The Situation in the Lower Realm [Monthly Votes, Please]

The Nether Soul Island market had changed little in its prosperity after more than a century apart, but a different atmosphere now hung over it.

Back then, the waters around Nether Soul Island had still been in the pioneering stage. Prosperous though they were, they lacked that sense of stability.

Now, more than a century later, the cultivators who had settled in these waters had put down roots. The bustling cries of vendors and the playful laughter of boys and girls lent the market a sense of permanence.

"Master, you have no idea how much has changed over these past hundred-odd years."

Upstairs in a restaurant, Lin Chang'an, Green Ox, and Jin Feng sat around a square table, enjoying spirit dishes and spirit wine with familiar flavors.

Naturally, they had already bought some storage bags and packed away their resources before coming to the nearest waters they knew.

Lin Chang'an had once presided over the waters around Nether Soul Island for decades. Their stability and prosperity certainly owed something to him.

"Over these past hundred-odd years, seals everywhere have loosened, leaking demonic qi. Quite a few demonized monsters have escaped, and there are even many completely unknown Demon Abyss Rifts leaking through the earth veins..."

The seals at the entrances to the Demon Abyss were manageable, since almost all the major powers with established legacies knew about them. But seals deep within the earth could also leak through fissures in the earth veins.

Leaks caused by these earth veins did not generally let demonic beasts escape. The problem was that sudden outpourings of demonic qi inflicted immense harm on low-level cultivators, demon beasts, and even mortals.

"Many mortals have been reduced entirely to demonic beasts by leaking demonic qi. Although nearby cultivators have taken responsibility for eliminating them and sealing