Chapter 922: Strange Coexistence

Liu Shaji had quickly replied, “Only five humans could accomplish this. That eternal and indestructible sword scar was left by the Sword Immortal Emperor Lin Beichen.”

Sword Immortal Lin Beichen!

Li Xiaofei suddenly understood. Lin Beichen was one of the five supreme human emperors. There had not been many legends about him on Earth. But he was extremely famous in the Star Battlefield.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Ding Hao, Li Mu, Ye Qingyu, and Sun Fei was not something an ordinary mortal could achieve. Li Xiaofei had not expected that this person was so formidable that he could run straight to the Reaper’s ancestral ground and slash it apart with a single sword. Truly, he was a peerless, unparalleled sovereign.

Wei Xiaotian’s tone unexpectedly carried a hint of admiration. He said with deep emotion, “What’s even more crucial is that this Sword Immortal punched through the Reaper’s ancestral ground and entered the Holy Ruins. It was said that even though two Reaper emperors joined forces, they still failed to stop him. In the end, the Ancestor of Wisdom had to appear in person to pursue him into the Holy Ruins.”

These legendary tales made Li Yiyun and Gou Dongxi quietly perk up their ears to listen carefully. Yet Wei Xiaotian stopped halfway through his story. He did not continue.

Li Yiyun could not resist and hurriedly asked, “And then? What happened next? Did they decide the winner?”

Wei Xiaotian shook his head and replied, “I don’t know.”

Gou Dongxi, unable to contain his thirst for answers, exclaimed, “You don’t know? How can you not know?”

Wei Xiaotian spread his hands and said, “A hundred years later, the Ancestor of Wisdom appeared again in the Reaper world, but he never mentioned anything about Sword Immortal Lin Beichen’s fate, so no one could guess what happened.”

“The Ancestor of Wisdom came back alive?” Li Yiyun, always quick to speak without thinking, said, “Then doesn’t that mean Sword Immortal Lin Beichen must have met a grim fate...”

Pa!

Gou Dongxi rapped the back of Li Yiyun’s head. Li Yiyun clutched his head in grievance.

“Why do you speak like that?” Gou Dongxi said, “That so-called Ancestor of Wisdom didn’t dare show his face for a hundred years. Maybe he was seriously injured by the Sword Immortal. Our human race’s supreme is invincible wherever he goes. How could a mere Ancestor of Wisdom dare contend with him?”

He turned his head and grinned obsequiously. “Hehe, Master, do you think I’m right?”

Li Xiaofei felt utterly embarrassed. He had always lived a righteous and chivalrous life, so how had he ended up with a disciple so thoroughly saturated with the air of a villain’s sycophant?

The Death God’s Eye ship continued to advance. It then approached a region beyond a star system. This was an exceptionally beautiful star system, consisting of more than a thousand planets.

Unlike the dead planets in the outer regions, all the planets here were still alive. They radiated vitality. They had not been entirely drained of energy and killed by the Reapers. They still maintained their original states.

Li Xiaofei could clearly sense that at least one-third of these thousand planets were habitable. In other words, life existed on them. The planets moved through the universe in an orderly fashion, each along its own orbit.

Li Xiaofei was rather surprised. He glanced at Liu Shaji, whose eyes revealed a complicated emotion. He remained silent and said nothing. But Li Xiaofei could sense that Liu Shaji must have been here in his previous life.

“So this is the Reaper’s ancestral ground?” Li Yiyun asked curiously.

Wei Xiaotian said with deep emotion, “That’s right, the ancestral ground, also known as the ancestral court. This place is the heart of the Reaper’s world, but it’s only the outer radiation zone of the Holy Ruins.

The two Reaper ancestors emerged from the Holy Ruins and created this race, designating this place as their ancestral ground. Even though the Reapers aren’t the most nostalgic beings by nature, they have permanently occupied this region and preserved its original, pristine state.”

Wei Xiaotian was a very unusual person. Whether he was speaking with Li Xiaofei or Li Yiyun, he treated them all the same. He never considered people like Li Yiyun and Gou Dongxi, who came from testing grounds and whose strength and seniority were far inferior to his own, were unworthy of speaking with him, nor did he find their constant chatter annoying.

At least when no conflict of interest was involved, Wei Xiaotian was very approachable to everyone. He embraced the notion of equality among all beings. The spaceship entered the star system.

Li Xiaofei observed even more closely. When they passed by a planet, he could not help but ask, “Can we land on that planet and have a look?”

Wei Xiaotian did not refuse. The Death God’s Eye ship released a landing craft. After it had passed the planetary defense force’s review and approval, it descended to the planet’s surface.

Li Xiaofei and the others stepped out onto Planet M812. Everything they saw greatly surprised him. This was a planet suitable for human habitation. The composition of the air, the gravity, the vegetation; everything was almost indistinguishable from Earth.

