Everything around the stone steps looked incredibly ancient, as though it had taken the passage of countless years to become what it was now.
At the end of the stone steps stood a shrine. Inside, a figure sat cross-legged, looking down below.
Upon closer inspection, it was a clay effigy—or rather, a person buried beneath dust and eroded by time.
This person resembled a clay effigy, their features impossible to make out. Yet their clothing was exceedingly archaic, in a style never seen in the present day, carrying something of a primitive wilderness flavor.
"This is no ordinary person," Yang Qing said.
The instant he saw this person, he sensed something unusual, because he could not feel the slightest aura from them.
Yet he was certain that this person was still alive. They were not a clay effigy, much less a corpse.
He was now an Immortal King. For someone to leave him unable to sense even a trace of aura, there was no need to think further—this person was undoubtedly extraordinary.
By his estimation, this person was likely an expert above the Immortal King realm, a peerless expert at the Quasi-Immortal Emperor level.
He had actually already guessed this person's identity. The four Heavenly Court Veterans calling them "Patriarch" had undoubtedly confirmed it.
Upon seeing the figure in the shrine, the four Heavenly Court Veterans became extraordinarily excited. They even knelt upon the ground and respectfully bowed.
Even after endless years had passed, even though they could not make out the person's face, they recognized at a glance that this was their Patriarch!
"So it really is him," Yang Qing murmured.
Who else could be called Patriarch by the Heavenly Court Veterans, guard the reincarnation created by the Desolate Heavenly Emperor, and remain here?
The figure before them was