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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
“According to the investigation, there is a city buried in the depths of the Mirror Lake, and that city is the place of origin of all the Forces of the Profound Sword World…” At that moment, another True Daoist softly stated as he scanned across the ruin covered in thread-shaped mists in front of him.
Despite being True Daoists, they were unable to see through the barriers within. Evidently, that region was incredibly enigmatic. Moreover, what was even more frightening was that the Heavenly Secrets of the region was incomparably chaotic as miasma was all over the place.
With a strange gaze, Gu Changge shook his head in response. “I have only heard about the region a moment ago. My understanding of it remains lacking.”
The main reason his appearance seemed as though he was here to rescue Princess Xuan Dea was to make everyone else help him locate the entrance of the Mirror Lake. As such, he could infiltrate the lake whenever the opportunity presented itself. After all, no matter what happened, once the World Source fell into his hands, his return to the Upper Realm would cause a major commotion.
Although he didn’t mind the hassle, his principle was to stay away from burdens as much as possible, so he decided to acquire the World Source secretly.
On the other hand, to the True Daoists, the World Source was indescribably alluring, and it could even drive them insane and fight for it with their lives.
“In that case, Young Master Changge, shall we work together to break through the region and see if we can find the entrance to the Mirror Lake?” In response, the Imperial Ancestor of Great Yu Celestial Dynasty asked as his eyes flinched.
As he was speaking, Princess Yu Feiya and the rest, who were following him, alighted from their ancient battleship and arrived at the area.
Yu Feiya subtly bowed at Gu Changge as a greeting. Although she was considerably acquainted with gu Changge, given the circumstances, it wasn’t appropriate for her to go up to him solely to greet him.
Frankly, Yu Feiya had quite a number of questions in her head, and she wished to ask Gu Changge about whether he was aware of Tuo Ba Xiao Yao’s whereabouts.
After receiving news about Tuo Ba Xiao Yao’s death, she sent some men to look into it, but that attempt was to no avail. Although she couldn’t tell why a strange sensation would arise in her heart, she sensed that Gu Changge might know something.
“I shall refrain from participating in the matter. I am here purely for the merriness.” Gu Changge waved his hand with a faint smile, rejecting the invitation of the Imperial Ancestor of Great Yu Celestial Dynasty.
Hearing that, the True Daoists of the other Forces revealed faces of disappointment. Though, deep down, they felt somewhat relieved.
In fact, they were worried that Gu Changge might join their venture. Given his strength and background, no one in this world would dare to offend him. By then, if they actually managed to find the World Source, they might be unable to resist the temptation and engage him. As such, they might offend Gu Changge gravely.
“What a shame… Your strength could helped us tremendously…” The Imperial Ancestor shook his head in despondency, but deep inside, he was as relieved as everyone else.
Feigning a faint smile, Gu Changge said nothing more. Along with Ah Da, who was standing beside him bearing the semblance of a Devil Mountain, he remained outside without entering the ruins.
Ancient Arcane Ruins were humongous, taking up thousands of square kilometres. Other than the many broken mountains, there was nothing but the remnants of the demolished ruins, and pieces of ancient palaces and wall drawings were scattered everywhere.
Following the descent of the so-called Otherworldly Sky Demons into this world, formidable cultivators of Forces that hurried over dared not to move recklessly or send their disciples to search for the whereabouts of Mirror Lake.
At the outermost layer of Ancient Arcane Ruins, cultivators of Profound Sword World, who hurried over, were gathered.
The Abundance Sword Immortal, the Snow Sword Immortal and numerous other Earth Sword Immortals silently stood, peering at the formidable cultivators of the Upper Realm not far away cast all sorts of Secret Techniques as they scoured through the miasma across the ruins.
“If they were to find Mirror Lake first, the consequences would be fathomless…” The Abundance Sword Immortal muttered with worry in his eyes.
Standing beside him, the Snow Sword Immortal felt restless as she was staring at Gu Changge who was conversing with the True Daoists of the Upper Realm.
“What do you think Young Master Gu’s success rate is if he were to stand out and put an end to this?” She asked the Abundance Sword Immortal.
Taken aback by her sudden question, the Abundance Sword Immortal was dazed. “Young Master Gu may bear no ill will against our world, but why would he go to the lengths to save us?” With that, he shook his head and replied, thinking that the possibility of that happening was basically zero.
In response, the Snow Sword Immortal let out a bitter sneer, thinking that she herself was fantasising about the impossible. [He’s right. Why would Young Master Gu want to save us?]
Furthermore, prior to that, they even hid the information about Mirror Lake from Gu Changge.
