"A severed hand!"
"The severed hand of Immortal Dao powerful immortal!"
" Immortal Dao powerful immortal fell here, unable even to take his body with him..."
Just how brutal was the final battle during the Immortal Ancient Era?
The pupils of the assembled prodigies suddenly contracted.
Some people clenched their fists, some turned pale, and some stood still, their throats bobbing, unable to utter a single word.
"That hand can't be taken away at all."
The Jin Clan said, "In that battle back then, a powerful Immortal Dao perished here, half of his body crushed by the aftershocks of the war. Only one hand remained, but no one could take it away."
"Because that pool of blood has already become one with this world. If you try to take it by force, you will be devoured along with the Immortal Dao aura and the Dark Matter."
After a moment of silence, a figure suddenly moved.
That was a prodigy from the Three Thousand Provinces, dressed in a gray robe, at the Peak Sage King Realm, and considered a genius in the Three Thousand Provinces.
His gaze was fixed on the pool of blood, his eyes filled with greed and desire, so intense that he even forgot what he was touching.
"Immortal Blood!"
"That's the blood of a powerful Immortal Dao! Just refining a single drop, even just a trace of Immortal Dao aura, would allow my cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, and might even allow me to condense the rudiments of Immortal Qi!"
He muttered to himself, his divine sense probing towards the pool of blood.
Don't touch it!
The Five-Crown King frowned, trying to stop him.
But it was too late.
The moment the gray-robed prodigy's divine sense touched the pool of blood, his pupils widened violently, his whole body trembled, his face turned from white to red, then from red to purple, and then...
"Boom!"
His body exploded from the inside.
Flesh and blood flew everywhere, bones shattered, and the entire person turned into a cloud of blood mist, dissipating in the wind.
He didn't even have time to scream.
Everyone was stunned.
A prodigy at the Peak Sage King Realm, a figure of considerable importance in the Three Thousand Provinces, died instantly after merely touching the pool of blood with his divine sense.
There was no way to save them.
The entire hall fell silent for several breaths.
Then, someone turned pale and took a step back. "This is the No Man's Land? We can't even get close?"
"What... what is that stuff in the blood? It's so eerie!"
" Chen Xuan... is he dead?"
"How is that possible? He only touched that pool of blood with his divine sense..."
"The blood of a powerful Immortal Dao is not something you can touch?"
The Jin Clan elder glanced at the deck, watching the man explode into a bloody mist, his expression unchanged. He simply spoke, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet it struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer. "This is merely the first lesson in the No Man's Land."
" The Emperor Pass is far more brutal than here. If you can't endure it, you can still retreat to the Three Thousand Provinces now."
No one answered.
Everyone gritted their teeth, and not one of them backed down.
Those who have reached this point all possess an iron will. If they were to back down at this moment, they could forget about ever attaining the Dao and becoming an emperor.
Chen Xuan's body was quietly taken away by a prodigy, and the atmosphere on the ship remained silent for a long time.
Lin Fan sat on the ship's railing, his gaze fixed on the massive hand that resembled a small mountain, his Double Pupils brightening slightly.
He saw it; in the pool of blood, there were indeed extremely pure Law of the Immortal Dao remaining—truly valuable treasures. But a layer of Dark Matter was also entangled within, like an invisible hand, slowly devouring that Immortal Dao power.
"Interesting."
He said it in a low voice.
Then he looked away, not reaching out to touch it. It wasn't greed; he just felt the timing wasn't right. Once they reached the Emperor Pass, there would be plenty of opportunities to get good stuff.
The fairy ship continued deeper into the No Man's Land.
The further you go in, the more terrifying the scene becomes.
A massive skeleton, as large as a hill, lay across the land, each bone radiating a chilling aura of power, as if the creature had been unimaginably powerful even before its death.
"What is that?" A prodigy pointed to a skeleton in the distance, his voice trembling slightly.
" True Dragon skeleton."
The Jin Clan elder said calmly, "A Pure-Blooded True Dragon from the Immortal Ancient Era perished here. Its dragon soul has long since dissipated, but its skeleton still exudes the aura of the supreme bloodline of the Dragon Clan. Ordinary cultivators who approach within a million feet will be crushed by that pressure."
Everyone fell silent.
The skeleton of a Pure-Blooded True Dragon lay there on the ground, like a piece of dead wood that had been carelessly discarded.
How powerful must that True Dragon have been in its lifetime?
The celestial ship continued deeper into the No Man's Land, and after flying for another half day, the gray sky ahead suddenly lit up for a moment, as if a crack had been torn open, revealing a ray of golden light.
The golden light wasn't dazzling, but it carried an aura of profound weight, like a majestic, timeless city wall stretching between heaven and earth, slowly taking shape.
Emperor Pass.
In the distance, the defensive line of the Emperor Pass can be seen.
Boundless.
The city wall soared into the clouds, and was made entirely of a kind of star stone with a dark golden luster. Its surface was covered with dense array patterns, each of which was like a living dragon vein, slowly flowing across the surface of the city wall.
The city gate was enormous, like a gate to a celestial realm!
Outside the city gate lay a vast wasteland, barren of vegetation, with only a few broken stone pillars standing forlornly, like some kind of ancient marker.
The fairy ship landed on the edge of the wasteland.
The Jin Clan envoy was the first to disembark, standing with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "We've arrived. From now on, you'll have to walk your own path."
"Whoever can walk to the city gate of the Emperor Pass is qualified to enter the pass."
This is the first test.
After he finished speaking, his gaze fell on Lin Fan, lingering for a moment, then said meaningfully, "I hope you can make it this far alive."
That glance was brief, yet it made Lin Fan narrow his eyes slightly.
He didn't say anything, but he already understood.
interesting.
Lin Fan said something in a low voice, then stepped off the fairy ship.
He didn't rush to leave. Instead, he stood there and stretched his limbs, looked up at the majestic Emperor Pass city wall in the distance, and then looked down at the barren wasteland at his feet.
The soil in the wasteland is very hard.
It looks like it has been trampled on countless times, and has been made incredibly solid by the weight of time.
He casually picked up a pebble, pinched it gently, and the pebble crumbled into powder. The powder fell to the ground and was quickly swept away by the wind.
"This place... is interesting."
He muttered something to himself again, then strode towards the Emperor Pass city gate.
He walked slowly, but each step was steady, like a sword drawn from its sheath, moving forward slowly.
Behind them, the other prodigies also disembarked and headed towards the Emperor Pass gate in twos and threes.
Some rode swords, some rode the wind, and some propelled themselves forward by harnessing the laws of nature.
The speeds of each one were faster than the last.
Lin Fan did not speed up. He maintained his unhurried pace, as if taking a stroll, as he walked towards the gates of the Emperor Pass.
On the wasteland behind him, the Five-Crown King, the Longevity Physique, Ye Tian, and others gradually surpassed him and walked ahead of him.
Only the Jin Clan envoy stood still, watching Lin Fan's back with a deep gaze, lost in thought.
Let's go.
Lin Fan murmured something, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to some unseen being.
" Emperor Pass, this Imperial Prince has arrived."
"I hope you... are ready to receive us."
He strode towards the direction of the Emperor Pass city gate.
"Buzz!"
In the distance, an extremely faint aura emanated from deep within the walls of the Emperor Pass, as if something was awakening.
Lin Fan paused slightly, then continued walking forward.
On the desolate plain, the wind rises, causing robes to flutter in the wind.