Chapter 1406: Chapter 18: Suppressing Evil

"A thousand years. Perhaps even longer."

Xie Xuanyi gazed deep into the grand hall and murmured, "The Ancestor Saint Emperor... has already embraced eternal slumber beyond the world..."

Unexpectedly.

At the end of the grand hall, there was deathly silence, no disrespectful reprimands, no furious rebuttals.

There was only silence.

Indeed.

Who in this world can escape death?

Even if invincible in the world, ultimately bound by the iron rule of life and death...

Falling, silent annihilation, this is the fate of everyone.

"Ultimately unable to escape."

Another long sigh.

That low voice chuckled, "Since the Holy Emperor has fallen, is the outside world still alright?"

"Not very well, just that... everyone is still alive."

Xie Xuanyi slowly said, "After the Great Tribulation, Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi is depleted. If not for the flourishing era of Qi Fortune, only one Yang God can be born every 60 years. As for Heavenly Humans, they haven’t appeared in a long time; it’s an almost unattainable realm."

"..."

The upper part of the grand hall fell into silence.

"What?"

Hong Er listened in surprise, "Only one Yang God every 60 years... is it true that there are no cultivators at the Heavenly Human Realm outside?"

A thousand years ago, this would have been unimaginable disaster.

In those days, major sects and great holy lands all had Heavenly Humans in command!

Not to mention, the world even birthed beings like the Holy Emperor at the peak of Heavenly Human existence!

"Let’s say it is."

Xie Xuanyi responded very calmly.

Looking at it from the rules of a thousand years ago, even at Zhao Chunyang’s peak, he wouldn’t count as purely "Heavenly Human Realm."

The Pure Yang Sect Leader, who wields the Sword Origin River, barely counted as a half-step Heavenly Human.

It’s not that the cultivators today have weakened.

Rather, it’s the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi limitation, the difficulty of Condensing Dao in the current era has multiplied severalfold compared to the past.

"Is Great Ape Mountain still there?"

Big Brother Hong Er didn’t care about these matters and instead raised another question.

"Great Ape Mountain remains the number one holy land in the world."

Xie Xuanyi said, "The Holy Emperor is still among the strongest of the world."

"That’s good then..."

The grand hall echoed with a sigh of relief.

"Great Ape Mountain is still there."

"It seems... this grand hall is settled."

"Apologies, I have a question."

Xie Xuanyi couldn’t help but speak, looking around earnestly, "What was the so-called Great Tribulation of a thousand years ago? What is the Holy Emperor and this grand hall suppressing?"

This question had troubled Xie Xuanyi for a long time.

He always wanted an answer.

From the Boundary Stele of the Primordial Swallowing Sacred Realm, Xie Xuanyi obtained part of the answer.

The Bai Ze Great Saint perished in opposition to the Heavenly Dao.

So then...

Is the Heavenly Dao related to the outside filth?

"You don’t know?"

Hong Er asked in confusion.

He manifested the Transformation Divine Form, condensed into a human figure, a tall man clad in golden War Intent, sitting cross-legged in suspension, looking at Xie Xuanyi in surprise.

When a Magic Artifact is cultivated to this point, it can condense a Divine Thought form.

This place was originally an Imagination World.

Hong Er’s form was quite imposing and handsome.

"The ancient history of a thousand years ago has been destroyed, it’s hard to find records."

Xie Xuanyi shook his head, "And now... the cultivators who know of the ’Great Tribulation’ are few and far between..."

"A thousand years later, it has become like this..."

Hong Er sighed deeply, "The Great Tribulation of a thousand years ago was the collapse of Primordial Qi caused by the rotation of the Heavenly Dao. Whether it was Great Ape Mountain, Heavenly Phoenix Palace, or Ancient Dragon Court, they all needed someone to prove the Dao, achieve True Immortal, and with their own Perfect Cave Heaven, shelter the great cultivators and repair the flaws of Heaven and Earth. The omen of this Great Tribulation appeared during the Qi Fortune’s most flourishing Golden Era, ultimately, there were more than a dozen Heavenly Humans acting together to ’repair the heavens.’

"Repairing the heavens..."

Xie Xuanyi’s expression grew stern.

The events that followed were known to all.

"Clearly, ’repairing the heavens’ ultimately failed."

Hong Er said sadly, "Trying to ascend to the True Immortal Realm requires a price; repairing the heavens consumed a large amount of Primordial Qi, not only failing to save this world, but instead making the fissure in the Heavenly Dao larger. This is why you all now find it difficult even to advance to the Yang God Realm... In the future, Primordial Qi will only become less and less..."

"Then the Holy Emperor is seated here..."

Xie Xuanyi couldn’t help but ask again, "Because of failed ascension?"

"Actually, what you call ’Great Tribulation’ is just a ’minor tribulation...’"

Hong Er smiled bleakly and sighed, "The disaster that the Holy Emperor and this Primordial Immortal Hall are suppressing is the real Great Tribulation!"

"Between Heaven and Earth, even though Primordial Qi is depleted, it doesn’t immediately threaten life."

"So many Heavenly Humans, each one can bring out their own Sacred Realm, safeguarding their disciples and descendants for a period."

"At the beginning, the Holy Emperor gathered many Heavenly Humans and decided to deliberate at length... repairing the heavens was not urgent, but unexpectedly, a mysterious living entity appeared between heaven and earth..."

At this point.

Xie Xuanyi’s brow furrowed slightly.

His Heart Lake felt a faint sense of unease.

"These mysterious living entities are extremely difficult to kill and numerous."

Hong Er paused, speaking solemnly, "Initially, there were merely dozens... but later, more and more appeared, eventually becoming uncontrollable. To kill them requires extremely pure Great Dao Intent; for a time, the Four Realms chaos erupted, forcing Heavenly Human realm cultivators to use their Sacred Realm to barely manage to curb their growth."

"The Holy Emperor referred to these filthy beings as ’shadows.’

"The Holy Emperor said this is a more painful ’Great Tribulation’ than the ’collapse of Primordial Qi.’ Whatever the cost, all these ’shadows’ must be eliminated..."

With that.

Hong Er lowered his gaze, a look of sorrow and determination upon his face.

"Thus, the Holy Emperor moved the Primordial Immortal Hall to this place."

"To personally guard the grand hall."

"Because beneath the throne is the Earth Abyss where the ’shadows’ connect to this realm..."

Hong Er’s voice trembled.

"The Holy Emperor didn’t participate in the ’repairing the heavens’ battle back then; since once he left, the Primordial Immortal Hall would fall. Compared to the collapse of Primordial Qi, the disaster caused by shadow invasion is even more terrifying."

With the collapse of Primordial Qi, there are at least living creatures that can survive in between heaven and earth.

After a thousand years.

In these two worlds, some extraordinary great cultivators ultimately emerged.

But if shadows were to proliferate...

Then an entire world would be devoured and fragmented.

Xie Xuanyi stood silently before the Bronze Drum Seat.

The truth he pursued for so long, the ancient history buried a thousand years ago, was finally revealed in this high-earth grand hall. At this moment, Xie Xuanyi felt no relief, instead only growing heavier in spirit.

The rustling sound.

Xie Xuanyi waved his sleeve, manipulating Sword Qi to piece together the shadow image of Sand Mountain.

"Senior..."

"The ’shadows’ you mentioned earlier..."

"Is it these things?"