If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Upon hearing Zhou Ming's words, Liu Jun remained silent for a moment, as if he was carefully considering his words.

He raised his head, a look of reminiscence on his face, and slowly began to speak.

It turns out that more than 600 years ago, when he mistakenly entered this place, it was a time when warlords were fighting and the land was in turmoil.

He traveled alone to all corners of the world, and seeing the people displaced and suffering, he felt unbearable pain.

He adopted several orphans with decent potential as his godsons, and led them in battles across the north and south, spending several years to reunify this land.

Those three adopted sons were the founding monarchs of the later Yuan and Dayan kingdoms and the successors of Liu Jun.

Before leaving this place, he passed on the most prosperous land in the Central Plains to his most valued adopted son.

He spoke these words earnestly, and his eyes even held a hint of nostalgia for the past, as if recalling a period of turbulent times when he had no choice but to act.

He deliberately avoided mentioning how he discovered that the martial artist's cultivation of qi and blood could be converted into spiritual power through offense and defense.

He simply kept emphasizing how he "couldn't bear to see the people suffer" and how he "single-handedly ended the chaos."

He portrayed himself as a tragic figure who was tormented by fate.

Zhou Ming listened to the long speech without expression, inwardly sneering.

This guy unified this land more than 600 years ago and then divided it into three kingdoms with his three adopted sons.

This guy probably wasn't after the well-being of the people from the beginning, but rather just wanted to make it easier for him to continuously harvest martial artists from this land.

He needs martial artists, he needs a constant stream of living people with vigorous blood and qi who break through to the Blood Refining Realm.

A unified yet fragmented chessboard can precisely ensure that a Blood Refining Realm martial artist is not consumed by internal strife, and is also under his control.

Su Mubai said that the Su family had followed the Liu family for six hundred years, and that the Liu family had the founding emperor watching over them.

This is more than just watching; it's treating the entire continent as its own backyard hunting ground.

Zhou Ming glanced at him and said calmly:

"You unified this place, probably to gather martial artists with vigorous energy and vitality, right?"

Liu Jun's expression froze instantly.

His lips twitched, his Adam's apple bobbed, and an unusually unnatural embarrassment appeared on his fair and refined face.

He coughed lightly and cupped his hands in greeting:

"This... I had no choice but to do this. The spiritual energy here is extremely thin. If I don't find a way to restore my magic power, I will perish in no time."

"Although these martial artists had their life force extracted, I did not kill them; I merely took a small amount of their life force to prolong their lives."

Zhou Ming seemed not to hear his explanation, and glanced down into the valley:

"What about those Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stage cultivators below?"

Liu Jun's face turned awkward again.

His previous compassionate expression had completely vanished, replaced by an embarrassment at being exposed in public.

He rubbed his hands together, his voice lower than before: "These... these are all disciples that I have trained over the years."

"For this junior...for this junior to search for martial artists."

As he spoke, he carefully observed Zhou Ming's expression.

Trying to read some attitude from that indifferent face—was it contempt, understanding, or tacit approval of shared misery?

Zhou Ming did not give him the response he wanted.

He simply nodded slightly, then changed the subject, his tone still calm: "Let's talk about your Qingyun Sect."

Liu Jun's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stared at Zhou Ming's face for a long time, as if trying to confirm something.

Then his expression changed.

It wasn't the embarrassment of being exposed just now, but a deeper, more ingrained sense of vigilance.

He took a half step back, his voice becoming dry and rapid:

"Senior...you don't know about our Qingyun Sect?"

His speech became faster and faster, as if he were rapidly piecing together a conclusion he didn't want to face.

"It's impossible for cultivators from outside the sect not to know about the Qingyun Sect..."

"My Qingyun Sect is one of the nine largest sects in the entire Lingxu World. It's impossible for cultivators not to know this."

"Unless you are not from the outside world, you, you are not a cultivator from the outside world!"

"You're a cultivator from this place, no... impossible... the spiritual energy here is thin, how could you break through to the Nascent Soul stage? No... no..."

"You...you..."

As he spoke, he began to back away, his pace quickening as he moved, the hem of his robes billowing wildly in the magical energy.

His body shone with a surge of green light, and he was poised to flee out of the valley.

How could Zhou Ming let him get away?

He stood motionless, his right hand emerging from his sleeve, his magical power surging and flowing through his meridians, and a large purple-gold hand materialized out of thin air.

The large hand was about ten feet square, with five distinct fingers, each finger covered with fine Dao patterns.

It covered the distance of several dozen feet between the two of them, and like a dark cloud of purple-gold, it descended upon Liu Jun.

Liu Jun's pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant.

He channeled all his magical power into his legs, trying to escape, but the azure light beneath his feet was crushed to dust by the oppressive force of the purple-gold hand.

He let out a hoarse cry of surprise, his hands forming a seal as if to cast some kind of defensive spell, but before the blue light at his fingertips could fully solidify, it was grabbed by that large hand.

Her entire body was held in the palm of the purple-gold hand, like a moth whose wings were pinched. She struggled with all her might for a few moments, but the protective spiritual light around her crackled and shattered. She couldn't even hold on for a single breath.

The purple-gold hand slowly closed.

then.

With a soft "plop," Liu Jun was crushed into a bloody mess.

It wasn't the crisp sound of bones breaking, nor the explosive roar of colliding spells, but a muffled, wet thud, like a ripe persimmon being crushed in someone's hand.

Blood mist and bits of flesh splattered from between the fingers of the purple-gold giant hand, exploding into a crimson flower in mid-air before being dispersed by the mountain wind.

Zhou Ming hovered in mid-air, stunned as he watched the purple-gold hand slowly dissipate and leave behind a cloud of blood mist in the valley.

A Golden Core cultivator died just like that, without even struggling or letting out a scream, before he was crushed to death by him.

Zhou Ming reached out and looked at his hand, somewhat incredulous.

"When did I become so powerful? This is a Golden Core cultivator! Even with my cultivation suppressed, I can still roam freely in these Three Kingdoms."

"Does this mean I can now roam freely throughout these three kingdoms?"

"How the hell have I become this powerful? How come I didn't know?"

Looking down at the bloodstains again, he realized he had only intended to grab Liu Jun with his large hand.

Hold him in your hand so he can't escape.

As a result, when he activated his magic, the force with which the large hands closed far exceeded his expectations.

It's like trying to pinch an ant with your fingers; you use only the tiniest bit of force, yet the ant turns to mud.

"It seems that Liu Jun has been suppressed too much by this world."

"That's not right either. If Liu Jun was suppressed by this world, then I must be suppressed as well."

"Or is it that the strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator is suppressed by the heavens and earth to a much smaller extent than that of a Golden Core cultivator?"

"Or perhaps the gap between the Golden Core stage and the Nascent Soul stage is actually much larger than we imagine?"