Chapter 2117: Immortal Emperor

With a flick of his wrist, a divine bloodstone appeared before him. Compared to the one he held, it was like the difference between graphite and a diamond. Although they belonged to the same substance, their appearance was vastly different! Without a close look, it would be impossible to tell they were the same material.

"Divine bloodstones are formed when the blood of gods permeates rocks. So... what Palace Master Du said about a divine corpse might actually be true!"

He stood up, and with a shake of his Purple Robe Sword, the more than ten-meter-wide expanse of ruins before him was cleared away, revealing the ground beneath. The entire area was covered with these patterned stones, indicating that an immense amount of divine blood had been spilled.

After doing this, he called out, "Palace Master Du!"

Du Qingyuan flew over. She hadn't found much elsewhere.

"Found it?" she asked.

"Not yet, but it should be related to these patterns..." Zhang Xuan pointed.

Du Qingyuan looked over. The black patterns were very peculiar, appearing to be carved with a special inscription. Upon closer inspection, they resembled the runes on the Heaven-Connecting Stone and the Heaven-Reaching Bridge.

After a moment, as if realizing something, Du Qingyuan said, "This is a... great hall for sacrifices!"

"Sacrifices?"

"That's right. These patterns were cast with blood, suggesting a large-scale sacrificial ritual was underway. And then... before it could be completed, the entire city was struck down from the Divine Realm!" Du Qingyuan's expression was grim.

"This..." Zhang Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

Typically, sacrifices could be completed with sufficient treasures, but some evil methods required lives or blood to activate. Back in the Foreign Spirit race, Emperor Chen Ling used a sacrifice to instantly slay ten thousand of his subordinates. It was only by sacrificing so many lives that the so-called Immortal Emissary descended and his own injuries were fully healed.

Could it be... that this place also employed a similar method? Such methods usually wield immense power. Yet, despite that, the entire city was struck down from the Divine Realm... This was truly terrifying!

"If we find the center of the altar, we should be able to find the core of the aura of decay!" Du Qingyuan nodded, sweeping her sleeve.

A large section of the ruins was cleared away. Her immortal energy surged, flowing around. In less than ten minutes, hundreds of meters of ruins before them were cleared, revealing a dark gate beneath the rubble.

"The center where the patterns converge is inside this gateway. Let's go take a look!" Du Qingyuan approached and was about to push open the gate and enter.

Zhang Xuan reached out to stop her, blocking her path. He took a deep breath and walked inside.

This was a semi-underground structure. The surrounding areas had almost completely collapsed, leaving only this section, buried beneath the ruins, forming its own distinct space.

Zzzzt!

As soon as he entered, he immediately felt countless energy beams shoot towards him. The Purple Robe Sword danced, and Zhang Xuan's sword intent, intricate as a thousand-knotted net, unfurled. Knowing the danger, he showed no mercy in his attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of muffled groans, countless black shadows dissipated.

"They're Decay Beasts! But, much stronger..." Du Qingyuan, who was following behind, whispered.

Zhang Xuan acknowledged with a grunt. What had attacked them were indeed Decay Beasts, just as she said. Each one, shapeless as if bodiless, or like specters in the night, exuded an eerie, sinister aura. Along the way, they had killed countless Decay Beasts, most of which were merely at the Immortal Monarch level. Yet, the ones they had just slain were Pseudo-God level.

For anyone else, a single wave of such an ambush might have been unbearable, leading to instant corrosion into withered bones.

"The aura of decay originates from over there..." Du Qingyuan hastily moved forward.

Following her direction, Zhang Xuan looked ahead. The black patterns on the ground, one after another, were densely arranged in rings, all converging at the center of the great hall. They arrived before it.

A small altar was embedded in the surface.

"This..." Zhang Xuan was stunned. It was incredibly similar to the one in Star-Chasing Palace, though more advanced. If Wu Chen used an altar from the Master Teacher Continent, and Du Qingyuan used one from the Firmament, then this one... must be from the Divine Realm!

Forged from unknown materials, it had remained largely unchanged despite being buried under ruins for thousands of years, emitting a faint glow.

"Could it be..." Du Qingyuan clenched her fist. The altar's striking resemblance to their sect's treasured artifact made it clear even to the densest mind. The Foreign Spirits were beings from Star-Chasing Island who had entered the lower realms. So... the people of Star-Chasing Island were indeed, as rumored by successive Palace Masters, highly likely to be beings from the Divine Realm who had come here!

"What he said seems to be true..." Realizing this, Zhang Xuan also nodded.

Previously, after Master Kong 'rescued' him, he had specifically mentioned the relationship between the Foreign Spirit race and Star-Chasing Palace. He had also specifically stated that Star-Chasing Palace originated from... abandoned deities. Seeing her confusion, he recounted everything Master Kong had told him in detail.

Du Qingyuan sighed, "Successive Palace Masters of Star-Chasing Palace did pass down such rumors by word of mouth, but I always thought they were false. I never expected... they were actually true!"

