Chapter 2108: The Decaying Divine Realm

In Zhang Xuan's imagination, the Divine Realm should be filled with countless experts, clouds of masters, and abundant spiritual energy everywhere, allowing anyone to break through easily. A random branch picked up from the ground would be more powerful than a top-grade immortal artifact, even surpassing a pseudo-divine artifact.

The weeds seen everywhere would be healing and breakthrough immortal medicines, surpassing top-grade Origin Energy Pills...

Everywhere was treasure, everywhere was wealth...

But hearing what the other said—spiritual energy declining, all things decaying—it felt like a ruin...

Take this Spirit Mechanism Mountain, for example. Although there were some plants, over time they couldn't absorb spiritual energy, just like without sunlight, they eventually withered and slowly perished.

For this reason, every time Zhang Xuan searched for wild vegetables, he had to walk for almost half a day, or even a whole day, and the amount he obtained was very limited.

This... is really the Divine Realm?

Arriving here, can't even eat a blade of grass? How does it feel similar to the ancient battlefield of the Alien Race?

Decaying, declining, like a ruin.

"There are still quite a few wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains, containing spiritual energy. This decay... shouldn't have lasted too long, right?" he couldn't help asking.

If it had been a long time without spiritual energy, this place would have long become an empty mountain, with no vegetation existing. The fact that trees, wild vegetables, and even fruits and divine beasts could still be found... indicated that the decay hadn't lasted too long.

Hearing him ask this, Teacher Mo Yun looked over even more puzzled: "Could it be that you've just arrived in the Divine Realm?"

"Of course not... We originally lived in a small mountain village, isolated from the world, knowing little about outside matters... Later, a plague struck, leaving only us, who were saved by the teacher. So... we are unaware of many things!"

Zhang Xuan said with an awkward smile.

He didn't know what the Divine Realm's approach to ascenders was, but he still needed to be cautious; otherwise, he might be sold out without even knowing.

"Hmm!" Seeing that he was insincere and probably unwilling to say more, Teacher Mo Yun didn't press further and said, "This dissipation of spiritual energy first appeared about forty-odd years ago, no more than fifty years! At that time, the sky collapsed and the earth sank; the entire sky seemed to have half caved in, and floods spread across the land. Legend has it that the emperors guarding the four heavens—east, south, west, and north—personally intervened, cutting off the four legs of the [Heaven-Earth Turtle] to serve as sky-supporting pillars, thus stabilizing the world."

Saying this, Teacher Mo Yun smiled: "Of course, this is just a legend, not to be taken as truth! Some also say that the emperor of the Central Free Heaven refined a special power to patch up the collapsing sky... In short, there are various accounts, but from that time on, spiritual energy everywhere began to dissipate rapidly. Except for towns and cities, it's basically the same as here, making it hard for life to survive!"

"This..." Zhang Xuan's heart shook violently.

Forty-odd years ago, close to fifty years... converted to the time of the Upper Firmament, it would be over four thousand years, and in the Master Teacher Continent, it would be over forty thousand years!

That was exactly the time when Kong shi emerged and the six major sects of the Upper Firmament were established.

The Divine Realm encountered calamity, the heavens collapsed, and Kong shi controlled the Heavenly Dao in an orderly manner... Could there be a special connection between the two?

If there is a connection, then... could his library and the flaws in the Heavenly Dao also be related to this?

After all, the Heavenly Dao couldn't have appeared out of nowhere. His library could be used even in the Divine Realm, indicating that the level of the Heavenly Dao was not lower than that of the Divine Realm's Heavenly Dao...

This inevitably raised such suspicions in one's mind.

"With spiritual energy declining, breaking through to the divine level is no longer as easy as before! Moreover, the more breakthroughs one makes, the greater the consumption of resources, which could very likely trigger even greater upheavals. Therefore, the Nine Heavens and Nine Emperors had to control the number of deities, personally taking action to build nine divine mountains. To break through to the divine level, one must go to the divine mountains to seek divine energy. Those who succeed break through; those who fail can only resign themselves to fate."

Teacher Mo Yun continued.

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

This situation was somewhat similar to the Kunxu Realm in the Master Teacher Continent. With limited resources, those without talent or qualification completely lost the chance to advance.

Though harsh for cultivators, it allowed a world to develop more sustainably without collapsing.

"Teacher Yang's way of tempering you is clearly to make you stronger in combat as pseudo-deities, and the trials in the desolate mountains better prepare you for the divine mountain environment, helping you find divine energy and break through smoothly!"

Teacher Mo Yun sighed with emotion: "As expected of people from the Master Teacher Pavilion, truly thoughtful! No wonder even though the students they recruit have average talent, their final achievements are no lower than those geniuses... Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to say you have low talent, nor do I have any intention to belittle you..."

Zhang Xuan blinked, not knowing how to respond.

Zhao Ya and the others almost laughed out loud.

Daring to say that their teacher had low talent... this person really had some nerve.

The teacher had cultivated for less than two years in the Master Teacher Continent and less than two months in the Upper Firmament. Converted to Divine Realm time...

The Master Teacher Continent time was 0.73 days, the Upper Firmament 0.6 days, totaling 1.33 days... roughly 16 Divine Realm hours. For you, the time it takes to sleep, the teacher went from an ordinary person to the divine realm, breaking through dozens of major and minor realms along the way... You dare say he has poor talent?

