March, early spring. In the eastern part of Nanwu Zhou, a corner. The gloomy sky is a shade of dull black, heavy with oppressive feeling. It seems as if someone had poured ink on a plain sheet of paper, and the ink has soaked into the sky, blurring and coloring the clouds. The clouds merged into each other, blending into a continuous stream of crimson lightning, accompanied by rumbling thunder. It was as if a divine spirit was roaring lowly, reverberating throughout the human world. Blood-red raindrops, carrying a touch of desolation, fall from the sky onto the earth. The earth was hazy. There was a ruined city, silent and lifeless in the dim red rain of blood. The city was in ruins, with broken walls and collapsed buildings everywhere. Everything was withered and lifeless. Everywhere one could see collapsed houses and corpses and pieces of flesh, all of them blackish-green in color, as if fallen leaves in autumn had fallen silent and died. The once bustling streets are now deserted and silent. The once bustling dirt road is now silent and peaceful. All that remained was the blood and mud mixed with the minced meat, dust and paper scraps, indistinguishable from each other, which was truly shocking to behold. The wind was blowing erratically. Not far away, there was a dilapidated carriage, stuck deep in the mud, full of sadness. Only on the carriage axle was there an abandoned rabbit doll hanging there, its white fur already soaked into a wet red color, filled with a sinister and eerie atmosphere. The turbid double-paned window seemed to retain some resentment, looking alone and solemnly at the discolored stones scattered in front of it. There, a figure was lying prone. This is a teenager of about thirteen or fourteen years old. His clothes are torn and dirty. There is a broken leather bag tied around his waist. The young man narrowed his eyes and remained motionless. The biting cold seeped through his tattered coat from all directions, spreading over his entire body and gradually taking away his body heat. Even though raindrops were falling on his face, he didn't blink an eye. His gaze remained fixed coldly and steadily on the distant scene. Looking in the direction he was gazing, about seven or eight paces away from him, there was a gaunt vulture, gnawing at the decomposed carcass of a wild dog. From time to time, it would be alertly observing the surroundings. It seemed that in this dangerous ruin, even the slightest breeze or movement could cause it to take flight instantly. While the young man was like a hunter, patiently waiting for the opportune moment. After a long while, the opportunity came. The greedy vulture finally plunged its head all the way into the belly of the wild dog. In an instant, the boy's narrowed eyes revealed a glint of coldness. He shot out like a flying arrow, speeding away and leaving the vulture behind. With a swift motion of his right hand, he pulled out a black iron rod from the leather bag in his waist pouch. The tip of the iron pin glinted with a sharp and lethal sheen. Perhaps it was the perception of danger. At the moment the young man rushed out, the vulture immediately sensed it and, startled, flapped its wings and rose into the air, about to fly away. But it was still too late. The black iron rod, as the young man swung it with an expressionless face, transformed into a black line and shot out with great force. Poof!
The sharp iron needle pierced into the vulture's head, shattering the skull and instantly causing its death. The powerful force carried its corpse along and it fell over, tilting and crashing down with a loud bang, and stuck to the cart not far away. The blood-colored doll beside him also swayed more and more due to the jolting of the carriage. The young man remained calm in expression. His speed never slackened throughout the entire journey. When they arrived at this place, he grabbed the vulture's carcass along with the iron stake in one go. The force was so great that even the parts of the chariot that were driven into the iron stakes were slightly raised. Having done all these, he left the scene swiftly along the street edge without even looking back. The wind seemed to be stronger at this moment. The blood-colored doll in the carriage swayed, as if it was watching the boy go away. Keep walking and you'll find yourself getting further and further away. The wind was indeed stronger, carrying the chill from the rain, brushing against the boy's thin clothes. The young man involuntarily shuddered, his brows slightly furrowed, pulled his coat tighter around himself, and let out a sigh of breath. He hates the cold. The way to resist the cold is to find a sheltered place to rest. But at this moment, the young man running on the street didn't pause for a moment. One after another, dilapidated shops passed by him. He doesn't have much time left. Because he spent too much time hunting the vulture, today he still has one place left unvisited. "It shouldn't be far off." The young man murmured to himself, speeding along the street. Ahead, everywhere he looked, there were corpses in a shade of dark bluish-black. Their faces, devoid of hope, were twisted with horror, as if they had turned into an atmosphere of despair, trying to infect the young man's soul. However, the young people got used to it and didn't even give it a glance. As time passed by little by little, the young man would glance up at the sky from time to time, his face showing a hint of anxiety. It seemed that to him, the change of the sky was more terrifying than those corpses. Fortunately, not long after, when he saw a drugstore in the distance, the young man let out a sigh of relief and rushed over. The apothecary shop was not large. There were many medicine cabinets scattered on the floor, giving off a musty smell, as if it had been opened by someone before. It was in a mess everywhere. In the corner there was also a corpse of an old man, all black and blue. He leaned against the wall, as if he had no time to look around, staring blankly at the outside world. The young man glanced at the scene and immediately began to search. Most of the herbs here have turned a dark bluish-grey color like those corpses, but only a few of them remain normal. Among these normal changes, the young man had been scrutinizing for a long time. It seemed that he was recalling past experiences. Eventually, he picked up a common bandage and took off his thin clothes, revealing a huge wound on his chest. The injury had not fully healed yet; one could see that the edges of the wound were already turning black, and there was even some blood seeping out. The teenager lowered his head to look at it. After crushing the herbs, he took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and raised his hand to apply the paste to the wound one dot at a time. In an instant, the wound's excruciating pain was like a surging lake, suddenly overwhelming him, causing the young man's body to tremble uncontrollably. However, he forced himself to endure it. But the sweat on his forehead couldn't be suppressed. One by one, it trickled down his cheeks onto the dark ground. It became a cause for concern.
