Chapter 152: The Land of Exile

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Zhou Qi felt a sense of loss; with no remaining attachments on Earth, the events of the illusionary realm nevertheless sparked a desire within him to seek the truth. After a long moment, he shook his head, suppressed these emotions, and continued to wander among the bookshelves.

Among the collection were many historical texts detailing events prior to the era of the Sword Immortals. During the Sword Immortal era, the Demon, Fiend, and Sorcerer tribes ruled the Tianxuan Continent, while the Sea tribe ruled the vast oceans. Before that was the Era of the Hundred Tribes' Contention, and prior to the Hundred Tribes, divine beasts ruled the world. The Baize, Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin, Taowu, Qilin, Vermilion Bird, Bifang, Taotie, and Feifei were the protagonists of that era, while all other races were reduced to mere supporting roles.

The era of the Sword Immortals was likely fifty thousand years ago. Thirty thousand years ago belonged to the Divine and Sea tribes, with all other races serving as slaves. It was not until twenty thousand years ago that the human race began to rise, eventually joining forces with other races to overthrow the rule of the Divine and Sea tribes, thereby securing a place for themselves in the world.

Ten thousand years ago, the human race had no rivals left. Other races were either reduced to vassals, exterminated, or forced to hide in secret realms and other dimensions.

It was unknown whether the Sword Immortals still existed. According to legends, immortals were undying and indestructible. If they were still alive, seeing the current state of the human race would surely bring them a sense of satisfaction.

Today, the human race's only rival was itself. Whether those ancient sages and saints had foreseen this state of affairs remained unknown. If the human race could continue to remain strong indefinitely, that would be fine; the fear was that this was merely a new cycle of reincarnation.

Just as Zhou Qi was about to put a book away, a phantom suddenly appeared before him—the phantom of the Sword Immortal.

Zhou Qi, long accustomed to such wonders, cupped his hands in a salute, wondering if this phantom possessed any consciousness.

"You have already taken enough. You must take no more; leave the rest for those who come after!" the phantom said flatly.

"Senior, my human race now rules supreme across the world. I do not wish for these books to gather dust here!" Zhou Qi hurriedly explained. To think this phantom actually knew how many books he had taken—could it truly possess consciousness?

"It is only because of your superior performance in the Gravity Battlefield, the Wuyang Village Trial, the Wordless Jade Tablet, and the Sword Lake Duels that you were permitted to take these books. Others who enter may only read, not take them away. Do not be insatiably greedy!" the phantom continued.

"Understood." Zhou Qi had no choice but to put the books back, and the phantom promptly dissipated.

Since he could no longer take the books with him, Zhou Qi seized the moment to flip through them rapidly. He had no idea how much longer he could stay here, and since these books could no longer be found outside, he resolved to memorize as much as he possibly could.

After a full day passed, Zhou Qi felt a sudden force eject him violently from the palace.

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When he opened his eyes, he was already outside the palace.

He saw Dao Fan, Shui Bing, Li Xing, and Yuan Tong all wearing expressions of wild elation, while the figures of the others were nowhere to be seen.

What had happened? Zhou Qi was alarmed; he immediately activated the Immortals-Confusing Grand Array and employed the Divine Movement Stride to flee outward.

Seeing Zhou Qi emerge, activate the array, and run away without a word, the group was momentarily stunned. Shui Bing destroyed the array, and only then did the other three react. If not for Shui Bing, they probably would have fallen victim to his scheme.

"Pursue him! I can sense where he is," Shui Bing said coldly, taking to her sword with a murderous aura. The other three exchanged glances and immediately followed.

Where had the others gone? Had they been secretly harmed by them? That was impossible. The four of them had only banded together, whereas Murong Xiu, Murong Rou, Jiang Yiyi, Dao Hui, Gao Shiyu, and the tall, thin cultivator made a total of six, none of whom were lower in strength than them. If a fight had broken out, even if they couldn't win, it wouldn't have happened without a sound.

