Chapter 2528 - Cruel, but Without Alternatives
An armistice agreement could not restrain the dead spirits who thirsted for death and destruction, and some cultivators in the myriad of worlds in the Celestial Court could not possibly put down the blood feud in their hearts.
The two sides would definitely fight again, but the scale of the battle would be significantly reduced.
A hundred thousand years had passed, forming the current pattern of the War of Merit.
Only the deities knew the complete details of the armistice agreement.
Granny Begonia continued, “In the thousand years of war, nearly all the gods of Kunlun fell from above the clouds into the abyss. The world was riddled with holes from the battle, and Saint Monk Xumi used his last divine force to seal the holes in the world so that he could protect the few lucky survivors left in the world.”
Zhang Ruochen had many questions, so he asked. “After the Saint Monk died, the Celestial and Infernal Court signed a truce. Is that why the attacks on Kunlun by the various deities of the Infernal Court stopped?”
“Kunlun is the biggest world between the Celestial and Infernal Court. If Kunlun is destroyed, it’s the same as the gate being broken. Therefore, the Celestial Court naturally has to protect Kunlun,” Granny Begonia said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly and suddenly understood.
Saint Monk Xumi was very powerful, but there were also many powerful figures in the Infernal Court. They could break through the divine force protecting the realm if they wanted to attack Kunlun.
The only explanation was that the condition that deities of the Infernal Court must not continue to attack Kunlun was in the truce agreement.
The deities of Kunlun had nearly died out completely. They were no longer a threat to the underworld or Infernal Court.
It was like…
A dead world!
The only things left were the Divine Artifacts, cultivation techniques, and ancient artifacts of Kunlun… all these treasures.
Therefore, the Kunlun during that time was a treasury in the eyes of the Celestial and Infernal Court and not a world.
A treasury that could not be opened for the time being!
Once the treasury was opened, the battle between the Celestial and Infernal Court would continue. The war was something neither side wanted to happen.
It was Saint Monk Xumi who had placed a lock on the treasury, preventing cultivators from various places from entering easily.
One hundred thousand years later, that said lock had rusted and lost its functions.
Both the Celestial and Infernal Court had rested and recovered some of their vitality. Thus, they began to enter the treasury to raid the treasures within. Of course, some cultivators from the Celestial Court treated Kunlun as a fortress against the Infernal Court. They went to Kunlun as explorers, not as bandits.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What was the situation in Kunlun then?”
Granny Begonia said, “Nearly all deities have perished, and the Realm Root was cut off. The precepts of heaven and earth were damaged heavily in the battle of the gods, with the divine and holy veins exhausted and the Saint Qi of heaven and earth dispersed. All the divine and holy land were hidden by Saint Monk Xumi, who used the Power of Dimensions before he died. During that time, Kunlun welcomed the dark and chaotic era that lasted for tens of thousands of years.
“In the dark and chaotic era, the few remaining Supreme Saint elites died out completely.”
“Because of the lack of the Realm Root and the deterioration of the cultivation environment, it was extremely difficult to reach the Saint Realm. One must be a talented genius among thousands to reach the Supreme Saint realm. For example, that being the Destiny Emperor 70,000 years ago.”
“Or the ninth Emperor and the third Empress 800 years ago.”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head with a bitter smile. He felt that the world was ridiculous beyond belief.
The gods of Kunlun had fallen. But the cultivators who survived didn’t seek unity to overcome the difficulties. Instead, they killed each other and fought without ceasing.
This was human nature!
It was like a country where all the leaders had died. There would definitely be chaos.
This was human nature!
Without the restriction of Precepts, all the greed and darkness of human nature would be released unbridled.
There was a limit to good.
There was no bottom line for evil.
Desire was like a sea of sin and like a bottomless abyss. It was monstrous and difficult to fill.
Who’s wrong was this?
No one was in the wrong. It was the wrong era and the fault of this generation.
To be born in such a great era, one could either cultivate to achieve divinity and use the power to suppress all living things to change everything while setting new Precepts. Or else one could only go with the flow and be pushed forward by the currents of the era.
However, without Precepts and the Realm Root severed, It meant that Kunlun could no longer produce gods.
Granny Begonia said, “The chaos in Kunlun and internal strife between the major forces and races lasted until 800 years ago. In the end, Empress Chi Yao used her absolute might to unite the human race and suppress the Hidden Barrens, which ushered in hundreds of years of prosperity. These past hundreds of years are still not complete peace, but compared to before, they are much smaller conflicts.”
Zhang Ruochen looked at the starry sky and said emotionlessly, “I understand that only unification can bring stability. But is there no other peaceful way? Do you know how many massacres Chi Yao caused when she established the first central empire? How many innocent people who died tragically were displaced?”
“Unless deities come into being, there is no peaceful way to unify them,” said Granny Begonia.
Zhang Ruochen said, “At least the Shengming Central Empire and Central Chiqing Empire should not go to war. Father and Emperor Qing are best friends.”
“The emperor is only the leader of these two countries. He doesn’t represent the ministers and the people. It’s not easy to unify the thoughts of just two people. How can the thoughts of 10 thousand or 100 million people be unified? In history, there have never been two countries that have unified without war,” said Granny Begonia.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Is this the real reason Chi Yao killed me? She was only 14 years old at that time. Does she know about this?”
“That is certainly not the truth!”
