The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-1031

Chapter 1031: Silhouettes of Demons

“What kind of holy entity is this black dog really?” Bing Wuxin expressed her confusion. “It is adept at scheming, has outstanding strategies, it is brutal and callous, and its goal is to wipe out all challengers! Is it really just the martial yard master?”

Han Fei didn’t quite understand it. Casually, she said, “There must be a reason behind each and everything us living creatures do. What is its purpose for expending such a great effort to kill all of us challengers? Could it be just a meaningless slaughter?”

The black dog must have some ulterior motives, but no one knew what its intention actually was.

“I know,” Dongfang Tianfeng said with a smile, brandishing the Jiuzhou Booklet in her white hand.

Everyone’s eyes shone. As the oldest family, the origin of the Great Oriental Family couldn’t be traced. It went even further back than the current history of Jiuzhou.

However, the Glittering Jewel Wonderland was an exceptionally unique place, where the past challengers who took part were prohibited from leaking any information concerning it. Once they did, they would be destined to destruction and slaughter by the Glittering Jewel Wonderland. Mortal Fairies were no exception to this rule.

“I know what you are thinking. But where did your knowledge of the Wonderland come from?” Dongfang Tianfeng twirled the hair which flowed down to her chest.

Upon hearing that, the realization struck them.

The information they had was provided by the people in charge of the factions. The instant at which the Glittering Jewel Wonderland arrived, the sensor of the Wonderland would be shielded. At that time, the people in charge took the opportunity to convey pieces of information to their students. However, the time they had to do so was short, so the information they acquired was rather limited.

However, the Great Oriental Family had intelligence agencies stationed all over the world, and the Jiuzhou Booklet could simultaneously receive the input of information from thousands of millions of people. It was hard to imagine how much information Dongfang Tianfeng had received in a short instant. It must be a shockingly astronomical figure!

In terms of their understanding of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland, she was no less advanced than all the challengers combined.

Seeing that they had all figured it out, Dongfang Tianfeng flipped open the Jiuzhou Booklet, and several messages flickering with splendor automatically surfaced.

“The martial yard master, a creature that bears the appearance of a black dog. First appeared in the tenth advent of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland and has not been seen since.”

“Since its appearance, the Glittering Jewel Wonderland underwent drastic changes. From a Wonderland that hones the skills of challengers, it became a gruesome Netherworld.”

“Initially, the arrival of the five great disasters would be accompanied by immense spiritual energy of the world and a wide assortment of resources, to encourage the challengers to constantly upgrade themselves and achieve breakthroughs with the help of the resources, thereby accomplishing improvements.”

“Meanwhile, if they died from the disasters, they would be transported out of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland, which would inflict no substantial harm upon them.”

“Upon the emergence of the black dog of unknown origins, the five disasters of the Wonderland changed entirely. The disasters remain without the provision of resources, and death means real death, whereby the challengers won’t be transported back to the Jiuzhou continent.”

“Since then, the Glittering Jewel Wonderland ended up as a killing ground instead of a place of legacy. However, despite this fact, the Wonderland still contains opulent resources which Jiuzhou lacks, hence thousands of millions of challengers still advance dauntlessly towards the Glittering Jewel Wonderland.”

As the few messages surfaced, they became deeply stunned. It turned out that the earliest Glittering Jewel Wonderland had, in fact, been a tranquil place of legacy! However, after the black dog appeared, all of it changed.

Dongfang Tianfeng’s face had grown solemn. She said, “Actually, this information was acquired by the Great Oriental Family a few thousand years ago! The conspirator that hides behind the Glittering Jewel Wonderland is among the high-level elders of my Great Oriental Family and is known as the Black Spirit!”

“No one knows who it is, when it appeared, or how it possesses the supreme magical power to alter the settings of the Wonderland. Everything seemed to have appeared all of a sudden and brought such a change to the Wonderland!”

After a pause, Dongfang Tianfeng continued, “According to the earliest records of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland, a large number of challengers were endowed with the legacy of the Wonderland, and contributed to the flourishing and abundance of the Jiuzhou continent!”

“Even after the demise of the Glittering Jewel Mortal Fairy, the humans in Jiuzhou continued to flourish towards a prosperous future and achieved a zenith at a certain point of time.”

