bookbashuk Chapter 52 Chaos in the Human Realm
Chapter 52 Chaos in the Human Realm
The Demon Realm, the Holy Symbol Palace.
The divine thought of the Holy Lord of the Primordial Chaos spread like an invisible ripple, instantly reaching the consciousness of the Talisman Venerable waiting outside the hall.
"How are the preparations for the Netherworld passage going? How much longer?"
The voice of the Holy Lord of the Primordial Chaos was clear and direct, carrying an unquestionable majesty.
The Talisman Lord dared not be negligent and immediately replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, due to the sturdiness of the lower realm's barrier and the need to avoid detection by human cultivators, the construction of the passage has been quite time-consuming. Although it has been initially stabilized, to ensure the safe arrival of Your Majesty's divided soul with sufficient demonic energy, a final reinforcement will be needed over a hundred years. Furthermore, the passage has limited capacity; besides Your Majesty's divided soul, it can only accommodate a maximum of a thousand or so low-ranking Saint Clan members."
"Over a month... more than a thousand people..."
The Holy Lord of Yuansha pondered for a moment, then said indifferently, "I don't care about the number of people. Even though my divided soul is suppressed by the interface and I can only exert the strength of the Nascent Soul stage, it is still not something those ants in the human realm can contend with. You just need to ensure that the passage is stable, and the time... should be brought forward as much as possible."
For her, as long as her divided soul could carry some of the original demonic energy and a few treasures down to the mortal realm, it would be enough to sweep through the Nascent Soul stage of the human realm. As for the more than a thousand low-level ancient demons, they were nothing more than cannon fodder used to clean up the small fry, create chaos, and perform some trivial tasks.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I will do my utmost to expedite the process!"
Fu Zun quickly agreed, feeling relieved. As long as the Holy Lord wouldn't blame him for the slow progress, that was fine.
"Go. Once the passage is ready, notify me immediately."
The Holy Lord of the Primordial Chaos withdrew his divine sense and refocused on condensing his divided soul and preparing the necessary items for the lower realm.
Without delay, Fu Zun immediately used a secret technique to contact the demon serpent far away in the human realm.
In the human realm, somewhere in the southern part of the world, lies a demonic lair.
The demonic hawk sat cross-legged in the pool of blood, refining the newly collected souls. Suddenly, the "Heart-to-Heart Demonic Skull" at its waist vibrated, transmitting a cold and urgent command from the Talisman Master:
"Demon Dove! The Holy Lord has decided to send a portion of his soul to the mortal realm to personally retrieve the 'Heavenly Void Jade Book'! The passage will still take more than a month. The Holy Lord orders you to spare no effort to expedite the collection of living souls and blood offerings to replenish the 'Ten Thousand Souls Blood Sacrifice' and to create as much chaos as possible in the mortal realm to weaken its resistance and clear obstacles for the Holy Lord's descent!"
Upon hearing this, the demonic gull's eyes blazed with demonic light! The Holy Lord of Yuan Sha was actually going to personally send a portion of his soul down to the mortal realm! This was an event of immense importance! It seemed that the Jade Book of the Heavenly Void was indeed of utmost importance.
"Yes, sir!"
The Demon Dove responded in a deep voice, its tone tinged with excitement and cruelty: "Please rest assured, Lord Talisman, the human realm is currently embroiled in endless strife and slaughter over the Void Heaven Palace's treasure. This is the perfect opportunity for us to fish in troubled waters! Your subordinate will certainly exert all our efforts to plunge the human realm into complete chaos!"
After ending the communication, Demon Dove immediately summoned all the ancient demons and demon cultivators under his command who were lying in wait, and issued the most ruthless order:
"Everyone, listen up! Abandon all restraints and attack with full force! Target—all sects, families, and rogue cultivators who have incurred enmity or suffered losses due to the treasures of the Void Heaven Palace! Incite conflict, create carnage, and collect souls!"
The human realm, the chaotic star sea, Tiannan, the Great Jin Dynasty...
With the Demon Dove's order, a meticulously planned yet seemingly "natural" bloodbath quietly spread throughout the human realm and rapidly escalated.
Those cultivators who had incurred enmity within the Void Heaven Palace, or whose treasures were coveted by others, became the primary targets. The ancient demonic forces either secretly instigated, disguised themselves as enemies to launch sneak attacks, or took advantage of the chaos to commit one horrific massacre after another, as well as the disappearance of cultivators.
"Have you heard? The Zhao family of 'Flowing Cloud Valley' in Tiannan was wiped out last night by a mysterious force because their ancestor obtained an ancient treasure in the Void Heaven Palace! Not a single member of the family survived; their souls were completely lost!"
