Chapter Bonanza (7/10)

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“I’m the one who caused the deaths of Fourth Brother and the others,” Wen Jue said, thinking to himself that it wasn’t as hard to say as he’d expected.

Of course, perhaps having his feelings acknowledged by this person had given him a little more confidence.

He glanced at Qin Zhou. Seeing that he showed no reaction, he slowly began to recount the past.

“It was about seven thousand years ago…”

That was roughly a thousand years after Qin Zhou had disappeared.

By then, everyone had accepted the fact that the village chief was gone, but the village still stood. The Lu siblings had all reached the Spirit Transformation Stage on average.

It all began after Lu Yi broke through the Union Stage.

“When I broke through the Union Realm, the spiritual energy within a hundred-li radius was completely depleted. It took many years, but it never fully recovered,” Wen Jue said with a light chuckle. “That’s when we realized that the growth of spiritual energy across the Multiverse had come to a standstill. Just the hundred members of the Lu family alone required an enormous amount of spiritual energy for their annual cultivation…”

Every bit of spiritual energy used is a bit lost.

If spiritual energy were to vanish, what would this world become? Wen Jue had never experienced it, so he could only imagine roughly—if spiritual energy disappeared, their cultivation would all come to a halt.

The endless lifespans of cultivators would eventually come to an end.

Perhaps they would all eventually become ordinary mortals, reentering the cycle of reincarnation every hundred years.

It didn’t sound all that terrifying.

But at that moment, the Heavenly Dao made its presence known.

It made it clear to everyone.

Once the spiritual energy vanished, what awaited the people of the Multiverse would be the collapse of the world.

Lu Yi could not help but believe it, nor did he dare to doubt it.

“In search of a new source of spiritual energy, we’ve tried many methods. But none have succeeded. The village that once sustained the cultivation of over a hundred brothers of the Lu family has now withered and become barren, as if all its vitality had been drained.”

It wasn’t just the village; even places farther away were affected.

Wherever cultivators existed, spiritual energy was consumed at an even greater rate.

The Lower Realm of today is, in fact, the entire cultivation world of yesteryear. Yet after thousands of years, it is now nearly impossible to glimpse even a fraction of the world’s former abundance of spiritual energy.

“The Upper Realm we inhabit now is the place we later discovered,” Wen Jue said softly. “Though, strictly speaking, we didn’t exactly ‘discover’ it.”

“We fought to reclaim it.”

The Tongtian Secret Realm.

The village chief used to take them to the Tongtian Secret Realm often. Lu Yi knew that the Tongtian Secret Realm opened at irregular intervals every few hundred years. As long as they defeated their opponents, they could obtain many valuable rewards.

“The Heavenly Dao told me that as long as we could win the Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm, there would still be a glimmer of hope. Of course, we won, and in return, we received a new tract of land within the Secret Realm, rich with spiritual energy. We didn’t ask for anything else—just a piece of land large enough to sustain us.” Wen Jue lowered his gaze. “That is the Upper Realm you see now.”

Qin Zhou listened intently. The Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm was, in fact, the Heaven-Reaching Arena. As long as one achieved a high ranking, the Heaven-Reaching Arena would bestow generous rewards. What Lu Yi and the others received was likely new, expanded territory.

“Just as we were basking in the glory of having secured a glimmer of hope for this world,” Wen Jue’s lips curled into a mocking smile, “the Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm vanished.”

“We waited another thousand years after that, but it never reappeared. ”

Qin Zhou’s heart sank.

The Sky-Reaching Arena’s disappearance… perhaps it was related to the game’s shutdown.

“Left with no choice, I struck a deal with the Heavenly Dao to establish a seal between the Lower Realm and the Upper Realm. This served to reduce the number of cultivators in the Upper Realm while protecting the lives of mortals in the Lower Realm.”

He bore the burden of infamy, resorting to any means necessary and slaughtering countless beings. Even though everyone understood he had no choice, he still drifted further and further apart from the fellow disciples he had grown up with.

Lu Qi stood by his side, establishing the Demon Sect to provide cover for him.

“It was probably another few hundred years later. The portal to the Tongtian Secret Realm reappeared, and everyone was overjoyed.” A flicker of pain crossed Wen Jue’s eyes. “That time, I led Old Four and the others there.”

“But on that trip, something went wrong…”

That portal was nearly identical to the one leading to the Tongtian Secret Realm.

Yet when it opened, it wasn’t the Tongtian Secret Realm he knew.

Inside the teleportation tunnel, people were advancing toward their Multiverse.

Those people had built the portal.

Their goal was to annex and plunder their Multiverse.

But Lu Yi and his group had arrived in the tunnel one step ahead of them.

Wave after wave.

They wiped out one wave, only for another to follow.

Listening to Wen Jue’s description, Qin Zhou never imagined that after the game had shut down, such a scenario would still be unfolding in this world.

From a player’s perspective, this kind of situation was actually quite common.

Many games incorporate a “plunder” system.

Take, for example, a cultivation game Qin Zhou had once played, where players built their own sects. Once they grew powerful enough, options to compete for and annex other factions would appear.

If this were a game, it might be a mere formality for players—a simple click of the mouse, and the conquest would be complete.

But for such a scenario to unfold in a cultivation world like this one… it was simply too cruel.

……

Along the way, Lu Yi had considered retreating.

But he couldn’t.

Those opponents were all powerhouses at the Spirit Transformation Stage or higher.

They hadn’t retreated. Nor could they.

