Chapter 1357: A Drastic Change in Beichen

There were countless races of demonic beasts in the Demonic Sea, and the area Qin Sang had explored was less than one ten-thousandth of it.

What attracted Qin Sang the most was the Four Saints Palace of Canglang Sea. The Four Saints Palace inherited a Divine Transformation Dao Lineage.

Qin Sang was already a Spiritual Infant cultivator and was qualified to look forward to the Divine Transformation Realm. Although whether he could break through to the middle or late stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm was still unknown, it would never be wrong to make preparations early.

During the battle at Yitian Peak, Qin Sang had formed a connection with a descendant of the Four Saints Palace and had been gifted a command token.

He had originally intended to personally visit after Ziwei Palace stabilized, but he had not expected such a change to occur. In the future, wanting to find Canglang Sea within the boundless storm would be an extremely faint hope.

.....

On the return journey, the Spiritual Infant cultivators were all weighed down by heavy thoughts.

Qin Sang, Canghong, the Feathered King, Lu Boyuan, Devil Lord Tongyou, and the other remaining top experts gathered and discussed for a while, then called the Spiritual Infant cultivators to a stop.

"Regarding today’s events and the news about the reception platform, it would be best for everyone to swear a solemn heart-devil oath not to spread it, lest it shake the three other realms and disturb Beichen Realm... What do you all think?" Canghong said.

The matter of ascension was of great importance.

Beichen Realm and the three other realms were separated by the storm, each minding its own affairs.

Once the news spread, the Spiritual Infant cultivators of the three other realms would probably be unable to remain seated. No matter what, they would surely come to Beichen Realm to see it for themselves.

At that time, with their top experts having ascended, if Beichen Realm had to face experts from the three other realms, it would likely stir up a huge disturbance, and their situation would become extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, only Spiritual Infant cultivators had been present this time. It would not be difficult to seal off the news.

The Spiritual Infant cultivators looked at one another. They all had a lot to lose and did not want to see Beichen Realm descend into chaos.

"I agree with you! Even if we speak of the reception platform’s destruction, others may not believe us. Instead, they may think we are hiding something, giving rise to more trouble. It would be better to let this die with us," a female Spiritual Infant cultivator said..

Beichen Realm’s internal strife had only recently ended, and people longed for stability. She also did not want to be dragged into war again.

"But..." An old man revealed a hesitant expression. "Although this reception platform was destroyed, there may still be other reception platforms. No matter what, this is our only possibility of leaving the storm. If we have the chance to travel outside in the future and seek help, we cannot be restricted by a heart-devil oath, can we?"

These words spoke the thoughts of some of them. Ziwei Palace had disappeared, but there were still other hidden realms in Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

Even if they could not find one in Beichen Realm, there were still the three other realms. Their territories far exceeded Beichen Realm’s, and they surely contained many hidden realms and forbidden grounds.

"Old Devil Ye once said that even with the celestial palace opening a path, one still needed the strength of at least a great cultivator to survive within the spatial storm. Even if we find a reception platform in the future, I fear it would be very difficult to find a second Ziwei Palace. I’m afraid..."

The person who spoke was dressed as a Daoist. He clicked his tongue twice, paused, and continued, "It would be best for us to focus our thoughts on arduous cultivation. Otherwise, even if we encounter an opportunity, we can only be spectators, just like today."

The old man gave a dry laugh. "Daoist, are you suspecting that one must reach the Divine Transformation Realm before they can ascend? Those at the Divine Transformation Realm could travel farther than us in the storm belt. Perhaps they could directly walk out of the storm and may not need to take such a great risk."

The Daoist shrugged. "Who can say for certain? In the most optimistic case, one would need at least the late stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm. Among us, how many could achieve that?"

Everyone fell silent.

Among the Spiritual Infant cultivators present, people like Canghong and the Feathered King had the greatest hopes, but even they did not have much confidence. They were quite optimistic about Qin Sang, this rising talent, but only Qin Sang knew his own difficulties.

"Just because we cannot do it does not mean our descendants cannot. A peerless genius who appears once every thousand years would still appear ten times in ten thousand years. Their achievements may not necessarily be much worse than Old Devil Ye’s. When making the oath, we need to consider our descendants. We cannot let this die with us and cut off all hope for those who come after us..." someone said.

