The male supporting character was actually myself.

Stepping into that spatial rift and entering the secret realm will allow me to escape my current predicament and thrive, becoming even stronger...

"No!" Lin Xucheng grew more and more resentful as he thought about it. He lay on the summit and watched helplessly as the other disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect filed in. A moment later, the spatial rift closed completely and disappeared. His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and in the end, he could only slam his fist into the cold stone surface.

The fluffy little dumpling, feeling dizzy, tucked its ears together and whimpered, "The script team gave you a chance, but you were useless. Just stay here and atone for your sins. Hmm, if you could act as a treasure-hunting mouse and bring benefits to others, maybe you'd even accumulate some good karma, meow~"

"Yanxuzi, you stole my opportunity!" Lin Xucheng roared like a wild beast, "The day I ascend will be the day you are reduced to ashes!"

After dispatching his disciples to the secret realm and closing Lingya Peak, Yan Xuzi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. After thinking for a moment, he carefully made a hand seal with his right hand and tried to glimpse the secrets of heaven.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a look of bewilderment on his face. "If that's the case, is it possible to reverse the situation? Judging from today's events, intercepting the opportunity of the chosen one doesn't seem so difficult..."

Yan Xuzi's eyes gradually brightened from confusion, and his tone was filled with joy, "As long as we keep a close eye on him and turn the opportunity of the Chosen One into an opportunity for disciples of the Free and Unfettered Sect, the glory of our Free and Unfettered Sect is just around the corner!"

"Meow? Not bad, not bad. As expected of a sect leader, you do have some skill and bold ideas." The little white cat that hopped over nodded seriously when it heard him say this, covered its mouth and laughed, "Don't worry, with my cute and soft little white cat and the wise and powerful host assisting me, I guarantee that the world where only Lin Xucheng is injured will be achieved!"

Apart from Lin Xucheng, who was filled with hatred but was suppressed at the top of Lingya and unable to move, everyone else deviated from the original plot and embarked on a new path in life.

For example, the demon princess Feng Li'er.

The Demon King's most beloved youngest daughter aspires to become an alchemist, which makes her father both gratified and heartbroken.

I am gratified that my good daughter has finally found her own path, and she is not afraid of the hardships, even when she has to go to the secret realm to cleanse her spiritual roots, she is unwavering.

Feeling sorry for her, who might have to endure a long period of torment in the secret realm before succeeding, he found a lot of rare treasures to bless her and prevent the cleansing of her spiritual roots from being too painful.

"If Li'er can really become an apprentice and learn alchemy, she will be the first alchemist in the history of our demon race!"

"With the little princess's talent, she will surely become the most outstanding alchemist!"

"If the demon race had alchemists, that would be wonderful! We would no longer have to spend exorbitant sums begging and pleading with human alchemists to refine pills!"

"Since the little princess wishes to cultivate through alchemy, this old man will naturally present her with a generous gift—all of them are thousand-year-old medicinal plants. Take them and practice with them for now..."

…………

When the members of the demon royal family learned that Feng Li'er was going to become an alchemist, they were all overjoyed. In order to have the advantage of being close to her, many elders even contributed spiritual plants produced in their own territories, waiting for her to practice her skills.

Given the setting of the mission world, the demon race has never produced an alchemist.

They either went to the human world to buy pills at high prices, or they relied on their powerful demon beast bodies to swallow spiritual plants whole, which meant they couldn't fully absorb the medicinal effects and had to withstand the impact of the medicinal power.

If one could truly become an alchemist, all the problems would be solved.

If Feng Li'er so desires, she could even use the vast and abundant resources of the demon realm to refine numerous spiritual plants into pills and sell them at high prices, thus making the demon royal family even more powerful!

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect, who seized the opportunity from Lin Xucheng, the chosen one of destiny, are working together as a team to try and gain more benefits from the ruins and secret realm.

After this trip to the ruins and secret realm, most people will gain a lot of benefits and advance one level. They may even obtain the inheritance left by the original owner and become a new overlord.

The search for the old site in the lower realm also went smoothly.

"My Lord, this is the ruins of Tonghua City, the former capital of the Great Yan Dynasty." Relying on the map and his memory, the middle-aged man finally led the immortal ship to a desolate place after arriving at the Great Yan Dynasty.

If it weren't for the few remaining, desolate sections of the city wall, Jiang Chen wouldn't have been able to tell where the city was.

Seeing his hometown now completely desolate and uninhabited due to war, the middle-aged man was clearly heartbroken. He stepped off the ship, touched the mottled city wall, and murmured, "Everything is gone, how could it be like this..."

Everyone was mentally prepared upon learning that the Great Rock Dynasty had perished.

