Lingxiao Peak has vanished.
The once-majestic mountain, hailed as the 'backbone of the cultivation world', has now been transformed into a terrifying crater spanning hundreds of miles. The space in this area is extremely unstable, with distorted laws weaving together to create an inaccessible "forbidden zone of annihilation" for both mortals and cultivators.
With that earth-shattering self-destruction, the Immortal Alliance's three-thousand-year rule vanished completely.
However, the chaos in the cultivation world has only just begun. Freed from restraint, the various demon kings and ambitious hidden sects have stirred like sharks smelling blood, sensing the disappearance of Lu Qingyun's aura.
[System log: current status – core reorganization in progress]
[Environment Judgement: Guixu Abyss]
[Synchronisation rate: ?% (exceeded logical limits)]
In the darkest, coldest depths of the crater, at the centre of a pressure so powerful it could crush a primordial spirit, a dark red metallic substance pulsates slowly but steadily.
Though it has no heart, it emits a thunderous roar that shakes the earth. This is Xiao Wuchen's remaining Cold Iron Core. At the moment of its mutual destruction with Lu Qingyun, it devoured not only Lu Qingyun's Mahayana Dao Fruit, but also the accumulated fortune of Lingxiao Peak over three thousand years.
At this moment, a 'divine and demonic alchemy' incomprehensible to mortals was taking place within the core.
Lu Qingyun's fragments of laws were forcibly dismantled and transformed into the most basic energy particles.
The remnant souls of the three thousand soldiers were re-condensed within this energy; they were no longer illusory spirits, but rather eternal warriors fused with the 'Return to Nothingness' metal.
Xiao Wuchen's carbonised will was absorbing the death energy of the entire battlefield and slowly growing new dark golden nerve plexuses.
The Emperor who crawled out of hell...Three years later.
On the edge of the Desolate Forbidden Zone, a group of rogue cultivators were excavating the remaining fragments of magical treasures in an attempt to 'pick up scraps' when, suddenly, an extremely muffled explosion resounded from the depths of the earth.
A pitch-black hand tore apart the black mist in the centre of the crater.
A man slowly emerged. His armour was no longer heavy iron, but dark gold and ethereal, as taut as biological skin and radiating an immortal glow. A completely new arm had been reconstructed from the broken part of his left shoulder using flowing purple-gold electrostatic fluid.
In his hand was a crystallised golden head that still gleamed and bore the terrified expression of Lu Qingyun before his death.
Xiao Wuchen stood at the edge of the deep pit, feeling the long-awaited sunlight. Ignoring the trembling rogue cultivators, he plunged his broken longsword into the ground.
'Those who belong to the Great Qian, return to the heavens!'
With this decree, the black mist within the forbidden zone began to surge violently and streaks of purple lightning ripped through the soil. Three thousand Undying Dragon Guards, clad in dark gold armour and with auras as deep as the sea, emerged from the ruins. They knelt on one knee in unison, their voices shattering the clouds for miles around as they cried out in unison: 'Greetings, General!'
His voice was no longer hoarse, but filled with the sharp edge of battle.
Xiao Wuchen looked north to the former homeland of the Great Qian Dynasty, now the centre of a fragmented world of sects. He raised his reborn purple-gold left hand and pointed into the distance.
'The Immortal Alliance is dead. From this day forward, mortals will rule this world.'
Xiao Wuchen led three thousand 'Undying Dragon Guards' across the Hengduan Mountains and into Shengjing, the former capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.
Once the centre of the world and a hub of pilgrimage with abundant spiritual energy, only ruins remain today. Rusted fragments of armour from the imperial guards of three thousand years ago can still be unearthed beneath the scorched earth. The wind and sand swept mournfully across the empty Vermilion Bird Avenue.
System Scan: Remaining national fortune of the Great Qian Dynasty detected.
Current status: extremely weak.
[Operation suggestion: Perform the 'Return to the Void Sacrifice to Heaven' to forcibly reverse the flow of fortune using Lu Qingyun's head.'
Xiao Wuchen stepped onto the broken white jade steps; each one cracked under his weight, as though capable of crushing everything. He reached the Xuanzheng Hall, which was now mostly collapsed, leaving only a bronze throne with a chipped corner from lightning.
'Leng Wuxue, form the formation.' Xiao Wuchen casually tossed Lu Qingyun's golden head onto the altar in the centre of the hall.
Three thousand Dragon Guards instantly scattered like dark golden nails, firmly driving themselves into the eight directions of the imperial city ruins. They uniformly thrust their dark golden spears into the ground. A profound black wave belonging to the 'Return to the Void' began to spread beneath Shengjing.
'With my crippled body, I summon your heroic spirit!'
Xiao Wuchen formed a hand seal and a cluster of dark purple flames ignited at his fingertips, setting Lu Qingyun's head ablaze. At that moment, the head of a Mahayana stage expert became the world's finest fuel; the golden, sacred energy was forcibly twisted and corrupted, transforming into a blood-red pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.
At that instant, the sound of digging echoed from beneath the ground for a thousand miles.
Summoned by the 'Return to the Void Domain', the remnant souls of the countless Great Qian soldiers and innocent civilians who died in battle three thousand years ago surged from the cracks in the earth and gathered around the crimson pillar of light.
These souls did not enter reincarnation. Instead, Xiao Wuchen used 'Resurrection Sand' as a medium to endow them with a metallic will and reform them into a Netherworld Legion that covered the sky.
