After the Calamity-Viewing Platform closed, Abyss remained silent for a long time.
The scenes from that battle weighed on the hearts of every living being in Abyss like an enormous boulder.
The armies of the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan had crushed heaven and earth beneath their advance.
A sea of fire had burned through sky and sea.
Dragon aura had shredded mountains and rivers.
Qilin battle formations had split the earth's veins.
Countless weaker races had not even been granted the right to struggle amid that overwhelming tide of the Primordial World.
The races of Abyss had only known that the Great Tribulation was terrifying.
But the Calamity-Viewing Platform had let them truly see for the first time just how thoroughly the Great Tribulation could tear apart the Primordial World.
After watching it, Lu Chen pulled his turtle shell in even tighter.
He became even more certain that he absolutely could not go outside.
It was too dangerous out there.
A single aftershock from a battle of that scale falling upon the Northern Sea could turn countless small races to ash.
Thus, Lu Chen issued his second order.
"The Calamity-Viewing Platform will be temporarily sealed."
"Unless necessary, do not observe the main battlefield."
"Dragon-Suppressing Pass will strengthen its rescue preparations."
After hearing this, Lan Shuang immediately understood the Emperor's deeper intention.
The Emperor had sealed the Calamity-Viewing Platform not because he was unaware of changes beyond Abyss, but because he wished to prevent Abyss from becoming too deeply entangled in the battlefield's karma.
Strengthening rescue preparations at Dragon-Suppressing Pass meant that the Emperor had already foreseen that the Three-Clan War would drive more remnants, young races, and wounded soldiers toward Abyss.
She immediately mobilized every bureau.
The Treasury Bureau opened its stores of healing pills.
The Academy's medical cultivators suspended their ordinary classes and shifted to battlefield first aid.
The Calamity-Resolution Hall began organizing records of the three clans' old grudges in advance.
The Bureau of Cause and Effect established temporary Causality-Illuminating Array stations outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
Feng Li led the Frost Phoenix Lineage in training to suppress fire poison.
Lin Yue led the Water Qilin Branch in training to mend severed meridians.
Ao Lie organized common battlefield injuries suffered by the Dragon Clan, recording methods for treating cracked dragon scales, severed dragon tendons, rampaging dragon blood, and more onto jade slips.
Han Jue led the Realm Guard in drilling response formations.
Abyss was like a sleeping beast quietly opening its eyes.
Three hundred years later.
The first batch of wounded arrived outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
They were not an orderly formation, but a group of broken soldiers torn apart by war.
The first to arrive was a young dragon whose scales were charred black from head to tail.
It was only several dozen zhang long, with one broken dragon horn and a belly burned through by Phoenix Fire.
It cradled a crimson phoenix egg in its arms.
The shell of that phoenix egg was cracked, and the aura within was weak.
By the time the young dragon reached Dragon-Suppressing Pass, it was already on the verge of losing consciousness.
It looked up at the dragon patterns on Dragon-Suppressing Pass and the shadow of the Frostflame Parasol Tree, confusion and fear rising in its eyes.
"Save..."
"Save her..."
After saying that, it fell into the Blackwater.
Han Jue's expression changed.
"Realm Guard, receive them!"
Three Realm Guard cultivators immediately rushed out.
But just as they drew near, a sharp phoenix cry rang out behind the young dragon.
Two wounded Frost Phoenix Clan members dragged their tattered wings as they chased after it. The moment they saw the phoenix egg in the young dragon's arms, their eyes instantly reddened.
"Dragon Clan!"
"Release our clan's phoenix egg!"
The two Frost Phoenix Clan members were already severely wounded, their reason on the verge of collapse.
Seeing a dragon holding a phoenix egg, their first instinct was to attack.
Frostflame turned into two icy-blue blades and slashed straight at the young dragon.
Ao Lie appeared outside the pass in an instant.
With one palm strike, he scattered the Frostflame and said in a deep voice, "Stop!"
