389: Deep in the ruins

Tianluo Ruins, the core area!

Xu Qing stepped into the core area of the Tianluo Ruins. Although he had anticipated the scene before him, actually being there left him with an indescribable feeling.

The core area was roughly the size of a Dao Province, but unlike the vibrant inner and outer perimeters, this place was a completely desolate ancient battlefield.

Above the firmament, the Void Realm had collapsed, as if torn apart by some terrifying force, revealing countless pitch-black cracks.

Stars were either shattered, turning into countless fragments suspended in the Void Realm, or completely lifeless, dim and dull, as if even the Life of the stars had been stripped away.

Only a few faint starlights in the distance and a setting sun emitted their last warmth, barely illuminating this desolate world.

On the ground, the landscape was scarred, yellow sand filled the sky, obscuring vision, as if even heaven and earth were wailing for the tragedy of this battlefield.

Ruins were everywhere; ancient buildings had long since collapsed, leaving only broken walls and crumbling remains, narrating past glory and destruction.

Skeletons littered the ground; some had already weathered away, while others still maintained a fighting posture, clutching broken Dao weapons, as if still struggling to fight in their last moments of Life.

This ancient battlefield seemed to be forgotten by time, with not a trace of Life remaining.

The mournful wind howled, stirring up the sky-filling yellow sand, becoming the only sound in this world, as if narrating the earth-shattering war of a distant era.

The wind was like a weeping lament, as if countless spirits were whispering, sending shivers down one's spine.

Xu Qing stepped forward; the ground beneath his feet was fractured, and black Qi faintly rose from the cracks, as if even the earth had been eroded by some terrifying force.

He looked down and found countless skeletons piled deep within the cracks, as if countless fallen heroes were buried beneath this land.

“Perhaps this is the true Tianluo Ruins!”

Xu Qing murmured softly, his gaze sweeping around, thinking to himself.

Back then, the Tianluo Continent was torn apart by a great war, and the central one-third fragment of the continent sank to the bottom of the sea, becoming the Tianluo Ruins.

This scene before him truly fit the image of an ancient battlefield!

As for the inner and outer perimeter ruins, they were probably the worlds within the bodies of those beings who fell back then, which, after some evolution, became part of the Tianluo Ruins.

“Boom—”

Suddenly, a low rumble came from the distance, as if some ancient existence was awakening.

Xu Qing looked up and saw a massive, dilapidated palace collapsing halfway. After countless years, the palace, once constructed with Dao-Grade Materials, ultimately failed to withstand the erosion of time and became part of the sky-filling yellow sand.

However, on the ruins of the palace, a tattered battle flag swayed in the wind. The flag surface was already broken, with only a few strips of cloth remaining, but its former glory could still be vaguely discerned.

Xu Qing waved his hand, and the battle flag fell into his grasp. There was still some Dao charm within it. At its peak, this battle flag was actually a Dao-Grade Spirit Treasure, but now it could only exert the power of a Low Grade Emperor Weapon.

Xu Qing put it away; even a mosquito, no matter how small, is still meat. 640 million family points were acquired.

Xu Qing walked into the palace, looking at the remaining one-quarter of the dilapidated palace, its gate already buried under the yellow sand.

However, from the remaining section of the palace wall, one could still see the tragic intensity of the past; the walls were covered with traces of battle, sword marks, and scorch marks from Divine Abilities.

Aside from the battle flag, there was nothing of value left inside the palace.

As he continued to delve deeper, following the direction he had just scouted, he collected many broken Dao weapons along the way. Most of them had already declined in grade. Xu Qing kept some with special functions, intending to bestow them upon his Family members, while the others were exchanged for family points.

Finally, after a thorough search, Xu Qing’s first target appeared before him: an ancient mountain peak!

This was the only well-preserved mountain peak within the ancient battlefield. It stood alone, no more than a million zhang high, but every inch of its body was inscribed with ancient runes.

“It’s actually Heaven Markings!”

A hint of surprise flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes.

Heaven Markings are the exclusive Dao markings of the Ancient Heavenly Court.

