Chapter 261 : Things Must Always Move Forward
Chapter 261: Things Must Always Move Forward
The Evil Demons that had finally escaped from the Northern Spirit Domain arrived in the Eastern Spirit Domain, and only then did they truly breathe a sigh of relief.
When Li Tianwei had undergone the Nascent Soul Tribulation, the mutual corrosion between him and the Red Pupil was imperceptible to others, but to the Evil Demons, it had been crystal clear.
Even without the Same-Origin Connection of the Evil Demons, as the highest-ranking Evil Demon throughout the entire Northern Spirit Domain, the Red Pupil's consciousness and existence continued to project themselves among all Evil Demons.
Precisely because of this, every Evil Demon could sense its supreme existence, revere it, look up to it, and even obey everything it commanded.
Under that projection, the Evil Demons had personally witnessed the battle between Li Tianwei and the Red Pupil, as well as the scene of them devouring one another.
Could one imagine watching the existence one revered and worshipped above all else being completely devoured by a single human right before one's eyes?
At that moment, terror, despair, and fear—emotions long forgotten even by the Evil Demons—finally returned to them.
Since there was no longer the Same-Origin Connection of the Evil Demons, the destruction of the Red Pupil also signified the failure of the Evil Demons' corruption of the Northern Spirit Domain. Thus, every one of those Evil Demons chose to flee.
So Li Tianwei's suspicion that the Evil Demons were preparing some grand move never came to pass. Instead, they had been completely frightened away by him.
Their boss had already been devoured—what else could underlings like them possibly do?
They could only choose another Spirit Domain, and the summons from the other Spirit Domains continued without end.
"At last we've escaped. That monster was too terrifying."
These Evil Demons still occupied human bodies. They turned back to look at the barrier they had just crossed out of the Northern Spirit Domain, all wearing expressions of relief.
It was evident just how terrifying a psychological shadow the events in the Northern Spirit Domain had left upon them.
At that very moment, the heavens suddenly changed. In an instant, the winds and clouds shifted, and an overwhelming pressure slowly descended.
Countless threads hung down from the sky, so dense that the naked eye could clearly see they were pulling something.
Feeling that terrifying pressure, the Evil Demons who had just escaped raised their heads toward the sky.
A Heavenly Eye slowly opened within the gap in the heavens, and those countless threads were connected to that Heavenly Eye.
After appearing, it fixed its gaze firmly upon the Evil Demons below.
The moment the Heavenly Eye appeared in the sky, the Evil Demons immediately fell to their knees in worship.
"Lord Demon!"
Their voices were filled with reverence and fear.
At that moment, the Heavenly Eye above seemed to hear their cries as wisps of power descended.
An indistinguishable whisper echoed through the air, and to the Evil Demons, those strange murmurs were already the message conveyed by their Demon Lord.
"Lord Demon! The Demon Lord whom we worshipped... has already gone over to evil."
"Over there exists something even more terrifying and evil."
The Evil Demons immediately recounted everything that had happened in the Northern Spirit Domain while pointing toward its direction.
Upon hearing their words, the Heavenly Eye above displayed a distinctly human expression, seemingly astonished.
It was no wonder.
After all, Evil Demons themselves embodied evil, yet now it had heard from them of something even more evil than they were.
How could that not leave it shocked?
"Red Demon... I never expected you to perish so easily. Since that's the case, I won't stand on ceremony in taking over the territory you once controlled."
The Heavenly Eye stared toward the Northern Spirit Domain, already harboring its own intentions.
As for why the Red Demon had been devoured by a human, in its view, it had simply been too careless.
It had forcefully invaded this world before the proper time to fully enter had arrived. How aggrieved must it have felt to act so rashly?
In the end, things had indeed gone wrong, and it had even been devoured by a mere person.
Previously, this world had still been suppressing them.
Now, however, that suppression was gone, making the situation entirely different.
"You shall henceforth belong to my territory."
"As for the land that once belonged to Red Demon, I shall reclaim it in its stead."
The Heavenly Eye continued transmitting its message while once more spreading its power, completely enveloping the Evil Demons below.
The power of the Same-Origin Connection of the Evil Demons was restored once again.
The Evil Demons that had fled from the Northern Spirit Domain once again heard the countless chaotic voices within the Same-Origin Connection, and only then did they finally relax.
"Above us stands the Demon Lord. We submit ourselves completely."
Every Evil Demon knelt upon the ground as their voices slowly rose toward the heavens.
At that moment, it symbolized that these Evil Demons had merged into the Eastern Spirit Domain.
Yet such a disturbance remained insignificant throughout the entire cultivation world.
After all, aside from the Northern Spirit Domain, the other three great Spirit Domains were already suffering in utter chaos.
The seal blocking the Evil Demons had indeed been broken, which also meant the Evil Demons were finally preparing to fully enter the stage.
Each of the Four Great Spirit Domains had its own Demon Lord responsible for devouring that entire region, and now was undoubtedly the time for action.