“However, all of it changed starting from the tenth Glittering Jewel Wonderland! One out of ten challengers who took part made it through! Even though the surviving challengers did receive the resources as stated in the rumors, 90 percent of the challengers met a tragic end and were buried in the Wonderland!”

“Overall, the resources obtained by the Jiuzhou continent from the Glittering Jewel Wonderland decreased by 90 percent! Decreasing along with it were the prodigies of the Jiuzhou continent! The manpower harnessed for a century faced an intense decline!”

“This resulted in the continuous deterioration which the continent currently faces. Up until today, it has continually become weaker and poorer. A thousand years ago, the Glittering Jewel Wonderland changed from a place of legacy to become an injurious tumor of the Jiuzhou continent. Without it, the Jiuzhou continent would be even more prosperous today!”

They were flabbergasted beyond words upon hearing the secret news that had never been circulated in the outside world.

What kind of holy creature was that mysterious black dog? What was its motive for causing the destruction and decline of the continent?

“I have two questions,” Bing Wuxin said in a deep, low voice, “First, how did you verify the fact that the Jiuzhou continent isn’t as prosperous as it was 9,000 years ago?”

Dongfang Tianfeng sniggered. “Have you any idea how powerful mankind used to be 9,000 years ago? All Creations Old Monsters were innumerable, whereby all small and medium-sized factions had All Creations Old Monsters holding the fort!”

“But look at the Central Prefecture today! How many small and medium-sized factions are there with All Creations Old Monsters guarding their place? And how many young talents do you know that have broken through the All Creations?”

“Ever since the drastic change of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland, the Jiuzhou continent has been deficient in manpower and resources.”

“The All Creations Old Monsters of the older generation will meet their demise sooner or later, yet the younger talents perish in batches, while only a small minority of them manage to break through the shackles and get into the ranks of All Creations.”

Those who listened took her words to heart. In comparison to the Red Blood Palace, the Purple Cloud Palace and even other regions, a shocking realization hit them. All Creations Old Monsters were extremely scarce!

A faction on a grand scale like the Red Blood Palace only had Mo Tianxuan, who was the first person after the Mortal Fairies. Apart from her, there wasn’t even a Stage One All Creations. The next highest rank was the Almighty. It had been 300 years, yet not a single All Creations Old Monster had been born. The gap was so shockingly large, it was infuriating.

The same was true of the Purple Cloud Palace! Even though it was slightly better in the large regions, All Creations Old Monsters were still in extreme scarcity. An enormous gap existed among the martial artists of the entire continent! It was very abnormal!

This was the question that had bothered Su Yu for long too. The situation of the Red Blood Palace was truly outrageous. On one hand, there was a ridiculously powerful All Creations Old Monster. On the other hand, not one new All Creations Old Monster had emerged for an extended period of time.

The reason lay here. A gap had occurred in the generations of talents! It was far from possible for an All Creations Old Monster to be born from the surviving ten percent of challengers.

“Here comes my second question. Since it is known that the Glittering Jewel Wonderland has become a remnant poison that has brought disasters upon the Jiuzhou continent for hundreds of years, why hasn’t the training been stopped? Then the continent could have recovered part of its vigor after accumulating a few generations of talents.”

However, Dongfang Tianfeng only laughed softly. “Because of the nature of humans.”

Bing Wuxin wanted to pursue the subject further, but Su Yu sighed. “If there comes an opportunity for the Blessed and Heavenly Lands to take flight once and for all, and surpass the long-standing enemy, the Heavenly Knife Region, but the opportunity is accompanied by great danger, and has been discovered by the Heavenly Knife Region, what do you think the Blessed and Heavenly Lands will do?”

Upon hearing that, Bing Wuxin was startled. If the Blessed and Heavenly Lands did not seize it, the Heavenly Knife Region would. And as a result of the Heavenly Knife Region seizing the opportunity, the Blessed and Heavenly Lands would be greatly oppressed. Hence, the Blessed and Heavenly Lands would take the initiative.

Similarly, the Heavenly Knife Region would think that way too. If it did not seize the opportunity, once the Blessed and Heavenly Lands got it, it would end up in a position of disadvantage. Therefore, the Heavenly Knife Region would be proactive.