What a joke!

"Cough, I don't mind..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He asked about some more matters, and Teacher Mo Yun was indeed forthcoming, answering everything without reservation. Soon, Zhang Xuan had an intuitive understanding of the Divine Realm.

As expected of the pinnacle existence among all heavens and myriad realms, it was indeed filled with countless experts. But being powerful also had its drawbacks—namely, it wasn't as rule-bound as the Master Teacher Continent.

True rule of strength: the strong could roam the world freely, while the weak could only stay within cities, afraid to go out, lest they encounter bandits and lose both their lives and property, dying in a foreign land.

Of course, this was only outside the cities. Inside the cities, one had to obey the city's rules. Every city lord had absolute authority and power.

For example, in their city, Night Underworld City, the city lord Wu Fangqing was a Heavenly Deity realm expert, with a bronze head and iron arms, impervious to blades and spears. He had once single-handedly bloodily wiped out eighteen bandit strongholds, unstoppable by gods or ghosts.

Within the city, one had to abide by the rules he set; otherwise, they would face absolute punishment.

The strong make the rules, and the weak obey them.

Otherwise, they might be killed, or have their divine energy extracted...

This was the Divine Realm, a naked jungle law.

"Teacher Mo Yun, could you tell me the story of that Heavenly Sovereign Emperor?" Wang Ying seemed to sense something was off and asked curiously.

"The Heavenly Sovereign Emperor is a super expert who suddenly emerged in recent decades. He became famous about forty-odd years ago when, as an upper-grade deity, he single-handedly fought eight lower-grade heavenly deities and killed them, ranking first on the Heavenly Deity Potential List!"

Teacher Mo Yun's eyes showed admiration; it seemed he deeply admired this emperor who had burst onto the scene.

"Heavenly Deity Potential List?"

"Each of the nine forces of the Nine Heavens compiles its own Heavenly Deity Potential List. Those who enter the top ten almost invariably advance to upper-grade heavenly deities! Even the top three have a chance to achieve divine king status! For this reason, this list is the object of pursuit for countless cultivators. As long as one enters it, they step through the door to abundant resources and a boundless future!"

Teacher Mo Yun's eyes were full of envy.

The Divine Realm planned resources; without absolute talent, it was impossible to obtain better training opportunities. So... various lists appeared for cultivators to compete over.

By achieving better rankings and securing enough resources, one could gain the qualifications for training and advance to higher cultivation levels.

This was almost the same as the Kunxu Realm.

"After achieving this first place, his momentum became unstoppable. In less than a year, he successfully broke through to the divine king realm. Then, during the spiritual energy tide, he stood out alone and was simultaneously granted the honorary title of Divine King by seven emperors."

"Less than another year later, he began challenging the Nine Heavens and Nine Emperors. At first, everyone thought this man was simply crazy, but who would have expected him to win the first match... In the following decades, he challenged the nine emperors one by one. I heard that now only the emperor of the Central Free Heaven hasn't competed yet, and the others have already recognized his status... Although the results are unknown, since they recognized his status, it's very likely that the other eight emperors... all lost!"

Teacher Mo Yun lowered his voice.

Concerning the Nine Heavens and Nine Emperors, even though rumors outside were rife, it was better not to spread them.

"Consecutively challenging eight emperors..."

Zhang Xuan's blood boiled with excitement.

As expected of Kong shi, no matter which world, he was always the ultimate figure standing at the pinnacle.

"I wonder what the emperor of the Free Heaven is called... And why hasn't he competed with him?" Zhang Xuan asked, full of curiosity.

Whether the challenge against the emperors ended in victory or defeat, ordinary people didn't know, but the super experts who were also emperors surely knew.

Could it be that this emperor of the Free Heaven knew the others had lost and dared not compete with him?

"That, I wouldn't know! Speaking of this emperor of the Free Heaven, he controls the center of the Divine Realm, is the supreme among the nine emperors, the most powerful emperor in the Divine Realm, and also the most mysterious... Outside, there is not a single rumor about him. Even his gender, age, or name is unknown! But no one dares to touch the position of the Central Free Heaven. The Divine Realm has stood for who knows how long, and no one has ever dared to scheme against it..."

Saying this, Teacher Mo Yun suddenly startled, realizing he had said too much, and smiled awkwardly: "Alright, let's stop here for today. We are just small figures; matters of the Nine Heavens and Nine Emperors are none of our concern, and we can't participate. No need to borrow trouble..."

"Hmm!"

Knowing he wouldn't get anything more out of him, Zhang Xuan stopped asking. Everyone was tired from the day's work, full of fatigue. Many of Teacher Mo Yun's students leaned against the rock wall and fell into a deep sleep.

Even this teacher closed his eyes, whether asleep or not.

Only Zhang Xuan and his students sat cross-legged on the ground, closing their eyes to cultivate.

Although the spiritual energy here was very thin, insufficient to cover expenses, making cultivation extremely difficult, they still dared not waste a single moment.

"Hmm?" Cultivating until the dead of night, Zhang Xuan was about to rest when he suddenly stopped, as if sensing something. He looked in a certain direction and couldn't help furrowing his brows.