Time passed, and on the third day, Zhu Xuan noticed that his grandfather's condition had improved significantly.
Although his vitality was not yet fully restored to its healthy state, he was already able to walk, and his cultivation was slowly recovering.
Zhu Xuan was naturally overjoyed and felt increasingly grateful to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance Leader, Gu Changge.
Just as he and Shangguan Qing had finalized their plans and decided to set out immediately to search for the Creation Pool, a tall woman in a purple dress, wearing a half-mask that revealed only her flawless chin, appeared outside their courtyard with a group of people clad in the uniform armor of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
Zhu Xuan, Shangguan Qing, and the others were extremely surprised, unsure of the purpose of this group's visit.
Soon, a middle-aged man from behind the purple-dressed woman stepped forward and explained their identities.
They were the Heaven-Slaying Guards of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, and the woman in purple was their Grand Commander, a figure of immense strength and mysterious methods, highly valued by the Alliance Leader.
They had been sent by Gu Changge to follow Zhu Xuan and the others, tasked with ensuring their safety.
The woman in purple was cold as ice, exuding an aura that kept others at a distance. She did not greet Zhu Xuan or the others, treating the task of protecting them as a simple duty.
After hearing the explanation, Zhu Xuan and the others felt reassured, their confidence in the journey growing.
As for the cold demeanor of the woman in purple, they paid no mind.
In their subsequent conversations with the middle-aged man and the others, Zhu Xuan learned more about these Heaven-Slaying Guards.
The middle-aged man was named Song Dao, a Dao Realm expert.
The other Heaven-Slaying Guards were also formidable, with the weakest among them being at the Immortal King level, having been carefully selected through rigorous screening.
As for the woman in purple, her strength was unfathomable.
Zhu Xuan also learned from Song Dao that the Grand Commander's temperament was naturally cold and aloof, as reflected in her name, Chen Jinhán.
Of course, she was not a native cultivator of the Prime-Origin Civilization but had traveled through a spatial tunnel to reach it.
Song Dao and the other Heaven-Slaying Guards held her in high regard, as she had been summoned by the Alliance Leader and was one of the few who had seen his true face.
Zhu Xuan and the others naturally did not dare to slight her. If Gu Changge had sent these Heaven-Slaying Guards to protect them, it meant he held them in high regard.
They could not afford to underestimate these guards or treat them as mere subordinates.
Soon, a cross-domain flying vessel carrying Zhu Xuan and the others transformed into a streak of light, swiftly departing from the headquarters of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
A'Li, who had been missing for several days, also appeared on the flying vessel, though she remained silent and aloof, ignoring the others.
However, this still brought some relief to Zhu Xuan.
He had been worried that A'Li would leave the Heaven-Slaying Alliance early and search for the Creation Pool alone.
After all, with the Dark Beings rampaging across the realms, no civilization was safe. A'Li, having left with them, might already be marked and hunted by the Dark Beings.
No matter how strong she was, could she really break through an endless siege of Dark Beings?
Of course, Zhu Xuan was not foolish. After being reminded by his grandfather and Shangguan Qing, he had also become wary of A'Li and did not fully trust her.
Time flew by, and centuries passed in the blink of an eye. Since the Dark Beings emerged and the Black Calamity returned to the world, hundreds of years had gone by.
In these hundred years, the situation in the vast expanse had undergone unimaginable upheaval, a complete reshuffling, so to speak.
For powerful cultivators, a hundred years was but a fleeting moment.
However, for the various realms of the vast expanse, each day felt like an era of endless suffering.
Countless clans and factions had perished in these hundred years, swallowed by the Black Mist.
The regions touched by the Black Mist saw their star domains dim, universes wither, and True Worlds dry up.
Endless vitality was consumed, and the once-majestic palaces, temples, and divine cities now bore the marks of decay, as if they had been submerged in the river of history for millions of years.
The Dark Beings used the Black Mist as a bridge to traverse time and space, crossing the vast expanse to attack various True Worlds.
In just a few hundred years, the re-emerged Dark Beings had occupied many regions of the vast expanse, building towering blood-red altars.
The blood light illuminated the dark cosmos, and every star shimmered with a bloody glow, draped in overwhelming Black Mist, creating a terrifying scene.
During this period, many newly born True Worlds and ancient True Worlds, lacking the protection of supreme beings, were unable to relocate in time.
Some did not even know why this calamity had come.
In a single day, rolling Black Mist would suddenly tear through the heavens, descending like a torrent. Endless Dark Beings, as if emerging from the ancient lands of hell, swept through the world, leaving desolation in their wake.
Countless native beings fell into despair, swallowed by the Black Mist.
