You Know That Too, Do You?
The strength of the world's major powers is constantly increasing; history can be described as a spiral of progress.
The foundations, techniques, spells, and technologies of various forces are passed down through generations, iterated layer by layer, and constantly broken through; there are very few cases where the older the force, the stronger it becomes.
Of all the forces in the world, the [Void Lord Alliance] appears to be the strongest in terms of combat power.
Its members have a minimum entry requirement of Eleventh Ring Legendary Rank. Powerful individuals reside in the floating Divine Domain, where magnificent and beautiful Floating Cities float between the starry sea Void, transcending Mortal World conflicts, overlooking the rise and fall of all living beings.
They wouldn't dare claim that they could easily defeat the Void Lord Alliance from a hundred years ago, but they certainly dare to say that they could beat the Void Lord Alliance from twenty thousand years ago like dogs.
Because at that time, the [Void Lord Alliance] had only just been established...
However, the number of strong individuals in the real world is indeed gradually increasing. After all, it is not difficult to modify oneself to achieve immortality. A Tenth Ring Weave Mage can live for a very, very long time as long as they are willing to study lifespan.
Immortality is easily attained, but lasting peace is elusive.
For all extraordinary powerhouses, the greatest calamity of their lives is never the chaos of wars between factions, the dangers of Secret Realms, or the arrival of the Demon Realm, but rather the invisible Corrosion from the [Demon Realm].
The higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the closer their connection to the energy of the Demon Realm, and the more frequent their contact, the more easily they are Infestation by the myriad emotions accumulated by all living beings in the Demon Realm over countless ages.
Violence, madness, paranoia, and Extinction —all these negative emotions will continuously Corrosion the Origin of the soul, ultimately causing even the strongest to lose themselves and become nothing more than mindless killing machines.
Therefore, for powerful individuals who can achieve immortality of both soul and body, their lifespan limit depends on the influence of the Demon Realm.
This is called "[God-Corpse Transformation]", perhaps because it resembles a walking corpse, a physical body dominated by a "Demon God", and is named by the "Church".
However, there are also ancient monsters who have self-imposed limitations and lived for tens of thousands of years.
Perhaps there are many more.
It's even possible that an ancient monster, living since the [Prosperity Era] a hundred thousand years ago, could exist...
The formation and operating principles of the [Demon Realm] itself have been the biggest topic of discussion from ancient times to the present.
There is a very strange phenomenon: it can be found from history that [Demon Realm beings] have existed since ancient times, but [Demon Gods ] have not.
The first descent of the Demon God into the Mortal World stemmed from the ultimate prosperity of Mortal World civilization.
At that time, geniuses and powerful figures emerged in the Mortal World in an explosive manner. Several legendary supreme Legendary with the Twelfth Ring appeared out of nowhere, which intensified the energy of the Demon Realm and attracted the first batch of Demon Gods to break through the barrier and descend, bringing a near-annihilation catastrophe to the then immature and weak Mortal World civilization.
The stronger the Mortal World civilization, the higher the combat power of its beings; the more advanced the civilization, the stronger the Demon Gods that descend upon the Mortal World, the greater their power, the stronger their Authority, and the more terrifying their threat.
Demon God aren't idiots; they possess extremely high intelligence and learning abilities. Demon God can quickly learn the spells deduced by Mortal World, the technologies they develop, and the systems they build.
This is one of the reasons why the world is so cautious about keeping technology secret.
For tens of thousands of years, countless Scholars have devoted themselves to research, among whom a top Great Sage from the [Astral Scholar Society] proposed a completely new theory that overturned mainstream understanding:
Demon God are not simply formed from Mortal World emotions; their birth relies on the belief system of all living beings, and they possess exclusive Authority heaven and earth, making them the embodiment of condensed rules.
Subsequently, with the full support of the Seven-Nation Federation and the Oseran Duchy, this Great Sage publicly challenged the orthodox doctrines of the Church and launched a debate.
Afterwards, the Great Sage withdrew from the [Astral Scholar Society] and, with the help of the [Oseran Duchy], fled to a Floating City of a Void Lord to hide. The [Church] issued a warrant for his capture.
However, the Great Sage himself and his subordinate Sages have been promoting this doctrine in the [Weaving Fog Corridor], engaging in verbal battles with related Scholars in the [Church] for over a thousand years.
On this day, the Sage of the only Sage of the Soren Starshackle City-State, who belonged to the school of the Great Sage, entered the hall of the [Weaving Fog Corridor] and remained there for a period of time.
This [Weaving Fog Corridor] is not a purely physical space, but a "membrane" naturally formed between the Demon Realm and reality, similar to the surface tension layer of water.
After reaching the Eleventh Ring of life, the soul becomes more free when entering and exiting the [Demon Realm]. A Consciousness Anchor can be projected onto this membrane, forming a stable channel for consciousness communication.
Through the efforts of several powerful figures over generations, this place has become the world's premier platform for exchange. Ostensibly, it serves as a forum for Scholars from all factions, both powerful and unpowered, dedicated to exchanging theories, and it has established three rules:
1. Mental attacks are prohibited in [Weaving Fog Corridor].
Second, the source of any member information in [Weaving Fog Corridor] cannot be traced, and the Anchor information of anonymous users cannot be forcibly identified.
Third, any act that disrupts the stability of the corridor will be hunted down by all major forces.
Note that this is not an achievement list; violating it will indeed have serious consequences.
Of course, chatting and joking around are still the main activities here.
After all, most of the strong individuals with Anchor don't engage in academics at all, and most of the members who do engage in academics are not strong enough to reach the Eleventh Ring; they are all imprinted by Legendary Rank strong individuals.
A truly exceptional individual, possessing both combat prowess and Knowledge, and combining martial skill with wisdom, is extremely rare throughout history. It's no wonder that this is a stereotype All Heavens and Ten Thousand Worlds.
The Sage of Soren Xingjia's Anchor paused briefly in the Hall of the Weaving Fog Corridor before dissipating and disappearing on its own.
The moment its Anchor disappeared, a brand new, mysterious Anchor quietly descended upon the Weaving Fog Corridor.
The Anchor point has a unique shape; it is a Jingjing Burn ball of Black Flame.
The Black Flames drifted slowly, passing through the chat hall, and silently stopped beside the group of powerful figures, quietly listening to the conversation of the top experts.
"Oh my god, that scared me to death! That world-covering phantom was absolutely terrifying. I thought it was Demon God of that level descending, and the world was doomed."
"That's truly terrifying. We just tallied a large number of deaths among our citizens yesterday, which suggests the Demon Realm is active. The timing, even if it's some kind of Illusion Arts, is incredibly frightening."
"Don't panic. A Great Sage from the [Free Mage Alliance] said it might be an anomaly related to Dreamscape. After all, that phantom is a purely illusory object, and activating it probably doesn't consume much energy."
"We have a great Prophecy who said: The New Life God will Ignite the Divine Fire, exalt the Divine Kingdom, awaken from the rift between illusion and reality, with the obsessions of Mortal World beings as fuel, and the eternal night of silence as its crown... Is this related?"
"Heh, your great Prophecy should figure out what color his underwear will be tomorrow before he speaks."
She doesn't usually wear them.
"... So you know that too."