Nobody told me this wasn't a game.

Aloe felt vaguely that she had heard the name before, but couldn't quite place it.

She turned to look at Fan Kou and Mu Suogen, and found that they both looked astonished, clearly already knowing who this person was.

Sakura, having seen countless storms, showed no change in expression.

She simply said, "General Lan, and this lady, please come with me. I originally thought that the decline in cultivation level only happened to me, after all, I had just advanced to the thirteenth realm. I never expected that... The current situation is very serious, we are in the midst of a huge change."

The man in the blue turban suppressed his wandering thoughts and immediately said, "If I'm not mistaken, this must be the effect of the gods' disappearance! Alas, I wonder what exactly happened. Are all adventurers going to turn into mortals?"

As Aloe listened to their conversation and sensed their perfectly synchronized twelve realms, she felt a vague unease.

Chapter 358 Bleeding One by One

Around the same time, in Sky City.

After the mechanics on Asuka and Mayumi were triggered, the world level cap dropped to level twelve.

This is a very serious situation.

The number of Fifteen Realm Supremes in the Ascended World isn't large, but it's not small either. In the era of the Celestials, the difficulty of cultivation for adventurers was greatly reduced, and there were "miracles" that could extend human lifespan. A thousand years later, the number of Fifteen Realm Supremes has long since exceeded one thousand.

According to the gods—

"There are probably more than three thousand. When I did the last count, the top one thousand communities had an average of a little more than three."

When the "attention" was first triggered, the three thousand strongest beings standing at the top of the tower in the upgraded world were affected.

The impact of their declining cultivation levels would naturally be significant, but as exemplary figures with far-reaching and deep-rooted interests at stake, they would not easily publicize this matter for various reasons.

Even if someone notices something, they will only discuss it within a small circle and will not announce it to the world.

Now, adventurers in realms fourteen and thirteen are also affected.

At this level, it's no longer realistic to try to block the news. The top adventurers are now in a state of panic and anxiety, so it's inevitable that they will take proactive steps to probe the situation.

The lid can't be closed anymore.

As the situation develops further and even adventurers from the twelfth realm begin to be affected, the entire world will undergo tremendous changes and may even fall into turmoil!

Before that moment arrives, Zuo Chang needs to do one thing first—

"Master reliable promotion methods."

When adventurers all over the world are falling, and Zuo Chang holds the method of advancement in his hands, he truly stands invincible.

At that time, those who are currently working for him will not defect, and he can gain more allies as a result;

Conversely, if Zuo Chang cannot master the path to advancement, the chess game that the god laid out a thousand years ago will be useless.

Zuo Chang looked at the celestial being drinking milk tea and said, "The way to advance... is it the magic potion or something you mentioned before? Where is the recipe?"

"Ok?"

The god looked up and pointed to his head: "In my head."

Zuo Chang didn't stand on ceremony with her at all.

He got up, took paper and pen from the cabinet by the door, and placed them in front of the god: "Write it down."

"...What?! Show me some respect, I'm a god!"

"What are you talking about? How am I being impolite?" Zuo Chang looked at her without any politeness. "My Lord God, what we are doing is carrying out your will. I haven't even asked you for wages; it's purely voluntary work! You should give me the formula for the advancement potion; otherwise, how can we prepare?"

"They talk a lot, they gibberish."

The god didn't pick up a pen; he simply spread his palm and patted the white paper on the table.

In an instant, vigorous handwriting appeared on the paper. Zuo Chang looked down and saw that eight recipes were written on it.

Starting with the potion recipe for "advancing from the seventh to the eighth realm", all the way up to the fifteenth realm recipe.

The goddess stirred her milk tea with a straw, trying to sip up the coconut jelly at the bottom. She casually remarked, "There are many kinds of potions, each with its own unique characteristics. Before I started using divine crystals, there were more than twenty 'paths' in the world, each producing different potions; after drinking them, adventurers would gain different abilities. In addition, each path is unique; once you've consumed a basic potion from that path, you can only stick to that path and cannot switch to potions from other paths."

is it?

Zuo Chang flipped through the paper in his hand and said, "It seems you only wrote one kind of thing on this."

The celestial being remained calm: "That's because the 'path' for the vast majority of adventurers has already been determined; they can only use my path. Taking other types of potions will most likely result in death, and there's a small chance of paralysis; in short, there's no good outcome."

After a moment's thought, Zuo Chang understood what she meant.

The goddess had no intention of destroying the entire world; she only arranged for eight "observers." Even if all the mechanisms were triggered, the adventurers would still have a cultivation level of the seventh realm.

This means that

The gods have already decided their future; they have no other choice.

“Um… Lord God.”

In the silence, Mayumi raised her hand.

She pointed to her nose and asked, "Do I also need to drink a potion?"

"You need it too. But compared to ordinary adventurers, your need isn't as urgent."

The god's tone remained calm.

She continued, “You are the Wind God, and you possess the power of the Wind God within you, which means you have an extra system compared to others—one is the magic system, and the other is the divine power system. If your magic system has twelve realms, then even if you have never studied the divine power system, your divine power system will also have twelve realms; because in the rules, people who possess two systems will have the lower system forcibly aligned with the higher system.”

Mayumi seemed to understand but not quite: "Then... will my cultivation level be fixed at the twelfth realm?"

“You completely misunderstand the current situation. Let me put it more clearly.”

The celestial being put down his milk tea and held up a short finger: "Your current divine power system is only at the first level. Your understanding and application of the wind god's power is very superficial, but that's normal. The accumulation of any power cannot be achieved overnight—unless it's a trap."