But no one expected it to be this tragic!

"Even if a dynasty is completely divided up, a perfectly good city shouldn't be razed to the ground, right?" Jiang Chen frowned slightly and asked, "Wars on the Yonghe Continent emphasize annihilation?"

Daoist Ruishi hurriedly stepped forward to explain, "Your Majesty, you misunderstand. This place is not so inhumane. Tens of thousands of years ago, Yonghe Continent was a blessed land with abundant spiritual energy and many people ascended to immortality. Even if mortals waged wars and cultivators from various dynasties participated, they would at most fight for territory and would not slaughter ordinary people."

"Although spiritual energy is becoming increasingly scarce and there are fewer cultivators and fewer people ascending to immortality, the foundation built over hundreds of thousands of years is still there. People still understand the principle that people are the foundation of a nation, and even in times of war, the entire city will not be wiped out."

"Yes, when the Great Rock Dynasty was divided up, I didn't hear that the war was so fierce that a city was razed to the ground."

"Tonghua City was not a small city in the former Dayan Dynasty. What happened?"

…………

The many cultivators on the immortal ship were also quite curious and whispered among themselves.

Jiang Chen took out the bronze mirror to "return to the past" and started tracing back the events based on the currently known clues.

So, to the astonishment of the many cultivators from the lower realms, a huge light screen shone from the bronze mirror and reflected into the air, with light flowing and shadows moving within it, which was quite shocking.

After a moment of chaotic interplay of light, the final image was revealed.

This is a bustling and prosperous city, with streets and alleys teeming with carriages and people, full of the vibrant atmosphere of everyday life.

The scene then shifts to a thin boy of about eight or nine years old inside a high-walled compound.

"Lin Xucheng!" The middle-aged man exclaimed in astonishment, pointing at the light screen, "God, that's the Lin clan's courtyard, and that young man is Lin Xucheng!"

Young Lin Xucheng was fair-skinned and handsome, and although he was young, he had already shown the sharp edges of a refined scoundrel.

He was watching with envy as the young men of his clan sparred in the arena when a slightly older boy saw him and waved enthusiastically, "Acheng, come and have a go! We're not going to fight seriously, just sparring."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xucheng, who had initially looked envious, turned pale, shook his head without answering, and turned to leave.

The young men, unaware that their opponents were already angry, were still shouting and clamoring for another round.

"Hmph! So what if they publicly mocked me for not being able to cultivate!" Young Lin Xucheng spat inwardly, his eyes filled with venom as he glared at his clan brothers who were still playing around with the techniques they had just learned. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Why me of all people! Heaven is unfair! It gave me the chance to be born into a family of cultivators, but why did it deprive me of the talent for cultivation!"

He ran all the way back to his room and lay on the tatami mat, still seething with resentment.

A faint voice suddenly echoed from the void, "Little child, the entire clan has treated you quite well, why are you so angry?"

Startled, Lin Xucheng sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who are you? Who is toying with me? They are only kind to me out of pity for the weak. I can't cultivate, so I'm not their competitor!"

"Stop looking, you can't see me." The ethereal voice asked with a hint of seduction, "Then do you want to possess extraordinary cultivation talent? If you can give up some unimportant things, you can have it!"

The boy didn't hesitate for long before agreeing to the request of the remnant soul to attach itself to him.

Then, following the other party's instructions, he quickly set up an altar in the room. He devoutly worshipped and chanted, "Lin Xucheng is willing to offer sacrifices to the entire clan in order to step onto the path of immortality!"

A chilling wind blew, sending shivers down the spines of the onlookers.

A cloud of black smoke, resembling a skull, rampaged recklessly, absorbing all the life force of the defenseless Lin clan before finally entering the body of the young Lin Xucheng.

He was clearly in great pain, and after gritting his teeth and persevering for a long time, a unique aura of a cultivator soared into the sky!

By sacrificing his entire clan in exchange for the opportunity to embark on the path of immortality and cultivate, he absorbed immense spiritual power and vitality, causing his momentum to rise steadily until he completed the Foundation Establishment process, at which point it finally stopped.

"Good! Excellent!" The aged, ethereal voice praised repeatedly, "You completely severed kinship from the very beginning of your cultivation, laying a very good foundation for the path of ruthlessness."

"I, Wu Chen, will impart to you the True Scripture of Heartlessness. As long as you listen to me and cultivate diligently, with your character, you will surely ascend to the Upper Realm and become the Heartless God Emperor!"

As the young Lin Xucheng felt the power coursing through his body, he smiled slightly and said softly, "Master, rest assured, I will definitely avenge you in the future."