Granny Begonia saw that Zhang Ruochen was very emotional, so she did not rush to continue.
Zhang Ruochen calmed down and said, “Have all the gods of Kunlun really fallen and not a single one survived? Why is the Dragon Lord still alive then? Why didn’t he come out to take charge of the situation?”
Granny Begonia said, “No one knows that the Dragon Lord is still alive. Moreover, the Dragon Lord is only half a cultivator of Kunlun. Even if he is still alive, everyone thinks he has returned to the Celestial Dragon Realm. How could he stay in the dilapidated Kunlun? In fact, the Dragon Lord was severely injured in the war of gods 100,000 years ago. His divine force was almost exhausted, and he has slept ever since.”
“Perhaps there are other gods in Kunlun who are still alive but can’t show themselves.”
“Why?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Granny Begonia stared at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Because of the Infernal Court, the underworld, and the traitors?”
“That’s right! You should also know that cultivators in the underworld can still enter Kunlun through the hole in the world. However, there will be a big restriction to their cultivation,” Granny Begonia said.
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew this.
Lord Ming and the Blood Empress of the Immortal Vampire had entered Kunlun through the hole in the world.
He had also met the Deathkin cultivators on Xianji Mountain.
There was even the Soul-Devouring Lamp, the Divine Artifact of the Infernal Court. The legends of Kunlun told that its presence forced all the vessel spirits of Supreme Artifact and Divine Artifact to hide away.
The battle between Kunlun and the Infernal Court never stopped.
Zhang Ruochen suspected that the reason for Kunlun’s dark and chaotic era was closely related to the cultivators of the Infernal Court.
Granny Begonia said, “If the news of the existence of deities in Kunlun spreads to the Infernal Court and Celestial Court, will they still treat Kunlun as a dead world or a treasure trove? They will think that Kunlun is dead, but not completely. They will take revenge in the future without giving Kunlun any time.”
“The Infernal Court can sit still, but so can the underworld.”
“There’s no need to wait for 100,000 years. Kunlun might have been destroyed 90,000 years before that.”
“In 100,000 years, we’ll get to see a new Realm Root to achieve divinity and for the Dragon Lord to wake up. Those deities who might have survived will also need 100,000 years to recuperate and recover their divine force.”
“If we save the Island Lord, then the future of Kunlun can be much anticipated by us.”
Zhang Ruochen laughed self-mockingly and said, “So, in order to steal 100,000 years of time, you only started planning 800 years ago to unify Kunlun? And the chosen one is Chi Yao, right?”
Granny Begonia said, “You are our first choice.”
“What did you say?” Zhang Ruochen was slightly shocked.
Granny Begonia said, “There are many people in Kunlun in deep sleep who have been left behind from the Middle Ages. A few already woke up thousands of years ago—for example, your father’s master, Master Yuanfa of the Liangyi Sect.
“Almost all of these awakened people are elites in the Supreme Saint category. They haven’t shown up yet, but they have started to take charge of the overall situation and cultivate scions who can appear in the open.
“You know of the Immortal Vampire Secrets, right? They developed it to deal with the Immortal Vampires specifically. Of course, it could also be developed by the deities of the Middle Age and coincidentally happen to be in their hands.”
Zhang Ruochen suddenly realized something.
The Immortal Vampire Secrets recorded things like the “Blood Suppressant Talisman.”
The Blood Suppressant Talisman at a Supreme Saint level could suppress the Supreme Saints of the Immortal Vampires.
Back then, Emperor Ming had announced that the Immortal Vampire Secrets had been developed by Shangguan Que and a group of saints from the Central Shengming Empire. Zhang Ruochen had always been suspicious of that.
Now, he was relieved!
Granny Begonia said, “Back then, you were more gifted than Chi Yao, so they chose you to unify Kunlun. But… the fact that you have half of the Immortal Vampire’s bloodline was exposed by that.”
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
Granny Begonia didn’t continue, but Zhang Ruochen could already imagine what had happened.
Kunlun and the Infernal Court had a deep hatred mutually, especially for those that had awakened from the Middle Ages. The two sides were like fire and water, and their hatred was as deep as the sea.
The person they had chosen came from the bloodline of the Immortal Vampire. What was that supposed to mean?
The grand emperor of the Central Shengming Empire could come in contact with the mysterious figures of Kunlun, but the person next to him was the Blood Empress of the Immortal Vampires. Kunlun was about to face destruction at any moment.
The Blood Empress was doomed to die.
The vile spawn of the Immortal Vampires had to die too.
Granny Begonia said, “Now you understand your father’s situation, right? He had no choice but to kill your mother. If he didn’t do anything, then Master Yuanfa and the others would act. In the end, your father pushed your mother into the Endless Abyss.”
“You should have died too. Your father pleaded for your life, but it was useless. The hatred between the cultivators of Kunlun and the Immortal Vampires is too deep!”
Zhang Ruochen fell into a deep silence. After a long time, he asked, “Why am I alive then?”
“It was Saint Monk Xumi who had arrived in the future who saved you. He said that the youngest son didn’t know evil and couldn’t be condemned because of his bloodline. Those who were good to him were buddhas, and those who were evil were devils. True hell is in the heart, not in the Infernal Court.”
“After that, I didn’t know what happened clearly. When I got the news again, it was already during the fall of the Central Shengming Empire. I was furious at that time because I had promised a deity of the Zhang family during the Middle Ages to protect the Zhang family.”