Cultivation Online

Chapter 2442 The Great Cataclysm

”Something is wrong? What is wrong with her?” Yuan questioned with a frown after hearing the womanʼs ominous words.

The woman narrowed her eyes and replied in a puzzled tone, ”As I explained earlier, demons are humans who failed to ascend in the past, and every human born afterward also becomes a demon, as that lineage now flows through their blood. However, it is possible for later generations of demons to ascend if they consume, and survive, the Demon Godʼs Ordeal.”

”With that being said, success is exceedingly rare, and pretty much everyone just dies. These days, no one even dares to attempt it, given how many have perished. In time, the Demon Godʼs Ordealʼs true purpose was forgotten, its name reduced to that of a deadly phenomenon that simply slaughters demons.”

”As for that little girl… she consumed enough Demon Godʼs Ordeal to ascend. At least, that was how much I had to endure to become a transcendent. But despite enduring all of it, she hasnʼt transcended yet.”

”What does this mean?” Yuan asked.

”This is my first time seeing this, but if we think logically, it simply means that she needs to consume even more of Demon Godʼs Ordeal!”

With an intrigued smile on her face, the woman suddenly waved her arm, sending even more Demon Godʼs Ordeal toward Supreme Ruler Dena.

”Letʼs see how much sheʼll need to transcend… or die!” she laughed madly.

However, Yuan suddenly moved in front of Supreme Ruler Dena, blocking her from the Demon Godʼs Ordeal and absorbing it himself.

”What do you think youʼre doing?” The woman frowned at his unexpected actions.

”I should be saying that to you,” Yuan calmly replied. ”Since she endured the Demon Godʼs Ordeal and survived, sheʼs already won your game, regardless if sheʼs ascended or not.”

The woman silently glared at him for a moment before speaking again. ”Youʼre right. She has technically won the game, and Iʼm not denying her victory. However, now that her ascension has begun, it cannot be halted. Otherwise, sheʼll become a Forsaken or die, so we have no choice but to see it through to the end.”

Without another word, the woman gathered even more of the Demon Godʼs Ordeal and forced it into Supreme Ruler Dena. This time, Yuan did not stop her and silently watched her small body become enveloped by it again.

”Ahhh!” Supreme Ruler Dena began screaming again, her voice raw with agony.

However, unlike before, she didnʼt stop screaming.

The woman also continued to pour Demon Godʼs Ordeal into Supreme Ruler Denaʼs body without stopping.

”Whatʼs going on? Sheʼs absorbing the Demon Godʼs Ordeal like crazy!” The woman exclaimed with an excited expression on her face.

Yuan and the others watched with clenched fists and wide eyes, each second stretching into an eternity.

One minute… three minutes… six minutes…

After ten full minutes of enduring the Demon Godʼs Ordeal, an unfathomable aura suddenly erupted from Supreme Ruler Denaʼs body, sending a powerful ripple sweeping across the entire Demonic Realm.

Seeing this, the woman immediately froze and turned her full attention to Supreme Ruler Dena, swallowing nervously in anticipation.

”How many years of Demon Godʼs Ordeal did she endure? A hundred thousand years? No, it has to be much more than that!” she muttered in a dazed voice, quietly comparing herself.

Moments after Supreme Ruler Denaʼs aura erupted, her hair began to writhe with a life of its own, coiling around her body and wrapping her in a cocoon that was similar to what Yuan saw before she was woken up by him in the Deprived Crimson Valley.

Time passed quickly, yet even after many minutes there was no change in the cocoon, nor any sign that she would be emerging anytime soon.

”Whatʼs happening? Has she succeeded in her ascension?” Yuan asked the woman.

”No, but sheʼs in the final stage. Once she emerges—if she does—sheʼll become a transcendent,” she replied.

”How long will it take?”

”Hard to say,” she shrugged. ”But it took me several million years.”

”That long?!” Yuan exclaimed after hearing this.

”In the meantime, you can ask me your questions,” the woman suddenly said. ”...”

Yuan decided to set Supreme Ruler Denaʼs situation aside for now and focus on wringing every last bit of information he could out of the woman.

”Letʼs start from the very beginning,” he said. ”You said that every demon was once human. How long ago was that? And what happened that caused them to turn into demons?”

”It happened so long ago that no one in this world could tell you the exact time, but it has definitely been over a trillion years,” she answered calmly.

”As for what caused the transformation, it was an event we call the Great Cataclysm. At first, it spread like a disease, turning the infectedʼs skin red before killing them. We initially believed it to be a natural disaster, but we—the Transcendents—eventually discovered it had been deliberately wrought by the Demon God, the overseer of this world.”

”Anyway, those killed by the disease would return to life about a week later, but without their memories or former selves, reduced to mindless monsters that attacked and devoured others like wild beasts,” she continued.

”In the beginning, they were easy to kill and could be stopped by destroying their head or heart. But as time passed, they evolved and grew stronger, even gaining the ability to regenerate from any non-lethal injury.”

”Before we knew it, these beings had grown so powerful they could regenerate even from decapitation or a crushed heart, becoming effectively unkillable. However, they also ceased to be mindless, and those who returned from death began to retain their memories. Eventually, the infected stopped dying altogether and instead simply transformed into what you now know as demons.”

”Of course, that didnʼt stop the humans from hunting them. But since demons were immortal and people continued to become infected somehow, their numbers continued to grow, and they eventually formed their own factions and society, becoming ever more powerful.”

”The humans and demons clashed nonstop for hundreds of years, and then—”

The woman paused for a brief moment before continuing, ”—the Great Cataclysm happened, changing the entire world forever.”