An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 370 Tribulation and Dao

"This is."

In Chu Xiu's consciousness, one after another ferocious beasts were rapidly approaching the group!
These ferocious beasts, resembling tigers and leopards, crawled on all fours, their bodies covered with irregular, protruding bony spurs. These bony structures almost completely enveloped their bodies, making them look like disgusting sea urchins with four limbs that could crawl at great speed.

Chu Xiu sensed a familiar power emanating from these strange beasts.

Mutant Death Aura!

"What is the connection between these guys and the creatures in the carrion cave?" Chu Xiu asked.

"Once we get through this immediate crisis, I will tell you everything truthfully afterwards," Qingyun said.

His expression was solemn: "Fellow Daoist, don't underestimate these strange beasts. They are formed from death energy, and the death energy around them can resist all spells. Their true forms are extremely difficult to kill, and being touched will result in suffering."

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Xiu waved his sword, and a torrent of sword energy, like a raging sea, poured out. This sword energy was like a torrent capable of shattering everything. When it was activated, the heavens and earth seemed to tremble. Even after crossing a distance of thousands of meters, its power remained undiminished. It swallowed up all the strange beasts the moment it made contact!
[Kill a creature and gain 12 experience points]

[Item Obtained: 237 Causality Points]

[Slay living beings to obtain.]

After the terrifying energy in the world calmed down, only a pile of wreckage remained on the original site.

The immortals stared in disbelief at the scene before them, while the Immortal Emperor remained calm and praised, "Fellow Daoist's methods are indeed extraordinary. Although we are proficient in the Dao of the Divine Soul, we are weak in self-protection techniques and are far inferior to you in eliminating strange beasts. It seems that my decision to seek your cooperation was a wise one."

Qingyunzi didn't deny it, and frankly stated that the opponent's physical combat strength was far inferior to Chu Xiu's. However, the opponent did not show weakness either, clearly indicating that he believed his strength in the spiritual realm was stronger than Chu Xiu's.

Even in the face of life and death, he showed no fear.

Of course, this ghost could not possibly know that Chu Xiu's soul strength had surged again in less than a month, and that he had mastered a powerful divine ability.

Chu Xiu would not reveal this point on his own initiative, but simply said, "It is too early to talk about cooperation. You should explain the mysteries of this world first before we discuss it."

“That’s natural,” Qingyunzi said with a smile, pointing to the distant remains of the strange beast. “Do you know where this beast came from, and what is the power it possesses called?”

Chu Xiu said, "They are exactly the same as the creatures in the Carrion Cave, but their specific origins are unclear."

Qingyunzi praised, "Fellow Daoist's perception is indeed sharp. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. These creatures are called 'Calamity Beasts,' and the power within them is precisely 'Calamity'!"

Upon hearing the word "robbery," Chu Xiu's brow twitched slightly!
"Robbery"?
According to Blood Pool, if one can withstand the malice of the abyss and force a breakthrough, one will suffer a calamity!

Could these two be the same thing?
He and Qingyunzi communicated directly through their souls. The other party conveyed the meaning of some kind of calamity sent down by heaven. Chu Xiu was not sure whether the calamity he mentioned was the same thing that the Blood Pool had mentioned.

But considering that he had sensed the abyss's aura on the stone bead, and that the stone bead was located in the place with the highest concentration of mutated death energy, he figured that even if they weren't the same thing, there must be some connection between them.

Thinking about what he was about to encounter—the secret that was currently of greatest concern to him and had the greatest impact on him—Chu Xiu hurriedly asked, "What is this 'calamity'?"

However, Qingyunzi did not answer him immediately. Instead, he gave Chu Xiu a meaningful look and said, "Do you know the origin of this world?"

Chu Xiu shook his head.

"This world is actually the remains of an ancient cultivator!" Qingyunzi's words were astonishing.

"The corpse of an ancient cultivator?" Chu Xiu was stunned. He looked around and saw only rocks. There was no trace of a body.

Qingyunzi laughed and said, "The 'ancient' I'm referring to is not just thousands or tens of thousands of years, but even millions or tens of millions of years! It's hard to describe. Its existence is far beyond your imagination! It's an 'ancient' that exists in another era!"

"How can we use common sense to deduce what cultivators of that era looked like and what race they were?"

Chu Xiu nodded. He truly knew nothing about these powerful beings. For example, the extraterrestrial demons—weren't their true forms just planets? As for the true gods, who were even stronger than the extraterrestrial demons, what their true forms looked like was even more unclear.

However, at this moment, Chu Xiu keenly realized something.

"You refer to that life form as an ancient 'monk,' not an ancient 'god'?"

This is a rather important title, as the concept of a monk does not exist in all civilizations.

Considering the way the creatures here address each other, could it be that this corpse is as ancient as his lineage, belonging to that prosperous era of cultivators?

Qingyunzi unexpectedly obtained some kind of inheritance left behind, which is why he came up with all sorts of names like immortal and Penglai.

