Chapter 2254: History's Mad Reversal

He sighed deeply. "In fact, throughout the regions south of Beijia and west to north of Shen Country, countries have fallen one after another, easily totaling dozens. Only a very few have managed to survive!"

Weaker nations, lacking financial, human, military, or spiritual resources, simply cannot cope with the constant waves of monster tides from all directions. This, in turn, sparks internal strife, rivalries, conflicts, and all sorts of unheard-of problems. They cannot last long before disintegrating and perishing.

Pu Hua was somewhat curious about what happened in these foreign lands. "After a country perishes, who takes over its land?"

"Ah, that's complicated," Sun Hongye said, counting on his fingers. "It usually becomes an ownerless land overrun by spirits and monsters, taken over by tribes or ruthless bandits. And later, it might attract immortal sects or demon clans. I've heard that ancient texts often use a single term to describe this era, to describe such places—"

"—the Primordial Era!"

Pu Hua smiled. "Our Emperor recently said that the true Primordial Era was ancient times. Looking at the current situation, the human world is undergoing a historical regression. The Primordial Era hasn't truly arrived yet."

Sun Hongye sighed. "Now, nations are hardly nations anymore. If ancient times or the Primordial Era truly return, can ordinary people still live good lives?"

Pu Hua's smile faded slightly. "Everyone says ancient times were mysterious and wondrous, but how could an era of immortal-demon wars and rampant great monsters be friendly to ordinary people?"

"After the great spiritual energy explosion, what first descended were actually natural disasters! Even before the heavenly demons descended, the human world was already in chaos! Who could have imagined this?" Sun Hongye murmured, "Misfortune lurks beneath fortune; indeed, the ancients did not deceive me."

"Spiritual energy recovers, myriad things contend," Pu Hua said, enunciating each word. "These 'myriad things' refer not only to humans. The creatures competing with humanity are almost innumerable. The Emperor often says that the great spiritual energy explosion is both an opportunity and a challenge for living beings and nations. Since it's called 'myriad things contend,' the weak are bound to fail in the challenges and fall behind in the competition."

The fate of those who fall behind is truly tragic.

Over the past three millennia, spiritual energy went from abundant to scarce. Now, it's the opposite: the total spiritual energy that has surged in these past seven years surpasses the sum of the previous three millennia!

The spiritual energy environment of this world is rapidly advancing towards the ancient era, with no signs of stopping. It has already passed the late and middle medieval periods, and is now rapidly pushing into the early medieval period. Perhaps with a little more effort, it could even return to the ancient era—

Isn't this exactly 'regression'?

With such a dramatic increase in energy, naturally, everything in the human world is growing wildly.

Survival of the fittest is a natural law, and it's not just humans who can emerge victorious.

The environment changed drastically, and before most people could even react, the old order they were accustomed to also collapsed.

The spiritual energy explosion was not friendly to every person or every nation.

Countless small nations in the world were completely unprepared for such competition. They crumbled after only a few struggles, instantly buried in the dust of history.

The nations that managed to endure seven years of drastic change and successfully survive all possessed their own unique capabilities.

Sun Hongye tentatively asked, "Are the people of Cangyan still doing well?"

"Very well, indeed. They eat when they should, drink when they should, and don't dwell on their worries. As long as they don't venture into uninhabited wilderness, order and safety are mostly guaranteed," Pu Hua said with a smile. "Chaos reigns outside the strong cities, yet within the city walls, people live in peace and contentment. This truly is the most contradictory and interesting of times."

No matter how chaotic the world outside, Cangyan itself remained orderly and prosperous, which was incredibly precious.

Sun Hongye recalled the residents and merchants he had seen in Julu Port. Most looked rosy-cheeked and hurried, indeed not appearing like people who had lived in fear for years.

Market supplies were also very abundant, with goods from north and south all available, and trade was thriving.

After resting for half an hour, the mountain eagles spread their wings again.

Soon after, towering mountains with jagged peaks appeared ahead. Sun Hongye noticed numerous buildings vaguely visible among the mountain forests, and it seemed there were people moving about.

However, the mountain eagles cautiously avoided these peaks, flying far around them in a wide arc.

This time, they reached Tongyue Mountain before sunset.

Mountain eagles are not owls; they don't like traveling at night. Besides, Sun Hongye also needed to rest.

After dropping off their passengers, the mountain eagles flew into the forests to find cliffs for the night, while Sun Hongye and his companion went into the town to find lodging.

At the foot of Tongyue Mountain lay a town, nestled against the Tongyue mountain range.

Sun Hongye had initially thought the town would be small, but upon entering, he discovered it was extremely long and narrow, built winding along the mountain. Houses were built into the mountain slopes, while a rushing river flowed beneath the rock walls. From a distance, it looked quite thrilling.

After nightfall, the spore lamps along the path and the house lights illuminated, like starlight reflected on earth, quiet and gentle.

The two randomly chose an inn to stay in, then came out to drink. They saw many people in the town, and about a dozen eateries and taverns had customers.

Curious, Sun Hongye asked around and learned that Tongyue Mountain was known for its Profound Crystal mines, with two rich mineral veins already discovered. Thus, Tongyue Town thrived on its mines, primarily dealing in mining and transportation.

When he asked about the population, he was surprised that such a long and narrow town had over four thousand permanent residents!

No wonder the houses were built so densely.

If transient people, such as merchants traveling from north to south, were included, the total number was probably around seven thousand.

Additionally, an army unit was stationed here to guard the Profound Crystal warehouses. Therefore, the deeper parts of the town were restricted areas, off-limits to unauthorized personnel.

The Profound Crystal mines of Tongyue Mountain primarily supplied the central and western parts of the Blinggold Plains.

Ten years ago, Profound Crystals were hard to come by. Later, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth recovered and "Emperor's Nectar" transformed into minerals in the earth, the underground Profound Crystal veins began to crystallize and grow. The uses for Profound Crystals also became more widespread, not just needed by cultivators. For example, the giant magic formation at Julu Port—ten years ago, who could have imagined a port could be so extravagant?

Naturally, the demand for Profound Crystals also increased accordingly. Currently, all Profound Crystal mines discovered in the Blinggold Plains are state-owned, and are officially mined and guarded by the army.

Only then did Sun Hongye inquire about the mountain peaks the eagles had avoided.

"That's Zhenyuan Hall's territory."

"Is it an immortal sect?"

"Yes, it's an immortal sect that emerged from seclusion four years ago. It has two immortals overseeing it, and their dealings with the authorities have been amicable. They established their residence right there, clearing out and absorbing the demon clans and Daoist sects in the vicinity. The sect's members grew from around ninety to over five hundred, and they also have dozens of demon beasts."

They still had another day of flying tomorrow, so after dinner, the two returned to the inn to rest.

With the croaking of frogs and chirping of insects, the mountain night was exceptionally peaceful.

Sun Hongye had drunk a lot of soup and suddenly needed to relieve himself around midnight. He got up and changed his clothes.

He had just emerged from the outhouse and taken a few steps when he felt that something was amiss in his surroundings.

Outside the inn was a large pond. He had fallen asleep listening to a chorus of frogs, so why was there absolutely no sound now?

Even the chirping of insects had ceased, leaving only the mournful whisper of the wind through the treetops, which seemed a bit monotonous.

The silence was bone-chilling.