The Hidden Threat to Peace

Chapter 31: The Hidden Threat to Peace. Throughout those centuries of peace, as lovely as poetry and painting, the universe seemed immersed in a tranquil, harmonious dream. The people of every world lived and worked in contentment, cultures flourished, trade thrived, and interstellar exchange and cooperation reached unprecedented heights. Children laughed and played in the sunlight, cultivators devoted themselves to exploring the mysteries of spiritual power and strengthening themselves, and artists used their talents to portray this beautiful age. Yet the gears of fate were quietly turning, and a hidden current surged beneath the placid surface. Deep in the universe, in a mysterious and distant region, an evil power of darkness began to grow like a venomous snake concealed in the shadows. Dense nebulae and powerful energy storms surrounded this region, where few ever ventured. For that very reason, the dark power was able to grow stronger in utter silence. At first, unusual phenomena appeared only in a few remote worlds on the fringes of the universe. On a planet called Shadow Star, creatures that had once been gentle and kind suddenly grew frenzied and restless. An eerie red light flickered in the eyes of ordinary wild beasts, and they began attacking their own kind and nearby villages. To their horror, the villagers discovered that these creatures, their minds corrupted by a dark aura, had become extraordinarily powerful. Ordinary weapons and defensive measures had no effect on them. Similar incidents followed in other remote worlds. In the Star Ripple Realm, an inexplicable dark power suddenly invaded the souls of some cultivators as they cultivated. Their consciousness was warped, and the justice and kindness they had once upheld were replaced by evil. These corrupted cultivators began committing atrocities throughout the realm, seizing resources and destroying order, spreading immense panic among the