Watching the Mountain

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Xu Ran had originally assumed the war between the Human Race and the Demon Race would drag on for a long time, but that wasn’t the case at all. The war ended much more quickly than anyone had anticipated.

From start to finish, it lasted just over three months.

In that amount of time, many Sects hadn’t even finished assembling their main forces, yet the war was already over.

Furthermore, the war didn’t end because a victor had been decided between the two sides, but for other reasons entirely.

After the Demon Race entered the Human Race’s territory in the New Domain, they seemed to move about chaotically. At first, the Human Race couldn’t figure out their objective. This continued until three months later, when the entire New Domain erupted in a dazzling light, which then resonated with the Secret Realms that had appeared before.

Then, the world trembled violently with a deafening RUMBLE, and everyone inside the Secret Realms was immediately thrown out.

Immediately after, the Secret Realms began to shatter, slowly merging into the world.

In just one month, the Secret Realms vanished completely, and the territory of the entire Cultivation Realm doubled in size.

This left the entire Cultivation Realm astonished. Only then did they understand that the Demon Race hadn’t been running around aimlessly in the New Domain; they had been setting up an Array.

This left the Cultivation Realm even more perplexed. If the only goal was to make the Secret Realms disappear by merging them into the world, there seemed to be no need for a complete break with the Human Race, was there?

After all, this event benefited the Human Race as well. If the Demon Race had just explained their plan, the Human Race would surely have agreed. So why go through all this trouble?

Regarding this matter, Xu Ran asked Qin Yufeng about it, not expecting him to admit it so readily.

"That’s right. This was my plan, and now it has succeeded," Qin Yufeng said. "Fellow Daoist Xu, if you have any questions, I will hold nothing back and tell you everything."

Qin Yufeng’s voice was perfectly calm, yet laced with intense confidence.

Hearing his confident tone, Xu Ran fell silent for a moment before asking, "Senior, can you tell me how you accomplished this?"

Qin Yufeng chuckled. "Fellow Daoist, do you know why the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race were willing to give up the New Domain back then?"

"I would be grateful for your guidance, Senior."

"The Evil and Demon Domains appeared in our world because a continent from each of their two races collided with our plane and merged into it."

"The continents of the two races each possess their own unique coordinates, allowing their people back home to use them to descend upon this world."

"The two races originally planned to integrate their respective coordinates into the New Domain. Then, after our Immortal Ancient and the Demon Race had accepted the New Domain, they would use the world’s original, chasm-like barrier to seal it off completely."

Xu Ran was taken aback. After a moment of thought, he asked in surprise, "Senior, are you saying that those Secret Realms from before came from the homelands of the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race? But didn’t they act surprised? It seemed like they didn’t know anything about it. And from the sound of it, you’re implying they don’t want to be found by the people from their homelands?"

Qin Yufeng smiled faintly. In a calm voice, he said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, think about it. How long has it been since the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race descended upon this world? If it were you, after carving out your own kingdom and living in peace for a long time, would you be willing to obey someone who suddenly showed up claiming to be from your clan?"

"The fact that they didn’t attack them on sight was already a great show of respect for their old ties."

Xu Ran fell silent. ’That’s true,’ he thought. ’I wouldn’t want a Supreme Emperor suddenly popping up to order me around, either.’

Qin Yufeng continued, "The Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race just never expected your Sect’s Ye Shan to suddenly appear. He not only ruined their plan but also wiped out the people from their homelands in the process."

"However, as I’ve said before, your Sect’s Sword Dao Ye Shan was far too confident. He thought that letting those world fragments fall into our plane would be harmless, but he didn’t manage to sever every connection."

"Fellow Daoist Xu, from this moment on, the very heavens of this world have changed."

「A few days later.」

Xu Ran finally understood what Qin Yufeng had meant when he said the heavens had changed.

After the Secret Realms merged into the world, people slowly began to fall ill.

These were Cultivators, yet they were getting sick. Many assumed they had been targeted by a sinister plot or a sneak attack; after all, not one of them had fallen ill since the day they began to cultivate.

When Xu Ran saw his fellow sect members begin to show symptoms one by one, he was utterly astonished.