Chapter 763: A Challenge for the Lady in the Plain Skirt and the Swordsman in Blue!

A civilization challenge meant that two civilizations would determine the winner between them with just one fight.

It was a simple and straightforward of deciding the victors and loswers!

Hearing City Governor Zhao's words, Ming Jun went silent. After a while, Ming Jun replied, "It's feasible."

"The challenge will make it clear to everyone whether they're full divinity experts or not," City Governor Zhao said with a nod. "If they don't dare to respond to the challenge, then it means that they don't have any full divinity experts. By then, the Guanxuan Civilization can be destroyed with just a flick of your wrist. But if they come..."

City Governor Zhao glanced at Ming Jun.

Ming Jun smiled and said, "It means otherwise, but even if they have two full divinity experts, our Forest Civilization will not be afraid of them."

City Governor Zhao remained silent. The Forest Civilization was stronger than he had imagined.

Yu Wenzhi standing nearby chimed in, "Shall I issue the challenge?"

Ming Jun shook his head and replied, "I need to report this first."

Yu Wenzhi nodded slightly. "Understood."

"Go ahead and help our people settle down," Ming Jun said, "Do not seek out the Guanxuan Civilization before my return."

With that, he turned around and disappeared.

More and more people were walking out of the light gate, and they were all from the Forest Civilization.

Yu Wenzhi looked around. The spacetime had stabilized, but the entire Shenxu Forest had become a desert. Moreover, there were over a hundred corpses on the ground. The corpses belonged to the weaker cultivators among those who had first emerged from the teleportation array.

The Forest Civilization experts wore grim expressions upon seeing the corpses.

***

Upon returning to Guanxuan City with Shen Qi, Ye Guan went into the world inside the tiny pagoda.

The recent battle had left him with considerable injuries that required healing.

Moreover, the battle had also given him many insights, and he needed to assimilate them.

Shen Qi was somewhat worried. She had just received news that the Forest Civilization had finally returned.

In other words, a battle between the two civilizations was imminent. She was feeling uncertain whether she had made the right choice or not, but she was way past the point of no return.

Shen Qi followed Ye Guan into the world inside the tiny pagoda, and she was instantly in awe of the mysterious spacetime around her.

She had the urge to study it, but the mysterious spacetime was repelling her divine sense. She couldn't permeate the space with her divine sense, no matter how hard she tried to do so. In the end, she decided to seek Ye Guan.

Ye Guan was sitting on a boulder by the sea, and his injuries were healing rapidly.

After a while, Ye Guan slowly opened his eyes, meeting Shen Qi's gaze.

Shen Qi was staring at him as well.

Ye Guan smiled and asked, "Miss Shen Qi, what is it?"

Shen Qi smiled as well. "You have truly surprised me. I didn't expect that you'd be able to fight evenly with a cultivator at ninety percent divinity."

"But I'm still too weak," Ye Guan said, shaking his head. He knew very well that if the battle had continued, he would have had to completely awaken his Mad Demon Bloodline just to win. His cultivation base was truly too low compared to a true ninety percent divinity cultivator. Of course, the gap in combat strength wasn't that large.

"What you've done was already very impressive," Shen Qi said.

Ye Guan revealed a meaningful smile just then. "Miss Shen Qi, I'm pretty curious about you."

"Curious about me? Why are you curious about me? I'm from the Milky Way, and I'm the daughter of the First God. That's all."

"If Miss Shen Qi doesn't want to say, then forget it."

After a moment of silence, Shen Qi finally said, "Since I've chosen to stand on your side, Young Master Ye, then I guess I should be honest. To be frank, I have another identity—the heiress to the Gui Zhi Civilization."

Ye Guan frowned. "Gui Zhi Civilization?"

Shen Qi nodded, "It's not strange that you don't know it, as it's a civilization that has long faded away into obscurity. At its peak, it's a Tier Three civilization. Unfortunately, they were destroyed by their universe tribulation..."

"The Forest Civilization is also A Tier Three civilization, but they somehow lasted until now. How come the Gui Zhi Civilization..." Ye Guan trailed off.

Shen Qi didn't mind it as she smiled and replied, "It was due to an internal strife."

Ye Guan was surprised. "An internal strife?"

Shen Qi nodded. "If Gui Zhi Civilization had been united enough, they could have survived the universe tribulation. Unfortunately, they were divided. When the universe tribulation arrived, the internal strife split the entire civilization into two massive factions. One suggested sacrificing a large portion of the population to preserve the core strength of the civilization and ensure its survival, but the other faction opposed the idea, believing that everyone should face the universe tribulation together. Unfortunately, they all died in the end."

Ye Guan frowned.

Shen Qi looked at Ye Guan and asked, "Young Master Ye, who do you think was right?"

"What were the chances of survival if everyone had chosen to unite and face the tribulation together?" Ye Guan asked in a deep voice.

"They had no idea," Shen Qi said, shaking her head. "However, one thing was for sure. The civilization could have survived if they had sacrificed the weaker cultivators to ensure the survival of the top-tier supreme elites."

