“The restriction in the cellar isolates all spiritual energy from heaven and earth, sealing off all of my cultivation. I have no strength to open the heavy stone doors. For the past two years, I haven’t been able to nourish my body with true essence.”
“This body is at its limit; it won’t last through the year.”
“Although there are still two Grass Returning Elixirs left, my body is too weak now. Taking them would do more harm than good.”
“So, Master, this might be the last letter I leave for you.”
“Master, I miss you very much, and I also miss Senior Brother and the others.”
“I deeply regret not insisting on leaving with you all back then. These hundred years alone have been too painful.”
“Even though you told me before you left that this journey was fraught with danger and likely fatal, I still believe that you and Senior Brother survived and found a way to resolve the Great Void Catastrophe. It’s just that you went too far away and couldn’t come back to fetch me.”
“The Heavenly Dao is truly unfair. Our Tai Xuan Sect has always acted righteously, repeatedly repelling the Nine Abyss Demons from the Sumeru Realm and saving countless lives. Without us, the entire Sumeru Realm would have turned to scorched earth.”
“But why, why did our Tai Xuan Sect have to face the Great Void Catastrophe? Where did we go wrong? Should we have allowed the Nine Abyss to invade the Sumeru Realm? Should we have let those evil sects bully the weak? Is it because we acted too righteously that we deserve to be bullied by those villains?”
“Master, I am unwilling.”
“I would rather die at the hands of the Nine Abyss Demons than die so miserably underground, under this Great Void Catastrophe.”
“Master, why is the Heavenly Dao so unfair?”
“Just in case.”
“In case you don’t come back.”
“In case the first person to discover this place is someone else, I leave the next part for any stranger who may find this letter.”
“Stranger, although I don’t know if you are good or evil, since you found this letter, it means we are fated to meet. So, I have a favor to ask.”
“Please convey a message to your world.”
“The Great Void Catastrophe is not over. Do not heed the whispers of the void, do not disregard the laws of the Great Dao, or the Great Void Catastrophe will descend upon your world, turning it and you into ashes of the Heavenly Dao.”
“Additionally, you must exterminate all cultivators with Mortal Bones and prohibit their cultivation.”
“Although there is no concrete proof, according to the divinations of the Tai Xuan Sect’s ancestors, the existence of these Mortal Bone cultivators violates the laws of the Great Dao and is likely the root cause of the Great Void Catastrophe.”
Though it was just a short letter, it had a tremendous impact on Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu.
The Sumeru Realm, the Tai Xuan Sect, the Nine Abyss Demon Domain, the Great Void Catastrophe—especially the last line about exterminating all Mortal Bone cultivators—left the two in prolonged silence.
“I don’t believe it,” Lin Buyu suddenly spoke after a long while.
“Don’t believe what?” Xu Taiping looked up at her.
“Everything in this letter,” Lin Buyu replied.
“You can’t just dismiss everything because of one line about exterminating all Mortal Bone cultivators,” Lin Buyan jumped in.
“And you are not allowed to believe it either, or you’ll never come out again,” Lin Buyu ordered Lin Buyan.
“Alright, alright, whatever you say,” Lin Buyan replied, her tone full of helplessness.
Hearing their conversation, Xu Taiping smiled, feeling deeply touched.
“But, Sister Buyan, have you ever heard of this Great Void Catastrophe, or the Sumeru Realm and the Tai Xuan Sect mentioned in the letter?”
Although Xu Taiping was looking at Lin Buyu, he was asking Lin Buyan.
“I only know that our world is called the Shangqing Realm, and the place we live in is called Zhenwu. Besides Zhenwu, the Shangqing Realm also includes five other regions: Youyun, Jueming, Xuanhuang, Cangying, and Chenglong.”
“But I’ve never heard of the Sumeru Realm, let alone the Tai Xuan Sect of the Sumeru Realm. As for the idea that Mortal Bones are the root cause of the Great Void Catastrophe, that’s unheard of.”
Lin Buyan answered truthfully.
Hearing this, Xu Taiping felt slightly relieved.
According to Lin Buyan, at least in the Shangqing Realm, in Zhenwu, Mortal Bones were not ostracized by the cultivation world.
“So, the Tai Xuan Sect might be an unknown sect from another realm?”
He confirmed with Lin Buyan again.
“Who knows? According to some ancient texts I’ve read, Zhenwu is the lowest and smallest of the six regions. Above it are Youyun, Jueming, Xuanhuang, Cangying, and Chenglong, each one larger and higher than the last. It’s said that if one can reach Chenglong, there might be a way to the outside world.”
“But even exploring this small Zhenwu might take us a lifetime, let alone the other regions.”
Lin Buyan said with a tone full of melancholy.
Xu Taiping seemed to understand.
“Maybe I can ask Fairy Lingyue about these things when I get back,” he thought to himself.
“But there is an ancient legend that might be somewhat related to this,” Lin Buyan suddenly added.
“What is it?” Xu Taiping asked, puzzled.
“It is said that in ancient times, humans didn’t know how to cultivate. The entire Shangqing Realm was ruled by a few extremely powerful ancient beasts, and humans were merely their blood food.”
“Until one day, six massive stone tablets fell from the sky, inscribed with three hundred original cultivation methods. These methods are the source of all our current cultivation techniques.”
“With these methods, humans gradually freed themselves from the rule of the ancient beasts and established the current human-dominated world.”
“Besides the three hundred original methods, the end of the stone tablets also had an unrelated inscription: ‘Spiritual Bones in the world are divided into four grades: First-grade Heavenly Spirit Bone, Second-grade Gold Spirit Bone, Third-grade Black Spirit Bone, and Fourth-grade White Spirit Bone. All others are Mortal Bones, unfit for cultivation.’”