382: Chapter 382: The Hidden Land of Shangqing

The blood-colored tribulation clouds churning in the sky suddenly froze; the menacingly rotating portal of the Yao Saint halted abruptly; the Yao Immortal projections burning their Origin stood frozen like statues; even the Human Race and Yao Race locked in a desperate struggle on the Demon Burial Plain stopped all actions at this very moment—

All light, shadow, sound waves, and power in the world had their souls extracted by this single hum. Only a deathly, trembling silence remained between heaven and earth, as if an ancient existence that had slumbered for countless epochs had finally turned over in its sleep, kicking up the dust of ages.

Immediately following—a sudden, drastic change!

The Demon Burial Plain, already riddled with holes and cracked like a spiderweb, did not continue to crumble as everyone expected. Instead, a faint light slowly seeped out from every inch of the red-black soil and every bottomless crack.

This was not the eerie, dark red evil light of the blood sacrifice formation, nor the brilliant spell-light of Cultivators' Divine Abilities, but a light of ultimate purity and ultimate antiquity—

It encompassed all the colors of the world when it first opened; red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet blended and intertwined, eventually returning to the limpid clarity of the Chaos Origin.

This was the Primordial Beginning Qi light, before which even the Daos of the heavens had to bow their heads!

This radiance did not shoot out from the cracks; rather, the entire land of the Demon Burial Plain itself transformed into a piece of amber as transparent as glaze.

Beneath the earth, galaxies seemed to surge and Chaos to churn. A boundless, unimaginable energy of Origin was awakening from its ancient slumber, flowing wantonly between heaven and earth, resonating from afar with the Dao Laws above the Nine Heavens!

The dark red formation patterns of the Great Blood Sacrifice Array, which had once covered the sky and obscured the sun, instantly emitted a shrill, miserable wail under the washing of this ubiquitous, irresistible Primordial Beginning Qi light—

This sound was like ice and snow meeting a scorching sun, like stubborn stone encountering thunder, and even more like evil spirits touching the Heavenly Dao. Without the slightest power to resist, it dissolved and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving not even a trace of its aftermath in this brilliance!

This was not a balanced confrontation of power, but a naked, crushing dimensional reduction!

What the Great Blood Sacrifice Array had invoked was merely the Yao evil resentment and dead Spiritual Qi accumulated on the surface of the Demon Burial Plain over ten million years, but what this Primordial Beginning Qi light awakened was the imprint of the Heavenly Dao membranes that had been deeply branded into and sealed within this land since before it became the Demon Burial Plain!

This was a Heavenly Dao Origin more ancient than the Yao Race Origin or the Human Race Dao foundation—it was the initial imprint carved into this land when the Dao was first born!

"This... what kind of power is this?!"

The red-robed elder of the Lihuo Divine Palace stood stiffly, having long forgotten to continue attacking, and forgotten the fear in his heart.

His turbid eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at the glowing earth beneath his feet, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

He could clearly sense that aura—this was a supreme Dao charm that originated from the source of the Dao, one that caused all Cultivators to feel awe, even though there were only vague records of it in the oldest Jade Slip classics of his Sect!

"Not good! Retreat quickly!"

The ten Yao Immortal projections let out shrill, terrified screams simultaneously. The arrogance and indifference in their voices vanished, leaving only bone-deep fear.

The Yao Saint passage, which they had barely maintained by burning their Origin, trembled violently under the washing of the Primordial Beginning Qi light. The formation patterns cracked inch by inch, and spatial turbulence surged and raged, becoming extremely unstable.

That giant claw of the Yao Saint, which had already reached out halfway and was covered in cold cyan scales, emitted a painful roar in the radiance—

The scales, hard as ancient divine iron, cracked layer by layer, and the destructive lightning wrapping around them instantly annihilated. Even this terrifying Yao Saint aura was forcibly pushed back by this great power, and the giant claw retreated in a panic behind the black portal, never daring to show itself again!

