It's unclear how much time has passed when Zhou Hong feels the immortal abode has come to a standstill.
"Your subordinate pays respects to the Supreme Lord," several giant voices are heard from outside.
Zhou Hong immediately focuses his senses, simultaneously looking out through the sky of the immortal abode. He sees that they have arrived in a grand hall, resplendent with gold and jade. It appears to be the imperial palace of the Giant Kingdom.
"Rise. Why have you suddenly sought me out? What is the urgent matter?" a voice, full of authority, belonging to an elder asks.
"Reporting to the Supreme Lord, we have captured the wanted human."
"How is that possible? Where?"
"In my hand." At this moment, one of the giants presents the immortal abode they are holding.
"What is this thing?"
"Reporting to the Supreme Lord, we have not yet fully deciphered this object. When we captured him, he suddenly produced this thing and burrowed inside. We have tried numerous methods since then to shatter it, but to no avail. Therefore, we have brought this object with us."
Zhou Hong stands within the immortal abode. Just then, he sees a colossal eye gazing through the sky of the immortal abode, attempting to get a clear view inside.
Zhou Hong immediately guesses that this eye belongs to the so-called Supreme Lord of the Giant Kingdom.
"I don't see anything?" a few seconds later, the owner of the eye says.
"Reporting to the Supreme Lord, when the eye looked inside, it was all blurry, and nothing could be seen. However, it is absolutely certain that the despicable human is inside."
The Supreme Lord appears half-believing, half-doubting, as he cannot see anything and has no way of knowing if they are lying.
"You are not deceiving me, are you?"
"Reporting to the Supreme Lord, how would your subordinate dare to deceive you."
"I believe you wouldn't dare. If that's the case, then first find a way to open this immortal abode."
Following this, the king of the Giant Kingdom exerts himself with all his might to shatter the immortal abode, but the result is as one might expect: completely futile.
In desperation, they try to refine it, but again, they are unsuccessful.
"It seems this truly is an immortal abode. Now that he is hiding inside, there is nothing we can do about him." After days of effort, the Giant Kingdom convenes many cultivators at the Mahayana stage. All of them combined cannot open the immortal abode. The Supreme Lord of the Giant Kingdom can only helplessly declare that as long as Zhou Hong hides inside, they are powerless against him.
At this moment, the one most dejected is, naturally, not them, but Zhou Hong.
"Grandpa, am I going to hide here for the rest of my life?" Zhou Hong lies in the hall of the immortal abode, his gaze devoid of spirit.
Zhou Hong's grandfather doesn't know how to comfort him. If Zhou Hong had already passed the Tribulation Stage, it would be fine. As long as Zhou Hong's strength grew, he could naturally leave.
However, Zhou Hong is currently in the Tribulation Stage waiting period. Hiding in this immortal abode, he cannot receive the heavenly lightning tribulations, meaning he can only remain trapped in the immortal abode forever.
"At this juncture, all we can do is wait and watch. Be vigilant of the outside at all times, and seize any opportunity to leave."
Zhou Hong can only nod.
Meanwhile, outside, the king of the Giant Kingdom, unable to open the immortal abode, seals it. This leaves Zhou Hong with no chance to escape. The moment he steps out, he will be discovered. Furthermore, the place where it is sealed is barren all around, offering no place for Zhou Hong to hide once he emerges.
Thus, time slowly passes.
A year has gone by.
Zhou Hong, trapped inside the immortal abode, feels like he is going mad.
It's like being imprisoned. Although he can enter the sub-world, no matter what, he cannot receive the heavenly lightning tribulations, and his cultivation stagnates.
However, after a year, things finally take a turn.
This turn of events is that after Zhou Hong's immortal abode was sealed, the king of the Giant Kingdom ordered, to prevent such incidents from happening again, that one thousand giants be dispatched to the Tianyang Continent to crush all the humans there.
Therefore, unbeknownst to Zhou Hong, the Tianyang Continent faces its greatest crisis of extinction in history.
Some powerful individuals rush to other remote continents or hide in the ocean depths. As for those who do not have time to escape, they are all killed.
The humans of the entire Tianyang Continent, under the feet of the giants, are like cockroaches crawling on the ground, suffering heavy casualties. In the end, only humans on some remote continents and those hiding in the sea manage to survive. This surviving population is less than one-tenth of the original population, meaning the entire human world's population has dwindled to less than ten billion.
Among the surviving population is another person. She was originally living alone in the deep mountains, cultivating in solitude, hoping to return to the immortal realm soon. This person is none other than Ruo Lan, the "lonely star." The immortal abode where Zhou Hong is currently located belongs to her father.
However, one day, giants descend from the sky, killing indiscriminately.
Ruo Lan is stunned when she sees the giants. Later, she realizes that there is a deep sky continent above, and it is the giants from there who have come to exterminate humanity. Ruo Lan also learns that Zhou Hong is in danger on the deep sky continent and may even be dead.
Therefore, Ruo Lan decides to go to the deep sky continent to search for Zhou Hong.
Indeed, upon arriving at the deep sky continent, Ruo Lan learns that Zhou Hong is not dead and is hiding in an immortal abode. However, the immortal abode has been sealed by the king of the Giant Kingdom.
Ruo Lan, having grown up in an immortal abode, has some telepathic connection with them. Through this connection, she finally finds Zhou Hong and arrives at the place where he is sealed.
"Zhou Hong, it's me. Are you inside?" One day, a year later, as Zhou Hong endures torment within the immortal abode, a woman's voice suddenly comes from outside.
Zhou Hong immediately recognizes it as Ruo Lan's voice.
"Ruo Lan? Is it really you?"
"Hurry and open the door, let me in."
"Okay."
Zhou Hong immediately opens the main gate of the immortal abode. Ruo Lan successfully enters. Otherwise, if time dragged on, Ruo Lan might also be discovered, which would be troublesome. Although Ruo Lan has now cultivated to the Mahayana stage, she has no chance of winning against a giant who is also at the Mahayana stage.
"Ruo Lan? How did you find me here?" Zhou Hong asks in disbelief in the living room of the immortal abode.
"It took me considerable effort to find you. Fortunately, I have now cultivated to the Mahayana stage, which allowed me to evade the giants' detection and arrive here smoothly."
"How did you know I was trapped here?"
"I originally thought you were dead and only came up to confirm. But unexpectedly, I learned from the giants that you had hidden in an immortal abode, and it was sealed. I grew up in an immortal abode, so with great effort, I finally sensed its location and came here."
Upon Zhou Hong's repeated questioning, he learns that 90% of the humans below have been annihilated.
Zhou Hong clenches his fists tightly, not knowing how many of his acquaintances, friends, and family have survived this catastrophe. Are Lu Qianqian and the others still alive?
"It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, humanity would not have suffered such a great disaster." Zhou Hong blames himself immensely.