Before Chu Xiu could ask, Qing Yunzi continued, "That's right, it's an 'ancient cultivator'."

"Fellow Daoist may not know this, but in a very distant era, there once existed a glorious civilization of cultivation, whose powerful beings were by no means weaker than the extraterrestrial demons and gods of today."

Chu Xiu said, "Please explain in more detail."

The lineage of the Boundless Heavenly Demon Sect was destroyed during the war between the righteous and the demonic. What happened afterward, Chu Xiu naturally did not know. He was not even sure what the cultivation world was like now, or even if it still existed.

Qingyunzi said, "This relates to the existence of this place, as well as the 'calamity' that you asked about earlier."

“In the distant past, an unimaginable catastrophe occurred, and at that time, almost all powerful ancient cultivators were struck by a ‘calamity’.”

"Under the influence of the calamity, their bodies underwent various abnormal changes; they began to age, emitted a foul odor, and their magical power declined significantly."

"The five signs of decay in a celestial being," Chu Xiu suddenly said.

Qingyunzi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Chu Xiu to suddenly convey such a concept through his divine soul. He then nodded and said, "That's right, it is the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man."

Chu Xiu's expression turned solemn. He recalled that during the previous trial, the celestial being had experienced the "Five Signs of Decay" because Peach Blossom Spring had become connected with the outside world, and his physical body was eventually completely devoured.

That celestial being was merely an ordinary human who had obtained a wisp of power from a forbidden object. Naturally, he was not a true celestial being, and far inferior to the powerful ancient cultivators who could transform themselves into the world. However, this coincidental connection still made a thought suddenly pop into Chu Xiu's mind.

Could it be that the abyss was the culprit behind the unimaginable catastrophe that Qingyunzi spoke of back then?
Is it possible that even a powerful being capable of transforming into a world cannot contend with the abyss?
As Chu Xiu's mind was in turmoil, Qing Yunzi, unaware of his thoughts, continued, "Back then, that ancient cultivator struggled for millions of years after suffering a calamity, but in the end, he still collapsed, and his body transformed into this world."

"However, even after his death, the calamity continued to rage within his body, which led to the current situation."

“That’s not right!” Qingyunzi’s words made Chu Xiu frown: “Then why has the Ghost Exorcist Clan’s civilization been able to develop peacefully without ever encountering any plundering beasts?”

"Besides, you yourself said that the ancient cultivators have existed for an unimaginable time. Can this calamity really exist for such a long time?" Faced with Chu Xiu's questioning, Qing Yunzi smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, don't be impatient. I will explain everything clearly. To explain this, I must mention my identity."

"Fellow Daoist should have guessed it, I am the Ghost King who destroyed the Ghost Exorcist Clan two thousand years ago."

"But fellow Daoist, do you know how I was born?"

This question startled Chu Xiu slightly. He had thought about it before, but had not reached a conclusion. He felt that the Ghost King Chu Xiu's question was quite abrupt.

However, he now has some guesses.

But he didn't voice his guess; he simply asked, "Does it matter?"

Qingyunzi didn't mince words and chuckled, "Back then, the heroic spirits of the Ghost Exorcist Clan set up a great array at the bottom of the furnace, and together with hundreds of King-level warriors, they ambushed the heroic spirits of the human race. In the end, they all perished. The function of that array was to gather spiritual power. Because everyone died in it, it did not stop spinning. Instead, it was nourished by abundant spiritual power and its effect became even stronger."

"The ambush site of the Ghost Exorcist Clan is called the 'Ninth Holy Land' by their own people. It is a very special holy land that is separate from the eight holy lands. This is because they have found that although the concentration of yin energy there is not particularly high, cultivation there is surprisingly fast. Moreover, whether it is refining ghost objects or magic weapons, it is particularly smooth, as if some kind of power is assisting them."

"What those people don't know is that the reason this place has such abilities is because it has gathered a large amount of 'Daoist essence'."

Chu Xiu frowned. What was this Daoist rhyme?
Qingyunzi saw Chu Xiu's doubt and explained with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, you can see it as the power that ancient cultivator used to resist the calamity back then, or you can see it as the result of that cultivator's lifelong cultivation."

Qingyunzi's words were somewhat mysterious. After pondering for a while, Chu Xiu said, "Go on."

Qingyunzi nodded and said, "As the formation continued to operate, it actually gathered the scattered Daoist essence together, and the last wisp of consciousness was born from the gathered Daoist essence."

"So that's how it is," Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. No wonder this ghost knew so much; it turned out that it was a life form born from the corpse of this ancient cultivator!

It's not unusual for a new life to be born from the corpse of a powerful being. For example, the seventy-two Blood Demons in the Corpse Demon World were born from the remains of a blood pool.
Strictly speaking, this existence already belongs to a new life form, but it will more or less acquire some of the characteristics or inheritance of the original.

