Chapter 00301: Why the Alchemy Competition
# Why the Alchemy Competition?
Chapter 301
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 301: Why the Alchemy Competition?
After introducing the eight important figures, Liu Ming's tone suddenly turned heavy.
"The Mo Xuan Alchemy Competition is a significant event for the entire Mo Xuan Immortal Domain. It should be a joyous occasion where we can admire the alchemy skills of talented alchemists and even request them to refine pills for us. However, the reality behind it is quite somber..."
Hearing Liu Ming's grave tone, the square fell silent.
Over a million people were present, yet not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Liu Ming's gaze swept across the square before he continued in a softer voice, "I am not originally from the Mo Xuan Immortal Domain. I come from another universe called the Taihan Universe. Some of you might have heard of it, but I will briefly explain my origins."
Lan Xiaobu, upon hearing about the Taihan Universe, thought to himself, *I never expected Liu Ming to be a distant fellow from my own universe.* The Five Realms Immortal World was formed from the fragmentation and subsequent fusion of five great universes, merging with the vast chaos.
However, this fusion was incomplete, resulting in a realm that was inferior to the original universes in terms of power and stability.
Liu Ming continued, "In terms of strength, the Taihan Universe was once hundreds of times more powerful than the current Mo Xuan Immortal Domain. In the Taihan Universe, an Immortal Emperor was not considered a top-tier powerhouse; at best, they were just a local hero. In fact, an Immortal Emperor in the Taihan Universe was equivalent to a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Above the Great Luo Golden Immortal, there were the Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortals, Quasi-Sages, and even Sages. However, after the collapse of the Taihan Universe, these rules and hierarchies ceased to exist. The cultivators who survived the collapse either remained in the Five Realms Immortal World or ascended to higher realms. As for how the Five Realms Immortal World came to be, I will explain that later."
Murmurs began to rise in the square.
Clearly, Liu Ming wasn't the only one who knew about the Five Realms Immortal World.
Many cultivators were aware of its existence and the fact that its heavenly and earthly rules were incomplete.
"What I want to talk about is the state of the immortal path before the collapse of the Taihan Universe. No matter how vast the Taihan Universe was, it had its limits. Over time, the number of cultivators increased, while the resources for cultivation dwindled. As you can imagine, a Great Yi Immortal could live for millions of years, and as their cultivation increased, so did their need for resources. Over countless years, the number of high-level immortals grew, along with the influx of new cultivators..."
At this point, Liu Ming didn't need to explain further.
Everyone understood the implications.
With so many cultivators, the resources would eventually run out.
Sure enough, Liu Ming said, "One day, two Sages from the Taihan Universe clashed over resources for their disciples. Their battle caused one-third of the vast Taihan Universe to collapse. Their power was so immense that even the heavenly and earthly rules of the Taihan Universe couldn't contain them."
Lan Xiaobu fell silent.
The Taihan Universe's fate was similar to that of the Great Desolate Universe.
The Great Desolate Universe originally had nine layers.
Due to insufficient resources, they created the "Fengshen Bang" (Investiture of the Gods), but it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.
Eventually, they had to split off the first layer.
Strictly speaking, the Milky Way Galaxy was part of the abandoned universe.
Later, they realized that splitting off the first layer wasn't enough, so they split off the second layer as well.
But this was merely a temporary solution.
By the time they realized the dangers of splitting off the first and second layers, it was too late to go back.
Even Sages couldn't reunite the nine layers.
Although Lan Xiaobu didn't know how powerful the expert who fused the five universes was, he deeply respected that individual.
Even though the fusion of the five universes into the Five Realms Immortal World wasn't fully successful, it preserved a portion of the vitality of the five universes.
Lan Xiaobu, who possessed the Cosmic Dimension Matrix, had a deeper understanding of the heavenly and earthly rules and the nature of the universe than 99% of people.
He suspected that if it weren't for that great expert fusing the five universes, the five universes would have collapsed one after another.
That expert likely knew the universes were on the brink of collapse and sacrificed himself to fuse them, though it was unclear who had sabotaged him during the process.
"After one-third of the Taihan Universe collapsed, the Sages realized their predicament. They began to split off smaller regions, sending those they deemed wasteful of resources to these places or to planets without immortal energy. These abandoned places, or planets without immortal energy, were called 'Abandoned Domains' or 'Abandoned Universes'..."
