Chapter 653 - 299: The Truth Behind Master Lan and the Great Upheaval of the Divine Continent (Part 2)

"Coordinates of the Endless Abyss?" Lu Wenwu’s eyes lit up, "Is it the hideout where the rebels fled?"

"Exactly." The Confucian Scholar nodded slightly, "Master Lan’s identity is too sensitive. To some extent, he represents a part of the attitude of the Divine Continent, making it difficult to enter deep into the abyss."

"Heh, that’s just perfect. I’m an obscure nobody, those Abyss Demon Kings probably won’t bother with me," Lu Wenwu said excitedly.

He was already planning in his mind to get in touch with Old Flame Demon, and take a trip to the abyss later.

He intended to completely eliminate those evil organizations trying to mess with his pancake stall, and at the same time prepare for ascending to divinity by upgrading his equipment.

Crimson Abyss, it’s a place where one can advance to Mythical Level.

The Demon King’s Fury would do for now, besides, he wasn’t lacking in attack power at the moment.

He could also inquire if there were any reliable engraving masters in Old Flame Demon’s demon vein circle who could help upgrade his Glory Battle Pattern.

More of such augmentation items, the better.

Worried that Lu Wenwu might impulsively charge ahead, the Confucian Scholar quickly advised, "Brother Wu, be extremely careful, don’t be reckless. Even seemingly virtuous Abyssal Dominators are not entirely trustworthy. Until you have enough power for revenge, Master Lan won’t permit you to leave Blue Star."

The connection between Lu Wenwu and Old Flame Demon initially went through the Divine Continent Postal Service, and the Player Administration Bureau people knowing about this relationship was not surprising.

The Confucian Scholar was concerned that Lu Wenwu would rashly rush into the abyss, relying on his acquaintance there.

That would be somewhat akin to throwing one’s life away for nothing.

In the abyss, Ascension Gods are as common as cattle!

"Rest assured, sir, I’m just not fond of thinking, it’s not that I lack brains. I wouldn’t engage in suicidal actions," Lu Wenwu waved his hand, chuckling.

He had a clear understanding of his current strength.

For weakened pseudo-ascension beings like the True Demon Mother Insect or Morales, he was confident he could take them down.

If it were a full-powered pseudo-ascension being, he believed the outcome should be fifty-fifty if he could activate his Angry Dragon Dharma Aspect, with the worst case being forty-sixty.

However, against a genuine Ascension God who had crossed the Thunder Tribulation, like even the weakest Abyssal Dominator, Lu Wenwu frankly had no chance of winning.

Having never encountered such high-Level powerhouses, whose abilities were unknown, made comparison impossible.

"By the way, there’s a question that’s been on my mind for a long time, and there’s no data available online to check. I wonder if you could clarify, sir?"

Taking this opportunity, Lu Wenwu raised a long-held curious question.

"With our Divine Continent’s foundation, why did we experience a massive turmoil that nearly led to disintegration after the apocalypse had stabilized?"

"The Immortal Path has never been interrupted from ancient times, the sects’ inheritance continues to this day, and even the major demon races remain active. Even before the apocalypse, during the End of Dharma Era, there were numerous Land Immortal Level monsters around."

"No matter how you look at it, we seem ridiculously strong. What exactly happened to bring us to this point? Could it be..."

Seeing the curiosity in Lu Wenwu’s eyes, the Confucian Scholar knew very well the unsaid words at the end.

Internal conflict.

However, that was impossible.

The Confucian Scholar shook his head with a smile, "Not as you imagined. Our Divine Continent has always demonstrated astonishing unity and resilience in the face of major disasters, making large-scale internal conflict unimaginable in such circumstances."

"To put it bluntly, even if there were internal conflicts, they would have to wait until after our nation achieved great unity, completely overcame the apocalypse, and developed steadily for at least a hundred years before class and power disputes could lead to internal conflict, like most ancient dynasties."

The normally serious Confucian Scholar even made a joke at this juncture.

If the Divine Continent were to actually bring out the slogan of great unity at this time, it would be far more than just restoring the former territories.

Only by becoming the Blue Star Star Lord could it truly be considered great unity!

"Not internal conflict? Then what was it?"

This made Lu Wenwu even more curious.