On the Abandoned Continent, the other five great sects had long since transmitted the legacy as 'abandoned divine races.' Over time, a lie had become the truth. Exactly why this rumor emerged, or when such talk began, had become untraceable over thousands of years. Like three men making a tiger, it had become so deeply ingrained in everyone's hearts that even if it were a lie, no one would deny it.

Even if he were to explain the true situation in detail to everyone in the Firmament now, it was doubtful anyone would believe it. However, whether it was true or false made little difference to the people of Star-Chasing Island; without achieving godhood, everything else was illusory.

He searched around the altar but found nothing. Zhang Xuan's face was filled with helplessness. "It seems there's nothing else here besides this object. Although this is the core radiating the aura of decay, there doesn't seem to be any aura of decay present!"

It was like the eye of a typhoon having no typhoon. This was the birthplace of the aura of decay, yet it was completely empty. He couldn't sense even a trace of the aura of decay, making him wonder if he had returned to the Firmament, despite knowing he was in Skyfall City.

"Since it's an altar, it should be usable. Perhaps... the so-called divine energy is right here!" Du Qingyuan suggested.

"Oh?"

"Since it's identical to our Star-Chasing Palace altar, I'll try to refine it with my bloodline!"

Taking a deep breath, Du Qingyuan raised her eyebrows. A sword gleam flickered at her fingertip as she cut her wrist and placed it on the patterns on the side of the altar. Blood flowed along the patterns, quickly filling all the fine grooves. Dazzling lights burst forth as if a magic array had been activated.

Rumble!

The altar began to shake. Du Qingyuan's face turned pale, but she continued to pour her blood into it, and the light grew increasingly intense. Her blood congealed three times, requiring her to make three consecutive cuts.

Fortunately, there was no aura of decay here. Otherwise, such extensive wounds would have led to her corroding into withered bones before the blood could even fully flow.

Just as Palace Master Du was starting to falter and Zhang Xuan was about to offer assistance, the altar suddenly glowed brilliantly. The two of them were instantly transported to a dark, vast space.

It was of unknown vastness, stretching endlessly beyond sight, with only mist swirling, obscuring their vision.

"Be careful!" He gave Palace Master Du a bottle of Little Yellow Chicken's bathwater and a Vitality Pill to recover from her recent exhaustion before they continued forward.

The environment was pitch black, like entering a sunless cave or an underground grotto, and the air carried a scorching scent.

"Is this still Skyfall City?" Du Qingyuan asked, bewildered.

Zhang Xuan's expression was solemn. "Perhaps... this is the true origin of the aura of decay!" In the dark space before them, he felt an immense, heart-pounding power. Even with his current strength, it seemed he wouldn't be able to contend with it even if he broke through his restraints and reached the divine realm!

Such pressure could only mean... that just as the legends claimed, a true deity was likely buried deep within the darkness.

"So hungry. I'm going in to find food..." A telepathic message entered his ear.

It was the Little Yellow Chicken!

"Shut up!" Zhang Xuan's scalp nearly exploded. There might be a divine corpse here, or even something far more terrifying. Eat, eat... Is that all you ever think about? Can't you be a little more promising?

Although he had never encountered a deity, cultivators who reached the level of a Ruthless One could resurrect even after death. Such high-level cultivators, whether truly dead or not, were certainly not something a mere Pseudo-God like him could offend.

"I'm hungry..." The Little Yellow Chicken insisted.

"Here, take these supreme-grade Vitality Pills to tide you over..." With a thought, a bottle of Vitality Pills appeared from his folded space. The Little Yellow Chicken strutted over elegantly, then tilted its rear end upwards and started pecking at them one by one.

Seeing that it wouldn't cause any more trouble, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward with Du Qingyuan. A colossal tombstone appeared before them.

Six large characters were carved onto it, seeming to act as a barrier obstructing their progress, radiating an intense pressure that prevented them from moving even an inch further. Zhang Xuan looked at it. The writing on the stone tablet resembled the runes carved on the Heaven-Reaching Bridge and was difficult to decipher.

"Th-this..." Du Qingyuan, standing beside him, trembled incessantly.

"You recognize these characters?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Du Qingyuan's face was pale as she nodded, her voice trembling. "It reads... Tomb of the Undying Sovereign!"

"The Undying Sovereign?" Zhang Xuan was startled.

"He's rumored to be a supreme expert from the Divine Realm, coexisting with heaven and earth, immortal and indestructible... Could he... have died?" Du Qingyuan seemed unable to believe it.

"Coexisting with heaven and earth? Immortal and indestructible?" Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. Although he didn't know if her words were accurate, the title 'Undying' alone was enough to signify immense power and ability! A supreme expert known as 'Undying' was dead...

What exactly had happened in Skyfall City?

"Who dares trespass here!"

While they were still in shock, a roar echoed, and then a figure slowly emerged from the murky mist. Gripping his Purple Robe Sword tightly, Zhang Xuan and Du Qingyuan hastily looked over. They immediately saw a dark, skeletal figure that had appeared before them at some unknown point.

The skeletal figure was tall, and its exposed bones were crystalline black, exuding an irresistible sense of oppression. If the Ruthless One's skeleton had exuded powerful energy before, compared to this one, it was utterly insignificant.