Yinling wasn't sure what to expect when Jun told her to follow him. Had something happened after the explosion?
Stepping outside, her eyes widened at the sight of a sprawling city that stretched endlessly. The towering structures and the vastness of the city dwarfed even the Azure Sword Sect.
Although the Azure Sword Sect is not the biggest sect, it certainly is not the smallest.
Her gaze shifted from the impressive buildings to the eerily empty streets below.
"Is there an event taking place?" she wondered aloud.
Jun crossed his arms and took a glance at Yinling, warry about how she would react.
"This isn't easy for me to say but... everyone here is dead"
"Dead?... As in the whole city?" Yinling's voice trembled slightly, a hint of disbelief coloring her words.
Turning towards Jun, she searched his face for any sign of jest, but his serious expression confirmed his words.
Without a word, she flew off to the nearest building. She barged through the front door, forcefully dislodging it from its hinges, to find herself in a weapon shop.
Looking around, she noticed a variety of weapons on display, some handing on the walls while others in display cases, but one thing she noticed was the scattered lifeless clothing on the ground.
Not far behind, Jun followed, arriving beside her.
"Dont run off like tha-"
Jun was cut mid-sentence once he laid his eyes on Yinling whose sole focus was on the painting that hung on the wall. Following her sight, he laid his eyes on a small painting on the wall.
On it, It depicted a serene family moment: a man embracing a little girl in a red dress, with a woman watching over them tenderly.
Right below, an outfit the same color and design as the one of the little girl in the painting on the ground, as if its wearer had simply vanished
Jun approached her understanding her thoughts.
"Yinling... I know this may be hard to accept bu-" he began, his voice laden with empathy.
Without warning, Yinling put up her hand indicating for him to stop. "I know... you don't need to explain it again" her voice steady yet distant.
Nodding, he stared at the portrait wondering what happened in those last moments. Did they even know they died? Was it painful? Did they say goodbye one last time?
"I have reason to believe this city is at least a 6-star city"
Jun surprised to hear Yinling talk turned to her who was staring at him with determination.
Hearing her words, Jun couldn't help but feel a smile come to his face.
"Of course! Such a huge city should be loaded with spirit stones"
Amidst the pain and shock, Yinling's resolve shone through. The world's cruelty, capable of erasing an entire city in an instant, steeled her determination. But if she remembered correctly, didn't Li Chen say that 6-star forces and above are now allowed to fight each other?
Yinling's eyes were wide in realization.
"Jun! Do you remember what Li Chen told us about 6-star cities?!"
Jun hearing her words thought back to that moment when they were on the battlefield. If he remembered correctly, he said only 6-star cities or above are only able to fight if authorized by Heaven's eternal alliance.
Doesn't that mean...
Starring at Yinling with wide eyes filled with terror, he realized what this meant.
"Bu- but... didn't you say it was for only for peace?"
Yinling herself was at a loss for words, it is a well-known established fact that Heaven's eternal alliance is solely for maintaining order and peace. Wherever you go, they have a reputation of being the guardian of this world, preventing another war of that magnitude from ever taking place.
Every aspiring young cultivator who seeks the path to immortality knows from a young age the legendary war that took place almost 1 million years ago. Although not much is known about the cause of the war, every person is grateful for the people who managed to put their differences aside for peace.
Yet with such a reputation for being peacekeepers, why was such a city's population that at the minimum a 6-star city wiped completely?
Yinling, struggling to digest the information, suggested, "Perhaps a rogue cultivator is responsible?"
Jun nodded, but his expression remained troubled "That may be the case but... don't you find it strange how we survived that explosion, although this could be something else, I feel the explosion is connected to this"
Agreement flickered in Yinling's eyes. The well-kept state of the weapon shop hinted at the recency of the event. A rogue cultivator might be a convenient explanation, but it failed to account for the lack of resistance from the city's inhabitants, especially the cultivators.
"Did that explosion... did it erase every human here? How is that even possible?" Her voice was a mere whisper, barely breaking the silence.
Jun, noticing the turmoil in her eyes, stepped closer. "Let's stop here," he interjected, his voice firm but not devoid of empathy. "Maybe we're just overthinking this."
"Maybe..." The word fell from Yinling's lips, tinged with a mix of resignation and unresolved questions.
Jun's gaze hardened as he surveyed the abandoned city. "While this is a tragedy," he began, a new resolve coloring his tone, "all of the techniques and resources of this city are still here"
Yinling's posture shifted, a flicker of determination stirring within her.
"Get ready, Yinling," Jun announced, his voice now charged with purpose. "We have an entire city to search."
Around them, the city, once full of life, was now eerily quiet after the disaster. But in this quiet, there was a chance – a wealth of knowledge and strength left behind, just waiting to be found