Chapter 516 - 469: When the Deer is Lost, the World Gives Chase!

Chapter 516: Chapter 469: When the Deer is Lost, the World Gives Chase!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A bloody light filled the sky, a magnificent, crimson expanse. An endless roar, like a tidal wave, exploded across this stretch of sea.

A boundless Beast Tide surged, blanketing the sky and earth as it rushed toward the Demon Suppression Islands. Countless Cultivators charged from the isles, forming a wall of flesh and blood. They fought fiercely, drenched in gore, to hold back the violent tide.

This was a battle that had played out countless times on the Demon Suppression Islands. Recently, however, their frequency was clearly on the rise.

The towering Corpse Puppet stood as still as a statue. But the bloody Evil Qi in the air seemed to stir its innate bloodlust. A faint, tyrannical aura emanating from it proved it was not at peace.

At the True Understanding Base, Zhao Zuoxun hurried in, a Jade Scroll in hand. Before he even reached the tall tower, the terrifying aura instinctively radiating from the Corpse Puppet drained the color from his face, making him nearly unable to stand.

He gritted his teeth and held on. After sending a voice transmission, he respectfully raised the Jade Scroll and stood waiting.

After a moment, a gentle coolness like a spring breeze descended upon him. The terrifying pressure that had made him tremble vanished instantly.

At the same time, the respectfully offered Jade Scroll floated up and into the tower.

"You may leave."

The calm voice reached his ears, and Zhao Zuoxun felt a great weight lift from his shoulders. He bowed respectfully, then cast a lingering, fearful glance at the statue-like Corpse Puppet, a flicker of fervent heat in his eyes.

With such a majestic Corpse Puppet standing there, it was impossible for it not to draw attention.

The rumors about this Corpse Puppet on the island were truly countless!

As a True Understanding Cultivator, he naturally had a closer and clearer understanding of it.

This was a Tier Three Corpse Puppet, said to be a terrifying existence capable of matching even a Tier Three Perfection expert!

AWOO...

Just then, a sudden roar tore through the air. A streak of dark gold light flew over. When the light faded, a dark golden Demon Beast landed in the True Understanding Base.

Its Demon Body was stained with blood, and half of a gory snake’s corpse was clamped in its jaws. It swaggered toward the True Understanding Tower with the gait of a dragon and the stride of a tiger.

Seeing this, Zhao Zuoxun’s expression changed. He quickly stepped aside and bowed respectfully. "This Junior greets you, Senior!"

As if attracted by the sound, Wangcai stopped. Its beastly eyes, still filled with savagery, shot Zhao Zuoxun a cold glance. Then, it actually dropped the snake corpse and, with a flicker of its body, appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye.

"Senior..."

Zhao Zuoxun’s face paled, his voice trembling slightly.

They were so close he could feel the heat of the Demon Beast’s breath and smell the thick stench of blood!

If he didn’t know this Demon Beast was the Spirit Beast of the Pavilion’s Master, and if this wasn’t his first time facing it, he would have at least tried to flee. Of course, he didn’t think he could escape with his life from a Tier Three Demon Beast.

"Get over here!"

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.

Wangcai, which had been circling Zhao Zuoxun, snatched the half-eaten snake corpse and, with a WHOOSH, vanished from his sight.

As if granted a heavenly pardon, Zhao Zuoxun nearly collapsed on the spot.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly scurried out of the True Understanding Base.

’Surrounded by terrifying Tier Three existences, a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator like me feels completely unsafe.’

In the True Understanding Tower, Chu Mu glanced at the retreating figure of Zhao Zuoxun, then looked down at Wangcai, who was lying before him like a fawning pug. He couldn’t help but feel a little speechless.

It seemed that as its Spiritual Wisdom increased, the little mutt was getting more and more mischievous.

It was like a problem child—perfectly behaved in front of him, but the moment his back was turned, it would raise hell.

Scaring Low Tier Cultivators was a common occurrence. It would also sneak off Earth Demon Island from time to time to hunt Demon Beasts. It had even learned to order around the Cultivators of the True Understanding Pavilion, forcing them to buy it Spiritual Food and Spirit Wine to satisfy its gluttony.

This was especially true for Zhao Zuoxun. Since he was a frequent visitor who brought Chu Mu resources and information, he was often bossed around by this silly dog. The mutt would even make Zhao Zuoxun find it other female canine Demon Beasts...

"If you’re going to order people around in the future, you have to give them something in return. Don’t use your Cultivation to bully people."

Chu Mu tossed a few Storage Talismans in front of Wangcai, a hint of resignation in his voice.

"Whine whine whine..."

Wangcai whimpered twice and waved its paw. The Storage Talismans, filled with Spirit Stones, flashed with Spiritual Light. A mountain of Spirit Stones poured into the small Beast Hide Bag hanging from its neck.

Chu Mu looked out the window. The brutal slaughter under the blood-red sky filled his vision as his voice slowly sounded.

"Don’t sneak off the island for a while. It’s not safe out there."

Wangcai whimpered again, but it was unclear if it had actually listened.

Chu Mu didn’t pay it much mind. With a wave of his hand, the Jade Scroll Zhao Zuoxun had just delivered floated into his palm.

He extended his Divine Sense into it, and streams of intelligence gathered by the True Understanding Pavilion appeared in his Divine Sense Perception.

Ever since he’d sensed the anomaly on Celestial Hero Island, he had been using the True Understanding Pavilion to get a better grasp of the internal situation in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

After all, he was stationed on the front-line islands. If the turmoil within the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World grew too great, he would need to prepare an escape route in advance to avoid being caught off guard.

