450: Chapter 450 The Immortal Ancient Era

Everyone's pupils contracted sharply at this moment.

They saw that ancient, jade-like Cyan Heavenly Ladder extending upwards from the first step shrouded in clouds and mist, reaching a height beyond the reach of sight—to an end shrouded in Chaos, as if connecting to another world.

And on every single step of this ladder that seemed to lead to the sky, there were people struggling, climbing, crawling, and collapsing!

Some were pressed down onto the lower steps by terrifying Dao rhythms, their bones broken and tendons snapped, their blood staining the cyan steps; others were pinned firmly in the middle section, their faces twisted like evil ghosts, unable to move an inch, letting out beast-like low roars from their throats.

There were even those hunched over, trembling, digging their fingernails into the stone steps, inch by inch, slowly and desperately crawling upwards, as if it were not a heavenly ladder, but a torture ground leading to Hell...

Looking out, there were countless figures on the Cyan Heavenly Ladder; there were far more than thousands.

The dense crowd of figures looked like a grand and tragic pilgrimage, and also like a swarm of moths, rushing one after another towards that flame that had burned for eternity.

"Absurd... simply absurd!"

An emperor wearing star robes and an imperial crown had his pupils contract to the size of pinpricks, muttering, his voice carrying a tremor even he hadn't noticed: "Ancient records state that in every opening of the Primordial Secret Realm, having a hundred people successfully step onto the Cyan Heavenly Ladder is already a world-shaking phenomenon... Yet now, there are nearly ten thousand living beings climbing at once?!"

"No! Look higher!" Suddenly, a sharp shout that almost cracked the voice broke the heavy atmosphere of shock.

A great sage of the Yao Race suddenly reached out and pointed at the top of the water mirror, his arm trembling violently with excitement, his knuckles turning white: "Look! Look there! Seven... seven recognized young Supremes have already crossed the five-hundred-step chasm!"

"And... that white-clad figure! That damned, unfamiliar white-clad figure! He has already... already stepped past the seven-hundredth step!"

"Not just him! Look behind quickly! Those few from the Human Race! Chen Shenhuang, Ji Tianming, Li Wuji, and that Sword Progeny carrying an ancient sword!"

"They have come up too! So fast! Their speed... it's like they are burning! Like they are flying!"

"Heavens... this era, what on earth is this era..."

An ancient fossil of the ancient clans, who had lived for unknown years and whose body was nearly petrified, parted his withered lips slightly, his turbid eyes reflecting the figures rapidly climbing in the water mirror, finally turning into a long and complex sigh. In that sigh, there was awe, shock, and also deep fear: "This era shall be the Immortal Ancient Era..."

"Immortal Ancient Era..." These four words, as if possessing some strange magic, instantly dropped a boulder into the hearts of all the ancient existences on the viewing platform, stirring up endless turbulent waves and reverie.

Amazement, shock, ecstasy, greed, fear... all kinds of extremely complex emotions flashed across countless faces, whether old, majestic, or ferocious, as colorful and strange as a kaleidoscope.

However, almost the moment the exclamation of "Immortal Ancient Era" arose, almost everyone's gaze, unanimously and with a kind of instinctive awe and inquiry, focused tightly on the very front of the Cyan Heavenly Ladder, on those few figures as dazzling as the scorching sun.

Especially... that pitch-black demonic shadow that seemed to swallow all surrounding light!

The Demon Race's Demon Son, Wutian!

He stepped steadily and unhurriedly, treading on the cyan stone steps that could crush the spine of an ordinary Prodigy, as if strolling in the corridors of his own Demon Palace, relaxed and calm.

Deep within those pure black demonic eyes, which showed no trace of whites, dark lights flowed, as if terrifying visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with ten thousand demons worshipping, were born and died. Every blink was like the destruction and Rebirth of a world.

The viscous Devilish Qi surging around his body was like a living thing, transforming into countless small, snarling demonic faces that bared their fangs, greedily and crazily swallowing, tearing apart, and assimilating the waves of cyan Dao rhythms suppressing down!

Those cyan Dao rhythms were like starlight falling into an abyss, unable to stir even a ripple before being swallowed by eternal darkness.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Every time he took a step, the ancient stone steps beneath his feet, which had endured for eons and were harder than divine iron, emitted a dull, heart-palpitating boom, as if it were not the stone steps bearing his weight, but him crushing this Heavenly Dao ladder with his Supreme demonic body!

Each dull thud was like a war drum, like thunder, and even more like the knell of doomsday, striking the hearts of every observer.

Five hundred and fifty steps.

Six hundred steps.

Six hundred and fifty steps...

His speed not only did not slow down as the height increased, but instead... became faster and faster!

The Devilish Qi became increasingly surging, and his Aura became increasingly tyrannical and flamboyant, like an unsheathed demonic sword, ready to split the sky open!

"Good! Good! Good! What a Demon Son of my race! Hahahaha!"

In the Demon Race area of the viewing platform, an ancient Demon Venerable, shrouded in thick demonic mist that seemed capable of corroding the Void Realm, could not help but clap and laugh wildly, his voice shaking the starry sky, filled with undisguised pride and arrogance.

His laughter was like cracking thunder, making the surrounding Void Realm tremble: "Swallowing Dao rhythms, using the enemy to nourish oneself! Such talent, such demonic might, such an invincible Dao Heart!"

