Qin Ruqing had only proposed the idea of re-entering the Void Realm once when she first returned to the human world, and had not mentioned it again since.

The two top families only listened in silence at the time and did not give a clear answer before leaving.

Qin Ruqing didn’t mind.

She had said what needed to be said.

The crisis in the cultivation world was not hers alone to bear.

If the final decision from the meeting of the major families was to reject her proposal, then that would be the collective decision of the cultivation world.

The consequences of that decision would be something the cultivation world would have to endure.

She returned to the South Ridge base, rested for two days, and then demanded that her clan remain on high alert.

She also notified the other families stationed in the dense forests of South Ridge.

Strictly speaking, South Ridge was divided into three defensive lines.

The Qin family, as the highest-ranked family, took on half the pressure of the defense lines.

The remaining half was shared by the Zhang family and the Han family.

“Qingqing, do you think the beast races will act again soon?” Qin Dexin questioned while carrying out the tasks assigned by Qin Ruqing, showing some doubt about the decision itself.

“Yes. The first batch of divine blessings for the beast races has ended. This batch of blessings has given over a thousand carefully selected beasts a qualitative leap in strength. Do you know what kind of pressure this will put on our defensive borders? They had been holding back their anger before the blessings and were even ambushed by us humans before the blessings took place. Now that the blessings are over and their strength has greatly increased, how could they not seize this opportunity to retaliate?” Qin Ruqing’s expression was calm, but her tone was exceptionally determined.

Qin Dexin’s expression grew serious as he realized the gravity of the situation. “Have you informed the other families of this guess?”

“Yes. As for whether they believe it and what measures they will take, that is no longer up to me.”

As Qin Ruqing had predicted, on the fourth day after their small team returned to the human world, the beast races launched another large-scale beast tide.

This attack was unprecedentedly fierce, and the casualties and losses among humans were even greater than they had imagined.

Countless towering ancient trees had collapsed due to the fighting, with huge beast corpses lying on the ground, alongside an even greater number of human corpses.

Some of these corpses were even wearing family-standard elder robes; they had once held high positions, but now lay lifeless on the ground.

Even the ancient trees that had not collapsed were rarely intact.

Their branches were either scorched and broken or bore clear signs of battle.

The once dense primeval forest now looked as if it had been stripped bare, with patches of desolate, yellowed ground exposed.

There was no time to collect the bodies from the battlefield, as places that had been cleared might soon see new battles erupt, and more blood would soon cover the area.

As Qin Ruqing had said, this attack by the beast races was on an entirely different scale from before.

Their numbers had not increased, and in fact, they had become even more streamlined, but their quality had reached a new level.

The vast majority of them now possessed the strength equivalent to that of the higher-ups in ordinary human families.

Some were even at the level of elders, with powerful physiques.

While humans could send elders or even higher-level fighters to defend, they could not match the balance of strength among the beast races.

Almost every one of them was an elite.

The human high-level warriors might be able to fight a few of them, but when surrounded by beasts, even the strongest could only do so much against the overwhelming numbers.

Was it to come down to a battle of attrition?

Using countless lives to barely maintain the balance of war? How many more will die then?

— The cultivation world is not made up entirely of cultivators!

In fact, the vast majority are ordinary people!

The human race cannot withstand such consumption!

“We might consider asking the Supreme to intervene and eliminate the beasts once,” a high-ranking member suggested through gritted teeth during the virtual realm meeting.

Only a master who has surpassed at least several major realms could stand against hundreds and not be overwhelmed in a beast tide of this scale.

Inviting the Supreme to act would certainly deal a severe blow to the Beast Clan—this high-ranking member made the suggestion almost with a sense of hatred.

However, this proposal immediately faced opposition.

“Absolutely not!”

“There are rules on the battlefield. The upper levels fight the upper levels, and the lower levels fight the lower levels. If you use the upper levels to fight the lower levels, the opponent can do the same. Right now, the Beast Clan is invading our human world, and there are countless ordinary people in our world—if we break this rule, those people will become mere prey, at the mercy of the Beast Clan!”

“That would be self-destructive! Absolutely not!”

The human race is indeed in a crisis, but it is far from being at the point of resorting to such measures.

If such a method were used, it would be a final, desperate gamble, leading to mutual destruction.

Qin Ruqing did not offer her opinion; she had been very silent in the recent virtual realm meetings.

During this time, Fifth Sheng looked at her, hesitated, and ultimately refrained, instead sternly instructing someone to tally the casualties.

The number was, of course, shocking.

Eventually, the final topic of this virtual realm meeting became—whether to enter the Void Realm again.

Whether to admit openly that the human race is now at a critical juncture and to shamelessly open the barrier to seek help from Dao Sovereign.

The decision would be made by a vote.

In the end, the proposal passed unanimously.

The collective high-ranking members of the human race decided to open the barrier and re-enter the Ruins.

---

The Void Realm were a realm of dark red, lifeless and undisturbed.

Here, there were no living beings, only countless war spirits and some solitary souls that should have dissipated thousands of years ago but were artificially detained in this realm for later use.

Now, these souls were awakened once again.

Someone had reopened the door to the Ruins.

