Chapter 509 – Dark Turmoil

A year ago, the Profound Spirit World was still plagued by apocalyptic disasters, and various theories about the world’s destruction spread like wildfire, impossible to suppress.

Numerous aristocratic families, and even royal clans, were making contact with Extraterrestrial Gods, seeking backup plans to preserve their legacies.

Yet, in just one year, the once rampant apocalyptic discourse vanished without a trace, and the major Aristocratic Families completely severed ties with the Alien Realm Evil Gods.

All of this change was due to the rise of Mu Lin.

He alone reversed humanity’s situation, turning the world’s end into nothing more than an illusory bubble.

However, because of this, such a Mu Lin became a target for all the deranged Evil Gods and the Foreign Races that held grudges against humanity—the former need little explanation; driven mad or corrupted, they harbor a desire to destroy everything.

“Kill, kill, kill… Why should you still live when my world has perished…”

“Descend into ruin with me…”

“Wuwu… It hurts so much…”

As for the latter, their enmity with humanity runs deep, with millions of humans having been harmed or slaughtered by them. Under such circumstances, the True Lords of the Human Race, the Celestial Masters stationed in the Northern Wastelands, and even ordinary gentry could never forgive them.

Even if humanity truly forgave them, they would not dare believe it—they would suspect it was a delaying tactic, and once the Human Race grew stronger, they would surely be annihilated.

This suspicion and distrust forced them to fight humanity to the bitter end.

However, while they wanted war, Heavenly Martial True Lord was not so eager.

“Time is on our side; why should we rush?”

Fearing that they might resort to desperate measures and assassinate Mu Lin, Heavenly Martial True Lord and Tribulation Thunder True Lord persuaded Mu Lin to temporarily return to the Profound Spirit World. Mu Lin had no objections to this.

“Developing steadily and then crushing the enemy with tenfold or hundredfold strength—that is what I should do.”

“Fierce battles and desperate struggles are the actions of fools!”

With this mindset, Mu Lin returned to the world.

However, just as Mu Lin, Heavenly Martial True Lord, and the others thought that being inside the world would be safer for Mu Lin, an unexpected event occurred.

Shortly after Mu Lin returned to the Southeast Region, six of the nine Dark Forbidden Zones in the Western Wilderness Desert simultaneously erupted in rebellion.

“Hum…”

Forbidden Lands were the calamities of the Profound Spirit World before the arrival of extraterrestrial enemies.

Every time a Forbidden Land rebelled, tens of millions of humans perished. Even the rise and fall of dynasties and the shifts of hegemonic powers often began with such rebellions.

Now, their rebellion was equally terrifying.

“Boom!”

In an extremely short time, the sky over the Western Wilderness Desert turned pitch black. Countless forbidden auras, like dense Black Mist, enveloped the sky and earth of the Western Wilderness. An aura of life’s extinction and all things withering away spread from the Western Wilderness to all corners of the world.

And their main direction of assault was the Southeast Region.

“Wuwu…”

At the first sign of the Dark Forbidden Zones’ rebellion, the Human Race armies stationed outside the desert detected the anomaly. Beacon fires and various warnings were sent to the major Aristocratic Families and the royal court in the heartlands of humanity.

Upon receiving the news, those Aristocratic Families and royal nobles all felt their hearts tighten.

“Damn it, why now of all times!”

“Everything was clearly turning for the better. Given just a century, we could have reversed this entire situation…”

“Those bastards—don’t they realize that fighting us now only drains the Human Race’s potential? If they shatter the world, they won’t come out unscathed either!”

Upon learning of the Forbidden Zones’ uprising, some feared their threat, some lamented the lack of time, while others cursed the Dark Forbidden Zones for their shortsightedness.

Beyond these reactions, a few astute individuals seemed to grasp something deeper, shaking their heads slightly as they remarked:

“Precisely because another hundred years would allow us to completely overturn everything, they’ve grown anxious and launched this Dark Upheaval so abruptly… Those in the Forbidden Zones are no fools. They won’t just sit back and watch us grow stronger.”

At this point, the strategist from the Aristocratic Families made a firm prediction: “If I’m not mistaken, the target of this Dark Upheaval launched by the Forbidden Zones is likely none other than Your Majesty Mu Lin.”

…

On this point, the strategists of the Aristocratic Families guessed correctly.

The six major Dark Forbidden Zones had indeed set their sights squarely on Mu Lin. To minimize obstacles, the Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain—the initiator of this Forbidden Zone uprising—had even proposed an agreement to the other zones: reduce slaughter along the way and focus solely on Mu Lin, so as to avoid drawing other human forces into the conflict.

Then, entirely unsurprisingly, the other Forbidden Zones paid no heed to Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain’s proposal. The moment they emerged, they unleashed countless massacres.

This scene infuriated the overseer of Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain—who was not the master of the Forbidden Zone. Not to mention Celestial Deities and True Lords like Mu Lin, even Celestial Masters would devote their time to cultivation and comprehending laws, leaving mundane affairs to others.

