327: Chapter 328: A Reshuffling of the Landscape!

As soon as these words were spoken, the slight sense of relief from surviving the catastrophe that had just risen in everyone's hearts vanished instantly.

Indeed, there was still the Nine Nether Demon Emperor!

A peerless Great Devil Head even more terrifying and difficult to deal with than the Western Desert Demon Race!

Before one wave had settled, another was already rising.

The future of the Human Race remained a long road ahead, shrouded in darkness.

Just as the atmosphere in the hall became oppressive to the extreme, an Old Ancestor from a noble family with a fiery temper could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. He slammed the table and stood up.

"Yaochi Holy Land!"

He said through gritted teeth, "In this battle, every major force in Middle Heaven came out in full force, fighting bloody battles and suffering countless casualties!"

"Only Yaochi Holy Land, from beginning to end, didn't even send a ghost of a shadow! They maintained a posture of staying completely out of it!"

"In my view, they clearly wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, waiting for us and the Yao Race to fight to a mutual loss so they could step out and reap the rewards!"

"Killing with a borrowed knife, weakening the strength of our Sacred Lands so that Yaochi can become the sole dominant power! What a vicious scheme!"

These words instantly ignited the fury in the hearts of everyone present.

Indeed!

They were here risking their lives, while Yaochi Holy Land had the luxury of closing its doors and watching the show!

What kind of ally was that?

It was clear they were being treated as fools!

"Brother Wang, watch your words!"

Seeing this, Ancestor Hun quickly spoke up to stop him.

He glanced at the indignant crowd and reminded them in a heavy voice, "Things are different now."

"Currently, we are all severely depleted of Origin Qi, while Yaochi Holy Land's strength remains intact, without any loss."

"With our decline and their growth, Yaochi is already the undisputed number one power in our Middle Heaven."

"At a time like this, if these grievances reach their ears, it will only bring us trouble, or even... total annihilation!"

Ancestor Hun's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, causing everyone to cool down.

They only then realized that the status quo of Middle Heaven had changed.

The Yaochi Holy Land that once stood on equal footing with them had now become a colossus they needed to look up to, one they didn't even dare to offend.

Although that noble family's Old Ancestor was still indignant, he knew Ancestor Hun spoke the truth and could only sit back down resentfully.

The atmosphere inside the Great Hall fell back into a heavy silence.

Everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, beginning to worry about the future of their respective Sects.

Gu Changsheng saw all of this, and a faint, imperceptible curve formed at the corner of his mouth.

Very good.

The seeds of suspicion had been sown.

Next, he only needed to add a little more fuel to the fire to throw the entire Middle Heaven into complete chaos.

...

After the war, the major forces had no heart to linger. After briefly cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the remains of their fellow Disciples, they each led their defeated remnants back to their own mountain gates, sealing them off to recuperate.

The entire Middle Heaven fell into an eerie state of calm.

Although this racial war that swept through all of Middle Heaven had ended, its impact was profound and heavy.

The land of Middle Heaven, once prosperous with ten thousand Sects standing tall, was now riddled with scars, and most homes were empty.

The landscape of the major Sacred Lands had undergone earth-shattering changes.

The first to bear the brunt was the Qingxiao Holy Mountain.

This top-tier Sect, which had inherited Legacy for hundreds of thousands of years and had always sat firmly on the throne of Middle Heaven's number one Sacred Land, could be said to have suffered the most disastrous losses in this catastrophe.

The previous generation's mountain-guarding Old Ancestor, Old Daoist Cangxuan, had his Divine Soul obliterated by the Nine Nether Demon Emperor in the Ghost Abyss.

The current Sect Leader, Daoist Venerable Qingxu, had also "perished together" with the Golden Lion Demon Ancestor in the final battle against the Yao Race.

In just a few short months, two pillars of the Return to One Realm within the Sect had fallen one after another.

The Elders and Disciples under them had suffered nearly fifty percent casualties in the successive battles.

While the current Qingxiao Holy Mountain still had some foundation left, the loss of its high-level combat power...

...had caused it to fall directly from a top-tier Sacred Land that looked down upon the world to a first-rate School that struggled even to protect itself.

Equally miserable were the Qingming Alchemy Mansion and Wanfu Immortal Valley.

Elder Xuanyao had died and his Dao dissipated, and Ancestor Fu's remains were nowhere to be found. These two Sacred Lands, famous for their Alchemy Dao and Talisman Dao, lost their Return to One Realm pillars and likewise fell from their pedestals, no longer possessing their former glory.

It could be said that this great war had completely crippled these long-standing Sacred Lands of Middle Heaven.

They no longer had the ability to influence the world's situation as they once did; they didn't even have the qualifications to threaten the Yaochi Holy Land anymore.

With their decline and the growth of the other, Yaochi Holy Land—which hadn't contributed a single bit of effort from start to finish and had its strength perfectly preserved—

—naturally became the sole and strongest overlord of the current Middle Heaven.

A colossus that could truly cover the sky with one hand and command the world had quietly risen.

...

On the border of the Great Qian Empire, at that former battlefield.

Although the great war had ended several days ago, the thick scent of blood in the air had not dissipated for a long time.

Countless Cultivators were numbly cleaning the battlefield and collecting the remains of their companions.

Every person's face was filled with sorrow and aimlessness.

They had won, but they couldn't feel the slightest bit of joy.

Gu Changsheng floated quietly in mid-air, looking down expressionlessly at the scene below, which resembled a living hell.

In his eyes, there was not a hint of pity or reluctance.

All of this was something he had orchestrated himself.

In his eyes, these were merely chess pieces about to exit the stage.

In fact, in his view, the more of these people who died, the better.

Only when they were all dead could the Spiritual Qi of this world return.

Only when they were all dead could his path to the Immortal Realm truly be paved.

Looking at the sorrowful and numb faces below, Gu Changsheng's heart felt no ripples.

He just felt it was somewhat boring.

This game of chess, having reached this point, seemed to no longer hold any challenge.

He slowly turned around and, with a flash of his body, disappeared from the spot as if he had never appeared.

...