Chapter 290 : Main Storyline Mission
No one present was blind or foolish. Upon seeing the merperson's expression change, they immediately recognized an opportunity.
Jiang Mo was decisive—without further words, she grabbed the merperson and flew into the air toward the altar. However, as soon as she entered the altar's vicinity, she felt an invisible force pulling her downward. Caught off guard, Jiang Mo and her fish captive dropped slightly.
This terrified the merperson. Previously appearing superior and aloof, his face now completely changed. He grabbed Jiang Mo's arm reflexively, as if clutching a lifeline, frantically shouting: "Quick, leave! Don't get near here! Don't land on the altar!" His voice was panicked and even shrill, far from the powerful, composed manner he had displayed earlier.
Jiang Mo had already stabilized herself, but hearing this, she deliberately dropped a bit more, immediately feeling the pulling force strengthen. This time, however, she was somewhat prepared and maintained her stability.
She might be stable, but the merperson wasn't. Also feeling the increased pulling force, he feared Jiang Mo might lack the strength to keep flying or might simply drop him, so his grip on her arm tightened: "Leave quickly!"
This time Jiang Mo didn't frighten the fish further and finally retreated.
Just as the pulling force had suddenly appeared when they entered the altar's range, it vanished the moment they left. Jiang Mo felt her body lighten, while the merperson was thoroughly frightened—his face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat formed continuously on his forehead.
The merperson naturally possessed exceptional beauty, his exquisite and perfect features blurring gender lines. His current terrified state would normally evoke sympathy. Unfortunately, he had encountered a tiger who knew nothing of "cherishing beauty." She unceremoniously threw the fish aside and coldly asked: "Now are you willing to save people and tell the truth?" If not, I'll throw you back up there!
The merperson understood the unspoken threat. Having been frightened once, his earlier arrogance had disappeared. Prostrate on the ground, his smooth hair falling to cover half his face, he asked: "You really want to know that badly?"
Jiang Mo didn't want to waste words or watch him play mysterious games. With a flick of her foot, she flipped the fish over: "Talk!"
The merperson's cheek twitched, likely having never experienced such treatment before. However, at this point, he had no energy left to struggle. Like a dead fish, he lay exactly as Jiang Mo had flipped him: "Fine, since you want to hear it, I'll tell you. It's a story that's both long and short..."
The story's origin traced back to tens of thousands of years ago, when a cataclysmic change occurred in heaven and earth. A demon god broke open a spatial passage connecting the demon realm to the cultivation world. Countless demonic creatures descended upon the cultivation world, slaughtering innumerable living beings—a true catastrophe. Fortunately, the passage was later sealed, and the demonic creatures, cut off from retreat, were eliminated. Heaven and earth returned to clarity—hearing this part of the story, Jiang Mo felt it familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.
However, this was merely the origin, or background. The merperson's story only now began: "The one who opened the connecting passage was a demon god. How could sealing such a passage be easy? The cultivation world is just the cultivation world—there are no gods or immortals here. Those who ascended to higher realms couldn't be contacted or descend, so everything depended on us.
"At that time, the cultivation world was prosperous and flourishing. Although humans were favored by heaven and earth, the demonic races, ghost races, and demon races all had their own territories and forces. There was frequent friction between the races, but when facing external demonic creatures, they united against the common enemy. The human powerhouses were the first to propose a seal. Formation masters designed a sealing grand formation, and subsequently, the races prepared according to their agreement.
"They succeeded, and the catastrophe was brief. But just as everyone was celebrating, the races suddenly discovered they had been deceived... Sealing the passage wasn't easy, and when discussing this matter, everyone openly stated the price that needed to be paid. The consumption of countless treasures was insignificant—many human powerhouses died, and almost all cultivators at the Tribulation Crossing and Grand Achievement realms generously sacrificed themselves.
"The races were moved at the time and even agreed not to attack humans for ten thousand years, giving them time to recover. The future balance of power in the cultivation world would naturally depend on each race's abilities. Unfortunately, they were naive. Without their knowledge, during the sealing, the races were tricked into sacrificing their destiny. This wasn't individual destiny, but the destiny of entire races. The demonic and ghost races were doomed to decline, while the demon race suffered even worse. Suspected of being the instigators who brought the demonic creatures, they faced extermination by the entire cultivation world and were annihilated that very year."
