Chapter 71: The Origin of the Abyssal Sea Humans

The Grand Hall instantly became lively.

All the Nascent Soul cultivators’ gazes burned fiercely, some trembling with excitement. They looked at the bamboo slip, at the horizon, at that legendary continent.

“Everyone, stay calm.”

Wei Tianhe stroked his beard, speaking deliberately, unhurried.

“This second major matter is, naturally, about conquering that continent. Brother He said earlier that the reason he did not attend the previous Nascent Soul meeting was because he traveled to the continent and has already mapped out the power distribution there.”

“From soul searches we learned that the continent is called Lingchuan. On Lingchuan Continent sects are everywhere and powers are numerous. It’s mainly divided into four great forces that carve up the whole land.”

He waved his hand, and on the stone wall behind him a landscape map materialized, the outline of that continent.

It was very similar to the map Jiuyou held, but a bit rougher, obviously drawn hastily.

“The first is the Northern Heaven Alliance, made up of many northern sects, cultivator towns, and marketplaces. It’s also the territory Brother He teleported into, lying north of Lingchuan, and it will be our primary target.”

“The second is the Southern Heaven Alliance, located to the south. Its internal structure is similar to the Northern Heaven Alliance but its sphere of influence is slightly weaker.”

“In addition, there are two other major alliances: in the east the Myriad Immortals Alliance, and in the west the Heavenly Demon Alliance. They resemble our Righteous and Demonic factions. As for the relationships among them, I need not elaborate.”

As he spoke, he deliberately glanced at the Righteous and Demonic cultivators present.

People pondered silently, calculating in their minds.

“Dao-friend Wei, if they have four great powers, doesn’t that mean four Late Nascent Soul strongmen? Looking at our Tianyuan Sea, there are only three grand cultivators like you. Besides, we still have to deal with the Beast Tide and hold the frontline, so I’m afraid…”

Before he finished, the hall’s atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Gazes interlocked, and everyone saw a trace of worry in each other’s eyes.

Gu Xuanzhou laughed heartily, but his expression immediately turned grave.

“What this dao-friend said is exactly what concerns us. However, the continent does not actually have four Late Nascent Soul; they only have three.”

He paused.

“But among them there is a matched pair, a dragon-and-phoenix couple. Much like our Demonic Path Alliance’s Black Sha couple, when they combine their divine arts, for a period they are no weaker than a Late Nascent Soul.”

The cultivators fell silent.

Isn’t that still the combat power of four Late Nascent Soul?

“Do not lose heart.”

Gu Xuanzhou’s tone rose.

“The cultivators on the continent have not suffered Beast Tides for tens of thousands of years. They have never experienced our daily life on the brink, nor have they endured years of resource scarcity that forces constant conflict. They have grown complacent for too long; the average strength of peers there is far inferior to ours.”

His gaze was like a blade as it swept across the crowd.

“Besides, they have not detected our existence. We will strike from an unexpected angle, catch them off guard, and with the Demon Purification Platform, that Connate Spirit Treasure. Even if they do have the combat power equivalent to four Late Nascent Soul, so what? If we bite, we will bite out a piece of blood-soaked territory from them!”

There was a brief silence in the hall.

Then a cultivator suddenly stood, gritted his teeth, and said.

“The blood mist has encircled us, leaving no retreat. If we stay like this, we will be slowly exhausted to death! We might as well go to the continent and take a gamble, to hell with it!”

“That’s right!”

Another person stood.

“Why have we endured Beast Tides here for tens of thousands of years while they have peacefully proliferated on the continent? Why can’t our Tianyuan Sea people have a place on that continent?”

“If Heaven’s way is unjust, then carve a bloody path through it!”

“Yes! Conquer the continent! For ourselves, for our descendants, for the entire Abyssal Sea human race—fight!”

In the Grand Hall, those Mid-Nascent Soul veterans rose one after another in righteous fury.

Now, they had no way back.

The blood mist still spread, human territory continued to shrink. No one knew when something more terrifying might emerge from that blood mist. Rather than gamble on an invisible future, they would go to that rumored fertile continent and fight for their future.

Gu Xuanzhou raised his hand to quell their boiling battle fervor and said in a low voice.

