Chapter 370 – Let History Return to Its Track

“Old Hou, have human cultivators become this powerful now? A mere student actually possesses such terrifying strength. If he continues cultivating for a few more decades or even a century, how powerful would he become? I dare not even imagine it.”

In the spectator stands, Zhu Zhong, a pig demon from the Ten Thousand Mountains, watched with astonishment as Jiang Dongliu unfolded his Sword Domain in the arena.

His words revealed his shock without any concealment.

There was no other reason—the power Jiang Dongliu was currently displaying was simply too terrifying.

Leaving aside the Sword Domain capable of covering the entire arena, just the cultivation level Jiang Dongliu had shown so far was enough to make them feel a clear sense of threat.

And this was despite Jiang Dongliu being only a student in his twenties.

In the Ten Thousand Mountains, twenty years wasn’t even enough for a previously untrained minor demon to progress step by step to the level of a great demon comparable to the Golden Core Stage.

Even achieving sentience and embarking on the path of cultivation was far from guaranteed.

To put it in perspective, it had taken the four of them over a hundred years to reach their current level of cultivation.

And that didn’t even account for the time before they gained sentience.

If that earlier period were included, it would easily amount to around a hundred and fifty years.

If Jiang Dongliu had that much time, he might very well have already reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

It had to be admitted that in terms of cultivation, the differences among humans were stark.

What ordinary people struggled to achieve in a lifetime was as effortless as eating and drinking for certain prodigies.

However, shock aside, Zhu Zhong quickly shifted his focus elsewhere after saying this.

Especially toward the direction of Lihuo Dao Academy.

After all, did they come to Immortal Alliance Wasteland City to work at the assembly line because they had an innate love for it?

No, they had accepted a task from the Fairy of Biyou Mountain.

Although their half-year of living in the human world had made them somewhat greedy and reluctant to return to the Ten Thousand Mountains, they hadn’t forgotten the Fairy’s instructions.

The Fairy of Biyou Mountain had tasked them with finding someone within the Immortal Alliance.

Back then, she had only given them a blurry portrait and a mysterious branch.

Relying on just these two clues to find someone in the Immortal Alliance was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

In fact, Zhu Zhong and the other three demons hadn’t held out much hope.

Fortunately, Biyou Mountain hadn’t left them completely in the dark.

Not long ago, they had received a message from Biyou Mountain instructing them to visit the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Initially, Zhu Zhong and the others had refused this request.

After all, while the Great Wilderness Pagoda might not be considered a dangerous place by most people in the Immortal Alliance, for Zhu Zhong and his companions, it was far too perilous.

This was the very place the Immortal Alliance used to imprison demons and heretical cultivators.

Although they hadn’t committed any wrongdoings in the Immortal Alliance, they instinctively felt a sense of fear toward the Great Wilderness Pagoda, worried that a single misstep might land them imprisoned there as well.

However, they couldn’t easily refuse the demands from Biyou Mountain.

After an internal struggle, Zhu Zhong and the other three demons ultimately decided to request leave from the boss of Ronghua Electronics Factory and take advantage of the Dao Academy competition to visit the Great Wilderness Pagoda.After all, under normal circumstances, given their current status within the Immortal Alliance, it would be difficult for them to obtain the qualification to enter the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

After entering this time, they initially found no clues regarding the figure in the mysterious portrait.

They thought that, like before, their efforts might yield nothing.

But just now, the White Jade Branch bestowed personally by the Fairy of Biyou Mountain, which had remained inactive since they acquired it, suddenly showed significant movement.

The branch emerged from Ying Yuan’s Storage Bag on its own and continuously emitted a soft white light.

Fortunately, the ongoing battle between Jiang Dongliu and the opponent from Xuanjia Dao Academy had captured most people’s attention.

Moreover, the White Jade Branch appeared no different from ordinary glow sticks used to enhance the atmosphere.

Otherwise, Ying Yuan and the other Yao might have been so tense they’d have jumped up immediately.

After appearing, the White Jade Branch continuously pulled them toward a certain direction.

However, as the competition was still in progress, they couldn’t move around freely.

This forced them to suppress the branch’s movements for the time being.

Although they couldn’t move, they still managed to find some clues from the direction indicated by the White Jade Branch.

