Chapter 268: The Northern Catastrophe
Chapter 268: The Northern Catastrophe
Meanwhile, those waiting anxiously in the far northern sea region, including various factions and medical cultivators, tried their best to reduce their absorption of the contaminated spiritual energy.
But before they could receive any instructions from Yingzhou Celestial Isle, they too fell ill.
At the same time, the infection spread to a sea region spanning one hundred thousand miles around the original outbreak area.
Another seven days later, all life within that hundred thousand mile region was completely wiped out.
In total, within about a month after the gray pillar of light dissipated, two waves of outbreaks had already occurred.
They resulted in the complete extinction of all living beings except plants within a region of one hundred and ten thousand miles.
Only then did the Emperor Yingzhou finally take notice and assign his officials to handle the matter.
Unfortunately, it was already half a month too late and the consequences were severe.
By the time the officials uncovered the previously suppressed reports from the medical cultivators and spent another seven days discussing a solution, a third outbreak had already begun.
Within a region spanning one million miles, all living beings collapsed in weakness simultaneously.
Emperor Yingzhou and his officials clearly understood that if the medical cultivators’ judgment was correct, then after another seven days, these infected individuals would decompose into even greater amounts of the strange substance and merge into the spiritual energy.
It would then continue spreading outward, infecting even more people.
Left with no other choice, and in order to save those who had not yet been infected, Emperor Yingzhou issued a ruthless order.
All infected beings within that one million mile region were to be eliminated.
At the same time, a barrier was to be established, sealing off a total of one million one hundred and ten thousand miles of sea as a forbidden zone.
The contaminated area was to be completely isolated.
After the order was given, a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators from Yingzhou Celestial Isle took action together.
After destroying that million mile sea region and setting up the barrier, before they could even relax, they discovered that the Tier 5 barrier was completely unable to block the strange substance.
At every moment, the substance was eroding the layer of light formed by spiritual energy.
After studying it, the formation masters concluded that this substance was completely compatible with spiritual energy.
Any defense constructed from spiritual energy was ineffective against it.
Moreover, based on the pattern of its outbreaks, they speculated that with each cycle, the area it could contaminate would expand tenfold.
If this time it were allowed to break through and complete two more seven day outbreak cycles, then the next infected area would reach tens of millions of miles.
Even Yingzhou Celestial Isle, the capital of Yingzhou Kingdom, would fall within that range.
To completely seal it, the only option was to use a method unrelated to spiritual energy to fully contain it.
For some unknown reason, just two days after these findings were reached, the news spread throughout all the sea regions of Yingzhou Kingdom.
Island residents near the contaminated areas fled in panic, escaping as far away as possible.
Even more people rushed toward Yingzhou Celestial Isle.
For a time, the entire nation of Yingzhou Kingdom fell into chaos.
That was over twenty days ago.
The chaos lasted for two days.
After Emperor Yingzhou announced all currently known information and called for collective ideas to solve the crisis, everything fell into an eerie calm.
This calm has lasted until now.
Nearly all residents from nearby islands have already retreated into Yingzhou Celestial Isle.
Some even wanted to relocate to the mainland.
However, at the same time the announcement was issued, all external teleportation arrays were shut down.
The only way to leave was by traveling across the sea.
But with the strange substance capable of erupting at any moment, who would dare take such a risk?
At present, Yingzhou Celestial Isle is still researching ways to seal the substance, but no progress has been made.
After finishing his explanation, the late Nascent Soul stage captain suddenly paused.
He seemed to realize something.
His expression changed briefly before returning to normal.
Without drawing attention, he gave a subtle signal to the others.
Only then did the restless group finally settle down.
Xiao Shou did not notice the change in the other party’s attitude at all.
He was already plunged into deep shock.
Was not Northfrost Isle located within the extreme northern sea region?
That place was not far from where the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice was located.
In the original story, Xiao Ran only went there many years later to obtain that opportunity.
So how had it suddenly become a sealed forbidden zone now?
An outbreak of some strange contaminant?
The more he listened to the descriptions of the outbreak and its symptoms, the more it sounded exactly like what happened in the novel.
After Xiao Ran took the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice and then removed the Source of Profound Ice, the Seven Deadly Sins that had been sealed by it were released.
It polluted a vast area of the sea and caused immense destruction.
Later, it was the Abbot Kumu of Fanghu Mystic Isle who led many disciples to seal the Seven Deadly Sins into a Purple Gold Singing Bowl, and the Emperor of Yingzhou Celestial Isle used the souls of nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine young girls to refine a special yin artifact to completely suppress it.
But that storyline was supposed to happen nearly two hundred years later.
The more Xiao Shou thought about it, the less he understood this world.
No. Perhaps this was simply something that happened before the main storyline.
After all, the novel never mentioned who had originally used the Source of Profound Ice to seal the Seven Deadly Sins.
Or perhaps the problem had already been resolved later.
Maybe Emperor Yingzhou and the others had used the Source of Profound Ice to seal it and after the forbidden zone was lifted, more than a hundred years later Xiao Ran finally arrived there.
Yes, that possibility was not small.