Chapter 1640 The Enslaved Human Race

“I have already arrived at the Central Ancestral Vein, and the causal threads of my bloodline inheritance are not blocked by anything. How could there be no causal threads from the wooden stick?” Zhang Xuan wondered.

This situation occurs either because the stick has fallen and returned to the heavens.

Or perhaps his son, Wooden Stick, wasn't even in the central ancestral vein.

“Something’s not right,” the Ghost King’s voice was grave, interrupting the group’s initial investigation. “The deathly aura here is too strong, and the chances of human survival are… negligible.”

Almost the instant he finished speaking, a muffled rumble came from the distant horizon.

"Go over and have a look."

With a swift movement, the Ghost Emperor transformed into a faint ghostly shadow and dashed away first.

The rest of the group immediately followed. The Mahayana cultivators concealed their auras and blended into the environment, while the Body Integration and Void Refinement cultivators used their escape techniques to keep up closely.

When the group concealed themselves and landed atop a severely weathered black stone mountain, even the six Mahayana cultivators, who were used to seeing storms, couldn't help but slightly contract their pupils as they looked down.

Below is a huge depression, or rather, a mine.

The dark red earth was riddled with holes, and the bottomless mine shafts resembled the gaping fangs and jaws of a giant beast.

Millions of human cultivators are toiling numbly within it.

They were barely clothed and emaciated.

His skin was stained with an ominous color from prolonged contact with a certain dark red ore. His eyes were vacant and devoid of any spirit. He mechanically swung his pickaxe, digging into the blood marrow ore that emitted faint energy fluctuations.

The ones monitoring them were not the strange, heavy water aliens they had imagined, but squads of human cultivators dressed in uniform, dark armor!

These overseers varied in cultivation level, ranging from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, and had cold, sharp eyes and ruthless methods.

Each lash of the rune-infused whip brought excruciating pain, tearing at the very soul and leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on the miners.

"Humans...are they watching over humans?" Zhang Xuan clenched his fist.

Last time, he saw eight Mahayana cultivators besieging and killing Mugun'er through the causal threads. Now it seems that these Mahayana cultivators have indeed completely betrayed the human race.

"It's not just about guarding."

The Ghost King pointed to the edge of the mine.

There stood several strange, tower-like structures, their bodies pulsating slightly as if alive, extending countless thick pipes that penetrated the bodies of some of the miners.

Visibly, the life essence, flesh and blood essence, and even the very origin of the soul of the miners were forcibly extracted by the pipes, transformed into viscous streams of light, and flowed into the tower.

The person being extracted quickly withered and eventually turned into a handful of ashes.

“They are using their own kind as sustenance to refine something… or… to support something,” the Ghost Emperor deduced.

Zhang Xuan immediately realized that these cultivators who surrendered to the Heavy Water alien race were definitely supporting the Heavy Water alien race.

Just then, a powerful energy fluctuation came from the sky.

Three beams of light descended, revealing three human cultivators dressed in magnificent robes. The leader was none other than a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

The foreman, a general in the late Nascent Soul stage, immediately trotted forward, knelt on one knee, and presented a storage ring with both hands, saying respectfully:

"Reporting to Venerable Wei, we have submitted three hundred catties of blood marrow essence and fifty soul crystals. Please inspect them!"

The cultivator known as Venerable Wei accepted the ring expressionlessly, scanned it with his divine sense, and nodded slightly: "Hmm, the progress is acceptable. The Holy Clan is pressing hard, and the quota for next month needs to be increased by 30%."

"Thirty percent?" The Nascent Soul general looked troubled. "Your Excellency, nearly hundreds of thousands of mine slaves have already died or been wounded, and the rest..."

"Hmm?" Venerable Wei's eyes flashed, and a terrifying pressure descended instantly. The Nascent Soul general was struck as if by a heavy blow, and he knelt down with a thud, trembling.

"Useless trash! If we ruin the Holy Clan's great cause, we will both be annihilated and never be reincarnated!" Venerable Wei's voice was icy cold. "If we don't have enough manpower, we'll go to the animal camp below and pick more! If you can't even do this simple thing well, then you might as well offer your cultivation and flesh and blood as a sacrifice to the Holy Clan!"

"Yes! Yes! Your subordinate understands! I will do my utmost!" the Nascent Soul general hurriedly replied.

Venerable Wei snorted coldly, no longer looking at him, and led the other two away in a burst of light.

A deathly silence reigned atop the rocky mountain.

A bitter feeling arose in Zhang Xuan's heart: "It seems that the Central Ancestral Lineage human race... led by the eight Mahayana cultivators, has completely submitted to the Heavy Water alien race and become an accomplice."

A heavy shadow fell over the hearts of the six Mahayana cultivators.

They had anticipated the difficult situation of the Central Ancestral Lineage human race, but they never expected it to be such a complete enslavement and betrayal!

The Supreme Elder of the Reverse Origin Heavenly River said, "They are actively cooperating to maintain a vast... Transformation Array. This array is constantly drawing life force and soul power from the humans here, while also... changing the fundamental laws of this world, making it more suitable for the survival of the Heavy Water alien race, and rejecting us."

The Ghost King said, "We should not stay here for long. Let's find a secluded place first and then discuss this further."

Everyone nodded silently, preparing to leave.

suddenly——

"Buzz!"

An indescribable, vast, star-studded, and icy cold force swept across without warning!

This will was not directed at them; it was more like a routine check.

Even so, apart from the six Mahayana cultivators and Zhang Xuan, who were able to instantly conceal all their auras and hide themselves.

Zhan Wushuang and the commander of the Feathered Guard were visibly shaken, their faces turning pale.

Tian Yezi, whose cultivation level was the lowest, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and his bone weapon cracked with a "crack"!

Is he the supreme being of the Heavy Water alien race, or... one of the eight Mahayana cultivators of the human race?

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

Fortunately, that will only swept by briefly and did not linger there for long.

After a full incense stick's time had passed, and confirming that the will had gone far away, everyone slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"go!"

With a low shout, the Ghost Emperor, without further hesitation, led everyone to transform into streaks of light that were difficult to detect, and rapidly fled in the opposite direction from the mine.

They need to find a safe place to stay as soon as possible before they can determine their next steps.

The Central Ancestral Vein, this legendary sacred land, has been transformed into a bloody prison.

It was completely different from what they had originally thought.

As Zhang Xuan fled, he glanced back one last time at the desolate mine, then looked up at the gray, gloomy sky where nothing could be hidden.

"Wooden Stick...where are you? How did you struggle to survive in this land of despair, and how...did you disappear without a trace, taking with you that legendary primitive imperial city?"

Three days later.

Ten figures tore through the eternal gray sky of the central ancestral vein and fell like meteors into this massive fissure in the earth.

According to the intelligence they had gathered earlier, this area was known as the Black Abyss Rift.

This place is a gathering place for a branch of the Chongshui alien race.