The whole process lasted for more than ten breaths. Until he had completely smeared the herbs on the wound, the young man seemed to lose all his strength all of a sudden. He leaned on the medicine cabinet beside him and took a long while to recover before he could deeply exhale and slowly put on his clothes. He glanced again at the sky outside and, after some thought, took out a tattered map from his waist pouch and spread it out carefully. The map is very simple. It merely depicts this city. There was no cross. The locations of the pharmacies were all marked out, and in the northeastern direction, many areas had been marked with crosses by fingernails, leaving only two areas untouched. "These days, it should be in these two areas." The boy's voice was hoarse as he muttered in a low tone, putting away the map and about to leave. But before he did, he turned back and looked at the old man's body beside him, his gaze falling on the old man's clothes. That was a fur coat. Perhaps due to its special leather quality, the coat was not severely corroded. The young man thought for a moment, then walked over and took off the fur coat from the old man's body and put it on himself. The fur coat was a bit too large for him, but when it enveloped his slender figure, the young man finally felt a glimmer of warmth. So he lowered his head to look at the old man's open eyes, raised his hand to gently cover them, and made him close his eyes. "Rest in peace." The young man murmured softly, tore off the curtain in the shop, covered the old man's body with it, and then turned to leave the apothecary shop. As he was leaving, a glimmer of light shone from beneath his feet. The boy looked down and saw a piece of a mirror, about the size of his palm, lying in the blood and mud. In the mirror, he saw his own face. The face reflected in the broken mirror was soiled all over, yet one could still faintly make out that it was an extremely handsome face. It's just that there is no longer the naive quality that a teenager of thirteen or fourteen years old should have, and it has been replaced by indifference. The young man silently gazed at his own reflection in the ground mirror. After a while, he lifted his foot and stepped on it. With a click. Cracks appeared one after another. After he trampled the mirror with one foot, his body swayed and he sped away. On the ground, the shattered mirror, though cracked, still refracted the sky above, seemingly covering the world and all living beings, as if it were half of a vast face of a deity with a mutilated visage. The face was half-broken, eyes closed, expression cold and indifferent. Standing aloof and detached, only a few strands of withered and curly hair hung down. That was a natural existence like the sun and the moon in this world. It seems that beneath her, all beings are like ants, insignificant and insignificant. Just like the phenomenon of spring thunder when all things come to life, her influence has affected everything and compelled them to change. And at this moment, the sky gradually lost its brightness under the guise of this deity's remaining features. The shadow of the setting sun was like a black haze, spreading throughout the ruins of the city and covering the land, as if it were intent on swallowing everything up. The rain grew heavier as the darkness gradually swallowed the sky. So did the wind, emitting sharp wailing sounds from time to time. It was as if the howls of a malevolent spirit were awakening the strange beings within this city, causing various terrifying sounds to respond one after another in a haunting manner. The young boy was running, his pace was faster and his movements more urgent. Amidst the chase between him and his opponent as the night fell, he skillfully darted through the streets one after another.
Until, when he passed by a collapsed house and was about to leap far away with the intention of using the structure as a springboard, the boy's childish innocence suddenly changed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that somewhere nearby, in a heap of ruins, there seemed to be a person. From a distance, this person was dressed neatly and seemed to have no injuries at all. He was sitting against the wall there. The most important thing is that the skin on the other party's body that is exposed is of normal color, not bluish-black! Such a figure like this could not possibly exist within this city, unless it were a living person! And for the living... These days, apart from myself, I haven't met anyone else. This scene made him feel a shock. Soon, as if he had thought of something, his breathing became a little more labored. I intended to go there, but the dark night behind me was already swallowing me up like a curtain. The young man hesitated for a moment and then remembered the location. He hurriedly left.
