Chapter 450: What Exactly Happened When I Was Cultivating?

Tian Yongheng felt immensely refreshed.

After more than a thousand years of starting his cultivation journey, he had finally become an Earth Immortal, a being considered a powerhouse even in the Upper Realm.

The transformation of his Immortal Body, Divine Energy, and Essence Soul far exceeded even his expectations.

At this moment, he could clearly sense the natural elements circulating within his existence, forming an endless cycle that seemed to contain the mysteries of heaven and earth.

His cultivation had reached an entirely new level, and his strength had increased by an enormous margin.

Tian Yongheng slowly moved his hand, causing the surrounding space to tremble faintly.

He could feel that his current strength was far beyond his former self, and even without utilizing any Divine Powers, his physical body alone possessed terrifying destructive power.

An Earth Immortal!

He had finally become an Earth Immortal!

A faint smile appeared on his face.

However, that smile did not last long.

The next instant, his figure disappeared from the cave abode.

Since his breakthrough was complete, it was time to put an end to the Cleansing.

He had already spent enough time cultivating.

Now, he wanted to see just how powerful those Upper Realm beings were, and more importantly, he wanted to know what had happened to the Lower Realm during his seclusion.

After all, although his true body was immersed in cultivation, his clone was still outside to deal with various affairs.

With the strength of his clone, even an ordinary Earth Immortal would have found it difficult to threaten him.

Furthermore, his clone had been guarding the surroundings of the Eternal Peak Dao Field, preventing any Upper Realm being from approaching.

Even if the Cleansing had begun, there should be no reason for the situation to deteriorate beyond control.

However, when he tried to connect with his clone, he was surprised to find that he couldn't establish a connection.

As soon as he learned of this, he had a faint sensation that something was wrong.

And the moment he stepped outside the Eternal Peak Dao Field, his pupils suddenly contracted, his worries coming true as his eyes widened slightly.

A genuine look of shock appeared upon his face.

The world before him... was completely different from the world he remembered.

The sky was dark and bloodied, the clouds that once drifted across the heavens had disappeared, replaced by a dense layer of crimson mist that seemed to have condensed from the blood of countless living beings.

The earth was covered in destruction, mountains had collapsed, rivers had dried up, and the once vibrant forests had withered, their trees reduced to lifeless husks that stood silently beneath the blood red sky.

The Spirit Qi that once permeated the world was now extremely thin, almost nonexistent.

Even the natural elements, worldly laws, and heavenly rules seemed to have become sluggish, their circulation disrupted by some terrifying force.

There was no trace of the flourishing civilization that had once existed here.

Except for the Eternal Peak Dao Field, everything had been devastated beyond recognition.

Tian Yongheng stood silently at the entrance of his Dao Field, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

He was only immersed in his cultivation for a short while at the critical moment of his breakthrough, unable to pay attention to the outside world, yet during this relatively short period, the world had become a wasteland.

Even the Eternal Peak was utterly empty at this moment, with no member in sight.

Tian Yongheng's gaze swept across the surroundings.

Then, without further hesitation, his Divine Sense spread outward.

*Boom!*

An invisible wave swept across the land.

After reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, his Divine Sense had undergone an extraordinary transformation, allowing it to encompass a tenth of the Mortal World in an instant.

Countless millions of miles fell beneath his perception.

From the Qingyun Region to the State of Feng, and from the State of Feng to the many surrounding states of the Eastern Continent, everything within this vast territory appeared within his consciousness.

But what he discovered caused his expression to change completely, his blood running cold.

An overwhelming amount of blood lingered throughout the area, the scent so thick that it seemed to have seeped into the very fabric of heaven and earth.

Countless traces of resentment and karma intertwined above the land, forming an invisible web that enveloped the entire region.

Death Qi permeated everywhere, lingering within the ruins of cities, hovering above the dried up rivers, and gathering around the remains of countless mortal settlements.

Some places were so saturated with Death Qi that even ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators would have found it difficult to remain there for long.

