Xu Changqing followed the guidance of the golden halo, crossing the faded plain.
The ground beneath his feet gradually changed in texture as he advanced, shifting from dry ash-white to damp dark brown. The bone-piercing chill in the air also slowly receded, replaced by a gentle warmth.
As the golden halo grew brighter and brighter, the moment he crossed some invisible boundary, the scene before him suddenly opened up.
Xu Changqing now stood at the edge of a stone platform floating in the void.
The platform was octagonal, no more than a hundred zhang in diameter. There were no railings along its edges; one step outward would lead into the boundless dark void.
Countless specks of light floated within the void.
Some were merely the size of fists, while others resembled entire mountain peaks hanging upside down in the heavens.
The lights came in every color—crimson, jade-green, deep blue, brilliant gold, dark purple, and more. As though drawn by some invisible force, they circled the stone platform in unison.
At the center of the platform stood a pitch-black stone pillar.
It was roughly three zhang tall, its surface covered in densely packed inscriptions.
The inscriptions were not writing from any era, but symbols condensed from laws.
They moved across the pillar as though alive. Each time they shifted even slightly, the surrounding motes of light flickered in response, as if breathing or resonating.
Atop the stone pillar floated a constantly changing sphere of light.
Within it, countless scenes could vaguely be seen flashing by.
Some were practicing swordsmanship, some were refining pills, some were undergoing Tribulation Transcendence, some were weeping, some were laughing madly, while others knelt silently before gravestones.
Just as Xu Changqing came within three zhang of the stone pillar, the inscriptions upon it suddenly froze, and the