A moment later, the Immortal Sovereign’s figure vanished from this space. The World Tree did not accept his soul to grant him rebirth. Perhaps it was because his soul was already emanating a thick, dark aura. He was beyond redemption—so much so that even the World Tree refused to show him any mercy. 

Wen Jue bent down, picked up the ‘scroll’ that had fallen from his embrace, and turned to say to Qin Zhou, “Qin Zhou, isn’t this what happens when a boss drops loot?”

Qin Zhou froze for a moment. Only then did he realize that Wen Jue had known the true nature of this world much sooner than he had anticipated. Noticing Qin Zhou’s expression, Wen Jue smiled. “It’s just that you’ve never hidden anything from us.”

Whenever the Village Chief took him out to challenge the secret realm, he’d often mutter something about loot drops and probabilities…He just couldn’t see Qin Zhou’s face—he could still hear what he was saying. Qin Zhou looked at the others and saw the other villagers nodding in unison. Instantly, Qin Zhou sighed: “Let’s clean up the battlefield.”

The commotion on the mountain startled all the ordinary people in the lower realm. Perhaps those fighting on the mountain hadn’t noticed, but to the mortals of the lower realm, the spectacle was terrifying. 

They couldn’t see what was happening inside the mountain, but they saw a gaping fissure open up, through which countless outsiders poured in. Some curious onlookers tried to approach the mountain, only to be stopped by a group of sword cultivators clad in black-and-white martial robes. The strange phenomenon lasted nearly ten days. 

Finally, that terrifying-looking fissure closed once more.

“Master, is the battle over?” the people of Ping City couldn’t help but ask aloud. Song Juming, the head of the Sword Sect, stood right in the center and said in a deep voice, “Even if it’s over, you must not go up the mountain.”

The crowd shrank back.

“Senior Brother, it really does seem to be over.” Jiang Huan looked up; the dark clouds had completely dissipated. The portal had been sealed, which meant they must have won. Lu Xiao was slumped over the table, looking utterly unconcerned. “Dad and the others wouldn’t lose.”

“It’s a good thing they didn’t lose. But…” Song Juming glanced at the countless ordinary people in front of him, all eager for a spectacle, and felt a headache coming on. “Now that the barrier to the lower realm has vanished, how are mortals and cultivators supposed to coexist?”

He tended to think further ahead than others.

“If the sky falls, the elders will be there to hold it up.” Lu Xiao curved his lips. “Senior Brother, you’re just overthinking things. You’re so young, yet you look so gloomy.”

Song Juming: “……”

If Lu Xiao weren’t his Master’s own son, he’d really like to… …

Song Juming still found it hard to wrap his head around the fact that he was now, in a sense, the Senior Brother of the Demon Sect’s Sect Master. Jiang Huan sat down beside him and chuckled, “Senior Brother, I think Lu Xiao’s right about this. The realms won’t collapse—and even if they did, our Master and the others would hold them up. Just relax. Don’t frown like that.” 

Song Juming: ?

Song Juming looked at Jiang Huan, then at Lu Xiao. Sure enough, once a junior brother leaves the sect, he’s as good as gone.  

Just as the group was chatting idly, suddenly, a powerful surge of spiritual energy, like a churning sea, rolled down from the mountain. Lu Xiao snapped his head up. The disciples of the Sword Sect all looked in that direction as well. What is this…

“Uncle Wen has opened the barrier around the small village,” Lu Xiao said.“What do you mean?” Jiang Huan asked, bewildered.

“The spiritual energy of the World Tree will completely flood the entire lower realm.”

“Then what about these mortals…” Lu Xiao curled his lips. 

“It depends on who has the best destiny—who can handle this sudden windfall.”

The World Tree has regrown, and spiritual energy has revived. It won’t be long before there is no longer a distinction between mortals and cultivators in this world. Everyone will have an equal opportunity to embark on the path of cultivation!……

With the death of the Immortal Sovereign of the Hongyun Realm and the simultaneous drop of the divine artifact, all portals connecting to other realms have closed. This also signifies that the era of plunder in the game universe has come to a complete end.