The Red Demon Lord of the Northern Spirit Domain.
The Evil Manifestation Demon Lord of the Eastern Spirit Domain.
The Tianshu Demon Lord of the Western Spirit Domain.
The Defiled Evil Demon Lord of the Southern Spirit Domain.
As for where these Demon Lords and Evil Demons truly came from, and what kind of existence ruled over them, only the Evil Demons themselves knew.
As they completely revealed their power, they officially launched their total plan to devour the cultivation world.
Three Heavenly Eyes hung above the Eastern, Western, and Southern Spirit Domains respectively, suppressing every cultivator while observing everything.
Now, cultivators above the Spirit Transformation Realm were no longer heavily restricted. They could move freely and finally possessed the strength to resist.
Otherwise, under the previous state of complete lockdown, such an invasion by the Evil Demons would likely have swallowed the entire cultivation world without losing a single soldier.
Even now, the Evil Demons still could not understand how the seal upon the cultivation world had been opened.
Clearly, only a tiny corner had been torn open.
Yet they had never expected all the powerful cultivators of the cultivation world to assault that seal on the very same day.
Ordinarily, a breach of that scale should have been impossible to widen.
Who could have imagined that the combined strength of so many people would actually force the entire seal wide open?
Nevertheless, every development hinted at something strange.
And now, one of the Demon Lords had died outright.
The Evil Manifestation Demon Lord gazed toward the Northern Spirit Domain.
Regarding the person those Evil Demons had described, it already had plans of its own.
"Swallowing this world... will still require overcoming far too many obstacles."
——
Compared to the other three great Spirit Domains, although the Northern Spirit Domain no longer had any Evil Demons, it was currently engulfed in complete turmoil.
The emergence of the Path of Cultivation had already ignited an explosive transformation from the ground up throughout the entire Northern Spirit Domain.
More and more disciples within the immortal sects switched to cultivating the Path of Cultivation.
Likewise, more and more people and cultivators came to understand something.
Spiritual Root aptitude truly determined nothing.
Everyone possessed their own path, and every person had a different role.
Why should anyone become nourishment upon someone else's path to immortality?
Becoming nourishment was one thing.
But then they even fabricated countless high-sounding justifications.
They claimed that cultivation had always been this way.
That the strong ruled the weak.
That if one's aptitude was poor, one could only support those with better aptitude.
Some cultivators had even created even more twisted systems.
Just like the Golden Light Sect, where everything revolved around the Spirit Transformation Ancestor.
Even one's wife and daughter were considered part of his entertainment.
Looking back now, all those so-called unquestionable truths had merely been the influence of someone else's consciousness.
Now, every cultivator and practitioner of the Path of Cultivation was shattering delusion.
Only after breaking through illusion could they discern their True Self, see the Great Dao that belonged to them, and truly shine upon it.
No one knew how long that great blaze had burned.
It could even be said that most cultivation sects had already changed those in power.
Within merely a few months, the Path of Cultivation had spread everywhere.
As for the mortal world, there was even less need to mention it.
Although mortals had only recently come into contact with cultivation,
Foundation Establishment cultivators had already appeared among them.
As for the Golden Core Realm, it was merely a matter of time.
Meanwhile, more and more people began cultivating.
Those landlords, nobles, and powerful figures who once dared oppress others had become utterly terrified.
Now that everyone possessed strength,
their manner of speaking had suddenly become much gentler.
In the past, every sentence they spoke was filled with insults such as "mud-legged peasants."
Sometimes merely looking at them too long would get one beaten into a lump of flesh.
Now, however,
they no longer possessed such power.
Instead, everyone began admiring those who had advanced further upon the Path of Cultivation.
Within the Sacred Land of Lingxu.
Li Tianwei slowly opened his eyes.
Within his perception, everything in the Northern Spirit Domain had now entered the proper track.
Everything had developed exactly as he had anticipated.
Given enough time, the Path of Cultivation would completely guide the entire cultivation world.
Without the shackles of Spiritual Roots,
one needed only to understand one's heart and comprehend principles to resonate with Spiritual Energy, continually growing stronger.
The stronger one became,
the deeper one's understanding of both the heart and truth became.
One could even attain enlightenment through every aspect of the world—
formations,
talismans,
planting,
cultivation methods...
The stronger one became, the more clearly one understood one's heart and perceived truth.
Such a cultivation system perfectly matched Li Tianwei's understanding of "Everyone Becomes Like Dragons."
"Very good."
"I suppose that before my Ascension, I will witness everyone cultivating to become immortals."
"As for Spiritual Energy, resources, and everything that follows, those problems will also be solved."
"I believe in them."
Li Tianwei slowly rose and looked outside his cave residence.
Within his perception, Spiritual Energy had indeed become slightly thinner.
The change was so minute that it was almost impossible to detect.
Yet it could not escape Li Tianwei's senses.
However, in his eyes,
the consumption of Spiritual Energy was a good thing.
