Saint Emperor Abyss

Isn't the Joyous Union Sect supposed to be a demonic path sect!

Xu Xing walked to the bookshelf, reached out, and took down a copy of A New Compilation of World History.

Saint Emperor Abyss first rose to prominence one thousand years ago, and his cultivation realm was already no less than that of the sect masters of the various great immortal sects.

In a mere two hundred years, his realm soared rapidly, reaching a level comparable to the supreme elders of the immortal sects.

Following that, Saint Emperor Abyss united with several righteous sects that were second only to the great immortal sects, pushing for a transformation of the era.

He enlightened the common people and spread immortal techniques.

Countless mortals who had previously lacked the opportunity and lingered outside the path of immortality thus embarked on the journey of cultivation.

The number of cultivators in the world also saw an explosive increase.

Moreover, under the guidance of Saint Emperor Abyss and a host of righteous sects, this rapid growth of cultivators did not trigger any riots.

The social structure of the entire world gradually changed during this process.

After five hundred years, the social structure of the central continent of the Great Profound Realm finally evolved into its current model.

The seven great immortal sects and the righteous alliance govern the world together.

Yet, one point remains strange: during this process, for reasons unknown, the various immortal sects and the demonic path looked on coldly, never intervening.

And Saint Emperor Abyss, who played the most important role in this series of events, mysteriously disappeared fifty years ago, leaving no further news.

Some suspect the culprit behind the scenes was one of the ancestors from the seven great immortal sects or the demonic path.

Regarding such rumors, neither the immortal sects nor the demonic path ever provided an explanation, and the matter eventually faded into obscurity.

Xu Xing closed the book and returned it to the shelf.

This A New Compilation of World History, and indeed all the books on this floor of the library, were incomplete; they contained a large amount of speculation and conjecture, offering little in the way of reliable reference.

Content such as how Saint Emperor Abyss persuaded those righteous sects, or why the Joyous Union Sect became a righteous immortal sect, was entirely absent, and there were very few records of Saint Emperor Abyss's personal life.

The latter was understandable, however; the vast majority of cultivators, once they reach a certain level of cultivation, try their best to conceal their origins.

Saint Emperor Abyss...

If nothing else, this should be a fellow traveler from another world, but it still requires further confirmation.

"I can ask an old friend for help later, but there is no rush for now."

Xu Xing walked out of the library, just as he had arrived—completely unnoticed by anyone.

Many years ago, he had also wanted to change things and had done many things, but the more he changed, the more chaotic it became, and he eventually realized he was not suited for such tasks.

And now, after a period of seclusion, someone had actually accomplished what they once wanted to do; he would have to take a good look at it, no matter what.

But before that, he had to let this farce subside.

In a classroom, Zhang Yunlu sat in a corner, resting her chin on one hand.

Her other hand held her phone, but the screen was just spinning, with no image appearing.

It wasn't just her; everyone else in the classroom was the same.

It must be because the city-protecting grand formation had been activated, causing the signal to worsen.

With nothing else to do for the moment, those who were familiar with each other in the classroom gathered together and began chatting about the incident three years ago when Cang Jiezi slaughtered a city to refine his techniques.

"I heard from my uncle that although that Cang Jiezi is dead, he has an older brother whose realm is even higher than his, and he has been secretly capturing geniuses from the great sects for these past few years, trying to resurrect his brother."

The one speaking was a grey-eyed boy at the ninth level of Qi Refining, his pale grey pupils flickering with spiritual light from time to time.

This was a sign of overflowing spiritual power, on the verge of forging a Dao foundation.

The other teenagers around him heard this news and one after another began to express their own opinions.

When the city-protecting grand formation was first activated, they were indeed a bit nervous, but they were teenagers at heart, and having never personally experienced the methods of a demonic path master, they soon relaxed.

Zhang Yunlu didn't care much about what they were discussing.

There was no shortage of things about Cang Jiezi on the Spirit Net, but how much of it was actually true?

She curled her lip and looked back at her phone screen.

The image finally refreshed, but before she could even look at it, someone suddenly sat down in the seat in front of her.

"Little girl, we meet again."

She looked up—wasn't this the person from the school gate earlier?

"It's you? How did you disappear as soon as you came in?"

"I haven't been here before, so I was just walking around to take a look."

"..." Zhang Yunlu was speechless. What time was it? "You really have a big heart; you actually dared to stand on the road and watch just now."

"It's fine. After all, if a cultivator above the Void Returning realm were truly attacking, this formation wouldn't hold for long anyway. Hiding here is just the difference between dying sooner or later."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't say such unlucky things!"

She was still young; she didn't want to hear about dying!

"Heh, but it should be fine soon enough."

"It's not that simple." She had looked deeply into the Cang Jiezi massacre from three years ago. "If he were a cultivator from a righteous sect, his sect would provide an explanation for him. But if he's a rogue cultivator, just tracking him down would take a significant amount of time."

As for demonic cultivators, their whereabouts are even more elusive; they slaughter cities to refine their arts at the drop of a hat, viewing all living beings in the world as mere expendable materials.

"Right, let me introduce myself. My name is Zhang Yunlu, and I'm a student here. You... you aren't one, are you?"

Although he looked young, he didn't seem like a low-level Qi Refining cultivator like her in any way.

"Indeed, I am not. My name is Xu Xing, and I am a cultivator of the Sword Sect," Xu Xing said with a smile.

Upon hearing this name, Zhang Yunlu didn't sense anything amiss, but she was even more surprised by his identity.

"The Sword Sect, one of the Seven Great Immortal Sects?!"

Although the world today is vastly different from the ancient cultivation era, one thing has remained unchanged.

The Seven Great Immortal Sects are still the hegemons of the world and the dream destination for countless practitioners.

For an ordinary cultivator, joining one is truly an arduous task.

"You're really amazing. If only I could get into the Sword Sect after I graduate," she said, her tone laced with longing.

But unfortunately, there are far too many people who want to join the Immortal Sects. If she were only competing within this school, her talent would be considered decent.

However, when placed in that scale of competition, she could only be considered average.

In the previous college entrance examination, the top-ranked student was about the same age as she is now, yet possessed a cultivation at the peak of the Golden Core stage—the kind who could bring her older brother to his knees with a single punch.

It is rumored that the person was born with auspicious signs, able to walk and talk from birth, and began cultivating while still an infant. It was simply terrifying!

Her goal was actually one of the several academies founded by the Immortal Sects; she planned to get into an academy first and then slowly prepare for the process of joining an Immortal Sect.

"Your foundation is good. If you cultivate diligently, you still have a chance. I look forward to the day you become my fellow sect member."

"I hope so."

When sects select disciples, the prodigies also have the power to choose their sects.

Because everyone can cultivate, talented cultivators emerge one after another.

To maintain the competitiveness of the new generation, the entry threshold for the Immortal Sects has been lowered, but the examinations have become even more rigorous.

Of course, no one has any objections to this; after all, before the era of the Great Transformation, many people probably wouldn't even have had the qualifications to participate in the selection.

Xu Xing didn't say anything more, instead looking out the window.

"It seems to be ending."

Zhang Yunlu was startled and followed his gaze.

She saw the crimson array patterns above the city beginning to fade.

Xu Xing, however, saw much more. As the city-protecting array shut down, space rippled slightly, and figures appeared out of thin air.

The person in the lead had terrifying fluctuations of spiritual power rippling around his body, clad in a dark red battle armor composed of 129,600 tiny scales.

A great cultivator of the Void Return realm!