Qingyunzi continued, "When I was first born, I was in a daze, only knowing to devour souls to strengthen myself. After absorbing the spiritual power in the holy land, I went to other holy lands. After eating up the bottom of the entire furnace, I went up to find food."

"As my consciousness gradually cleared, the entire Hundred Ghosts Furnace world had fallen into chaos. The ghosts, aroused by my aura, frantically attacked all living things in the world. It was then that I realized that I had the ability to control other ghosts."

"I have no feelings about the destruction of the Ghost Exorcist civilization. In my eyes, they are just like food, just like people eating chickens and fish. Isn't that a matter of course? But I also know the principle of draining the pond to catch all the fish. Originally, I planned to keep those creatures in captivity, but unexpected changes occurred."

“A calamity,” Chu Xiu sighed.

“Fellow Daoist is indeed exceptionally intelligent,” Qingyunzi nodded. “As far as I am concerned, the goal of the tribulation is to completely destroy that ancient cultivator. He has regained consciousness, and these tribulations that were originally completely integrated with this world have once again demonstrated their terror.”

At this point, Qingyunzi revealed a lingering fear, clearly recalling some terrifying memories. But in the end, he simply said, "Fortunately, the reappearance of the calamity was a slow process, giving me enough time to deal with it. In the struggle against the calamity, I came to a conclusion: my power is as weak as weeds in front of the calamity. Only the 'Dao' can resist the calamity."

"In the end, this is the situation you see now, fellow Daoist. The power of the calamity has sealed off this area, and I have used the 'Dao' to open up a pure land. I have distributed cultivation techniques and created ghosts by fabricating consciousness, all to select the best among them to come to Penglai to help me fight against the calamity."

"Once they become powerful enough to enter Penglai, I will use the 'Dao' to neutralize the tribulations within their bodies, reshape their forms, and grant them true self-awareness."

Qingyunzi's words caused Chu Xiu to show an uncontrollable look of shock. Even though he had already determined that there must be a great secret in this place, he never thought that the secret was so deep.

This ancient cultivator was able to transform into a world even larger than the Blue Star, and that calamity was able to kill such a powerful creature. It's hard to imagine how terrifying their power was. Even a Heavenly King would probably be several orders of magnitude weaker than them.

Next, he asked several more detailed questions, which Qingyunzi patiently answered one by one, allowing Chu Xiu to fully understand the situation here.

Mutated death energy is "calamity", immortal energy is "Daoist charm", and ordinary death energy is a combination of the two.

Because Penglai is constructed with "Daoist charm," the tribulations within it constantly combine with the Dao, thus forming the deathly waterfall that is 100,000 meters high.

This is why death energy can not only erode the body but also suppress the flow of magical power, because it contains the power of calamity.

As for the Inheritance Immortal Stele, it is also a kind of "Daoist Rhyme". However, compared to the "Daoist Rhyme" that exists in the form of "Qi", the Inheritance Immortal Stele is born under unknown conditions and has a physical "Daoist Rhyme".

Correspondingly, the stone bead is the materialized "calamity".

And the power of this tribulation is almost identical to the power that prevented Chu Xiu from breaking through!
The thought that he had been carrying such a dangerous thing in his arms made even Chu Xiu's heart race!
Moreover, Chu Xiu had an even bolder idea.

He hadn't forgotten that after absorbing the immortal energy, the stone bead actually transformed into a causal point!

"In other words, a special form of 'calamity' has the ability to devour 'the Dao' and transform causal points."

Chu Xiu had a premonition that he might have glimpsed a corner of the abyss's true nature.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing his thoughts, he looked at Qingyunzi and said, "I understand the situation here. Let's get down to business."

"How do you intend to leave this place? And what is it that you wish to cooperate with me on?"

“The way to leave this place is very simple. Just lift the restrictions on Penglai. I can send you out now,” Qingyunzi said.

Chu Xiu's eyes lit up. He knew, of course, that the other party must have conditions, but as long as there was a way, that was fine. What he feared most was that even Qing Yunzi would be completely trapped here, which would be a real problem.

“State your conditions,” Chu Xiu said.

Qingyunzi chuckled and said, "As I said before, Penglai is my place of refuge. If the restriction is lifted, even if it is just a tiny crack, the 'calamity' outside will instantly rush in and tear me to shreds."

Chu Xiu nodded. Just by looking at the endless waterfall of death energy, he knew how terrifying the "calamity" gathering around Penglai was, far surpassing that in the Carrion Cave.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"It's very simple."

With a flick of his wrist, Qingyunzi revealed a stone bead in his palm that was almost identical to the one Chu Xiu was holding!

"I need you to help me collect more 'Calamity Pearls' to open the passage to 'Taiyin'!"

lunar?

Chu Xiu was taken aback.

Isn't that thing the sun, which hangs high in this world and continuously sends down yin energy?
(End of this chapter)