A slit was torn in the dark red sky, and a gloomy wind blew in from outside.

Eventually, the wind dissipated, leaving behind a team of just ten people.

Two high-grade artifact controllers, the Sect Master of the Sword Sect, the heads of several prominent gold-grade families and hidden families… Qin Ruqing and Fifth Lingyu.

Fifth Sheng had agreed to Fifth Lingyu’s request and brought him along this time.

When Qin Ruqing saw Fifth Lingyu, she paused for a moment before looking away.

She surveyed the familiar sky and noticed that the Void Realm seemed even more silent than before.

It was an unusually subtle feeling.

Like the uncontrollable twilight aura emanating from an old person, making one’s heart sink and unable to feel joy.

The ten-person team remained at the entrance of the Ruins, motionless for a long time.

The leaders, Fifth Sheng and Feng Qinxue, both furrowed their brows in contemplation, seemingly pondering how to address the ancestors’ souls when they reached the Immortal Tomb.

Should they say—“Ah, ancestors, the human race is on the brink of collapse. This time, we unworthy descendants are here to seek help from you, the deceased ancestors!”

How shameful.

It was impossible to speak those words.

Before they could deliberate further, noise came from deep within the Immortal Tomb.

A distant, profound vibration resonated, and a voice echoed in everyone’s minds.

“You have arrived.”

“Come in.”

The two simple sentences conveyed entirely different contexts.

“You have arrived” implied that the human race was now at a critical juncture.

“Come in” suggested that the speaker was aware and ready to hear the situation.

The ten-person team lowered their heads even further at the sound and began to advance in silence.

The journey to the Immortal Tomb was unusually smooth, with no vengeful spirits obstructing their path.

There wasn’t even a barrier at the periphery of the tomb, allowing them to proceed directly to the depths.

Two massive light orbs emitted a gentle glow, and the ethereal figure of the Dao Sovereign was forgiving and compassionate.

Yet, this made it even more difficult for everyone to lift their heads.

The Dao Sovereign Fusheng spoke in a calm and unperturbed manner, “Speak.”

But no one dared to open their mouths.

Fifth Sheng and Feng Qinxue simply knelt with their people, unable to bring themselves to describe the current state of the cultivation world.

Yue Ming could not help but scoff, “What, you went through so much trouble to re-enter the Void Realm just to remain silent?”

Fusheng sighed and turned his gaze toward Qin Ruqing.

He thought that perhaps only this little girl would dare to speak up now.

Qin Ruqing sensed the implied request and stepped forward, kneeling and lowering her eyes as she recounted everything that had happened in the cultivation world during this time, focusing particularly on the beast races’ scheme involving the blood pool.

“You mean to say that the beast races, by some means, have created a blood pool that enables ordinary beast soldiers to achieve a qualitative leap in power?”

“Yes! Ruqing believes that the soldiers who have soaked in the blood pool have undergone a fundamental change, as if some of the restrained law forces within them have dissipated.”

“Thus, they have experienced a change beyond their race.”

“It seems you have already had some insights,” Fusheng ethereal form flickered, revealing the truth with a single sentence.

“Ruqing has possessed the body of a beast and cultivated in the beast race’s blood pool. It seems she too has broken through the invisible shackles and grasped the fundamental power of the Dao Physique.”

“This power possesses chaotic characteristics. I call it the Power of Chaos.”

Qin Ruqing’s voice was calm and clear, as if she did not realize she had just dropped a bombshell of news.

At least, she immediately felt the sharp gaze of several pairs of eyes focusing on her back.

Qin Ruqing could sense the shock and scrutiny in those gazes.

It was as if they were silently asking:

When did this happen?

You awakened this power; why did you not inform us sooner?

They all remembered how the Beast Emperor’s soul had come with great fanfare to seek out the “Chaos Successor.”

Now that Qin Ruqing claimed to have mastered the Power of Chaos, didn’t that mean she was almost wielding the power of the Dao Ancestor?

Ignoring these looks, Qin Ruqing remained expressionless.

“Chaos,” Dao Sovereign Fusheng repeated the term silently, his usually calm tone showing the first signs of turbulence.

He finally looked at Qin Ruqing and said, “When heaven and earth first opened, the Infinite Celestial Venerable Azure Lutos Dao Ancestor was born from the chaos.”

“It is good that you can grasp such power.”

Fusheng did not stint on praising Qin Ruqing, “Later, you shall explain the details to me.”

This implied a private discussion with Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing acknowledged this and continued to lower her gaze, saying:

“There are two other matters.”

“First, Dao Sovereign had previously instructed Ruqing to search for traces of the Dao Ancestor, and the clues pointed to the Sixth Domain. Later, we gathered the power of the entire cultivation world to forge a semi-divine artifact capable of probing all four domains, yet we could not find any trace of the Sixth Domain. May I ask Dao Sovereign if the Sixth Domain truly exists? Please give your guidance.”

“Second, while I was infiltrating the beast realm to investigate the blood pool, I unexpectedly discovered that the Beast Prince Wu Mu was very unusual.”

She paused, raising her gaze with a sharp edge.

“It seems he carries the aura of the ancient Beast Emperor.”