But what shocked them was far more than this.

"This Dao charm... Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could it appear in this mundane land?!"

An aged Yao Race voice exploded again, but it had lost all its previous coldness, leaving only unbelievable panic and trembling:

"It is the light of 'Yuyu'! This is... the guiding beacon of the Shangqing Yuyu Heaven!"

"Shangqing Secret Realm?!"

These four words, like a thunderclap from the Nine Heavens, exploded in the hearts of all the top Cultivators who had heard of the related legends!

Shangqing Yuyu Heaven—this was a supreme Dao realm that existed only in ancient legends. It appeared and disappeared with the Dao, and would not manifest except during a measureless kalpa. It contained the glimmer of life that cuts through the heavens and evolved the profound mysteries of all things in the Dao.

It was the Holy Land of enlightenment that all Cultivators dreamed of, and even more so, a misty legend that one had only heard of but never seen!

Before everyone could recover from the shock, the Primordial Beginning Qi light permeating from the depths of the Demon Burial Plain suddenly surged ten million times, turning into a chaotic curtain of light that covered the sky. With the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons as the core, it rotated and converged rhythmically with a profoundly mysterious rhythm!

This light looked gentle, but it carried an irresistible power of heaven and earth—

Whether it was the blood sacrifice formation base of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, the broken walls and ruins of the entire Yuyao Pass, or the Human and Yao Race Cultivators who were confronting and killing each other, the reinforcements from various Sects in the Northern Region, or even those ten Yao Immortal projections, and that crumbling Yao Saint portal...

Everything between heaven and earth was gently wrapped and shrouded by this layer of Primordial Beginning Qi light, without a single omission!

Space lost its meaning at this moment. Above, below, in all four directions, in the vast wilderness—all were shrouded by the light curtain, reaching everywhere.

Time seemed to have frozen as well. The breathing, heartbeat, and Divine Soul of all living beings seemed to have been pressed on a pause button, and even their thinking became slow and sluggish.

Under the gaze of everyone—whether bewildered, horrified, ecstatic, or desperate—the cracked earth beneath their feet, the churning blood-colored sky above their heads, the tragic scenes of slaughter around them... all faded away like an ink painting wiped by clear water, eventually returning to nothingness.

Replacing it was a brand-new world that could not be accurately described in words, only looked up to with the Divine Soul.

The sky was of a height and infinity never seen before. It was not the usual azure, but a pure, cyan-green of ultimate purity.

Above the sky, Grandmist purple Qi lingered and flowed. The phantoms of the sun, moon, and stars hung in the Nine Heavens simultaneously—

The sun shone with golden light, the moon cast clear brilliance, and the stars condensed their radiance. The three were originally mutually restraining, but at this moment, they coexisted harmoniously, casting a faint glow interwoven with the flow of time and the vitality of creation.

Bathing in it, one felt their Divine Soul clear and their Dao Heart limpid. Even the obstacles on the path of cultivation were quietly dissipating.

The earth was of a thickness and boundlessness never felt before. The soil beneath one's feet was the original color of Chaos, warm to the touch, and naturally pregnant with wisps of Innate Dao charm.

With a casual grasp, Primordial Beginning Qi flowed and intertwined in the palm. Above the earth, divine springs gushed out, mist swirled at the spring eyes, Spiritual Plants covered the ground, and strange flowers swayed, each carrying rich Innate spiritual charm, far superior to the treasures of the world.

Looking into the distance, the rolling mountains outlined a majestic silhouette, and the direction of the mountains and the scattering of the peaks actually faintly formed profoundly mysterious Dao formation patterns.

Just by taking a glance, one felt their Divine Soul tremble and their Dao Heart resonate, as if countless Dao sounds were whispering in their ears—the many shackles on the path of cultivation were quietly loosening invisibly.

