Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1423: 758: Shockwaves

Two years had passed since Great Venerable Hongfa’s return to the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion. During this interval, Li Yuanba had remained in a state of semi-seclusion, never once stepping outside his quarters.

His Cultivation had reached a plateau; despite refining the insights gained from past battles and seeing a slight advancement in his ‘Chaos Sword Intent,’ his progress had eventually stalled. The path of a Sword Cultivator demands constant conflict, and remaining sheltered within the Sect made rapid breakthroughs nearly impossible.

While sitting inside Sword Cave Heaven on this particular day, he suddenly felt a faint vibration ripple through the space.

Startled out of his deep meditation on sword intent, he snapped his eyes open, his gaze sharp with surging intent.

“Hongfa, what is going on?” Li Yuanba asked as he flashed into the main hall, crossing paths with Great Venerable Hongfa, who was emerging from another chamber.

“That was a spatial disturbance!” Great Venerable Hongfa replied, his expression filled with alarm.

“How can that be? This is Sword Cave Heaven. How could any disturbance reach this place?” Li Yuanba shook his head, his voice laced with skepticism.

If Sword Cave Heaven were truly compromised, it would mean the outer defenses of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion had been completely shattered. Furthermore, Sword Cave Heaven was under the protection of the Sword Elder; with such a figure present, it was hard to imagine any entity capable of invading this realm.

“The issue isn’t within Sword Cave Heaven itself. A massive spatial upheaval in the outside world must have triggered a resonance within this cave heaven!” Great Venerable Hongfa explained. As a specialist in spatial laws, his sensitivity to such matters far exceeded Li Yuanba’s.

Simultaneously, Li Shiming noted that the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven was experiencing an identical spatial tremor. Because Li Shiming held absolute authority over the Heavenly Person Cave Heaven, he would have instantly identified any internal malfunction. The odds of both Sword Cave Heaven and Heavenly Person Cave Heaven suffering internal failures at the exact same moment were practically non-existent.

Suddenly, Li Yuanba felt his Identity Jade Disc vibrate. Scanning it with his divine sense, he found an emergency summons from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion. Such a violent vibration was reserved only for matters of extreme importance.

“Hongfa, stay here in the cave dwelling. I must go attend the assembly!” Li Yuanba commanded before turning to depart.

The gathering was held in a massive hall within Sword Cave Heaven. Upon entering, he saw a large number of Sword Cultivators already assembled, all of whom were at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

“Master Li!” The gathered Sword Cultivators called out in greeting as he arrived.

Those who had been resting even stood up to show their deference to a superior practitioner. Not only was Li Yuanba considered the top Nascent Soul Middle Stage expert in the Cultivation world, but his mastery of alchemy made him someone every cultivator sought to befriend.

Li Yuanba acknowledged them with a nod and a smile before taking an available seat. More Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivators continued to file in shortly after.

By his estimation, nearly every Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivator of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion who wasn't currently in closed-door meditation had arrived. There were at least four hundred and fifty of them present in the hall.

He was well aware that the Sect possessed a deep reservoir of mid-stage experts, yet seeing nearly five hundred gathered in one place was still a staggering sight. Even with their auras restrained, the collective presence of so many Sword Cultivators filled the hall with a palpable, sharp energy.

Li Yuanba wondered why the Sect leadership had called such a sudden meeting. He suspected it was linked to the spatial tremor he had felt moments ago. Listening to the whispers around him, he realized most of his peers were theorizing the same thing.

A figure suddenly materialized at the head of the hall, bringing an immediate silence to the room. Hundreds of Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivators turned their attention toward Great Cultivator Lou.

“I expect you have all surmised why you were summoned. The spatial disturbance felt moments ago was not localized to our Sect; it was felt across the entire Central State Continent and even the surrounding continents!” Great Cultivator Lou announced, his face grim.

The Sword Cultivators looked somber upon hearing how far the shockwaves had traveled. They understood that a disturbance of this magnitude signified a catastrophic event.

“The epicenter of this spatial shock was Hell Island. A total spatial collapse has occurred within the Hell Cave Heaven located there, which is what triggered the resonance we felt!” Great Cultivator Lou continued.

Li Yuanba was internally shaken. Hell Island was the place where various sects exiled criminal practitioners, forcing them to battle the Hell Creatures that spilled out from the Hell Cave Heaven. Additionally, a bizarre radiation permeated the area; those who stayed too long would find their bodies slowly withering away.

Of course, the prisoners rarely lived long enough for the radiation to become their primary concern. Survival was difficult when the island was overrun by Hell Creatures at the Fourth Grade Middle Stage or even the Fourth Grade Late Stage.

The origins of Hell Cave Heaven remained a mystery, but the realm was notoriously sinister, appearing to spontaneously generate hordes of incredibly powerful and strange monsters. This alone was a testament to the terrifying power of whoever had originally created the cave heaven.

Yet, that ancient power had vanished, leaving Hell Cave Heaven behind in the middle of the ocean without a single shred of inheritance.