Watching the Mountain

Upon hearing the news, a single thought surfaced in Xu Ran’s mind:

’Just how much is that guy Ye Shan still hiding?’

According to the descriptions, the few Secret Realms that had fallen in the territory of the Evil and Demon Races showed traces of different civilizations, and their overall cultivation systems also varied.

The Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm was no stranger to otherworldly civilizations. After all, the Evil and Demon Races had once been such civilizations themselves. However, so much time had passed that they had long since settled in this land, making them practically indistinguishable from the native inhabitants.

It was said that the Evil and Demon Races themselves no longer remembered where their roots lay. Everything had been lost to the river of time.

A total of five Secret Realms had fallen. Each was comparable to a small world; the smallest was the size of half a domain, while the largest was comparable to two.

For now, the Evil and Demon Races had only managed a preliminary survey and had not yet begun any formal exploration.

What could be confirmed for now was that the Secret Realms were still considered "beyond the heavens" and had not fully integrated with this world. The current estimate was that once the Secret Realms stabilized, they would become small worlds, attached to this one.

Hearing this news, the Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm and the Beast Race grew restless. If the Evil and Demon Races were to gain the resources of five small worlds, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The Evil and Demon Races already occupied far more territory than the Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race, and their resources were much more plentiful. If they gained five more small worlds, would there be any room left for the Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race to survive in this land?

Thus, the Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm and the Beast Race went directly to the Evil and Demon Races and demanded they open their world barrier. They argued that since the Secret Realms had fallen into *this* world, they should naturally be explored by all, and the Evil and Demon Races had no right to claim them exclusively.

Naturally, the Evil and Demon Races refused their demands. They claimed the realms had fallen within their territory. Furthermore, they pointed out that according to the Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm’s own scriptures, the Immortal Ancient only considered its own lands to be "the world," while referring to the lands of the Evil and Demon Races as an "outer world."

Therefore, even though they all lived under the same sky, they did not belong to the same world. As such, these Secret Realms belonged solely to the Evil and Demon Races.

The Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race didn’t bother continuing these word games. They issued a hard-line stance: if the Evil and Demon Races didn’t open the world barrier to let them explore the Secret Realms, they would force their way through.

The Evil and Demon Races didn’t respond to the ultimatum. Instead, they dispatched their strongest experts to urgently reinforce the world barrier. Rumor had it they added more than a dozen layers of arrays, pushing it to its absolute limit—any more, and the barrier would be unable to sustain itself and collapse on its own.

However, just one day after the Evil and Demon Races finished reinforcing their barrier, another seven Secret Realms fell. This time, they landed squarely within the territories of the Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race.

The Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race were ecstatic. They proclaimed that since the Secret Realms were related to Sword Dao Ye Shan, he obviously wouldn’t favor outsiders over his own people. It seemed he had saved the best for last.

Now it was the Evil and Demon Races’ turn to be outraged. They declared that since a total of twelve Secret Realms had fallen, they should be distributed proportionally based on the territory each faction controlled.

In this world, the original distribution of territory was: the Immortal Ancient occupied the Five Domains, the Beast Race four and a half, the Evil Race eight, and the Demon Race nine and a half.

Later, the Evil and Demon Races lost a domain, which then became a New Domain for the Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race. However, even by current proportions, the Evil and Demon Races still held the larger territory.

The Immortal Ancient and the Beast Race completely ignored the cries from the Evil and Demon Races. They immediately set about reinforcing their own side of the world barrier, just as the other side had done, strengthening it to its absolute limit.

The Evil and Demon Races were left helpless. In their mad dash to reinforce the world barrier, they had only thought of defense, never considering they might one day need to dismantle it. Now, with countless arrays interlocked, disturbing one part would destabilize the whole structure; it was impossible to take down.

The very barrier they had built themselves had become an obstacle blocking their own path. The feeling was utterly infuriating.

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Every day, Xu Ran heard rumors about the Secret Realms and the ongoing arguments and standoffs between the Immortal Ancient, the Beast Race, and the Evil and Demon Races.

After listening to it all, he was left with a single impression: no matter the world, whenever truly important matters were at stake, the ones in charge always seemed like a bunch of amateurs.

The recent arguments among the leaders of the Immortal Ancient, the Beast Race, and the Evil and Demon Races felt to him like children playing house—utterly arbitrary.

Rumor had it that for some time now, the small handful of the most powerful individuals on each side had been shouting at each other across the world barrier every single day.

The "elegance" of their language was so profound it completely shattered everyone’s perception of what a powerful expert should be.

It made many people realize something. Those legendary figures Above Divinity Transformation—the so-called Land Immortals and World-Residing True Immortals, paragons of power who couldn’t be any loftier—were no different from anyone else when they got angry and started cussing. In fact, their curses were even filthier than what most people used on a daily basis.

It was said that during this period, many people in the Cultivation Realm did nothing but stand at a safe distance and listen to these great seniors trade insults with the other side. As they listened, some would even clench their fists, their emotions welling up, desperately wishing they could join in themselves.

The ability to trade insults without any restraint, knowing for a fact that if you shouted a curse, someone on the other side would inevitably shout one back... it was truly something to be envied.

The appearance of the Secret Realms had captured the attention of the entire Cultivation Realm, which, in a way, was a good thing.