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Lu Ye had never considered what a Hidden Realm truly was.
As far as the cultivators of Jiu Zhou were concerned, a Hidden Realm was a special space independent from Jiu Zhou. It could be a historical site that had been around for a long time or the remains a powerful cultivator had left behind. Moreover, Hidden Realms existed on both Spirit Creek Battlefield and Cloud River Battlefield. There were also a lot of Hidden Realms in Jiu Zhou.
Even Spirit Creek Battlefield and Cloud River Battlefield were Hidden Realms themselves. Nonetheless, compared to a Hidden Realm in the traditional sense, the two battlefields were undoubtedly much larger.
Every Hidden Realm had its rules. Although there was a lot of danger, one might come across many opportunities as well.
Lu Ye had not been to many Hidden Realms. Strictly speaking, he had only visited two Hidden Realms before. One was the Lost City of Xianyuan, and the other was Myriad Beast Domain.
The Lost City of Xianyuan was shrouded in mystery, so Lu Ye was unable to see through it. As he recalled his experiences in Myriad Beast Domain, he said, “I’ve been to a Hidden Realm, which is said to be a world destroyed long ago. However, the Heavens have reconstructed it using immense power. Inside the Hidden Realm, everything the cultivators experience is what happened to that world in the past. They either follow the course of history and take part in the major events of that world or come up with ways to alter history. By doing so, they can get some training and obtain benefits granted by the Heavens.”
There were many Hidden Realms of this kind on Cloud River Battlefield. Xia Qianqian had told Lu Ye about it when they were in Myriad Beast Domain.
That was the reason different factions flourished in the cultivation world of Jiu Zhou. Many smaller factions came from various Hidden Realms.
For example, Lu Ye had taken a Secret Technique out of Myriad Beast Domain that was a game changer for the Beastmasters. Perhaps a long time ago, there were no Beastmasters and Golem Masters in Jiu Zhou. Some cultivators had entered the Hidden Realms where the two factions existed, and they went on to spread them across Jiu Zhou.
Ji Yuan asked, “What kind of a Hidden Realm do you think the Lost City of Xianyuan is?”
After pondering for a moment, Lu Ye replied, “The city does not feel like a Hidden Realm of this sort.”
“It is not.” Ji Yuan nodded slightly. “The Hidden Realms you’re talking about do not belong to Jiu Zhou; they’ve been turned into Hidden Realms that cultivators from Jiu Zhou can enter for some reason.”
As for what the reason was, Ji Yuan did not say. However, Lu Ye speculated that only the mysterious Heavens could pull off such a feat.
“The Lost City of Xianyuan… used to be a city in Jiu Zhou.”
It was a city that used to stand on the pinnacle of Jiu Zhou thousands of years ago. It was even more powerful than the current Tier-One Sects.
“How did this city end up like this? There are the insectoids which come to attack the city from time to time. Senior Butcher told me that the war has been ongoing for thousands of years.”
“Yes, it’s been thousands of years!” Ji Yuan seemed to be walking down memory lane. “It’s the choice of the city as well as of all the cultivators living here. It’s because of this choice that we’ve been co-existing with the city for thousands of years. As for how it ended up like this… You can regard the city as a wedge to plug the loophole.”
Lu Ye did not understand what Ji Yuan was talking about when the latter mentioned a wedge and a loophole. Despite his bewilderment, he had a feeling that the Lost City of Xianyuan was important. If the wedge did not exist, the loophole would appear and cause dreadful consequences.
“You’re still too weak to see the truth. When you become powerful enough one day, you’ll see the world in a different light. There’s one thing you have to keep in mind. Jiu Zhou is different from what you think. When you’re mighty enough in the future, you’ll understand what the world truly is.”
If Lu Ye were any other Cloud River Realm Master from Jiu Zhou, Ji Yuan would not have told him all of this. Nonetheless, since it was confirmed that Lu Ye was the chosen one, it was fine to let him in on more information. After all, he would get to know more of these matters in the future, so it was not a bad idea to let him get prepared mentally in advance.
“All in all, the Lost City of Xianyuan is important. Therefore, all the cultivators living here chose to discard their bodies and turned themselves into apparitions. We also left behind our Soul Imprints in the Pool of Divine Purification. As long as the pool is still around, even if our apparitions are destroyed, we’ll always come back to life.”
That was the reason Lu Ye could see Butcher and the others again. He initially thought that the entire squad had been eliminated, but in truth, it did not take long before they climbed out of the pool.
Nonetheless, the death of the cultivators would inevitably consume the power of the pool. Therefore, after thousands of years, the heritage of the pool had become much weaker. That was why Ji Yuan said time was running out.
With an inscrutable expression, Lu Ye said slowly, “It must have been tough for all of you in the past thousands of years.”
Ji Yuan looked at him in shock. An average person would have been envious when they learned of the characteristic of the cultivators in this city. Due to the Pool of Divine Purification, the cultivators in this city were imperishable, which was something cultivators of the outside world coveted. Certainly, everybody wanted to live indefinitely, for even the Divine Ocean Realm Masters would die one day. ŔἈℕŐ𝖇Ës
The cultivators in the Lost City of Xianyuan, irrespective of whether they were in the Divine Ocean Realm or the Cloud River Realm, could live forever. The prerequisite was that the pool did not get destroyed.
“Why did you say that?” Ji Yuan asked.
“All of you have been doing the same thing, taking part in rounds of war against the insectoids for the past thousands of years. Even though you’re undying, life must have been dull and frustrating. I wouldn’t want to be imperishable in such a way. I’d rather lead an interesting life. Only with due respect to death would our lives be meaningful. Don’t you agree?”
Ji Yuan smiled. “You’re only so young, but you already have such an understanding of life and death.”
Lu Ye said, “It’s just what I think. Perhaps when I’m faced with a life-and-death situation, I’ll choose to be imperishable in such a way.”
Ji Yuan nodded. “Human nature is complicated, after all. You’re right to say that it’s frustrating to live like this. Although all of us knew what would happen when we made the decision, only when we experienced it did we realise it was so unbearable. Apparitions like us are imperishable thanks to the Pool of Divine Purification, but we’re also restricted in many ways. We’re inseparable from the Lost City of Xianyuan, so we can never leave this place forever. Most of the time, we’re sound asleep in the pool. Only when the insectoids attack the city will we awaken and fend them off. The same thing happens year after year. It’s like a cycle that will never break.”
Lu Ye looked up at the sky and realised the crack had disappeared without him noticing it. He asked in puzzlement. “The insectoid nest is supposed to be behind the crack that used to be there. Have all of you never thought about launching an attack to destroy the nest?”
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