Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 686: Perception, the Method of Leading Disaster Water Eastward_1
"You're from the Qiandao Realm?" Hao Hong looked at the five individuals he had just pulled out from a mining pit.
"Indeed. If there is anything you wish to know, esteemed elder, we will certainly tell you everything!" Lu Xing couldn't help but shiver. The individual before them was at the Immortal Monarch Realm, vastly beyond their capacity to resist.
After their ascension, they had come to understand their situation and some information about the Green Nether Fairyland. They should never have ascended; how wonderful it would have been to remain in the Qiandao Realm and enjoy life. Their ascension had turned them into slaves. Every day, they mined for the Grand Heaven Sect. The toil was bad enough, but the damage to their cultivation bases was worse.
If they did not receive treatment soon, their cultivation paths would likely be severed. For this reason, he had to seize this opportunity with this important figure, hoping to free himself from entrapment. As for leaving on his own, that was simply impossible.
"A century ago, our sect dispatched someone to investigate the Qiandao Realm. He hasn't returned yet. Do you know why?" Hao Hong questioned.
His nephew, Hao Rui, had gone to the lower realm to execute a mission, yet he was still absent. It was only recently, while examining the outer sect missions, that Hao Hong realized the mission to explore the Qiandao Realm had expired. Upon further inquiry, he learned that Hao Rui had still not returned.
This was indeed a problem. Undoubtedly, Hao Rui must have encountered some trouble in the lower realm.
Initially, he thought he would have to investigate personally, as it concerned his own nephew. However, he happened to encounter people from the Qiandao Realm who had just ascended, so he decided to question them instead.
"That... there wasn't anyone." Lu Xing was dumbfounded. A century ago, no one descended from the higher realm. Back then, they were still fighting giant beasts. Moreover, with the Sky-Devouring Huge Beast present, could anyone even enter the Qiandao Realm through the Heaven's Gate? Wouldn't they have been torn apart and consumed long ago?
Ordinary giant beasts were at the initial stage of the Immortal Realm. One fusion elevated them to the middle stage; two, three, or four fusions corresponded to the middle, late, and peak stages, respectively. The Sky-Devouring Huge Beast, however, was in the Immortal Monarch Realm.
So, unless Hao Hong's nephew was also in the Immortal Monarch Realm, he had no chance of survival. He would surely have been devoured by the Sky-Devouring Huge Beast upon entry.
Therefore, all Lu Xing could do was tremble as he voiced his suspicions.
"A giant beast in the Immortal Monarch Realm..." Hao Hong's face darkened considerably. He had never imagined such a drastic change could occur in a mere Qiandao Realm.
He felt very guilty about this; he was responsible for his nephew's predicament.
As for Lu Xing lying, that was completely out of the question. How could a greenhorn who had barely entered the Immortal Realm—even calling him initial stage would be an overstatement—possibly deceive him?
"Tell me again, in detail," Hao Hong instructed.
He felt the matter was too suspicious, or rather, too coincidental. A century ago, the appearance of the giant beasts coincided exactly with the time he had arranged for his nephew to descend to the lower realm. This couldn't help but make him wary.
Of course, for Immortals like them, a hundred years was hardly different from a month. Thus, Hao Rui being gone for a century was like him being on a month-long assignment and still not having returned. If not for the loss of contact, Hao Hong might not even have realized something was amiss. After all, Hao Rui was an Immortal Realm Cultivator undertaking a mission in a lower realm; it should have been impossible for him to get into trouble.
Lu Xing quickly relayed everything he knew. He didn't dare to embellish or fabricate details. Under the imposing aura of an Immortal Monarch, his own body's instincts wouldn't allow him to act recklessly, even if he wanted to.
"I see," Hao Hong said, his face devoid of expression.
"Esteemed elder, considering our cooperation, could we perhaps ask for mercy and that you spare our lives?" Lu Xing quickly proposed.
"You wish to leave the Grand Heaven Sect?" Hao Hong was surprised Lu Xing dared to say such a thing.
Joining another major sect was impossible. Most sects in the Green Nether Fairyland looked down upon Immortals who ascended from lower realms. Such individuals had only two choices: either join a Demon Path Sect and try to live a decent life by keeping a low profile, or become a Loose Cultivator. Very few ascended Immortals who were enslaved by sects managed to escape, though it wasn't unheard of.
"Hah, my nephew is dead. On what grounds should you still live?" Hao Hong's voice was laced with coldness.
