Chapter 84: The Era of Darkness

Clad in battle armor and carrying heavy weapons, Chen Chu and Xia Youhui greatly stood out while standing at the street corner, drawing the gazes of passersby who couldn't help but take a second look.

With the Federation crushing and suppressing the rebel remnants in the past few days, Leisteru City had regained a bit of hope. There were noticeably more pedestrians on the streets, and vehicles passed by occasionally. Some of the roadside shops and restaurants had also reopened.

Despite all of this, however, Xia Youhui's expression had remained grim since the meeting.

Chen Chu couldn't help but ask, "Old Xia, were you constipated this morning? Why have you been frowning all day?"

Xia Youhui smiled bitterly. "It’s the matter of the Blood Seed."

"Didn't they say that the Seeds around here were all ordinary ones, and they wouldn't be able to break past the Third Heavenly Realm even if they were allowed to develop? What's there to worry about?" Chen Chu furrowed his brows.

"It’s just that they reminded me of some unpleasant things."

"What about it?"

Xia Youhui's expression turned serious. "Under normal circumstances, after we cultivators enter the First Realm, we absorb the transcendent energy from our surroundings to strengthen ourselves. However, over fifty years ago, when true martial arts first began, that energy was even scarcer everywhere than it is in Kyrola now. Cultivators weren’t able to break through to the Second Realm for ten years.

"Then, some people got an idea from the colossal beasts that descended during the first arrivals. During the start of the era, there were frequent appearances of colossal beasts. The most infamous one was the World-devouring Python that appeared in the Aukerdi Sea, where it hovered over the city and devoured over a million people.

"It was said that at the time, the sky was completely blocked by a huge mouth, and countless people were turned into a red mist that got pulled into the sky like a river of blood. The reason for that was, after they came here, the colossal beasts couldn't adapt to the environment and instinctively wanted to replenish their energy.

"But some crazed cultivators believed that humans were also an energy source and could be eaten to make progress in their cultivation. They conducted a lot of experiments on cattle and sheep to develop their blood-refining method, then started to use it on people. I don't know the specific process, but as it spread, the entire world plunged into a five-year Era of Darkness.

"You have to know that at that time, there were a hundred and fifty countries of all sizes in the world, with a total population of over three billion. But then there was the chaos caused by the awakened individuals, and by the time the Federation was established, only about two billion people remained."

Chen Chu suddenly gasped, and it was almost as if he could smell the endless blood even now.

Nearly a billion people had died from non-natural causes in ten years. Those had been such desperate and dark times that he wouldn’t be surprised if the earth and sea had been stained red with all of the bloodshed.

After a moment, he frowned. "Wait a minute, how come there's no mention of these deaths on the internet?"

Xia Youhui shrugged. "It was erased, of course. The technology at that time was much more backward than it is now, and information wasn't as advanced. So the news about events like cities and towns getting slaughtered became rumors when they spread far enough, and most people just took them as idle talk.

"And almost everyone who witnessed and experienced it is dead by now. There are just some military personnel and cultivators left. Add on some official coverups for a few decades, and almost no one remembers any of this anymore."

"People nowadays only know how chaotic that period was, and think that the colossal beasts and the missile bombardments from trying to deal with them were what killed so many people."

"This is also one of the reasons why the government controls everything to do with cultivation so strictly. They don’t want something like that to happen again."

"I only know about this because my brother broke through to the Seventh Realm last year and accidentally let it slip in his excitement. I had to press him for more details, and I was dumbfounded after hearing it. Hundreds of millions of people, eaten by those mad cultivators." At this point, Xia Youhui looked extremely disturbed.

Chen Chu took a deep breath and said, "So, you mean the Blood Seeds were the same cultivation methods of cannibalism back then?"

"Yes, but not exactly." Xia Youhui nodded. "Many of those lunatics back then were also awakened individuals who created large-scale blood-refining and even city-slaughtering arts."

"The Blood Seed was just one of them. It’s said that they originated from the Source of the Blood God, and the powerful expert who had mastered the Source at the time split it into thousands of Blood Seeds for ordinary people. And then, when his followers had reached a certain level of strength, that expert harvested all that power from them and became a terrifying existence in a very short time."

Chen Chu suddenly said, "The supreme god of the Blood Cult, Akunus."

"Exactly." Xia Youhui nodded solemnly.

"These people deserve to die." The intent to kill flickered in Chen Chu's eyes.

It was normal for there to be ideological disputes and grievances among cultivators, but no one could tolerate the act of cannibalizing fellow cultivators. Even though Chen Chu had never seen the unknown powerhouse called Akunus, he was fully ready to fight this so-called Blood God.

***

The population of Leisteru City was over seven hundred thousand in the urban area, and with the surrounding towns under its jurisdiction, the total population exceeded one million.

To search for traces of undercover Blood Cultists among a million people would be like finding a needle in a haystack for just over twenty special forces soldiers, but they had at least some leads.

After learning that the Blood Cultists wanted to quickly gain strength by killing people, many students, including Chen Chu and his group, went to the local Law Enforcement Bureau. With their status as special forces, they easily obtained permission to browse through recent homicide cases.

Unfortunately, due to the recent rebel activity, the newly established Bureau only had records of cases from the past week.

"Damn, everyone, line up and wait for your turn." Liu Feng spread his arms, signaling the classmates behind him not to push.

Sitting in front of the computer, Bai Mu, who was reading the files, shouted, "There’s only one computer here. Don’t worry, I'll let you know when I find a target."

Soon, it was Chen Chu and Xia Youhui's turn.

"Old Xia, exclude those who died of illness or old age, and focus on those who died of unnatural causes in the past few days," Chen Chu reminded him.

With his Insightful Eyes and the enhancement to his senses that grew stronger alongside his physique, Chen Chu was confident that, as long as a Blood Cultist appeared within a dozen meters of him, he would detect them.

"Got one. There were two deaths reported the day before yesterday. Both adults, hidden in a ditch, their bodies dried up and yellow."

"Alright, it's our turn."

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Just as Xia Youhui confirmed a target, he was urged by the classmates behind him to step aside. Each one of them couldn't wait to rid the people of these menaces.

Over half an hour later, the two appeared in the outskirts. Their eyes swept over low and dilapidated brick houses, narrow and shabby roads, and debris and garbage on both sides. A few old people with tanned skin and tattered clothes sat at a door not far away, their eyes dull.

The first impression Chen Chu got here was dirtiness, ruin, and despair, without a trace of modern civilization. It was almost inconceivable how despicable the Kyrola royal family had been. No wonder they had been overthrown by the rebels.

It was only a pity that they had gotten tied up with the Blood Cult. Otherwise, even if they had overthrown the Kyrola royal family, the Federation most likely wouldn’t have intervened.

Of course, Chen Chu knew his thoughts were a bit presumptuous. After all, the Kyrola royal family had controlled the cultivation arts and military power, and these ordinary people had no way to resist.

This was why the Blood Cult had been able to grow here secretly. Under this much despair, most people would cling to any hope they could get, no matter how false or harmful.

But now, with the official support of the Federation, things should gradually develop to become more in line with international standards.

"Let's go." Chen Chu strode forward, followed by Xia Youhui.

Their alloy combat boots made dull sounds as they stepped on the ground. The elderly sitting at the door only glanced at them weakly while they passed by.

The old people basking in the sun, the children secretly peeking from behind the door, the insects crawling under the ground, and the rats rummaging for food under the garbage pile.

Nothing could escape Chen Chu's Insightful Eyes.