The Boundless Ruins Abyss lay at the easternmost edge of the Great Xuan Kingdom. Bottomless, it was shrouded year-round in dense mist. Anyone unfortunate enough to slip and fall into its depths would inevitably end up shattered without even bones remaining.
No one knew what lay beneath the Ruins Abyss. Devoid of even flying birds, it had long been a forbidden zone for humanity.
Yet through his experiences in his previous simulation, Li Fan knew that the dense mist above the Ruins Abyss parted once every fifteen years. Today, he had come here specifically to see it with his own eyes.
After all, if his suspicions were correct, the two immortal cultivators—Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong—had most likely entered this land severed from immortality through the Ruins Abyss.
Li Fan stood quietly, gazing patiently at the dread-inducing boundless chasm before him.
After an unknown amount of time, the thick white mist radiating an ancient aura finally began to stir.
"Ooooh..."
What sounded like the faint, low howl of an ancient beast echoed from below. Only when the sound gradually grew louder did it become clear that it was the sound of the wind!
Stirred, the heavy white mist rippled in layers.
Then the wind grew fiercer. Enormous plumes of white mist were forced out from the Ruins Abyss, surging straight into the sky like an inverted waterfall.
Such mighty gales lasted for nearly half an hour before the heavy layers of mist finally cleared away.
With a solemn expression, Li Fan produced a telescope and peered down toward the bottom of the Ruins Abyss.
At first, the abyss floor was pitch-black; nothing could be seen.
Gradually, scattered specks of light began to emerge like stars.
After a long while, radiant light blazed at the bottom of the abyss, and an inverted, mirage-like scene came into Li Fan's view.
According to intelligence reports, the vision appearing at the bottom of the Ruins Abyss differed for each person who looked upon it.
And the scene before Li Fan's eyes shook his mind to its core.
A ruined sect gate, surrounded by collapsed structures everywhere. Fractured ground and broken walls were covered in scars left by swords, blades, and blast marks of magical techniques.
Several areas seemed soaked in blood, displaying an eerie dark-crimson hue.
Skeletons scattered across the grounds alongside discarded weapons silently told the tale of a catastrophe endured many years ago.
Filled with shock, Li Fan shifted his view and spotted four large characters carved into the sheer, polished cliff face of a nearby precipice.
"The Immortal Path Is Dead!"
All four characters were a dark crimson, seemingly written in fresh blood.
Even across such an unimaginable distance, Li Fan could feel the unspeakable dread and despair embedded within those four words.
"The Immortal Path is dead... What kind of upheaval occurred here? What on earth happened to the entire cultivation world?" Li Fan was captivated by the sight, falling silent for a long time.
...
The dense mist cleared for only half a day before gathering once more, and Li Fan returned to Xuanjing.
Afterward, time flowed on, and Anchor Year 50 soon arrived.
On this day, Li Fan's seventieth birthday, thousands of soldiers in Xuanjing stood at the ready.
"Dao Xuanzi! Do not push people too far!"
Kou Hong turned and barked in fury, halting midair above Xuanjing.
Yet before Dao Xuanzi could respond, voices boomed from below, echoing across the capital.
"Kou Hong, junior! By the order of Immortal Master Dao Xuanzi, we have been waiting here for you for a long time!"
Accompanying the voices came an overwhelming deluge of bullets.
Caught completely off guard, Kou Hong took the brunt of the attack.
"How is this possible? Did Dao Xuanzi know all along that I would flee here? When did he become so scheming and insidious?!" Kou Hong was both shocked and enraged.
Immediately after, Kou Hong discovered to his horror that while his spiritual energy was warding off these magical artifacts, it was being drained at a terrifying rate. Sweeping his divine sense across the area, Kou Hong understood instantly.
"Immortal-mortal miasma?! Dao Xuanzi, how utterly despicable!" Kou Hong stared in disbelief at Dao Xuanzi, who had just caught up, looking at him as if seeing this close friend of a hundred years for the very first time.
At this moment, Dao Xuanzi was utterly bewildered.
*What is with these mortals? Why are they attacking Kou Hong under my name? And how can they use the immortal-mortal miasma?* Caught off guard, Dao Xuanzi's mind momentarily locked up.
Yet seeing Kou Hong consumed by raging fury not far away, Dao Xuanzi suddenly shuddered with alarm.
"Something is bizarre here! Kou Hong, I didn't order these mortals!" Dao Xuanzi hurried to explain.
"What? You have the guts to do it, but not the courage to admit it?" Kou Hong laughed out of sheer fury. "Or are you afraid that if word of your using the immortal-mortal miasma gets out, you will be hunted down by all cultivators united against you? Or perhaps you're more worried that the stellar reputation you built over a century will be ruined in an instant?"
Dao Xuanzi knew his brother's temper well and realized that he had lost all reason; anything he said now would fall on deaf ears.
Dao Xuanzi faintly sensed that he had stepped into a trap.
The bizarre atmosphere here gave him an immense sense of crisis.
Fighting Kou Hong right now was far from wise.
Thus, he patiently tried to explain to Kou Hong once more: "We have known each other for a hundred years. When have you ever seen me lie? This place truly isn't..."
Before he could finish his sentence, however, an aged voice resounded from all directions, cutting him off abruptly.
"How can you turn your back on us so quickly, Immortal Master Dao Xuanzi? Didn't you promise that as long as we helped you slay Kou Hong here and seize his Core Formation technique, you would lead my clan out of this land severed from immortality?" The voice sounded somewhat aggrieved, tinged with a hint of resentment.
"The Core Formation technique?!" Hearing this, both Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi turned pale at the same time.
"And you still claim it wasn't you! Aside from you and me, who else in this world could possibly know about this!" Kou Hong's hair and beard bristled in a towering rage.
*This person actually knows about the Core Formation technique...* Dao Xuanzi's heart sank completely.
Meanwhile, the voice below kept chattering away: "You must realize that for the immortal-mortal miasma you spoke of, we incurred the wrath of the masses! The common people across the realm are boiling with resentment. If the Immortal Master fails to keep his word and lead us out, before long, my clan won't even have a patch of ground to be buried in!"
Slandered so blatantly, Dao Xuanzi's mind became a tangled mess. He roared, "Shameless scoundrel, shut your mouth!"
He leapt toward the source of the voice, wanting to drag out the mastermind behind the curtain, only to find an odd, rectangular object. The voice had come directly from it. And identical devices were scattered throughout Xuanjing; there was no telling how many there were!
*So extraordinarily cautious...* Dao Xuanzi felt utterly helpless.
"Is the Immortal Master trying to silence his accomplices now?" More mocking words continued to pour out from within.
Dao Xuanzi gritted his teeth until they clicked, crushing the object to dust in his grip.
Yet in Kou Hong's eyes, this looked exactly as though Dao Xuanzi, exposed and enraged, was killing witnesses to silence them.
Kou Hong threw his head back and let out a long howl: "Dao Xuanzi! We have known each other for a hundred years, yet to think I judged you so wrongly! If you wanted the Core Formation technique, why resort to such underhanded tricks? I won't run anymore—if you have the skill, come take it!"
"Dao Art: Wrath of the Flame Dragon!"
A furious fire dragon coiled around Kou Hong, unleashing a heavens-shattering roar.
The fire dragon glared ahead and spewed a torrent of crimson flames from its maw, hurtling straight toward Dao Xuanzi.
Dao Xuanzi let out a helpless sigh. With a soft hum, a flying sword materialized behind him out of thin air, transforming into a beam of white light to meet the crimson flames.
Chapter 6