all our might."

"Tell Xuan Tianzi not to use these ethereal things to interfere with the great cause of the righteous path."

The envoy wanted to continue persuading him, but Jian Wuchen had already issued an order to leave.

The reaction of the Five Elements Sect was even more direct.

Wu Yuanzi did not even meet the envoy, directly having a disciple relay the message:

"The divination arts of the Tianmen have never been accurate; this must be nonsense again."

"The Five Elements Sect now has only one goal, which is to avenge our fallen fellow disciples."

"Unless Lin Xuan is captured, any cooperation is out of the question."

The situation at the Ten Thousand Buddha Temple was slightly better.

Although Abbot Fahui sensed the ominous nature of the anomaly, his thoughts differed from the others.

"Amitabha, if a truly evil force is about to awaken, then it is precisely the time to test the Buddha Dharma."

"My Buddha is merciful and will surely be able to resolve all calamities."

"Tell benefactor Xuan Tianzi that the Ten Thousand Buddha Temple will use the Buddha Dharma to purify this evil."

"But as for joining forces to fight an enemy, that goes against the purity of the Buddha Sect; please forgive us for being unable to comply."

The envoys of the Tianmen returned with disappointing news.

The major sects either believed the divination results were alarmist or insisted on their own views and were unwilling to cooperate.

No one truly took the impending crisis seriously.

After hearing the report, Xuan Tianzi slumped into his chair.

"It's over, it's all over..."

He knew that with the current attitude of the major sects, when the real crisis erupted, the entire cultivation world would be caught off guard.

"Sect Leader, what should we do next?" a disciple asked.

Xuan Tianzi was silent for a long time, and finally said with difficulty:

"Prepare the evacuation plan."

"If the other sects are unwilling to join forces, we can only protect ourselves."