290: The envoy from the upper realm was completely dumbfounded: Who the hell leaked the news?!

Complete silence fell over the entire scene.

It was a silence that could strangle one's Divine Soul.

The eternal, unceasing Gales of Heavenly Pillar Mountain eerily came to a halt at this moment.

Beneath the Immortal Ship, the movements of those old monsters—who had been kowtowing so hard the mountain rocks shattered, dreaming of Ascension—froze solid.

On the Immortal Ship, the expressions of those several arrogant Xuantian Immortal Sect envoys, who viewed the Lower Realm as a pigsty, turned to stone.

At the foot of the mountain.

The Great Sages and Quasi-Emperors kneeling on the ground all had their mouths agape.

In their murky old eyes, the fanatical flames that had burned almost to the point of self-immolation were doused as if by a basin of ice water from the deepest depths of the Nine Netherworlds.

The flames did not extinguish; instead, they solidified into ice sculptures, encapsulating bewilderment, shock, and utter disbelief.

[What... is the Empress saying?]

[The Upper Realm Immortals are here to trick us into becoming... Human Medicine?]

[How is that possible! This is the one-in-a-million-year Opportunity, the dawn of the reopened Immortal path!]

Their minds were thrown into complete disarray.

Each word of that "truth," which exploded in their ears like heavenly thunder, and the deeply ingrained "longing" in their hearts, began the bloodiest slaughter within their Divine Souls, nearly tearing them apart.

Zhao Wuji, the Emperor Realm powerhouse on the Immortal Ship who had been preparing to tally his "harvest" and savor the joy of a bountiful yield, was directly dumbstruck.

He stared fixedly at the golden edict that should have been easily shattered by him but still lingered in the Void Realm, radiating residual imperial authority.

The heart-piercing "exposé" echoed repeatedly in his ears.

Only one thought grew wildly in his Sea of Consciousness, instantly filling every corner.

[Holy shit?!]

[Who the fuck leaked the news?!]

The matter of refining the "myriad spirits blood pill" was a closely guarded secret of the Xuantian Immortal Sect for handling their "Lower Realm assets"!

For every "harvest," they used this "Ascension guidance" rhetoric, succeeding without fail!

For these ants trapped in a cage, nearing the end of their Lifespan, the two words "longevity" were the most irresistible curse in the world, enough to make them willingly jump into the Pill Furnace.

But this time... the script was wrong!

They had just arrived, had only recited half their opening lines, so how had someone stripped them bare in front of all the "Chives"?!

And stripped them so damn thoroughly at that!

Even the internal jargon like "Blood-Refining Furnace" and "Human Medicine," known only to the Sect's core members, had been spilled word for word!

How did this native Lower Realm Empress know about this?!

Could it be... there's a traitor among us?!

Zhao Wuji's mind raced, cold sweat almost bursting from his temples, yet he couldn't fathom the key to this puzzle no matter how hard he tried.

Brief shock was followed by endless shame and fury, shooting straight to the top of his head!

He, a dignified Upper Realm envoy, an Emperor Realm powerhouse, was actually being pointed at and called a "Demonic Cultivator" and a "fraud" by a native Lower Realm Empress?

Utter humiliation!

If this matter were to spread back to the Upper Realm, forget about joining the Xuantian Immortal Sect, his life and property would definitely be forfeit!

Thinking of the gloating faces of his colleagues, those guides just like him, the killing intent in his eyes could no longer be restrained!

"How dare you!"

Zhao Wuji let out a heaven-shaking roar.

He forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his heart, once again donning that hypocritical mask of compassionate benevolence, his acting flawless.

He snorted coldly, and the terrifying pressure belonging to an Emperor Realm powerhouse erupted like a volcano, soaring skyward and slamming fiercely into the lingering shadow of the Imperial Edict!

"Boom!"

With a deafening sound, the shadow of the edict was completely shattered, transforming into a sky full of golden light that dissipated into nothingness.

"What ignorant whelp dares to spread heresy and slander the Upper Sect here?!"

Zhao Wuji's voice was icy and bone-chilling, filled with murderous intent.

Looking down from his high position at the Cultivators below who were beginning to stir uneasily, his gaze sinister, he turned the tables and directly pinned an unbearable label on them.

"Hmph! Not wanting to ascend yourself, you seek to block the Immortal path of others. Such actions deserve death!"

"Do not listen to this kind of mad ravings!"

"This Empress is jealous of your Opportunity! She wants you all to be trapped and die with her in this cage!"

"Blocking someone's path to the Dao is like killing their parents! She intends to sever the lifeline of every one of you!"

Zhao Wuji's words exploded in the crowd like another heavy bomb!

The Cultivators on the scene instantly split into two distinct factions.

A portion of the Cultivators, those more meticulous in thought or who held some trust in the Great Xia Divine Dynasty's authority, began to quietly retreat, their faces showing deep suspicion.

Just as Ji Hongxue had said, pies don't fall from the sky.

This "Ascension" came too easily, too bizarrely. There must be a huge scam involved!

But the other portion, especially those old monsters whose Lifespan was nearly exhausted and who had gone completely mad, bristled like cats whose tails had been stepped on!

Their eyes were bloodshot, their reason long devoured by the fear of death and greed for longevity.

They were unwilling, and too afraid, to believe Ji Hongxue's words!

Because believing them would mean admitting their last hope was utterly shattered!

That was worse than killing them outright!

"Ji Hongxue! What the hell does a little brat like you know!"

"You're young, with endless Lifespan, sitting high on the Dragon Throne. Naturally, you can't understand the agony we feel every day in our coffins as life drains away!"

"This is jealousy! Pure, naked jealousy!"

A Quasi-Emperor Ancestor, his whole body exuding a decaying aura, pointed towards the direction of the Great Xia imperial capital and let out a beast-like roar, his voice filled with resentment and venom.

"That's right! She just can't stand to see us succeed! She wants all of us to be trapped in this wretched place with her, eventually turning into a handful of yellow earth!"

"Whoever dares block this old man's Ascension Immortal path, this old man will fight them to the death!"

A massive chaos, triggered by information asymmetry and human greed, erupted completely at the foot of Heavenly Pillar Mountain!