True Lords and Celestial Masters were like this, and the masters of the Forbidden Zones were even more so.

Currently handling these trivial matters was the child of Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain’s Forbidden Zone master. Upon learning of the slaughter committed by the other zones, it immediately lashed out at their overseers:

“Bunch of fools! I told you, our only target this time is Mu Lin. Everyone else is outside our scope of attack—don’t provoke too many enemies!”

The other Forbidden Zones heard this, but most of their overseers paid no attention.

In fact, the Children of the Forbidden Zone from the Emperor’s Burial Mound even chuckled mockingly:

“Watch your tone, Wan Qing. We are your allies, not your subordinates. If you dare speak to our Emperor’s Burial Mound like that again, I won’t mind wiping out your Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain first.”

“Heh, if we don’t slaughter, how are we supposed to cover our losses from this mobilization?”

Wan Qing: “Mu Lin is the God of Life. Devouring him and absorbing his essence will sustain us for a long time.”

This drew scornful laughter from the other Forbidden Zone overseers:

“It’s not enough. We need more life-source energy. Besides, even if we slaughter, what can those Aristocratic Families do? This uprising isn’t just us—the Extraterritorial Deities have already struck a deal with us. The moment we launch our offensive, they’ll follow immediately. The advantage is on our side.”

“Exactly. To avoid being caught between two fronts, the Human Race can only watch helplessly as we slaughter.”

“Hehe, I think creating some slaughter is better. This way, humans can see clearly their own beastly status, let them know our terror, and thus, out of fear, dare not act recklessly… Killing is unavoidable, and may even reduce our obstacles…”

The Children of the Forbidden Zones who initiated the uprising all felt they held a great advantage, and they believed this advantage was not baseless.

The Extraterrestrial Evil Gods would join them in launching the offensive.

Their thinking was not mere fantasy… This turmoil began when the extraterrestrial deities actively sought them out, sincerely requesting their assistance.

Of course, their involvement was not due to the extraterrestrial deities’ sincere attitude, but because they had no choice.

“You’ve seen the situation with humans. Mu Lin ascending to godhood… this actually isn’t much. A single True God isn’t enough to make us fear. But Mu Lin is completely different from ordinary deities.”

“The Golden Fruit he creates can elevate and ascend the entire Human Race. If this continues, within less than a hundred years, the Human Race will be filled with powerful individuals. Do you think at that time, those highly aggressive humans will still tolerate the existence of your Forbidden Zones? Will those humans whose clansmen you’ve killed and devoured willingly let go of their hatred?”

“No, with strength, humans will definitely annihilate you. Those who hate you will make you repay blood with blood. You have no time left. If you don’t kill Mu Lin and halt humanity’s path of ascension, you will all die.”

When the masters of the Forbidden Zones and the Children of the Forbidden Zones heard these words, what chilled them was that this was true.

If they didn’t kill Mu Lin, their destruction was indeed imminent.

Of course, the masters of the Forbidden Zones at the time did not immediately submit. Instead, they coldly stated:

“If we suffer, you won’t fare well either. There are plenty of humans who bear grudges against you.”

In response, the divine Apostles who came to negotiate shrugged their shoulders indifferently:

“But we reside in the cosmic void. If we can’t win, we can still flee. Where can you escape to?”

“Hmph, if you could truly leave this place so easily, you wouldn’t have been confronting humanity for so long.”

The negotiations between the Evil Gods and the masters of the Forbidden Zones lasted a long time.

In the end, they made an agreement to jointly launch an offensive and eliminate Mu Lin in one strike.

The Forbidden Zones, located within the world, would serve as the main force to kill Mu Lin.

Meanwhile, the extraterrestrial deities would contain the True Lords of the Human Race, preventing them from returning to provide support.

Because Mu Lin’s existence posed a genuine threat to the extraterrestrial Evil Gods, the Dark Forbidden Zone of the Western Wastelands was certain the extraterrestrial Evil Gods would act.

“They’re not doing this for us, but for themselves… Their determination to kill Mu Lin is far stronger than ours.”

…

Feeling threatened and to ensure Mu Lin’s death, Wan Qing of Ten-Thousand Caves Mountain decided not to engage in excessive slaughter, focusing first on killing Mu Lin.

Unfortunately, the people from the other Forbidden Zones believed they held a great advantage, and thus, they began to act recklessly.

This led to the earlier exchange of insults.

“A bunch of fools! Can’t you wait until after killing Mu Lin to harvest life source energy?”

“Harvesting after completing the main objective—that’s a good idea. I agree.”

“Hehe, me too.”

“Sound the warning. Inform the aristocratic families of the human race that our current upheaval targets only Mu Lin. But if anyone obstructs us, we will spare no effort in wiping out their entire clan.”

After a round of heated arguments, the Children of the Forbidden Zone finally reached an agreement.

With the serious matters settled, one of the Children of the Forbidden Zone let out a cruel laugh:

“That Mu Lin truly is a tragedy. He just ascended to godhood, and now he’s about to be devoured—betrayed by everyone, no less… Hahaha…”

(End of Chapter)