Chapter 172

A hundred years had passed, and the world had transformed significantly.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this might represent a lifetime.

Even for cultivators, below the Sixth Realm, a hundred years could be considered half of one’s life.

Especially this century, the changes in the world were far greater than those of the past thousand or even ten thousand years.

The first and foremost was the leveling of Tianjian Mountain, an impact that was not merely temporary but profound and enduring.

What was Tianjian Mountain?

It was the mountain gate of the Tianjian Sect, the stronghold of the foremost power in the world.

For tens of thousands of years, the Tianjian Sect had given rise to more than one cultivator of the Tenth Realm, and its influence in the Five Domains Mainland was deeply entrenched.

Such a colossal power, even if it were to decline, would do so gradually, only completely falling after thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Yet now, it had been flattened in a single stroke.

More crucially, it wasn’t just the disciples of the Tianjian Sect who died.

Before the flattening of Tianjian Mountain, it was the time of Tianjian Zi’s 800th birthday celebration. At that time, the mountain had gathered all the powerful allies of the Tianjian Sect.

But the outcome…

These mighty individuals perished along with Tianjian Mountain.

This led to a catastrophic loss for most powers in the Five Domains.

Subsequently, when facing the onslaught from the Demonic Tao Forces, the native powers of the Five Domains simply collapsed.

In the first decade of this century, the Demonic Tao accomplished the feat of unifying the Five Domains, a feat not even the Tianjian Sect in its heyday, despite many powers submitting to them, could claim to have truly unified the Five Domains.

And all this was accomplished by the Demonic Tao Forces.

To be precise, the Demonic Tao Forces were able to do this entirely because of Lin Yuan.

Without Lin Yuan’s destruction of the major arteries of the righteous powers in the Five Domains, even if the Demonic Tao wished to unify the Five Domains, they would have been dragged into a lengthy war, taking far more than ten years to achieve unity.

Of course, the so-called unification of the Five Domains by the Demonic Tao was merely superficial.

Behind the scenes, there were still many remnants of the original powers of the Five Domains trying to launch counterattacks, attempting to reclaim everything they had lost.

But with Lin Yuan present, all resistance was futile.

Lin Yuan did not even leave the Underground Palace, but merely sent out his Yin God and Yang Spirit, inflicting heavy losses on the resisting forces.

Even so, such resistance continued to occur.

Each interval between resistance efforts was getting longer, clearly indicating that the resisters also knew that they were no match for Demon Lord Xiahou Yuan head-on.

They could only lurk in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

…

In the Eastern Region, Binhai City.

Inside an inn.

A storyteller was fervently speaking.

“Speaking of recent events, a group of strong individuals arrived in the coastal areas, suspected to be disciples of the Qingshui Sect which was annihilated by the Demonic Tao Forces a hundred years ago; the surviving disciples fled overseas and now they have returned, surely up to no good…

This storyteller clearly had a well-informed source, even providing his own insights.

“From what I see, the Eastern Region is about to experience unrest,” the storyteller said, his words filled with emotion.

Great chaos in the world was definitely not good news for common folk like them.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the inn, an old man with white hair and beard sipped his wine, savoring it joyfully.

If there had been a Ninth Realm expert present, they would have detected that this old man, with his unfathomable aura, was also a cultivator of the Ninth Realm.

However, this old man was different from other cultivators of the Ninth Realm; he did not seek power or wealth but enjoyed traveling through the Five Domains and savoring fine wines.

“This osmanthus brew from Binhai City is becoming more flavorful…”

The old man nodded in approval.

“Oh, Grandpa, you shouldn’t drink…”

“Did you hear what the storyteller just said?”

“The Eastern Region is becoming restless…”

The young girl at his side tugged at his sleeve.

“Oh…”

The old man responded indifferently and continued to enjoy his osmanthus brew.

“Grandpa…”

The girl became a bit anxious and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you think the five tribes will make a move?”

“What does a little girl like you have to worry about such matters?”

The old man glared at her and, seeing tears starting to form in her eyes, quickly soothed her, “I don’t know if the Eastern Region will be unstable, but a while ago, some folks from Dihuo Sect sought me out, wanting me to take action and occupy an Earth-grade Spirit Spring…”

“Ah?”

“So, Grandpa, did you agree?”

The girl’s eyes immediately brightened.

“Of course not.”

“An old man like me should just enjoy his twilight years…”

The old man shook his head and said.

He did not have the courage to oppose the Demon Lord.

Who was the Demon Lord? He was the strongest being in a hundred thousand years.

Ordinary cultivator may not understand the concept of cultivating a Primordial Spirit to a hundred thousand zhang.

But as a Ninth Realm cultivator, the old man was aware of the immense difficulty and the almost inconceivable awe that it inspired.

“Besides.”

“The Five Domains under the rule of the Demonic Tao Forces, it’s not much different than before…”

The old man glanced at his granddaughter, a curious expression on his face.

Ninety years ago.

When the Demonic Tao unified the Five Domains.

The old man had seen it all.

Originally, he thought,

that the suffering of all beings was about to begin, for how could the Five Domains possibly fare well under the rule of the Demonic Tao?

Would all beings simply be penned up and used as nourishment for the cultivators of the Demonic Tao?

However, as time passed, the old man suddenly realized that this scenario never actually happened.

After unifying the Five Domains, the Demonic Tao Forces actively disseminated a cultivation system known as Martial Tao.

This system, which had a low threshold, was explained in detail by appointees from the Demonic Tao Forces.

This generous act was something that had never occurred in tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years before.