After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

Chen Futu's three disciples shone brightly in the war against the Buddhist Kingdom, and their role in the kingdom's destruction drew attention from all sides.

Chen Futu, who was walking along the river of earth veins, also sensed the battle at the quasi-emperor level, but he did not go out. With Lian Nishang and the two ancestors of the Celestial Clan there, there was basically no chance of anything going wrong.

Ding!

[Congratulations, host, you have achieved enlightenment and your cultivation has reached the peak of the Great Sage realm.]

Three days later, Chen Futu, who was sitting cross-legged above the golden river, opened his eyes.

In that instant, his perception merged with the earth's veins, allowing him to discern the condition of the earth's veins within a radius of several kilometers. However, something still seemed to be missing in his heart, making it not quite perfect.

"Although the Yuanzu has passed away, he left behind opportunities and good fortune."

Chen Futu's current strength no longer requires the ancestral body. Once the Giant Wood City retrieves the branches of the Jianmu tree and plants them in Lizhou, he will bury the ancestral body in the Jianmu tree.

Jianmu has the effect of regulating the earth's veins and dispelling curses. The ancestor died from the curse and was buried in Jianmu, which can be considered as settling a karmic debt.

Ding!

[Anecdote detected: The Forgotten Settlement. Due to the host's imminent breakthrough to Ancient Saint, this anecdote has been forcibly accepted.]

[For this episode, the host's cultivation level is suppressed to the peak of the martial artist level. The host is not allowed to increase their cultivation level without authorization, use the system space, or use any abilities beyond the martial artist level. Otherwise, the episode will end and no reward will be given.]

"A forgotten settlement? They even suppress cultivation levels?"

Chen Futu frowned slightly and followed the system's guidance, quickly moving forward along the river of earth veins.

This journey lasted for half a month, and it was estimated that they had long since left the Northern Region. Strangely, they did not encounter any earth vein curses along the way, and the peaceful journey made Chen Futu wonder if he was hallucinating.

Further on, the earth's veins extended into deeper underground layers. Chen Futu did not go down any further, but instead proceeded along the corroded underground pits. As he stepped into the corroded cave, his cultivation was suppressed, and his cultivation level plummeted from the peak of the Great Sage to the Great Perfection of the Martial Artist.

"It seems this is where the anecdote was triggered."

Chen Futu muttered to himself, seeing flickering lights and the sound of people talking deep inside the cave.

"Grandpa, please have some water. Don't go out for a while, the sandstorms are too strong outside."

The boy's deep voice came through.

Chen Futu followed the sound and saw several people busy in a spacious cave. These people were dressed very simply, even shabby, and all of them looked malnourished, with strange black spots on their faces and bodies.

Lying on the stone bed beside him was an old man with white hair and beard, and dark spots on his body, making him look like a monster covered in lividity. The boy who was taking care of him, on the other hand, was fair-skinned and was carefully serving the old man a bowl of water.

"who!"

The arrival of Chen Futu shattered the tranquility within the cave.

Everyone present turned around, their expressions somewhat numb.

Chen Futu clasped his hands in a fist salute, "I accidentally fell into the crevice and inadvertently entered your territory. I hope you will forgive me."

"come down?"

The group looked at each other, somewhat incredulous.

Chen Futu said, "I have no ill intentions, and I hope you will do me a favor."

"It's alright, guests are guests, and no matter how they arrived, it's fate that brought us together."

A man said in a rather hearty manner.

He introduced himself as Daishi, and like everyone else, his skin was covered in black patches, even his face was pitted and uneven.

To dispel everyone's doubts and complete the mission, Chen Futu briefly introduced himself, saying that he was a traveling merchant who had accidentally fallen into a crevice but luckily survived.

"Child, what kind of world is this?"

The old man on the stone bed struggled to sit up, his withered and decaying face trembling, and a glimmer of longing flickering in his dark eyes.

Chen Futu was speechless, and secretly asked the system, "They're asking me a question. What year is it now?"

[No date specified]

Chen Futu asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

The country these people lived in was destroyed.

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Futu said, "I don't know what the old man means."

The old man asked eagerly, "Do you know about the Great You Dynasty?"

"Sorry, this dynasty did not exist."

"What did you say?" The old man was confused. "That's all?"

"Yes, it's estimated that the dynasty has already changed hands."

After Chen Futu finished speaking, he saw the old man lie back down, his eyes staring blankly at the stone wall, muttering, "The Great You is gone, gone..."

Next, a large group of people surrounded them, asking questions about the situation outside.

Chen Futu had no idea what was outside. He had been traveling through the earth's veins, so he simply recounted the various aspects of life in the Great Xia Dynasty.

The group listened with great interest, occasionally chiming in with their own words. Even the fair-skinned young man came closer, his large, dark eyes gleaming with longing.

After telling the folk tales, the women prepared the food and then said awkwardly, "It's all grown by ourselves, young man, please don't mind."

The food consisted of stale grains, with no meat, and the taste wasn't very good.

After the meal, instead of leaving, everyone started asking if the Great You Dynasty was really gone.

Chen Futu trusted the system's reply and confirmed the answer repeatedly.

A group of people rushed to other caves, and soon two or three hundred people squeezed into the cave.

They surrounded the old man lying on the stone bed, watching him longingly.

The boy whispered, "Grandpa, Da You is gone. Can we go home now?"

"Yes, we should go home."

People kept muttering to themselves, and eventually the entire cave was filled with sobs.

Chen Futu stood quietly to the side, observing the black patches on their faces and bodies, and asked the system, "What exactly is the situation with this anecdote?"

[The host needs to escort the diseased tribe back to the ancient kingdom. Upon completion of the mission, the host will receive the third top-secret document from the continent, as well as rewards.]

"You mean this group is related to Lizhou? And why are they called the Sick Clan? What a strange group."

Please investigate this yourself, host.

The system refused to speak, leaving Chen Futu helpless.

After a long while, the old man said tremblingly to the group of clansmen kneeling on the ground and sobbing, "Long ago, our clan was assigned to guard this place. Our ancestor made a great vow: as long as the ancient kingdom exists, our clan will guard it. If the ancient kingdom perishes, we can return."

"So, Grandpa, we can go home now, right?" The boy asked, his eyes brimming with tears of excitement.

The old man patted his little head affectionately. "Hmm, you can go home now. Pass the word down and tell everyone to pack up. We'll leave tomorrow."

"Yay, we can go home now!"

"Waaaah, we're finally going to leave this dark and hopeless prison."

The crowd laughed and cried, as if it were Chinese New Year.

After everyone had dispersed and gone to prepare, Chen Futu called the boy over to inquire about the details.

The boy said, "Big brother, my name is Qinghe. We are all from the Great You people. Our clan has been guarding this place for a very, very long time."