Chapter 155: The Purpose

White’s straight face suddenly turned sour as he heard me mention the name of a certain sect. Since he came to the Lower Plane, he never made a resentful expression but now, it was obvious that he was trying not to show it. He bit his lips and clenched his fists.

To me, he seemed like he was trying to make himself calm down. If it were me, I would really like it if he could maintain his composure as well. If he ever runs amok, at least let him do so in an open space, not in this cramped dungeon where there’s a high chance of getting buried alive.

As we descended the stairs, he started recounting everything that happened according to his perspective.

“They came without warning.” White started. It’s a little bit cliche for a start but I’m not blaming him. “For time immemorial, there are only rare cases where beings from the Lower Plane would have the ability to transfer into the Middle Plane. It is basically a legend in the Middle Plane. And as someone who is on the younger side of things, I didn’t really believe that such a plane for weaklings exists.”

“There in the Middle Plane, the lowest cultivation one could get is on the Heavenly Realm. If I were to compare it to how you base your cultivation here, then it’s probably in the Ancient or Dao Realm. If you were born with lower cultivation, you’d have to undergo special training in order to keep up with everyone. When you told me that I may be the weakest in the Middle Plane, frankly I didn’t have the right to deny it. When I awakened, my cultivation was lower than the Ancient Realm and a master in the Lightning Arts took me in as a disciple. Thanks to him, I managed to at least go head to head with my generation of geniuses. He was a great teacher.”

“Was? Did he die?” I asked insensitively. The moment I asked, that’s when I realized that I just casually brought up a dark topic without even thinking about it.

“Yes, thanks to the Black Spirit Sect. When they appeared in the Middle Plane, we clearly underestimated them. We thought that since they came from the Lower Plane, they’d be significantly weaker than any of us… but we were wrong. We were totally wrong to assume that such was the case.”

“By the time we realized that they posed a great threat in our world, it was already too late. A ‘Rush Hour’ Event happened and the Middle Plane was caught in the middle of it. Well, the Black Spirit Sect calls it the ‘Rush Hour’ Event but in simple terms, it was just a huge horde of zombies, made possible by the virus they concocted. And that horde of zombies gets stronger over time as they ride the Qi Current. And mind you, the Qi Current over at the Middle Plane is so potent that a Stage-1 Zombie could immediately rise to Stage-8 in a flash.”

“But you’ve got masters over there, right? Don’t tell me the Black Spirit Sect was really stronger than any of you there combined.”

This time, White’s face got even more twisted as his countenance darkened. It’s as if he was reliving bits and pieces of his trauma in his mind. It was an unusual sight to see weirder than any expression he put on, so far.

“Let’s just say that the Black Spirit Sect came at a critical time. And they used that moment to further their plans, even more, making all the clans lose face after underestimating them.” White sighed. “Forget it, I’ll just tell you everything.”

I gulped, readying myself as White continued on with his story.

I should also mention that during all these times, we were continuously clearing the Void Tower/Dungeon one floor after another. White was so overwhelming that he didn’t have a hard time defeating each and every beast we faced along the way. As for me, I proceeded to gather the Spirit Beasts Souls and their Cores so I could use them later on in the future. They were such high-grade materials that I couldn’t just miss out on them.

“Have you ever heard of an ancient story about a young cultivator who ruled over the four elements? It’s a popular ancient story in our Plane so I figured it would be recognizable here.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of the story. This is about the four kingdoms with the mastery of each of the main elements, right?” I continued.

“Then, I guess it would be easy to tell you everything about the Middle Plane. I’ll go back to when the Black Spirit Sect just arrived at the Middle Plane.”

This is going to be a long day. I just know it.

“I’ll go the easier way and relay a simplified version of the history of our world, the Middle Plane.” White continued. “Simply speaking, there are four kingdoms in the Middle Plane, or at least, four main kingdoms. Just like that ancient story about a master cultivator, our four kingdoms also lived in harmony once… but some internal disputes got worse throughout history until war broke out, separating the four kingdoms and leaving each other to fend for themselves. The smaller kingdom, thinking that they wouldn’t stand a chance if they got caught in the middle of things, decided not to meddle in the fights. Because of that, the internal disputes and infighting became so worse that the four kingdoms declared war on each other.”

“And of course… when there’s war, then the kingdom with the most military might and resources would win, right? Because of that, the Conquest of the Middle Plane started. Major kingdoms started swallowing up the other smaller kingdoms, making themselves stronger by establishing fortresses and hiring professional cultivators to protect themselves. I was never part of a major kingdom. I’m just a normal villager boy who so happened to awaken at such an early age. Even among my peers, my awakening was considered genius… but everything that followed is complete trash. My cultivation didn’t rise as fast as I expected them and I was significantly weaker than those in my generation. Wait… I said that before in any case. Long story short, the smaller kingdom where I lived got swallowed up by a major kingdom and I was forced to go to war. My dad and mom intensely rejected it but I had to do it so they won’t drive us out of our homes.”

“Then the Black Spirit Sect announced their debut. One day, it just all happened. People infected by some sort of rabies virus suddenly appeared everywhere, biting anyone as they go. I was in the middle of my intense training when it all happened. My master died protecting me, and my parents died while I was away. The four kingdoms slowly collapsed and Black Spirit Rose to the top. This wasn’t because the four kingdoms were weak, they were just so into fighting with each other that they didn’t realize that n actual enemy was already right in front of them.”

“And then it all went downhill from there. From then on, I continued my training as seriously as I could, hoping that I could at least do something be a hero when another crisis arises. I also buried my nose in books, trying to learn the profound existence of the people in the Lower and Higher Planes. That’s right, while everyone was trying to hunt as many zombies as possible. I locked myself in one of the nearby libraries and read there. That’s when I found out about this Ancient Power. Upon learning that, I immediately prepared myself and traveled down here. I didn’t believe that it was just a myth anymore since the Black Spirit Sect came from there.”

“HOWEVER! Instead of settling their disputes with one another, the four kingdoms blamed each other for everything that happened. I would’ve understood it if they blamed the Black Spirit Sect. How frustrating. How many innocent dies would have to die before they would even team up as one kingdom… just like before. Had they done that, my master and my parents wouldn’t have died…. sigh~ it’s no use thinking about all these things now. What matters most is uncovering the truth behind this Ancient Power and hopefully, we can use it to stop the Black Spirit Sect’s evil rule.”

I zipped my lips as I nodded my head. Somehow, I totally understood everything he said. It is a normal occurrence, even in the Lower Plane, for someone to blame someone for their mistakes rather than blaming himself or herself. It is such a simple occurrence but if placed at the wrong time, it could very well be disastrous to everyone.

“Now, all the kingdoms are in ruin and the Black Spirit Sect are getting what they want. This Ancient Power is my lifeline. If it can’t help me deal with the Black Spirit Sect, then it’s all over.”

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