Before Immortality Peak.
A corner of the black fog slowly dispersed, and Ren Ye first saw a solemn, towering stone gate. It stood roughly thirty or forty meters high, its two doors plain and heavy. Here, too, no greenery grew. There was only a coldness that cut off all life, endless dust, and the marks left by the passage of time, as though it had been closed for countless ages.
But what truly rooted Ren Ye to the spot was not the gate's height or majesty, but the eight large characters carved into the cliff face.
The Witch God atones for his sins, forever suppressing calamity.
Those eight characters were especially striking against the bare black cliff, and inexplicably stirred a sense of familiarity in Ren Ye.
He stared blankly at them, lost in thought for a time.
"Thump, thump..."
Suddenly, he vaguely heard what sounded like a heartbeat echoing from inside the stone gate. Like breathing, it pulsed in time with everything in the surrounding world.
Ren Ye dared not be careless. Slowly coming back to his senses, he continued forward.
The Human Emperor Seal radiated Destiny, illuminating a patch of ground and dispersing the black fog to help Ren Ye advance.
After another dozen or so steps, the heartbeat in his ears grew increasingly distinct, and Ren Ye felt his blood surge as well.
Whoosh!
Just as he was about to approach the stone gate, a phosphorescent shimmer suddenly flashed across the ground beneath his feet, like sunlight reflected on rippling water.
"Holy shit!"
Startled, Ren Ye immediately stopped in place and peered ahead.
Now, by the light of the Human Emperor Seal, he saw a hole resembling a dry well in front of the stone gate, roughly ten paces away.
The "dry well pit" was about seven