It turned out the branch was trying to lead them toward the area where students from other Dao Academies were watching the matches.

In other words, the person they were looking for was likely in this area.

After the White Jade Branch showed movement, the four of them began searching the spectator area for someone matching the portrait.

And indeed, persistence paid off for the Yao.

After some searching, they actually found a target that matched the portrait.

It was Lu Chen, who had just arrived at the Lihuo Dao Academy spectator stands not long ago.

Although Lu Chen’s attire differed from the person in the portrait, his facial features were identical.

Combined with the White Jade Branch’s movements, Zhu Zhong and the others felt they had finally found their true target.

With their target identified, they no longer felt rushed and began to focus on watching the competition.

After all, their task was simply to deliver the White Jade Branch to Lu Chen.

Even if they mailed the branch to him like a delivery package, it would still fulfill the Fairy of Biyou Mountain’s mission.

How difficult could that be? Easy and effortless!

Just as the four Yao set aside their worries and began fully enjoying the exciting competition, Lu Chen, sitting in the spectator stands, seemed to sense something and glanced subtly in their direction.

To others, the four Yao’s disguises might be undetectable—they would simply appear as foreigners with Yao Race Bloodline.

But Lu Chen immediately recognized them as transformed demons.

However, these four Yao, like the Meow King from the Azure Cloud Sect in the game, were orthodox Spirit Beasts with clear spiritual foundations.

Thus, Lu Chen harbored no particular hostility toward them.

After all, given the Immortal Alliance’s development, transformed Demons were no longer unusual.

Not to mention, even within the Barren Wilderness Academy, many transformed demons were currently cultivating.

In this regard, the Immortal Alliance was quite open-minded.

The reason Lu Chen noticed them wasn’t primarily due to their demon identities.

Rather, it was a tremor from the depths of his Soul.

As if something was mysteriously drawing him in.This sensation was exactly the same as what he had experienced not long ago inside the Great Wilderness Pagoda.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen stood up directly.

“Little Lu, what are you planning to do?”

Mu Xiaoye looked at Lu Chen who had suddenly risen to his feet and asked curiously.

Lu Chen smiled and said: “Nothing much, just saw an acquaintance, so I’m going to say hello.”

“Oh.”

“Old Ying, do you feel something unusual?”

“Unusual? What’s unusual?”

Ying Yuan, who was currently captivated by the duel between Jiang Dongliu and Xuanjia Dao Academy in the arena, turned his head in confusion to look at Zhu Zhong.

The battle between Jiang Dongliu and Xuanjia Dao Academy had reached a critical moment.

How could he possibly spare attention for anything else?

But this very turn of his head actually made him notice something strange.

In the distance across the spectator stands, a hazy white mist had silently appeared.

Causing the figures in the distance to begin blurring.

Not only that, the white mist seemed capable of muffling the sounds from afar.

Even the divine battle aura from Jiang Dongliu and others in the arena was gradually becoming ethereal.

As if something had cut it off in the middle.

This sudden change immediately made Ying Yuan’s expression turn grave.

Because he suddenly realized that in just the time it took to turn his head and blink.

The originally bustling arena had instantly fallen silent.

The distant spectators had vanished, and Jiang Dongliu and the others in the arena had disappeared as well.

In the vast arena, only the four of them remained at this moment.

Something’s wrong, something’s happened!

Detecting the abnormality, Ying Yuan immediately prepared to stand up.

Zhu Zhong beside him did the same.

But just as they were about to rise, a pair of hands rested on their shoulders.

“Are you… looking for me?”

Hearing the calm voice coming from behind.

Zhu Zhong and Ying Yuan’s hearts suddenly skipped a beat.

Because although the owner of that voice had only spoken a simple sentence.

It had already brought them terrifying pressure.

Without needing to turn around, they could clearly sense the astonishing sword aura emanating from behind.

However, this sword aura lacked sharpness and showed no obvious killing intent.

Clearly indicating not much hostility.

But just like animals at the lower end of the food chain facing predators from the upper end.

Even if the predator meant no harm and was just standing quietly.

It could still bring tremendous pressure to the animals below in the food chain.

This was exactly the situation the four demons were facing now.

Though in the Ten Thousand Mountains, they were all reputable Demon Kings.

But before Lu Chen, they were as weak as children.

