The atmosphere, previously blazing with excitement over the vast quantities of crystal stones, froze in an instant.
The greed and wild delight on Old Ancestor Xuanming's face stiffened. He raised his head, trembling, almost in tears. "T-Token Master, y-you must be joking!"
"My mines... my crystal stones... if this turbid qi disappears, what are we supposed to mine? What are we supposed to exchange?"
What concerned him now was not the safety of Central Province at all, but his grand plan to get rich, which had only just glimpsed the dawn and was already about to die in the womb.
Emperor Jiang Wu and Old Ancestor Cangwu also wore exceedingly grave expressions.
Their thoughts went deeper than Old Ancestor Xuanming's.
A force capable of triggering changes in the laws of heaven and earth across all of Central Province was already beyond their imagination.
"What are you panicking for?"
Zhou Xuan stepped off the bow of the ship, appearing before them.
He glanced at the top-grade crystal stones still pouring out of the Purifier, his gaze entirely unruffled.
"I'm not trying to scare you."
He looked at them and explained, word by word, "This isn't a natural disaster. Someone caused it."
"Someone caused it?" Emperor Jiang Wu's brows knitted tightly. He could not comprehend it at all.
What sort of being could cause such drastic changes throughout the heavens and earth of Central Province?
Zhou Xuan did not keep them guessing. He stated his judgment outright.
"A terrifying existence far beyond the heavens has noticed something unusual about Central Province."
"It is cleansing all of Central Province at its very roots, trying to find the foreign object that unsettles it."
"As for the dissipating turbid qi you mentioned..."
An icy smile curved Zhou Xuan's lips.
"That is merely an insignificant side