Chapter 379

Adam said, “The other side? You’ve already ascended to the Martial Realm?”

Maggie replied, “Yeah. On the very first day of the Great Cataclysm, I ascended. I’ve been wandering around the Martial Realm ever since. When I heard that besides Realm One, Realm Five also had an incident, I figured it must’ve been one of you who caused it. So I came to join up with you.”

Then she pulled a long face and said, “Eh, I’ve caused trouble.”

The two, curious, pressed her for details, and Maggie explained her situation.

When she entered the Fourth Mortal Realm, she didn’t choose to incarnate into a race within a Vital Energy Nexus like Adam did. Instead, she reincarnated into the body of a solitary white serpent.

Coming from the Sixth Holy Tower, her attributes happened to match that of the snake. With the aid of her knowledge in toxicology, although her strength wasn’t yet at the third rank, the degree of danger she posed was unimaginably high.

In the Qianyuan World she counted as a type of exotic beast. Her venom was a crucial material for the Energy-Augmenting Elixirs of several factions. Naturally, she ended up being wanted.

“You mean to say, not long ago, you poisoned the entire Fourth Mortal Realm of Qianyuan?” Sandy asked with shining eyes.

“That’s right.”

“No survivors?”

The white serpent flew to Sandy’s side, settled on Sophia’s head, and said, “I crafted Vital Energy toxins specially designed against martial artists. They flow with the circulation of Vital Energy, mutating with its fluctuations, increasing in potency. So… there probably weren’t any survivors. Antidotes are difficult to prepare — every mutation has to be calculated, then the antidote reverse-engineered against the original toxin. The best way is just to wait until the Vital Energy of the Fourth Mortal Realm flows completely into the higher realm — by then the poison will vanish.”

She fretted, “The Command Headquarters clearly said we must not wipe out legacies… I’ve messed up, I’ve really messed up.”

Adam hadn’t expected Maggie to be so extreme. In the past, this would’ve counted as a serious mission failure, but now it was no longer that big a deal.

He and Sandy told Maggie about their deductions and intelligence, then said, “Legacies won’t be destroyed. The Martial Realm and the Sacred Realm are bound to have superior organizations. Populations can be migrated from the other Mortal Realms.”

Maggie hesitated, “But if we follow the method you two are using, it seems different from the Headquarters’ orders. Is that really okay?”

Adam answered firmly, “Headquarters won’t care about the process. What they want is the final result. Do as I say — the outcome will only be better than sticking to the letter. I’ve got a new idea. Once the Legions descend, I’ll submit it. Headquarters should approve.”

“Perfect. The martial artists in the central city below are yours. In Realm One I didn’t kill many, so I can share a good number with you. I don’t think the other two lords will be as ruthless as you.”

As Sandy spoke, she led the two of them down into the central city, where they easily located two Vital Energy arrays. Pointing at the enormous object that served as the array’s eye within the filtration formation, she said, “That’s the core filter crafted by the Artifact Masters among the martial artists. Right now, it’s probably the most important resource in the Mortal Realm.”

“Artifact Masters?”

Maggie said, “I know, I know. The Martial Realm has Artifact Masters. Among martial artists, they hold a very high status. There’s only one school, and its inheritance is extremely secretive.”

Adam walked forward, tossed Garfield into the filter core, and after a while said, “Such a delicate device. Not only does it filter, it also converts ordinary energy into Vital Energy. Other than the one up in the Divine Realm, this can be said to be the most important thing. I think it’ll become our primary objective once the Legion descends.”

Indeed, Adam’s plans depended on this device to succeed.

In the days that followed, Maggie guarded the passage, preventing any martial artist from the higher realm from descending. Adam and Sandy swept across the entire plane at rapid speed, slaughtering all second-rank martial artists. Then Adam ordered the forest elves to gather and, together with Sandy and Maggie’s soul-slaves, reorganize the order of the plane, tally the population, and prepare for the coming redistribution.

During this time, Garfield roughly figured out the operating principle of the filter, and increased its efficiency in absorbing Vital Energy tenfold. The Fifth Mortal Realm’s Vital Energy drained away even faster.

A week later, Locke and Cass each finished sweeping clean their respective Mortal Realms and came to rendezvous with Adam.

As expected, Locke — from the Fourth Body-Refining Holy Tower — played the lone martial artist, battling across the realm. Those who resisted, he killed; those who didn’t, he forced into submission. Then he destroyed the Ascension Passage, isolating Realm Two.

Cass did similarly, but instead of destroying it, he modified and sealed the Ascension Passage. Whenever a martial artist from the higher realm tried to descend, they would be sent back and randomly teleported elsewhere.

The group temporarily split from Adam, taking the new technology and large numbers of soul-slaves back to their respective Mortal Realms to replicate the process.

The very purpose of the Hundred-Year Cataclysm was to force the previously complacent beings into fighting and advancing, layer by layer supplementing the numbers, until they ultimately fell into the mouth of the Divine Realm.

Now, because the Martial Realm had lost control over the Mortal Realms, it fell into fury and chaos. With no time to fight among themselves over advancement resources, they gathered troops to march downward and exterminate the rebels.

Adam and the other four, however, held the passages with their own power, waiting for the instant when all Vital Energy disappeared.

As it turned out, the structural flaw of the Qianyuan World became their greatest aid. To descend, one had to pass through the narrow passage. For the five of them, it was easy to defend, blocking countless foes.

Half a month later, the Mortal Realm became an energy vacuum. There was not a trace of free energy left in the space.

At the same time, the “program” preset by the Divine Realm automatically activated. As expected, the Mortal Realm shifted from a closed to an open state. Immense Fourth-Epoch energy poured in. The special crystal-wall system — which only affected internal lifeforms — instantly went dormant.

Even then, Adam and the others dared not connect directly to the Weave. Instead, they used their personal chips to relay the urgent requests hundreds of times.

“Residual plane Qianyuan World situation as follows…”

“Known legacies as follows…”

“Confirmed existence of high-level remnants. Probability of Level Nine: 20%. Probability of pseudo-Level Nine: 80%.”

“100% in dormant state. Depth of dormancy: unknown.”

“Request Legion descent point to be shifted backward.”

“Suggested mission procedure as follows…”

Adam and the others thought that, with the time flow ratio here, even if Headquarters received their report, it would take decades before a reply came. But unexpectedly, only a single day later, before the Qianyuan World could close again, the decision had already reached their personal chips.

“Within one day, Archmages and Transcendent Mages will descend en masse. Prepare reincarnation vessels.”

(To be continued…)