Chapter 144: The Sun Rose
Chapter 144: The Sun Rose
“Oh my god, the sun came out!”
“Am I dreaming?”
“Mom, is that the sun? It feels so warm!”
In Eastflow City, the sorrow from six or seven thousand deaths overnight was suddenly washed away by the morning sunlight. Even though these people had never seen sunlight in their lives, it didn’t stop the deep, instinctive feeling it brought.
Not just Eastflow City, but also in Greyrock City to its northwest. The city lord, Meng Yu, was so moved that he cried. He kowtowed crazily toward the rising sun. It had been hundreds of years! He still remembered the sunlight he saw as a child—so bright, so warm, shining on his body. His grandfather had told him this was the best Dao Technique for driving away evil!
At the Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect base, Mi Zhou’er, Qu Qi, Mai Bing, and others were also watching in astonishment. Different from ordinary people, and even different from cultivators like Meng Yu from common sects, what they felt now wasn’t just warmth and brightness. They sensed the Dao’s essence and that elusive, hard-to-grasp spiritual opportunity!
Was the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy finally going to recover?
“Hurry, sit in meditation, face east, and absorb that strand of purple energy! It can nourish the Dao’s essence—it’s extremely precious!”
Mi Zhou’er had the most experience and immediately shouted. The Jiuxuan Sect members promptly sat cross-legged in meditation. This was a precious opportunity, even though they didn’t know exactly what was happening.
In just a moment, Mi Zhou’er’s cultivation, which had fallen to Qi Refining, recovered to Foundation Establishment and was still rapidly restoring. Additionally, because she possessed a divine position, the benefits she gained at this moment were the greatest. Her cultivation level was even rushing straight toward Golden Core.
In Kaoshan City, over twenty thousand people were bowing and worshipping fervently.
Meanwhile, the Floating Cloud Sect members, led by Xu Shen, Ji Chang, and Jiang Ying, busily absorbed the purple energy within the morning sun and sensed the Dao’s essence. Their gains were unimaginably huge.
In Blackwater City, Cheng Tianhao, who was deploying the City Protection Array, nearly wept with emotion. He had witnessed the golden age of the cultivation world a thousand years ago and thought he would never see it again in his lifetime. He never expected to see the spiritual opportunity reappear today.
“Everyone, sit in meditation and cultivate! Each depend on your own opportunities!”
Shouting loudly, Cheng Tianhao quickly set up a Formation Array beside him and then seized the time to cultivate and gain insights. For ordinary people, this was just a sunrise, but for cultivators, it was almost like a minor reopening of Heaven and Earth. Whoever could seize the opportunity would leap forward a thousand miles.
In a short time, with the help of his Water God divine position and his original near-Heavenly Tribulation level expertise, Cheng Tianhao gained immense insights. His cultivation realm soared rapidly—breaking through to Nascent Soul in one breath and advancing to Divine Transformation.
At the same time, Xu Shen successfully advanced to Nascent Soul, Jiang Ying advanced to Golden Core, Zhang San advanced to Spirit Journey which is equivalent to the Golden Core Realm, Wang Wu advanced to Golden Core, and Song Qiao advanced to Golden Core. Besides them, several hundred others advanced to Foundation Establishment.
This scene kept playing out in the major cities within the three-thousand-li radius covered by the Yunhua Law Seal. Those advancing emerged like bamboo shoots after rain, countless and unstoppable.
Even in the worst cities, dozens could advance to Foundation Establishment, and a few could advance to Golden Core. With good luck, one might even reach the Nascent Soul Realm.
However, apart from Cheng Tianhao, no one else managed to rise two levels in a row.
After about ten minutes, when the sun was high in the sky, both mortals and cultivators felt as if they had dreamed. The bright sunlight shone on their bodies, reducing the Alienation Contamination Degree by at least 20% for the worst cases, and by 30% for the luckier ones.
Everyone felt as if they had been reborn. Various Dao Bodies and Dao Hearts were comprehended one after another.
Even if they didn’t level up at this moment, they would surely advance in the near future.
When Li Si checked, he found that within his territory, there was suddenly one cultivator in the Divine Transformation Realm, nine in the Nascent Soul Realm, one hundred twenty-five in Golden Core. As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, the number had reached one thousand five hundred.
In the coming months, these numbers would continue to rise, especially for Foundation Establishment. Those in the Qi Refining Realm would find their cultivation becoming much easier.
By then, Li Si would have at least two in Divine Transformation, twelve in Nascent Soul, one hundred fifty in Golden Core, at least three thousand in Foundation Building, and over two hundred thousand in Qi Refining.
The game was turning around—well, conservatively, one-third of it was.
But this was far from the end.
Because last night, Li Si burned his Fate/Luck and completely incinerated the Blood Cloud within a ten-thousand-li radius. So the actual number of beneficiaries should be at least three times larger.
However, without the suppression of the Yunhua Law Seal, these Blood Clouds would probably cover the area again in a few days. Then, the world would still be dark—though a bit better than before.
Only the areas under the suppression of the Yunhua Law Seal would remain sunny and bright.
So what would happen to those outside Li Si’s control?
Especially those hidden cultivators—what would they do?
No one could give up sunlight. Most of them would chase the sunlight and enter Li Si’s territory.