“So, what is the purpose of that divine artifact?”

“It’s used to establish portals between different realms,” Qin Zhou explained. As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. If all worlds had united from the very beginning, perhaps they could have found a way to save themselves. At the very least, if the Hongyun Realm hadn’t used this to plunder other worlds back then, but instead connected them under the Village Chief’s leadership, they might not have failed to find a way to revive the World Tree. 

Unfortunately, the Immortal Sovereign of the Hongyun Realm acted on his own…Of course, these were all speculations; Qin Zhou had no way of verifying the exact details.

“Now that it is in your hands, how do you plan to use it?” Wen Jue asked. 

Qin Zhou smiled. “I don’t know yet.”

The Book of Civilization’s Evolution has already recorded over twenty worlds. The Hongyun Realm is prominently listed among them. Although he couldn’t produce over a hundred and ten World Fruit seeds, he still had over twenty.

“What do you think—should we save them, or not?” Qin Zhou asked Wen Jue in return. Wen Jue: “Save them.” 

He said it almost without hesitation. Why was he so adamant?

“The Plunderers are our enemies, but the others aren’t, right? Besides, there are still so many people alive.”

“With the Floating Pagoda, saving so many people will count as merit for you, won’t it?” Qin Zhou didn’t answer immediately. Merit, huh.

“I don’t need merit. I’m just an ordinary person; I’ve never thought of becoming a saint.” Qin Zhou smiled. 

Wen Jue: “Then you’d still save them.”

“If I were willing?”

“Yes.”

Qin Zhou remained silent, merely looking at him, as if waiting for an explanation.

“Before, didn’t you take us in out of pity?” Wen Jue snorted twice. “Of course, that was then and this is now. If you don’t want to save them, I won’t force you to.”

Just as Qin Zhou had said, he wasn’t going to become a saint anyway, so why force himself into the role of a saint?

“To me, this is just a game. How do you know I brought everyone back out of pity, and not because you were characters I needed?” Qin Zhou asked him with a smile.

“… I don’t know.” Wen Jue glanced at him. “But I have eyes to see.”

Qin Zhou sighed, no longer dwelling on the issue. “If I have to go from world to world planting World Trees for them, it’ll take forever.”

World Trees require Level 7 Spirit Fields to grow. Over a hundred worlds—he was already feeling exhausted before he’d even started. 

Even in a simulation game, repeating the same steps over and over makes it hard to feel any sense of accomplishment. 

Hearing Qin Zhou say this, Wen Jue wasn’t happy either. After all, Qin Zhou was his partner—what was the point of him spending all day fussing over someone else’s barren land?

“Let them plant it themselves! Screw them! In a world this big, can’t they find a single person who knows how to farm and be the protagonist?”

Qin Zhou gave it some serious thought. “You’ve got a point.”

Just as the two were talking, Xiao Yibai’s voice suddenly rang out—“Village Chief, it’s bad!!”

They both turned to see Xiao Yibai rushing over. “After Big Brother opened the village’s barrier, spiritual energy poured out. Now there’s more spiritual energy in the lower realm than in our realm. Plus, the barrier between the realms is gone, so all the realm cultivators are rushing down to the lower realm.”

“What’s the problem? Have the Realm cultivators attacked the common folk?” Wen Jue frowned; he had clearly instructed Lu Er and Lu Qi to have the Sword Sect take charge and protect the common people. 

Qin Zhou frowned as well. If anyone were truly taking advantage of the lower realm’s barrier being down to wreak havoc among mortals, then a stern warning would indeed be necessary.

“No, that’s not it!” Xiao Yibai exclaimed anxiously. “Big Brother, that’s not it. There are so many Realm Cultivators here—they’re here to see the Village Chief!”

Wen Jue: ?

Qin Zhou: ?

“Have you forgotten? The Village of Zhu Xiaoshan—Qin Zhou, the Savior!” Xiao Yibai was at a loss for words, “Now that the barrier is gone, our village stands out too much. With the World Tree here, the spiritual energy is too strong. Everyone’s guessing if our village is the legendary Small Cultivation Village.”

