CHAPTER 503: CHAPTER 250: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE CATASTROPHE (VOTE FOR MONTHLY TICKETS)

Shen Changqing didn’t immediately agree to Yi Ning’s proposal but pondered for a moment.

Without a doubt, if what the other party said was true, then the Ancient Ruins might indeed contain something capable of advancing his Divine Soul. To be honest, with the various factions supplying Demon Evil, it wasn’t a problem for him to further fuse with the Divine Heaven Golden Body. However, he couldn’t arbitrarily fuse if his Divine Soul couldn’t keep up. A seventh-tier Divine Soul controlling the tenth-tier Flesh of the Divine Heaven Golden Body was already at its limit. If the Flesh were to break through again, its strength would directly exceed the Divine Soul’s control. At that time, rather than his strength greatly increasing, it would be good enough if it didn’t suffer a significant decline. Therefore, the growth of the Divine Soul became an urgent matter for Shen Changqing. Only when the Divine Soul grew could his own strength further transform and reach a stronger level. Otherwise, the Divine Soul would be a great limitation.

After only a bit of contemplation, he understood the stakes and nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Shen Changqing said. "If Pavilion Master Yi’s words are true, I have no issues. According to the agreement, we’ll split the spoils from the Ancient Ruins eighty-twenty, with you taking twenty percent and me taking eighty."

"That’s good." With Shen Changqing’s agreement, Yi Ning’s smile became even more radiant. He had been eyeing those powerful Ancient Ruins for a long time. He wanted to enter them and seize the opportunities within but was limited by his own strength.

Since he couldn’t enter, Yi Ning was also worried that others would discover the Ancient Ruins. That feeling was like carrying a chest full of treasures, unable to unlock it and take the treasures within, yet also fearing the chest might be lost and the treasures fall into someone else’s hands. Because of this, he felt rather uncomfortable.

Now that Shen Changqing had agreed to explore, everything became much easier to handle. With Shen Changqing’s strength, the dangers of the Ancient Ruins were presumably not a big problem.

"Let’s settle this matter then," Shen Changqing said. "By the way, did Pavilion Master Yi come to Mountain-Breaking City suddenly just to seek me out to explore the Ancient Ruins?"

"Look at my memory, I almost forgot about the important business!" After being reminded, Yi Ning suddenly slapped his own forehead, recalling the real reason he had come to Mountain-Breaking City. The excitement over the Ancient Ruins had almost made him forget the truly important matter.

Seeing the other’s demeanor, Shen Changqing felt a bit surprised. He had thought that Yi Ning came here just for the Ancient Ruins. But now it seemed the other party had other intentions.

At this moment, Yi Ning’s smile vanished, replaced by a rare, solemn expression. "Defender Shen, have there been many natural disasters in South Nether Prefecture recently?"

"As for the natural disasters, if Pavilion Master Yi has been in South Nether Prefecture, I imagine you wouldn’t be unaware," Shen Changqing replied casually. Then, as if thinking of something, he asked, "Could it be that Pavilion Master Yi knows the true cause of these natural disasters?"

"Exactly!" Yi Ning affirmed, not answering immediately. He had been staying inside the Ancient Ruins all this time and actually knew nothing about the natural disasters in South Nether Prefecture. It was only by seeing certain things that he had formed such a speculation. Now that he had received a definite reply, it confirmed his inner thoughts. "If I’m not mistaken, the source of the natural disasters is Shimohe."

"Shimohe?" Shen Changqing frowned deeply, his expression growing strange. "If the natural disasters originate from Shimohe, the disasters on the Heaven Alliance’s side are much more severe—he has no reason to take such a self-destructive action. Besides, why would Shimohe be so foolish as to invite disasters that would indiscriminately harm everyone, including his own Heaven Alliance?" He really couldn’t understand the other party’s motives.

Yi Ning said, "Defender Shen, have you ever heard of Destiny Sealing the Gods?"

"No," Shen Changqing shook his head succinctly. He had never heard of Destiny Sealing the Gods, although he had heard a little about Faith Deification. While answering, he wondered if there was any connection between the two.

Yi Ning looked deeply at him. He didn’t believe that Shen Changqing was unaware of information regarding Destiny Sealing the Gods. Someone who could break through to Great Grandmaster must have received a powerful inheritance from Ancient Ruins. How could an inheritance capable of helping someone break through to Great Grandmaster not contain even a snippet about Destiny Sealing the Gods? But the other party denied it. Yi Ning was unsure of the truth for the moment. Still, whether it was true or not didn’t matter much to him, so after a glance, he looked away and continued.

"Destiny Sealing the Gods, as I understand it, is a method used by Ancient Powerhouses, after entering the Great Grandmaster Realm, to advance further. This method has a prerequisite: one must be the master of a faction. Then, one consumes the Destiny of one’s own faction, thereby allowing oneself to undergo further transformation."

"But what does this have to do with natural disasters?" Shen Changqing asked, digesting the information.

