Qin Zhou and the others stood guard at the entrance to the portal for a full three days.

There were ten waves of people in total.

None of these ten waves came from the same world.

As for the portal, it had been opened by a powerful being from the Hongyun Realm.

“In worlds both large and small, very few are capable of creating portals that connect one world to another. To make it easier to plunder other worlds, people usually ask that great power from the Hongyun Realm for help… or, as in this case, use a pre-established portal—we simply pay a portion of our Spirit Marrow to gain the opportunity to travel through it.”

As for whether you live or die after teleporting, or how much loot you obtain, that all depends on your own skill.

Most raiders wouldn’t even bother with a small world like the Spirit Mountain Realm; those who come are few and far between. Who would have thought that this Spirit Mountain Realm would turn out to be such a tough nut to crack?

Why on earth would this tiny, insignificant little world still have a living Heavenly Dao?

The man clung to life, staring at Qin Zhou, too terrified to speak.

Everyone listened, quickly committing one name to memory—

Hongyun Realm.

“Has that world called Hongyun existed for many years?” Old Four asked, pointing his halberd at the man.

The man had long since been terrified by the sight of everyone around him being wiped out; now, no matter who asked him, he answered: “Yes, they—they are the strongest world among all cultivation realms. The practice of plundering was started by them.”

“Since you form your own world, why would you plunder others’ worlds and cause such suffering? Aren’t you afraid of accumulating heavy karmic debts? Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to ascend?” Xiao Liu furrowed her brows; her gentle features took on a stern look.

The man froze for a moment. “Ascend?”

“W-what are you talking about!” Seeing that Xiao Liu wasn’t as fierce as Old Four, the man dropped his subservient demeanor. “Ascension? Who would even dare to seek ascension anymore! In a world where the World Tree has withered, ascension is simply impossible!”

“The Plunderers are merely clinging to life!”

“We just want to live longer than others—what’s wrong with that! The only mistake is that you’re weaker than us!”

“That’s just the way things are—the strong reign supreme, and the fittest survive. That’s the law of the universe!”

No sooner had he finished his impromptu rant than Lao Si’s halberd jabbed against his windpipe. “Who’s weaker than you?”

The man flinched instantly, no longer daring to speak loudly.

Qin Zhou and Wen Jue exchanged a glance, sensing something unusual in the other’s words.

“Every world has withered away?” Qin Zhou asked in a low voice.

The man was taken aback by Qin Zhou’s question. “Of course. These days, what living world is left?” As he spoke, a hint of melancholy crept onto the cultivator’s face. “If only there were truly living worlds left. Then we wouldn’t have to count down the days until our own demise.”

“But you’re here to seize the World Tree.”

“Even a withering World Tree still retains some residual energy. If the World Tree were completely dead, there wouldn’t be a cross-world mode to begin with.” The cultivator’s expression shifted. “What’s going on with you lot, though… Did I say something strange? Why are you all staring at me like that…”

The World Tree of the Zhutian Realm has withered completely. That’s why the Tongtian Rankings no longer have a matchmaking mode. People from other worlds have only visited once, thousands of years ago.

Is this the truth of the world?

The crowd remained silent.

Only Qin Zhou asked, “Did your original world also begin with a small mountain village?”

The man paused, taken aback. “Everyone starts with a small mountain village.” He shrugged. “Are you also wondering if I know where your village chief went?”

“Don’t even think about it; he’s not coming back. Once the Village Chief vanished, the World Tree began to wither. Your little world will meet the same fate as ours.” As he spoke these words, a hint of nostalgia flickered in his eyes. “But he didn’t really vanish—he just abandoned us.”

With the Village Chief—the protagonist—gone, the World Tree withered, spiritual energy dried up, and the world faced collapse. In the end, cultivators could only count the days until the spiritual energy ran out—and until they died.

The group of pill-shaped little people fell silent.

The village chiefs of other worlds had also vanished. Their World Trees had withered as well. Everyone shared the same fate as the Zhutian Realm. The only difference was that their village chief had returned…

Qin Zhou, however, had come to understand something even deeper.

It could be understood that every world in this universe was, in fact, a save file of players within the game “Small Cultivation Mountain Village.”

And the original cross-world mode was, in fact, the “Tongtian Rankings.”

Players from different worlds, each with their own characters, competed across servers. This was the original form of the Tongtian Rankings.

As for the raiders before them, some were villagers like Wen Jue and his group, while others were natives of a particular world.

As time passed, players logged out of the game. Or, due to the game’s servers shutting down, players were forced to leave.

From then on, each saved world lost its “protagonist.” Consequently, the World Tree withered, and the cultivators, having nowhere to turn, began searching for ways to save themselves.

Some methods, like those adopted by Lu Yi and his group, involved periodically eliminating corrupt cultivators to lighten the world’s burden. Others took the form of raiding other worlds, becoming “strangers from another world.”

The latter was extreme and radical.

Qin Zhou could not judge whether this was good or bad, nor did he wish to.

The other was a plunderer; he was the one being plundered. From this standpoint, he could not let the other go.

“Fourth Brother, strike.”

“Yes.” Lu Si raised his halberd. Seeing fear flicker across the man’s face, he smiled. “Don’t worry. We made a deal—I’ll give you a quick end.”

The long halberd came down, slicing across the man’s abdomen.

The motion was clean and decisive. In an instant, a soul drifted out of the body and dispersed into the air.

It wasn’t vanishing—it was reincarnating.

