98: Chapter 98 The False Upper Realm

Following the aura within the rift, Shen Qingyuan traversed the Void Realm all the way, pursuing it until he reached a new space.

There was no expected dense Spiritual Qi, no swirling Immortal Qi, and no magnificent jade palaces.

What met his eyes was a gray, hazy sky, as if covered by a layer of heavy leaden clouds, through which not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate.

The earth was cracked and barren, with not a blade of grass growing, and the air was filled with an aura of decay and decline.

In the distance, a few mountain Peaks stood alone, their bodies covered in cracks, as if they could collapse at any moment.

Further away was a dead, silent ocean; the surface was pitch black like ink, without waves or life, like a stagnant pool of water.

"Is this the Upper Realm?" Shen Qingyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

In his mind, the Upper Realm should have been a higher-level existence than the Cangxuan Great World, with richer Spiritual Qi, more abundant Opportunities, and more powerful experts.

Yet the scene before him—let alone comparing it to the Cangxuan Great World—could not even compare to those barren lands in the Southern Region!

"Interesting." Shen Qingyuan's lips curled slightly, his hands tucked into his sleeves, as he walked through the air, his gaze sweeping over this broken world.

He could clearly feel that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in this world was extremely thin, not even one percent of that in the Cangxuan Great World.

Moreover, the Heavenly Dao Laws of this world were severely incomplete, even more so than in the Cangxuan Great World.

"No wonder that so-called Emperor was plundering the Origin of the Cangxuan Great World." Shen Qingyuan muttered to himself, the answer already clear in his mind.

This was not an Upper Realm at all; it was just a broken Small World.

And that Emperor was nothing more than a parasite, relying on devouring the Spiritual Qi and Origin of the Cangxuan Great World to barely survive.

"How could this be! The Upper Realm? How could this possibly be the Upper Realm!" Just then, a distraught voice came from behind him.

Shen Qingyuan turned his head to look and saw that the Sect Master's remnant soul had followed him at some point, hovering not far away, his face as pale as paper, his whole body trembling.

He widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the gray, hazy sky, the cracked earth, and the dead, silent ocean before him, his entire body trembling.

"Impossible... This is impossible..." His voice was hoarse, filled with uncontrollable trembling.

"The Upper Realm... How could the Upper Realm look like this?!"

He had cultivated for thirteen thousand years, from an obscure little Cultivator, step by step, to the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm, becoming the most top-tier existence in this world.

He had seen countless Secret Realms, visited countless ruins, and read countless ancient texts.

Every ancient text, every legend, and every record in the Secret Realms had been telling him—the Upper Realm is a world of a higher level.

There, the Spiritual Qi is dense, Immortal Qi swirls, experts are as numerous as clouds, and Opportunities are everywhere.

There exist beings above the Emperor Realm, the secrets to immortality, and the Opportunity to transcend Reincarnation.

The reason he defected to the Emperor and was willing to serve him was precisely so that one day he could achieve Ascension to the Upper Realm, break through the shackles of the Emperor Realm, and step into a higher Realm.

But now—what did he see? A dead silence! A desolation! A ruin!

"No... This is not the Upper Realm... This is definitely not the Upper Realm..." The Sect Master muttered to himself, his eyes filled with madness.

He suddenly turned his head, staring fixedly at Shen Qingyuan, and roared hoarsely: "It's you! You cast an illusion on me! Right? This isn't the Upper Realm at all! You lied to me! You are lying to me!"

Shen Qingyuan, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, floated lazily in mid-air, looking down at his hysterical appearance, his lips curling slightly in a mocking arc.

"An illusion?" He chuckled, his tone light and casual. "You are a Cultivator at the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm who has lived for over ten thousand years; can you not tell whether or not an illusion has been used?"

The Sect Master's body stiffened. Of course, he could tell. This was not an illusion.

This broken world was real. That aura of decay and decline, that Spiritual Qi so thin it was almost non-existent, those severely incomplete Heavenly Dao Laws—everything was real.

"How could this be... How could this be..." The Sect Master's voice grew smaller and weaker, eventually becoming almost a whisper.

He hovered in mid-air, his figure swaying, his eyes filled with confusion and despair.