The most terrifying thing was not even the destruction itself, but the absence of life.

Tian Yongheng's Divine Sense continued spreading.

He searched the cities, the villages, the mountains, forests, and rivers, ancient sects and great family grounds, and even the hidden caves and secluded cultivation grounds where cultivators might have taken refuge.

But he found almost nothing, only a suffocating silence, an indescribable silence that stretched across innumerable millions of miles.

Tian Yongheng's expression gradually darkened.

He expanded his Divine Sense even further, carefully examining every trace of life he could detect.

Finally, he discovered living beings, but they were just a few thousand scattered mortals.

The regions and states that had once supported countless billions of beings had been reduced to a few thousand survivors, and even those survivors were slowly dying.

Some lay motionless within the ruins of their homes, their bodies weakened by hunger and disease.

Others wandered aimlessly through the desolate wilderness, searching for food and water that no longer existed in sufficient quantities.

There were even children who sat beside the remains of their parents, too weak to cry.

They were all ordinary mortals who had never cultivated and possessed not the slightest ability to resist the calamities descending from the heavens.

They had survived the initial destruction only to face a world that could no longer sustain their existence.

Without Spirit Qi, with the natural environment devastated and the various natural elements, worldly laws, and heavenly rules becoming obsolete, and with Death Qi spreading across the land, even their continued survival had become a miracle.

Tian Yongheng's expression turned extremely cold.

He had expected the Cleansing to be a catastrophe and known that countless beings would perish, but knowing something and witnessing it with one's own eyes were two entirely different matters.

These were not just numbers recorded in some ancient history.

They were all living beings, who once possessed families, friends, dreams, and futures. They had lived their lives believing that tomorrow would come.

And now... almost all of them were gone.

Tian Yongheng remained silent for a long time.

His Divine Sense continued moving through the devastated regions, searching for any additional signs of life.

However, the results stayed the same.

A few thousand mortals, nothing more.

The once prosperous Eastern Continent had become a land of death, and he was not even aware of it.

For a moment, Tian Yongheng felt an unfamiliar sensation within his heart.

It was not fear, nor was it anger, but something far more complicated.

He had always been cautious.

Throughout his cultivation journey, he had prioritized survival above almost everything else.

He had never believed that he was obligated to save every living being he encountered.

The Great World was vast, and calamities occurred constantly.

Even Immortal Emperors could not protect every world, every civilization, and every living creature.

He understood that principle and accepted it long ago.

But this...

He had lived in the Lower Realm for more than a thousand years.

The Eastern Continent was not merely an unfamiliar place that he had passed through, it was a part of the world he called home.

The Qingyun Region, the State of Feng, the surrounding states, he had once seen all those places flourish.

He had witnessed countless cultivators pursue their Dao, watched mortals establish families, and observed civilizations develop across the passage of time over these thousand years, even spending decades in the secular world as a mortal.

Now, almost everything had disappeared.

Tian Yongheng slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again after a moment, the faint trace of shock had vanished.

His expression was utterly calm, just like before he broke the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Severing Law, but beneath that calmness, an indescribable chill was spreading.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered something.

His clone, where was his clone?

Tian Yongheng immediately attempted to establish a connection with it again, but the result was the same.

It was as if his clone had completely disappeared from the world, leaving behind no trace of its aura or karma.

Tian Yongheng stood motionless beneath the blood red sky.

His Earth Immortal Divine Sense continued sweeping across the devastated land, but he could not find the slightest clue regarding his clone's whereabouts.

The excitement from entering the Earth Immortal Realm disappeared completely.

He had thought that, after reaching this realm, he would finally be able to intervene in the Cleansing and protect the Lower Realm from further destruction.

But now, standing amid the ruins of the world, he realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

The devastation was far beyond what he had expected.

Tian Yongheng slowly raised his head, his gaze penetrating the blood red clouds and falling upon the distant heavens as an ominous thought emerged within his mind.

What exactly happened when I was cultivating?