"Damn it, we've been searching for so long. How come we haven't seen a single person?"
Palus couldn't help complaining.
He was about to go crazy.
He'd learned the phrase "damn it" from the people here after coming to the Central Plains!
He thought it sounded incredibly imposing.
Sparu comforted him. "We're already here, so don't rush. Let's take our time looking."
It was his first time here, and he was full of curiosity about the Central Plains.
"Sparu! What are you talking about? Don't you know the state our clan is in?!"
Palus had heard Sparu's almost dismissive words, as if he didn't even want to do anything, and immediately flew into a rage.
He rushed over, grabbed the horns on Sparu's head, and shook him with all his might.
He shook him so violently that even the best egg would have its yolk scattered.
"Palus, stop shaking me..."
"We're carrying the hopes of our entire clan! If the Dark Clan finds out, do you know how serious the consequences will be?!"
"I... I have a... a plan!"
"What plan? Hurry up and tell me! Speak! Come on, tell me! Are you going to say it or not?!"
"You keep shaking me! How am I supposed to talk?! If you shake me any more, I'm going to puke!"
Sparu wrenched himself free of Palus, utterly speechless.
Palus was beside himself with anxiety, but he couldn't very well keep pressing Sparu.
A little while later.
Sparu leaned down to Palus's ear. "All we have to do is..."
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! How did I not think of that?"
After hearing him out, Palus couldn't stop praising the idea.
Sparu said smugly, "I'm the brains of the Savage Bull Clan. Otherwise, why would the clan leader send me with you, a simple-minded brute?"
"?"
Several days later.
A shocking piece of news suddenly spread through the Central Plains. After the Yao Clan had voluntarily announced that it was closing the entrance to the Yao Realm,
the passageways into the Spirit Realm and Stone Realm
had also closed!
And the other clans hadn't received so much as a word!
This stirred up heated debate among the other ancient clans.
The Lei Clan.
The clan's higher-ups gathered in Thunder Emperor Hall.
"Clan leader, this matter is far too strange. I met with the young clan leader of the Spirit Clan not long ago. It hasn't even been a year, and now the Spirit Realm and Stone Realm have closed."
Lei Dong's brows were tightly furrowed.
When they cultivated, they would go into seclusion for one or two years at a time, sometimes even five or six.
So meeting someone within a year wasn't that long ago.
Lei Qian frowned and speculated, "Could this have something to do with the Ancient Clan and the Hun Clan?"
"Hard to say. They've been fighting fiercely lately. The Ancient Clan only lost a few Dou Venerables, while the Soul Hall under the Hun Clan supposedly lost several Dou Sheng Experts. We don't know if that's true."
Lei Dong shook his head, unable to reach a conclusion.
Without a doubt, the Ancient Clan and the Hun Clan were the prime suspects.
And even...
The Hun Clan was more likely!
After all, they'd lost multiple Dou Shengs, so acting rashly in response would make perfect sense.
"If that's really the case, then the Hun Clan's suspicion goes through the roof!"
Lei Qian spoke gravely.
In recent years, the Soul Hall under the Hun Clan had been collecting spirit bodies everywhere. No one knew what they were up to!
But one thing was certain: it couldn't be anything good!
Lei Ying, however, said, "You're all just speculating. In my opinion, it's probably because they're too weak and were worried about getting caught up in the fighting between the Ancient Clan and the Hun Clan, so they simply closed their entrances."
If they couldn't afford to provoke them, couldn't they at least hide?
That made sense too.
"Clan leader, should we send someone out to investigate?"
Lei Qian suggested.
Lei Ying nodded in agreement.
But then came the question.
Who would be the right person to send?
Everyone looked at one another.
Mang Tianchi stood up and said, "I'll go. I was just at Jia Nan Academy not long ago, and some little bastard took the Fallen Heart Flame I'd sealed away without paying a thing."
Before returning to the Lei Clan, he'd investigated everywhere, but hadn't found a single clue.
It had left him furious.
Lei Ying nodded. "All right. Tianchi, you'll handle this."
The Yan Clan.
A beautiful woman in a red dress
looked at Yan Jin, who sat in the seat of honor.
"Clan leader, do you think the Stone Clan and Spirit Clan closed their passageways into their realms voluntarily, just like the Yao Clan?"
Yan Jin pondered for a moment.
Only then did he slowly speak.
"Of the Eight Great Clans, apart from the Xiao Clan, which vanished long ago, those two are the weakest. They closed their passageways because they feared being caught in the crossfire of a war between the Ancient Clan and the Hun Clan."
"But... clan leader, I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. I just can't put my finger on what."
Fairy Huoling's brows knitted together.
As they were speaking,
Huo Yao suddenly shot in from outside at incredible speed.
The air boomed in his wake!
"Clan leader! Something terrible has happened!"
"What is it?"
Yan Jin and Fairy Huoling both looked at Huo Yao.
He was acting so hastily.
It wasn't like him at all.
A sense of foreboding rose in both their hearts.
"The Ancient Clan's Ancient Realm... has closed too!"
"What?!"
The Ancient Clan's strength was second only to the Hun Clan's.
The Yao Clan, Spirit Clan, and Stone Clan were weak, so closing their passageways was understandable!
But what did it mean for the Ancient Clan to close theirs?
Were they showing weakness to the Hun Clan?
Or did they have another scheme?
"Not long ago, I heard that the Human Hall in the Soul Hall's Tiangang Hall was destroyed by Gu Nanhai alone! The Hun Clan was furious, and Hun Miesheng personally led people to the Ancient Clan to demand an explanation. But when he got there, he found the passageway into the realm closed!"
That news was like a torpedo thrown into a tranquil lake.
It stirred up a monstrous wave!
Shock and surprise!
A powerhouse of Hun Miesheng's caliber had entered the fray.
That meant the war between the two clans was on the verge of breaking out.
And now the Ancient Realm had closed!
It was certainly food for thought.
"Is there any other news?"
Yan Jin pressed.
Huo Yao shook his head.
Yan Jin made a prompt decision. "Quickly invite the Lei Clan's clan leader here to discuss a plan."
"Yes!"
Before long, Lei Ying arrived with his people.
He'd been fighting with the clan's experts and had known nothing about the Ancient Realm closing.
As soon as he heard, he'd brought his people over.
"Old Yan, what exactly is going on?"
Yan Jin shook his head, his expression complicated.
"Old Lei, in this situation, I'm afraid the only way for our two clans to weather this storm is to stand together and pull through as one."
"Damn it! First, every major force on the surface in the Central Plains was swallowed up. Then the Spirit Realm and Stone Realm closed. And now... the Ancient Realm has shut its doors too!"
Lei Ying was good at fighting and loved fighting. The one thing he didn't like was using his head.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Let's go check the Spirit Realm and Stone Realm together."
Yan Jin didn't think they could just sit around and wait for things to happen.
They had to take the initiative.
Lei Ying naturally agreed.
But, unfortunately,
even working together, the two of them couldn't find a way into the Spirit Realm or Stone Realm.
Then the two went to the Ancient Clan!
The result was the same!
Even in the Eastern Region of the Central Plains, the places where the Ancient Clan had once operated—some businesses and gathering points—were completely deserted.
Everything was shrouded in strangeness!
For a time, the two of them were like headless flies, with no idea what to do next.
Before you continue