Thirteen thousand years. He had cultivated for thirteen thousand years. To become an Emperor, he had abandoned his dignity, abandoned his freedom, and was willing to be a dog for the Emperor.

He killed for the Emperor, schemed for the Emperor, and plundered the Origin of the Cangxuan Great World for the Emperor.

He thought that as long as the Emperor fulfilled his promise, he could achieve Ascension to the Upper Realm, break through to the Emperor Realm, and become the number one person through the ages.

But now—he realized he had been deceived. Deceived for thirteen thousand years!

"Hehehe..." The Sect Master suddenly laughed. His laughter was desolate and frantic.

"Thirteen thousand years... Thirteen thousand years..." He looked up at the gray, hazy sky, his eyes filled with bitterness.

"I abandoned everything just for a broken place like this? A broken place that isn't even as good as the Southern Region?!"

His voice grew louder, eventually becoming a roar. "I, a dignified expert at the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm, having cultivated for thirteen thousand years, in the end, only got such a result?!"

"Hahaha..." The Sect Master's laughter echoed through this gray, silent world like the mournful cry of a night owl.

He hovered in mid-air, his figure fluctuating violently, and on the surface of his already illusory remnant soul, pitch-black patterns appeared.

Those patterns spread like spider webs; wherever they passed, his soul body began to crack, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of decay.

A Heart Demon! A powerhouse at the Quasi-Emperor Realm who had cultivated for thirteen thousand years had a Heart-Nature that was already as firm as a rock and would not be easily shaken. But at this moment, the Sect Master's Dao Heart completely collapsed.

Everything he sought in his life was simply to become an Emperor. For this goal, he could abandon everything, betray everything, and destroy everything.

But now, he realized that the thing he had pursued for thirteen thousand years was nothing more than a lie. A lie meticulously woven and sustained for ten thousand years.

"I am not reconciled... I am not reconciled!" The Sect Master roared at the sky, his voice filled with despair and unwillingness.

His remnant soul trembled violently, and those pitch-black patterns became more numerous and dense, covering his entire body in the blink of an eye.

"Crack, crack, crack—" The sound of shattering was like ice breaking, clearly audible.

The Sect Master's remnant soul began to shatter piece by piece, like exquisite porcelain falling from a height, turning into countless fragments and drifting in the air.

In every fragment, his life's memories were reflected—in his youth, he cultivated bitterly in the deep mountains and old forests, day after day, year after year.

As a young man, he walked out of the mountains, ventured into the world, fought with others, and struggled against fate.

In his prime, he showed his sharp edge, killed powerful enemies, became famous in one region, and was infinitely glorious.

In his middle age, he went into seclusion to cultivate bitterly, striving for a higher Realm, but he was repeatedly frustrated and depressed.

Later, he met the Emperor. That mysterious existence who claimed to come from the Upper Realm gave him hope, gave him promises, and gave him a "heaven-ascending path."

From then on, he changed. He no longer fought others uprightly; instead, he began to plot in the shadows, kill in the shadows, and plunder in the shadows.

He did countless unspeakable things for the Emperor, and his hands were stained with the blood of the innocent.

He thought that as long as the Emperor fulfilled his promise, all of this was worth it. But now—

The fragments shattered one by one, turning into specks of faint light and dissipating. The Sect Master's consciousness became increasingly blurred and weak.

He wanted to grab onto something, but he could not grab anything.

"If I had known it would come to this... why did I do it in the first place..." His voice grew weaker and smaller, eventually becoming almost a whisper.

"If I... had not met the Emperor... perhaps... I would not have ended up in this state..."

Before he could finish his words— "Bang!" His remnant soul completely exploded, turning into faint light filling the sky, dissipating in this gray, hazy sky.

The powerhouse at the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm, the Sect Master, had completely fallen. Not even a trace of his remnant soul remained.

Shen Qingyuan, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, floated lazily in mid-air, watching those specks of faint light gradually dissipate, his eyes without a ripple.

"The Heart Demon devours the soul; the body dies and the Dao dissipates. Pitiable, sorrowful, and lamentable."

Shen Qingyuan withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at the dissipating faint light. He turned his head and looked toward the depths of this world. That was the location of the Emperor!