Fear flickered in Lu Xing's eyes. The remaining four exchanged a look and, without hesitation, attacked in unison. They had already humbled themselves, answered every question, and even betrayed all the secrets of their lower realm. Yet, he still wanted their lives. In that case, they couldn't be blamed for striking first.
However, they had still underestimated the gap between an Immortal and an Immortal Monarch, especially since three of them had also lost their most prized merits and a great deal of their power.
With a light flick of Hao Hong's hand, a Flying Sword materialized. The five of them had no power to resist and were slain by Hao Hong on the spot. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"Defying a superior is already a grave crime in the Grand Heaven Sect, let alone for indentured servants like you," Hao Hong sneered. He had done this deliberately to provoke them. Otherwise, these five were the property of the Grand Heaven Sect, and he couldn't just kill them as he pleased. But if they attacked first, then his killing them was perfectly justified. If they had endured it, Hao Hong had other ways to further suppress and torment them.
"You got off easy. It would have been better if you'd endured," Hao Hong said disdainfully. Death was a clean end for them. If they had endured and lived, he had a hundred ways to torture them.
As for the Qiandao Realm? He wasn't a fool. Which Immortal Monarch could possibly shatter the Ascension Heaven Gate?
Even the strongest Cultivator of their Grand Heaven Sect, their Immortal Emperor Realm ancestor, couldn't budge the Ascension Heaven Gate in the slightest. Their most powerful attacks couldn't even create a crack in it. Therefore, it was certain that the terrifying creature known in the Qiandao Realm as the Sky-Devouring Huge Beast had an even more extraordinary origin.
He had heard that even a mighty Cultivator at the Ancestor Immortal Realm could only manage to create a crack in the Ascension Heaven Gate, and that crack would heal in an instant.
So, what he needed to do was not go to the Qiandao Realm to investigate the truth himself, but to report this matter to the Grand Heaven Sect and let the upper echelons handle it.
The death of an Outer Disciple in the Immortal Realm was no major issue in the Grand Heaven Sect. However, if this Disciple died in a lower realm, it would definitely be a significant matter. To be able to kill an Immortal Realm expert while at the Demi Immortal Realm not only suggested the possible emergence of some prodigy in the lower realm, but also meant it was highly probable that an Innate magical treasure had been nurtured there. Otherwise, how could a lower realm possess the power to kill someone from a higher realm? Especially a Demi Immortal killing an Immortal.
He wanted to avenge his nephew, but the Qiandao Realm was too perilous and strange. Thus, he had no choice but to report it. An Innate magical treasure would surely attract the attention of the Grand Heaven Sect's True Disciples.
The True Disciples of the sect were at the Immortal King Realm, existences far beyond his comparison. A mere breath from them could obliterate an Immortal Monarch like him.
If not for the existence of the so-called Sky-Devouring Huge Beast, he would have wanted to descend to the lower realm himself.
He had killed these five to prevent news of the Beast from leaking, and to disguise the situation as a prodigy cooperating with an Innate magical treasure to kill Disciples of the Grand Heaven Sect. Otherwise, who would dare go if such terrifying news spread?
As for the True Disciples who might go there causing trouble that even the Grand Heaven Sect couldn't clean up, what did that have to do with him? He was merely reporting truthfully. However, he didn't really believe that was a likely possibility.
"I'll have to wait at least a month for a response." Hao Hong quickly reported the matter to the sect, though the reporting process itself was very, very slow.
If he was lucky, it might be processed within a month. If his luck was bad, the process might not be completed even after ten years or more.
The main reason was that the sect personnel responsible for handling such affairs also needed to cultivate, and a Cultivator's cultivation sessions were inherently long. If they weren't in seclusion, matters might be processed in a month or two. However, if they were in seclusion, affairs could pile up for nearly a hundred years without being handled. Hao Hong himself had experienced this, which was why it had taken him a hundred years to discover his nephew was in trouble.
He was anxious but could do nothing. The sect personnel dealing with these affairs mostly held higher status and greater strength than him; how could he order them around? His only recourse was to call in favors. However, accelerating the process through favors required them not to be in a state of cultivation; interrupting their cultivation would only create enmity. The only exception was if a stronger superior interrupted a weaker subordinate. In a system where strength commanded respect, the weaker individual wouldn't dare resist and would only agree obediently.
"I can only wait. Alas, how will I explain this to my elder brother and the others," Hao Hong sighed. He was actually bitterly disappointed. His nephew, an Immortal Realm Cultivator, had actually died in the lower realm. He could have explained his death under any other circumstances, but dying there made it truly difficult to account for.