In fact, at this very moment, clever people were already on the move.
Exactly ten thousand li away from the Yunhua Sect base, Shendanzi’s eldest disciple, Ji Yuan, had just captured a small town when the sun rose. Luckily, he was just a bit short of missing it.
This comprehension of the Dao’s essence successfully broke through the bottleneck that had trapped him for so long, advancing him to Divine Transformation. Then, he immediately gave orders for the entire group to relocate. Those in the small town who wanted to follow could come; those who didn’t could stay and wait for death.
The reason needed no explanation.
“Do you want to bask in the sun every day?”
“Does the sun feel comfortable?”
“Do you still want to die for no clear reason?”
“Just follow us, and it’ll be right.”
Ji Yuan pointed toward the terrifying Blood Cloud in the distance, toward the dark world over there—like a huge mouth about to swallow the whole world.
In the past, when everyone was used to it, it didn’t seem so bad. But now, looking at the bright sunlight in the east, even the most stubborn people knew what choice to make.
“Go, don’t worry about me. I’m old, full of strange illnesses. I’ve lived thirty-five years—I’ve had my fill.”
Almost all the elderly and sick voluntarily stayed behind, afraid of burdening their families. When there was no hope, living like livestock didn’t matter. But once they saw hope, as long as their loved ones could live a bit better, they would smile in their coffins even if they died.
“Don’t be silly, everyone follow. If you’re willing to go, my Shendan Sect will take you. See that thing in the sky? That’s hope—stronger than any Divine Ability in the world. Bask in the sun: on the first day, you’ll feel your body lighten; on the second day, you’ll be able to walk on your own; on the third day, you’ll be lively and energetic.”
“My name is Ji Yuan. I am a cultivator. I promise: as long as you don’t give up, we won’t abandon you!”
“Don’t worry about getting lost. Don’t worry about the future. The sun in the sky is the direction of our homeland.”
Ji Yuan shouted excitedly, encouraging everyone. Half of it was genuine joy, and half was because he knew what was happening. That Calamity-Bearing Human King from the Yunhua Sect was truly a role model for our kind. He actually accomplished something as monumental as reopening Heaven and Earth.
He didn’t know what the future held, but as a cultivator, he felt he should contribute his share to the Calamity-Bearing Human King.
Population—population was crucial. Over twenty thousand people in this small town might not seem like much, but if he could bring them over, it would be a great achievement.
Moreover, if there were other small towns along the way, it would be best to take them too. Even if the journey was hard, even if it was slow—this was hope.
—
Eight thousand li north of the Yunhua Sect base, at the former capital of the Sacred Raven Kingdom, five Nascent Soul Realm cultivators stood on the hundred-meter-high city wall, gazing at the bright sun in the sky.
Three of them had just advanced from the Golden Core Realm.
So they naturally knew what was going on.
Watching the frenzied city behind them and the joyous people outside, a flicker of excitement passed through their eyes.
“The Blood Cloud will probably cover this place again in seven days.”
One of them spoke. He was now one of the city’s leaders because back then, it was his father—a Divine Transformation Realm expert—who, by risking his life, managed to kill two Ghost Shadows, ultimately overthrowing the Sacred Raven Kingdom and destroying the Evil God Cult.
After that battle, the original population of two hundred thousand in the capital was reduced to just over seventy thousand.
Recently, they had been living in fear, afraid that the Evil God’s Divine Decree or divine punishment would descend.
Instead of divine punishment, the sun came out.
“Yes, no mistake. Although the Blood Cloud’s density will greatly decrease then, it still can’t compare to basking in sunlight all day,” another Nascent Soul cultivator sighed.
“Just now, I sensed the Heaven and Earth Spirit—it seemed like Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy was forming. Did any of you sense it?”
“Correct. There must be a huge change over there. I want to go. What do you all think?”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. It’s likely the work of those surviving cultivators. Even though we are also cultivators, our hands are stained with their blood. If we go over, we might face retaliation.”
“But opportunities wait for no one. If we miss it, it’ll be too late.”
The Nascent Soul cultivators fell silent. Their hearts were as clear as mirrors.
“Let’s take all seventy thousand people. Gather everyone we can along the way. Take boats and head south. No matter if those cultivators want to retaliate or whatever, it’s better than staying here waiting to die.”
“Right. With sunlight shining, ordinary people can also travel in the wild. We have waterways here. Let’s prepare for three days, set out in three days, and in seven days we should be able to enter that eternally sunny region.”
“Let’s not delay. Start preparing now. By the way, tell your subordinates to treat the Vegetable People better. Stop killing randomly. And don’t call them Vegetable People anymore. In chaotic times, these ordinary folks aren’t very useful, but once the world stabilizes, they become an important foundation for the Fortune of Heaven and Earth.”
“Understood. It’s not easy—we’ve been beasts for too long, but finally we can be human again.”
“Actually, we are all Vegetable People. We’re just deceiving ourselves.”
“Enough said. When we get there, with a population of over a hundred thousand, five Nascent Souls, over sixty Golden Cores, and over a thousand in Foundation Building—with that kind of power, what do you think those people will do?”
“Exactly, population. Let’s split up and go to other cities. We have waterways anyway. We can carry fewer supplies but bring more people. With this many people in hand, maybe we can even rebuild our respective sects.”