"This Taiqing Legacy, no, the Luck of this entire Immortal Ancient Era, should be controlled by my Demon Race! Who else but him?! Hahaha!"

"Amitabha." Not far away, in a pure land of auspicious and peaceful Buddhist light where Sanskrit sounds were faintly heard, an ancient Buddhist monk wearing a simple kasaya, with a withered but solemn face, chanted a Buddhist name.

The voice was not loud, but like a morning bell and evening drum, clearly overpowering the rampant demonic laughter, resounding in all directions, carrying a transcendent calm: "Why must the Demon Venerable speak nonsense. Let us look at Kasyapa."

Everyone followed the sound and looked; in the water mirror, the young monk Kasyapa, in white clothes and barefoot, with a cinnabar dot between his brows, walked unhurriedly. With every step he took, an illusory golden lotus would naturally bloom beneath his feet on the stone steps, then disappear, as if he were creating lotuses with every step, becoming a Buddha with every step.

There was no earth-shattering Aura around him, only a layer of gentle and peaceful glazed Buddhist light that seemed capable of purifying all filth flowing naturally. The light was not dazzling or flamboyant, yet it made people unable to ignore it or look away.

When the cyan Dao rhythms suppressed down and touched the Buddhist light, they were like frost meeting a warm current, melting silently and turning into nothingness.

His speed seemed not as fast as Wutian's, but it was terrifyingly steady, every step solid, every step firm, revealing a Zen-like stillness of "even if the heavens collapse and the earth cracks, I remain unmoved," as if no power in this world could shake his pace.

"One step, one lotus; the heart reflects the Bodhi. Buddhist Son Kasyapa's Dao Heart is clear, his Buddha nature is innate; he has long since seen through the illusory and understood the True Suchness."

"As for the ownership of this Legacy, until the last moment, Demon Venerable, it is better not to draw conclusions too early."

The ancient monk's voice was plain, but it had an unquestionable power—the calmness after experiencing ten thousand tribulations, the indifference after seeing through life and death.

"Hehe, the old bald donkey is right; these words were indeed spoken too early." On the other side, in the Yellow Springs area, where deathly stillness permeated and it seemed to connect to the Nine Nether, came a sinister, cold laugh.

A figure wrapped in dense Death Qi, whose face could not be seen, said gloomily, the voice coming as if from the depths of a grave, carrying the scent of decay: "Burial Son possesses the Nether Emperor Body, walking between life and death; this mere Dao rhythm is no different from a breeze to him. Prince of the Nether holds the authority of the netherworld and is an existence walking on the boundary of Yin and Yang."

"And that Blood Butcher, hehe, his reputation was carved out by killing, not by blowing hot air. Divine Son of Holy Brilliance, Light Divine Body, it is said that he is nearing Major Achievement, his body merging with light..."

"Which of these little monsters of this generation is not a Prodigy among Prodigies? Compared to us back then, hehe, they are not just a little bit stronger."

These words spoke the thoughts of many ancient existences. Many nodded silently, looking with complex expressions at those few young figures in the water mirror who were chasing each other, almost neck and neck. There was both amazement for the juniors and a trace of melancholy for the sunset of their own era, like aging heroes watching the rising sun.

"But... the most unsettling one is still that white-clad figure." A hoarse voice came from the shadows at the very edge of the viewing platform.

There, a figure shrouded in a grey cloak, whose Aura was almost non-existent, was staring fixedly at the elegant, dusty, and consistently leading white-clad back in the water mirror, the voice carrying rare gravity and... a trace of undetectable shock: "Wutian, Kasyapa, Burial Son... these seven people all have origins and battle records that shook the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, and their strength is still within the scope of understanding."

"Only this person... I have searched through the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, flipped through all ancient history, and found no trace of him!"

"He is like he just popped out of thin air, yet he can steadily keep those seven monsters behind him... Who on earth is he?"

Once these words were spoken, the nearby area instantly fell silent.

The divine light in the eyes of many powerful beings surged; clearly, they had already issued similar orders, and at this moment, their faces were as heavy as water.

Silently, undercurrents surged on the viewing platform. Waves of secret Divine Thought swept across the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, countless ancient archives were dug up, and sealed secret histories were traced, just to dig out the background of that white-clad figure.

That white-clad figure was like a thorn stuck in the hearts of all the powerful beings.

However, just as almost everyone's attention was firmly attracted by those few sun-like, dazzling figures at the very top of the Cyan Heavenly Ladder, and their hearts were surging for the terrifying strength and potential they displayed—

"Huh?"

A light sound of surprise, filled with deep confusion, suddenly rang out in a corner of the viewing platform.

Although the voice was not loud, in the silent atmosphere focused on the top, it sounded quite clear, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Many people subconsciously, with a trace of annoyance at being disturbed, followed the sound and looked, also diverting a strand of their gaze into the water mirror, towards the middle and lower sections of the Cyan Heavenly Ladder.

There—

Time seemed to have frozen.

They saw Xuanyuan Zhanxian, Jian Tanghuang, Luo Xiaojiu, Chu Zhanxiao, Li Jiuyou, Saintess Long Yue, and even that exceptionally heroic Golden Lion with golden fur, who had just stepped onto the Cyan Heavenly Ladder, frozen at the position of about the one-hundredth step, as if they had been cast with a immobilization spell, unmoving, as if they had turned into a few abrupt sculptures on the jade Cyan Heavenly Ladder.