Chapter 4825

As Kai approached the town, a dozen monks suddenly emerged, wielding weapons and swiftly surrounding him.

Leading them was an elderly man dressed in a Taoist robe, clearly a Taoist himself.

With just a glance, Kai assessed their strength—these people were only at the Fusion Realm, and the strongest among them, the old man, had merely reached the eighth level.

To Kai, cultivators at the Fusion Realm were as insignificant as ants.

“Fellow Daoist, where do you come from, and what brings you to our town?” the old man asked cautiously.

“I’m from the World of Heaven and Man, and I’m here—”

Before Kai could finish speaking, the group suddenly turned pale with fear. Without hesitation, they spun around and bolted toward the town.

The old man was the first to reach safety, shouting loudly, “A natural disaster is upon us! Activate the formation—quickly!”

In an instant, protective formations sprang to life, enveloping the entire town in a glowing barrier.

The townspeople stared at Kai in terror, their faces filled with dread.

Kai was baffled. Why were they so afraid of him?

Taking steady steps toward the town, he placed a hand on the shimmering protective barrier. With a simple press of his palm, the entire formation shattered instantly.

Just like that, Kai entered the town effortlessly.

Panic spread like wildfire. Women wailed, children screamed—it was as if the world were ending.

“Old man, what’s wrong with you? I’m not a demon! Why are you so afraid of me?” Kai asked, puzzled.

The old man regarded him with nervous apprehension before replying, “Aren’t you here to plunder our resources and slaughter us?”

“Of course not,” Kai scoffed. “I have plenty of resources myself—why would I need to rob you? Besides, you all seem on the verge of poverty. Even the spiritual energy in this world is weak—what resources could you possibly have?”

Kai spoke with an indifferent tone.

Upon hearing his words, the old man burst into tears. “Our world was once rich in spiritual energy, and resources were abundant everywhere,” he lamented.

“But three hundred years ago, powerful cultivators from other planes suddenly descended upon our land. They pillaged our resources and slaughtered our monks.”

“Every hundred years, these powerful outsiders return, leaving devastation in their wake. We call it a natural disaster.”

“Those invaders always claimed to be from the World of Heaven and Man. When you said you came from there just now, I knew the natural disaster had begun again.”

The old man’s voice was filled with sorrow. A once-thriving world had been reduced to this state, leaving its cultivators with barely any resources to grow stronger. Their overall strength had declined drastically.

“Only three hundred years?” Kai frowned slightly.

If this world had only suffered three centuries of plundering, then it was unlikely to be the original first-level world of the Ladder to Heaven. It must have been replaced at some point.

Given the current state of things, when the Ladder to Heaven reappeared, the first-level world would likely no longer be inhabited by these people.

After enduring three waves of looting, this world had been stripped of resources, leaving nothing worth taking.

“Who is aiding the cultivators from the World of Heaven and Man?”

Kai couldn’t understand it. Out of the countless worlds in the universe, why would someone deliberately sacrifice one world to benefit another?

From the looks of it, outsiders were being directly teleported here through the Ladder to Heaven’s portal. However, this world wasn’t actually inside the Ladder to Heaven itself.

“Old man, since you’ve survived three disasters, you must know the conditions for challenging someone to leave this place, right?”

“As long as the challenge is won, it’s possible to escape this world.”

Kai wanted to find out exactly who he needed to challenge in order to leave.

Since someone must know the answer, he couldn’t rely on blind guesses and indiscriminate slaughter to figure it out.

“Of course I know,” the old man said. “But you must not go yet. Wait here for a few days before attempting the challenge!”

He warned Kai with a serious expression.