"Them? Who are they?"
Nan Shuishui gasped, a guess already forming in her mind. To dare to accept Nirvana Corpses, they were either Evil Soul Masters or of the same kind as Nan Xi.
"Knowing too much will bring no benefit to the Earth Dragon Gate."
Nan Xi shook her head. If the Earth Dragon Gate learned of the Hall of Rebirth's existence, it would bring no benefit, only danger.
"Those Nirvana Corpses Shrek Academy is looking for—I know their hiding place."
Nan Xi spoke calmly, as if discussing something that had nothing to do with her.
"Tell those Shrek people the location and let them handle it. Once they've cleared up these troubles, they will naturally leave Dragon City."
Nan Xi had already joined the Hall of Rebirth in secret.
She knew that those low-level Nirvana Corpses gathering here were all looking to join the Hall of Rebirth. However, since they had attracted a 'powerful dragon' like Shrek Academy, sacrificing these Soul King and Spirit Emperor level cannon fodder was of no consequence to avoid exposing the Hall of Rebirth's greater schemes in the Extreme North Land.
In the eyes of the Hall of Rebirth, only high-level Nirvana Corpses like her—who could restrain their instincts to some extent, possessed strength above the Spirit Saint level, and maintained clear consciousness—had true value.
Nan Shuishui stared blankly at her mother, seeing the unquestionable determination in her eyes, her heart filled with a mix of emotions.
She understood that her mother's choice might truly be the path that caused the least harm to the Earth Dragon Gate.
Nan Shuishui stood there, looking at her mother Nan Xi's familiar yet strange, aged face, her heart feeling like an overturned bottle of five flavors, complex and difficult to describe.
When she first discovered her mother had reappeared in the World as a 'Nirvana Corpse', the wild joy of recovering what was lost had almost overwhelmed her.
But following closely behind was endless worry, fear, and heavy pressure.
Resurrection was certainly a miracle.
But her resurrected mother was essentially no longer human.
She was a completely new existence that fed on 'Vitality'.
Looking at the Soul Beasts in the corner that had been sucked dry into mummies within a few days, Nan Shuishui felt a chill.
Soul Beasts and humans...
A cold and cruel analogy surfaced in her mind.
Human Soul Masters needed spirit rings to advance, so they hunted Soul Beasts, viewing them as resources.
Then, if Nirvana Corpses needed Vitality to maintain their existence and even grow stronger, was hunting humans... also perfectly natural in their eyes?
This thought made Nan Shuishui shudder.
She knew very well that although most Nirvana Corpses, like her mother, still retained their memories and emotions from when they were alive and stubbornly believed they were still human...
...there was also a portion of Nirvana Corpses who had succumbed to their desires, and their mindsets had already changed.
They viewed themselves as a superior new species that transcended both humans and Soul Beasts.
After all, as long as they possessed enough Vitality, they could break free from the shackles of Lifespan and achieve immortality.
In this respect, how similar they were to the immortal divinities of legend.
Furthermore, unlike Soul Beasts who faced the terrifying Heavenly Tribulation upon cultivating to a hundred thousand years, and unlike the path to godhood which was fraught with difficulties and obstacles...
...the growth path of a Nirvana Corpse seemed much'smoother'—they only needed to continuously devour Vitality.
This could not only maintain their 'lives' but also allow them to grow stronger almost indefinitely.
With no divine punishment and no Lifespan limits, there were almost no obstacles on a Nirvana Corpse's path to power.
For a Nirvana Corpse, becoming a god might not be an unreachable dream.
As long as they lived long enough and devoured enough life, they would eventually cross that threshold.
They were the dead walking among the living, yet they possessed 'advantages' that even the living would envy.
Without the short Lifespan limits of humans, with a growth rate far exceeding Soul Beasts that required long ages of accumulation, and without being targeted by the divine punishment of the World's rules...
What a uniquely endowed, yet... terrifying existence this was.
Nan Shuishui looked at the trace of instinctive longing for Vitality in her mother Nan Xi's eyes, and her decisiveness in choosing to leave to avoid harming the Sect, her heart filled with contradiction.
She both hoped her mother could 'live' on and feared the potential threat represented by the Nirvana Corpse group, and even more, she worried that the Earth Dragon Gate would be swept into this storm between the dead and the living that was destined to engulf the continent.
When Caelus's group returned to the 'Dragon Slumber Residence' hotel, the other team led by Zhang Lexuan had also already returned.
Everyone gathered in Zhang Lexuan's room to exchange the information they had gathered.
Zhang Lexuan first shared what they had gained at the Heavenly Dragon Gate:
"The Heavenly Dragon Gate's attitude was very cooperative. His Excellency the Heavenly Dragon Douluo received us personally. They have agreed to use the Sect's power to assist us in searching for the traces of those fleeing Nirvana Corpses in Dragon City and its surroundings. Furthermore, we focused our inquiries on the phenomenon of the abnormal gathering of Nirvana Corpses in the Extreme North Land."
She paused, her expression turning slightly solemn:
"According to the Heavenly Dragon Douluo's guess, he believes these Nirvana Corpses are swarming to the Extreme North likely to use it as a nest. The environment of the Extreme North Land is harsh and is a forbidden zone for humans, but it is rich in Soul Beast resources. For Nirvana Corpses who need to continuously devour Vitality to maintain their existence and power, it offers both a natural barrier and an 'ample food source'."
This speculation was reasonable, but the atmosphere in the room became even more stifling.
Ma Xiaotao frowned, flames dancing in her crimson eyes:
"If that's really the case, and we let them gain a foothold in the Extreme North Land to grow stronger by constantly hunting Soul Beasts, won't it form an even greater disaster in the future? I always feel this matter isn't that simple; there might be some conspiracy hidden behind it."
Ling Luochen also added coldly:
"Soul Beasts are not lambs to be slaughtered at will. The Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North are all beings of the Vicious Beast level. If Nirvana Corpses intrude into their territory, conflict will inevitably break out."
Just as everyone fell into deep thought, a calm voice rang out, breaking the silence.
"Perhaps this isn't entirely a bad thing."
Everyone looked toward the source of the voice and found that the one speaking was none other than Caelus.
Meeting everyone's puzzled gazes, he continued slowly:
"I once read in an ancient text about a place from ten thousand years ago called 'Slaughter City'. Legend has it that it was a special Secret Realm that attracted many evil and violent Soul Masters from the continent, trapping them inside and making them kill each other in internal strife, thus preventing them from committing evil in the outside World. This indirectly maintained the Order of the outside World."
His gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Zhang Lexuan:
"Now, these Nirvana Corpses are spontaneously—or perhaps guided by some power—gathering in the Extreme North Land, a place where humans can hardly set foot and where Soul Beasts reside. How similar is this to the Slaughter City of back then? Letting these dangerous Nirvana Corpses and the powerful Soul Beasts of the Extreme North Land restrain and consume each other might actually be a good thing for the human World in the short term. At least we won't have to scatter our forces across the continent to purge them.""
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