Every day, order crumbled, and countless worlds and universes became fodder for the Dark Beings' grand sacrificial rituals.
World after world was sacrificed, vanishing and being buried deep within the Black Mist.
Such scenes played out daily across the vast expanse.
Those newly born True Worlds and ancient True Worlds no longer had the foundation or heritage to resist this calamity.
Those adrift and unanchored worlds were even worse off, like withered leaves in a raging storm, easily crushed by the slightest wave.
To cope with this situation, many civilizations began to set aside old grievances and band together, discussing strategies to resist the Black Calamity.
The Dark Beings were fierce, but they were not invincible. In the face of absolute power, they could still be killed.
The remnants of the Black Calamity were also cunning, avoiding large-scale attacks on the supreme civilizations and instead targeting the adrift and unanchored True Worlds in the vast expanse.
Having plotted for countless years, the remnants of the Black Calamity had long since mapped out the coordinates of these ancient True Worlds, using various eerie and enigmatic methods to traverse time and space, making their attacks unpredictable.
Even Dao Realm experts had to tread carefully in the vast expanse, wary of getting lost or caught in chaotic spacetime. Without precise coordinates, they dared not wander aimlessly.
However, the Dark Beings' attacks followed no such logic. Even in chaotic spacetime, they had constructed grand passages.
In such a situation, it was exhausting to remain constantly vigilant, with no room for relaxation.
"Kill! Fight these Dark Beings and foreign demons to the death…"
This was a blood-soaked realm, shattered and broken. Endless Black Mist poured down from the heavens, seeping into every crevice. Dark Beings surged forth, like a terrifying hurricane sweeping across the world.
All the continents, seas, islands, and mountains were crumbling.
Streams of light flew out from the shattered lands and cities, their momentum like a rainbow, fearless and resolute.
The heavens were dyed red, and the land was soaked in blood. Everywhere, there were cries of despair and determination.
All the nations, clans, and sects in this realm fought desperately, driven to madness, having long since abandoned any thought of survival.
This disaster had come suddenly. No one had expected a rift to appear in the sky.
Then, endless Black Mist poured in, carrying a terrifying corrosive force. Wherever it passed, all life withered.
Death energy spread, and the stench of decay filled the air. Endless darkness enveloped the heavens.
Wherever the Dark Beings passed, life essence drained away, and all living beings turned to bones in an instant. Cities, towns, mortal kingdoms, cultivation families, hidden clans… none were spared.
The land was shattered, and the heavens turned dark. This world was rapidly collapsing, and no one could stop it.
Only a blood-red altar hung high in the sky, its boundless blood light illuminating everything. All the drained life essence flowed toward it, like a towering pillar of smoke or an inverted waterfall, shaking the heavens.
As the Black Mist receded, this world was left cold, silent, and desolate.
Such scenes had become the main theme of the vast expanse in recent times.
Those newly born True Worlds and ancient True Worlds without the protection of supreme civilizations lived in constant fear, not knowing when disaster would strike.
At this point, even attempting to relocate was unrealistic. Apart from ancient True Worlds with beings who had survived three or four Heavenly Decline Tribulations, the strongest in newly born True Worlds lacked the ability to traverse the vast expanse, let alone relocate an entire population.
It was a futile and hopeless endeavor.
In this context, those True Worlds that had already submitted to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were immensely grateful for their decision, which now seemed incredibly wise.
Over the past few hundred years, only the regions under the protection of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had been spared from the invasion of the Dark Beings, making them rare havens of peace in the vast expanse.
In contrast, even the supreme True Worlds were now in peril, lacking the confidence to protect others.
The Shuheng True World, a supreme True World with many Ancestral Dao Realm experts and an ancient history, was on the verge of collapse. The ancient True Worlds that had depended on it had fallen one after another over the past few hundred years, swallowed by the Black Mist.
Once-thriving regions and universes were now desolate and bleak.
In just a few hundred years, a True World with a history spanning millions of epochs had rapidly decayed and crumbled.
Of course, this was also because the various immortal-level factions, after the fall of the surrounding ancient True Worlds, had immediately used their great powers to open passages and evacuate their sects overnight, abandoning the Shuheng True World without putting up a final resistance.
Now, the Shuheng True World had become a line of defense for many True Worlds and civilizations against the Dark Beings.
The once-glorious universes and regions, after horrific battles, were now shattered and scarred, filled with broken corpses, weapon fragments, and lingering killing intent.
This had become a natural line of defense. On the other side of the shattered lands, various True Worlds and civilizations joined forces, sending countless experts to guard the area.
They laid down trillions of formation patterns, with endless runes intertwining to form grand formation platforms and towering walls, resisting the onslaught of the Dark Beings.
