Fang Chen and the others fixed their eyes on the towering figure.
"Those who come after me!"
The phantom spoke, its voice distant and ethereal. "I am the Heavenly Martial Immortal King. If you see this stele, Heavenly Martial City has fallen, and so have I. But remember: the World Will is not invincible, and the Ascension Passage can be reopened."
The phantom's gaze seemed to pierce Spacetime and fall upon them all. "I leave these words behind with my Remnant Soul. Deep within the Land of Ending lies the Heaven-Stealing Path. It is the last hope our forebears left us. The road is perilous, but it is worth taking."
With that, the phantom slowly faded.
The writing on the Stone Tablet dimmed as well, then vanished completely, as though it had never existed.
"The Heavenly Martial Immortal King still wanted to leave guidance for those who came after him, even before his death," Li Qingyao murmured.
Complicated emotions surged through Fang Chen. Those forebears had known they would die, yet they had still pressed forward, one after another.
Their sacrifices had bought those who followed a sliver of hope.
"The Heaven-Stealing Path?"
Great Emperor Huo Li looked at Fang Chen. "Is the place we're going the Heaven-Stealing Path that Immortal King spoke of?"
Fang Chen nodded. He decided it was time to tell everyone the truth.
"Everyone, there's something I have to tell you."
Fang Chen looked around at them. "Our destination isn't merely a Secret Realm for cultivation. The path we're going to take is the Heaven-Stealing Path our forebears left behind."
He told them everything about the Heavenly Dao Origin, the plan to Steal the Heavens, and his own bottleneck.
When he finished, everyone fell silent.
Ye Qingci looked at Fang Chen. "So you brought us here