Everyone understood the deeper meaning. The Spiritual Infant cultivators all showed signs of being moved. This was precisely what Qin Sang and the others had been discussing earlier.

"Let all domains of Beichen Realm resolve their grudges, abandon the divisions between righteous and devilish paths and between humans and demons, and establish the Beichen Alliance!"[1]

The Spiritual Infant cultivators reached a consensus, but the details still needed to be considered carefully.

The distribution of interests was of utmost importance. As they discussed, they flew toward the nearest stronghold, Xuanlu Stronghold. However, as they sped along, everyone gradually sensed that something was wrong.

In the past, after Ziwei Palace closed, the Spirit Tide of Ancient Immortal Battlefield would gradually calm until Ziwei Palace opened the next time. During the interval, celestial phenomena would only appear occasionally.

This time, however, an abnormality had occurred. They had already flown halfway, yet not only did the Spirit Tide show no sign of calming, it seemed to be intensifying.

The Spiritual Infant cultivators sensed the anomaly, landed on the ground, and observed for a while. Their expressions became increasingly grave.

If this continued, Ancient Immortal Battlefield would become like the overseas storm belt, turning into a forbidden zone for life. More frighteningly, the protective screen here was not perfect. There were seven breaches, which were precisely the seven strongholds!

In the past, it had appeared once every few hundred years, and Small Cold Domain alone could stop the Spirit Tide’s erosion.

If it happened every day, the seven strongholds definitely would not be able to hold out for long.

The treasure land of the past would become a shadow looming over Beichen Realm!

"So that’s how it was! It had always been Ziwei Palace suppressing the Spirit Tide. That was why Ancient Immortal Battlefield was so special and different from other places," Devil Lord Tongyou said in an exceptionally grave tone.

The expressions of the other Spiritual Infant cultivators and demon kings from Small Cold Domain were also ugly.

If the seven strongholds fell, Small Cold Domain and Heavenly Demon Hill would bear the brunt of it!

The effects of Ziwei Palace’s ascension were far greater than they had imagined.

"It seems like the Beichen Alliance is imperative." Lu Boyuan sighed.

When the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. The Spirit Tide would not show mercy.[2]

The Great Beichen Desert was the farthest from Ancient Immortal Battlefield and had not gained many benefits from it. Now that the seven strongholds were in danger, they had no choice but to contribute to guarding the strongholds. It was truly frustrating.

"Let us go to the seven strongholds first and see the situation..."

The Spiritual Infant cultivators set off once more.

When they were nearly at the seven strongholds, Canghong suddenly received a transmission, and his expression turned even darker than those of the Spiritual Infant cultivators from Small Cold Domain.

The message had come from Fairy Qiuzhi. She had not entered Ziwei Palace. Instead, she had led people to guard outside the celestial gate to prevent Old Devil Ye from escaping.

Canghong gave a long sigh and said, "Sin God Palace was destroyed by the aftershock of the celestial palace’s ascension, just like the outer palace. Abyssal Ruin... was also affected! The celestial gate collapsed, and Abyssal Ruin sank. In the blink of an eye, the bottom of the Heavenly Scar turned into a deep abyss, filled with spatial rifts and transformed into a deathtrap! Fortunately, Daoist Qiuzhi and the others were vigilant and withdrew in time. They nearly died inside."

"What!"

"Abyssal Ruin was destroyed because of this too?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

This time, Beichen Realm had truly suffered a catastrophic loss.

Its two most mysterious hidden realms had been destroyed one after another, and no one knew how Ancient Immortal Battlefield would evolve. Although there were also hidden realms and forbidden grounds in other places, they could not compare in scale or in the preciousness of their treasures.

Finding opportunities would be even more difficult now.

Xiang Qing suddenly cried out in alarm, "Crap! Endless Valley!"

Blood Lake in Endless Valley’s inner valley was connected to Abyssal Ruin. It was even suspected to be part of Abyssal Ruin.

The headquarters of Devilish Qingyang Sect was right beside Endless Valley. How could Xiang Qing not be anxious?

1. This shares the same name as Beichen Alliance, the merchant guild from Canglang Sea. ☜

2. "When the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" is a Chinese saying describing two things that are interdependent or share a common fate. ☜