The news of the Emperor Pass envoy's arrival came faster than expected.
Three days later, on the edge of the Three Thousand Provinces, an ancient immortal ship lay across the sea of clouds. Its hull was covered with dense array patterns, and its prow was carved an ancient divine beast that looked down upon the world. Its entire body was shrouded in gray-gold immortal light.
Let's board.
The Jin Clan envoy stood at the bow of the ship, wearing a dark gold robe, his face cold and his gaze indifferent.
Behind him stood several other Emperor Pass, dressed in similar attire, their auras deep and their expressions serious.
The Five-Crown King was the first to board the celestial ship.
He still had the same black hair and black robes, his gaze calm and his steps steady, as if he had boarded not a celestial ship, but a war chariot heading to the battlefield.
Longevity Physique followed closely behind.
The young man, whose entire body was shrouded in a pale golden aura, remained silent, simply standing at the bow of the ship, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Ye Tian also arrived.
He changed into a dark gray robe and stood silently in the corner at the stern of the ship, like a stone forgotten on the edge.
Next came Tang Fengtian, Ouyang Bin...
There were also a few other prodigies from the Three Thousand Provinces who fought their way out of the Immortal Ancient Ruins.
The Forbidden Lord of the Deadlands was hidden in the void, and only a blurry outline could be seen, but Lin Fan's Double Pupils still managed to capture the faint Law of Void emanating from him.
There were also a few unfamiliar faces, probably prodigies from other sects, each with an air of arrogance between their brows.
One by one, more than ten people boarded the fairy ship.
Lin Fan was the last to come up.
He was dressed in white, his hands behind his back, walking at a leisurely pace, as if he were taking a stroll.
He didn't look at anyone or the celestial ship; he simply stepped onto it casually, found a spot at the bow, and sat down cross-legged.
The Jin Clan envoy's gaze fell on him, lingered for a moment, and then he spoke, his voice carrying an undeniable authority. "Gentlemen, your journey to the Emperor Pass this time is a matter of life and death."
"Now, there's still a chance to regret it."
"If anyone cannot withstand the dangers of the Emperor Pass, it's not too late to retreat now."
His gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Lin Fan, a strange glint in his eyes.
That gaze was faint, as if it had swept over unintentionally, yet it carried a profound meaning that was difficult to express.
Lin Fan ignored him completely.
He sat at the bow of the boat, his eyes closed, as if resting or listening to the wind.
None of the other prodigies retreated.
The Five-Crown King stood at the bow of the ship, expressionless.
The Longevity Physique stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calm.
Ye Tian leaned against the stern, his head slightly lowered, his thoughts unreadable.
Tang Fengtian and Ouyang Bin exchanged a glance, then stood still, their gazes turning slightly cold.
They all climbed their way here by stepping over countless corpses. If they backed down at the mere mention of "life and death are in the hands of fate," what kind of prodigies would they be?
"No one's backing out?"
The Jin Clan envoy asked another question.
No one answered.
The Jin Clan envoy nodded, said nothing more, turned around and waved his hand. The immortal ship roared and transformed into a streak of gray-gold light, speeding towards the distant horizon.
The celestial ship traversed the edge of Three Thousand Provinces.
The sea of clouds surged and the mountains and rivers receded, like an elongated scroll rushing past beneath our feet.
For the first two days, everything was calm.
On the third day, the speed of the fairy ship suddenly slowed down.
Ahead, the color of the sky began to change.
It was no longer azure, but a dark, almost inky gray, shadow, as if a cloud steeped in the passage of time shrouded the entire land.
Before me stretched an endless expanse of gray-brown earth.
The land was barren, with only countless cracks crisscrossing it, as if some terrible thing had torn it open from the ground. Grayish-white mist constantly poured out of the cracks, churning and twisting into various contorted shapes in the wind.
An indescribable odor permeated the air... decaying, pungent, cold, and ancient, like a battlefield repeatedly chewed up by the years.
" No Man's Land."
The Five-Crown King spoke, his voice calm yet tinged with seriousness. "We've arrived."
One of the prodigies, his face slightly pale, instinctively took a half-step back. "This is... the No Man's Land?"
Lin Fan sat at the bow of the boat, looking calmly at the dark gray sky looming ahead.
No Man's Land.
The three words are recorded extremely briefly in the ancient books of the Three Thousand Provinces, with only a few strokes. "The decisive battleground of the Immortal Ancient Era, where no corpses remain, the laws are in chaos, and all living beings have vanished. Quasi- Quasi-Emperor enter here face a nine-out-of-ten chance of death."
He had heard it many times, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he still felt a sense of oppression from his very life instinct.
On the earth, corpses lay strewn everywhere, and white bones piled up like mountains.
In the distance, deep, bottomless ravines stretched across the land, their edges piled high with countless white bones.
Among the skeletons were those of humans, Demon Race, and beings of no known race. Some were several meters tall, some were just half a skeleton, and some shone with a dark golden luster. Deep within the bones, there was still a trace of an extremely ancient aura, as if they had been extremely powerful beings in life.
The tattered battle flag fluttered in the wind.
The flag was mostly torn apart, and the totems and words engraved on it were blurred and indistinct, leaving only a few remaining lines, like torn pieces of a suicide note.
There was a mountain peak, cleaved in two by something, its cross-section smooth as a mirror, as if sliced in two by a giant knife. At the edge of the cross-section, a faint trace of Immortal Dao energy lingered, like a lamp about to go out.
An invisible storm of laws permeated the air, like countless unseen blades swirling in the void, filling every inch of space with unknown dangers.
"A terrible battle once took place here."
One of the prodigies spoke in a low voice, his tone tinged with barely suppressed solemnity. "Throughout history, countless Quasi-Emperor and Great Emperor have entered the No Man's Land and vanished without a trace, their remains never found."
"It's far more terrifying than those forbidden areas in the Three Thousand Provinces."
"Shut up, stop talking."
Someone interrupted him, their voice trembling slightly.
The Jin Clan elder stood at the bow of the ship, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping across the vast expanse of land. " The No Man's Land was one of the battlefields of the final battle of the Immortal Ancient Era."
"When the Immortal Domain collapsed, the Three Thousand Provinces were separated from the Emperor Pass, and this area was a place repeatedly ravaged by war between the two realms."
"Everything here is far superior to what the Three Thousand Provinces can offer."
"If you think the trip to the Emperor Pass was just a change of scenery for training, you are sorely mistaken."
The fairy ship continued deeper into the No Man's Land.
The further you go in, the more terrifying the scene becomes.
Lin Fan opened one eye.
The celestial ship slowly descended, flying beneath the gray sky.
The fairy ship continued its journey.
After flying for about half an hour, an even stranger area appeared ahead.
On the earth, there is a hand. A huge hand, as big as a small mountain, pale all over, with fine cracks all over its surface, like a weathered stone sculpture.
It lay across the pool of blood, which had dried up for countless years, yet still exuded a chilling aura.
That aura was extremely ancient, as if it had traveled across countless years.
It possessed the aura of Immortal Dao, yet was shrouded in a thick layer of darkness, as if Immortal Dao and darkness had achieved some terrifying fusion within a corpse.
"An immortal... a powerful Immortal Dao cultivator?"
A prodigy's face turned deathly pale, his voice barely audible as he choked out, "Immortal might! Even after countless years of decline, such terrifying Immortal Dao power remains! The corpse of Immortal Dao expert... that's a... Immortal Dao expert's hand? Even the hand was chopped off?!"