Chapter 601: Origins of the Xuantian Sect

It was as if he had encountered a high-ranking entity, naturally influenced by its inherent aura of power.

The moment the figure appeared, Li Fan's heart suddenly pounded violently. His hair bristled slightly, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. The images recorded by the True Medicine King Cauldron also seemed affected, becoming distorted and blurry.

Subconsciously, Li Fan took a step back, then realized what was happening, his face pale. "Just the recorded image possesses such power," he thought. "Is that... a True Immortal?"

Before his demise, Liu Ruchen had revealed many things, including the terrifying entity above the Xuanhuang Realm, which seemed intent on devouring everything. In ancient times, after cultivators broke through to the Dao Integration realm and survived the Heavenly Tribulation, they would be guided to the Upper Realm.

But one day, an anomaly occurred. A cultivator who had successfully overcome the lightning tribulation and ascended to the Immortal Realm returned shortly after, looking distressed. It was then that people learned the path to the Immortal Realm was broken. The original Immortal Realm passage had become a ruin.

At that time, most cultivators only knew of the Immortal Ruins' existence; however, they had no idea what it looked like or its true nature.

With the Immortal Path severed, more and more Dao Integration cultivators remained in the mortal world. Yet, the lifespan of a Dao Integration cultivator was limited to a thousand years. Those who reached this realm were all outstanding talents, so how could they simply await death?

Thus, the Longevity Realm emerged. There were wondrous treasures in heaven and earth that could grant eternal life. The world naturally possessed long-life wonders, endowed with special authority by heaven and earth. When a cultivator's lifespan ended, to defy fate and change their destiny, they had to seize this authority—the Longevity Fruition. That's how the first Longevity Realm cultivators came into being.

However, the Longevity Fruitions were limited, and there were too many Dao Integration cultivators in the world, making conflict inevitable.

During the great war, a force called the Profound Heaven Sect rapidly rose. The leader of the Profound Heaven Sect was precisely the cultivator who had ascended to immortality and then returned. He was also the only being in the Xuanhuang Realm at that time imbued with immortal spiritual energy, just half a step away from becoming a True Immortal. Compared to ordinary cultivators, a True Immortal represented a qualitative leap. Consequently, his strength far surpassed that of other Dao Integration and Longevity cultivators.

Under his leadership, the Profound Heaven Sect virtually swept across the Xuanhuang Realm with overwhelming force. Besides his formidable strength, this person was also highly cunning. He used Longevity Fruitions as bait to win over more than a dozen top-tier Dao Integration cultivators in the cultivation world at that time. With their allegiance, the Profound Heaven Sect became unstoppable. From then on, the Profound Heaven Sect dominated the world, with few daring to disobey.

That Half-Immortal called himself King Xuantian. The twelve strongest combatants within the sect were known as the Profound Dharma Kings. After almost unifying the cultivation world, the Profound Heaven Sect, to strengthen its rule, was inspired by the seizure of Longevity Authority. They began to covet other authorities of heaven and earth.

Ancient cultivators held reverence for heaven and earth. Although they could move mountains, fill seas, and cleave rivers, they believed their immense power ultimately originated from heaven and earth. But after the Profound Heaven Sect emerged, they broke the rules. The Profound Heaven Sect supplanted heaven, allowing even a mortal to wield power comparable to cultivators, simply by virtue of the sect's Heavenly King's decree.

It wasn't that no cultivators thought of resisting. But King Xuantian acquired a mysterious treasure, the Profound Heaven Mirror, which could observe everything in the world. Several secret gatherings were swiftly rounded up by the Profound Heaven Sect before they could even gain momentum. Countless cultivators were implicated, resulting in a bloodbath. The world's sects were already significantly weaker; after this incident, they completely abandoned any thoughts of resistance. Yet, no dynasty lasts forever.

In the later stages of the Profound Heaven Sect's rule, they became increasingly arrogant. Sect members wantonly humiliated cultivators. Finally, when everyone in the world could no longer tolerate it, under the rallying cry of the Ten Great Sects, cultivators united and overthrew the Profound Heaven Sect's rule.

"Heh, it seems now that the Ten Immortal Dao Sects and the Profound Heaven Sect are essentially birds of a feather," Liu Ruchen stated in his dying words, his tone filled with resentment. "The Immortal Ruins are forcibly drawing in all external material energy. The Ten Immortal Dao Sects claimed to be leaders of the world's sects. Yet, they never mentioned such a matter concerning the world's survival to us."

Liu Ruchen speculated that an unbelievable upheaval must have occurred in the Immortal Realm back then, which led to the complete severance of the Immortal Path. And the corpse in the Immortal Ruins was likely an immortal who had escaped from the Immortal Realm. Even a True Immortal couldn't escape the terrifying suction of the Immortal Ruins. One can imagine the consequences if the Xuanhuang Realm were to fall into the Immortal Ruins; it was unlikely that any living being in the world could survive such a catastrophe.

When the Ten Immortal Dao Sects led the overthrow of the Profound Heaven Sect and inherited its legacy, it was impossible for them not to know about this matter. Yet, they kept it a secret. They even allowed the entire Medicine King Sect to perish when it attempted to break through the realm, offering no warning. It was truly detestable.

The scene continued to play: amidst violent tremors, the Medicine King Cauldron ultimately escaped disaster. It circled around the terrifying entrance to the Immortal Ruins and returned to the Xuanhuang Realm.

The image disappeared, reverting to the scene at the bottom of the Cangwu Abyss. Li Fan, however, remained lost in thought for a long time.

In fact, Liu Ruchen's decision to control the Medicine King Cauldron and escape the Xuanhuang Realm was not an unrealistic idea. After all, it concerned the lives of all cultivators in the sect, and Liu Ruchen was not reckless. The elders within the Medicine King Sect ultimately agreed to his plan. All this had fundamental reasons.

The Medicine King Sect's patriarch, Medicine King Sun Piaomiao, had once traveled to other nearby cultivation realms when the Immortal Path first broke, seeking a method of ascension. However, he was horrified to discover that these worlds, like the Xuanhuang Realm, had also lost their connection to the Immortal Realm. And venturing deeper into the void was beyond his capabilities. So, he could only return helplessly.

The waypoint within the Medicine King Sect pointed to a cultivation realm called Free and Unfettered, which Medicine King Sun Piaomiao had once visited. In Liu Ruchen's view, since the patriarch hadn't encountered any danger when traversing the void back then, he reasoned that by simply emulating him and proceeding cautiously, there shouldn't be any major issues. Who would have thought that such a drastic change would occur even before leaving the Xuanhuang Realm?

"Initially, Sun Piaomiao could still ignore the Immortal Ruins' pull and freely travel to and from the Xuanhuang Realm," Li Fan mused. "But now, escaping is incredibly difficult. The Profound Heaven Sect and the Ten Immortal Dao Sects constantly captured surrounding Grotto-Heavens and minor worlds to counter the Immortal Ruins' gravitational pull. Now, even the 'weight' of cultivators is crucial for the Xuanhuang Realm's survival."

"Does this mean the Immortal Ruins' suction is continuously strengthening over time?" Li Fan was slightly startled, and after synthesizing various pieces of information, he couldn't help but draw this conclusion.