Yi Ning replied, "Defender Shen may not know this, but Destiny is ethereal and intangible. However, it can be generally summarized as fate. Just like a country, if the nation’s destiny is prosperous, there will naturally be favorable weather and no calamities. If the nation’s destiny declines, the country will suffer continuous natural disasters and man-made calamities, ultimately leading to dissolution. Essentially, if Destiny is depleted too much, it can lead to all sorts of calamities."

Depletion of Destiny can lead to all sorts of calamities! Yi Ning’s words changed Shen Changqing’s expression as he immediately understood their meaning.

"Pavilion Master Yi is saying that the natural disasters in South Nether Prefecture are occurring because Shimohe is consuming Destiny?"

"You’re absolutely right. The natural disasters in South Nether Prefecture are indeed due to Shimohe consuming Destiny." Yi Ning nodded slightly, then continued, "He consumed the Destiny of the Heaven Alliance to achieve his breakthrough. Since the Heaven Alliance now occupies two-fifths of South Nether Prefecture, once the Heaven Alliance’s Destiny suffers significant depletion, the entire South Nether Prefecture will be affected. That’s why there are natural disasters in South Nether Prefecture, and why the disasters on the Heaven Alliance’s side are even more severe. Although Shimohe has successfully broken through, causing the natural disasters to cease temporarily, the consumed Destiny is not easily replenished. I fear the disasters will continue to occur until the Destiny is subsequently restored and they can be completely stopped."

Hearing this, Shen Changqing’s frown deepened. According to Yi Ning, Shimohe had already achieved a breakthrough. Moreover, more natural disasters were to come. This news couldn’t be worse. "How can Pavilion Master Yi be sure that Shimohe has already achieved a breakthrough?" Even if Shimohe had successfully broken through, he was curious as to how Yi Ning knew this so clearly. Until now, no news had come from the Heavenly Inspection Guard. Could it be that this Internal Affairs Hall Master’s information network was even more effective than that of the Heavenly Inspection Guard?

Yi Ning gave a wry smile. "To be honest, the entrance to the Ancient Ruins I used this time was close to the Myriad Buddhas Sect. As soon as I came out, I witnessed the phenomenon of Shimohe’s breakthrough, so I rushed to Mountain-Breaking City to inform you immediately. After his breakthrough, Shimohe’s strength is not something a Great Grandmaster can compare with. Among the Demon Evil Clan, he is equivalent to a Great Demon. In the Demon-Subduing Division, perhaps only Dongfang Zhao could suppress Shimohe."

"So that’s how it is!" Shen Changqing felt a sudden relief. He had thought that Shimohe, after the breakthrough, would be incredibly strong. But according to Yi Ning, he was only equivalent to a Great Demon, and still not as strong as Dongfang Zhao. If that was true, then Shimohe wasn’t too great a threat.

When it came to strength, it wasn’t arrogance, but Shen Changqing felt that if he used all his trump cards, Dongfang Zhao might not necessarily be his match. If Shimohe was inferior to Dongfang Zhao, then he couldn’t possibly contend against him either. There was one issue, however: Shimohe’s strength was just Yi Ning’s estimate, not one hundred percent accurate. But for someone who had been entering and exiting various Ancient Ruins for years, it wasn’t strange to have some understanding of powerhouses at such a level. Besides, even though Shen Changqing, as a Great Grandmaster, could be stronger than the average Great Demon, he didn’t think others could achieve the same. He had profound foundations, possessing a system interface. Unless Shimohe also had such a system, the likelihood was almost nil. If the other truly had a system, he wouldn’t be only now barely breaking through the Great Grandmaster’s limit. Therefore, even if Shimohe had broken through to another realm, Shen Changqing wasn’t too worried. With his Divine Heaven Golden Body at the tenth level of Perfection, suppressing someone who had just broken through shouldn’t be a problem.

"By the way, what is that realm called?"

"I believe it’s called the Domain," Yi Ning said, snapping back to reality.

He had thought revealing the news of Shimohe’s breakthrough would deeply shock Shen Changqing, even causing fear and wariness. However, Yi Ning was disappointed. From start to finish, he hadn’t seen a trace of such emotions in Shen Changqing. Furthermore, when he mentioned Shimohe’s strength, the other man actually seemed relieved. What did that mean? Could it be that Shimohe, comparable to a Great Demon, wasn’t enough to make him wary? Or was the strength of this Defender Envoy of South Nether Prefecture not as simple as it appeared on the surface?

Yi Ning fell into deep thought. He found that the world seemed to have changed after he had entered and exited the Ancient Ruins several times. Previously, Yi Ning thought that by constantly entering Ancient Ruins and rapidly increasing his strength, he could leave everyone else far behind. But when he truly returned, he was shocked to find that not only had he not outdistanced others by a long stretch, but he had actually been left far behind by them. To say he wasn’t discouraged would be false. However, Yi Ning possessed a strong temperament, and this emotion was quickly suppressed after it arose.

Meanwhile, Shen Changqing was pondering the answer he had just heard.

Domain! Just from that term alone, he could discern a lot. He already had quite a few conjectures about the so-called Domain Realm.

"If I kill Shimohe," Shen Changqing suddenly asked, "is there a chance to restore the Destiny that South Nether Prefecture has lost, thereby resolving the natural disaster issue?"

Hearing this, Yi Ning was taken aback.