Reincarnation in the Spirit Mountain Realm was far better than counting down the days until one’s own death.

“Thank goodness the village chief returned. Otherwise… we might have met the same fate as them,” a villager murmured suddenly.

Who could argue with that?

Wen Jue felt a deep resonance with those words.

For thousands of years, he had been plagued by inner demons. If, after the Yinhe had torn open the heavens that day, the Heavenly Dao hadn’t retrieved Qin Zhou’s soul, who knows? Given enough time, he might have become just as hideous.

“But the World Tree of the Spirit Mountain Realm shows no signs of withering,” Shisi suddenly interjected.

Qin Zhou: “The Spirit Mountain Realm was an accident.”

When he was in the car accident, he had all the data on the Spirit Mountain Realm with him. When Xiao Lu pulled him into the Zhutian Realm, the Spirit Mountain Realm was also pulled into this game universe, “Small Cultivation Mountain Village.”

After that, Yan Qi also arrived here, becoming the protagonist of this world and the reason the World Tree remained alive.

Consequently, the Spirit Mountain Realm became the only small world in this game universe to possess a living World Tree. The World Tree of the Spirit Mountain Realm would become the only way to save the Multiverse.

So, a question arises.

Was Yan Qi’s arrival here also related to Xiao Lu?

When Xiao Lu pulled him over, did he also bring along the Spirit Mountain Realm and Yan Qi?

This could no longer be called a coincidence.

“The sentient Dao is playing a massive game of chess,” Qin Zhou said calmly. Even he was merely a pawn in that game.

Hearing Qin Zhou’s mutter, Wen Jue clenched his fists tighter.

In that instant, he suddenly understood why Qin Zhou had said that the Heavenly Dao could no longer be trusted.

“A sentient Dao would defend the world against invaders from other realms,” Wen Jue said gravely. 

“But when the Zhutian Realm was invaded by those from other worlds, the Heavenly Dao didn’t even strike a single bolt of lightning to help.”

So, in the eyes of the sentient Heavenly Dao, his fellow disciples from the Lu family were also targets to be eliminated.

To everyone else, that battle meant the deaths of over thirty family members. But in the eyes of the Dao, it was the death of over thirty Transcendent Realm cultivators—surely the spiritual pressure on the Zhutian Realm must have eased considerably.

Qin Zhou noticed a flicker of hatred in his eyes and squeezed Wen Jue’s hand. “Don’t dwell on that now.”

Wen Jue pressed his lips together.

“Seal the portal.”

“Are we just going to let the Hongyun Realm off like that?” If only certain individuals could construct portals between worlds, did that mean the Hongyun Realm was also complicit in the original invasion of the Multiverse?

Qin Zhou shook his head. “Now is not the time to confront the Hongyun Realm.”

A powerful being capable of constructing portals between worlds… and a mighty realm that has risen above the multitude of plunderers.

Even Qin Zhou would have to think carefully about how to deal with them.

Once he left the Spirit Mountain Realm, he was merely a low-level Nascent Soul cultivator. Qin Zhou was well aware of this.

Far beyond the Spirit Mountain Realm, in the legendary Hongyun Realm, people were also buzzing with speculation about this suddenly appearing small world.

“Immortal Venerable, there’s something off about that small world. Are you just going to let those people go there?”

“Indeed, Immortal Venerable. How many years has it been since a small world appeared on the cosmic map? Though it is small, we cannot help but feel there is something peculiar about it.”

Looking up, within this corner of space, there lay a vast celestial map.

Each star represented a world.

And within this map, some stars were gradually fading to gray, even vanishing.

One day, the Hongyun Realm would also vanish completely from this celestial map.

But even if it were to vanish, the Hongyun Realm would surely be the last star to disappear.

On the high platform, the one called the Immortal Sovereign sat upon his throne, gently stroking the armrest. “Never mind. If there truly is something amiss, they won’t return alive.”

Suddenly, he sensed something.

Those lifeless eyes suddenly came alive.

“Immortal Sovereign, what is it?”

He rose slowly to his feet. “The portal to that small world has been closed.”

He didn’t say it had simply closed; he said it had been closed by someone.

The crowd below the high platform stared in disbelief, as if all were asking—how could this be?

The Immortal Sovereign’s portal—it’s impossible for it to be closed by someone!

Who could possess such power?

“Interesting. Very interesting.” A hint of delight flashed in the Immortal Sovereign’s eyes.

This small world is, indeed, no ordinary small world.

There was a powerhouse—one capable of unilaterally shutting down his portal. He hadn’t encountered such a powerhouse in thousands of years.

“Immortal Sovereign, perhaps I should lead a group to thoroughly investigate this small world?” From below the platform, a man stepped forward, sword in hand. He stood with hands clasped, a tall, burly figure who was clearly a seasoned warrior.

“Portals aren’t that easy to establish,” the Immortal Sovereign waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s discuss it once I’ve rested sufficiently.”

As long as that miniature world still exists, he will meet that person.

Hearing this, the man with the sword felt somewhat stifled, but ultimately dared not say anything. He merely replied, “Yes.”

Only after the Immortal Sovereign had swept his robe and departed did someone offer a word of caution—

“I know you’re a warrior, but don’t be rash. A powerhouse capable of sealing the Immortal Sovereign’s portal is no ordinary foe.”

The man with the sword paid it no mind; in fact, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. “Then I’d love to have a go at him!”

The swordsman ran his fingers along the hilt of his blade; the indentation on it clearly formed the character “Si.”