The celestial being raised his second finger: "Your magical system has twelve realms, but unfortunately you're using the shortcut I provided, so it will decrease as the world's level drops. If you don't improve, you should end up with seven realms instead of twelve."

"...I understand, thank you for your explanation."

Mayumi nodded, understanding the situation.

The celestial being continued, “I said you don’t need it that much because you can try your divine power system. As your understanding of the wind god’s power deepens, your magical power system will also grow—not only you, but your followers will too. However, without taking potions, this process will be very long.”

In short, it's best to take drugs. Drugs build up fighting power faster.

Zuo Chang looked down at the potion recipes on the paper and found that the main ingredients and auxiliary ingredients of the eight recipes provided by the gods were different, but they all used a strange material called "calycanthus flower nectar" in large quantities.

A 100ml bottle of potion requires 60ml of chamomile nectar.

What is this?

It seems that this item doesn't exist in the game.

Zuo Chang asked, "What kind of flower is the cabbage flower?"

Bai Lin and Zhen Gong both shook their heads: "Never heard of it, is it a precious medicine?"

Asuka frowned slightly and hesitated before saying, "The cabbage... seems to be a flower unique to 96511. I wanted to plant flowers in the courtyard before, and the gardener recommended this flower to me, saying that it has bright colors and a delicate fragrance, but it can only be planted in 'red soil'. A powerful family from a higher community once took the flower back with them, but as many as they planted died. They asked that gardener to take care of it, but it still couldn't survive."

“It is indeed a flower unique to 96511, which I arranged.”

The god suddenly spoke.

Her face remained calm as she continued, “This red soil is no ordinary soil. I used the blood of the Earth God and the Water God to soak the land in their blood and then kneaded it into a fist-sized stone, which I buried around the Heavenly King City. The soil around that stone is affected by the divine blood, turning bright red and becoming rich in spiritual energy. The sweet clover can only grow on that kind of soil.”

Zuo Chang looked at her suspiciously: "Are you... controlling the yield of the sweet clover?"

The god nodded: "To be more precise, it's about controlling the production of potions. Only then can it be considered a complete plan."

Chapter 359 The Ancient Family

Southeast of Tianwang City, there is a small hill that the locals call Crimson Blood Mountain.

Those who visit Tennojo Castle for the first time will certainly not understand why a lush hill covered with bright blue flowers would be called that.

They will understand the reason when they arrive at the foot of Crimson Blood Mountain.

The soil of Crimson Blood Mountain is as red as paint.

Zuo Chang knew in his heart that the "stone watered by divine blood" mentioned by the gods must be buried under Crimson Blood Mountain, and he immediately led his men there.

As the car sped along the road, the chief steward of the city lord's mansion pointed to a uniquely beautiful blue hill in the distance: "City Lord Bai, Mr. Zuo, that is Crimson Blood Mountain!"

Bai Lin nodded and asked, "Is Crimson Blood Mountain the property of Heavenly King City?"

“Uh…no.” The butler shook his head. “Red Blood Mountain is a beautiful sight in 96511. People there feel like they are in a fairyland. It’s so beautiful that people don’t want to leave! Back when Qian Wuyi was the city lord, Red Blood Mountain was contracted out—I remember it was contracted out for three hundred years.”

How many years?

Three hundred years?

Zuo Changqi said, "Isn't it a bit of an exaggeration to say that you've been in charge for three hundred years? What kind of family is that that can live for so long!"

"This... I don't know. I've heard many rumors. Some say it was contracted by dragons, some say by demons, and some say by an ancient family. The only thing that's certain is that it's a force from a higher-level community. After contracting Crimson Blood Mountain, they built a manor and rarely communicate with the outside world."

In just a few months, Tianwang City changed hands three times.

The officials in the city lord's mansion have naturally changed batch after batch, and the steward in front of us is a new one promoted by Bai Lin.

Zuo Chang had read his information. This steward's surname was Lu and his given name was Ke. Although he had never worked in the city lord's mansion before, he was a genuine local sage with a cultivation level of seven and a reputation of ten.

Bai Lin sensed something was wrong and asked, "What are they doing contracting Crimson Blood Mountain?"

"Well... I don't know. People from the upper-level community spend a fortune and sign a three-hundred-year contract. I find it hard to empathize with what such powerful families are thinking."

Butler Luke pondered for a moment.

He speculated, "Perhaps they find the scenery beautiful and come here occasionally to stay for a while, to cultivate their mind and body?"

It's not impossible.

Bai Lin asked again, "As the city lord, am I allowed to enter?"

Luke frowned: "Contractually speaking, Crimson Blood Mountain is that family's private property, protected by law. If they insist on not letting us in, we may lack a legitimate reason to force our way in. However, you are the city lord. They can't prevent you from entering just because they can't prevent others from entering, can they?"

Sitting in the back row, Zuo Chang laughed upon hearing this, "A new emperor brings a new court. What does the contract Qian Wuyi signed have to do with you, Bai Lin? Heavenly God, aren't you right?"

The deity looked up and said, "Strictly speaking, that's not right; however, given the urgency, it's reasonable and justifiable to force our way in and take a look."

Bai Lin remained remarkably calm and slowly said, "If they won't let us visit, then we can at least go in and check if there are any suspects being harbored or any fire hazards. As the acting city lord of Tianwang City, I have a duty to protect the safety of the citizens under my jurisdiction. Routine inspections cannot be relaxed in the slightest!"

He truly lives up to his reputation as a model knight, even when he forcibly broke into a private residence, he did so with such conviction.

Butler Luke gained a new understanding of his leader and immediately said, "That's true. Safety is paramount, and caution is a sign of responsibility."