In the Eternal Dao Realm, many races have their exclusive Dao markings. For example, the Demon Race has Demon Markings, the Yao Race has Yao Markings, the Immortal Race has Immortal Markings, the Buddhist Race has Buddhist Markings... And Heaven Markings are the Dao markings used by the Ancient Heavenly Court back then, also known as Divine Markings, which contain the powerful Dao charm of the Divine Dao. They can be used to set up great arrays, create divine talismans... These Heaven Markings before him were used to set up a great array, and these Heaven Markings were still emitting a faint glow, which is why this mountain peak had not collapsed.

However, since the Extinction Era, the gods either died or went into hiding. The appearance of Heaven Markings here indicated that someone from the Ancient Heavenly Court must have taken action during the Dark Era.

The greatest possibility was that it had something to do with Xuantian.

No longer pondering, he ascended to the summit, where he saw a massive white jade plaza. Every piece of white jade was covered with Heaven Markings, and in the center of the plaza stood an altar.

The altar was also covered with ancient Heaven Markings, emitting a faint glow. From this angle, Xu Qing noticed that the altar was precisely at the center of the setting sun and those few points of starlight.

Activating his Chaos Dao Eye, he actually saw two forces converging towards the altar. The mountain peak beneath his feet drew power from the earth for it, while the firmament provided it with the power of the stars.

And in the center of the altar, a broken Jade Slip was placed. The Jade Slip was covered with cracks, as if it could shatter at any moment, but it seemed to contain some kind of power, stubbornly striving to prevent its destruction.

Xu Qing subconsciously raised his hand and waved, drawing the Jade Slip into his hand.

The Jade Slip felt cold in his hand. His Dao sense involuntarily probed into the Jade Slip, and immediately, a vast amount of information flooded into his mind.

After a while!

“What’s wrong with me?”

Xu Qing frowned, muttering softly. He had no reaction to his previous action and had already drawn the Jade Slip into his hand.

He quickly mobilized his Dao sense to examine his body. After a thorough inspection, and then examining the Jade Slip, a peculiar look flashed in his eyes.

This Jade Slip contained a message.

Just as he had guessed, this ancient battlefield was the true Tianluo Ruins, and the inner and outer perimeter ruins were worlds that had evolved from the worlds of many powerful beings, created by a Dominator, with the purpose of providing a continuous stream of power to the altar.

And all of this was to suppress the dark creature beneath this ancient battlefield.

This dark creature was one of the Chaos Race that caused the Darkness Upheaval back then, a Death Spirit Dao Ancestor of the Chaos Death Spirit Race, a powerful existence at the first step of the Dao Ancestor Realm.

This fellow was also unlucky. Back then, he merely observed the Human Emperor Shi’s great battle with those powerful beings across endless time and space. After being discovered by the Human Emperor Shi, a sword shadow from afar heavily injured him, and he eventually fell onto the Tianluo Continent, where he was discovered by the strong cultivators of various races and pursued.

However, the Death Spirit Race is very difficult to kill. They cultivate the Great Dao of Death themselves, and coupled with the protection of a Dominator-level Great Dao, they could only be suppressed in the end.

In that battle, many Dao Ancestors of the myriad races were tied up on other battlefields. The task of suppressing the Death Spirit Dao Ancestor ultimately fell to three Immortal Monarchs from the Tianluo Continent.

The three, united with the strong cultivators of the Tianluo Continent, launched a targeted killing against the Death Spirit Dao Ancestor.

In that battle, almost all participating strong cultivators perished, but they still managed to suppress him.

Later, the Tianluo Continent collapsed, and the Tianluo Ruins sank to the bottom of the sea.

This Jade Slip was left by one of the Immortal Monarchs who participated in the Tianluo Continent back then. It not only recorded the truth of that great battle but also his lifelong Cultivation Techniques and Divine Abilities.

And this person was none other than the founder of the Sea God Hall, the rebellious Sea God of the Ancient Heavenly Court!

Everything seemed to connect again...