The Jade Pool's Former Site

Over the next few days, Qin Tian visited more than thirty cities. In each one, he wandered about, savoring the air of mortal life within it without the slightest impatience. There was no trace of the tension one might expect from someone being hunted across the entire Eastern Wasteland.

He looked utterly at ease.

In an ancient city named Cloudclear, Qin Tian saw a picture of himself. Without question, it was a wanted notice issued by the Yaoguang Holy Land.

Qin Tian was particularly displeased. "Tsk, tsk. Even a little city like this has a wanted notice for me. But this portrait is a bit ridiculous. It looks nothing like the real me."

"No wonder hardly anyone recognizes me even when I show my true face."

Qin Tian was deeply dissatisfied. The person in the portrait was indeed him, but it was the him from his days in the mine. Now, he had been reborn from the inside out, possessing peerless elegance and unrivaled good looks.

Even if that little old man came back to life, he would never recognize them as the same person.

"What a vicious scheme!"

"They're actually making people think I look like this, ruining my reputation."

"The Yaoguang Holy Land truly is evil by nature."

In the Northern Region, the temperature varied greatly between day and deep night. The moonlight was cold and clear, and the chill seeped into the bones.

Beneath the moonlight, the red earth stretched boundlessly, with no end in sight. It was utterly empty. Never mind mountains-even large rocks were hard to find.

The Jade Pool Ruins lay more than ten thousand li from the Primordial Ancient Mine. Later, as the curse of the great accomplishment sacred body grew ever stronger, the entire sect had been forced to relocate.

Nowadays, no one knew where the supposed Jade Pool Ruins were. Apart from those of the Jade Pool lineage, no one could find them.

It was said that when the Jade Pool withdrew, they had sealed the place completely.

Qin Tian had come to the Northern Region to seek out the former site of the Jade Pool Holy Land and find the Western Emperor Scripture.

As for being unable to activate the imprint of the Western Emperor Scripture without a scripture guide, he could only say that this mountain hermit had a clever plan of his own.

Anything that existed had to leave a trace, and the Jade Pool's Flying Immortal phenomenon was an indelible trace of its former site.

Qin Tian asked around everywhere and finally established its approximate location.

He traveled west all the way and finally saw the so-called Jade Pool Flying Immortal phenomenon.

Several white figures appeared on the horizon, ethereal and elusive, flickering in and out of sight. As otherworldly as immortals, they soared into the sky.

They vanished with each step, leaving more than a dozen phantom images across the empty land. He chased them a long way but caught nothing.

The Jade Pool was an ancient site where, beneath the moon at night, the wondrous sight of flying immortals occasionally appeared. No one could explain it. From afar, it was hazy; up close, it faded into nothing.

According to legend, these were lingering images from Desolate Antiquity, reflections from countless ages ago, a replay of events from ancient times.

"You really are ghosts that won't leave me alone!"

"Are you never going to stop?"

Qin Tian halted and looked back, calling out with a hint of anger. He sensed that one of his paper effigy clones was nearby, being pursued.

Qin Tian turned toward the place where the Jade Pool Flying Immortal phenomenon had just appeared. "If I remember correctly, the Jade Pool's former site is cursed, isn't it?"

Qin Tian grinned. "In its twilight years, a great accomplishment sacred body suffers an ominous fate and grows red hair."

"Oh, no, wait. I think the one at the Jade Pool's former site had golden hair."

Qin Tian sounded a little regretful. "What a pity. It isn't red."

"Otherwise, what an honor it would be for you to die beneath red hair. You might even pick up a sliver of the supreme Red-Haired Monster's fortune and be reborn into a good life."

"Very well. Today, I'll let you experience the treatment that great accomplishment sacred body once received!" Qin Tian said softly.

He had that paper effigy clone hurry toward him.

The old site was utterly tranquil in the depths of night, without a single sound. The bright moonlight shone upon the crimson rubble and made it gleam.

Qin Tian headed in one direction, extending his powerful divine sense to sweep the surroundings. But this vast land was simply too immense. Though the Jade Pool Flying Immortal phenomenon had appeared, those immortal figures were far too elusive, and he had no idea where they originated. Even after searching for a long time, he still found nothing.

He saw that his pursuers were drawing ever closer.

Qin Tian hesitated no longer. He raised his hands and traced array marks. As his hands swept through the air, heaven and earth momentum gathered around him.

The lunar essence descending through the night converged upon the array marks.

The next moment, the array marks lit up. Fierce winds roared, red sand swirled, and a great pit was scoured into the ground as broken rocks flew everywhere.

Once the wind subsided, an ancient well was revealed.

The mouth of the well was exceptionally exquisite, actually built from jade, with a large stone weighing down upon it. The stone absorbed the moonlight descending from the sky and was extraordinarily cold, like a stone of ice that had remained frozen for ten thousand years.

"The Jade Pool Ruins really are extraordinary. Even sealed away, they can still absorb the essence of the sun and moon on their own."

Qin Tian lifted the large stone, and the starlight and moonlight in the sky immediately poured down like water, spilling into the well.

Before Qin Tian appeared a pitch-black opening. The well below was so deep that he could not probe its bottom.

This dry well exuded the aura of ages from Desolate Antiquity.

It breathed in and out the essence of heaven and earth. Even though the Spirit Gathering Formation at the Jade Pool's former site had long since been dismantled, the land's inherent heaven and earth momentum still gathered heaven and earth vital energy without cease, replenishing the divine energy within the old grounds.

Qin Tian vanished in a flash, plunging into the well. He descended more than two thousand meters before reaching the bottom, then continued forward along a sloping passage.

The ancient well connected to an underground river, but its waters had dried up. The riverbed stretched horizontally into the distance, with occasional small pools where blind fish swam.

After walking for a long time, Qin Tian finally emerged from the bottom of a vast, dried-up lake.

He knew he had truly entered the old grounds of the Jade Pool!

Everywhere he looked, green plants grew lush and luxuriant. A lake was as clear as sapphire, and great swaths of vegetation thrived along its shores.

Enormous ancient trees stretched their branches toward the sky, each almost the size of a small mountain. Thick vines like azure dragons crawled everywhere. Flowers and grasses of every kind released fragrances that refreshed the heart, their brilliant purples and reds a delight to the eye.

Qin Tian crossed range after range of mountains and passed through a region shrouded in immortal mist. The sight that greeted him was completely different from the vibrant life he had seen before.

Vast halls stood like heavenly palaces, some atop mountain peaks, others before dried-up waterfalls.

This was a secluded pure land, its spiritual energy so dense that it seemed impossible to disperse.

But... it was also an eerie land of death.

All the vegetation and ancient trees here had died. Their leaves had fallen away, and not a trace of life remained. An eerie, ominous aura permeated the place.

Dead trees stood everywhere, frighteningly thick, towering into the sky as grandly as mountain peaks. Yet not a single leaf or wisp of vitality remained.

Though they had long since lost their vitality, they had not rotted in ten thousand years. He stood amid the mist, vibrant life behind him and deathly stillness ahead.

What had once been a world of fragrant flowers and birdsong had now become a barren wasteland, steeped in an eerie aura.

Qin Tian forced down the unease that made his skin crawl and continued forward. Halls and pavilions came into view, many collapsed upon the ground. These magnificent buildings had become ruins, left for later generations to mourn.

This was the Jade Pool's former site!

Just after Qin Tian set foot in the Jade Pool's former site,

a new disturbance arose upon the crimson wasteland.

The Void Gate opened.

Another Qin Tian stepped out, looking somewhat bedraggled.