"How did the mortals of the Great Migration reach the land severed from immortality?" Perhaps having never given thought to this question, Kou Hong froze upon hearing Li Fan ask it.
"The era of the great epidemic ended several millennia ago. We don't know the exact details of how things were back then, either. Most of what we know about that time is just hearsay." After pondering for a moment, Kou Hong shook his head.
"What, you still haven't given up?" Kou Hong looked at Li Fan and couldn't help sneering. "Even if you got out, what difference would it make? You're seventy years old, yet you still want to cultivate..."
He broke off midway through his sentence. Catching Li Fan's cold gaze sweeping over him while several torturers stood nearby, eyeing him like predators and looking ready to pounce, he couldn't help shivering and meekly clamped his mouth shut.
Kou Hong had already been released from the dungeon by Li Fan.
After being trapped in the secret chamber by Li Fan and baptized with immortal-mortal miasma, his cultivation had regressed drastically, plummeting straight down to the early Qi Refining stage.
Unable to use any Dao arts, he was now merely a slightly stronger mortal.
After his capture, he had constantly hurled curses at first, but after several rounds of harsh torture, Kou Hong had finally grown obedient.
"Turns out those lofty immortal cultivators are no different from us mortals once they lose their cultivation. In fact, they've got even less spine than us," one of the torturers nearby said mockingly.
"Aye, this one couldn't even hold out for an hour under our hands," another torturer chimed in.
Kou Hong, however, remained quite composed. "A miserable life is better than a good death. Besides, life and death, triumph and defeat, are ordinary occurrences in the cultivation realm. Though you are a mere mortal, your methods and resolve are extraordinary. Falling to your plot leaves the two of us brothers with nothing to complain about. It was simply a matter of inferior skill!"
"You don't hate me?" Li Fan asked, somewhat curious.
"Hate you? Of course I hate you!" Kou Hong took a deep gulp of the fine wine Li Fan had prepared for him. "But what good would that do? Now you are the blade and I am the fish on the block. Am I supposed to throw threats at you? Wouldn't that just be courting death?"
"You are quite open-minded!" Li Fan chuckled faintly.
"Just scraping by to cling to life, that's all!" Kou Hong snorted coldly.
"If you could return to the cultivation realm, would you still be able to cultivate?" After a moment of silence, Li Fan asked abruptly.
"What..." Kou Hong did not catch on at first.
"If you can help me find a way to reach the cultivation realm, perhaps I will take you along when the time comes," Li Fan promised.
"You treacherous villain, you still want to dupe me?" Kou Hong flared up in anger, but he quickly calmed down, glaring fiercely at Li Fan.
Li Fan's expression remained calm. "Whether true or false, it is a glimmer of hope after all. Would you rather cast aside this path of survival and grow old and die in this tiny corner of the world?"
Hearing Li Fan's words, Kou Hong fell silent.
His expression shifted rapidly, clearly torn by an intense inner struggle.
After a long time, he finally let out a deep sigh.
"Fine! I agree!"
"Rest assured. I, Li Fan, have always honored my word; what I say goes," Li Fan said in a deep voice.
The torturers beside them straightened their faces and bowed their heads.
Who among the civil and military officials throughout the imperial court did not know that the current Grand Preceptor was a man of his word: if he said he would kill your whole family, he killed your whole family!
"Don't bother making empty promises to me. I'm willing to help you only because I'm gambling on that sliver of hope," Kou Hong sneered.
Seeing this, Li Fan did not bother explaining to him, but instead set forth his own conjecture.
"If my guess is right, what the cultivators used back then to migrate the mortals should have been artifacts like flying boats or flying shuttles," Kou Hong slowly responded after listening. "In ancient times, the cultivation realm had countless people, sects stood in great numbers, and it was extraordinarily flourishing. Such transport artifacts were very common. Regrettably, after the great cataclysm, cultivators were all in peril, and from then on, almost everyone acted alone. Flying boats and flying shuttles were rarely seen anymore."
"The great cataclysm—are you referring to that bizarre great epidemic?" Li Fan asked.
"The immortal-mortal miasma is bizarre, but it could not shake the foundation of cultivators. In fact, the reason the immortal-mortal miasma could run rampant was that the vast majority of cultivators between heaven and earth had all perished in a great tribulation. The cultivation realm's strength plummeted, leaving them unable to deal with the immortal-mortal miasma effectively." Kou Hong shook his head, his expression turning solemn.
"A great heaven-and-earth tribulation?" Li Fan suddenly recalled the ruined mountain gate he had glimpsed deep within the Ruins Abyss, and his heart stirred. "Could it be... immortal arts cannot be cultivated together?"
Kou Hong cast an astonished glance at Li Fan, not understanding how he had guessed it.
"Indeed, immortal arts cannot be cultivated together!" Kou Hong let out a long sigh.
"In ancient times, no such restriction existed. Back then, countless great cultivation sects threw open their gates to recruit disciples and pass on their arts. Cultivators had masters to guide them and could consult them whenever they encountered difficulties in their cultivation, and they could spar and exchange insights with fellow disciples who cultivated the same technique. Back then, what a vibrant, magnificent spectacle the entire cultivation realm was!" Kou Hong said, unable to conceal his yearning.
"Alas! The world changed drastically! One day, cultivators suddenly discovered that their efficiency when running their cultivation techniques had dropped drastically. While cultivating, they would also instinctively sense how many people throughout the cultivation realm were practicing the exact same technique at the same time. Furthermore, they made the horrifying discovery that the more people cultivated the same technique simultaneously, the lower the cultivation efficiency became for everyone practicing it." Kou Hong recounted in a low, measured voice, a flicker of terror flashing in his eyes.
"At first, everyone maintained restraint, trying to find a solution to the problem. But over the ensuing decades, countless cultivators remained stuck in place, unable to advance their cultivation in the slightest. Until, with their lifespans nearing their end, they could no longer conceal the killing intent in their hearts.
"A catastrophe that swept the entire cultivation realm began. Anyone cultivating the same technique as me was blocking my path to the Dao—it was mortal combat to the bitter end! Former masters and disciples, senior and junior brothers and sisters, turned in an instant into mortal enemies! Even if someone harbored no desire to kill in their heart, under the crushing tide of circumstance, how could they ensure the other person felt the same? Who dared guarantee the other wouldn't suddenly strike and plunge a blade into them? Every cultivator fell into endless suspicion; the only person anyone could trust was themselves!
"At that time, every sect turned into a purgatory in an instant. And rogue cultivators hiding in deep mountains or secret realms in an attempt to seek refuge could not escape either. Because cultivators practicing the same technique could also sense one another's locations!
"Slaughter—endless slaughter. No one knows how long it lasted before it finally died down. By then, the once flourishing cultivation realm had become utterly desolate. All sects were gone, leaving only solitary cultivators walking their own paths." Kou Hong recounted this ancient cataclysm of the cultivation realm in detail.
As Li Fan listened, waves of emotion surged within him, but an even greater question arose with it.
If immortal arts could not be cultivated together, then how did present-day cultivators cultivate? And what, exactly, was the cultivation realm like today?
Chapter 10