### Chapter 9: The Mystery Unveiled (19)
==============================
You know, Male Character and Luo Ying had their suspicions about the origins of those frisky critters in the woods.
After all, they had nearly turned into adorable little animals themselves, so when they heard that those small beasts were actually transformed humans, they were shockingly surprised yet felt it made total sense.
Male Character mulled over Ling Xiaozu’s previous words and came to a horrifying conclusion.
“Sect Leader, could it be that the purpose of these worlds is for the gods to endlessly filter creatures to meet their requirements?”
Ling Xiaozu nodded, “Yes, that was the very question swirling in my mind at the time.”
The Monster King’s avatar chimed in, “Exactly. The gods need these warped races for easier, regular harvesting of life, something like a group that possesses great power yet meekly submits.”
“Too bad these little creatures can’t reproduce. That’s their only flaw,” he added with a hint of sarcasm.
“This plan was supposed to be scrapped and entirely redone, but the true overlord of this world, that Master Si, suggested a human farming scheme, using the perpetually breeding humans as raw material. Consequently, this warped race can be continuously produced to perfectly satisfy the gods’ needs.”
I was dumbfounded when I heard this.
I said, “No way! We humans have our own civilization and heritage. Why should we serve as their wedding dress?”
The Monster King agreed, saying, “That’s exactly what I thought! We must sabotage their plans and never let them succeed.”
I asked, “How do we do that?”
He replied, “I can only teleport you there. We can’t have too many people; otherwise, they’ll catch on immediately. Those guys can get crazy and do anything!”
Once you’re there, you must do everything you can to delay their human farming plan. If you succeed, maybe the Divine Clan’s cleansing plans for the Three Races will be postponed.”
Male Character was startled, “Wait a minute, are you saying that the Small Thousand World doesn’t actually side with the Divine Clan? And Sect Leader, you… you knew about the prophecy regarding humans being wiped out by the Divine Clan back then?!”
Ling Xiaozu sighed, “I was just as confused, with plenty of questions about their internal relationships swirling in my mind. However, his request indeed helped delay the time of suffering for the Three Races, which is why I accepted the mission.”
So, I immediately came to this world.
After a thorough exploration, I found this place isn’t big at all; it’s just a testing ground. If you keep going forward, you’ll probably be back to where you started in just another two or three days.
I first visited Master Si, hoping to convince him to abandon all of this.
He snapped back angrily, claiming that all worlds exist under the gods’ mercy, and we must heed their call.
We parted ways in disagreement.
He couldn’t keep me there; after all, during the day, the little creatures don’t exhibit aggressive behavior.
It’s only at night that they transform into colossal shadows, attacking all beings not in their camp.
He assumed that once I left the manor, I wouldn’t last a day.
But what he didn’t know was I had snuck in here before and found hiding spots deep in the mountains. The cave we’re in now is one of them.
Plus, I secretly planted crops in another flat area, hoping to shield myself from Master Si’s ruthless ways.
Eventually, after tireless searching, I discovered a hidden human farming ground underground. You wouldn’t believe the horrific scenes! They were really treating humans like pigs! I couldn’t bear to look; the memories are too painful to recall.
In a fit of rage, I completely destroyed the place, and those poor souls who couldn’t even talk and only knew how to eat and sleep vanished in the flames.
While those humans weren’t at fault, they weren’t truly human anymore.
I had no choice but to hide my sympathy and let them find peace sooner, to reincarnate into a good family, avoiding further humiliation.
So, for all these days, I’ve been scouring the land for others hiding humans and taking them out one by one.
Without their testing materials, the transformation process would naturally be indefinitely delayed. However, they can’t cross the Small Thousand World directly to the Three Races Continent. Those humans were likely gathered with great effort. Once they’re gone, finding more to repeat the experiment would be almost impossible.
And just when I was handling all of this, you two showed up.”
Male Character realized, “I get it! So, Master Si wants to use us as materials to test transforming humans into small animals again.”
“Precisely! They were so close to succeeding.”
Ling Xiaozu explained in a calm manner, but both Male Character and Luo Ying exchanged worried glances—they had nearly become blissfully unaware little creatures themselves without his timely warning.
“But I still don’t understand about Si Ling sending us back to the Small Thousand World to assassinate you…”
As soon as Male Character mentioned it, Luo Ying got anxious.
Though she had been led astray then, she still couldn’t shake off the feeling of guilt, believing it was entirely her fault.
Ling Xiaozu chuckled, “Didn’t I mention before? I can’t go back.”
Both were stunned. They hadn’t quite grasped that statement before, but upon its second mention, Male Character suddenly shivered, his voice trembling, “You… You can’t mean you already… but…”
Luo Ying looked lost. “Hey, what on earth are you talking about?!”
Ling Xiaozu stated, “Yes, just as Lin Nan said, my physical form has already passed away.”
“Ah…”
Luo Ying instinctively covered her mouth in shock.
“But I owe you my thanks,” Ling Xiaozu turned to Luo Ying, “if it weren’t for you, I might not have had the resolve to make this decision.”
“You see, of the over a dozen worlds connected to the Small Thousand World, our world shares the strongest link with it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have started gathering human farming grounds. After all, the Small Thousand World has plenty of servants focused on basic work, and every year, no one would notice if a few people were missing. They exploited our disregard for the common folk, wigging their way through loopholes. So, as your Sect Leader, I failed to notice the population decline was my responsibility.
Therefore, I have a duty to completely end their experiments.
Once I destroyed the first human farming ground, that Master Si started keeping an eye on me, plotting to eradicate me.
Sadly, I was already quite familiar with the terrain here and would hide away at night, never exposing myself, so they couldn’t touch me for a while.
But I had to return to the Heavenly Sword Sect periodically to handle matters.
Thus, they set their sights on the Small Thousand World.”
…
P.S.: Three updates today! Let’s hope for four tomorrow… Pretty please vote, dear comrades!
