Chapter 372 - 371: Heading to the Imperial Domain

Lin Yuan continued watching the distant sky, his expression calm despite the dread pressing against his consciousness.

If they intended to use the collapse of the lower world to destroy the conceptual anchor supporting the Imperial Domain, then the demons were not merely trying to defeat their enemies. They were attempting to change the structure of the world itself, forcing the imperial domain to confront a catastrophe that it might not be able to stop.

The problem, the one that gnawed quietly at him beneath his calm exterior, was that Lin Yuan had no immediate means of stopping them.

He was powerful among cultivators of his generation, and his comprehension of the Great Dao allowed him to overcome opponents whose cultivation surpassed his own.

However, the Quasi Demon Emperor had demonstrated a level of authority that made the difference between them painfully clear. Even if Lin Yuan exhausted every technique he possessed, he could not guarantee that he would be able to influence the outcome of a confrontation with such an existence.

He needed information, he needed allies, and he needed a way to force the imperial domain to respond.

"We must ask the Imperial Domain for help," Ku Ming urged, his voice desperate as he turned toward Lin Yuan. "The Grand Ascendants who reside beyond the Floating Mountains possess the power to halt a Body Integration entity! They abandoned us to live in their perfect heaven, but if we tell them that the Barrier Realm is actively fusing with the lower world, and that their own foundation is at risk of imminent collapse, surely they will intervene."

The monk’s eyes burned with a mixture of fear and hope. "It is their survival as much as ours! If the lower world is destroyed, the Imperial Domain cannot remain untouched forever. They must understand that allowing this catastrophe to continue will eventually threaten everything they have spent countless years protecting."

Lin Yuan did not immediately respond. He understood Ku Ming’s reasoning, but he also understood that the existence of a powerful ally did not guarantee that the ally would choose to help.

The Imperial Domain had remained separated from the Nine Province for a reason, and the Grand Ascendants who resided beyond the Floating Mountains might possess interests that ordinary cultivators could not comprehend. Even if the threat to their foundation was genuine, they might refuse to intervene until the situation became impossible to ignore.

Nevertheless, there was simply no better option available to any of them.

Lin Yuan looked at Ku Ming, then turned toward Bai Qingyue.

She met his gaze without the slightest hesitation. Her hands rested protectively over her stomach, and the golden aura surrounding her body had softened into a gentle radiance.

She did not weep for the dying world below, nor did she cower from the apocalyptic sky above. The destruction unfolding across the Nine Provinces was enough to shake even the most determined cultivator, but Bai Qingyue remained focused on Lin Yuan, trusting him to make the decision that offered them the greatest chance of survival.

She understood that they could not save everyone through brute force alone. They needed to reach the Imperial Domain, and find out whether the Grand Ascendants were willing to confront the Quasi Demon Emperor. If they could not obtain help there, the Nine Provinces might have no hope of surviving the coming catastrophe.

Bai Qingyue nodded once, the motion small but resolute.

The gesture was small, but it carried absolute trust.

"To the Floating Mountains," Lin Yuan said.

His voice regained its sovereign edge at once, cutting cleanly through the paralysis that had briefly seized the group. He did not know whether the Imperial Domain would ever open its gates to them, and he did not know whether the Grand Ascendants would agree to help even then. However, he refused, absolutely, to stand idle while the world collapsed around him, especially when the destruction threatened the people he had sworn to protect.

The Rank 8 Golden Immortal Beast responded immediately. Its Celestial Jade horn flared with blinding silver light, and the spatial energy surrounding its body surged into motion, the air around them crackling faintly with the sheer pressure of its gathering power.

Rather than following the ordinary pathways through the Nine Provinces, it executed the Earthfold Step, compressing the distance between its current position and the distant Floating Mountains. The landscape beneath them blurred entirely as the beast carried its riders swiftly across the devastated world.

They passed over ruined cities, shattered mountain ranges, and rivers whose waters had turned black beneath the influence of demonic corruption, the once-clear waterways now carrying a sickly, oily sheen across their surface.

In some places below, cultivators were still fighting desperately against the invading demons, their techniques illuminating the broken sky with flashes of elemental energy. In others, entire regions had already fallen completely silent, their inhabitants slaughtered or driven into hiding by enemies whose numbers continued to increase with every passing hour.

Lin Yuan watched the destruction without allowing his expression to change. He could not possibly intervene in every battle, and every moment spent diverting their course would only reduce their chances of reaching the Imperial Domain before the situation deteriorated further. He forced himself to keep his attention on the objective ahead, even as the sight of the suffering below stirred a cold anger within his chest, one he carefully folded away rather than allowing it to cloud his judgment.

Bai Qingyue remained beside him, her golden Yunqi aura shielding the group from the worst of the turbulent spatial currents.

Occasionally, she glanced down toward the ruined landscapes beneath them, and Lin Yuan could sense the quiet weight of those sights settling into her heart. Yet she did not ask him to stop, because she understood that the immediate priority was to find a way to prevent the catastrophe from spreading further, even if it meant carrying the grief of what they passed over in silence, for now.