"The Liu brothers of 'Green Fish Island' in the Chaotic Star Sea, it is said that they obtained a lot of spiritual herbs outside the Void Heaven Palace. The other day, they were found dead in their cave. Their storage bags were stolen, and their bodies were shriveled, as if their life essence had been drained!"
"The Great Jin's 'Mysterious Sword Sect' and 'Five Poisons Sect' already had a feud over a magical artifact in the Void Heaven Palace. Yesterday, disciples from both sects clashed in a large-scale conflict outside the market, resulting in heavy casualties. It is said that a third-party force secretly intervened, exacerbating the conflict!"
Rumors spread like wildfire, and panic gripped the people. Everyone believed that the treasures of the Void Heaven Palace were the cause of the trouble, and that greedy cultivators were killing each other. Little did they know that beneath this chaotic surface, an invisible demonic hand was secretly manipulating events, amplifying the killing and hatred in the human realm to the extreme, all to collect more souls, create more chaos, and prepare for the arrival of the demonic army.
The major powers in the human realm are not fools. As the conflicts and massacres caused by the treasures of the Void Heaven Palace escalated, exhibiting characteristics such as wide scope, cruel methods, clear targets (mostly those who had gained something), and the presence of eerie atmospheres at the scene, the giants such as the Kunwu Alliance, the Star Palace, and the Great Jin Royal Family quickly noticed the unusual nature of the situation.
"This is definitely not a simple case of murder and robbery! There must be a hidden force pulling the strings behind the scenes!"
Inside the council hall of Kunwu Mountain, Xuan Qingzi, with a solemn expression, addressed the representatives of the various forces present in a deep voice.
The Kunwu Alliance immediately sprang into action, joining forces with the intelligence networks of the Star Palace and the Great Jin Imperial Family to dispatch a large number of elite cultivators to conduct in-depth investigations into the recent series of major tragedies. They meticulously examined the crime scenes, analyzed the identities of the victims, the times of their deaths, the methods used, and tracked down any possible clues.
Soon, the investigation yielded a startling discovery. The extremely faint yet indelible sinister aura remaining at the crime scenes was exactly the same as the aura left behind in the mysterious incidents that had occurred in the Great Jin and Tiannan regions, specifically targeting the extraction of cultivators' souls!
"It's the same group!"
The Star Palace Master, Ling Yunchen, had a sharp gaze: "They were secretly collecting living souls before, and now they're taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Void Heaven Palace to commit massacres. What is their purpose? Is it merely to create chaos, or do they have other plans?"
However, the forces behind this (the Ancient Demons and their minions) are clearly extremely cunning and well-organized. They act swiftly and ruthlessly, their cleanup afterward is highly professional, and they seem to possess some sophisticated concealment techniques or treasures. The Kunwu Alliance's investigation, while confirming the presence of a mastermind and identifying several suspicious areas, always seems to falter whenever they attempt to delve deeper. The "ghostly" attackers vanish as if into thin air, leaving them with no way to proceed.
"These guys are hiding their true colors!"
"A Kunwu Alliance elder in charge of the investigation said bitterly."
Faced with the increasingly dire situation, the Kunwu Alliance had no choice but to change its strategy. They united almost all the top forces in the human realm (including some demon royal families) and issued a joint statement calling on all parties to exercise restraint in disputes, strengthen vigilance, and share intelligence. At the same time, they organized several "patrol envoy" teams led by Nascent Soul cultivators to patrol areas with high incidence of conflict, attempting to deter the mastermind behind the scenes and intervene in the conflict as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating.
These measures have had some effect. With the strong intervention and joint inspections by top powers, some forces that were originally poised to cause trouble have become much more restrained, large-scale open conflicts have decreased, and the chaotic situation in some areas has been contained to a certain extent, with the situation beginning to develop in a positive direction.
However, the infiltration and sabotage of the ancient demonic forces did not cease. They became more covert, no longer launching large-scale attacks easily, but instead turning to precise assassinations, sowing discord, and creating misunderstandings. Some small and medium-sized forces, especially those that possessed the spoils of the Void Heaven Palace but lacked sufficient self-defense capabilities, continued to fall victim to their attacks. The human and cultivation worlds remained shrouded in a shadow of bloodshed and suspicion.
"This can't go on."
Xuan Qingzi said with deep concern, "The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. If we don't find the mastermind behind this, the human realm will never have peace. Moreover, I have a bad feeling that these people's schemes are probably far bigger than we imagine..."
His premonition was correct. They were not facing an ordinary evil cultivation organization, but an invading vanguard from the demon realm, behind which was the imminent arrival of a fragment of a Mahayana Saint Lord. A much larger storm was quietly gathering power beneath this seemingly gradually restored order.