Riding at a high speed all the way, he finally caught up with it in the darkness and returned to his temporary residence in this city. The young man had been away from home for a long time and had no idea where he was. Now, after this encounter, he That was a cave, very small inside, all filled with bird feathers. The gap at the entrance is not very wide. Adults cannot squeeze through it. Only the young can manage to get in here with some difficulty. After entering, he skillfully used the books, stones and other debris in the cave to block the entrance. The moment when it is completely filled up, the darkness outside will suddenly cover over it in an instant. The young man did not relax his vigilance. He grasped the iron pick firmly in his hand, held his breath and remained squatting there, listening for a long time. Gradually, the sounds of strange beasts' roars and shrill cries began to reach them, occasionally mingled with eerie laughter. Nearby. Eventually, a clearer roar echoed, and in the boy's nervousness, the sound seemed to fade away like a passing breeze, gradually becoming fainter. Then he let out a sigh of relief and sat in the dark chamber of the cave. The boy sat there silently, and time seemed to have stopped at this moment. He was lost in thought for a while, calming his tense nerves that had been stretched out for the whole day. He grabbed a water bottle from beside him, took a few sips, and ignored the sounds outside. He took out the vulture from his pocket. In the darkness, one would bite and chew on it piece by piece with one's teeth as if it were something delicious. A sour and bitter taste came from his throat, but he calmly swallowed it slowly, allowing the food to be pushed down to his stomach through his throat. And at this moment, the stomach was also contracting vigorously, trying to digest and relieve the hunger. Very soon, the entire vulture was swallowed by him. The young man took a deep breath, and waves of exhaustion surged through his body. His eyes slowly closed. But in his hand, he always held onto that black iron rod tightly, like a lone wolf dozing off. Whenever he sensed any anomaly, he would open his eyes instantly. At this moment, the outside world is shrouded in darkness, covering the city, the land and even this vast sky. The world beneath the firmament is extremely vast in scope, and the Southern House Continent overseas is just one part of it. The exact time when this fragment came into existence is beyond our ability to determine. Just how vast the entire world is, few people know. Only the majestic and solemn face on the firmament, with a strong sense of awe, can be seen by all when they look up. People only know about it through some scattered descriptions in ancient scriptures. Long, long ago, this world filled with the aura of immortals was prosperous and full of vitality until... This huge fragment of the face, from the depths of the distant void, came with destruction and attraction. Some of the tribes abandoned all living beings and chose to migrate. During the migration process, the living beings of this world used all methods to stop it, but all failed. Eventually, only a few ancient emperors led the way, bringing the fragment of the face, hanging in the sky, and from then on, nightmares descended. Her aura pervaded the entire world, mountains, seas, all things and living beings, even the spiritual energy that cultivators rely on for cultivation, were all contaminated by it. All things wither and die, all beings perish, and nothing remains. From then on, those who survived the disaster with great difficulty would call this half face of the human figure... a divine spirit.
Call this world the "Last Earth", and the place that the ancient emperor once ruled over is called the "Holy Land". This kind of address has been passed down from generation to generation over many centuries. And the disasters brought by the deities are not limited to these. Her majesty is constantly suppressing all living beings, for... Every few years, or every few decades, or even every few centuries, she would open her eyes for a while, for a few breaths. Every time she opened her eyes and looked at a certain area, that area would be instantly contaminated by her strong breath. The world is in utter chaos and devastation, turning into an eternal forbidden zone. Over the past many ages, the forbidden zones in this world have been expanding and increasing, while the habitable areas have been shrinking and decreasing. Nine days ago, the divine spirit opened its eyes once again, and the direction it looked at was precisely the area where the young man was. All the species in that area, as well as the dozens of human settlements, no matter where they exist, whether in the cities or in the slums outside the cities, were instantly severely contaminated and turned into no-go zones for life. Under this terrifying pollution, some creatures and beings directly disintegrated and turned into blood mist, some mutated and became mindless beasts without intelligence, and some lost their souls and spirits and left behind their polluted, dark bluish corpses. Only a very small number of humans and beasts could survive. The youth is one of them. At this moment, outside the pitch-dark underground cave, with a shrill sound gradually getting closer from afar, the slumbering youth opened his eyes quickly. The iron pick in his hand instinctively rose up, and he vigilantly looked towards the blocked entrance gap. It was not until the shrill cry had circled nearby for a while and then gradually faded away that the young man let out a sigh of relief. Without any desire to sleep, he touched the leather bag and took out a bamboo scroll from it. In the darkness, he felt the characters on the bamboo slips with his hands. There seemed to be some light in his eyes. Then he straightened his body, closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. The young man's name was Xu Qing. Since childhood, he lived alone in this slum outside the city, struggling to make a living. Nine days ago, in the sudden catastrophe, he hid himself in a crevice of a rock. Unlike