And based on the intelligence he had gathered through the True Understanding Pavilion during this time, the situation was dire, even worse than he had anticipated.

The Chen Family’s grand mobilization more than half a year ago was just as he and He Fengshan had guessed. A great storm had well and truly begun to brew within the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World!

In the past, the Chen Family had defined any chaos within the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World as "trouble caused by Evil Cultivators."

If the Chen Family had remained overwhelmingly powerful, that definition would have gone unchallenged.

But the truth was, with various factions holding them in check, not only had the Chen Family failed to fully display their strength, they had even fanned the flames of the "Evil Cultivators’" arrogance.

Half a year ago, a so-called "Evil Cultivation Force" entrenched in the Southern Border’s North Sea County suddenly made a move. They plundered the annual tribute North Sea County was supposed to send to the Chen Family and even killed one of the Chen Family’s Golden Core Cultivators.

Such a feat was undoubtedly a first in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

In the past, although "Evil Cultivators" were rampant, their activities were limited to minor skirmishes. Who would have dared to do something so heaven-defying?

In response, the Chen Family was naturally furious. A Tier Four Nascent Soul Great Power even went to North Sea County personally. Everyone expected a swift and thunderous suppression.

But the result left all who knew of it completely dumbfounded.

The Chen Family’s Nascent Soul Great Power had only been in North Sea County for a few days when, in front of tens of thousands of Cultivators in North Sea City, he was suppressed by an "Evil Cultivator’s Nascent Soul." His soul was extracted, his Nascent Soul seized, and his corpse was hung upside down from the city walls—the ultimate humiliation!

If the fall of that Chen Family Golden Core Cultivator was just a ripple on a calm lake, still relatively insignificant...

...then the fall of that Chen Family Nascent Soul Cultivator was undoubtedly a sudden clap of thunder!

For decades on the Demon Suppression Islands, countless Cultivators had been forcibly conscripted, only to become insignificant piles of dry bones.

The people’s hearts had long been restless, and their Resentment had long since reached its peak.

But in a world where the strong were respected, the Resentment of Low Tier Cultivators was clearly the most trivial matter.

No one cared.

But this time, the fall of a Chen Family Nascent Soul Cultivator meant that the inviolable authority the Chen Family had held over the Vast Sea for tens of thousands of years had been viciously slapped across the face. With their prestige swept to the ground, the beacons of war were lit everywhere!

In North Sea County, that Evil Cultivation Force used the Chen Family Nascent Soul Cultivator as a Sacrificial Banner, established the Celestial Star Alliance, and announced to the world that they would crusade against the Chen Family, branding them as lackeys of the Flood Dragons and declaring themselves irreconcilable enemies.

Instantly, followers flocked to their cause. Some caused trouble under the banner of the Celestial Star Alliance, while others raised their own flags, establishing factions of all sizes that stirred up the Vast Sea and shook the foundations of the Chen Family’s rule everywhere.

Meanwhile, the Chen Family was facing the external threat of the Profound Snakes, who, during this time, seemed intent on tying down the Chen Family’s main forces.

There were either surging Beast Tides or direct Battles between Nascent Soul Great Powers.

With the fires of war raging within the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World and this external threat holding them in check, the Chen Family was naturally stretched thin. The deterrent effect of their tens of thousands of years of authority was rapidly diminishing.

In just over half a year, according to the intelligence gathered by the True Understanding Pavilion, nearly a hundred factions, large and small, had clearly raised banners in opposition to the Chen Family.

The most powerful among them was, of course, the Celestial Star Alliance, which had used a Chen Family Nascent Soul Cultivator as a Sacrificial Banner. Slightly below them were the Celestial Demon Sect, the Profound Nether Alliance, and the Nine Heavens Sect, all rumored to have the strength to fight a Chen Family Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Whether this was true or not was unknown, but at the very least, all these factions were still stirring up trouble in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, using the current unrest to rapidly expand their power.

As for the next tier of factions, there were even more.

The vast majority of these were once-famous powers in the Vast Sea, such as the Yun Xiao Trading House, the Moon Shadow Business Alliance, the Ningcui Island Loose Practitioner Alliance...

Factions like these had almost all previously existed by attaching themselves to the Chen Family, and their leaders were mostly local Vast Sea Golden Core Cultivators. Now, in these turbulent times, almost all of them had decisively abandoned the Chen Family.

Even the True Understanding Pavilion, which he had founded, had received countless invitations in just a few short months, with all sorts of tempting promises made to him, the top Artifact Refining Master in the Vast Sea.

Fortunately, the current situation was chaotic. Although he was on the Demon Suppression Islands and nominally serving the Chen Family, his fame for Pill and Artifact Dual Proficiency meant that no one had dared to cause trouble for the branches of the True Understanding Pavilion yet.

Although the True Understanding Pavilion had remained neutral for the time being, for the other powers in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, this chaos presented them with a choice of life and death.

Without sufficient strength, it was impossible to stay out of it. Taking a side was a necessity.

All in all, the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World had descended into an unimaginable state of chaos.

Back in Great Chu, the conflict was at least just between the Righteous Alliance and the Longevity Sect. The lines between the powers and the choices to be made had been drawn clearly long before they had completely fallen out.

No matter how chaotic it got, it was still just the chaos of a two-sided war.

But the Vast Sea now was a scene of "the Chen Family has lost its deer, and the world hunts it." It was absolute, utter pandemonium...

...