674: Chapter 674 Divine Light Illuminates the Continent

Just at the very moment the Secret Realm completely shattered—Boom!!!

Countless beams of divine light shot into the sky from the entrance of Yuyao Pass!

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand!

Thousands of divine rainbows of various colors, carrying an ancient and vast aura, whistled as they pierced through the final barrier of the Secret Realm, tearing through the sky. Like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, they plummeted madly toward every corner of the Taichu Continent!

This scene was spectacular to the extreme, and shocking to the extreme!

Some fell toward the immortal mountains deep within the eastern sea of clouds—where clouds and mist swirled, cranes cried out, and as the divine light plunged into the heart of the mountain, the entire peak instantly burst forth with seven-colored radiance that lasted for a long time, coloring half the sky.

The Spirit Beasts in the mountains all raised their heads and roared in unison, and ten thousand birds paid homage, as if welcoming the return of some ancient emperor!

Some plummeted into the ancient stockades within the hundred thousand mountains of the Southern Border—where the barbarian priests knelt and kowtowed, tears streaming down their old faces, their foreheads thudding against the stone slabs, blood flowing freely, yet they were completely unaware.

Because they knew that this was the Legacy left behind by their ancestors in the long river of time, finally returning! That was the glory their tribe had lost for ten thousand years!

Some submerged into the underground palaces beneath the boundless yellow sands of the Western Desert—from beneath the yellow sand came bursts of ancient chanting, as if countless sages were singing in unison. The Sanskrit sounds were continuous, shaking the ten thousand miles of yellow sand, forming huge waves of sand that surged ceaselessly like the billows of the ocean.

All the living beings in the desert prostrated on the ground, trembling in fear.

Some sank into the frozen earth of the Northern Territory's ice plains that had not melted for ten thousand years—huge fissures cracked open on the ice plains, bottomless, and the light shining from below illuminated the entire night sky, making even the aurora lose its luster.

The ten-thousand-year glaciers began to melt, revealing the outlines of ancient buildings beneath the ice, as if an ancient city, frozen for endless years, was about to reappear in the world!

The divine light illuminated the Taichu Continent for a full half-stick of incense's time.

During this half-stick of incense, the entire continent seemed to have returned to the age of mythology!

On this day, countless old monsters on the Taichu Continent who had been in seclusion for a thousand, or even ten thousand years, opened their eyes simultaneously!

These eyes were some murky as stagnant water, some sharp as knife blades, some hollow as abysses, and some burning with raging flames.

Their gazes pierced through layers of Restriction, crossed mountains and rivers, and locked tightly onto the direction where the divine light fell, their eyes flashing with complex and unfathomable light—there was greed, there was longing, there was wariness, there was anticipation, and there was also a trace of deep apprehension!

Countless ancient beasts sleeping in the depths of the abyss, almost forgotten by time itself, turned over, let out a low roar, and then fell back into a deep sleep.

But this single roar had already shattered the rocks for ten thousand miles around, scaring countless living beings into Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

Countless Immortal Caves that had been silent for who knows how many years lit up with long-lost light—these lights contained anticipation, longing, and a faint trace of Killing Intent.

The masters of these Immortal Caves, those old monsters who had lived for who knows how many ten thousand years, could finally no longer sit still!

Wherever these divine lights fell, that place gained an extra, indescribable portion of Luck and foundation.

This was something mysterious and profound, invisible and intangible, but everyone knew—the landscape of the Taichu Continent, starting from today, was going to change completely!

And before Yuyao Pass, this Taiqing Secret Realm, which had existed for who knows how many ten thousand years, finally collapsed completely after the last beam of divine light flew out.

Boom—rumble—!!

This sound was like a towering divine mountain collapsing, and even more like a glorious era coming to an end, shaking the world until it wailed, and shaking everyone's hearts until they gave a violent jolt!

The entire space where the Secret Realm was located collapsed inward crazily, and the Void Realm was twisted into a huge vortex, swallowing all the surrounding light and sound, and even time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The vortex spun faster and faster, more and more urgently, emitting a shrill, piercing whistle, as if something was screaming in despair.

Then, it suddenly expanded—and burst open with a bang, turning into rain covering the sky, dissipating completely.

All that remained was a huge, bottomless pit, with fragments of ancient formation patterns still lingering on the edges, glowing faintly in the wind, as if silently telling of what had once existed here.

The wind blew through the pit, making a wailing sound, like an ancient elegy, bidding farewell to a bygone era.

On the plains of Yuyao Pass, those terrifying existences from various races who had not yet had time to leave received secret messages from their clans at almost the same time.

Their expressions changed drastically!

Some waved a hand, directly tearing open the Void Realm in front of them, stepping into it and disappearing; when the crack closed, one could still hear the ancient tolling of bells from the other side.

Some turned into streams of light, traveling a thousand miles in an instant, leaving a long trail in the sky.

Some didn't even make any move, their entire bodies dissipating in place like bubbles, as if they had never existed.

Even more extreme, the ground beneath their feet sank, and they submerged deep into the earth, with no further sound, as if they had merged with the earth itself!

