210: Chapter 210 The Imperial Decree Startles the Holy Land; The Feigning-Death Ancestor Reveals His True Form

The moment that golden Decree appeared, it emitted a terrifying aura as heavy as a mountain, as if it carried the weight of eternal ages.

In the face of this aura, even Xiao Zhantian, an Immortal Emperor, felt a pressure emanating from the depths of his Soul.

"It's... it's the Old Ancestor's Decree!"

"Heavens! The Old Ancestor... he has actually come out of seclusion?!"

On the square, the expressions of all the high-level members of the Xiao Family, including the Grand Elders, changed drastically the instant they saw the Decree.

Without a second thought, they all knelt on the ground in unison, facing the direction of the Forbidden Ground and respectfully kowtowing three times.

That awe came from the bottom of their hearts, without a hint of falsehood.

The Xiao Family Old Ancestor!

He was the true stabilizing force of the Xiao Family! An old monster who had lived for an unknown number of tens of thousands of years!

Legend had it that his cultivation had long surpassed the Immortal Emperor Realm, reaching an unfathomable level.

However, he had not appeared before the public or issued any Decrees for tens of thousands of years.

Everyone had assumed he had long since passed away in the depths of the Forbidden Ground.

To their surprise, he was... still alive!

Moreover, at this critical juncture, he specifically called to see Su Yun and Zi Yun!

For a moment, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

No one knew whether this summons from the Old Ancestor, who hadn't appeared in tens of thousands of years, was a blessing or a curse.

Xiao Zhantian's face was also filled with shock and suspicion.

As the Family Head, he had only been fortunate enough to see the Old Ancestor once when he was young.

The memory of that encounter still made his heart palpitate to this day.

He looked at Su Yun and Zi Yun, his eyes filled with worry.

However, to everyone's surprise.

Faced with that ancient Decree which radiated supreme majesty and made even an Immortal Emperor pale.

Su Yun's face showed not a shred of reverence.

He didn't even bother to spare the Decree a single glance.

He simply reached out and naturally wrapped his arm around the slender waist of Zi Yun beside him.

Then, under everyone's gaze as if they were looking at a madman, he strolled casually onto the path of light paved by the golden glow of the Decree, leading toward the Forbidden Ground.

"Husband, where are we going?"

Zi Yun snuggled close to Su Yun's chest like a docile kitten, asking curiously.

"To see an old fellow who has been playing dead for a long time."

Su Yun smiled, his tone as relaxed as if he were visiting a neighbor's house.

The figures of the two soon disappeared at the end of the light path.

Leaving behind a group of high-level Xiao Family members staring at each other, their jaws nearly dropping in shock.

...

The light path was not long.

When Su Yun walked out of the light path with Zi Yun in his arms, the scene before them made Zi Yun frown involuntarily.

This was the entrance to the Xiao Family Forbidden Ground.

But the surroundings were no longer the scene of the divine mountain shrouded in Immortal Qi.

Instead, it was permeated with a sense of decay and rot, even carrying a faint, eerie scent of blood.

On both sides was a deep passage cast from bronze.

On the walls, eerie green Everlasting Lamps flickered, casting a dim, pulsating light through the passage.

The walls were covered with various ferocious and terrifying murals.

There were scenes of ancient gods and demons falling, with blood flowing like rivers.

There were also images of thousands of living beings being sacrificed, with wails echoing everywhere.

The entire passage exuded an aura of misfortune and evil, making one feel as if they were not walking in an immortal Forbidden Ground, but rather on the Yellow Springs road leading to the Nine Serenity Hell.

"Husband, it's... very uncomfortable here."

Zi Yun subconsciously shrank into Su Yun's embrace.

"It's fine, I'm here."

Su Yun patted her back to soothe her.

His gaze, however, examined the murals on both sides with interest.

Just then.

A terrifying surge of Divine Thought, surpassing even the Peak of the Immortal Emperor Realm, swept toward them from the end of the passage like an invisible tide!

This Divine Thought was cold and overbearing, filled with scrutiny and coercion.

It did not target Zi Yun, but concentrated all its power on Su Yun.

Clearly, it intended to give Su Yun a show of force, forcing him to kneel and stripping him of his ability to move.

However, the moment this fearsome Divine Thought, enough to instantly cause any Immortal King's Divine Soul to collapse, surged into Su Yun's Sea of Consciousness, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—it failed to stir even a single ripple.

The map of mountains and rivers within Su Yun's body gave a slight turn.

It directly swallowed the Divine Thought clean, and even conveniently converted it into a surge of pure Soul Power to nourish the creatures within the world of the painting.

Su Yun's footsteps did not falter for a moment.

He even had the leisure to point at a mural depicting a sacrificial Formation and comment to the Zi Yun in his arms:

"Look at this Formation; it's drawn incorrectly."

"Its core Formation runes use the Ancient Demon Race's 'Blood Source Curse,' but the energy circuit is connected to the God Race's 'Holy Light Induction'."

"Yin and Yang clash, and forcing a Fusion may increase the power, but it's extremely unstable. One mistake and it will backfire on the user."

"A typical case of 'lack of culture is truly terrifying'."

His relaxed and casual commentary sounded exceptionally clear in the empty and deathly silent passage.

At the end of the passage, the owner of that Divine Thought seemed to fall into a momentary silence because of Su Yun's words.

Clearly, he had not expected his proud show of force to be so easily ignored by the opponent.

Moreover, the opponent had pointed out the flaws in the Formation he had spent tens of thousands of years perfecting right to his face.

This was quite awkward.

Soon, the two reached the end of the passage.

A hundred-foot-tall bronze gate slowly opened to both sides with a tooth-gritting screech.

Behind the gate was an incredibly dark and vast hall.

In the center of the hall sat a figure cross-legged.

That figure was gaunt, with skin shriveled against the bones.

The entire person looked like a piece of withered wood that had been air-dried for ten thousand years, emitting a thick Death Qi.

If not for the nearly imperceptible rise and fall of his chest, anyone would have thought this was a dried corpse that had been dead for countless years.

The moment Su Yun and Zi Yun stepped into the hall.

That "dried corpse" slowly opened its eyes.

What terrifying eyes they were!

There were no whites, only a bottomless, murky gray.

They were like two vortexes leading to the abyss of death; one look could completely suck in a person's Soul.

He did not look at Su Yun.

Instead, those gray eyes stared straight and fixedly at Zi Yun.

A raspy, dry voice, sounding like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together, slowly rose from his throat.

"Ning'er..."

"Do you know why I... allowed you to hollow out half of the Xiao Family in these three months?"