In the ruins of the imperial city, ancient trees that had previously withered now bore iron-like leaves.
Amidst the earth's tremors, the shattered city walls miraculously pieced themselves back together, their surfaces covered with a flowing layer of black-gold armour.
The strange phenomena triggered by the sacrificial ceremony sent chills down the spines of sect leaders within tens of thousands of miles.
At that moment, Xiao Wuchen's voice resonated throughout the entire Northern Territory via the thunderclouds:
'Within three days, all sects that have ever divided up Great Qian's territory must have their sect leaders carry thorns personally to the walls of Shengjing. Those who fail to arrive by the deadline will have their sects sacrificed to the Return to the Void.' Xiao Wuchen paused, his tone chilling.
He sat on the shattered bronze throne. His dark gold mask, illuminated by the crimson flames, radiated an unprecedented sense of majesty. He was no longer merely a vengeful general, but the sole and newly born ruler of this ruin.
At his feet, Leng Wuxue knelt, his voice fervent:
'Master, the first batch of "gifts" has arrived. The closest sect, the Qingyang Sect, is kneeling and trembling outside the city with their spiritual veins.'
Xiao Wuchen smiled coldly. "Let them kneel," he said. Three thousand years ago, when they destroyed my Great Qian, they didn't allow mortals to kneel.' Through the sacrificial ceremony, Shengjing was being transformed from ruins into the 'Return to the Ruins Fortress', the ultimate bastion for mortals to use in their resistance against cultivators.
By publicly executing Lu Qingyun and offering his head as a sacrifice, Xiao Wuchen had destroyed the surrounding sects' will to resist completely, while the remnants of the Great Qian and their lingering souls gathered on a massive scale.
Outside Shengjing City, the Qingyang Sect Master, a white-haired elder who had reached the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage, knelt trembling on the charred ground. Dozens of trembling disciples stood behind him, alongside three black-gold carriages laden with spirit stones and sect treasures.
'General, the Qingyang Sect is willing to offer all the spiritual veins accumulated over three thousand years in exchange for a sliver of hope!' The old man's voice was hoarse as he struck his forehead heavily against the hard, black stone ground.
Xiao Wuchen stood on top of the newly built, hundred-zhang-high black-gold city wall and looked down. He didn't speak, but simply raised his purple-gold left hand and gently pressed it into the void.
[System Command: Reconstruction of the Void]
[Operation: Forcibly capture external spiritual pressure and perform 'will-based' conversion'.
[Judgement: target spiritual vein extraction rate 100%].
Much to the crowd's astonishment, the spiritual energy from the three Qingyang Sect carriages transformed into visible golden dragons and surged wildly into the city wall. However, the moment these energies touched the black-gold city walls, they lost their golden light and transformed into a dark purple colour, sinking into the ground beneath Shengjing.
The Great Qian Dragon Vein, already dried up and nourished by this domineering energy, let out a muffled roar.
With several spiritual veins forcibly connected, a fundamental qualitative change occurred within a hundred miles of Shengjing City.
All spiritual energy was firmly locked within the black-gold city walls and underground, no longer roaming freely in the atmosphere. For cultivators, this place became a 'spirit-severing forbidden zone', even more terrifying than a desert. Their golden cores withered, their flying swords lost their levitation power, and they became mere mortals who could only walk.
'From this day forward, there will be no distinction between immortals and mortals within Shengjing City.' Xiao Wuchen's voice echoed across the wilderness. 'Those who enter this city are all citizens of the Great Qian Dynasty. Any cultivator who dares to use magic will be challenging the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, and their souls will be scattered.' Just as the Qingyang Sect had surrendered several hundred miles away, several small sects attempting to escape the chaos suddenly suffered a devastating blow. 'Lightning Flash!'
Three thousand Undying Dragon Guards transformed into streaks of purple lightning and traversed space. They required no replenishment of spiritual energy, being directly connected to the Returning Void Furnace of Shengjing.
The defensive formations of the various sects were as fragile as paper against the dark gold spears. The Dragon Guards did not engage in complex magical combat; instead, they carried out precise slaughter. They nailed the elders who attempted to resist to the stone pillars of the mountain gates, uprooted their spiritual veins, and dragged them towards Shengjing. At that moment, Shengjing was no longer a desolate place.
Amidst the ruins, factories and barracks reconstructed from Void energy were rising from the ground. The remnant soul of the Great Qian, summoned back and now possessing a 'Void Body', tirelessly repairs the city.
In the city centre stands a colossal black tower, created when Xiao Wuchen fused Lu Qingyun's divine fragments with the Great Qian's earth veins.
At the city gate stands a ten-zhang-high stone tablet inscribed with large blood-red characters: 'Immortals are without virtue, mortals prosper.'
Xiao Wuchen descends the city wall, with Leng Wuxue following behind.
'Master, the remaining thirty-six sects in the northwest have formed a "Demon-Slaying Alliance", led by the people of Thunder Valley. They claim that they will invite a True Immortal from the Upper Realm to suppress you.'
Xiao Wuchen stops and looks up at the cloud-shrouded sky. A cruel smile plays on his lips.
'A True Immortal from the Upper Realm? Let them come. Three thousand years ago, they failed to wipe out the people of Great Qian. This time, I will make sure that none of these so-called immortals ever return.'