Time Shows No Mercy

Time passed. Xu Yan sank his consciousness into the ancient jade, his palm faintly suffused with spiritual power as he gently brushed the rust-colored ancient gate.

Dense, intricate script covered its surface, gleaming with dim golden light like inverted barbs. A stinging pain spread through his palm.

After roughly half an incense stick's time, Xu Yan abruptly opened his eyes.

"Everyone, keep your magic artifacts at the ready. There may be ghosts and strange creatures emerging from this ancient trove."

At this, Zhang Gan immediately raised his greatsword. Spiritual power trembled within him as he said with grave resolve, "Young Master Yan, focus on breaking the formation. Even if it costs me my life, we'll protect you to the end!"

Chen Shengzhi echoed him, his eyes curving slightly as he smiled. "Indeed. Otherwise, how would we answer to Prince Wu'an's Residence...?"

Xu Yan frowned deeply at his words.

This man seemed quite concerned with his identity as someone from Prince Wu'an's Residence. Ever since earlier, his words had carried hidden barbs, along with a faint hint of sourness.

Xu Yan shot him a cold glance from the corner of his eye. Curling his fingers, he controlled the Literary Gold Shuttle, making it hover in the air and tremble faintly.

He retreated several zhang.

Xu Yan fixed his gaze on the script upon the ancient gate, then abruptly flicked his finger.

With a sharp whoosh, the Literary Gold Shuttle shot forward, carrying razor-sharp metal qi as it pierced ahead.

Sparks scattered across the ancient gate. Under Xu Yan's control, the flying shuttle struck again and again, shattering several hundred characters of script.

Immediately afterward, a surging howl seemed to rise from within the ancient trove. Xu Yan raised an eyebrow slightly. "It's coming!"

With that, he directly used Three-Fold Cloud Dragon, skimming over the ground as he fled a hundred zhang away at tremendous speed.

Zhang Gan gripped his greatsword in both hands. His green robe snapped in the wind, as though fierce gusts whirled around him. He appeared to possess a wind spirit aperture.

The Daque Temple disciples all wore taut expressions as they stared intently at the ancient gate.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

The thirty-zhang-tall ancient gate trembled without pause. The script upon it shattered one character after another, turning into ripples that dispersed into the air!

Ten breaths later, a thunderous bang rang out!

The ancient gate was blasted open.

Ink-black yin wind surged forth like a river bursting through a broken dam, making the air hum as it blotted out the sky and sun.

The thirty-zhang ancient gate was forcefully shattered by the sharp yin wind. Fragments flew everywhere, scattering across the ground.

The Daque Temple disciples stared nervously toward the pitch-dark entrance.

After the yin wind subsided, no ghosts or strange creatures emerged.

"Should we go take a look?" Song Yan asked softly, long sword in hand.

"Be careful. This is the ruins of a great sect from the Near Antiquity era. Who knows what living creatures might have gained intelligence inside?" Chen Shengzhi said, narrowing his eyes.

They were exceedingly cautious. Only after examining the entrance for a long while did they attempt to enter.

A dark, unfathomable corridor stretched ahead, dust drifting through the air.

Moss covered the surrounding walls, while yin qi within had formed into wind that howled and hummed through the passage!

Zhang Gan and the other two Spirit Bridge cultivators led the way, while Xu Yan was protected at the center by the remaining disciples.

The place they traversed should have been the halls of the Hunyuan Sect's main palace. Every few steps, the path broke away, extending endlessly downward.

After walking for a while, their field of vision gradually widened.

At last, it was as though they had arrived in an underground palace.

A massive hall had collapsed deep into the earth's veins. Its grandeur was overwhelming. Though it had long since fallen into ruin, it still left them awestruck!

Above the main entrance of the hundred-zhang-tall hall hung a rust-mottled plaque bearing four seal-script characters: Hunyuan Grand Hall.

The people of Daque Temple stood rooted where they were, their eyes wide.

Compared to this magnificent ancient hall amid the ruins, they were as tiny as ants!

