Chapter 897: The Savior of Xuanhuang
The return of Xuantian King, his ascension a failure, sent a tidal wave of shock through the Xuanhuang Realm.
Countless cultivators sent inquiries, but he ignored them all.
The truth was simply too horrifying. If word got out, the already desperate world of cultivation would likely descend into an apocalyptic panic in an instant.
After secluding himself, Xuantian King took stock of his gains from the ordeal and pondered the meaning behind the Faceless Immortal’s words.
Meanwhile, the Xuanhuang Realm, after a period of uproar, gradually settled back into a semblance of peace.
With the collapse and disappearance of the ascension path, the repercussions of the Immortal Realm’s great calamity seemed to fade from the lower world.
About a year passed in this manner, until Xuantian King suddenly detected a slight shift in the Xuanhuang Realm's cosmic coordinates.
The change was minuscule.
If not for his constant vigilance, and the fact that his strength had skyrocketed after being tempered by immortal energy, he too might have overlooked it.
Another three years went by.
By constantly monitoring the shifting coordinates, Xuantian King finally confirmed it: the entire Xuanhuang Realm was drifting toward a specific point in the endless void.
What shocked him even more was that it was not just the Xuanhuang Realm.
Every other cultivation world he could observe or contact was doing the exact same thing!
The conclusion was terrifyingly clear.
Something in the endless void was pulling all the cultivation worlds toward it!
He recalled the Faceless Immortal’s parting words.
"Flee now. Any slower, and it will be too late."
A primal dread seized Xuantian King.
It is unknown whether, in that moment, he considered fleeing on his own.
But as the most gifted cultivator of his era in the Xuanhuang Realm, Xuantian King could not bear to watch his home slowly march toward annihilation.
And so, he made a decision that could only be described as noble.
He would take the entire Xuanhuang Realm with him.
Even with his half-immortal body, the notion of moving an entire world was pure fantasy.
To say nothing of overcoming that terrifying, inexorable pull...
But Xuantian King refused to give up.
After poring over the texts he had plundered from the fallen immortals and integrating them with his own profound knowledge, the brilliant Xuantian King devised a magnificent, unparalleled grand array.
He named it the [Floating Starry Sky Grand Array].
According to his calculations, if they hoped to resist the mysterious pull from the void, the resources of the Xuanhuang Realm alone were woefully insufficient.
Even if they stripped the world bare, they could not escape that unimaginable, terrifying force.
Therefore, one of the array's primary functions was to lock onto nearby grotto-heavens and minor worlds, capture them, and launch inter-world wars.
This would not only allow them to plunder resources and bolster their own strength but would also create an anchoring effect, like ships chained together, to slow the Xuanhuang Realm's drift.
It was a plan that solved multiple problems at once.
However, building such a colossal array was far beyond his power alone.
He would need to unite and coordinate the vast majority of the Xuanhuang Realm's power to complete the construction of the Floating Starry Sky Grand Array.
As for revealing the truth and calling for unity...
Xuantian King had considered it.
But after observing the general character of the realm’s cultivators, he decisively abandoned the idea.
If they learned of the crisis facing their world, the overwhelming majority would choose to flee at once.
Not even one in a hundred would stay behind to help him save the Xuanhuang Realm.
And yet, the construction of the array required their strength.
And so, Xuantian King decided to first unify the Xuanhuang Realm to better marshal its power.
He was already a once-in-a-millennium prodigy, and now he was the only being in the realm with a half-immortal body.
Furthermore, he possessed numerous immortal legacies obtained from the ascension path.
Accomplishing this feat would not be exceptionally difficult.
And everything unfolded just as he had predicted.
After persuading twelve other supremely talented cultivators to serve as his aides, Xuantian King swept away all resistance within a few short years, crushing all opposition with irresistible force.
With himself as the supreme leader and the twelve as his Law Kings, he established the Xuantian Sect, which held absolute dominion over the Xuanhuang Realm.
All life in the Xuanhuang Realm submitted to his rule.
The Floating Starry Sky Grand Array was constructed with an unprecedented, staggering efficiency.
It began to successfully capture and conquer other worlds.
The speed of the coordinate drift began to slow.
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction.
Xuantian King could almost see a bright future, a future where the Xuanhuang Realm had escaped its doom.
But the arrival of an uninvited guest shattered his grand design.
The moment a strange purple aura appeared in the Xuanhuang Realm, Xuantian King faintly sensed its origin.
An incompletely tempered half-immortal body, fragmented and impure immortal energy.
It had to be a cultivator who, like him, had managed to escape the collapse of the ascension path.
Xuantian King was naturally wary of the arrival of this evenly matched rival.
But the other party claimed to be merely passing through, intending to stay for only a short time before departing.
A battle between two half-immortals would inflict irreparable wounds upon the Xuanhuang Realm.
After long and careful deliberation, Xuantian King chose not to act.
He never imagined that this decision would sow the seeds of a future catastrophe.
While the Floating Starry Sky Grand Array captured a new world and Xuantian King was away leading the campaign, an opportunity arose.
The being who called himself the Tiandu Grandmaster lured numerous native cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm into his dojo.
There, he imparted to them countless cultivation techniques, secret arts, and divine abilities.
Upon his triumphant return, Xuantian King instantly grasped his rival's scheme.
He intended to use these cultivators to undermine the rule of the Xuantian Sect.
He would fan the flames of rebellion, let the cultivators rise up, and then, once both sides were grievously wounded, he would swoop in to harvest the spoils.
His ultimate prize, of course, was the immortal energy within Xuantian King's own body.
But how could Xuantian King allow him to succeed?
He immediately charged into Tiandu and engaged the Grandmaster in a fierce battle.
Though he suffered minor injuries, his opponent's wounds were far more severe. The Grandmaster grew quiet and withdrawn after that.
However, the man stubbornly refused to leave, and Xuantian King had no effective way to force him out.
Fearing his cornered foe might do something desperate, Xuantian King decided to simply ignore him.
From the battle, he had also gained a faint inkling of a new possibility.
With the sliver of immortal energy he had seized from his opponent, he might be able to reforge a True Immortal's body right there in the lower realm.
If he could succeed, he could infuse the array with the power of a True Immortal, drastically reducing the resources required for its activation.
The Xuanhuang Realm could then escape its crisis much, much sooner.
But Xuantian King had still underestimated the depravity of some cultivators.
Or perhaps, he had underestimated the Tiandu Grandmaster's insidious power of persuasion.
At the critical moment, when everything was on the verge of turning for the best, those cultivators who had once entered Tiandu banded together.
They launched a surprise attack on the Xuantian Sect.
From that day forward, the history of the Xuanhuang Realm veered onto an entirely different course.
...
Recalling the events of those distant years, the young man's expression grew hazy.
He lifted his gaze, as if he could see that terrifying, all-consuming presence that pulled everything into its maw.
"Thousands of years have passed," he murmured. "Is it already upon us?"
Comments