As long as it was being consumed,
that meant someone had successfully cultivated.
As for whether Spiritual Energy would eventually be completely exhausted because too many people cultivated,
Li Tianwei found the very idea rather amusing.
After all, both cultivation and the Path of Cultivation were meant to keep moving forward.
Perhaps the old cultivation system could eliminate countless people through aptitude alone,
thus keeping the number of cultivators fixed and allowing Spiritual Energy time to recover.
Yet even so,
resources were still consumed in ever-increasing amounts.
Some powerful cultivators even monopolized superior resources by deliberately restricting the development of Spirit Herbs and Spiritual Energy.
For example,
a cultivator from the Sacred Land of Lingxu had once invented a method of cultivating Spirit Herbs that consumed far less Spiritual Energy.
There had even been improvements to the Foundation Establishment Pill, allowing one to establish a foundation while requiring far less Spiritual Energy.
Precisely because of such endless monopolization,
greater and faster development had instead been suppressed.
Spiritual Energy could be further developed.
The Spirit Veins and Spirit Stones beneath the earth could likewise be utilized far more efficiently.
Take the Sacred Land of Lingxu's sect-protecting grand formation as an example.
It was incomparably powerful—even Tribulation Transcendence cultivators could not break it.
Yet its consumption was equally astonishing.
Back then, entire mountains of Spirit Stones had vanished simply to maintain it.
Meanwhile, the formation Li Tianwei had redesigned using topology and geometry, when applied to the Radiant Wheel, achieved nearly the same effect as the Sacred Land of Lingxu's grand formation—
perhaps even better—
while consuming far less Spiritual Energy.
Upon the Great Dao of Cultivation,
everything could be predicted,
everything could be understood,
and everything could be controlled.
If things remained forever vague and incomprehensible,
how could one comprehend one's True Self and ultimately Ascend to immortality?
"Then all that remains are the Evil Demons..."
"...and the other forces of the cultivation world."
Li Tianwei had not forgotten that beyond the Northern Spirit Domain, there were still the other three great Spirit Domains, as well as the Evil Demons that lurked within them.
Every one of them had to be completely eradicated.
"If there are none left in the Northern Spirit Domain..."
"...then what about the other Spirit Domains?"
"You won't escape."
Li Tianwei gazed into the distance, as though recalling the confusion he had once felt while searching for traces of the Evil Demons.
——
Western Spirit Domain.
Boom!
"Damn those Evil Demons! Senior Brother Wang was beaten to death by them just like that! Even his body was corrupted!"
A delicate figure continuously performed escape techniques, desperately attempting to shake off the pursuers behind her.
Behind her, several bald monks radiating the most sinister and evil aura chased relentlessly after her.
Judging by their expressions, they even seemed to be enjoying themselves, like cats toying with a mouse.
Feeling the aura behind her, Zhang Qingrou had already fallen into despair.
She had never imagined that such a day would come.
Ever since the day the Heavenly Eye had appeared in the sky,
countless Evil Demons had emerged.
Even the remnant souls and evil ghosts she would never have spared a second glance at in the past had transformed into horrifying and grotesque monsters.
Beyond that,
there were also terrifying Evil Demons hidden among cultivators.
Danger erupted at every moment.
Even cultivators found it difficult to protect themselves.
This time, she had descended the mountain intending to eliminate the mutated remnant souls and evil ghosts threatening the village that worshipped her sect.
Never had she expected that several Evil Demons were also hiding there.
"Damn it! Why in the world did they have to target me?"
Zhang Qingrou gritted her teeth.
At the same time, the jade pendant at her waist trembled violently, seemingly transmitting power to her so she could continue using escape techniques.
"Perhaps... it's because your fortune is simply too good."
Within that jade pendant resided an Immortal Art.
It was also Zhang Qingrou's greatest fortunate encounter, and precisely because of it, she had managed to cultivate to the Golden Core Realm in only a few short years.
Hearing the Immortal Art's words, Zhang Qingrou could only sigh helplessly.
"Well, what can I do? It's simply my destiny. Whatever I want, I have. Who would've thought these Evil Demons would be so jealous of me?"
The Immortal Art inside the jade pendant immediately fell silent.
It seemed utterly speechless by Zhang Qingrou's words.
"Up ahead lies the barrier connecting to the Northern Spirit Domain."
"Once we pass through it, we'll reach the Northern Spirit Domain."
"We can escape through there."
After Zhang Qingrou used several more escape techniques, the Immortal Art spoke again.
"Alright."
Zhang Qingrou nodded heavily.
The Evil Demons behind her also saw through her intentions and immediately accelerated.
They had completely discarded their previous playful attitude.
"We absolutely cannot let her cross over."
Thanks to the Same-Origin Connection of the Evil Demons,
the Evil Demons throughout the Eastern, Western, and Southern Spirit Domains were now completely linked together.
Naturally, they also knew everything that had happened in the Northern Spirit Domain,
and understood just what kind of terrifying existence resided there.