Ye Guan was silent.

"Young Master Ye, what would you choose if you were there?" Shen Qi asked with a smile.

"To ensure the survival of the strong, do they really need to sacrifice the weak?" Ye Guan asked."

"Yes." Shen Qi nodded. "A sacrifice was necessary."

"I think it's fair for anyone to ensure their own survival, but I personally don't like sacrificing others for my own survival."

"All right," Shen Qi said, nodding slightly before adding, "But then everyone will die."

"Miss Shen Qi," Ye Guan asked solemnly, "if you were in that era, would you be strong or weak?"

Shen Qi stared deeply at Ye Guan.

"You'd be strong," said Ye Guan, "In other words, you have the freedom of choice to either sacrifice the weak to survive or try to survive using your own power..."

Ye Guan then shook his head and laughed. "The ordinary people of a secular world frequently wrestle with that dilemma. Whenever there are profits to gain, they are ignored, but whenever sacrifices are needed, they're immediately shoved into the flames. Those in power would then justify the sacrifice, saying that it's for the sake of the bigger picture. They all believe that ordinary people should die for the sake of the greater good..."

Shen Qi was silent.

"The strong can force the weak to die for them, but what about the weak? Should the weak just accept their fate?"

"But they all died in the end." Shen Qi pointed out.

"Isn't that great?"

Shen Qi was stunned.

"Why should the weak be the only ones that are going to die? Why can’t the strong die as well?"

Shen Qi frowned.

"Miss Shen Qi, your question is meaningless, as those in different positions will have their own unique answers to it. As an example, if you were a weak person in that story, would you willingly sacrifice yourself for the strong?" Ye Guan inquired.

"I see," Shen Qi said, nodding slightly.

All of a sudden, Ye Guan's curiosity was piqued. "Miss Shen Qi, you mentioned that the Gui Zhi Civilization was destroyed by a universe tribulation."

"That's right." Shen Qi nodded.

Ye Guan's voice became solemn as he asked, "Doesn't that mean that there was an Evil Dao?"

Shen Qi replied, "Of course, there was an Evil Dao."

Ye Guan was puzzled. "Where did the Evil Dao go, then?"

"I know the answer to that question," Shen Qi smiled and said, "I was curious about that as well, so I investigated it. Apparently, the good dominates the universe at the beginning of its life, but evil will appear at the end of its natural cycle. When it is finally destroyed. The evil will reach a terrifying level of strength, surpassing even beings with a hundred percent accumulated divinity."

"Surpassing even a full divinity expert?" Ye Guan asked in a grim voice.

"Yes, they trigger a universe tribulation, annihilating a myriad of beings. Afterward, they'll become even stronger as they dominate the good. In other words, the good is strong in the early stages of a universe, while the evil is stronger at the latter end of a universe's life cycle."

Ye Guan asked, "What happens after a universe tribulation?"

"The evil disappears to join a mysterious organization," Shen Qi replied, sounding uncertain as she added, "I can't say for sure. I only know that after the universe tribulation of a large universe, mysterious individuals will arrive to take the Evil Dao of that tribulation away."

"A mysterious organization?" Ye Guan was intrigued.

"That's right, but I'm really not sure," Shen Qi said, "Even the Gui Zhi Civilization's records about it are vague. I think they weren't sure as well."

Ye Guan was silent.

Shen Qi stared at Ye Guan and muttered, "The vast expanse is truly full of mystery..."

Ye Guan nodded in agreement. He realized the vastness of the vast expanse upon discovering other civilizations.

Just then, Ye Guan recalled something and asked, "Miss Shen Qi, you said that you're the heiress to the Gui Zhi Civilization. Did I hear you right?"

Shen Qi nodded.

Ye Guan asked, "Are you at ninety or a hundred percent divinity?"

Shen Qi replied, "Peak ninety percent."

A peak ninety percent expert?!

Ye Guan shook his head and smiled wryly. "Back then, my aunt wanted me to save you..."

"Well, she had no idea," Shen Qi replied, "I had two goals at the time. First of all, I wanted to meet you, as my father had chosen you. Secondly and lastly, I wanted to look at his journal because I wanted to see how far my father had gone."

"And you've finally achieved your goals, is that right?" Ye Guan asked.

Shen Qi nodded slightly. "He was stronger than I thought. In terms of strength, my mother wasn't even worthy to tie his shoes."

Ye Guan looked at Shen Qi and muttered, "You and your mother..."

Shen Qi smiled and shook her head. "We don't have a great relationship, as she's focused only on cultivating. She doesn’t care about anything else at all."

Ye Guan nodded slightly. He was about to speak, but he frowned and took Shen Qi out of the tiny pagoda.

Outside, Ye Guan looked up at the distant starry sky.

A middle-aged man in white was above them.

The middle-aged man in white was none other than Ming Jun.

Ming Jun looked down at Ye Guan and said, "Ye Guan, the leader of our civilization will come here in three days to challenge the lady in the plain skirt and the blue-robed swordsman. We'll settle everything in one battle."

The Forest Civilization had come to issue a civilization challenge!