*Crack!*
The final slap sent Jin Taijun flying sideways, slamming into the city wall before crashing back down. This time, she couldn’t move a muscle.
She had suffered unimaginable injuries and was now sealed away.
Parts of her true form emerged—golden bone horns protruded from her head, and intricate patterns spread across her forehead.
“Who will join me in interrogating her?” Meng Tianzheng asked aloud.
…
*Lone smoke rises straight in the vast desert; the setting sun hangs round over the endless river.*
A bronze prison cart, pulled by savage beasts, rolled slowly across the golden desert. Its heavy metal wheels left deep ruts in the sand as it advanced toward the borderlands.
The setting sun bled crimson across half the sky, casting a mournful glow.
The boundless desert stretched endlessly, a solitary plume of wolf smoke piercing the heavens. In the distance, a great river cut through the ancient battlefield, roaring as it vanished into the horizon.
It should have been a majestic frontier scene, but to Shi Hao, it felt desolate.
He was now a prisoner, locked inside the bronze war chariot, bound by heavy shackles on his limbs. Thick chains, gleaming coldly with a biting chill, held him fast.
Only his head protruded from the prison cart—his body was completely immobilized, restrained by shackles personally forged by a Supreme Being.
The land around him was a dark sea of creatures from the other realm, a dense and silent army. The oppressive atmosphere stifled all speech.
They had suffered a crushing defeat. Several Supreme Beings had fallen in battle, and even an Imperial Clan member had been captured—an unprecedented disaster. Every soldier kept their lips sealed, their spirits subdued.
The only sound was the crisp, icy clatter of metal armor, amplifying the suffocating tension.
The army marched through the Abyss, crossing the great desert.
Suddenly, the procession halted. Ahead, several towering figures stood motionless, like demonic sovereigns frozen in time.
Swirling chaos obscured them, rendering their forms indistinct.
Among them stood an altar, towering as high as the heavens—grand and imposing. It had been moved here deliberately, for no such ancient and majestic ritual platform had existed before.
Upon the altar, vague and illusory, sat ancient figures. Faintly visible were fragments of time rising and slender rivers of years flowing past.
The scene was strange and hazy—how many figures were there? Impossible to discern. They sat as still as petrified relics.
Some caught glimpses of one or two, and their hearts shuddered when they recognized them—identical to the clay idols enshrined in their homeland’s ancient temples!
“Bow before the Immortal Kings!”
Almost in unison, a voice cried out, and the entire army dropped to their knees in devout worship.
Even the savage beasts and fierce avian mounts prostrated themselves, pressing their heads to the ground in solemn reverence. None dared show the slightest disrespect.
Only one remained standing—Shi Hao, locked in the prison cart, unable to move.
Only when a faint hum of acknowledgment came from the altar did the army rise, standing as if before the heavens themselves, like ants gazing upon a cosmic dragon.
This was no contest of equals. They could not fathom the nature or power of beings from that realm.
“Fall back!”
One of the towering figures beneath the altar spoke, commanding the army.
The soldiers trembled. These were Immortals, radiating peerless auras, though now shrouded in chaos, their true forms unseen.
Disciplined, the army obeyed, retreating further into the distance.
Soon, an oppressive force weighed upon them. Hearts threatened to stop, breath grew labored, and souls felt on the verge of shattering.
What was happening? Many were bewildered.
*ROAR!*
A deafening bellow erupted from the altar, accompanied by several massive palms striking toward the Abyss behind them—a devastating, soul-shaking assault.
All stood dumbstruck. The Immortal Kings were making their move, unleashing their full might!
Around them, hundreds—then thousands—of great banners erupted from the earth, flapping violently. Without them, not only the army but even the stars above would have been obliterated.
A single roar from an Immortal King could silence the world, shattering all life into oblivion.
The banners multiplied, now numbering in the tens of thousands, filling the sky, shielding the vast army below. Each bore intricate Dao patterns.
From the altar, terrifying soundwaves surged as massive hands struck the unfathomable Abyss, as if to tear it asunder!
The army watched in awe. Were the Immortal Kings attempting to breach the barrier?
The sheer scale suggested an all-out assault—an attempt to cross over. Every creature trembled with excitement and terror.
Though protected by the banners, an overwhelming pressure still bore down on them, leaving all quaking in fear.
*BOOM!*
Another earth-shaking impact. Weapons were summoned—among them, a spear that blazed with eternal radiance, piercing the heavens as it stabbed into the Abyss.
“The Spear of Anlan!”
This was the weapon of the ancient ancestor Anlan, famed as the Unbreakable. It had once impaled even the Skyhorn Ant, one of the Ten Ferocious, staining the stars with blood.
Every creature watched in shock. Were they launching the great offensive now? None were prepared.
*CRACK!*
A sound split the heavens. The firmament seemed to rupture, bathing the Abyss in radiant light as it trembled on the verge of collapse.
“It’s breaking! The path is opening! We’re about to storm the gates!”
Someone in the army roared, eyes alight with bloodlust.
Inside the prison cart, Shi Hao stood silently, his gaze cold and detached.
*CLANG!*
The war spear blazed as a massive hand struck its golden shaft, infusing it with divine power to drive it deeper into the Abyss.
*RUMBLE!*
Suddenly, the Abyss erupted with streams of radiant mist—vast and boundless, crashing against the golden spear. Lightning and thunder clashed amidst swirling chaos.
The scene was horrifying. The space became utterly obscured.
Finally, a resounding *clang* echoed as Anlan’s weapon fell back, landing on the altar, caught by a massive hand.
“Did they fail?” someone whispered, voice trembling.
If even the Immortal Kings couldn’t breach the barrier, how could they ever cross?
“The ancient ancestors were merely testing. They never intended to force their way through today—the cost would be too great.”
One of the towering figures before the altar spoke—an Immortal, addressing the army in calm, measured tones.
He reassured them, urging them not to dwell on uncertainties.
If the Immortal Kings wished to cross, even the Abyss could not stop them. But they sought to descend in their full glory, not weakened by expended vitality.
Silence returned. The altar blurred, swallowed by chaos. No one could see what transpired there.
The Immortal Kings made no further moves.
*THUD!*
A deep, muffled sound rose from beneath the earth, accompanied by swirling mist.
*THUD!*
Another thunderous impact, as if a giant strode forward, shaking the vast desert as it approached.
The army tensed. With Immortals present, who would dare act so boldly? Had the Imperial Pass launched another attack? Unlikely.
“All of you—fall back!”
An Immortal commanded the army to retreat from the altar.
The soldiers obeyed, though confusion rippled through their ranks. What being could make even an Immortal act so cautiously?
Then, to their shock, the ancient ancestors on the altar gestured—ordering even the Immortals to step back.
Every creature shuddered. Had some unfathomable enemy arrived?
*BOOM!*
A streak of black light surged from the horizon, like a dark sun rising, radiating oceanic waves of energy.
All were stunned. What entity would dare flaunt such presence before the Immortal Kings?
A black path materialized, stretching from the ends of the earth, exuding an eerie and unsettling aura.
Deathly energy permeated the air, black mist churning as if heralding the apocalypse.
The world fell silent, as though the underworld itself sought to merge with this realm, threatening to overturn the cosmos.
“Who is that?”
The question burned in every mind. Whoever dared exude such might before the Immortal Kings was no ordinary being.
The black mist thickened. The dark path trembled—and then, the army saw what lay at its end.
A massive tomb, towering at the edge of the world. The black path had unfurled from its depths.
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