Upon seeing Ao Lie, the Frost Phoenix Clan members grew even more agitated.
"The Dragon Clan is here too?"
"Abyss truly shelters the Dragon Clan!"
Feng Li rushed out from within the pass and stepped directly in front of them.
"Look carefully."
"That young dragon is saving the phoenix egg."
The Frost Phoenix Clan members froze.
Feng Li had already arrived beside the young dragon and raised a hand to inspect the phoenix egg.
Her expression shifted slightly.
"The Phoenix Fire is burning in reverse. Its vital energy is nearly gone."
Ao Lie crouched down and examined the young dragon's injuries.
"The Phoenix Fire in his abdomen was taken to shield this phoenix egg."
Feng Li fell silent for a moment.
Then she said quietly, "Save them first."
But at that moment, a rumble came from the distance.
A group of battered Qilin soldiers arrived, treading over shattered earth veins.
Behind them came wounded Dragon Clan members, young Phoenix Clan birds, remnants of the Cold Whale Tribe, Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe hatchlings, and dozens of wounded from small races whose names could no longer even be identified.
They had just escaped from the same battlefield.
Along the way, they had eyed one another with hostility and suspicion.
If Dragon-Suppressing Pass had not been right before them, they would have long since started killing each other again.
When they arrived outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass and saw the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan all gathered within the same stretch of Blackwater, the hatred they had suppressed for so long erupted at once.
"The Phoenix Clan burned my younger brother!"
"The Dragon Clan slaughtered our aquatic palace!"
"The Qilin Clan crushed my homeland's earth veins!"
"If Abyss takes them in, we would rather die outside!"
The scene instantly spiraled out of control.
Han Jue tightened his grip on his spear as the Realm Guard swiftly formed a formation.
Lan Shuang stood atop the pass wall, the Book of Cause and Effect suspended in the air.
She knew that if this moment was mishandled, Dragon-Suppressing Pass would immediately become a new battlefield.
Deep within Abyss.
Lu Chen saw the scene as well.
His head began to ache.
The three clans' wounded had only just arrived, and their hatred had already exploded like this.
This was only the first batch.
If more came later, would they not be fighting outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass every day?
The system's voice rang out.
"Detected: wounded from the Three-Clan Battlefield have arrived at Dragon-Suppressing Pass. Old grudges are about to trigger a conflict. Please choose, Host."
"One: accommodate them separately by race and permit those with old grudges to settle their accounts themselves. Reward: one strand of Fortune of Slaughter."
"Two: close Dragon-Suppressing Pass and reject all battlefield wounded. Reward: one bottle of Tribulation-Averting Pills."
"Three: establish temporary life-saving rules, prohibiting the settling of old grudges within three days of entering Abyss and focusing solely on saving lives. Reward: an embryonic form of Abyss medical Fortune."
Lu Chen did not hesitate.
"I choose three."
His voice spread across the area outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
"For three days after entering Abyss, old grudges shall not be addressed. Only lives shall be saved."
"Old grudges will be submitted to the Calamity-Resolution Hall."
"Whoever dares to attack while lives are being saved will be expelled from Abyss."
As those words fell, every living being outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass shuddered.
For three days after entering Abyss, old grudges would not be addressed. Only lives would be saved.
This rule was utterly straightforward.
And utterly domineering.
It did not matter whom you had killed in the past.
It did not matter whether you came from the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, Qilin Clan, or some weak remnant lineage.
Once you entered the rescue zone, you would first survive for three days.
Old scores could be remembered.
Old grudges could be investigated.
But anyone who killed while lives were being saved would not be tolerated by Abyss.
Lan Shuang immediately called out, "Bureau of Cause and Effect, open temporary registers!"
"Calamity-Resolution Hall, record the old grudges!"
"Treasury Bureau, distribute healing spirit pills!"
"Academy medical cultivators, enter the rescue zone!"
"Realm Guard, isolate those who lose control!"