other panicked and crazy people, he calmly watched the gods opening their eyes in the sky. Looking at the special cross-shaped holes in the eyes of the celestial beings in the sky, he seemed to have lost his fear. Until he saw a purple light descend from the sky and land in the northeastern part of the city. In the next instant, he fell into a coma. After regaining consciousness, he became the sole survivor in both the city and the surrounding area. But he didn't leave immediately. Because he knows that the forbidden zone formed by the opening of the eyes of the gods will be shrouded by blood rain at the very beginning, and then turn into a barrier. The people inside cannot get out and neither can those outside. Unless the restricted area is completely sealed off, it won't be possible. And the sign of this was that the blood rain stopped. This catastrophe, for Xu Qing who grew up in a slum, seemed not to be a big deal.Because in the slums, whether it is all kinds of vagrants, stray dogs, or an epidemic, or even a cold night, one can lose his life at any moment. It is very difficult to survive. As long as one is alive, everything else is insignificant. Of course, amidst the harshness of the slums, there would still be a glimmer of tenderness here and there. For instance, some down-and-out scholars would earn a living by teaching and instructing children to read and write. Besides that, they would reminisce about their loved ones. The memory of his loved ones gradually faded. Only in Xu Qing's mind did the memories of his relatives fade over time. Even though he tried very hard to recall them, fearing that he might forget them, he still managed to do so. But he knew that he was not an orphan; he still had relatives, only they had long been lost to him. So his ideal was to survive. It would be even better if one could live a bit better and if one had the chance to see one's relatives for a while. So, the one who survived the accident chose to enter the city. He is going to visit the residences of the upper-class people in the city, seeking the methods passed down in the slums that can make him stronger, and also to search for that purple light that has entered the city. The way to strengthen oneself has always been passed down in the slums, desired by everyone. They call it cultivation, and those who master the cultivation method are called monks. So becoming a monk became Xu Qing's greatest aspiration, apart from his memories of his loved ones. Monks are not uncommon. Xu Qing had seen such people entering the city from the slums quite a few times in recent years. Their typical feature is that when they are being stared at, their bodies will involuntarily tremble. Even Xu Qing heard from others that the Lord of the City was a cultivator himself, and his guards around him were also cultivators. After searching for a long time within this city, he finally found this bamboo scroll in the corpse of a person in the city lord's mansion. It was very dangerous there. The wound on his chest was inflicted at that time. The bamboo slips record precisely the very practice method he was longing for. All the contents on it have long been firmly rooted in his mind. Even in these few days, he has begun to attempt to practice. Xu Qing had never seen any other cultivation techniques before. This bamboo scroll was the only one he obtained, and he didn't know how to practice it correctly either. Fortunately, the descriptions therein are mostly simple and easy-to-understand, focusing on visualization and breathing. So, proceeding step by step, he did gain some results. This method is called "Sea Mountain Secret Technique". The method of cultivation is to visualize the totems engraved on bamboo slips in one's mind and inhale and exhale in accordance with specific breathing patterns. This figure is rather strange. It is an alien-like creature with a huge head and a small body. It has only one leg and its entire body is black. Its face is terrifyingly fierce, resembling that of a ghost. Xu Qing had never seen such a creature before. On the bamboo slips, it was referred to as "Zhaofa".
As he continued his meditation practice at this moment, this scene suddenly appeared in his mind shortly after. Xu Qing's breathing gradually changed, and a subtle current began to permeate the nearby air. The aura energy from all around slowly trickled in, slowly penetrating his body, flowing throughout his entire being, causing waves of bone-chilling cold sensations. The areas where it passed through felt as if they were immersed in icy water. Xu Qing was afraid of the cold, but he endured it and didn't give up. He still persisted. It was not until a long time later that, when he finally completed this round of spiritual practice as per the requirements of the bamboo slips, his body was soaked through with cold sweat. Just after having eaten the stomach of a vulture, a feeling of hunger came back again. Xu Qing wiped away his cold sweat and touched his stomach again. Zi Zhong's expression became resolute. Since he began to practice this martial art, his appetite has increased significantly and his body has become more agile than before. All these have made him more resilient to the icy coldness during his cultivation. Looking up at this moment, Xu Qing peered through the gap at the entrance and saw outside. Outside, it was pitch-dark. Only the terrifying howls, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, echoed in the ears. He didn't know the real reason why he survived. Maybe it was by chance, or perhaps... He saw that purple light. So these days, while he was seeking the martial arts techniques, he was also constantly going to the northeastern region to search for the location where the purple light had fallen. Unfortunately, he never found it. In his mind, Xu Qing listened to the howling outside. Suddenly, he couldn't help but recall the corpse leaning against the wall that he saw when he returned from the sunset. His eyes narrowed slowly. The place where the other person is located is the Northeast region, and it seems to be a living person. "Could it be related to Purple Light?"