161: The air here is filled with the stench of blood.

"Snap."

A faint, crisp sound.

Kaoshan Sect, the peak of the main summit.

The luminous cup in Li Daoxuan's hand, which would remain unscathed even against the bombardment of an Imperial Weapon, shattered... without warning.

The crystal-clear wine flowed through his fingers and dripped onto the enlightenment stone beneath his feet, instantly evaporating into a wisp of red mist.

That color.

It was a blindingly bright red.

It looked exactly like... blood.

"Revered Master?"

Beside him, Shi Tian, who was grooming Da Huang, noticed something was wrong and looked up with a dazed expression.

"How did the cup break?"

"Is the wine so strong that it made the cup explode?"

Li Daoxuan did not answer.

He slowly stood up, his originally lazy and casual expression completely vanishing at this moment.

Taking its place...

...was an unprecedented look of... solemnity.

There was even a hint of cold Killing Intent.

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the Kaoshan Sect's Mountain-Protecting Formation and the layers of clouds, looking toward the distant north.

There.

The wind had stopped.

The Central Plains, where Spiritual Qi used to swirl and cranes used to dance, was suddenly enveloped by a sinister wind from out of nowhere.

That wind was not cold.

Nor was it hot.

Yet it carried a... decaying aura that made one's skin crawl to the bone.

It was as if an Ancient Tomb, sealed for billions of years, had just been opened.

Or like... the scent emitted by countless corpses piled together and fermented for countless years.

*Sniff—*

Shi Tian sniffed, his brow furrowing deeply.

"What's that smell?"

"It stinks."

"Like something has rotted away."

Li Daoxuan lowered his head and looked at his wine-stained fingers, rubbing them gently.

That sticky sensation.

It really... felt like blood.

He spoke slowly, his voice low and raspy, as if forced through his teeth.

"That is... the stench of corpses."

"And also... the scent of blood."

"It has begun."

...The Central Plains, the edge of the Northern Region.

The Great Yan Ancient Kingdom.

This was a Mortal kingdom with a population of over ten million, affiliated with a second-rate cultivation Sect. Usually, the weather was favorable, and the people lived in peace and prosperity.

At noon.

Inside the Imperial Capital, traffic was heavy, and the atmosphere was bustling.

The sounds of street vendors, bargaining, and children's laughter intertwined into a picture of human life full of vitality.

However.

At the very moment that sinister wind with its decaying aura gently brushed over the Imperial Capital.

The clamor came to an abrupt halt.

It was as if an invisible hand had forcibly snuffed out all life.

On the streets.

An old man selling candied haws suddenly froze, his hand holding the straw bundle mid-air.

The smile remained on his face, but his eyes, once full of kindness, instantly lost all their luster.

They became gray and hollow.

Immediately following.

His skin began to rapidly shrivel and wither, like tree bark stripped of moisture.

His once robust blood and Qi were drained completely within a single breath!

*Thud.*

The candied haws in his hand fell to the ground.

Then came the old man's body, shriveled to nothing but skin and bones.

He collapsed straight down.

There was no scream.

There was no struggle.

Not even a single drop of blood flowed out.

For every drop of blood and every wisp of essence within him had been... "eaten" by that sinister wind.

This was not an isolated incident.

At the same time.

Throughout the entire Imperial Capital.

From the emperor and his concubines in the palace to the beggars and vagrants on the streets.

Even the chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep kept at home, and the rats and cockroaches crawling out of the ground.

Every living creature with life.

At this very instant.

...turned into mummies.

In just one breath.

This bustling Imperial Capital of over a million people had completely become a... dead city.

It was terrifyingly silent.

Only that sinister wind continued to howl tirelessly, kicking up dust from the ground as it swept toward the next city... This was only the beginning.

From the Northern Region of the Central Plains to the eastern coast, and then to the borders of the Western Desert.

A silent yet utterly horrific "harvest" was spreading at an astonishing speed.

Mortal kingdoms.

Cultivation families.

Even the Sects guarded by Golden Core and Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Before that terrifying suction, there was no difference.

They were all like lambs to the slaughter.

"No... No!!!"

Within a certain third-rate Sect, a Nascent Soul Stage Old Ancestor was in seclusion cultivating.

Suddenly.

He discovered to his horror that the Nascent Soul within him was actually trembling and shrinking uncontrollably!

