Chapter 269: Calamity (1)

The elegant, old-fashioned study was utterly silent.

“For… humanity?” Feng Jiuxuan’s tone was calm, yet the disdain behind those words was unmistakable.

Luo Daofan paid it no mind. “Yes. When the Heavenwatch Pavilion was first founded, its purpose was to ensure the continuation of the human race. At least in my generation, that original purpose had yet to be completely abandoned.

“The internal struggle for power was fierce, but when the calamity of the wraithfiends came, the Heavenwatch Pavilion still shouldered nearly half the burden of defending humanity. You could call it simple self-preservation if you like, a case of the lips perishing once the teeth are gone, but the result remains the same.

“Of course… Whether they still remember that purpose today, I couldn’t say. After all, one must first survive and grow strong before one can afford to discuss ideals and founding principles, wouldn’t you agree?”

Luo Daofan gave an unconcerned chuckle before continuing. “I imagine you understand what it means when the Pavilion Master of the Heavenwatch Pavilion can no longer see the future, Chancellor Xu.”

Xu Yinhe pondered for a moment. “I do. In my youth, I found several ancient texts concerning the Heavenwatch Pavilion while exploring secret realms.”

Luo Daofan, still wearing the appearance of a refined scholar, offered a warm and cultured smile. “In that case, there is no need for me to explain further.”

“Then are you saying that what I intend to do next will bring about a calamity?” Xu Yinhe’s fingertips slowly traced the stiff edge of the memorial in his hand. His voice was deep and heavy. He knew that the plan he and Li Yaoxuan intended to carry out would kill a great many people.

Countless innocents would be driven from their homes. Innumerable families that had once lived in peace would be plunged into ruin. But a calamity… A true calamity meant that, with the slightest misstep, nine out of every ten households beneath heaven would be left empty.

Luo Daofan rubbed his chin and shook his head. “Not necessarily. The Heavenwatch Pavilion has many different descriptions of calamities, but broadly speaking, almost all of them amount to the same thing, a struggle between races.”

Xu Yinhe’s hand abruptly stopped. “A struggle between races?”

Luo Daofan continued at an unhurried pace. “The Heavenwatch Pavilion has existed for an extremely long time. Several calamities have caused breaks in the records preserved within its Scripture Repository. Even so, nearly every recorded calamity involved other races seeking more land in which to survive and attempting to seize control of the Central Plains.”

“Other races…” Xu Yinhe narrowed his eyes and tapped an index finger against the open memorial on the desk. “The Ancient Abyss?”

Of all the neighboring races, the only one that posed a genuine threat was the Ancient Abyss. The reason was simple. The lands of the Great Desert and the barbarians were barren, their climates merciless. Such places could never support the rise of a truly powerful race.

The demon race of the Ancient Abyss was different. Not only did they possess the Ancient Abyss itself, an immense canyon, but they also held the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range, stretching a hundred thousand miles, as their own private domain.

They were hardly united among themselves, either. Conflict between the various races never ceased. Were it not for their shared dream of settling in the Central Plains, the Ancient Abyss could practically be called a miniature Great Flame Empire.

“That, I don’t know.” Luo Daofan was refreshingly blunt. “Calamities are dangerous, certainly, but their course can also be altered by individual factors.”

Xu Yinhe raised his eyes, his expression grave. “What do you mean?”

Luo Daofan smiled as he explained. “The calamity unleashed by the Beguiling Divine Sakura 20,000 years ago should have swept across the entire realm. Yet because of the tree spirit itself, it was ultimately confined within the Splendorbloom Secret Realm.”

Xu Yinhe did not understand.

“The Beguiling Divine Sakura… the Splendorbloom Secret Realm?” Feng Jiuxuan remarked. A thoughtful look entered his narrow eyes, followed by something faintly strange. “So that was what happened…”

Xu Yinhe turned to him. “You realized something?”

“A little.” Feng Jiuxuan nodded, memories surfacing in his eyes.

??

Celestial mist drifted through the Dome Palace.

Two white-clad figures moved through the remnants of the mountain-protecting formations as though strolling through an empty field.

Throughout the vast palace complex, aside from the damage caused by those juniors and the decay and collapse wrought by time, most of the buildings still retained the appearance they had possessed 10,000 years ago.

Feng Jiuxuan, dressed in white robes, walked beside Tian Yuan, whose flowing palace gown billowed around her.

Both could sense the tremendous pressure generated by the other’s circulating cultivation art.

To put it in Azure Point terms, this was two Level 120 players entering a Level 85 dungeon.

The greatest threat in the place could only be each other. Cooperation did not mean they would not come to blows.

They soon reached the deepest part of the secret realm.

Feng Jiuxuan glanced sideways at the veiled woman in white. Her expression remained cold and distant. “It seems the location your disciple gave you wasn’t accurate after all.”

The great hall was completely empty.

There were no bones, no corpses, and no Sumeru Rings.

Tian Yuan displayed little emotion as she met his gaze. “That happened 20,000 years ago. We have no way of knowing how much changed during that time, or how many people came here searching afterward.”

Feng Jiuxuan’s analysis was concise. “The Beguiling Divine Sakura was still alive when Changtian came here. An outsider could not have taken it.”

Tian Yuan said nothing more. Divine light shimmered within her golden eyes.

Feng Jiuxuan watched her in silence.

She appeared to be performing a divination, searching for something hidden.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Tian Yuan’s tall figure suddenly rose from the floor. The intricate snow-white skirts around her stirred without wind. Her veil fluttered upward, offering fleeting glimpses of the peerless face concealed beneath it.

Feng Jiuxuan stood with sword in hand, quietly watching her.

The entire hall began to shake. The surviving formations activated, only to shatter a heartbeat later.

Some immense force enveloped the sturdy structure of the hall, setting it trembling until it could no longer bear the strain and began to fall apart.

The magnificent dome, the rafters, the supporting stone pillars, the floor… Within a few breaths, the entire imposing hall had been dismantled into individual pieces of building material, all of them floating in midair.

The two white-clad figures rose into the air alongside the disassembled ruins.

Feng Jiuxuan stood atop a stone tile and looked down. His pupils contracted slightly. “What is this…?”

Beneath the hall lay an abyss black as ink.

With Feng Jiuxuan’s cultivation, the darkness naturally could not conceal what lay below. Countless thick, withered vines and tree roots covered the walls of the abyss. Hanging from that tangled mass of roots and branches were more corpses than could possibly be counted.

They stretched as far as the eye could see, packed together so densely that there had to be more than a million.

Most had already weathered away.

At the very bottom of the abyss, however, several dozen skeletons remained relatively intact.

One among them stood out immediately, a skeleton of gleaming gold. Its entire rib cage had been shattered, and both its right arm and left leg were missing.

Even Feng Jiuxuan’s composure wavered at the sight. What in the world had happened here?

“Xu Changtian never told you what happened in this place?” Tian Yuan’s quiet, ethereal voice drifted over. “Even without his soul present, he should still have remembered some of it.”

“My family affairs are none of your concern, Pavilion Master.” Feng Jiuxuan’s expression returned to its usual indifference, but his hand unconsciously tightened around Deep Verdant. You little bastard. You kept something this important from me?

In the past, Feng Jiuxuan had even felt a little sorry for the boy whenever Changge beat him half to death. But now…