Chapter 824: Chapter 45: The Disappearance of Cultivators
Zhou Yan’s heart was filled with incredulity and shock.
It seemed that during the time he was undergoing tribulation, the traces of the cultivators were almost entirely wiped off the Earth.
The Ten Thousand Buddhas’ Extinction and All Immortals Suffering seemed to be playing out once more in this world.
Zhou Yan spread his soul power to the four directions, and after a round of sensing, the result left him immensely shocked.
Not only had the Holy City of the West lost its former glory and also seemed incredibly desolate, but even the forbidden places of the previous Divine Temples had all turned to ruins.
In those places, towering technological buildings had risen. The original forbidden lands now bore signboards of ’Research Center’ in various languages, erect on the walls of these skyscrapers, strikingly prominent.
The traces of cultivators had vanished entirely, and even the energy condensed from faith seemed to have completely dissipated.
This world had entirely transformed into a Land of Dharma Decline, with not a trace of cultivators left, almost entirely vanished.
Zhou Yan could only faintly sense a bit of residual spiritual energy from the endless chaotic Primordial Desert in the far distance.
This Ancestor Land, it seemed, became even more desolate after Zhou Yan’s tribulation.
Zhou Yan stood in the Kunlun Immortal Pool for a long time, unable to sense any sign of life, and eventually, he felt somewhat dejected and filled with doubt about it all.
Was it always like this, and was the world he previously arrived in just an illusion? Or had everything encountered a catastrophic disaster resulting in the current situation?
Zhou Yan had no way to determine, but he began sweeping his soul power onto the instruments of the world where ordinary cultivators resided.
From this, Zhou Yan discovered that the time for tribulation and transformation he could not previously ascertain was now determined through the technological records of these ordinary humans—it was precisely nine years.
From the beginning of the tribulation to now, nine years had passed.
Back then, the tribulation occurred at the end of 2014, and now, it was already the end of 2023.
A full nine years!
The time passed by in just a blink—nine years!
Nine years in this world meant nothing, but what about the Sword Burial Ancestor Star?
In twenty years, the Sword Burial Ancestor Star had already undergone significant changes, and now, after nine years, if he returned there, what would it look like?
Zhou Yan’s mood instantly became heavy, and for a moment, his face turned a bit unsightly.
This was something he least expected—just a tribulation, perhaps not taking much time, but the transformation of realms took a full nine years, which was simply astonishing.
In the midst of it, Zhou Yan could not sense any changes, yet now, in his unawareness, so much time had elapsed.
"Nine years, have everything changed? Or perhaps, because no one knows who I am now, the places I appear, others can’t grasp, thus the things I see are entirely different?"
Zhou Yan murmured to himself.
Soon, he confirmed this point, meaning that now, without special abilities, no one knows who he truly is, so what Zhou Yan sees and encounters is the most original truth.
He would no longer be blinded, no longer easily deceived, and would no longer be caught unawares in a scheme.
Zhou Yan’s soul power spread, descending into the brains of many people, observing their memories through them.
During this observation, Zhou Yan vaguely found that many people had clear memories of that catastrophic event nine years ago.
That day, the celestial track deviated from its normal position, a solar storm suddenly erupted, and then all the electricity supply worldwide ceased, with the arrival of sunspots seemingly erasing certain existences in this world.
However, these memories, in the minds of ordinary people, were not clear, as if they had been diminished by a Great Power.
Zhou Yan searched these people’s memories with his soul power, specifically targeting young individuals with excellent constitution and higher social standings or leadership roles to view their memories.
After nearly half an hour’s secret search, from the memory of a national-level figure, Zhou Yan discovered something that shocked him greatly.
On that day, after the solar storm arrived, a Divine named ’Zhou Yan’ descended from the Void, preventing many disasters, and made contact with some national leaders, not only eradicating the entire Li family’s existence but also taking away almost all the cultivators.
Subsequently, it was agreed that all traces of cultivation would soon be erased in this world.
This memory is very obscure. The reason Zhou Yan was able to find it was that this leader, upon receiving the information, happened to have a slight brain injury and thus forgot this part of the memory.
Zhou Yan used the technique of tracing back the origin to review the person’s memory and unearthed this piece of memory, immediately noticing the clues.
Zhou Yan immediately thought of the Shennong Cauldron that still hadn’t disappeared and that he could still sense Zhao Xiaoxiao’s presence, so he prepared to return to the Forbidden Land of Pure Yang Sect to investigate the truth once more, and find Zhao Xiaoxiao to understand this key matter.
Only at that moment, the Xuanyuan Sword on Zhou Yan’s body suddenly quivered slightly, causing a familiar feeling within him. He immediately knew that within the range of his soul power, he had detected a new Xuanyuan Sword Fragment.
With a determined thought, Zhou Yan instantly disappeared from the Immortal Pool, and the next moment, he appeared where his soul power sensed the aura of the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment.
Here was a snow mountain, covered in vast white snow over nearly all the heaven and earth, with bone-piercing cold, carrying a hint of chilling divine power.
For ordinary people, this would be a destructive predicament and perilous place, but for Zhou Yan, it was merely a normal location.
These things meant nothing to him; a single glance could move mountains and fill seas, and destroy the heavens and earth.
Zhou Yan locked onto the aura of the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment—the aura came from a depth of over a hundred meters underground in the snow, extremely obscure, and at the same depth, he vaguely sensed a trace of life force fluctuating gently.
Zhou Yan faintly sensed ahead, displaying his Void Sword Body, and almost in an instant, he had entered over a hundred meters deep beneath the snow.
Upon entering, Zhou Yan immediately discovered that it was indeed a uniquely small, naturally formed dwelling cave-like space, not large in area, with a flowing stream below, making the air in the cave fresh and carrying a rare trace of spiritual energy.
And within lay two individuals with nearly festering, scar-filled bodies, clinging to one another for mutual survival, living on the edge of life.
This space, due to their presence, bore a degree of dampness, rot, and a stench of decay.
When Zhou Yan appeared, one person was helping the other with breathing control, stabilizing the injuries.
Zhou Yan’s arrival caused the two individuals’ expressions to change drastically, as if facing a great enemy.
They stared at Zhou Yan with eyes filled with fear, despair, and desolation, not daring to move an inch.
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