“Plus, we fought so hard in the lower realm, quite a few cultivators saw us repel those from another world! Anyway, now that so many cultivators have arrived, they’re chasing after the Sword Sect disciples to ask about the Village Chief!”

“If it weren’t for Second Brother standing there with a cold expression, those cultivators would probably have swarmed the mountain in droves!”

With Second Brother blocking them, she was able to rush back to report the news. 

Qin Zhou: “……”

This is bad. Just the thought of a server-wide debacle gave him a headache.

“I’m leaving first,” Qin Zhou said solemnly.

“You can run, but you can’t hide.” Wen Jue grabbed Qin Zhou’s hand, cutting off his attempt to slip away. 

Qin Zhou: “……”

“What’s wrong with letting them see you? You saved the Zhutian Realm. From now on, they’ll be cultivating using the spiritual energy you recovered—you deserve their respect.” Wen Jue couldn’t understand why Qin Zhou wanted to run. 

He’d seen people who’d do anything to claim credit for themselves, but he’d never seen anyone so desperate to escape.

“Right now, the World Trees in other realms are withering, making it impossible to connect to them. For at least the next thousand years, I don’t plan to open the Secret Realm.” 

Qin Zhou paused, then said bluntly, “Besides, I don’t want to have to use a Face Washing Pill every time I go out with you, or have our kiss spread far and wide.”

Wen Jue had to think about the first part, but after hearing the second, he said frankly, “… You have a point.”

“Mm.”

“Then… shall we go?”

“Let’s go.”

The two vanished from Xiao Yibai’s sight in an instant. 

Xiao Yibai: “…”

Uh. What about her? She’d go down the mountain now to tell Second Brother and Seventh Brother that the Village Chief and Big Brother had run away. Would she get beaten up?

Xiao Yibai trudged back with a long face. When she turned around, she bumped into Lu Shi, who was waiting for her at the village entrance. She immediately ran up to him, whimpering—“Brother Lu Shi!”

“What’s wrong?” Lu Shi smiled wryly. Seeing no one behind Xiao Yibai, he guessed what had happened. “The Village Chief and Big Brother ran away?”

Xiao Yibai nodded vigorously. Lu Shi ruffled her hair. “Just tell them the truth. Second Brother won’t give you a hard time.”

“I guess so.”

Qin Zhou and Wen Jue didn’t actually shirk their responsibilities. No sooner had Xiao Yibai and Lu Shi reached the foot of the mountain than a server-wide announcement appeared before everyone’s eyes—【World Tree Reborn, Spiritual Energy Revived. The Secret Realm will reopen in one thousand years.】

The cultivators who had been crowding into the mountains all stopped in their tracks. Ah, the Secret Realm isn’t opening again.

“This is so annoying. It’s fine as long as the spiritual energy has revived, right?” ” Lu Qi slammed Lu Er’s sword down on the table ahead of him and snapped angrily, “Now that the spiritual energy has revived, why don’t you all just scram back to your own caves and cultivate properly? The Secret Realm won’t open for another thousand years—don’t come wailing about not making the rankings then! Anyone who pushes forward, I’ll use them to test my sword first!”

Startled by this roar, the cultivators all froze. Come to think of it… he has a point. Whether the Secret Realm opens or not, or who the Savior is—none of that seems as important as the revival of spiritual energy. 

So… should they go?

Before long, after hearing his warning, most of the cultivators actually left. Lu Qi wiped his nose and said proudly, “My deterrent power is still the strongest.”

Lu Er stood behind him, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“The Grand Master of the Demon Sect and the Cangyun Sword Immortal really are a pair, aren’t they!” The remaining cultivators murmured among themselves.

“It’s practically fanfiction material.”

“Waaah, I was rooting for the two demons back then!”

Hearing this, Lu Qi’s expression darkened. This isn’t good. Sure enough, Lu Er’s hand had already slipped stealthily onto his waist. 

Lu Qi: “Hey… They’re just talking!”

Lu Er remained silent. He didn’t care.