After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

The bamboo grove suddenly fell silent.

All that remained was the sound of the wind whistling through the bamboo leaves.

"Don't ascend..." Lin Chu repeated softly.

Lin Zhentian nodded.

"From then on, everything gradually connected."

"The Immortal Realm is definitely not a benevolent place."

"But at the time, there was too little information, and nobody knew what was up there."

"Moreover, it doesn't seem so easy for those above to come down."

"Otherwise, with the strength of the Immortal Realm, the Spirit Realm simply couldn't stop it."

"Later on, gradually, no one dared to ascend anymore."

At this point, a dark look appeared in Lin Zhentian's eyes.

"And so, an era passed."

"That is, two eras ago."

"Suddenly, a crack appeared in the celestial realm from within."

"Countless strange-looking things came down."

"They are all species we have never seen before."

"There are human forms, animal forms, and many more forms that we cannot describe at all."

"We call it..."

"Soul Devourer Clan".

Lin Chu's pupils contracted: "The Spirit Devouring Clan."

"That's right," Ji Hongxuan replied, "Their name is the Spirit Devouring Clan, but they don't cultivate spiritual power."

"They don't rely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for cultivation, but on something called 'spiritual essence'."

"What is this spiritual essence?"

"Spirit comes from the soul."

"Moreover, only intelligent living souls can produce spiritual resonance."

Lin Chu and Ao Tianxin's expressions changed simultaneously.

Lin Chu slowly spoke: "So, they cultivate by consuming living beings?"

"Not bad." Lin Zhentian's voice was chilling. "From cultivators to mortals, they all possess spiritual energy."

"The spiritual energy of mortals is scarce, but their numbers are vast, while the spiritual energy of cultivators is richer the higher their cultivation level."

"Therefore, for the Soul Devouring Clan, mortals are food and cultivators are nourishing foods."

He paused, then continued, "Moreover, these monsters are far more than just monsters that devour spiritual energy."

"While they devour the spiritual essence of cultivators, they also absorb the soul imprint of those cultivators into their bodies."

"After being ingested, their essence will remember the form, characteristics, some of the talents and abilities, and even the understanding of the laws of the devoured, and refine them for its own use."

"To put it simply, it's just one sentence."

"They can become whatever they eat."

A fine chill ran down Lin Chu's back.

Ao Tianxin's face also turned slightly pale.

Ji Hongxuan added, "After absorbing the spiritual essence of mortals, they can use the spiritual essence of mortals as seeds to nurture new individuals within their bodies."

"The new individual inherits the core characteristics of the parent."

"You should understand what this means."

Lin Chu said in a low voice, "As long as there are people, they will be able to continuously reproduce their species."

"That makes sense." Ji Hongxuan nodded.

Lin Zhentian gazed at the bamboo forest in the distance, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

"In the first millennium after the rift appeared, the nine spirit realms almost completely collapsed."

"Especially in places with many ordinary people, the entire area can often become a dead zone within a few nights."

"Mortals were wiped out in blood, but the city remained intact."

Hearing this, Lin Chu and Ao Tianxin exchanged a glance.

Daozhou Liguo, an intact city, and people who vanished into thin air.

"At that time, the Spirit Realm had no unified defense line. The major forces fought their own battles and were repeatedly defeated by the Spirit Devouring Clan."

"One after another, the great world, the middle world, and the small world were completely swallowed up, and many races became extinct."

"Later, the nine spirit realms had no choice but to put aside all their grudges and form the Spirit Realm Alliance."

"From then on, we truly entered a tug-of-war that lasted for nearly half an era."

Ao Tianxin couldn't help but ask, "And then what happened?"

Lin Zhentian continued, "This war, which lasted for nearly half an era, was ultimately changed in course by a sage."

"That senior came from the Primordial Spirit Realm and was at the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm, but he was no match for the Soul Devouring Clan, who were at the very beginning stage."

"Therefore, he exhausted all his life's knowledge and created a secret technique."

"Using this secret technique, one can forcibly push the peak Immortal Emperor realm to the Primordial Beginning realm."

Ji Hongxuan sighed: "The price is that there will be no possibility of further breakthroughs, and one's life will be stuck at the Primordial Beginning stage."

