Chapter 130: Jiao Zhenqing (4)

The Nascent Soul cultivators were jolted to their senses. The terror they believed to have put behind them surged back, suddenly consuming them.

“Ah…”

“Th-this is…!”

“What’s happening?!”

“It c-can’t be.”

Rumble-

The ground beneath them quaked, transforming into a crimson, swamp-like morass.

“Get away!”

“Use your Flying Dharma Tools!”

“Ugh! My feet are stuck!”

Some leaped high in a panicked bid for escape, but others found their feet trapped in the viscous earth.

“H-Help me!”

“My Spiritual Power is being drained!”

“Argh!”

Those who managed to climb on their Flying Dharma Tools barely had a moment to sigh in relief before fear struck them again.

Boom-

A chilling red shockwave burst from the deep pit where the True Immortal lay buried.

“!!”

It’s often said that human greed knows no bounds, and history is doomed to repeat  itself.

Wh-where are those people from earlier?!

They finally grasped the situation, but it was too late. As if oblivious to their earlier disgraceful actions, the cultivators hastily searched for Karlstein and his companions, only to find they had already vanished.

“N-no!”

“Aargh!”

The spiritual pressure, far more overwhelming than before, crushed their breath and sent violent tremors through their bodies.

***Meanwhile, Karlstein watched them on a holographic screen. Expression cold as ice, he exuded an unapproachable aura of authority. His earlier playful demeanor seemed like an illusion, so natural was this shift.

Behind him stood a muscular figure and two women, their gazes also fixed on the screen. They were just as unmoved.

But one other woman could not hide her urgency.

“O-Overseer Ga! Please show mercy!”

“Hmm…”

It was Jin Shihong, the Master of Plum Shadow Pavilion’s headquarters.

A Mid-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator pleading with a Core Formation cultivator was a sight unimaginable even for a fortune. However…

“If we lose them too, the Northern cultivation world will regress by thousands of years!”

To Jin Shihong, the Overseer’s lower realm did not matter at all. She had witnessed his power firsthand and knew just how outrageously strong he was.

But his response was cold.

“Thousands of years?”

Jin Shihong flinched but pressed on with conviction, knowing what the outcome would be if this continued.

“The Nascent Soul cultivators aren’t just powerful—they are the pillars of knowledge and experience that uphold the entire cultivation world!”

Yet Karlstein remained apathetic.

“It didn’t really seem that way to me though?”

Maxien and Camilla added their voices in agreement.

“Indeed. I question the worth of those arrogant, greedy old monsters…”

“…Me too.”

“Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll follow whatever His Majesty commands.”

“Hmm…”

The atmosphere was not what Jin Shihong had anticipated. She hurriedly resumed her argument.

“With most of our forces lost in the Great Bloodshed and the recent battle, if we suffer any more losses, the cultivation world might not survive. Reaching Nascent Soul isn’t something that can be done through talent or treasures alone. The cultivation world needs them. Even you, who reached Core Formation in under a decade, are stuck at a bottleneck for the next stage, aren’t you? Please reconsider!”

“…”

Her words were laced with desperation, underpinned by genuine concern for the Northern cultivation world. She was even implying that Karlstein needed the help of the older generation to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

“Is that so…”

It seemed as if Jin Shihong’s sincerity had shone through. Karlstein’s rigid expression, unchanged since their return to the ship, softened slightly.

Jin Shihong felt a flicker of relief. But then…

“If the rise and fall of the cultivation world depends on such pathetic creatures…”

Karlstein’s freezing words cut through the air.

“Then it’s better to destroy it and build anew.”

“…!”

Jin Shihong’s eyes flew wide open.

W-what?

“Pavilion Master. Well… I do understand. You were born and raised here, so your perspective is naturally limited.”

“Per…spective?”

“But we can’t stay like this forever.”

Jin Shihong struggled to grasp his words, but his meaning was clear. His icy gaze locked onto her.

“They’re better off not existing.”

“…!”

“Especially in the new era to come.”

Despite falling speechless under his unwavering stare, Jin Shihong could not find it in herself to blame Karlstein. She could only pity the foolish cultivators.

Those idiots! So steeped in greed! So blind!‘

No further pleas to save them left her lips. Above all, his mention of a new era carried an ominous weight to it.

An era… even newer than this? Impossible.

Jin Shihong could not even begin to fathom what kind of world Karlstein envisioned.

***Truthfully, from Karlstein’s perspective, not taking direct action was already a mercy.

Of course, beyond that…

He could tell from the actions of those cultivators that the cultivation world had stagnated.

It was an excessively closed-off world, where the law of the jungle and opportunism ruled. A world bloated with bluster and barbarism. It was a wonder that it had maintained its system this long, clinging to the outdated notion of individual inheritance of power.