It seemed their safety was likely assured, but it remained a mystery what methods Shui Bing and her companions had used to separate them from him so they could deal with him alone.

Sensing Shui Bing's aura rapidly closing in from behind, Zhou Qi had no choice but to push forward on his flying sword. He was only a fifth-tier Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the four pursuers were all Golden Core cultivators; being caught was only a matter of time.

What should he do? How could he break this deadlock? Having fled blindly in panic, he no longer knew the way back. Moreover, he had been sucked up to the Wordless Jade Tablet and dropped down into the Sword Lake Plaza.

Where was this place? Zhou Qi took out the ancient map, hoping to determine his coordinates, only to find that a route had unexpectedly appeared on the map where previously there had been no markings. Zhou Qi was overjoyed, having initially thought the map was just common junk, never expecting it to possess this hidden function—revealing the path only upon reaching this specific location.

This location was the Land of Banishment, and next was the Prison of Demons?

The Land of Banishment? Zhou Qi was startled. Who was being banished here?

Only then did Zhou Qi feel that the surrounding atmosphere was rather abnormal. The place was utterly desolate, devoid even of a single blade of grass, and completely devoid of any spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It was dead silent all around, without the slightest sound. Although it was broad daylight, it felt chillingly eerie.

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Shui Bing's aura was already close behind. Just as Zhou Qi was about to urge his flying sword to continue fleeing, a withered figure lunged at him. Zhou Qi hurriedly executed the Mystic Thunder Escape Technique to dodge, and upon looking closely, he realized the withered figure was actually a human.

His hair was disheveled and lifeless, and his entire body had turned a dusty gray like the surrounding terrain. His dull eyes blinked occasionally, which was the only sign that he was a living creature.

"Are you human or ghost?" Zhou Qi raised the Canglan Sword and demanded.

"Hehehehe... Human or ghost? Even I don't know anymore. After hundreds of thousands of years, I suppose I've long since become a ghost!" said the withered, tree-like figure, crying and laughing at once. His face resembled tree bark, covered in deep wrinkles.

Hundreds of thousands of years? Could this be a figure from the era of the Sword Immortals? How could anyone live for so long? And for what reason had he been banished here by the Sword Immortal?

"Senior, this junior is merely passing by unintentionally and has disturbed you. Please forgive any offense. I have urgent matters to attend to and will take my leave now." Since this person was banished by the Sword Immortal, Zhou Qi had no desire to probe deeper; with a formidable enemy hot on his heels, escaping took precedence.

"You wake me from my slumber and think you can just leave? Do you have any idea how much energy it costs me to wake up once?" The man reached out and grabbed Zhou Qi. His hand was like a chicken claw, nothing but skin and bones.

Zhou Qi channeled the Divine Movement Stride to dodge, only to find that the hand had clamped onto him with an iron grip. Those bony claws seemed ready to sink into his flesh, rendering him completely immobile while his eyes remained fixed on the sword in Zhou Qi's hand.

"Senior has misunderstood. It's just that I am being pursued by a formidable enemy who leaves me no choice but to flee. Otherwise, should Senior issue a command, this junior would naturally obey," Zhou Qi pleaded. That single grab seemed to have sealed off the strength throughout his entire body, making it impossible to employ any techniques.

"Is that so? Do you have any Immortal Essence Stones, or even top-tier spirit stones? If you have Immortal Essence Stones, I can handle any enemy below the True Immortal realm for you. Seeing that you are merely a tiny Foundation Establishment cultivator still capable of running for your life, I presume your enemies can't be all that strong."

Zhou Qi was taken aback. Such arrogant phrasing! Could this person possibly be a True Immortal?

Yet how could a dignified True Immortal have fallen to such a state? Half-believing and half-doubtful, Zhou Qi softly replied, "I possess neither Immortal Essence Stones nor top-tier spirit stones, but I do have quite a few low-tier spirit stones in my storage ring. I wonder how many percentages of Senior's cultivation they might help restore?"