Already Numb

Quite a few people's eyes reddened.

Some clenched their fists tightly.

Others had hollow eyes, utterly still as ancient wells, long since inured to such things.

The crowd gathered around.

Using a simple stretcher, they carried the old man away into the distance.

Not far away lay a desolate patch of land, steeped in deathly air, with the stench of decay hanging all around.

At a glance, there were more than a hundred grass-covered mounds of earth. This was an accumulation of thirty thousand years.

Before every mound stood a crude stone tablet.

"Grave of Chen Fan of the Array Realm..."

"Grave of Xiao Ling of the Yue Realm..."

"Grave of Fang Jie of the Immortal Realm..."

"..."

It was clear that every person buried here had been a towering overlord in life, an ancestor-level figure in their respective worlds.

Originally, upon their passing, they could have received the highest funeral honors in the world, but now...

Today.

Another small mound had been added here.

It belonged to the old man who had just died.

Everyone gathered before the mound and bowed in salute. That was all.

There were not even any offerings of fruit, incense, or paper money.

Their bodies could originally have been sent back and preserved forever, worshipped by later generations for ten thousand ages.

Yet all those who could lie here had been mighty experts in life. Even after death, their remaining power could somewhat restrain the black mist seeping through the rift.

In other words.

These great powers had guarded this place in life, dedicating themselves to the Immortal Realm and the Eight Great Realms.

Even in death, they still burned away the last scraps of their strength.

Just as the saying went: silkworms spin until death, their silk exhausted; candles burn to ash, their