Indeed. Such a worthless system could never satisfy the Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

Whatever the case, purging the old guard is a necessary step to overhaul this system.

Karlstein had hesitated slightly to take action himself, but the emergence of the True Immortal had turned out to be fortuitous.

“I’ll rebuild it from the ground up.”

He would craft a system of logic and order, one that suited him.

“Not all Nascent Soul cultivators were like those wretches.”

The greedy ones had stayed to confront him on the battlefield, while the others had left, thankful to survive.

And that’s why they’re unnecessary.

There was no need to spare those who would only sow discord in a cultivation world poised for reform.

-Aaargh!

-S-spare me!

-Agh!”

-Please save us, Honorable One!

The screen showed the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators dying, unable to escape. A towering giant was laying total waste to its surroundings—a giant of blood with three heads and six arms.

Its Spiritual Power was beyond imagination, so overwhelming that it would be rash to confront it using an Avatar.

Swoosh- Rumble-

As the three-headed giant took a step, an entire mountain crumbled to nothingness.

ROOOAAR-

The destruction incarnate unleashed a monstrous roar, turning the earth and sky red as space itself rippled around it.

“Mm. Maxien, Camilla. Can you two handle that?”

The two assessed the situation seriously at Karlstein’s question.

“…It might be difficult as I am.”

“Although not im-impossible…”

Their responses lacked confidence.

“I see.”

ROOOAAR-

The giant’s roar resonated even within the space battleship, causing it to vibrate.

“Hmm…”

Yet none among them felt tense—except for the shell-shocked Jin Shihong.

Karlstein fiddled with a red button.

“This was still in the testing phase…”

But I guess it can’t be helped.

Click.

As he pressed the button, the stealth function of the space battleship disengaged, and it began to vibrate slightly.

Vooom-

I never said I only got conventional weapons, okay?

A darkness that absorbed all light condensed at the main cannon of the ship.

VOOOM-

The Beholder was part of the Micro Black Hole weapon series.

A beam of death shot from the main cannon, racing toward the giant.

FLASH-

An explosion of blinding light erupted.

GRRRVZZZKT-

The silent flash engulfed and annihilated everything.

“Mhm. The power’s a bit underwhelming though.”

BOOM.

Where the giant had stood, only a vast wasteland remained.

***This is insane…

Jin Shihong knew the Overseer was no ordinary person, but even so… she was rendered speechless as she surveyed the ruined battlefield.

What in heavens… is this… technique?

The power was so absurd that mere Nascent Soul cultivators would be wiped out of existence just by being nearby.

Hearing Karlstein hum a cheerful tune, Jin Shihong felt a chill.

It doesn’t even seem like he exerted much effort…

All he did was press a red button, and the True Immortal, who had destroyed the Southern Continent and was about to devour the Northern Continent, was gone.

….

And his subordinates watched it all as if it were only natural. Just who were they?

Jin Shihong had sensed something different about him, especially with his new technologies, but this felt alien. Yes. Like the legendary Hunshi.

Ahh…

Now she understood why he was not particularly interested in breaking through cultivation realms. With artifacts capable of such power at the press of a button, who would dedicate themselves to cultivation for strength?

[This is… unbelievable…]

A voice emerged from the wooden puppet beside Karlstein. It was one of the few beings who could sympathize with Jin Shihong’s feelings.

[Haah…]

The wooden puppet’s sigh was all too relatable.

Yet only an indifferent voice came from the Overseer.

“Looks like we won’t need to bring out your Genesis, eh old man??”

[…Shoo the idea. If you keep summoning those… absurd things of yours, even Genesis will not be able to handle it.]

What’s he on about? Does this old man still have more to show?

“Can’t we just make another one?”

[Lunatic! That’s not some disposable item or consumable! Just think about raising your realm! You must refine Genesis yourself!]

“Well… I’ll start by enhancing it with the stake I got this time.”

[Oh, my head…]

Jin Shihong was dumbfounded, feeling as if she had stepped into a different world. Who was this wooden puppet he called old man?

“Then let’s wrap this up quickly. If we unify and manage the entire cultivation world… Turn it all into an elixir field… Assign dedicated researchers to cultivation techniques…  As for the Community… We’ll have plenty on our plates.”

Jin Shihong was bewildered by everything he said, but oblivious to her thoughts, Karlstien turned to his subordinates with a grin.

“It’s time you guys also get to work, yeah?”

“Eh? B-but it’s our rare vacation…”

“Camilla. Don’t whine to His Majesty.”

“Y-Your Majesty…”

For some reason, Jin Shihong felt a growing fear of the new era Karlstein intended to forge.