Chapter 803: Breaking the Rules
in midair, many Sun Moon Realm experts and Monster Emperors in human form looked solemn.
The changes in the Black Divine Barrier could not be stopped. Fully utilizing the rules of the Boundless Sea, the Black Divine had just accomplished what it intended.
The powers of the Sun Moon Realm experts and Monster Emperors could overturn seas and rivers at will, but faced with the rules of the Boundless Sea, even with all their combined strength, they could only delay the inevitable for a moment.
In essence, the Black Divine’s power far surpassed theirs by a wide margin, and in terms of manipulating the rules, it was leagues ahead of them.
Compared to the Black Divine’s rampant behavior when first entering the Boundless Sea, millennia of confinement had worn down its temperament and made it more formidable.
“Divide and conquer, the Boundless Sea is bound for disaster!” a deep voice
resounded.
The recent contraction of the Black Divine Barrier, which crushed the Mountain Sea Realm experts and Monster Kings within, was merely incidental. The Black Divine’s true goal was to diffuse its power throughout the entire Boundless Sea.
Everyone had assumed that the Black Divine set up this barrier to slowly recover here until it restored its Fifth-Tier strength and swept through the entire Boundless Sea.
Now it seemed that this barrier was merely a means for the Black Divine to adapt to the rules of the entire Boundless Sea. And now that the time was right, it had dispersed the Black Divine Barrier directly into the entire Boundless Sea. Yes, the barrier has vanished, but now, any corner of the Boundless Sea could spawn monsters, much like the previous Black Divine Barrier did.
To put it another way, the Black Divine expanded the boundary of hundreds of miles to encompass the entire Boundless Sea.
Such a technique, vast and profound, directly dissipated the tangible target of
the barrier into the intangible.
Without a main base, rallying forces from the Middle Continent to besiege became an impossible task.
Monsters could appear at any moment elsewhere, forcing all realms and Monster Kings to return to their original territories to prevent their emergence.
“As long as we find the source of the Black Divine, we can stop all of this!” whispered a Sun Moon Realm expert.
“Even within the Black Divine Barrier, we couldn’t find it. The Boundless Sea is so vast that finding it is easier said than done!” someone chuckled bitterly.
Before the Black Divine Barrier, they spent over a month searching hundreds of miles without success. The size of the Boundless Sea far exceeded the Black Divine Barrier, making the difficulty of finding its source daunting.
All Sun Moon Realm experts and Monster Emperors fell silent. The lack of a precise target was the most terrifying aspect.
With the enemy hidden and our forces exposed, by the time the enemy decides to reveal themselves, it’s often too late to undo the damage.
“At the outset, the frequency of monster appearances won’t be high, but over time, they will increase. Eventually, the entire Boundless Sea will be plunged into chaos!” someone declared solemnly.
Not every faction had a Mountain Sea Realm to oversee them, and even if they did, facing slightly stronger monsters would likely have proven overwhelming.
When the monsters became numerous, not to mention in other parts of the Boundless Sea, there were few humans and demons left on the Middle
Continent.
The Black Divine desired faith, but that didn’t mean it didn’t allow monsters to
slaughter.
By exterminating the currently powerful humans and demons, the remaining ordinary humans could freely propagate.
It didn’t take long-several hundred years were enough for humans and demons to repopulate the Middle Continent and other parts of the Boundless
Sea.
“Constructing a Sacred City to shelter people from other factions could preserve some living beings!” someone had suggested.
Monsters could emerge from anywhere in the Boundless Sea, which had become unstoppable. All that could have been done then was to kill the monsters when they appeared and strive to find the source of the Black Divine, while trying to preserve as many lives as possible.
“A Sacred City…”
This proposal had silenced the surrounding Sun Moon Realm experts and
Monster Emperors.
The Boundless Sea had been too vast; the area of the Middle Continent alone
had been extremely exaggerated.
The construction of a Sacred City would certainly have allowed some people to enter while barring others, depending entirely on the strength of those factions.