"A nation tends to fail when weak, yet Han fell in strength," the Confucian Scholar spread his hands with a bitter smile, "It might sound like a brag, but the reason for our past chaos was simply because we were too strong."

"Too strong?" Lu Wenwu was puzzled.

"Yes, too strong. Our foundation was simply too strong," the Confucian Scholar explained with a peculiar expression, "You should know that ascension is different from our traditional cultivation sect’s Land Immortal, right?"

"I understand a bit," Lu Wenwu nodded, "In traditional cultivation, one could choose when to face the tribulation, while players advancing to ascension would face the Thunder Tribulation in a very short time, with options to either ascend or face death, unless special means were used to forcibly stop... Damn!"

At this point, without further explanation, Lu Wenwu realized it himself.

He asked tentatively, "Could it be that the chaos was simply because too many ascended at once, suddenly leaving the upper echelon’s combat power vacant?"

"Exactly! All because of the Spiritual Energy Revival and changes to the Law of Heaven and Earth."

The Confucian Scholar slapped his thigh dramatically.

"Anyone reaching the peak during the End of Dharma Era was a Celestial Pride among Celestial Prides. Most Land Immortals were immersed in the joy of spiritual energy revival, possible ascension, and fulfilling their ancestors’ dreams."

"Other countries started from scratch, but we had max-level elites and top accounts from the start; how could you not get conceited? We could easily clear the materialized instances brought into reality."

"Therefore, at that time, the Divine Continent was so powerful that it didn’t take the apocalypse instances seriously, hardly considering them a doomsday at all. Numerous safe zones were effortlessly established with few casualties."

"Those old monsters would go into seclusion to prepare for the tribulation after neutralizing many materialized instances. In contrast, the remaining transcendents recklessly raced to reach the fabled realm."

"That’s where the problem began."

"No one anticipated that advancing to ascension would immediately trigger the Thunder Tribulation."

"If succeeded, they would ascend to the upper realm."

"Fail, and their existence would end."

"The tribulations occurred within the system-provided instance space, where outsiders couldn’t discern the outcome."

"Consequently, only after numerous peak of S Rank and Land Immortals consecutively ’disappeared’ did we realize the Rules of Heaven and Earth had changed!"

"Early in the apocalypse, we hadn’t acquired such advanced technology yet. Each safe zone city was like an isolated island, with news only physically deliverable by top-tier powerhouses, leading to understandable delays."

"By the time we managed to spread the news nationwide, those who’d acquired player status and were pushing to peak realms had reached a point of no return, getting forced to ascend one after another."

"As for what happened afterward... Well, you’ve come to know it; in these recent last decade or so, we’ve only truly regained our momentum."

The Confucian Scholar’s voice carried both helplessness and a hint of pride.

Lu Wenwu: "..."

It was indeed a story worth taking pride in, yet somewhat lamentable.

Starting with a group of high-level and max-level accounts, the power level was absurdly high.

Even if all Shen Zhou People became players, and everyone failed so much that they manifested over a billion D-level instances, the Shen Zhou cultivators who’d been forced into years of self-cultivation could easily suppress them.

Even those entering instances, when a high-difficulty main storyline task failed too often, causing high-level instances to manifest, could be wiped out with a snap by those max-level veterans.

Indeed, traditional cultivators might not match up to players of the same Level.

But an ascension still effortlessly suppressed an S Tier, didn’t they?

A realm suppression exists; not everyone is like Lu Wenwu.

Moreover, those who achieved the Land Immortal Realm during the End of Dharma Era were all Celestial Prides, right?

Except for ones like Morales, who’ve barely survived to the apocalypse through hibernation and secret techniques, comparing Land Immortal cultivators with players or instance bosses of the same Rank, truthfully uncertain as to who held the upper hand.

Yet, once those max-level veterans suddenly vanished, it was an utter disaster.

Suddenly losing a group of high-level and max-level accounts meant that the highly challenging materialized instances became real calamities, necessitating the sacrifice of the few players and transcendents available!

Amidst this exacerbating predicament, the Divine Continent managed to hold fast without collapsing, even returning to the peak in just a few decades, reclaiming its spot as the unchallenged world leader. It’s definitely labeled a miracle.