The group fell silent upon hearing this, because judging by the current state of the cultivation world, the demonic and ghost races had indeed vanished. As for the demon race, they were practically legendary—demon cultivators and the demon race were two different things.
After a while, Tan Xin asked: "So merpeople have been absent for ten thousand years because of the effect on your destiny?"
The merperson nodded then shook his head, his expression somewhere between a smile and a cry: "No. We demonic races have long lifespans. After sacrificing our destiny, though newborns gradually decreased, we wouldn't face extinction in just a few tens of thousands of years. Moreover, with successful cultivation, there might be a chance to leave this realm. But ten thousand years ago, there was a problem with the seal, and our people sacrificed themselves one after another to suppress it."
Hearing this, everyone drew a sharp breath, not because of the merpeople's sacrifice, but because of the problem with the seal—the cultivation world had paid virtually everything to seal that passage, and today's cultivation world lacked the ability to seal it again.
To speak selfishly, now that the human path was flourishing, there were no other races left to sacrifice!
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What the merperson revealed was indeed a heaven-shaking secret. Even Jiang Mo, a transmigrator, couldn't help but take it seriously. When she heard the system notify her that the mission was complete and several thousand points had been added to her account, she finally understood why this quest qualified as a main storyline mission.
Jiang Mo let out a soft hiss, as if her tooth ached, and asked the system in her mind: "System, is this world real?"
The system countered: "Why wouldn't it be real? You're here, your Senior Sister is here. You're all living people—you feel pain when struck, you die when killed. Why wouldn't it be real?"
Jiang Mo wasn't discouraged by the system's two counter-questions and continued: "What I mean is, is this not some pre-arranged world? That Chu Yang from before was strange, just like a male protagonist. Now there's talk about problems with the demon realm seal—isn't this exactly a main storyline plot? It's just that with me as a variable, the former 'male lead' died quite early."
Hearing this, the system also felt a strong sense of déjà vu, but it couldn't provide an accurate answer because whether or not it was a "world," this was still a genuinely existing small world. The system thought this and replied: "But Host, does it matter whether it's a world or not?"
There were certainly differences—a "world" had a plot, while a real world didn't.
But hearing the system's counter-question, Jiang Mo felt there wasn't much difference after all. Even if this was some kind of "world," she didn't know the plot. And with both tragedies and comedies, one couldn't crudely determine the world's plot direction... More importantly, the supposed male protagonist, Chu Yang, had been killed by her years ago, and without a protagonist, the plot would inevitably deviate.
Various chaotic thoughts quickly flashed through her mind, but Jiang Mo ultimately chose to abandon her investigation. Setting aside the world's plot, she anxiously asked the system: "System, if this trend continues, do you think the demon realm seal will really break?"
If this were a plot, the seal would definitely break, followed by the protagonist averting the crisis.
But Jiang Mo genuinely didn't want things to develop that way. It wasn't that she thought nothing would happen without the "male lead," nor was she interested in being the protagonist who averted the crisis herself. That would be too exhausting and unnecessary—wasn't a peaceful life preferable? She hadn't even won over her Senior Sister yet!
Having been bound to its host for decades, the system had long seen through her laid-back nature, and had even become somewhat laid-back itself. At this moment, it naturally saw through its host's thoughts at a glance, but ultimately it was still a system, meant to encourage its host to complete missions and reach life's peak. Therefore, it had to gently remind her: "Host, this is a main storyline mission..."
Jiang Mo wasn't stupid. Hearing this, she knew the situation was dire and immediately felt overwhelmed. She stopped engaging with the system and, returning to awareness, heard Zhu Baiyi asking the merperson who had finished his story: "So what about now? After the sacrifices, has the seal been restored?"
The merperson pressed his lips together in silence, his dark eyes looking at everyone—the answer was obvious. If the seal had been restored, he wouldn't have orchestrated all this. As the last merperson in the cultivation world, wouldn't it have been better for him to cultivate peacefully in the deep sea? Even with the demonic race's destiny reduced to the extreme, with the entire race now extinct and all remaining destiny concentrated in him alone, cultivating toward ascension wasn't entirely hopeless.
Everyone had already guessed, but seeing the merperson's reaction, their hearts still sank.
Indeed, the merperson then spoke in a gloomy tone: "The sacrifice happens once every hundred years. A thousand years ago, I became the last of the merperson race. For the nine hundred years since, deep-sea spirit beasts have been the sacrifices. Now it's your human race's turn."