“Is this also a testing ground created by the Reapers?” asked Li Xiaofei as he looked at Wei Xiaotian.

The latter shook his head and said, “No, this planet was naturally formed. You should be able to sense that.”

Indeed. Li Xiaofei could sense it. That was why he found it even more astonishing. There was actually a living planet in a region controlled by the Reapers. Moreover, Li Xiaofei found humans on this planet. There were not just one or two, nor a few thousand or hundred thousand. There were over a hundred million humans.

What was most incredible was that these humans coexisted with the Reapers. From the looks of it, they were not in a state of mortal combat, at least not at the level where they would kill each other on sight.

Li Xiaofei glanced at Liu Shaji. Liu Shaji looked at Gou Dongxi. Gou Dongxi looked at Li Yiyun. Li Yiyun looked at—

“Don’t look at me.” Wei Xiaotian became anxious and said, “I don’t know either. Use your heads a little. Even though I acquired Delta’s essence, I didn’t fully refine all his memories.”

Li Xiaofei took a walk around Planet M812. He discovered that humans and Reapers indeed coexisted on this planet. But this coexistence was not equal. Humans occupied a subjugated position. They were second-class citizens and the Reapers were the rulers.

They possessed absolute ownership and disposal rights over everything that existed on that planet, including humans. Just like masters and slaves.

Li Xiaofei left that place. The Death God’s Eye ship continued advancing in the direction of the Holy Ruins. Along the way, they encountered many more habitable planets.

Li Xiaofei landed on each one to explore. Similar to Planet M812, all of these life-bearing planets were just like Earth, and each harbored large human populations. These humans were also in a subjugated position. They lived like slaves, enduring hardship to survive. Even so, the human population was massive.

“In this star system, at least hundreds of billions of humans live under the rule of the Reapers, multiplying and thriving,” Li Xiaofei concluded.

That conclusion was shocking. The vast population numbers made this region seem even more like humanity’s true home. Earth, countless light-years away, felt more like a frontier outpost.

Li Xiaofei felt like he needed to take some time to digest the questions in his heart. Everything he had discovered here brought him tremendous shock.

Another month later, the Death God’s Eye ship finally arrived outside the Holy Ruins. Originally, Li Xiaofei had wanted to visit the Reaper’s ancestral ground, but Wei Xiaotian had refused.

His application was for entering the Holy Ruins to cultivate, not to visit the ancestral ground. The hierarchy within the Reaper ranks was extremely strict, especially for someone like Wei Xiaotian, who was a king of a border territory. He was not allowed entry unless summoned. Therefore, he dared not intrude.

Li Xiaofei had no choice but to abandon the idea. Eventually, the spaceship reached the edge of the Holy Ruins.

“So this is the legendary Holy Ruins?” Li Xiaofei looked through the massive viewing window and could not help but reveal surprise. He had imagined the so-called Holy Ruins might have been a black hole or a spatial teleportation point. Perhaps it would even be a small world or something similar.

But the scene before him was completely different from what he had imagined. It truly was a ruin. There were dilapidated buildings, desolate streets, crumbling city walls, and bones half-buried in the sands blown by the wind. It looked like a lost land adrift in space.

The entire ruin felt both illusory and real. At first, it appeared to be just a few thousand kilometers across, but as he looked more closely, it seemed to stretch endlessly into the depths of the starry sky, with no boundaries in sight.

“Spaceships cannot enter the Holy Ruins. We have to go on foot,” said Wei Xiaotian.

Li Xiaofei nodded. He knew that already. Before coming here, he had gathered quite a bit of information about the Holy Ruins. An illusory yellow sand spread across the starry sky.

Buildings lay buried in the yellow sand, and a wind from an unknown source blew the sand up, making it look like a sea of countless stars that swallowed everything in the distance. The scene was indeed eerie. The Holy Ruins really were a ruin. It also appeared abruptly in the starry sky, completely out of place with everything around it.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s set off,” Li Yiyun urged, unable to contain his curiosity.

Wei Xiaotian stopped him and said, “We need to go through verification before we can enter. We also have to stay in the Holy Ruins’ outer port for three days and wait until final approval is granted for us to actually enter.”

“Verification?” Liu Shaji asked, clearly dissatisfied. “Didn’t your application already go through?”

“It did,” Wei Xiaotian replied, “but the permit I received still needs to be reviewed by the guards. Besides, I’m bringing you lot along, so I have to submit all your information again. After your identities are verified and approved, then we can enter together.”

Li Xiaofei nodded and said, “Then let’s just wait a little longer.”

There was no need to rush. The Death God’s Eye ship docked at the largest port outside the Holy Ruins. After disembarking, the group made their way to the hotel they had booked in advance.

This port was built on a small planet. Besides providing spaceship docking, it also offered various other functions. It served as a transport hub, a logistics center, and an intelligence gathering point, with a constant stream of Reapers and humans passing through every day. Of course, most of the humans had come as slave laborers.