NO_NAME
patreon
Chapter 282: The Heart of the World
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 04:37:10 +0000 UTCYuan Xiang chuckled as he shook his head, "I guess I’m partly to blame for trying to be mysterious, thinking it would make you listen. After all, this matter concerns the safety of the human race on the Soul Martial Continent."
"Even though I’ve been away from the continent for a long time and technically, the fate of the humans here should be left to you all, this is still my birthplace. I couldn’t return in time during the last great war, but I can’t let things deteriorate this time."
Yuan Xiang then carefully explained the reasons behind the importance of this small world, making Lin Qian and the others understand why it was so crucial.
This small world was originally discovered by Yuan Xiang, who naturally left his imprint on it, claiming the world as his own. However, this world was unique—it had five stable spatial rifts that could be used to create portals.
One of these rifts was the entrance through which Lin Qian and his group had entered, another led to the area used by the Sea Clan. The remaining two portals were connected to the Swift Shadow Clan and the Formless Clan, respectively.
The fifth portal, however, was located near the heart of this small world. This portal led directly to the Xuán Jūn Mountain Range, deep within the human territories.
Yuan Xiang was born in a small town at the edge of this mountain range, and over time, the range became known as the Xuán Jūn Mountains, and the town became Xuán Jūn City.
Yuan Xiang had originally discovered this small world when he returned to his hometown. When he left years before, his cultivation wasn’t high enough to notice it.
As Yuan Xiang recounted this, Lin Qian understood why Yuan Xiang wanted to give him the small world.
If the Swift Shadow Clan and the Formless Clan gained control of this world, they could use the rift near the heart of the world to enter the heart of human territory directly.
No one could predict the full extent of the devastation that might follow, but one thing was certain: the human heartlands would no longer be safe. Enemies could emerge from within, launching continuous attacks from the depths of human lands.
This was something Yuan Xiang could not allow to happen.
In the past, when this world connected to the territories of three other races, Yuan Xiang devised a plan. He transformed the small world into a trial ground of life-and-death battles, diverting the attention of the other three races. As the primary architect of this world, Yuan Xiang secretly sealed the heart of the world, preventing anyone else from discovering it.
Everything went according to plan for a long time. Neither the Sea Clan, the Swift Shadow Clan, nor the Formless Clan realized the true nature of the world. Even the humans themselves remained unaware.
Yuan Xiang believed that to protect the fifth portal, it was crucial that even the humans didn’t know about it.
But Yuan Xiang hadn’t anticipated the outbreak of the ancient war that Lin Qian and the others had heard about. Humans, Sea Clan members, and others waged a cataclysmic battle against the Formless Clan and Swift Shadow Clan, engulfing the entire Soul Martial Continent in conflict.
During that time, day and night seemed to merge as the sky was perpetually shrouded in the light of soul power, and the earth trembled with the fury of the ancient war.
Yuan Xiang, observing from the small world, remained unconcerned. Having left the Soul Martial Continent, he had shed his limitations and his power had grown exponentially. His perspective had also surpassed that of anyone on the continent.
To Lin Qian and the others, the ancient era felt distant. For Lin Qian, who came from a world where technological advancements had extended human lifespans to 120 years, the concept of ancient times was especially remote. In contrast, Yuan Xiang saw it as recent history.
To Yuan Xiang, that continent-wide war was like watching children fight—nothing too serious. However, he understood that if the spatial rift near the heart of the world wasn’t secured, the human race on the Soul Martial Continent could face extinction.
Enemies would be able to appear directly in the heart of human lands, and the destruction they could unleash would be unimaginable.
Thus, Yuan Xiang placed his hopes on Lin Qian to reach the heart of the world and leave his mark, securing the world.
To leave an imprint on the heart of the world required immense soul power. After observing the humans who had entered the small world, Yuan Xiang realized that only Lin Qian’s soul power was up to the task. No one else among the humans could even come close.
Especially after experiencing the terrifying national destiny within Lin Qian’s sea of consciousness, which had damaged him, Yuan Xiang was certain that Lin Qian was the right person for the job.
If Lin Qian succeeded in becoming the new master of the heart of the world, Yuan Xiang could use the remaining power of his imprint to repair the formations around the heart that he had originally set up.
Once the formations were restored, the Swift Shadow Clan and Formless Clan would be unable to send anyone with power exceeding the life-and-death realm into the small world.
Anyone at the life-and-death realm trying to break through the formations? It would be impossible—except for Lin Qian, of course, who was an exception.
With that in mind, Yuan Xiang placed all his hopes on Lin Qian.
After hearing Yuan Xiang’s plea, Lin Qian found no reason to refuse. After all, his goal had always been to take control of the small world and incorporate it into the territory of the Huaxia Empire.
With such a favorable opportunity presented to him, Lin Qian couldn’t possibly turn it down.
"For both personal and public reasons, I have no reason to refuse, Senior," Lin Qian said with a nod after listening to Yuan Xiang’s explanation. "But Senior, how do I get to the heart of the world to leave my imprint? Since you still control this small world, shouldn’t you be able to transport us there with a single thought?"
However, after Lin Qian finished speaking, Yuan Xiang’s face showed a hint of embarrassment. "My imprint has weakened significantly—I can no longer control this small world."
"So, what you're saying is…"
"You’ll have to follow the trial rules, pass through each stage, and finally reach the place where you can exchange performance points for rewards. Only then will you be able to access the center and leave your imprint on the heart of the world."
Lin Qian was taken aback. He had thought that with Yuan Xiang’s help, claiming the small world would be straightforward.
It seemed he had been too optimistic. Securing the small world wasn’t going to be that easy after all.
As they spoke, Zhang Zide and the others returned from a distance.
To Lin Qian’s surprise, they had already sustained injuries despite not being gone for long, and only one of the Gale scouts who had accompanied them remained. The others were nowhere to be seen.
Previous Chapter | | Next Chapter