…
Right when the crowd around Ancient Arcane Ruins was starting their search, in the depths that were engulfed in dense, thread-shaped mists, Lin En’s body was glowing. Even his hair was emitting golden gleams, making him seem like a child of god. As he stood before a ruined temple with a stern expression, a shining key was floating on his palm.
He could detect waves of ancient Sword Qi interweaving in front of him. Besides, from what he detected, that was not simply a Sword Qi. It seemed as though the ancient temple contained many Divine Swords that were offered to the Ancient Arcane Empire, and as time went by, the auras of the Divine Swords lingered in the area.
After the Elder in white robe from Boundless Immortal Valley passed him the key, it started to gleam when he arrived here. Clearly, in the depths of the ruined temple, something was attracting the key.
Hence, Lin En figured that it must be Sword City that was buried underneath the Mirror Lake, and this place must secretly harbour another world.
[There are too many formidable cultivators outside Ancient Arcane Ruins. Even the supreme experts among the Otherworldly Sky Demons have come. I must remain cautious.] With that in mind, Lin En grabbed the key and calmed himself down before heading towards the ruined temple in front of him.
*Whoosh!* Soon, ripple-like lights erupted before him, as if there was an invisible door concealed in the void.
“There really is a hidden space here…” Lin En walked into it with a joyous, eager expression, and he saw the scene within the ancient temple.
It was a tiny world, comprising vast forests, towering mountains, and a wide, limitless sky filled with billowing clouds.
As he stood at the entrance, he was surrounded by mountains that were so tall their peaks couldn’t be seen. Down the mountains, a flight of stairs could be seen, seemingly immeasurably sacred. The stairs were constructed downwards, as if they were a path to pilgrimage.
In the deepest spot of the space, Lin En saw a skyscraper that was as tall as the sky. The grand, spectacular tower whose height knew no limit emitted golden lights as it penetrated the clouds.
Other than that, there were birds and beasts that lived in the space, appearing incomparably pure. Even their feathers and fur were shimmering, startled by the presence of humans as if they were some sort of divine creatures.
“Is the Mirror Lake perhaps near the Tower of Blessings?” Lin En peered at the scenery afar. As his body flickered, he descended the stairs down the mountain and quickly vanished from the forest.
Silver glows filled the surroundings of the Tower of Blessings, as if there was an ancient, exuberant lake reflecting the illumination of the sky, seeming extremely vibrant.
Lin En felt that the atmosphere of this place and that of the outside world were hugely different as the former contained dense sacred auras of divinity that could put one unknowingly at ease.
In fact, in the outside world, there was a shocking amount of auras of miasma, and there were even instances of uncanny events. Meanwhile, in this space, everything was different as it harboured peaceful sceneries, and everything was astounding.
Nonetheless, as Lin En didn’t have the time to indulge in the space’s beauty, he made use of his time to venture deeper, intending to reach the tower right away.
Right as Lin En entered the area, a massive change happened within Ancient Arcane Ruins. A terrifying shriek was heard, yet its source was unknown. Along with the blaring sound that thundered across the sky, numerous Cursed Souls emerged from every corner of the ruins At the same time, the black mists in the area violently spiralled towards the area where cultivators were gathered and engulfed it.
“What happened? Why is this happening? Why are there so many Cursed Souls?”
The unexpected scene left everyone of Profound Sword World grimacing as their faces blanched in fear. Distressed by the situation, they retreated towards the border of the region.
Nevertheless, the black mists approached too speedily, containing intertwining uncanny auras. These auras could engulf the cultivators’ souls and make them lose sense of their surroundings as their vision was blinded.
Many of the cultivators were pulled in by the black mists, instantaneously letting out agonised screams before growing completely silent. With that, spine-chilling sounds of chewing and bone cracking were heard, as if a malicious beast was hiding within the black mists, seizing the opportunity to feast on its prey.
“What is hiding within the mists?”
The Abundance Sword Immortal and the rest drew their Divine Swords and slashing out daunting Sword Qis in an attempt to disperse the black mists, only to be terrified and dismayed by the result.
Turned out, the entity hidden within the black mists could even absorb their Sword Qis, as if a buffalo was sucked in by a puddle of quicksand, making the Sword Qis disappear without a trace.
“Ice Seal is futile as well…” On the other hand, the Snow Sword Immortal furrowed her brows as she was still attempting to conjure layers of ice and snow that harboured absolute Principles of Frost. Yet, when they touched the black mists, they were instantly shattered and turned into dust that scattered into the winds.
*Boom!*
In the meantime, as if Ancient Arcane Ruins suddenly came alive, explosions erupted everywhere. Boulders were blown up as souls rose from the demolished palaces. Strange auras constantly emerged, causing the people to tremble upon a chilly sensation.
