Chapter 310 - 309: The Ancient Dongtian and the Secret of the Sacred Grounds (7)

Bai Qingyue was surprised.

"The Imperial Domain?"

"Yes."

Ku Ming nodded.

"The Imperial Domain is far removed from the Nine Provinces in both location and cultivation resources. It possesses inheritances and civilizations that the Nine Provinces can scarcely imagine. Some of its ancient clans trace their origins to civilizations that existed before the ancient calamity."

He paused.

"The Chosen Immortal Clan is among them. Although I cannot tell you how many branches survived or how much of their original inheritance remains intact, their descendants are said to reside in the Imperial Domain even now."

Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"So the Sacred Grounds may be their former homeland, while their descendants now reside in the Imperial Domain."

"That is a reasonable possibility."

Ku Ming brought his palms together.

"Perhaps their ancestors abandoned this realm during the ancient calamity. Perhaps they were forced to leave after the realm suffered irreparable damage. Or perhaps they had already established branches in the Imperial Domain before the catastrophe occurred, and those branches survived when their ancestral homeland was lost."

He shook his head.

"These are possibilities, not established facts. This poor monk would rather admit the limits of his knowledge than present speculation as the truth."

Lin Yuan nodded.

The monk’s explanation had given him several important clues, but the exact history remained uncertain.

That was fine.

He did not need to uncover the entire history of the Chosen Immortal Clan in a single conversation.

For now, he only needed to understand the nature of the place where he and Bai Qingyue intended to cultivate.

And the evidence was beginning to point toward a conclusion.

The Sacred Grounds were likely an ancient Dongtian Realm.

They had once served as the homeland of a civilization that possessed extraordinary knowledge of the Dao. Their surviving structure continued to preserve ancient laws, even though some of their foundations appeared to have been damaged.

The Chosen Immortal Clan had eventually established itself in the Imperial Domain, but its ancestral homeland remained here.

A fragment of the past, preserved within a realm that the outside world barely understood.

Lin Yuan closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, his gaze had become more profound.

"Master Ku Ming, there is another matter I would like to ask you about."

"Please speak."

"You mentioned that the Sacred Grounds preserve ancient Dao laws that have become difficult to encounter in the outside world. Do the records say anything about the state of Heaven and Earth during the ancient era?"

Ku Ming considered the question.

"They do, although the descriptions are not entirely consistent."

He walked toward one of the smooth stones near the pool and sat down.

"According to certain ancient Buddhist records, the laws of Heaven and Earth were once more stable in some regions than they are today. The spiritual Qi was abundant, and cultivators could encounter principles that are now difficult to comprehend. However, this does not mean that the ancient era was peaceful or that every cultivator possessed extraordinary talent."

The monk looked up.

"An abundance of resources can create opportunities, but it can also give rise to greater conflicts. When powerful cultivators compete for the same inheritances, even a prosperous era can descend into catastrophe."

Bai Qingyue sat beside Lin Yuan.

"Then what caused the ancient calamity?"

Ku Ming’s expression became grave.

"No one can provide a definite answer. Many records speak of the war between us and the demon civilization. Some mention a catastrophe that damaged the boundaries separating different realms. There are even accounts suggesting that the calamity was connected to forces that existed beyond the ordinary world."

He paused.

"However, I would be cautious about accepting any single account as the complete truth. Much of the evidence was destroyed, and the surviving records were written by different civilizations, each of which possessed its own understanding of the events."

Lin Yuan’s gaze sharpened.

"Different realms?"

"Yes."

Ku Ming looked toward the distant mountains.

"Although ordinary cultivators often speak of the world as though it were a single, complete existence, ancient records describe multiple realms separated by spatial boundaries. Some were naturally formed, while others were established through the cultivation of powerful beings. The Imperial Domain itself possesses a history that extends beyond what the Nine Provinces can easily comprehend."

He folded his hands together.

"Among those realms is the Hollow Beyond, where the demons reside."

At the mention of the Hollow Beyond, Lin Yuan’s expression became noticeably colder.

The three Demon Kings of Hollow Beyond had already fallen to him and Bai Qingyue. Their deaths had drawn the attention of the powerful Demon Lords, and Bai Sha had even issued the Ten Thousand Devil Kill Order, offering a drop of ancestral White Tiger blood essence to anyone capable of claiming their heads.

The war was far from over.

The Nine Heavens Ward remained fractured, and the strongest demons were still restricted from passing fully into the Nine Provinces. But the restriction was not absolute, and the threat they posed would only grow if the boundary continued to deteriorate.

Lin Yuan had entered the Sacred Grounds partly to strengthen himself before confronting the next stage of that conflict.

Now, he was beginning to suspect that the realm itself might be connected to the problem.

"Master Ku Ming," he said slowly, "what do the ancient records say about the relationship between the Sacred Grounds and the Hollow Beyond?"

The monk’s expression changed.

He did not answer immediately.

Instead, he looked toward the waterfall, then at the distant mountains whose peaks were concealed by the mist.

"Why do you ask?"

Lin Yuan did not immediately explain his reasoning.

He looked at the stream flowing beneath the platform, then extended his divine sense toward the surrounding spatial fluctuations.

"The Sacred Grounds appear to possess a self-sustaining circulation system. Their spiritual Qi moves through the land in a continuous cycle, while the temporal and spatial laws seem to be connected across vast distances. Yet, I have also detected what appear to be discontinuities in that structure."