Even those few Yao Race Demon Kings and Demon Venerables who had been eyeing them covetously for months trembled all over.

They looked at each other, said nothing, and didn't even exchange a single extra glance before turning and leaving.

Their pace was extremely fast, so fast that deep pits were stamped into the ground beneath their feet, soil flew, gravel splattered, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into a few afterimages and disappeared at the end of the horizon, as if afraid that if they were one step too slow, they would miss some great Opportunity!

The old monsters of the other races did not linger either.

For a time, various escape lights flashed on the plains, and Void Realm cracks appeared one after another, bustling yet extremely eerie—the situation that had been tense just a moment ago was now empty, leaving only a mess.

Most eye-catching of all was that Yao Race army that had originally been at the city gates, pressing down on Yuyao Pass until it couldn't catch its breath.

Ten million troops, banners covering the sun, Killing Intent soaring to the sky!

From the time the Secret Realm opened until now, this army had been stationed no more than ten miles outside Yuyao Pass.

To what extent was this distance close? It was so close that the breathing of the garrison on the city walls could be heard clearly by the scouts of the Yao Race vanguard battalion!

It was so close that as long as the Yao Race commander gave the order, within half an hour, the army could crush the walls of Yuyao Pass and raze the entire mighty pass to the ground!

For the past few months, every brick and stone of Yuyao Pass had been soaked in the sweat and fear of the defending soldiers.

No one knew when the Yao Race would launch a full-scale attack, and no one knew if they could survive until tomorrow.

This sword hanging over their heads was more tormenting than actual death—every day was like walking on the tip of a knife, every night was like struggling in a nightmare, their spirits were constantly tense, and they didn't even dare to close their eyes when sleeping.

But at the very moment the Taiqing Secret Realm collapsed, a short and sharp horn sounded from the main army tent—that was the order to retreat!

Woo—!!!

The sound of the horn pierced the clouds and resounded across the wilderness!

Iron armor clanged, warhorses neighed, and banners snapped in the wind.

All the sounds carried an unusual sense of order; there was no panic, no rout, only a heart-palpitating uniformity, as if this war machine had rehearsed such a retreat countless times.

The Yao Race army gathered their formations in an orderly manner and retreated in layers. They withdrew ten miles, twenty miles, fifty miles... Every step was steady and powerful, and every phalanx maintained a perfect combat formation, as if they could return to kill at any moment and deal a fatal blow to the enemy.

In the end, they set up a new camp in a hilly area five hundred miles outside the Yuyao Pass plains.

Looking from afar, countless eerie green Yao fires lit up in the new camp, twinkling and dense, like an ocean composed of ghost fires, appearing exceptionally eerie in the night.

Clearly, they had not truly left; they were just temporarily holding their ground, waiting for something, or watching something.

But regardless, that sword that had been pressing over the head of Yuyao Pass for several months had finally been temporarily removed!

Although it was only temporary, it was already enough!

On the walls of Yuyao Pass, the defending soldiers watched the retreating army in the distance, their nerves, which had been tense for months, finally relaxing.

Some slumped directly to the ground, leaning against the cold wall bricks, exhaling a long breath, their chests heaving violently, their eyes rimmed with red, almost shedding tears—the feeling of being alive was truly good.

Some people's hands gripping their long spears were still trembling slightly, their knuckles white from overexertion, unable to loosen their grip no matter how hard they tried, as if the spear had grown into their hands.

Others silently stared at the razed site of the Taiqing Secret Realm, looking at the bottomless, huge pit, with an unfathomable look in their eyes.

It had buried their months of anxiety, and also buried the hopes and ambitions of countless people.

The wind blew across the city walls, blowing the disheveled hair at the soldiers' temples, and also blowing away the lingering smell of gunpowder in the air.

And at this moment, on the flat ground outside the entrance of the Taiqing Secret Realm, those trial-takers who had been pushed out by a gentle force were landing on the ground one after another.

Some were covered in blood, their clothes tattered, wounds still oozing blood, but they were completely unaware, just staring blankly at the sky, as if they had not yet recovered from the shock of the Secret Realm's collapse.

Some had weak auras, their faces pale as paper, obviously having overexerted themselves, but their eyes flashed with excitement, and the corners of their mouths stretched to their ears—because they had obtained a long-lost Cultivation Technique, enough to let them soar into the sky and leap over the Dragon gate from now on!

Some still had the golden light of the Legacy that hadn't completely dissipated wrapped around their bodies; those golden lights seemed to have a life of their own, wandering around them, occasionally bursting into a string of tiny sparks, making the people around them so envious that their eyeballs were about to fall out, wishing they could take their place!

Some had their eyes closed tightly, brows slightly furrowed, still fully digesting the massive amount of information flooding into their minds, beads of sweat seeping from their foreheads, their bodies trembling slightly, each tremor accompanied by a rise in their aura!

But without exception—the aura on every person was more than one level stronger than before they entered the Secret Realm!

Some people were even two or three levels stronger, their entire beings reborn, as if they had become different people, even their temperament having undergone earth-shaking changes!

This transformation was visible to the naked eye!

This was the gift of the Taiqing Secret Realm.

The end of one era was also the beginning of another!