Liu Ming's voice grew more sorrowful, "I come from the Taihan Abandoned Universe. Not only the Taihan Universe, but the other great universes—such as the Great Desolate Universe, the Tianhong Universe, the Great Profound Universe, and the Guhuang Universe—also abandoned parts of their realms and sent away mortals and low-level cultivators they deemed wasteful. All these abandoned places became part of the Abandoned Universes. Although the Sages were powerful, they weren't powerful enough to control the heavenly and earthly rules of a universe. Or perhaps they thought they could construct or even control the rules of a universe. When the consequences of their actions became apparent, they realized their power was far from sufficient. Abandoning a part of a universe was like cutting off one's own limbs—it was bound to cause problems. Due to this selfish behavior, the five universes eventually faced instability in their heavenly and earthly rules, and there was even a risk of complete collapse. At that time, a being far surpassing the Sages used his own power to fuse the five collapsing universes into the Five Realms Immortal World. It is said that during the fusion, this great expert was sabotaged, resulting in the Five Realms Immortal World being incomplete and lacking in rules."
The crowd's mood grew heavy as they listened.
Liu Ming paused for a moment before continuing, "The law of karma is unrelenting. Those who abandoned others were themselves abandoned. Perhaps our ancestors knew they were abandoned, so they followed the example of those who abandoned them, constructing cosmic walls and discarding those they deemed unworthy."
The square grew restless.
Those who had cultivated to the level of immortals were no fools.
They could guess what Liu Ming was about to say.
Liu Ming's voice grew slower and more somber, "Human life is finite, but if one seeks infinite lifespan within the universe, there will be corresponding heavenly punishments. As we cultivate in the vast universe, we face tribulations of thunder and heaven. These are nothing compared to the more terrifying calamities we must face. Originally, no matter how many people existed in our universe, resources would never run out. Over time, our immortal domains or realms beyond immortal domains would expand into the vast chaos, replenishing the lost cosmic vitality. The wonder of the universe lies in the fact that no matter how strong one becomes, no one can fully comprehend its vastness."
Liu Ming sighed, "Many powerful beings, unwilling to face the calamities, chose to split the universe. All heavenly tribulations and calamities would be borne by the abandoned parts of the universe, while they watched indifferently as those abandoned realms lived and died. They were the masters, and the abandoned universes were mere ants. The life and death of ants were of no concern to the masters. I believe you have guessed it by now—we, too, have been abandoned. Not just the Mo Xuan Immortal Domain, but countless immortal domains like ours across the vast universe have been cast aside. Because we are aware of this, we feel this sense of crisis and helplessness. As for those cultivators who haven't even reached the True Immortal realm, they are unaware of their fate. Mortals who live for a hundred years consider it a blessing. Perhaps it is indeed a blessing, as they don't have to worry about their future."
At this point, Liu Ming pointed to the vast void, "Since they want the calamities to fall upon our realm, yet they have cut off our connection to the vast chaos, such selfishness is intolerable. The fact that our realm must endure these calamities means that when our part of the universe was abandoned, it was still connected to them. However, our universe was forcibly severed, unable to connect with the vast chaos. Thus, our heavenly and earthly rules can never be fully restored. With incomplete rules, we cannot cultivate to the point of leaving this universe. Many years ago, the Qingfang Immortal Domain discovered a chaos secret realm. This chaos secret realm was left behind by those powerful beings before they abandoned this part of the universe. It must contain the most precious immortal spirit herbs. If these herbs can be refined into pills, they could allow an Immortal Emperor to advance further. With further advancement, an Immortal Emperor might have the chance to leave our universe and seek a way for our abandoned universe to reconnect with the chaos and ascend to a higher level..."
Everyone now understood the significance of this alchemy competition.
The goal was to nurture Nine-Rank Immortal Alchemy Emperors, who would then enter the chaos secret realm and strive to surpass the Nine-Rank level.
Only by surpassing the Nine-Rank Immortal Alchemy Emperor could they refine pills that would allow Immortal Emperors to advance further.
Lan Xiaobu, however, frowned.
He had two major doubts.
Before the fusion of the Five Realms Immortal World, each of the five universes had Sages—beings far beyond the level of Immortal Emperors.
If they were part of the abandoned universe, where did these Sages go? The great expert who fused the universes mentioned that there were higher realms.
Were these Sages forcibly sent there?
Secondly, Lan Xiaobu didn't fully believe Liu Ming's noble explanation.
Humans are inherently selfish.
If the Qingfang Immortal Domain had discovered the chaos secret realm, why would they involve all the other immortal domains and send their talented alchemists to be nurtured?
If Liu Ming was telling the truth, it was possible that the Immortal Emperors of the Qingfang Immortal Domain wanted to advance further but found that their domain lacked alchemists capable of refining pills beyond the Nine-Rank level.
Thus, they initiated this alchemy competition to find talented alchemists from all domains.
This wasn't inherently wrong—after all, everyone looks out for themselves.
What worried Lan Xiaobu was whether there were other hidden agendas at play that he wasn't aware of.
(End of Chapter)