As for the other side of this defensive line, the True Worlds and factions that had not yet fallen or been destroyed were already abandoned by many supreme True Worlds, serving as another line of defense to delay the Dark Beings.
Every day, many cultivators from the shattered universes on the other side, carrying their last hopes, attempted to cross over, unaware of the cruel fate awaiting them.
Of course, such a defensive line was largely symbolic. The Dark Beings could easily bypass the Shuheng True World and attack from other regions.
But for the various True Worlds and civilizations, every day they could delay was a victory.
The vast expanse had been peaceful for too long. Even the supreme True Worlds had little experience dealing with the Dark Beings.
Faced with the sudden emergence of the Dark Beings, they found themselves in a difficult position, unable to devise effective countermeasures in a short time.
Over the past few hundred years, as the Heaven-Slaying Alliance continued to grow and expand, a zone of peace centered around the Prime-Origin Civilization had emerged, radiating outward.
Many True Worlds, large and small, had submitted to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, accepting its protection and governance. This zone of peace was referred to by many beings in the vast expanse as the "Safe Zone" or "Sanctuary."
Some factions with considerable底蕴, upon hearing of this, began to do everything in their power to relocate their entire clans, leaving their ancestral lands and traversing the vast expanse to seek refuge in the Safe Zone.
As the Heaven-Slaying Alliance grew stronger, the Safe Zone expanded, becoming a holy land of peace in the turbulent vast expanse, a beacon of hope for countless cultivators and beings.
Over the past few hundred years, the prestige of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had reached unprecedented heights.
During this period, after decades of chaotic warfare, the Dawn Civilization, which bordered the Prime-Origin Civilization, had fractured and collapsed, falling from a supreme True World to the level of an ordinary ancient True World.
A hundred years ago, Ling Yuling, the founder of the Imperial Immortal Palace, and several elders from the Xiyuan Sacred Hall had descended upon the Dawn Civilization, seeking peace and urging various factions to set aside their prejudices and unite against the Black Calamity.
However, the factions of the Dawn Civilization refused to submit to or be governed by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
Despite Ling Yuling's mediation and multiple meetings with the leaders of various factions, the discussions ended in discord.
The Dawn Civilization was willing to set aside its grievances and join forces with the Heaven-Slaying Alliance to resist the Black Calamity, but it refused to submit or accept any subordinate treaties.
With the Prime-Origin Civilization as a precedent, the Dawn Civilization naturally did not want to become a vassal of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
"We can establish an alliance, but it must be on equal terms. We will not accept any subordinate or vassal treaties."
This was the unanimous decision of the immortal-level factions with Ancestral Dao Realm experts.
Unsurprisingly, after this meeting, the Dawn Civilization faced the most ferocious conquest by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
The vast armies of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance crossed the vast expanse, riding ancient warships and chariots, and descended upon the Dawn Civilization.
The immortal-level factions, confident in their Ancestral Dao Realm experts and深厚底蕴, believed they could withstand the Black Calamity for a time and thus refused to accept subordinate treaties.
However, for those factions without Ancestral Dao Realm experts and far weaker in strength, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was a beacon of hope in the darkness. How could they refuse?
After all, when the Black Calamity struck, those immortal-level factions would not care about their survival.
Instead, they would likely take all their resources and flee, abandoning the Dawn True World, cutting their losses to ensure their survival. As long as their底蕴 remained, they could rise again in time.
The fate of the Shuheng True World was a clear example.
At this point, could anyone still believe that these factions would fight to the death when faced with annihilation?
In the following decades, the Dawn Civilization was plunged into civil war, and the involvement of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance led to its complete collapse and decline.
This chaotic war shocked many True Worlds and civilizations in the vast expanse. No one had expected the Heaven-Slaying Alliance to seize the opportunity to annex the Dawn Civilization.
It was nothing short of taking advantage of the situation.
The decline and eventual absorption of the Dawn Civilization by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance sent a chill through the other supreme True Worlds, leaving them trembling with fear.
With the Black Calamity looming, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had not united the various civilizations to resist the Dark Beings but had instead expanded aggressively, using the protection of all living beings as a pretext to annex neighboring civilizations without hesitation.
Even supreme True Worlds were not spared.
Such actions were infuriating, despicable, and deeply unsettling, having nothing to do with righteousness.
In fact, it gave the impression that the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was no different from the Dark Beings, colluding with them.
In the following years, the Calamitous Yin True World, the Endless Yang True World, and other civilizations decided to unite and form an alliance to resist the Black Calamity, following the example of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
Thus, the Alliance of Righteous Unity was born.