Let us, master and disciple, join forces to kill the Holy Master and destroy the Heavenly Dao Academy!

At that time, the sacred master's immortal bones will be removed to reshape your body, allowing you to once again embark on the path of immortality and ascend to immortality.

"Good! If you and I, master and disciple, join forces, we will surely be invincible!"

An old man and a young man's arrogant laughter echoed through the courtyard littered with corpses, creating a stark contrast between death and excitement.

Then the scene shifts to Tonghua City many years later, where war has arrived.

Many people on the street stopped to talk about the war.

Despite the Great Rock Dynasty's repeated defeats, most people did not feel a great sense of crisis. After all, for ordinary people, a change of dynasty was at most a change in the people in charge of administration and tax collection; it was the cultivators and the upper-level officials who were about to suffer defeat who were anxious.

Tonghua City is neither an important pass nor a strategically important location near the capital. The war is unlikely to result in a massacre of the entire city. Everyone should just focus on doing their own thing, ensuring they have enough food, and wait for the war to subside before continuing their peaceful lives.

There were no enemy troops at the city gates, no lingering flames of war; it was a perfectly ordinary day with a gentle breeze and bright sunshine.

However, a young man with a handsome appearance and a cold expression suddenly appeared above Tonghua City, flying on a sword.

"It's Lin Xucheng again!"

Before everyone could recover from the shock of seeing ten-year-old Lin Xucheng sacrifice his entire clan to embark on his cultivation journey, they gasped in surprise upon seeing the young man in his twenties.

Lin Xucheng, already in his twenties, looked down on everyone with an air of superiority. He lowered his eyelids slightly and sneered, "As expected, Tonghua City, as my hometown, still retains many ties."

If that's the case, then the only way to achieve enlightenment is through utter destruction.

As soon as he finished speaking, he released his aura of power, sealing off the spiritual energy of the entire city.

"I was unaware of your presence, senior! I have failed to greet you properly!" A cultivator in the city immediately sensed the danger and hurriedly spoke up: "I am the city lord of Tonghua City, and this senior at the Dao Integration Realm..."

Before the other person could finish speaking, Lin Xucheng closed his eyes and snorted coldly, "Annoying."

With a flick of his right hand, his sleeves fluttered as he unleashed a fatal blow using his Dao Integration Realm strength!

"Boom!"

Smoke and dust billowed, and the earth trembled slightly. After a few breaths, he swept away the dust with his sleeve and looked at Tonghua City, which had been reduced to ashes and left without a trace of grass, with only a few dilapidated city walls remaining. He nodded with a satisfied smile and said, "Completely severing ties and entanglements is very good."

The light reflected by the bronze mirror flickered a few times and then disappeared completely. Jiang Chen silently put it away and sighed heavily.

The numerous cultivators who witnessed this scene fell silent in fear.

Even cultivators with stable minds were deeply shocked to witness the sacrifice of their entire clan and the annihilation of a city with a wave of their hand. How could there be such cold-blooded people in the world, who would destroy an entire clan and treat the lives of all the mortals in the city as mere ants, and yet still be able to ascend to the upper realm?

How unfair is Haotian!

Chapter Sixteen: Do You Want to Go to the Upper Realm?

"Humans are as insignificant as ants, their lives as worthless as grass; Heaven and Earth are ruthless!"

"The Heartless Scripture and the Ruthless Path—it's truly terrifying that such terrifying techniques exist in the world."

"The lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Tonghua City have been lost because of Lin Xucheng!"

"But how come such a person can ascend to the upper realm? Is the Heavenly Emperor heartless, treating all things as mere straw dogs? Is this a tacit encouragement to use any means necessary to achieve ascension?"

…………

The cultivators whispered amongst themselves, and Jiang Chen heard all the whispers clearly. He frowned slightly and said loudly, "Lin Xucheng sacrificed his entire clan, committing countless sins that Heaven cannot tolerate."

He is now imprisoned in the upper realm, waiting for me to investigate his past, return and dismember him, and even have his soul completely shattered by heavenly lightning, so that he will never be reincarnated.

Fellow Daoists, please remember this: Heaven's net is vast, its meshes are wide, yet nothing escapes it. Even if one commits sins in the mortal realm and manages to conceal them for a time, one cannot escape them forever. Debts must always be repaid.

Upon hearing this, the cultivators from the lower realms all nodded in agreement.

The celestial boat set sail and soon arrived at the former site of Qinjian Manor.

"Welcome, Your Excellency!" Local cultivators who had heard the news were already waiting at the foot of the mountain.

Qinjian Manor was, after all, a good place for cultivation. After its decline, it was quickly incorporated into the territory of other cultivation forces.