Chapter 222: Migrants from the Lower World

Chapter 222: Migrants from the Lower World

On a fragmented land named Astral Pearl within the Zhou Clan's territory in the Fourth World stood Zhou Qingchen, conjuring a crimson protective shield.

He had recently advanced to the middle stage of the Innate Realm with the help of the Divine Origin Pearl.

Seven blades of varying lengths hovered above his head, releasing dazzling lights that slashed through the dense packs of Vicious Beasts.

The Divine Origin Pearl hovered a hundred zhang in the air, letting off brilliant rays of light that caused Vicious Avians to screech and plummet from the sky.

Members of the Zhou Clan, led by Zhou Huaian, were resisting the onslaught of Vicious Beasts with the assistance of the Divine Origin Pearl.

Mutated venomous pythons and giant lizards slithered among the rocks, while Ice Armor Beasts and one-horned rhinoceroses with scales as tough as iron worked with the golden eagles, gray falcons, and giant rocs to launch wave after wave of attacks on Astral Pearl.

The battle had been raging for several days with both sides locked in a deadly stalemate.

Whoosh!

A young girl in a green dress appeared in the sky riding a massive silver sword.

The girl was leisurely eating a bunch of grapes and reluctantly stood up from the sword as large as a ship.

Peering down at the fierce battlefield below with eyes as bright as gemstones, she murmured, “How troublesome.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dazzling sword lights shot out from the massive silver sword beneath her feet, transforming into brilliant rivers of sword light and cutting through even the strongest Vicious Beasts in sprays of blood.

With one effortless move, the girl had resolved Zhou Clan's crisis in Astral Pearl.

As the silver sword floated away, Zhou Huaian hurriedly shouted up at her from the ground below to express his gratitude.

However, the girl ignored him.

"She's truly a divine being," Zhou Huaian said as he watched the giant sword disappear into the distance.

Heaving a sigh of relief, he turned to face Zhou Qingchen. Zhou Qingchen's face was covered with a full beard and he exuded a fierce aura.

"That girl roams the fragmented lands of both our Zhou Clan and the Dong Clan with her sword," Zhou Huaian explained, voice full of admiration and gratitude. "She goes to areas with the fiercest Vicious Beast attacks and often resolves everything with a single strike.

“Without her, many fragmented lands would've fallen, and the Vicious Beasts would've devoured many people.”

"She truly is admirable," Zhou Qingchen agreed, swallowing a pill to restore his spiritual power.

He then called on Han Duping and the remaining members of the Zhou Clan to eliminate the weaker Vicious Beasts.

Only once he saw the Vicious Avians carrying the surviving Vicious Beasts away did Zhou Qingchen finally relax.

Not long after, several Cloud Sails rose from Astral Pearl to head toward the Zhou Clan’s main city.

Scarlet Dawn Boats from the Red Mountain Sect were waiting there to take the Zhou Clan to the Third World.

“The murky energy will eventually spread to this place; the Fourth World will fall sooner or later.” Han Duping sighed.

Han Duping had recently broken through to the early stage of the Innate Realm after a prolonged period of arduous battle.

With a bitter laugh, he asked, "Are the higher-ups planning to send more powerful cultivators down here to solve the contamination problem?"

She acted colder toward the groups of rogue cultivators who were simply roaming the fragmented lands in the Third World.

The final group consisted of those from the Fourth World. The Star River Alliance was sending them to the desolate fragmented lands. Rumor had it that two of the group were actually core members of the He Clan and the Ning Clan.

Wang Ying's attitude toward the people from the Fourth World was by far the worst of the three groups and she often responded to their questions with irritation.

“Alas, the world is growing more chaotic. Even lowly migrants from the Fourth World are coming up to compete for our territory," lamented a young man from a family allied with the Star River Alliance as he glanced at the He Clan and the Ning Clan. “The major families in the Third World may soon be forced to give up cities for them.”

He then smiled mockingly at the group of rogue cultivators. "The fragmented lands where you rogue cultivators roam will also be forcibly taken over, and the space you can operate will only shrink."

Hearing this, many of the rogue cultivators could not help but glare at the migrants from the lower world with resentful eyes.

He Hui of the He Clan and Ning Wei of the Ning Clan could only smile wordlessly in the face of these mocking remarks and Wang Ying's preferential treatment from Wang Ying.

They had realized just how unwelcome they were upon arriving in the Third World.

He Hui and Ning Wei had recently broken through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm. Their accompanying clan members were of even lower cultivation realms, with most being in the Qi Practicing Realm and Meridian Opening Realm.

Some were even ordinary mortals who had yet to cleanse their spiritual seas.

Their group had previously been left in a desolate fragmented land, with the Star River Alliance instructing the two leaders to wait for passing Cloud Sails. The Gilded Chariots that had brought them up to the Third World then left to descend back to the Fourth World.

The pair knew the Gilded Chariots were in limited supply and were operating at full capacity to shuttle people between the Fourth and Third Worlds.

They were aware that the Gilded Chariots were going to the Fourth World to fetch more of their clan members, so they dared not complain.

However, they did not expect those on the passing Cloud Sail to have such high cultivation realms, with none below the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Several imposing figures even appeared to be in the Profound Abode Realm, causing them to act even more cautiously.

Unnervingly, a sallow-faced rogue cultivator in black was casting meaningful glances toward them, leaving He Hui and Ning Wei terrified.

“The Star River Alliance is backing us. The rogue cultivators wouldn't dare act recklessly with that in mind. And those noble family disciples are either allied with the Star River Alliance or the Blood Moon Sect!” He Hui whispered.

Ning Wei nodded bitterly. “I just hope we can safely reach the fragmented land that the Star River Alliance arranged for us. Neither the rogue cultivators nor the noble family disciples dare to act rashly there with the elders of the Star River Alliance in charge.”

He Hui sighed. “I wish our Fourth World was not contaminated. I'd rather stay in the lower world than come up here.”

“Who wouldn't?” Ning Wei agreed.

As the vassals of the Star River Alliance, the He and Ning Clans were like local tyrants in the fragmented lands they governed in the Fourth World.

In their territories, they were revered, and every clan member roaming their cities did so with pride and had never faced any kind of humiliation.

However, after the Star River Alliance brought them to the Third World, they faced disdain and contempt everywhere.

The other people on board the Cloud Sail were either noble family disciples of higher status or rogue cultivators with superior cultivation realms. They could not afford to offend any of them.

The stark contrast from being revered in the lower world to being humbled in the upper world was too great for them to accept all at once.

The sallow-faced black-clad man glanced at He Hui once more.

That's He Ziren's father, thought the man in black.

He Hui dared not meet the man's gaze, instinctively looking away in fear of inadvertently offending him.

He could not help but feel that this black-clad man was the most formidable person on this Cloud Sail.