Chapter 439: Chapter 441 Everything Has Decayed [5/5]

With its stately pavilions, towers, and halls, No Heaven Villa was as magnificent as an ancient palace, imposing and awe-inspiring.

The walk from the main hall to the grand entrance was a long one. Along the way, Qin Yuhan and Murong Yezi gazed at the peach blossoms outside the courtyard. The little fellow bounced and jumped about, happily shouting, “I want to bring them along!”

“Them,” of course, referred to Little Kirin, Little Phoenix, and Little Kunpeng.

As the main gate opened, Yuan Beizheng and Tao Qianyang immediately cupped their fists in salute. Yuan Beizheng was the happiest of them all. He laughed heartily and said, “The Underground World has long been decaying. It truly needs your presence to bring a breath of fresh air to this land.”

Any rule, any pattern, any framework, will become corrupted over time.

The Immortal Seekers were a perfect example. In the past, they sought the Elixir of Immortality for their Monarchs to free the people from the suffering of illness and pain. They wanted to give the common folk more time to ponder life, to allow more people to enjoy the bliss of family for longer.

But gradually, things changed.

Today’s Immortal Seekers think only of themselves. They have divided into factions—one religion, two alliances, three demons, four families, five swords, six sects, and so on. The welfare of the populace has long been forgotten. They only want to live longer, to the point of becoming “Immortals” themselves and dominating the fate of the common people!

“Rest assured,” Wu Tian said with a cold smile. In my eyes, this Underground World no longer needs to exist. Because I want all of its Spiritual Energy!

The so-called one religion, two alliances, three demons, four families, five swords, and six sects—all the powers of the Underworld—were in an uproar because of the recent phenomenon. For instance, the closest sect to Peach Blossom Spring was the Eastern Taizhong Palace, the very sect to which Dongfang Fengyun, the man Wu Tian had killed, belonged.

Heavenly King Zhufu, a descendant of Zhufu Yan, sat solemnly in the grand hall. He asked the Elders in a grave voice, “What is your interpretation of the recent phenomenon?”

The Elders all shook their heads. “Palace Master, we truly do not know how to explain it.”

The phenomenon had covered the entire Underground World. Though it had lasted for only the blink of an eye, its strange nature made it impossible to forget. At that moment, Heavenly King Zhufu had been doing what he did every day: searching through ancient books, hoping to discover a clue about “Immortals.” Even a single word was worth expending manpower and resources to explore. After all, if they stumbled upon not just Cultivation ruins but an “Immortal,” wouldn’t they have struck it rich? And from then on, achieve eternal life?

The recent phenomenon gave Heavenly King Zhufu a bold idea.

Dongfang Doutian, the Great Elder, had arrived at the same conclusion. His breath hitched with excitement as he murmured, “Perhaps… perhaps an Immortal… has appeared.”

At his words, the other elders grew excited as well. The Underground World had never seen such a phenomenon before. It seemed that perhaps an “Immortal” had finally appeared. Even if it was not an “Immortal,” it had to be a treasure related to them that had just been unearthed. If they could obtain it, they might have a chance to become Immortals themselves.

Unable to hide his joy, Heavenly King Zhufu immediately commanded, “The Eastern Taizhong Palace will mobilize its people, starting today, to search for the source of this phenomenon!”

“Yes!” the ten Great Elders responded at once. It was as if their withered hearts had been rekindled. Life finally had a purpose again.

「Three days passed.」

Wu Tian sometimes used the Teleportation Formation to return to the Surface World, but he spent most of his time cultivating in the Underground World.

He was currently sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. The surrounding Spiritual Energy rapidly converged on his body. Of course, he had concealed this scene with his Divine Skills; no one could detect the direction in which the Spiritual Energy was being absorbed.

The Spiritual Energy of the Underground World was swiftly extracted, entering Wu Tian’s body and circulating through his extraordinary meridians and twelve principal channels, continuously nourishing him.

Half a day later, Wu Tian finally stopped his practice, sighing internally. Too slow. It’s still far too slow.

If anyone else were to learn of this, they would surely spit up blood. The Spiritual Energy Wu Tian had absorbed in three days was equivalent to the total amount that all the Immortal Seekers in the Underground World could cultivate in a hundred years!

The surrounding Spiritual Energy had vanished into thin air. While this was still manageable for the other factions, the Immortal Seekers of the Eastern Taizhong Palace, being closest to No Heaven Villa, were overcome with anger, confusion, and astonishment.

“The Spiritual Energy I’ve been cultivating with seems to have decreased recently.”

“What on earth is happening?”

“Who the hell knows?”

The Eastern Taizhong Palace was thrown into chaos. The matter became a major headache for Heavenly King Zhufu and the others.

“So much Spiritual Energy has suddenly disappeared. What are we going to do?”

“Our cultivation efficiency hasn’t just been halved; it’s been reduced more than tenfold!”

“I should have been able to live for over a thousand years, but with the Spiritual Energy this thin… I feel—I might not live that long!”

The ten Great Elders were terrified. They had already lived long lives—the youngest among them being over eight hundred years old—but they were afraid of death. They all turned to Heavenly King Zhufu. Since he was the Palace Master, it was naturally up to him to solve this problem.

“This…” Heavenly King Zhufu hesitated. He had no idea why the Spiritual Energy had suddenly vanished, so how was he supposed to fix it?

Dongfang Doutian thought for a moment, then looked around the palace. Seeing no one else, he said at once, “I have a method!”

“What is it?” Heavenly King Zhufu and the other Elders immediately turned to him, their eyes blazing with anticipation.

“We can find people who possess Spirit Roots, then extract the Spiritual Energy from them for our own cultivation. This will compensate for the lack of Spiritual Energy in the world.”

As soon as Dongfang Doutian finished speaking, Heavenly King Zhufu hesitated even more. Their Eastern Taizhong Palace had discovered the ruins of Mount Shu, which meant they were cultivators of the Righteous Path! But the method Dongfang Doutian proposed was clearly not something a person of the Righteous Path should do.

“If we can live a little longer, we might be able to find the relics of the Immortals,” the Second Elder suddenly interjected.

“Exactly. To find the relics of the Immortals, some sacrifices are necessary,” the Third Elder, Fourth Elder, and the others all nodded in agreement.

They remembered that they were Immortal Seekers, not some Mount Shu Sect! Whether it was the Righteous Path or not was unimportant. Living longer and finding clues about “Immortals” was far more important!

“Since you’ve all decided, I… I won’t interfere any longer.” Heavenly King Zhufu was tempted as well, but he was the Palace Master. He had a reputation to uphold. Naturally, he couldn’t appear as shameless as the ten Great Elders.

「In the Eastern Taizhong Palace…」

The ten Great Elders each led their own men to various parts of the Underground World. Under the pretext of searching for Direct Disciples, they began testing people.

On this particular day, the Second Elder arrived at Peach Blossom Spring with his men. He hoped to find people with Spirit Roots here. Extracting Spiritual Energy from a Spirit Root was much faster than absorbing it from the heavens and the earth. Unfortunately, people with Spirit Roots were exceedingly rare. He hoped that in this beautiful Peach Blossom Spring, his long search would come to an effortless end.

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