What permeated the air was no longer the ordinary Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of the current Taichu Continent, but the more pure Taiqing Qi that was closer to the Origin of the Dao.

Without needing to deliberately operate a Cultivation Technique, just by gently inhaling and exhaling, this aura would flow into the limbs and bones, Dantian, and Sea of Consciousness on its own, cleansing the clogged Meridians and nourishing the silent Divine Soul.

Even powerhouses at the Divine Tribulation stage could clearly feel the loosening of their cultivation shackles; their comprehension of the Dao was clearer and more thorough than a hundred years of bitter cultivation in seclusion.

But at the same time, an invisible pressure, heavy as an ancient divine mountain and vast as a starry ocean, quietly descended upon the heart of every living being.

This pressure did not come from any powerhouse, but from the world itself, from the eternal Dao rules it represented behind it—

This was the scrutiny of heaven and earth, the suppression of the Laws, silently reminding every intruder that this place was not mundane, but a supreme Dao realm that would not tolerate the slightest presumptuousness or blasphemy.

The Demon Burial Plain had disappeared.

The Yuyao Pass had disappeared.

This land, soaked in countless blood and resentment, had long been wiped of all traces by the great power of heaven and earth.

Where they were now was clearly a lost Shangqing Secret Realm that existed independently outside the current Taichu Continent, forming its own world, with different Laws, yet closely connected to the mysterious Daos of the heavens!

"Shangqing Yuyu Heaven... It really is the Shangqing Secret Realm! It is the legendary Shangqing Secret Realm!"

The Sect Master of the Tianyan Sect stumbled, his voice trembling uncontrollably, his eyes interwoven with extreme fear and ecstasy, even his graying beard trembling violently:

"The supreme Dao realm that legends say appears and disappears with the Dao, only manifests during a measureless kalpa, contains the glimmer of life that cuts through the heavens, and evolves the profound mysteries of all things! We... we were actually entirely brought into this world by this heaven and earth!"

What an Opportunity this was!

What a stroke of fortune!

Entering this Secret Realm, even if only to comprehend for a short time, would be enough to save a thousand years of detours on the path of cultivation, and there was even hope of breaking through the shackles to touch that legendary Earth Immortal realm!

"Hahaha! Heaven does not cut off my Yao Race! No—this is the Dao favoring my Yao Race!"

A Yao Immortal projection recovered from the initial extreme shock and suddenly erupted into a wild, joyous roar that shook heaven and earth. The fear in its voice vanished, leaving only greed and fanaticism:

"The Primordial Beginning Qi here is so rich, and the Dao Laws are so clearly manifested—if we can occupy a place here and Cultivate with peace of mind, comprehending the Dao, why worry about our Yao Race not flourishing! Why rely on that dangerous blood sacrifice passage, why fight to the death with humans!"

One sentence awakened the dreamer!

The Yao Race side instantly broke free from the depression and rage of the passage being destroyed and the Yao Saint not arriving. The eyes of all Yao Race Cultivators burned with the flames of greed, and their fanatical gazes frantically scanned this brand-new world full of infinite possibilities.

The three great Yao Venerables quickly gathered the remnants, warily glancing at the Human Race direction, but had already placed most of their attention on exploring the Secret Realm and occupying the Spiritual Vein treasures—compared to killing, the Opportunity of this Secret Realm was the true priceless treasure!

On the Human Race side, after the brief shock and ecstasy, what flooded their hearts was extreme solemnity and determination.

Half-step Earth Immortal Jiang Wuya forcibly suppressed the surging blood and injuries in his body, took a step forward, and the golden light around his body condensed again. Although it was not as scorching as before, it carried an unquestionable majesty.

His voice was like a great bell, penetrating through layers of Primordial Beginning Qi, spreading to all corners of the Secret Realm:

"Fellow Daoists! The arrival of the Shangqing Secret Realm is an unprecedented change in the ages, and it is also a great Opportunity for our Human Race to comprehend the Dao!"