If they retreated, the battlefield would no longer be this teleportation tunnel, but the Multiverse behind them—a realm already unable to withstand further devastation. Even if they did retreat, the only ones capable of fighting them would be the hundred members of the Lu family.

On Lu Yi’s side, aside from him being at the Union Realm, everyone else was at the Spirit Transformation Realm. Even the Fourth Brother had suppressed his cultivation due to a lack of spiritual energy, remaining at the late Spirit Transformation Realm.

Two fists cannot fight four hands.

In the end, the thirty-odd people fought a desperate battle within the tunnel for who knows how many days before finally eliminating every last one of those creatures. The tunnel was left littered with mountains of corpses.

What was even more terrifying was that they had no idea how many more enemies lay ahead in the depths of that dark tunnel.

Lu Yi seized the right moment and led everyone to safety.

He gave it his all to seal the teleportation portal.

But… he couldn’t save the others’ lives.

“I couldn’t bear to let them reincarnate, yet I lacked the power to bring them back from the dead. So, I had no choice but to preserve them within the barrier stones.”

As for the rest…

No one could accept the sudden loss of so many fellow disciples.

No one cursed Lu Yi. But the sobs of Xiao Yibai and the others pierced Lu Yi’s heart like knives.

They hated themselves for not having gone with him.

Because Big Brother always managed to bring everyone back from the Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm, holding in his hands something capable of saving the world.

Big Brother was always the greatest.

But this time, with thirty-five members of the Lu family having perished, no one could trust Big Brother unconditionally anymore.

Qin Zhou listened, gripping Wen Jue’s trembling hand.

“They said they were going to fight those people to the death in that teleportation tunnel. I stopped them.” Wen Jue lowered his gaze. “Fight to the death? Isn’t it enough that so many have already died?”

“No one listened to me. Because of this, Second Brother even tried to strike me with his sword.” Wen Jue gave a bitter laugh. “But he didn’t hurt me—Seventh Brother blocked it.”

“In the end, it was only after they carried you out that they managed to stop everyone.” Wen Jue lowered his head and leaned against Qin Zhou’s shoulder. “I said, ‘We have to preserve the Multiverse. We need to wait for the Village Chief to return. If he comes back, Fourth Brother and the others will surely find a way to bring them back to life.’”

“Actually, I lied to them.” Wen Jue chuckled quietly. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of them going to their deaths, too. If the other ninety-nine had all died there, I would’ve truly gone mad.”

Qin Zhou ruffled the back of his head. “They can be saved.”

Wen Jue didn’t catch that. “Hm?”

“You didn’t lie. The Village Chief can save them.” Qin Zhou glanced at the thirty-five stars that had drifted out again at some point.

They glowed with tiny sparks, circling Lu Yishen.

Just like Lu Wu, Wen Jue seemed to be able to hear them speaking.

“The Village Chief said we can be saved!”

“You idiot, big brother!”

“Pull yourself together!”

“That brat Lu Er actually dared to stab you with a sword. Once I’m alive, I’m going to the Sword Sect to deal with him!”

Wen Jue’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared blankly at the glowing specks swirling around him. Then his gaze fell on Qin Zhou’s face. “You…”

You never said they could all talk.

“It’s not my doing,” Qin Zhou said. “You put them inside the barrier stone and took such good care of them. They should have been able to speak long ago. It just takes a bit of effort to get them out.”

Wen Jue let out a soft “Ah” and slammed his head hard against Qin Zhou’s shoulder.

“You idiot, Fourth Brother. You can’t beat Second Brother now,” Wen Jue muttered gloomily, pouting as tears streamed down onto Qin Zhou’s clothes.

Qin Zhou smiled and ruffled his hair. “If Fourth Brother can’t beat him, I’ll teach him a lesson for you.”

Wen Jue reached out and tugged at his shirt, his head still buried in his hands. “You said it.”

“Mm-hmm.”

If Qin Zhou said he’d teach him a lesson, he wouldn’t just brush it off. But Wen Jue didn’t really mean to punish Lu Er. He pursed his lips. “Seventh Brother has already taught him a lesson. He hasn’t given him a friendly face in thousands of years.”

“Make him farm,” Wen Jue said fiercely. “For a hundred years!”

Qin Zhou caught sight of the little seedlings he’d drawn on the wall and found them utterly adorable. He nodded and said, “Alright.”

“You said you could save him. How?” Worried Qin Zhou might be lying, Wen Jue wiped his eyes on his clothes and looked at him with reddened eyes.

“The Reformation Pill.”

“What’s that?”

Qin Zhou thought for a moment. “An eighth-tier elixir, I suppose.”

Wen Jue:?

“It’s just that the ingredients are a bit of a hassle,” Qin Zhou said, furrowing his brow slightly.

“As long as it can save them, I’ll do anything.” Wen Jue said solemnly.

Qin Zhou raised an eyebrow. “Remember what you just said.”

Wen Jue: 

“I… I’m not afraid of you.” Wen Jue gritted his teeth.

He’d do anything!

Suddenly, Qin Zhou raised his hand.

Wen Jue: 

Wen Jue instinctively wanted to dodge, but upon realizing what was happening, he froze. He let Qin Zhou’s hand rest on his face.

What’s he doing? Touching my face again?

“Lu Yi.”

“…Hmm?”

Qin Zhou watched as the blurring on Wen Jue’s face slowly faded away. The gradually sharpening features left him in a daze.

It seemed… he could finally see his face.