Chapter 18: Division of the Sick Domain, Ancient Ones!
For Jiang Yan, a devout enthusiast of folklore, frequently entering the Sick Domain was not a punishment.
On the contrary, after diagnosing himself with cancer, his mindset had subtly shifted.
He had grown weary of ordinary, dull daily life, and instead, he found that the bizarre and colorful Sick Domains opened a new world to him.
He was able to observe so many fascinating and beautiful diseased creatures.
Could that not be enjoyable?
Moreover, his Dark God Embryo had been feeding on countless diseased creatures, constantly growing.
What was poison to others was a treasure of gold to him!
Even without this side effect, he would still seek out more Sick Domains by any means.
As for having too many offspring, which caused him to slip into history at any moment and open Sick Domains?
That was even less of a concern, because Jiang Yan could allocate points.
He reminded himself that his offspring could devour each other to level up.
After all, too many skills could become chaotic; by removing the dross and retaining only the core abilities, efficiency would improve.
Once the number of offspring decreased, even if their quality increased, the frequency of entering Sick Domains would slow down.
Wanting it or not was just a thought away.
Ba Lie watched the silent Jiang Yan, his mood sinking.
He no longer held hope of recruiting Jiang Yan, but since he had already said it, he continued doing good to the end.
“You don’t need to worry too much. Destroying this world greatly accelerates things, but using skills has little effect.
Generally speaking, the Sick Domains that History Walkers enter do not exceed their own level too much.
After all, in the historical river, we are meant to excise disease, not act as filler.
For someone like you—who started at the Grade‑A Turbid Stream border—that situation was rare.
Oh, and you probably don’t yet understand how the danger levels of Sick Domains are classified; I’ll explain it to you.
The first stage is called ‘Desolation‑level.’
It was like a river in its dry season, where no diseased creatures above the Awakening Stage would appear; most were pseudo-demons tainted by disease.
For example, the species most newcomers encountered in the Sick Domain—the Shade of Refugees.
These were humans who died in historical disasters; their unwillingness and resentment were warped in the historical river’s corruption, forming shadows lingering in the past.
Some became gaunt, skeletal marauders that devoured everything before them.
Some were visibly rotten, oozing pus, crawling with flies—unclean shadows that nonetheless searched for the living to infect them with disease.
In addition, there were creatures born from droughts, floods, and other disasters.
Wherever they appeared, the common people always suffered the most…”
“The second level was ‘Turbid‑Stream level.’ It was like the murky water when the flood season began, which brought forth strange and powerful creatures, though none beyond the Foundation Establishment peak. At that point, if left unresolved, the filth would clog the river, forming silt. The floodwaters that washed through reality would lessen. But that was not good. If it wasn’t dredged in time, you should know what would happen, right?”
“Breach.” Jiang Yan replied.
As a member of a nation shaped and haunted by nightmares of Yellow River floods and rerouting, both history books and textbooks recorded the terror of Yellow River breaches.
Every occurrence meant millions of corpses, devastation of the living, and the destabilization of any dynasty’s rule.
Compared to the mild-tempered and fertile Nile, the Yellow River was practically a demon on earth—one that made nearby living beings call it ‘mother.’
Only in modern times, through tree planting, forestation, modern technology, strong coordination, and near-perfect disaster relief, did the Yellow River appear more benign.
An online saying even circulated:
“Yellow River will punish any ruler who fails to maintain the waterworks.”
“Just kidding—it will punish you even if you do maintain them well.”
“Only the strong deserve to be its children.”
“That’s right—it was when a great river breached its levees that it turned into raging floods that swept away all things.”
Ba Lie stared blankly, as if reminiscing, but soon recovered and continued:
“At that time it was called ‘Levee‑Breach level.’
After that came ‘Annihilation level,’ symbolizing the extinction of civilization, the break in history.
Desolation, Turbid Stream, Levee Breach, Annihilation.
And each level was further divided into grades A, B, C, D.
Ba Lie said, ‘There were higher levels of the Sick Domain, but they were far beyond us.
The highest we can encounter is Levee‑Breach level.
Knowing more isn’t necessarily good—it only adds trouble.
Returning to Levee‑Breach level, before the breach there was an initial phase called the Flood Season or Siltation Phase.
It was like a forewarning before the flood breached.
The historical river would present various anomalies as warnings.
During this phase, diseased creatures of the Law‑Seed Stage would appear, and even horrific demons who wielded the ancient ritual roles of old talismans.’”
“What are the ancient talisman roles? Can History Walkers also ascend to them?”
Jiang Yan asked, like a sponge, not missing any opportunity to absorb knowledge.
He wished he could drain all of Ba Lie’s scholarly insights.
"You really know how to ask questions. This kind of information is usually hidden on the dark web, exclusive to History Walkers, and is worth at least a hundred thousand yuan. But lucky for you, you ran into me, nicknamed ‘Old Ba Who Loves to Share.’ But before I explain, let me ask you a question."
Ba Lie asked, "Do you know when the historical river began to mutate?"
Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned and indeed could not come up with an answer.
Judging from the mutation of the Immortals and Gods, it must have been ancient, right?
"The answer is: no one knows," Zhao Yinman said.
No one asked you to answer!
Ba Lie rolled his eyes.
He had originally intended to build some suspense, but now could only continue.
"Indeed, no one knows when the historical river began to mutate. Maybe it was before humanity even existed.
Maybe it was when the Ancestral Dragon climbed Mount Tai and offered sacrifices to the gods, vowing to surpass the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
Or maybe it only started yesterday.
It may sound illogical, but all you need to understand is that rules are made for mortals to follow.
After the historical river mutated, it began to interfere with the present world and distort time.
All the demons, ghosts, monsters, and ancient cultivators that existed in the past or in illusion, and the relics of antiquity, began to emerge.
Rather than saying they had always existed, it's more like countless parallel worlds possessing supernatural powers stacked themselves over the single timeline of the present world’s past.
They continued to press into the present world, forming our current supernatural system."
"A History Walker's power comes from the historical river, but it does not rely on slaying monsters.
Instead, it relies on anchoring oneself..."
"Anchoring to the ancient!"
"Anchoring... to the ancient?"
Jiang Yan’s pupils slightly trembled.
He softly repeated the phrase, as if realizing something, and suddenly looked up.
He suddenly thought of the changes in Pan’an Old Street.
The ruins in the borderland reflected into the real world.
If the Sick Domain could influence history, then…
What about the History Walkers?
Were they cleaners of history? Or a part of history?
Was the excised Sick Domain truly diseased history?
"No wonder you’re considered a top-grade genius by the historical river—you figured it out so quickly."
Ba Lie smiled and said, "When we kill monsters and extract historical relics, skills, and knowledge, we are essentially plundering their supernatural traits and existential concepts, attaching them to ourselves. This process allows us to become ancient. And the stronger we become, the deeper into history we can go, gradually engraving our influence into it, and eventually… interfering with reality."
"Ancient things are not necessarily powerful, but if we become powerful, we will inevitably become..."
"The Ancient Ones!"