Orders descended one after another.
Every institution in Abyss sprang into action at once.
Feng Li led the Frost Phoenix Lineage into the rescue zone and took the phoenix egg first.
She used Frostflame to suppress the reverse-burning Phoenix Fire, then turned to the Frost Phoenix Clan members beside her. "Treat the Dragon Clan wounded."
The bodies of several Frost Phoenix Clan members stiffened.
Feng Li's voice grew colder.
"By the Emperor's decree, save lives first."
The Frost Phoenix Clan members clenched their teeth, but ultimately walked toward the Dragon Clan wounded.
Ao Lie personally lifted the young dragon that had saved the phoenix egg and sent Dragon Clan secret arts into its body to stabilize its dragon blood.
The next moment, he spotted a young Phoenix Clan bird being swept away by the Blackwater.
Ao Lie did not hesitate. He plunged into the water and dragged the young bird back in one swift motion.
The young bird opened its eyes and saw that a Dragon Clan member had saved it, causing it to tremble from head to toe.
Ao Lie handed it to Feng Li and said flatly, "It's alive."
Feng Li glanced at him.
"Thank you."
Ao Lie said nothing.
On the other side, Lin Yue led the Water Qilin Branch to kneel beside a fissure in the earth veins.
An elder of the Cold Whale Tribe had ruptured meridians, his body nearly shattered by the battlefield's earth aura.
The Water Qilin Branch had never had much connection with the Cold Whale Tribe.
Yet Lin Yue still acted personally, using the power of Mysterious Peak Mountain's earth veins to reconnect the elder's severed meridians.
The Cold Whale Tribe members knelt nearby, weeping uncontrollably.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin Yue."
Lin Yue merely shook his head.
"The Emperor has commanded it. Save lives first."
Those words kept echoing throughout the rescue zone.
Save lives first.
Save lives first.
Save lives first.
Old grudges were recorded one by one in the Calamity-Resolution Register.
The wounded were sent batch after batch into temporary healing formations.
Dragon Clan younglings and Phoenix Clan fledglings were placed in adjacent pools, glaring at one another without daring to fight.
A battered Qilin soldier watched a Phoenix Clan medical cultivator bandage him. His lips trembled for a long while before he finally whispered, "Thank you."
The Phoenix Clan medical cultivator did not look up.
"Don't move around."
Atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass, Han Jue watched the scene, and the hand gripping his spear slowly relaxed.
He had originally thought that once the wounded from the three clans arrived, Dragon-Suppressing Pass would inevitably run with blood.
Yet with a single sentence from the Emperor, the three clans had forcibly stopped fighting in the rescue zone.
It was not that they had forgotten their hatred.
It was that survival came first.
Live first, then speak of karma.
Lan Shuang looked toward the rescue zone, her heart shaken.
This was the true power of Abyss's rules.
They had not erased hatred.
They merely told everyone that in the face of death, Abyss first gave living beings a way out.
Three days later.
Of the first batch of wounded, more than seventy percent had survived.
During a battlefield retreat, that was already nothing short of a miracle.
The rescued wounded of the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, Qilin Clan, and smaller clans stood together in the outer city of Dragon-Suppressing Pass for the first time, silent before one another.
No one dared say anymore that Abyss was merely a refuge.
Here, amid the Great Tribulation, was becoming a place where people could truly lay down their weapons.
Deep within Abyss.
Lu Chen heard the system prompt.
"Abyss has conducted its first large-scale treatment of wounded from the three clans." "The three clans have reached a temporary truce in Abyss's rescue zone." "The embryonic form of Abyss's medical Fortune has condensed." "The stability of the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method's Old Shell Fate-Bearing has increased."
Lu Chen's eyes lit up.
Saving people could strengthen his shell-shedding too?
That was really not bad.
But the next moment, he saw more and more young dragons, young phoenixes, young qilins, and children from smaller clans in the rescue zone.
He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Where were all these little ones supposed to go afterward?