His pure magical power, cultivated over hundreds of years and enough to move mountains and fill seas...

...was frantically leaking out through his pores!

Not just his magical power.

But also his Lifespan and his life Origin!

"Who is it?!"

"Who is plundering this old man's life force?!"

He wanted to resist, to activate the Mountain-Protecting Formation.

But he found in despair that he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.

He could only watch helplessly as his skin withered, his hair turned gray, and his body bit by bit... moved toward death.

"The heavens... the heavens want me dead!!"

Accompanied by a desperate roar.

This usually high-and-mighty Nascent Soul Old Ancestor turned into a skeleton, sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, dying with his eyes wide open.

And in the Sect behind him...

...thousands of Disciples had already perished silently... Kaoshan Sect.

*Rumble—*

The sky changed color.

The once azure sky had, at some point, been dyed a shocking... dark red.

It was the color of blood.

*Drip.*

A drop of red rain fell on Shi Tian's face.

He instinctively reached out to touch it.

Sticky.

Malodorous.

"Mas... Revered Master..."

Shi Tian looked at the blinding crimson on his fingertips, his voice trembling. His usual silliness was gone, replaced by endless fear.

"It's raining..."

"It's... raining blood..."

Xiao Chen, Ye Fan, Leng Yanran, and the others were also jolted awake from their cultivation and rushed out of the hall.

When they saw the scene outside...

...every one of them was stunned.

The entire world was weeping.

Above the firmament, blood-red clouds churned, and countless bolts of blood-red lightning darted through the clouds, as if the wounds of the Heavenly Dao were bleeding.

*Wuwuwu—*

Heart-wrenching wails echoed between heaven and earth.

It was the wailing of the Great Dao!

It was the Heavens weeping for the fall of all living beings!

"What... what is happening?"

Ye Fan clenched his fists, his golden blood and Qi surging wildly within him, as if sensing some immense threat.

"Why... do I feel such intense unease?"

"It's as if... something wants to eat us?"

Leng Yanran stared fixedly toward the north.

The Demonic Technique within her was operating frantically, a stress response as if encountering a natural enemy.

"Death Qi."

"Such dense Death Qi."

"The life force of the entire Central Plains is being... forcibly plundered by a terrifying power!"

Li Daoxuan still stood at the edge of the cliff, allowing the malodorous blood rain to soak his white robes.

He did not activate his Protective Aura.

Because he wanted to remember this smell.

These are... the blood and tears of all living beings.

"They... are hungry."

Li Daoxuan spoke slowly, his voice as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

"Who?" Xiao Chen asked instinctively.

"Gods."

Li Daoxuan raised his head, his gaze like a sword piercing straight into the firmament.

"Or rather..."

"A group of... beasts who call themselves gods but are actually greedier than evil spirits."

"They have slept for too long."

"The decaying aura on them is too heavy."

"They need... fresh blood to wash away their nearing-exhaustion Lifespans."

"They need... the souls of billions of living beings to fill their... appetites that can never be satisfied."

"Boom—!!!"

Before he could finish speaking...

...a series of muffled explosions came from deep within the earth.

Immediately after.

Under the terrified gazes of all the Cultivators.

Upon the land of the Central Plains.

In seven directions.

Seven massive, terrifying pillars of light that pierced through heaven and earth erupted!

Taichu Ancient Mine!

Shangcang!

Xianling!

Shenxu!

...The seven Forbidden Zones of Life awakened simultaneously at this moment!

Those seven pillars of light were of different colors, yet they all emitted the same... indifference, viewing all living beings as ants and all things as mere grass.

Within the pillars of light.

One after another, towering, terrifying, and blurry figures that seemed to have crossed the long river of time and space...

...slowly...

...stood up.

Some wore ancient imperial robes and crowns.

Some were covered in red hair, like malevolent spirits.

Some held broken war halberds, their Killing Intent soaring to the skies.

But without exception.

Their gazes were all cast upon this Central Plains land full of life and vitality.

That look in their eyes.

There was no pity.

There was no mercy.

Only a kind of... joy, like a farmer looking at crops about to be harvested.

And greed.

*Sigh—*

From the direction of the Taichu Ancient Mine came a satisfied sigh.

"It's been a long time... since I've smelled such fresh blood."

"This generation's crops..."

"...have grown well."

"It's time... to feed.""}],