This was, without question, the most shocking piece of news Jiang Chen had heard since entering the sixth palace of inheritance. He had never imagined that the decline of the Human Domain was actually an illusion crafted since ancient times.
Xia Tianze sighed. "Lord God Sovereign chose this method precisely because he had no better option. He knew that once this approach was adopted, it meant the Human Domain would decline in freefall, growing weaker and weaker. The current Glazed King City must be in a terrible state, right?"
"Terrible is an understatement. Many years ago, there were virtually no Heavenly Mandate cultivators in the Human Domain. Although the Glazed King City was nominally the leader of the Upper Eight Regions, its ruler, the Great Peacock Emperor, was only at the peak of the Emperor Realm—he hadn't even entered the Heavenly Mandate."
"Many years ago? You mean it's not like that anymore?"
"Of course not now. After the Boundary Stele realm shattered, I made several trips to Myriad Abyss Island and brought back numerous resources. The strength of the Human Domain has undergone several overall improvements. Now there's already a significant number of Heavenly Mandate cultivators."
Xia Tianze chuckled. "It seems the Human Domain has entered another era of upheaval. The great age that Lord God Sovereign spoke of has apparently begun. And you—you must be the destined figure to lead this era."
Jiang Chen was startled. "Lord God Sovereign could foresee events of the distant future?"
"He once performed divinations, inquiring about future events. Although he couldn't predict with exact precision, the general direction was correct. He said that in some future era, a powerful genius would emerge among the human race. This genius would transcend that era, even surpass the ancient age, and restore the Human Domain to its former glory—returning the Divine Abyss Continent to a realm of peace and light."
Jiang Chen's heart trembled. "The Great God Sovereign truly said this?"
"Would you dare doubt the Great God Sovereign?" Xia Tianze said, slightly displeased.
Jiang Chen smiled wryly. "It's not that I doubt the Great God Sovereign—I simply find it inconceivable."
It wasn't that Jiang Chen doubted someone could possess such abilities. What astonished him most was that in the Human Domain, in a mundane plane like the Divine Abyss Continent, such a miraculous figure could exist at all.
This Divine Abyss Continent was truly strange in every respect.
If one called it a mundane plane, then compared to others, the Divine Abyss Continent's strength during the ancient era had been remarkably formidable.
In ordinary mundane planes, cultivators who reached the God Path would typically choose to ascend to broader minor worlds, or even to the Myriad Heavens Great Worlds.
Yet in the ancient era of the Divine Abyss Continent, cultivators had been content to stay, none choosing to leave.
Most importantly, in a material plane, without exceptional resources and environments, it was nearly impossible to nurture so many powerful God Path cultivators.
One or two would be one thing, but it appeared that in the ancient Divine Abyss Continent, God Path cultivators had been quite numerous.
That was what made it so peculiar.
If they had been merely early-stage God Path cultivators, that would be one thing. But the Great Glazed God Sovereign was clearly a cultivator who had approached—or perhaps already achieved—the upper tiers of the God Path.
Though Jiang Chen didn't dare ask directly, he surmised that to become the foremost leader of the Human Domain, the Great Glazed God Sovereign's cultivation must have reached at least the seventh level of the God Path.
"Young man, nothing is inconceivable. If you had lived in the ancient age and could have seen the Great God Sovereign with your own eyes, felt his presence firsthand, you would know that his divine abilities and powers far exceed anything you or I can imagine." Xia Tianze was clearly a devoted follower of the Great God Sovereign.
His tone carried an unmistakable reverence bordering on worship.
Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh and asked, "The great cultivators and senior predecessors—didn't their actions arouse anyone's suspicion? I believe the cultivators of the ancient age were not easily deceived."
"Indeed, none were easily deceived, but neither could anyone penetrate the secrets behind this. They were suspicious. They investigated. However, matters personally settled by several great cultivators—the sealing of the spiritual veins, the concealment of the inheritance—these were not things ordinary people could unravel."
"So people did suspect, after all?"
"Yes. After the Demon Sealing War, for thousands upon thousands of years, disputes raged around the mystery of the spiritual veins and the inheritance. But in the end, nothing came of it. Gradually, many powers and many cultivators chose to leave the Human Domain. And the Human Domain, true to the Great God Sovereign's expectations, began its steady decline until no one cared about it anymore. Until it became a desolate wasteland—isn't that right?"
"The Ten Great Holy Lands of Myriad Abyss Island—were they established by the Ten Great Sovereign Powers of the ancient age?" Jiang Chen asked.
"Not all of them, but most are connected to the ancient Ten Great Sovereign Powers. However, even the branch forces dispatched there did not know this grand secret. Those who knew the secret, apart from the great cultivators themselves, were only their most loyal retainers. People like me, and a handful of others. We are iron-willed loyalists, the most faithful guardians. I imagine they, too, are guarding their respective inheritances, cut off from the world, even now." Xia Tianze's voice carried a trace of melancholy.
From the ancient age to the present—the span of time was truly vast. He wasn't even certain whether those old comrades could have endured until now.
The full picture of events was now roughly clear in Jiang Chen's mind.
Come to think of it, hadn't the Xiahou clan of the Eternal Divine Kingdom also sent a group into Myriad Abyss Island, where they established the Tempest Cult and stirred up trouble, secretly searching for something?
They must have been unwilling to give up, hoping to find ancient clues, traces of ancient inheritances. But the Tempest Cult had been too impatient, and in the end, Jiang Chen had suppressed them.
"Senior, I have no intention of doubting the Great God Sovereign. But have they considered—what if the Demon Race rises from the ashes and launches another demon invasion? With the Human Domain in its current weakened state, how could anyone resist?"
Xia Tianze smiled coldly. "Young man, you still don't understand the Demon Race well enough. When they invade, they are more methodical than anyone. They may seem to sweep through like a storm, but in truth, every step is purposeful. Do you know why the ancient Human Domain became the main battlefield? Because it was rich and prosperous, holding the resources they coveted. If the Human Domain declines and has no value to offer, they certainly won't linger. And our human race—our greatest strength lies in our ability to reproduce, our ability to survive in the cracks. As long as the human bloodline endures, there is always hope for a comeback. After all, the Great God Sovereign and the others preserved a trump card for the Human Domain, preserved the seed of our race. The facts have proven they were right, haven't they?"
Jiang Chen thought carefully, and it did make sense.
"Look—the Great God Sovereign foresaw that a genius would arise in a later age to fulfill destiny, and here you are. The foundation he left behind back then—looking at it now, wasn't it left for you?"
Xia Tianze's words left Jiang Chen feeling somewhat abashed.