"Heavens..." Song Yan's chest rose and fell. It felt as though something had lodged in her throat, leaving her unable to speak.

"In the Near Antiquity era, a peerless powerhouse must have resided in this hall!" Even the hand with which Zhang Gan held his greatsword trembled.

He had never expected the Hunyuan Sect's ancient trove to be so vast and majestic. It far exceeded their expectations.

They were excited, but also uneasy.

They proceeded with utmost care, slowly making their way toward the palace interior.

The yin qi here was incredibly dense. From beneath the ancient hall came occasional splashing sounds, suggesting that it had happened to collapse atop an underground river.

Within the enormous hall, the dark iron floor beneath their feet was covered in rust, crawling with the marks of time.

As far as the eye could see, they found many skeletons, all long stripped of flesh and blood.

Xu Yan followed behind the others, studying those weathered white bones intently. Zhang Gan at the front merely brushed one skeleton lightly with his greatsword, and it instantly crumbled into powder and scattered away.

The deeper they went, the more bones littered the ground.

After half an incense stick's time, everyone suddenly stopped, staring ahead in astonishment.

Xu Yan looked upon the scene before him, and his pupils abruptly constricted as his heart shuddered without cease.

Song Yan's eyes widened as well, her hand covering her small mouth.

Before them lay a hundred-zhang-wide bronze ritual ground. Countless white skeletons sat cross-legged upon it, encircling a single skeleton at its center that gleamed softly, beautiful as jade!

That jade-white skeleton wore a great black robe. Its aura was terrifying, and its killing intent had nearly condensed into substance. A single glance was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

The ages have rolled on. From the Near Antiquity era until now, at least fifty thousand years must have passed. For bones to remain uncorrupted and jade-like, only a powerhouse who had reached the pinnacle of the human path could achieve such a thing! Xu Yan was deeply shaken.

"That is the skeleton of an earthly immortal!" Chen Shengzhi's eyes trembled as he cried out, almost losing his voice.

Great Yin had stood for six hundred years, yet not a single powerhouse at the pinnacle of the human path had appeared.

Even if such figures existed, they would belong to those ancient sect inheritances that concealed their names and vanished beyond the mortal world. They had stood tall since ages past; dynasties had changed beyond count, yet they remained detached from the world. Even the emperor of Great Yin would not dare provoke them lightly.

"The Hunyuan Sect's sect master had already stepped into such a realm? Then why did he still die here?" Zhang Gan found it impossible to believe.

He could not imagine an earthly immortal at the pinnacle of the human path dying withered away in this place.

Gusts of yin wind swept across the bronze ritual ground piled high with bones, sounding like ghosts weeping and wolves howling, as though venting the mercilessness of time.

Holding his greatsword, Zhang Gan carefully approached.

At the slightest touch, the skeletons seated cross-legged in a circle all shattered and collapsed.

The others followed behind him. The closer they came, the more chilling that earthly immortal's skeleton became. Its terrifying aura seemed ready to swallow mountains and rivers, while the yin wind cut over their bodies like blades.

By the time they drew near, their Daoist robes had already been soaked through with cold sweat.

They did not dare raise their eyes. They could not even look directly at the skeleton.

They could only lower their heads and try to circle around it.

Though it had been dead for tens of thousands of years, the skeleton's divine might still remained.

Xu Yan drew in a breath, feeling the essence-blood within his body boil and churn restlessly.

From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the skeleton seated at the center of the ritual ground and discovered several lines of seal-script carved beneath its cushion.

"Time shows no mercy. Without proving immortality, there can be no freedom..."

With only a glance, Xu Yan deciphered them.

They sounded like a sigh of lament. Who knew what the Hunyuan Sect's sect master had experienced in life, or why he had summoned all his disciples to this ritual ground, turning it into what was nearly a corpse pit of ten thousand people.

Xu Yan's Crystal Heart Realization left his spiritual platform empty and lucid. As he focused for a few breaths, he seemed to hear countless miserable cries lingering by his ears, sending a chill down his spine.