But this method seemed to be another way to preserve their current strength. Otherwise, if they waited for monsters to appear everywhere in the Boundless Sea and rampage unchecked, they wouldn’t even have time to rush to their rescue.
“The spiritual energy outside the Middle Continent is insufficient. Although the Black Divine has manipulated some rules, the conditions are not sufficient to give birth to Fourth-Tier monsters. So, we can set aside considerations for monsters outside the Middle Continent for now.”
“Should we concentrate the important forces on the Middle Continent?” “A Sacred City can be built, and whether those factions are willing to come is up to them. This is not a battle that can be resolved in a short time; we need to prepare some contingency plans!
With the Black Divine currently exerting all its efforts to manipulate the rules of the Boundless Sea, its recovery to the fifth tier will continue to slow down, thereby prolonging the conflict between both sides.
Moments later, Sun Moon Realm experts and Monster Emperors began to disappear one after another.
On the ground, all Mountain Sea Realms watched as Sun Moon Realm experts departed from above, unsure of what exactly had transpired.
However, an hour later, news spread among all Mountain Sea Realms and Monster Kings.
Monsters would soon appear in various corners of the Boundless Sea, especially Fourth-Tier monsters, which might soon threaten the Middle Continent. This means that all factions on the Middle Continent will no longer be safe. The gathering of monsters required spiritual energy from heaven and earth, so the places with richer spiritual energy were more likely to spawn monsters, potentially stronger ones.
The locations occupied by top-tier factions happen to have the richest spiritual energy. Therefore, the likelihood of being surrounded by monsters in the future, especially late-stage fourth-tier or even peak fourth-tier monsters, increases significantly.
As for smaller factions, although they occupy places with relatively average spiritual energy, the appearance of monsters is sometimes unpredictable. Unless they relocate entirely from the Middle Continent, it was nearly impossible to avoid the possibility of attacks by fourth-tier monsters. However, moving away from the Middle Continent also meant the likelihood of Mountain Sea Realms emerging within their sects in the future greatly diminished or even ceased altogether.
Just like the Thousand Feathers Alliance in the past, despite occupying numerous regions and having several Combined Aperture Tempering realm experts, only one managed to successfully break through to the Mountain Sea Realm.
Both Min Yanlu and Master Haiyue achieved their breakthroughs on the Middle Continent before returning to the Thousand Feathers Alliance.
If they choose not to leave the Middle Continent, they must either defend their current positions or relocate to the Sacred City being forged in the Eight Sacred Lands.
Building a city was not a difficult task for the Holy Lands.
However, within the Sacred City, one had to fully obey the commands of the Holy Lands.
In the past, the Holy Lands had been indifferent to other factions. But if everyone were to live within the Holy Lands, naturally, all rules had to be followed according to their dictates.
Moreover, resources for cultivation had inevitably become scarce because outside the Sacred City, the future might belong to the world of monsters.
Choosing between survival and future prospects depended on each sect’s own decisions.
“Brother Chen, what are your plans?” Zhao Ruizheng asked Chen Fei. Zhao Ruizheng had already known that Chen Fei and Tang Shouchang had come from the remote Thousand Geese City on the edge, which, although isolated, had still fallen within the scope of the Middle Continent, in other words, Thousand Geese City still had to make its own choice-either to move away or to go to the Sacred Land.
No faction would likely have chosen to stand alone, especially when other factions had been relocating. Any faction that had chosen to remain isolated would have become an immediate target for monster attacks.
Chen Fei had frowned deeply. Leaving the Middle Continent might have been a short-term choice.
However, there was a problem: if monsters failed to siege the Sacred Land, they would certainly attack other places.
One option was to remain as an isolated faction on the Middle Continent, while another was to join the human gathering outside the continent.
From the recent reports, it seemed that there wouldn’t be Fourth-Tier monsters outside the Middle Continent in the short term. However, Fourth- Tier monsters were mobile, and in the future, discovering such a large human gathering on the Boundless Sea would inevitably provoke attacks. If Chen Fei brought the Primordial Sword Sect back to the Thousand Feathers Alliance, in a few years, a horde of monsters might rush into the alliance. The Black Divine’s goal was faith, and it might ignore ordinary humans with low strength.