Not forgetting that there were more influences in the Jiuzhou continent than just the Blessed and Heavenly Lands and the Heavenly Knife Region. There were more than 40 of them!

No one wished to fall behind and give up on the astounding opportunity. Hence, all influences would join the fight despite knowing the dangers involved. That was why this open conspiracy perpetuated for more than an eternity without ever declining.

“The Martial Path of Jiuzhou worsens from one generation to the next. The numerous legacies of the past just went into extermination! New innovation of cultivation techniques becomes difficult.”

“Also, the drive for researching and developing new elixirs is lost, and so the entire Martial Path is increasingly deteriorating. It is teetering on the verge of collapse! In less than a thousand years, many of the great factions of the Martial Path today will be wiped from the world, with their legacies and traditions dying off.”

“The Martial World will become even more depraved. Ultimately, it will weaken until it becomes a Martial World of the lowest level! And a Martial World of such a low level will no longer be able to sustain the invasion of ghosts.”

The people of the Jiuzhou continent would never forget the horrifying Great War of Humans and Ghosts that happened a hundred years ago for as long as they lived. That war almost obliterated all races and species of Jiuzhou!

“In other words, the Jiuzhou continent is approaching the profound chasm of extinction all because of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland! Besides, the speed is picking up!”

“This is the future that the Great Oriental Family has predicted by sorting out the patterns of the continent throughout the eternities! Moreover, it’s a rather conservative, optimistic prediction. The actual situation could be less than a thousand years. In just a hundred years, or perhaps the present era, the tragedy of Jiuzhou being completely destroyed will occur.”

All of them were speechless for a long time, feeling as though a heavy burden was wedged in their hearts.

If Dongfang Tianfeng hadn’t made it known to them, they couldn’t have realized what a rapidly degenerating era they were living in.

“It’s been hundreds of thousands of years. Why has no one ever stopped it?” Bing Wuxin shook her head, expressing her doubt towards Dongfang Tianfeng’s words.

“Of course! How could there be none?” Dongfang Tianfeng asked in turn.

“A hundred years ago, there was an imperial ruler who tried to pull back the wild tide. He realized that the continent was approaching a great crisis, and realized the endless harm brought upon by the Glittering Jewel Wonderland. Therefore, he had a grand ambition. If he seized the throne of Jiuzhou, he would gather all powers and forces to ward off the Glittering Jewel Wonderland! Nonetheless, just as he was about to unite Jiuzhou, the ghosts invaded, and he perished in the great war between the races of ghosts and humans.”

“His mighty endeavor was in vain, and his grand ambition to ward off the Glittering Jewel Wonderland vanished like smoke into thin air.”

Su Yu’s heart shuddered.

A hundred years ago, the matchless ruler who nearly got hold of the throne of Jiuzhou, was Shen Yichen. He was a legendary king of his era, an emperor of melancholy. He had defeated all the strong men of the continent but perished just as he was about to rise as the Emperor of Jiuzhou.

Su Yu was the only person who knew the hidden secrets. He wasn’t killed by the ghosts, but by a fatal blow from the traitor, the Central Prefecture’s King.

“A hundred years after his demise, there isn’t another being with such terrific talents and magnificent strategies who can unite the entire Jiuzhou continent.”

“Various influences couldn’t resist the temptations of the Glittering Jewel Wonderland and contributed batch after batch of sparks of fire.” Dongfang Tianfeng clasped her hands, her eyes filled with hatred.

Even just through listening, the people could feel the crisis faced by the continent vividly.

When the ghosts had invaded a hundred years ago, Shen Yichen was around to serve as the core power to fight them. A hundred years later, the Jiuzhou continent hadn’t improved in any way, but had continued to decline! If it happened again, who was going to fight against the Ghostly Great Emperor?

Jiuzhou needed a figure of absolute authority, one whose words were of enormous weight that could suppress the voices from all parties, and had willpower enough to unite them in fighting against the Glittering Jewel Wonderland.

It was a great pity that the terrific, honorable imperial ruler a hundred years had disappeared forever from the stage of history.

“Was there no imperial ruler before Shen Yichen?” Su Yu asked. The history of eternity was too long-winded. Except for the Great Oriental Family, no other influences could record the history of the continent so completely.

Her answer was way beyond what he expected.