“Corpses have came alive?” The faces of Ah Qing and Princess Xuan Dea slightly paled as they subconsciously stepped backwards, feeling that what was happening was too dreamlike and unreal.
Right in front of them, some graves were cracked open. From within, dense black mists flowed out before ferociously storming the crack open.
Such a sight was truly bizarre. As the graves were being cracked open, pale, bony hands that were rotting crawled out onto the ground. Upon the sight, everyone was in disbelief and shock.
The bones that had rotten out of shape were now forming skeletons before speedily growing bloody fleshes. Even the armours of soldiers that had turned into dust, as if time was reversed, were now clinking and reverted to their former state before sticking themselves on the soldiers.
The soldiers’ faces were expressionlessly pale. Clad in armour, they walked out step by step with weapons in their hands and marched forward in a formation.
“Revival of the dead? What blasphemous ability is this?” Those who witnessed the scene were in disbelief, thoroughly baffled as they felt immensely anxious.
Extremely perplexed, they thought, [Can a person truly be immortal? Or have these soldiers never died, and instead, they were in deep slumber in the Ancient Arcane Ruins? Were they perhaps the soldiers and generals of the Ancient Arcane Empire in the past?]
“This place is indeed odd. These corpses are barely alive, yet they managed to retain some of their conscience,” A True Daoist who came from the Upper Realm stated as he squinted his eyes, in which traces of gold gleams flashed across.
Accordingly, the other True Daoists nodded. Refraining from engaging the dead, they remained outside the ruins as they had no plans to act rashly. Given how uncanny the ruins were, they were not confident that they could deal with the dead.
“A horrifying curse must have been cast on these soldiers, rendering them unable to leave the ruins even after death, so they could only remain and keep the place guarded despite being dead. This old one encountered such an occurrence back in the Upper Realm, but the number of the dead was not as great as the ones here.” Speaking with a rather dark expression, the Imperial Ancestor of Great Yu Celestial Dynasty attempted to send forth a palm strike. In that instant, lightning roared as a shocking power surged. His vast power plunged, destroying everything in its way before turning the soldiers in front of him into ashes.
Alas, the next moment, the soldiers that were disintegrated were reverted to their former state by some unknown power.
At once, the faces of the True Daoists changed drastically, while the Abundance Sword Immortal, who was not far away, shivered in dread. He never expected that such a dire hazard was hidden underneath Ancient Arcane Ruins.
“It seems ordinary means are useless, and we won’t be able to pass through. Someone must have entered the depths of the ruins before us and triggered something.”
Strangeness flashed across Gu Changge. Thereupon, he silently shook his head as he pondered. His guess was that Lin En, the Fortuitous One, must have found the entrance to Mirror Lake, which led to great disturbance in the outside world.
After reliving the memory of the World’s Will incarnation he had devoured, Gu Changge understood that Ancient Arcane Empire triggered a devastating curse as they attempted to build an ancestry temple in order to communicate with ancient heroic souls, which was why they were obliterated by that portion of the World’s Will. Thus, every living and dead being here, as well as the strange auras, were all the doing of the World’s Will.
Regardless, these had nothing to do with him.
“Since the entrance to the Mirror Lake has been activated, things have become simpler now.” Having no intentions to initiate, Gu Changge was still waiting as the time had yet to come. “We can’t let someone else get to it before us, can we?”
Hearing Gu Changge’s words, the Imperial Ancestor and the other True Daoists felt a chill up their spine, fearing that someone might advance before them and seize the prize that was awaiting them.
Right away, they revealed a cold sensation in their eyes as they cast a big hand that covered the sky and captured a number of Earth Sword Immortals, intending to force them to pave a way.
“If you can’t make it inside, you shan’t even think of leaving here alive. Everyone else will join your deaths very soon.”
Their tone bore absolute coldness and relentless determination. Their intimidating aura left the bodies of those of Profound Sword World ripping apart, almost being turned into blood mists. Facing these so-called ants, they feigned not the slightest humility and fear as they did towards Gu Changge.
Even the Abundance Sword Immortal, the Snow Sword Immortal, and the rest were captured, being demanded to pave the way into the depths of the black mists. They had no other choice. If they dared to resist, they would be smacked into blood mists and disintegrated.
At that moment, they understood the distance present between them and these supreme experts. It made them feel even bitter. Gu Changge’s attitude was infinitely better than that of these supreme experts. Given the circumstances, they were the true puny ants—no, they might be even more inferior to that.
“Don’t try to resist if you wish to live.” Seemingly sympathetic, Gu Changge gently shook his head as he spoke to the Abundance Sword Immortal and the rest.
The rest of the Profound Sword World shivered violently, not daring to make a move, as if they were prisoners waiting to be executed.
Tftc !
Thanks for the chapter)