Chapter 1071: Mysterious Great Enemy

Is death a form of escape?

Shi Ji nodded, feeling that in some sense, it was.

Dying is instantaneous; you close your eyes, self-destruct, and then you don't have to worry about anything anymore. Living, on the other hand, means enduring all sorts of things.

But what level of despair must a weak-tier Ten-Realm Daoist have felt to choose such an escape?

"It seems what our race encountered back then was even more terrifying than we imagined! Even one of our weak-tier Ten-Realms committed suicide—that was a being with a perfect Dao foundation, stepping onto the ultimate path!"

Shi Ji took a deep breath. "Such a being had boundless, bright prospects! After enduring an unimaginably arduous journey, running a marathon on this grand path, they willingly gave up before the finish line, collapsing to become one of the skeletons on the Dao's ground."

It's truly hard to imagine what happened...

Like Liu Si, she harbored the same doubts, but thinking of this, her gaze grew firmer. The burden she carried was unimaginable, and she knew she had to work even harder.

"Was the enemy who destroyed the Cosmic Garden back then a Ten-Realm?"

Medusa asked directly and frankly, eager to know who the enemy was.

Xu Zhi smiled, pondered for a moment, then said, "For now, it's better not to know. Focus on your cultivation first; that's too far off."

Medusa didn't press the matter, but she mused quietly to herself.

Renimansgar looked at the tense faces around him and suddenly smiled. "Don't be so nervous. How do you think our dimension and strength compare to other weak-tier Nine-Realm civilizations?"

Before Medusa could speak, a player nearby piped up:

"They're not worth mentioning. The civilizations out there aren't even on the same dimension as us in terms of knowledge, bloodlines, levels, or cultivation methods... they're simply laughable country bumpkins!"

The players spoke very realistically.

"They have no complete cultivation system, nor truly powerful bloodlines. Most of them scavenge ancient civilization ruins to learn knowledge, following unconventional paths, essentially developing on their own from individual planets... And what about the ancient civilization ruins they find? Those ruins also contain knowledge learned from ancient predecessors, themselves following unconventional paths."

"Generation after generation, they follow unconventional paths, learning from each other. Knowledge isn't shared or integrated, and bloodlines are weak... Those with truly powerful bloodlines guard them zealously, never leaking them, until their legacy is destroyed... This means that even a very powerful bloodline race might have only one truly exceptional bloodline, with the other three being garbage."

"It's a rural dark forest, where the potential for progress is too low... In this cosmic forest, everyone is an unconventional hunter, fumbling and researching on their own."

Medora and Vienna blushed at such blunt truths but dared not refute them.

"So we were truly looked down upon like that..."

"This civilization is just too terrifying."

There was nothing they could do. For various reasons, everyone else had to grope and organize in the dark. None of them were like these powerful, mature civilizations, possessing an unimaginably complete, ancient, and long-standing inheritance system.

Medusa also pondered. "In fact, constant inheritance through unconventional paths could lead to maturity, transforming them into beings as powerful, ancient, and mature as us, giving rise to various heaven-defying bloodline genes that can be freely fused to form four incredibly powerful bloodline transcendent systems... But the probability is too low. From our observations these past few days, the Abyssal Blue Divine Realm and the Fallen Civilization also originated from unconventional paths and are among the very powerful ones, constantly maturing."

Liu Si, hidden in the wooden barrel, observed silently, listening to the conversations and evaluations.

Even he had to admit they were indeed weak.

Civilization is built through accumulation.

However, accumulation isn't always enough; powerful bloodlines are also necessary. After all, without bloodlines as a foundation, any amount of accumulation is just a castle in the air.

"Do you understand? The gap between us and ordinary civilizations is also the gap between us and those mysterious beings. We've recognized certain concepts, like the 'Garden of Annihilation' before us."

Renimansgar said, "Actually, we and they aren't beings of two different dimensions... We are still in the weak Ten-Realm, and they aren't deliberately trying to destroy us. When you haven't reached that dimension, that unimaginable height, you're like an insect by the roadside, unnoticed... This involves unimaginable secrets, a dimensional level of the Ten-Realm, unless you truly reach a certain height, or are noticed due to some serendipitous coincidence."

"So, we're still too weak to need to worry?" Medusa mused thoughtfully.

"Then why were we destroyed?" Shi Ji asked.

Renimansgar smiled faintly. "There must always be a pursuit, mustn't there? This could be considered a test, an attempt, despite the enormous cost."

Their expressions tightened. Merely for a test?

Even Liu Si was stunned!

His face was incredibly bitter. So, the destruction of his Bird race's civilization, the Cosmic Garden's destruction, everything from back then, was just a discarded piece?

Xu Zhi looked at the utterly silent crowd around him.

He had said a lot, seemingly revealing most things frankly, yet in reality, he had said nothing at all.

He had merely made a casual guess based on Liu Si's words to the giant octopus about the fall of a being named "Mr. Darkness."

After all, the suicide of a weak-tier Ten-Realm was perplexing not just to Liu Si. What level of enemy could induce such despair? Xu Zhi himself didn't quite understand.

But it must have been an incomparably powerful foe; that much was certain.

It might even have been a deliberate encounter with a Ten-Realm being.

"Since they are powerful, I might as well elaborate and explain," Xu Zhi said, shaking his head. Everyone was looking at him, even his daughter expected him to speak; he couldn't remain silent.

"It's also a kind of preventative measure for certain potential future enemies... At the very least, it could motivate their progress."

Honestly, Xu Zhi was still somewhat worried about encountering terrifying enemies if he reached the weak-tier Ten-Realm or the true Ten-Realm.

However, the destruction of Renimansgar's Cosmic Garden truly seemed mysterious, ancient, and far from simple. Xu Zhi himself felt that playing the role of the enigmatic "Old Wang next door" was not so easy.

At this moment, the giant octopus in the wooden barrel also fell silent, then quietly asked, "Ancestor, what do you think?"

"I... I'm not too sure. Although it's said that I encountered an enemy and faked my death to escape... it was never fully explained." Liu Si took a deep breath. "I heard that the three Celestial Venerables of the Abyssal Blue Divine Realm once knew the true reason for the Cosmic Garden's destruction, because their temporal powers seemed to allow them to observe certain ancient residual images."

"Does that mean, besides Renimansgar, the three Celestial Venerables also observed the ancient truth? In other words, they might have witnessed what happened back then, known Renimansgar's true trump card, the Evil God... and possibly even known about the ancient Huaxia civilization?" The giant octopus exclaimed, instantly realizing the implications.

As a high-ranking member of the Fallen Civilization, he naturally couldn't question the three Celestial Venerables, but learning it from the main body here was like a dream come true.

"Yes," Liu Si said, secretly peeking out from the barrel. "It's said that the three Abyssal Blue Celestial Venerables, upon learning what happened back then, displayed immense, unimaginable fear... Presumably, they saw Renimansgar's power, and perhaps even knew of his faked death and escape?"

"Very likely," the giant octopus murmured.

Xu Zhi smiled at the people around him, his heart slightly stiffening as he listened to the giant octopus's conversation. *This Liu Si, why didn't he mention earlier that the three Celestial Venerables of the Abyssal Blue Divine Realm knew the truth about this matter?*