A group of outsiders.
Others may not know, but Chen Fan knew very clearly.
Xiao Wu was the leader of this team.
Now that he had been exposed, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
"Disciple of the White Emperor Palace, from the Western Continent, Xiao Wu, pays his respects to City Lord Chen." He had laid his cards on the table.
At this point, any attempt to prevaricate was meaningless.
He had said before that he came from the White Emperor Palace.
It was just that at that time, only Chen Fan and Xi Qiu had heard his words.
And now, it was everyone.
The White Emperor Palace?
The cultivators from Tiandang Mountain were stunned.
After a long while, they reacted.
"You... are not from the Kuang Realm?"
"An outsider?"
"What are your intentions? Do you want to devour our Kuang Realm?"
"Hmph, shameless scoundrel, even if our Kuang Realm is destroyed, we will not let you people devour it..."
"..."
Unwilling.
It was understandable. Their world, in which they had lived for a lifetime, was already on the verge of collapse.
Yet, a group of outsiders wanted to devour the world they had lived in for a lifetime.
Anyone would be outraged.
Xi Qiu: "..."
The reactions of these people were indeed somewhat unexpected.
In the entire Tiandang Mountain, apart from the previous Mountain Lord Qi Mu, only he, Xi Qiu, knew the origin of the Kuang Realm.
Logically speaking, this was indeed a world.
But these matters could not be dissected. If dissected too deeply, this was the inner world of a powerful being.
If this were revealed now, it would shatter the new generation.
From the moment these new generation of Kuang Realm were born, they had known this world.
In their perception, the Kuang Realm was a true world, and outsiders were trying to snatch away their space to survive.
It was natural to have such thoughts.
But was this really the case?
The Kuang Realm was about to collapse.
The fall of the Kuang Heaven Emperor was destined to be accompanied by the collapse of the Kuang Realm.
Perhaps some people were willing to perish with the Kuang Realm because they did not know the full story.
"Alas."
Xi Qiu had no choice but to step forward.
His expression was somewhat solemn.
Although he did not want to say it, at this moment, he had to take the lead.
"Brothers and sisters."
Xi Qiu's expression was extremely serious.
His seriousness made the atmosphere much more solemn.
"My name is Xi Qiu, and I believe you all already know. Now, I am going to tell you a story..."
The story began with a powerful being achieving the Heavenly Emperor fruit status and bringing a group of people into his world.
The explanation of the story revealed Chen Fan's origin.
Many times, faith could collapse.
Xi Qiu's narration shattered everyone's illusions.
"Hahahaha."
Some people laughed tragically, "So, we are nothing but birds in a cage."
Even more people's foundations were collapsing. "My ambition was to kill the locusts that were destroying the world, hoping that one day, our world could regain its vitality."
"So, all our foundations were false."
Faith collapsed, and the foundations shattered.
"Hahahaha."
Desperate laughter echoed through heaven and earth.
Many people could not accept this outcome.
As their faith collapsed, so did their rules.
Their physical bodies turned into dust and dissipated into the heavens and the earth.
...
At this moment, heaven and earth fell silent.
Xi Qiu said nothing.
If it were him, knowing that the world he believed in was merely the inner world of a powerful being, his faith would also waver.
These new generation were born with the understanding that they were in an era of declining martial arts.
They were determined to bring the world back to its initial beauty.
But Xi Qiu's words had completely shattered their faith.
It was gone.
Everything was gone.
Everything was empty.
Illusory.
Only a few people collapsed.
The majority of people accepted this reality.
No one grieved for the dead. In the era of the Kuang Realm's decline, they wanted to survive more.
And Xi Qiu's words had given them a glimmer of hope for survival.
...
After waiting for a long time.
When the crowd had completely calmed down.
Chen Fan finally spoke, saying, "Everyone, I understand how you feel. In the past, I was like you."
Although it was not as prosperous as the Kuang Realm, and not an era of declining martial arts.
But Chen Fan's realm was very low, and the lower realm was even worse than the Kuang Realm.
It was a desolate land.
Those who could leave had left, leaving only those who had to stay.
"..."
No one spoke. Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for the City Lord to bring them a glimmer of hope.
"Heh."
Chen Fan smiled and said, "I know what you are expecting. That's right, I can take you out, but the premise is that my efforts must be rewarded accordingly."
"City Lord, just tell us what you want us to do."
"Yes, City Lord, you tell us. We will do anything. We are willing."
"..."
There was a chance to survive.
No longer having to die with the collapse of the Kuang Realm.
The City Lord's words made them incredibly excited.
"Now..."
Chen Fan spoke, saying, "I need you to contribute by merging into my world. After merging, when this place collapses, I can take you out."
Merge into my world?
What did that mean?
The crowd did not understand, but Xi Qiu looked at Chen Fan in shock.
What did it mean to merge into a world?
Back then, Xi Qiu and the others had merged into the world of the Kuang Heaven Emperor.
Now... was Chen Fan going to do the same?
Chen Fan continued to speak, "Currently, I have not yet reached the Emperor realm, and perhaps I will never reach it in my lifetime, or perhaps I will reach it soon, or even surpass it."
The necessary words had to be said.
He continued, "You are citizens of the Kuang Realm, born here and raised here. There is no place for you in the Immortal Realm, and you do not even have a trace of yang energy on your bodies. According to the rules of the Immortal Realm, you are already dead."
"The dead, naturally, cannot enter the world of the living."
"But merging into my rules is different. After merging into my rules, you will have a ticket to enter the Immortal Realm, and you will automatically be considered citizens within my rules."
"My upper limit will be your upper limit. Now, I give you the opportunity to choose, whether to merge or not, three minutes..."
There was no need for too much time to consider, three minutes was enough.
A slight commotion arose in the silent crowd.
Some were tempted because they could survive.
It was just moving from one world to another, and in the end, they could not escape this cycle.
But some were unwilling...
Living in someone else's world meant being controlled by others, and they were unwilling.
Dong Huo was one of them.
"I..."
*Bang.*
Just as Dong Huo was about to stand up and speak, he was kicked away.
"What are you doing?"
Dong Huo glared at Xi Qiu.
Xi Qiu's gaze was icy. "You want to die, but don't drag everyone down. Do you know your status? If you take the initiative to stand out, those who believe in you will surely follow you."
"What do you mean?"
Dong Huo was stunned for a moment.
"Hmph."
Xi Qiu was too lazy to explain and said coldly, "You had better shut up now, or I will not hesitate to kill you right now."
After tens of thousands of years of friendship, this was the first time Xi Qiu had harbored murderous intent towards Dong Huo.