404: Chapter 404 Collapse of Order

[Just then,]

[Heaven and earth changed.]

[You clearly felt that the familiar, gentle Spiritual Qi in the air was changing color bit by bit.]

[At first, it was just a faint wisp of gray, like an accidental ink stain on a sheet of white paper.]

[But in the blink of an eye, that gray spread as if alive, dyeing large swaths of Spiritual Qi into a dark purple-black.]

[Devilish Qi.]

[Above the firmament, that clear sea of spiritual light and clouds was turning gray and dim at a speed visible to the naked eye, like white paper splashed with thick ink that could never be washed clean again.]

[In a backyard somewhere in the city, the leaf edges of a Jade-Heart Orchid, nurtured for hundreds of years, suddenly curled and scorched. A wisp of Devilish Qi burrowed into its roots, instantly draining its emerald vitality and leaving only a handful of black ash.]

[Outside the city, in a spiritual plant garden stretching for a hundred miles, patches of Profound Frost Grass, Jade Marrow Ginseng, and Purple Gold Ganoderma—rare spiritual plants that take decades or centuries to grow—were withering away in mass.]

[At the same time, the earth was cracking.]

[The fertile soil that once soaked in spiritual rhythm and nourished all things was desertifying and turning gray at a visible rate.]

[For those Mortals without any cultivation, this spreading Devilish Qi was a poison more lethal than any plague.]

[In the streets and alleys, an old woman collapsed while coughing violently; what flowed from her nose and mouth wasn't blood, but a gray-black mist.]

[A woman holding a child stood outside for only a moment longer before the infant in her arms stopped breathing, a cry still frozen on its tender face.]

[Those Cultivators who were in seclusion, meditating, or circulating their techniques suffered even greater disasters.]

[A single breath of Spiritual Qi, before even completing half a cycle through their Meridians, turned into a violent devilish current. Like venom mixed into clear water, it frantically collided with and eroded the Foundation they had painstakingly cultivated for years.]

[People suffering from Qi Deviation let out shrill howls in their Immortal Caves, bleeding from their seven orifices. Some exploded on the spot, while others had their Meridians completely shattered, collapsing on the ground with only their dying breaths left.]

[The entire continent of the Liu Clan Territory was evolving toward the environment of a Devil Realm in an irreversible manner.]

[Tianshu City also fell into complete panic.]

["Devilish Qi! It's Devilish Qi!"]

["The Spiritual Qi is disappearing! Quick, get to the Teleportation Array!"]

["Take me with you! Take me with you—!"]

[Countless Cultivators swarmed out from their seclusion spots, shops, and pavilions, merging into terrified streams of people frantically surging toward the Teleportation Array in the center of the city.]

[People crowded and trampled over one another.]

[A Foundation Establishment Cultivator took to the air on a flying sword, only to be knocked down by several crazed streaks of light from behind. He fell into the crowd and was instantly trampled by countless feet, letting out a subhuman shriek.]

[A mother held her child tightly as she was pushed to the ground in the torrent, her shrill cries drowned out by the massive, chaotic roar that sounded like the end of the world.]

[However—]

[Those grand formations that relied on Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, those Restrictions that were usually radiant and indestructible, grew dim and failed one by one under the erosion of Devilish Qi.]

[In the teleportation plaza, the core patterns of that massive Inter-stellar Teleportation Array were turning gray and peeling off at a visible rate, becoming non-functional.]

[Formation Masters tried to save it while drenched in sweat, but they could only watch helplessly as the formation lines shattered inch by inch, letting out desperate roars.]

[No one could leave.]

[Everyone was trapped.]

[It felt like being trapped in a dead end, like lambs to the slaughter, facing an unknown fear.]

[Order completely collapsed the moment this realization set in.]

[The first scream came from the Spiritual Material Street next to the Teleportation Hall.]

[Someone took advantage of the chaos to smash through a merchant guild's Restriction, their eyes red as they looted Medicinal Pills, Spirit Stones, and Magical Artifacts.]

[Then came a second location, a third...]

[Burning, killing, and looting spread like a plague through this immortal city that once had strict rules and ironclad laws.]

[Flames soared into the sky.]

[Wails of grief filled the land.]

[Your Divine Sense swept over this apocalyptic scene. Your heart was slightly moved, and a hint of regret and relief emerged.]

[The regret was that there were so many Mortals in the Liu Clan Territory, and they were all innocent.]

[But you had clearly seen Mortals in the Devil Realm as well; why were the Mortals there fine?]

[The relief was that this was just a simulation.]

[You took a deep breath, suppressing the unease and guilt in your heart.]

[Just then—]

[In the sky, near the suspended Tianshu Pavilion, the Void Realm was torn open like a piece of white cloth, and a figure stepped out from within.]

[He was the Void Refining Cultivator guarding the Tianshu Pavilion—Liu Suifeng.]

[As soon as he appeared, his Divine Sense swept over the rapidly demonizing land below, and his pupils shrank violently.]

["This is... a chaos demon seed eroding the world's core Origin?"]

[His voice carried an unbelievable hoarseness.]

["How is this possible... how can this be..."]

[He stared blankly at the leyline patterns glowing with dark purple light and murmured, "Why would the Devil Realm do this?"]

["Wasting an extremely precious chaos demon seed just to... corrode my Liu Clan Territory?"]

[He couldn't figure it out no matter how he tried.]

[Although the Liu Clan was strong, it was far from being one of the five top-tier powers; its location was not adjacent to the Devil Realm, unlike Yongye Star which was on the front lines.]

[What did the Devil Realm hope to gain by paying such a high price?]

[Even if they really corroded this continent, it would become an irreversible dead land.]

[The Immortal Realm would surely destroy it completely. What benefit could the Devil Realm possibly get?]

[How could he know that you never intended to get any benefits from here?]

[You only cared about one thing—]

[Releasing the tianshu giant eye and allowing the Torch Dragon to achieve Body Integration.]

[And to accomplish this, the entire Liu Clan Territory had to be thrown into chaos.]

[The more chaos, the better.]

[Furthermore—you needed to find a way to annihilate the Liu Clan; this was one of your trial-and-error methods.]

[Moreover, the Liu Clan treated the Tianhuang Secret Realm as a cage, keeping countless living beings as livestock. Every thousand years, they triggered a Yao Beast Catastrophe to harvest lives and refine pseudo-artifact spirits.]

[How many people had died in despair?]

[How many families had been torn apart under the sharp teeth and claws of Yao Beasts?]

[You also wanted them—these high and mighty Liu Clan members, these pampered immortal families—to personally taste what it felt like when the world fell and order collapsed.]

[This method was certainly merciless.]

[But to break through that Void Refining barrier, for the Torch Dragon's Body Integration, and to gain enough power to confront the Liu Clan head-on... you couldn't care about so much this time.]

[Even you didn't expect the Devilish Qi to seep out much faster, more violently, and more ruthlessly than you had anticipated.]

[This apocalyptic scene made Liu Suifeng's expression increasingly grim.]

[He looked down at the rotting and collapsing city beneath his feet, his mouth opening, but for a moment, he didn't know what to do.]

["Roar—!"]

[A roar caused his mind to tremble.]

[He suddenly turned his head to look at the Tianshu Pavilion.]

[At this moment, the layers of sealing inscriptions on the pavilion's surface, as precise and complex as a star map, were darkening one by one.]

[Every time an inscription went dark, the Tianshu Pavilion emitted a dull vibration—]

["Roar—!"]

[That sound carried endless fury, making the entire firmament tremble.]

[Liu Suifeng's face turned pale.]