Chapter 406: Despair

Hearing this, Li Yang finally understood.

Shen Xuan needed Soul Awakening Grass but mistakenly entered the Beast Origin Sect’s territory and was captured.

Shao Jie shook his head and said, "Celestial Road Star was ownerless before. It’s not even a life-bearing planet—it’s completely barren. Who knows where this Beast Origin Sect popped up from."

As he spoke, Shao Jie’s face was filled with indignation.

"An ownerless planet?"

Hearing Shao Jie’s words, Li Yang thought to himself.

’The ruins must have attracted the Beast Origin Sect’s attention, and they just seized the planet afterward.’

’This kind of thing is all too common in the Cosmos.’

’No matter what the Beast Origin Sect is like, the first thing to do now is to negotiate with them and rescue Big Brother,’ Li Yang thought.

The two of them talked as they waited.

Then, after ten-odd minutes, Li Yang’s eleventh senior brother, Jun Yue, appeared again.

"Senior Brother Jun Yue, how did it go?" Seeing Jun Yue reappear, Li Yang quickly asked.

Jun Yue’s expression was grim. He shook his head and said, "Junior Brother, it’s a bit tricky."

"Tricky?" Li Yang was taken aback.

"Junior Brother, here’s the situation..."

Jun Yue quickly explained.

"I just contacted a friend of mine, a Tri-System Deity who lives not far from the Beast Origin Sect. My friend went over to the Beast Origin Sect just now, but the guards there said the sect is currently sealed and not receiving any visitors."

"What?" Hearing this, Li Yang’s expression changed slightly.

’The Beast Origin Sect is sealed right now?’

Jun Yue shook his head. "If that’s what happened to my friend, the result would probably be the same even if I went. I wouldn’t be able to get in."

He was also a Tri-System Deity, so he would most likely be turned away as well.

"Li Yang, what do we do now?"

Beside them, Shao Jie had overheard Jun Yue, a look of clear anxiety on his face.

’If even a Tri-System Deity can’t get into the Beast Origin Sect, how are we supposed to rescue Shen Xuan?’

Li Yang’s expression had also turned grim.

He asked directly, "Eleventh Senior Brother, if I were to go, would the Beast Origin Sect receive me?"

Hearing Li Yang’s question, Jun Yue nodded. "With your current potential, Junior Brother, if you go to the Beast Origin Sect, they wouldn’t dare keep their gates closed to you."

It was no joke. Li Yang was currently one of the most monstrously talented geniuses in the Human Race. He had passed the twelve steps of the Deity’s Path and even lit up the Star Moon Stele with a purple light.

Even the Alien Races had elevated Li Yang’s threat level to be on par with the top 100 Mixed Void geniuses of the Human Race.

If he developed normally, Li Yang would become a Four-Element Deity at the very least, and there was a high probability he could even become an Emperor.

The Beast Origin Sect might refuse a Tri-System Deity or even a Four-Element Deity, but would they turn away Li Yang, who was very likely to become a future Emperor?

Only a brainless fool would do something like that.

Even if they were refusing all visitors, they’d have to make exceptions for certain people.

The Beast Origin Sect didn’t care about Tri-System Deities and wasn’t afraid of offending them.

But if the Yangyuan Emperor himself were to arrive, would the Beast Origin Sect dare to keep its gates sealed?

"Alright. I’ll leave for the Beast Origin Sect at once," Li Yang said without hesitation.

His original plan had been to contact the Beast Origin Sect first and negotiate Shen Xuan’s release. Freeing one person should have been a minor matter for them.

But now, it was impossible to even contact the Beast Origin Sect. Their gates were shut, and they wouldn’t even give face to a Tri-System Deity.

That approach wasn’t working, so he had to think of another way.

Wasting no time, Li Yang logged out of the Virtual World, boarded a flying vehicle, and headed for the Yangyuan Empire.

「...」

Cold Mist Star was the location of the Beast Origin Sect’s headquarters. Somewhere on the planet, there was a flowing river.

The river was of an unknown length, stretching out of sight, and its water was a bizarre, inky black.

At this moment, a large group of people were bent over in the river, seemingly picking things out of the water.

On the bank, several guards stood watch. Beside them were ferocious beasts, their savage gazes fixed on the people in the river.

"All of you, move faster! If anyone dares to slack off in the Black Water Pool, don’t blame me for being merciless," a guard said coldly.

"AHHH!!!"

Suddenly, a young man in the Black Water Pool let out a miserable scream. Black spots of light had appeared all over his skin.

These black spots wriggled on the surface of his skin like worms, a terrifying sight.

"The black water poison has spread all over his body," someone cried out in terror, looking at the young man’s state.

The screaming young man, seemingly unable to bear the pain, ran directly onto the bank.

"ROAR!" The moment he reached the shore, a ferocious beast lunged forward and devoured him in a single bite.

"That young man was eaten by the beast."

"Anyone who runs onto the shore gets eaten by the beasts."

"But even if he hadn’t, the black water poison would have been enough to kill him."

The people in the pool were terrified.

A guard captain on the bank swept his icy gaze over the terrified crowd in the Black Water Pool.

"Did you all see that? You all know the Black Water Pool is poisonous. But don’t say I’m not giving you a way out. If you finish your daily task, you can come ashore. The extra time will be enough for you to completely purge the black water’s poison."

His cold voice rang in everyone’s ears.

As his words fell, the people present began to work faster.

In one part of the Black Water Pool, Shen Xuan was also present. His face was expressionless as he dug for stones in the dark water.

A closer look revealed that half of his body was covered in the black spots.

Next to Shen Xuan were a few other people, their faces filled with despair.

"There’s no escape."

"This Black Water Pool is pure poison. It’s incredibly harmful to us Longevity Realm cultivators. We have to work non-stop all day just to finish our quota. At most, we’re left with twenty minutes to be on the shore. In such a short time, it’s impossible to purge the poison we’ve absorbed."

"Day by day, it accumulates. We’ll all be dead from this poisonous water in less than three years, at most."

"The guards said the Beast Origin Sect has sealed itself off. With the sect sealed, no one else can get in. Not even if our Profound Origin Sect’s own Sect Master came in person."

"Our Profound Origin Sect is a power backed by a Tri-System Deity, but so is this Beast Origin Sect. They won’t even bother with our Profound Origin Sect, and we can’t even access the Virtual World now."

These people, clearly from the Profound Origin Sect just like Shen Xuan, had a hint of despair in their eyes.

Their sect couldn’t save them. They could only endure the poisonous water of the Black Water Pool. If they refused to endure it, refused to complete their task, they would be devoured by the ferocious beasts in a single bite, just like that young man from before.