"That sage used this technique to nearly perish together with a Soul Devourer in the middle stage of the Primordial Realm."

"This battle gave hope to the entire spirit world."

"After that, more and more senior cultivators chose to voluntarily abandon their cultivation path, forcefully improve their cultivation, and exchange their lives for lives."

Ji Hongxuan took over the conversation.

"This is an extremely brutal war of attrition."

"The number of casualties among the Nine Realms Alliance is simply impossible to count."

"Dozens of experts at the Primordial Beginning Realm have perished, most of whom were forcibly brought to this level using secret techniques."

"The losses among Immortal Emperor-level beings would be even greater."

At this point, a complex look flashed in Ji Hongxuan's eyes.

In the end, the spirit world won.

The crowd remained silent for a long time.

Lin Zhentian continued, "After the war ended, the remaining top-tier forces of the Nine Realms gathered at the rift."

"With his last strength, he placed a suppressing seal over the crack."

"A thousand years later, a city was built where the rift was sealed."

"That city is called the City of the Beginning."

There was respect in his voice.

"Primordial City is an independent plane outside the Nine Spirit Realms, and is not in any realm."

"Because too many Primordial Realm ancestors died building this city, that place was named after it."

At this point, Lin Zhentian looked at Lin Chu.

"Now you know why there's a saying that the Immortal Emperor will never appear in this era?"

Lin Chu took a deep breath.

"Because most of the Immortal Emperors are either dead or guarding the Primordial City."

"Yes." Lin Zhentian nodded.

Lin Chu sat there, remaining silent for a long time.

His complexion gradually turned somewhat unpleasant.

He thought of Earth.

The "Holy Mother" in the Bharata Forbidden Zone, along with the endless, bizarrely shaped monsters and the mortals who vanished from the entire city.

Is it...

Lin Lan and Ji Muwan, who were standing to the side, remained silent.

They had heard these stories before, but each time they heard them, they were still moved by that era.

Lin Zhentian exhaled and picked up his teacup to take a sip.

"So the situation Chu'er encountered this time is very similar to a fish that escaped from the net."

"This isn't the first time; the last time something like this happened was ten thousand years ago."

"However, there's no need to worry too much. Those who can leak out from there can't be very high-level cultivators in the end."

"We will report this matter to the City of the Beginning."

"They will send someone down to investigate."

Lin Chu nodded.

"Grandson understands."

Ji Hongxuan looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"You're lucky, kid, to run into something like this."

Lin Chu was speechless: "Grandpa, what kind of good luck is this?"

"Why not? Let them see it in advance so they won't be scared out of their wits later."

Lin Zhentian also laughed.

"Your grandfather is right."

"But with us here, it's not your place to worry about these things."

Lin Chu felt a warmth in her heart and nodded.

Towards the end of the conversation, Lin Chu hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Grandpa, maternal grandpa."

"Are you able to contact other spirit worlds?"

Lin Zhentian raised an eyebrow: "Yes, so what?"

"Could you help me find out if any sword cultivators have ascended from a great world called Xuantian Realm in the past few hundred years?"

"Her name is Jian Li."

"Jian Li?" Ji Hongxuan repeated, thought for a moment, and then showed a hint of surprise.

"That little girl with the innate sword body?"

Lin Chu was taken aback, not expecting that her grandfather knew.

"Do you know him?"

"I don't know him." Ji Hongxuan shook his head. "It's just that decades ago, there was some news from the Origin Spirit Realm that the Myriad Swords Divine Sect had produced an extraordinary swordsmanship talent named Jian Li."

"In just a few hundred years, he reached the realm of true immortals."

"Now he has gone far on the road to becoming an emperor, his sword surpasses all the geniuses of his generation, and his status as an immortal emperor is a foregone conclusion."

Lin Chu's eyes lit up instantly.

"The Primordial Spirit Realm, the Emperor's Path..."

"Thank you, Grandpa and Grandfather."

"Alright, alright, is there any need to thank me for something so small?"

"I'll have someone stationed there bring you back a detailed document later."

Lin Zhentian waved his hand, giving Lin Chu a look of both disdain and doting affection.

"Come here and play a game with Grandpa."

Lin Chu nodded with a smile.

"it is good."