Facing such a life-and-death situation where their fates were in someone else’s hands.

The four demons didn’t dare make any rash moves at all.

Beads of sweat the size of peas began sliding down their foreheads along their cheeks.

In the vast arena, it was so quiet they could hear each other’s heartbeats.

Something’s wrong, extremely wrong.

Weren’t they originally watching the match between Clear River Dao Academy and Xuanjia Dao Academy?

How did everyone around them suddenly vanish?

Even the other spectators around had disappeared into thin air.

And their target, Lu Chen, had suddenly appeared right behind them.

This series of sudden changes put immense pressure on the four demons who weren’t particularly clever to begin with.

Making them even more afraid to act rashly.

If Lu Chen became unhappy and decided to cut them down right here.

Given the current situation in this arena…Then they truly had no one to turn to in heaven or earth.

Wait, Fairy, you never told us the person we’re looking for would be this powerful!

Lu Chen paid no attention to the four demons’ anxious and fearful inner thoughts at this moment.

Because right now, he was completely captivated by the glowing White Jade Branch before Zhu Zhong.

From this branch, Lu Chen sensed a familiar power.

It was as if this power shared the same origin as himself.

Almost as if guided by some unseen force, Lu Chen attempted to channel his Divine Sense into the White Jade Branch.

The next moment, the previously calm White Jade Branch suddenly erupted with a blinding white light.

The intensity of this power was so great that even Lu Chen’s unfurled Mountains and Seas Scroll began to grow unstable.

Within the white light, Lu Chen discovered a blurry scene appearing before him.

The content of the scene wasn’t particularly complex, though it appeared to be from a much older era.

The presentation was rather hazy, somewhat resembling a slideshow.

Yet as he watched the scene unfold, Lu Chen’s expression grew extremely serious.

Because what was being revealed was none other than the moment his Heretical Avatar entered the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms and completely transformed Pine Mountain.

Lu Chen witnessed with his own eyes how the Heretical Avatar in the scene planted a seed in the newly formed Pine Mountain.

This seed gradually grew over time, eventually becoming a towering tree.

The subsequent scenes became increasingly illusory.

It seemed a long period had passed in between, making everything appear vague.

When the images finally cleared again.

The location of New Pine Mountain had undergone earth-shaking changes.

New Pine Mountain now stood at the convergence point of a battle between two realms.

The surrounding area was littered with corpses of Ancient Fiends and Immortals.

Though most of the mountain had been shattered for some reason, New Pine Mountain itself had managed to survive.

The intermingled corpses of fallen Ancient Fiends and Immortals seemed to have created a profound impact on the surrounding world.

Driven by some purpose, the mysterious White Jade Tree within New Pine Mountain extended its roots deep into the earth.

Using its own power, it began purifying and suppressing the forbidden energies emanating from these Ancient Fiend and Immortal corpses.

However, relying on its strength alone was clearly insufficient.

Gradually, more people arrived to assist in suppressing the forbidden energies in this place.

Yet their efforts proved to be merely a drop in the bucket.

It wasn’t until a massive Celestial Palace appeared and descended deep into this ancient battlefield.

That the continuously spreading forbidden energies were finally contained.

Lu Chen couldn’t clearly make out the specific appearance of the Celestial Palace.

But he could still sense the terrifying power emanating from the enormous structure.

The scene he was watching ultimately froze at this moment before completely shattering.

“Hah…”

Lu Chen exhaled a turbid breath and reopened his eyes.

The four demons before him, including Zhu Zhong, didn’t dare to even breathe loudly.

Although it felt like a long time had passed for Lu Chen.

For Zhu Zhong and the other three demons, it had only been a few breaths.

They had no idea how excruciating those brief moments had been for them.

They had nearly dropped to their knees to beg Lu Chen for mercy.

After awakening, Lu Chen looked at the four demons.

Combining what he saw with his memories, he now understood why he had been drawn to the White Jade Branch in their possession.

Because this White Jade Branch was precisely the contingency plan he had left behind in the game.And this contingency was truly reflected in reality.

In other words, everything he experienced in the game had truly existed in history.

Moreover, the subsequent history was related to everything he had done back then.

But this inevitably raised a question.

It seemed as though he was changing history in the game.

Yet in reality, he was merely guiding history… back onto its proper course.

(End of Chapter)