“Before you decide, there is one matter this old man must inform you of.”

He paused, his gaze growing distant.

“This matter concerns the origin of our Abyssal Sea human race.

Brother He could take people to the continent and bring back this information because of the existence of a teleportation array, and that teleportation array exists because…”

The hall gradually quieted.

“Heh heh, tens of thousands of years ago.”

Gu Xuanzhou smiled wryly, then spoke slowly.

“Lingchuan Continent suffered a great calamity. A celestial demon descended whose cultivation reached the heavens, far beyond what we can imagine now. At that time, the ancestors on the continent poured out everything and at a heavy cost sealed it.”

He paused.

“After the seal, the ancestors feared the celestial demon would break free, so they selected some people, gave them precious treasures, and used an ancient teleportation array to cross the void and come to this… Tianyuan Sea.”

“Their mission was to guard the seal for generations.”

Gu Xuanzhou’s voice deepened.

“And we are the descendants of those guardians.”

Silence blanketed the hall.

Everyone’s eyes froze.

“We guarded for tens of thousands of years. Generation after generation passed down, year after year of torment.

Beast Tides attacked, blood mist spread, we resisted with our lives.

But the people on the continent long ago forgot that calamity, forgot the demon sealed below, forgot that there were kin of the same bloodline far away guarding their gates.”

Wei Tianhe’s voice turned cold as he took up the thread.

“Now the seal has loosened. Blood mist and Beast Tides are signs of the demon’s leaking power. We cannot hold forever.”

“Even if we could hold, why should we?”

His gaze swept the hall, each word measured.

“Why must we die here to guard? Why can the people on the continent live in peace through the years? Why do they occupy spiritual mountains and ten-thousand-year spirit veins while we are trapped on isolated isles, living day to day?”

“That seal is the matter of the entire human race. That calamity was the human race’s calamity. We have guarded for tens of thousands of years—enough.”

He Taiyi said in a low voice.

“Therefore, to go to the continent is not merely to survive, but to demand justice. To reclaim the lands that rightfully belong to us, to recover the decades of neglect and betrayal!”

The Grand Hall was silent for a long while.

Then an old voice from a corner trembled.

“So… our ancestors actually came from the continent?”

Someone else murmured.

“We… were abandoned people?”

“Tens of thousands of years! Did they ever send a single soldier? Did they ever send a single pill, a single treasure?”

“They long ago forgot!”

Cultivators in the hall looked ashen, anger surging in their eyes, mixed with an indescribable complexity.

Jiuyou sat in the corner, saying nothing.

His fingers tapped the armrest lightly, his gaze profound.

From the continent?

Sent to guard the seal?

Storms of thought had already risen within him, yet his face showed no ripple.

So that was it.

No wonder the Heavenly Sun Supreme One of the Azure Sun Sect and that Nascent Soul relic on the deserted island appeared in the Tianyuan Sea. How many other secrets from the continent lie hidden beneath this sea?

He lowered his eyes, expression solemn.

No matter what, he would go to the continent.

Half an hour later.

On the Grand Hall of Tianhai Island, streaks of Mid-Nascent Soul light departed one after another, waves of brutal pressure sweeping across the sea region.

Following quickly was the highest directive from the Three Alliance Council:

All human defensive lines compress inward toward Tianhai Island, reallocating manpower and resources to ensure the remaining defenses are ironclad.

Within half a day, news of the continent had spread throughout the entire Tianyuan Sea.

The information swept through every island, every sect, every marketplace like wildfire.

Some were stunned into silence.

Some collapsed to the ground, faces ashen.

Some looked up to the heavens and laughed, their laughter laced with bitter sorrow.

Some gripped their magical implements, eyes igniting with warlike flames.

“The continent… our ancestors actually came from the continent…”

“No wonder our ancestors chose the Tianyuan Sea to settle in such harsh conditions tens of thousands of years ago. It was to safeguard the continent…!”

“Tens of thousands of years! We bled and fought; why them?”

Countless low-level cultivators stared at the horizon, toward a distant place they had never seen.

The moment the news spread, the fate of the human race in the Abyssal Sea quietly shifted.