However, for someone like Chen Fei, a Mountain Sea Realm, he would undoubtedly be targeted and completely wiped out.
Therefore, in Chen Fei’s view, returning to the Thousand Feathers Alliance would be like boiling a frog in warm water-by the time he realized something was wrong, it would likely be too late.
Thus, it seemed that the best choice left was to align with the Eight Sacred Lands.
“Move into the Sacred City!” Chen Fei raised his head and declared firmly. “I agree with that too. How about forming an alliance between us?” Zhao Ruizheng looked at Chen Fei, extending the invitation.
Zhao Ruizheng genuinely valued and admired Chen Fei for his combat prowess and talent. If they moved into the Sacred City together, their combined strength would be stronger, giving them more influence and leverage.
“Agreed!” Chen Fei nodded in agreement.
Zhao Ruizheng’s six Divine Palaces were already advancing towards the later stages of the Mountain Sea Realm. With the rewards from this recent venture, Zhao Ruizheng planned to consolidate his strength and perhaps achieve a breakthrough.
Even in the Sacred Land, the later stages of the Mountain Sea Realm represented a force that could not be ignored.
Tang Shouchang and Zhao Tianyue, standing nearby, had no objections. This decision was a win-win for all. Moreover, having ventured together through the Black Divine Barrier, the four of them had developed a good understanding of each other’s temperaments.
After a moment, Chen Fei and his companions entered the Mission Hall. While their original contribution points could still be redeemed, the Mission Hall presented another option: if they chose to settle in the Sacred City, their contribution points could be exchanged for a position to reside. The Sacred City, forged by the Eight Sacred Lands, would form a circle closely juxtaposed with the habitats of monsters. In case of any trouble, they could watch over and assist each other.
The Sacred City would not distinguish between internal and external factions; all powers would reside mixed together.
However, there were considerations regarding specific regions within it. Choosing a favorable location could potentially provide advantages in spiritual energy density and access to resources.
The task of relocating most of the human population from the Middle Continent into the Sacred City was monumental. However, with the Black Divine just dispersing its influence, they had precisely the time needed for this endeavor.
With the power of Mountain Sea Realm experts, moving entire populations was indeed feasible.
Chen Fei and his companions had exhausted their contribution points, but based on their respective strengths-Chen Fei displaying normal aura, along with two mid-stage Mountain Sea Realm cultivators and Zhao Ruizheng with his six Divine Palaces-they managed to secure decent positions in the Sacred City.
These positions were only considered “decent” because the truly prime locations had already been claimed by the top factions.
From the announcement of the Sacred City plan to now, just half an hour had passed, and the vast majority of factions had chosen to settle within its walls. Moving out of the Middle Continent was seen as a stopgap measure, a way to quell immediate dangers.
The battle against the Black Divine was destined to be a prolonged one. Unless they could uncover the Black Divine’s origin or a vastly powerful force emerged to completely shatter it, victory seemed distant.
A month after Chen Fei and Tang Shouchang returned to Thousand Geese City, the entire city violently trembled, then slowly began to rise into the air. Thousand Geese City had been reinforced with arrays over many years, making it as formidable as a fortress.
After a brief discussion, Chen Fei and his companions focused their efforts for a month on reinforcing key positions in Thousand Geese City. Then, they lifted the entire city from its foundations and flew it tens of thousands of miles towards the Sacred City.
With Chen Fei’s main body, his avatars, Tang Shouchang, Ning Baizheng, two Monster Kings, and Min Yanlu, supporting Thousand Geese City, the task of lifting it wasn’t overly strenuous.
Hovering above Thousand Geese City, Chen Fei’s main body gazed ahead with a contemplative expression.
As for when the Black Divine would fully recover to the Fifth-Tier, neither the Sun Moon Realm nor Chen Fei himself could discern. All Chen Fei could do was continually strengthen his own abilities.
One day, when faced with true adversity, Chen Fei would be ready to resist.