"Boom!"
A dull, loud thud came from inside the stone gate.
The gap in the center of the stone door began to widen, and a very thin beam of light shone through it, as if someone had cut a slit from the inside with a knife.
But the light was wrong.
Lin Fan frowned slightly.
The light was rather dark.
It wasn't pure gold or silver, but rather had a faint hint of gray-black, like clear water that had been contaminated by something.
It only lasted for a moment.
The grayish-black hue was quickly covered by an overwhelming golden light. Above the sky, a huge vortex began to form, with law runes churning and rotating at its center, like an ancient well whose lid had been lifted.
"It's open!"
"The entrance is open!"
Suppressed gasps of surprise rose from the surrounding area.
Without hesitation, Tian Ming transformed into a streak of azure light and plunged into the vortex.
Jing Wuxin followed closely behind, his gray-white figure flashing at the edge of the vortex before disappearing.
Yue Linglong glanced back at the crowd behind her, her cold gaze lingering on Lin Fan for a moment before she turned and stepped into the vortex.
Let's go.
Lin Fan took a step.
He didn't sprint at full speed; he simply walked slowly towards the vortex, as if taking a stroll.
As he passed by Ye Tian, he glanced at him sideways.
Ye Tian was still standing there, the wound on his palm was slowly healing, there was a thin layer of cold sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was a little heavier than usual.
That single drop of essence blood was clearly more than just "a drop of blood."
Lin Fan didn't ask any more questions and stepped into the vortex.
Just as the golden light was about to completely shrink into a single line, a dark golden light streaked across the distant sky like a falling meteor, precisely piercing the crack in the closing door.
"Boom!"
Just before the door sewed shut, the dark golden light was squeezed out with a muffled thud, then vanished completely into the depths of the crack.
At the edge of the altar, Ye Tian, who was about to leave, paused for a moment.
He glanced back at the now completely closed golden crack, his brow furrowing slightly as if he had something to say.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He turned around, his figure transforming into a streak of gray light, and passed through the door that had just closed.
The scene changes.
When Lin Fan opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a completely unfamiliar world.
The teleportation is random...
Lin Fan immediately confirmed this assessment.
Those nine people who entered the ruins should now be scattered in different locations.
This is not a place of immortals.
There were no auspicious clouds, no cranes, and no misty springs.
All that remains is an interplay of darkness and blood, like an old painting that has been splashed with ink and then covered with a layer of dark red watercolor—heavy, oppressive, and carrying an inescapable stench of blood.
Beneath his feet lay scorched earth.
Broken bones were scattered everywhere in the soil, some with remnants of half-cut, dark yellow robes, as if people who died here long ago had not yet been completely buried.
In the distance, intermittent wisps of black mist surged and billowed.
The mist was a perfect color, like ink, but with a faint, dark red sheen.
Lin Fan took a few steps closer, his Double Pupils brightening slightly.
The purplish-gold light pierced through the mist, revealing some distorted silhouettes moving slowly deep within it, like some kind of half-dead thing, wandering aimlessly across this ancient land.
"Dark creatures..."
He said it in a low voice.
The Dark Matter here is even more concentrated than the kind he encountered in the Demon God Secret Realm.
Moreover, their aura was even more ancient, as if they were not alien objects that had collapsed from the Immortal Realm, but were born here.
Something was definitely off.
He withdrew his gaze and did not rush towards the dark creatures, but first sensed his location and direction.
This world is vast.
He couldn't see the end at a glance, but he could sense that a certain aura was moving at the edge of his perception, like a fish slowly swimming in deep water.
That aura carried a dark golden pattern.
Jin Zhen.
Lin Fan's lips curled up slightly. "You arrived fairly quickly."
He took a step towards the direction of that aura. "Since you're so eager to see this imperial prince... then go and see him."
He vanished from the spot in a flash.
Behind him, only a very shallow footprint remained on the scorched earth, with fine, Chaos Qi slowly seeping into the soil from the edges of the footprint, like a few invisible roots spreading downwards.
At the same time.
At the edge of the ruins, in an extremely dark crack.
A pair of eyes opened in the darkness, the pupils pure black, without irises or whites, like two obsidian stones whose interiors had been hollowed out, leaving only the outer shell.
A scaly hand emerged from the crack and crushed a yellowed talisman.
The moment the talisman shattered, a very faint ripple spread out from the crack, like a pebble gently dropped onto the surface of water.
Hehehe.
A low laugh echoed from the crack, "So you're all here... Good. This time, none of you will escape."
The hand withdrew into the crack, and the darkness closed in again, as if nothing had ever happened.
Deep within the ruins.
Ye Tian walked alone in a narrow passageway.
The stone walls on both sides are covered with ancient runes, some of which are so blurred that they are almost unrecognizable, while others still retain relatively clear outlines.
He walked slowly, taking each step steadily.
Ancestor.
He called out to himself.
An aged voice echoed in his mind, weathered and ancient, as if coming from a very, very far place. "Hmm."
"What happened back then, how much do you still remember?"
There was a moment of silence.
The aged voice rang out again, softer than before. "Back then... we were guarding something."
What is that?
"I don't remember!"
"..."
"All I remember is that it must not fall into the hands of outsiders."
"For this item, people from Foreign Domain came, and even those from the Emperor Pass... They colluded from within..."
The voice seemed to be cut off at this point, the rest turning into a blurry noise.
Ye Tian stopped. He stood in the center of the passageway, the runes on the stone walls on both sides casting dappled light and shadow around him.
" Foreign Domain... Emperor Pass."
He repeated the two words in a low voice.
He continued walking, his shadow stretching longer in the dimly lit passageway. "Whatever it is, I will take it back."
"No one is allowed to touch anything belonging to the Ye Clan."
The other end of the ruins.
Tian Ming stood in front of a half-collapsed palace, his gaze fixed on the broken plaque above the main gate.
Only half a character remained on the plaque, but he recognized what it was.
leaf.
Jing Wuxin walked over from the other side, her footsteps silent, like a flowing shadow.
Have you found anything on your end?
"No."
Tian Ming shook his head, then added, "But the one from the Jin Clan has already arrived."
Jing Wuxin paused for a moment. "Who??"
Tian Ming turned his head and looked at the dark red sky in the distance. His gaze pierced through layers of space and landed on a constantly moving golden spot of light.
" Jin Zhen. Main Body."
Jing Wuxin's expression finally changed slightly.
Tian Ming withdrew his gaze, his tone calm. "This is going to be good."
Under the dark red sky, two figures stood side by side, gazing in the same direction.
In that direction, the golden light is moving rapidly.
Another figure was walking towards it.