Firmament Sword

A bonfire blazed, its red flames streaked with a hint of ethereal blue. It was Celestial Blue Fire!

Without this wisp of flame, it would be impossible to roast the meat of a Great Saint Realm or even a Venerable Realm beast.

An ordinary fire could burn for a year and not even singe its hide.

Beside it, a large pot was set up, simmering with the meat of an Eight-winged Tiger.

This Eight-winged Tiger had reached the Ultimate Venerable Peak Realm. Upon seeing the three of them, it had attacked without hesitation, intending to devour them.

If Lan hadn’t been there, Xu Luo, Du Qingteng, and Master Mao would have had no choice but to flee for their lives. Otherwise, they might very well have ended up as a meal.

This Small World operated under the true law of the jungle: eat or be eaten!

With a supreme expert like Lan by their side, Xu Luo and Du Qingteng felt their confidence surge as they continued deeper into the ancient ruins.

Several days later, they finally reached the place Lan had spoken of.

It was a vast plain. To their shock, what they found was not a crumbling ruin but an almost perfectly preserved… massive ancient city!

The three of them looked down from the sky. The city was magnificent and imposing, yet it had no walls. Inside, ancient buildings were picturesquely nestled beneath towering, age-old trees.

“This… To think there’s a city so perfectly preserved. It’s astonishing!” Du Qingteng’s eyes went wide as he mumbled, “This place must be tens of millions of years old, right? Yet there’s almost no sign of damage or decay… It’s just incredible!”

Lan said from the side, “This city… is cursed. It cannot be destroyed, even after hundreds of millions of years.”

“A curse?” Du Qingteng looked at Lan, his eyes full of confusion.

“Back then, this city belonged to the masters of this continent. They were so powerful that… they didn’t even need city walls.” A hint of reminiscence flickered in Lan’s eyes.

“There really are no walls. That shows the owners were supremely confident!” Du Qingteng said.

Lan nodded. “The flames of war back then never reached this place. When the world collapsed, hundreds of millions of beings still lived in this city. The powerful ones among them had already fled before the collapse. Those who remained… were the ones who couldn’t leave.”

“Therefore, at the moment the world collapsed… when they were about to die, their hearts were filled with unwillingness and resentment!”

“They were so powerful, their nation was so mighty, and their lives were so blissful… They had never considered that one day, they too would die.”

“This resentment… resonated with the collapsing world. As a result, the city was miraculously preserved, and all the people within it became Undead. To this day… they still live in this city.”

“What… Th-this can’t be possible!” Du Qingteng suddenly felt goosebumps break out all over his skin. He looked at Lan and said, “This is too surreal!”

“If you don’t believe me… look!” As Lan spoke, she pointed a finger. Above the city, ripples unexpectedly appeared in the empty air!

“Is that… a barrier?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly.

Lan said, “It is a barrier!”

After that, the fluctuations of the barrier above the ancient city grew more and more intense, until finally, it began to roil like boiling water.

THUMP!

The barrier shattered, silent and sudden.

Though there was no sound, they all felt a violent impact on their eardrums.

“The greatest sound has no voice!” Du Qingteng exclaimed in awe.

At that moment, the true state of the ancient city below was revealed before their eyes.

Lan’s expression was calm, unsurprised, but Xu Luo and Du Qingteng were utterly stunned.

Because the ancient city, its barrier now broken, was… bustling with prosperity!

Carriages flowed like water, and steeds moved like dragons!

Every street in the ancient city was a scene of hustle and bustle, appearing incomparably lively.

However, what made their scalps tingle was that the entire city was dead silent!

Such a lively and prosperous city, yet it didn’t make a single sound!

“What… What in the world is going on?” Staring at the lifeless ancient city below, Du Qingteng kept rubbing his bald head and sucking in a cold breath, looking completely stunned.

“Like I just said, these people are all Undead!” Lan said softly. “I didn’t mean to break this world back then. So, I’ve always felt a little guilty and have been unwilling to come here and face these people.”

Xu Luo looked at Lan and said, “It’s not your fault. Every dynasty has its time to flourish and then decline. This is the law of the Great Dao; no one can change it.”

“Are… are they conscious? Or unconscious? Can they see us?” Du Qingteng grimaced. It wasn’t that he was a coward; the scene before them was simply too bizarre.

It was a good thing it was them. An ordinary person would have probably been scared to death on the spot.

“They are clearly conscious,” Xu Luo said softly.

Because in that short time, many people had already looked up at the sky and seen them.

But their faces showed little surprise. Apparently… they weren’t curious about people flying around in the sky.

“Their memories are stuck in the years before the world collapsed. Back then, the powerful hadn’t started to flee, and there was no panic in their hearts…” Lan explained.

“But… isn’t living like this just deceiving themselves?” Xu Luo said. “It would be better to just die for real! At least… they could be reincarnated, enter the cycle of rebirth!”

Du Qingteng agreed, “Yeah, living in an illusion, year after year… day after day. That’s the real torture! It’s terrifying! Tens of millions of years… that’s long enough for countless reincarnations, but they’ve just been stuck here, going nowhere…”

Lan said, “To deliver an entire city… hundreds of millions of people… I can’t do it.”

Du Qingteng’s expression turned somber. “These people are truly pitiful. For tens of millions… even hundreds of millions of years, they’ve lived in this deception. What terrible sins must they have committed to have to repay them in this way!”

Xu Luo looked down and murmured, “Perhaps… I can try.”

Lan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “You should really give it a try. Maybe… the Soul Scripture can truly deliver them!”

“But I have to find the second half and comprehend it first,” Xu Luo said. “Otherwise, I only have the first half, the ‘Liberation’ chapter. If I try to deliver them with just this, I’m afraid that once they realize they’ve been living in this deception for tens or even hundreds of millions of years, they’ll all break down completely, or… transform into even more terrifying Resentful Spirits.”

“Only the ‘Transcendence’ chapter can allow them to achieve true transcendence… after being liberated!”

Du Qingteng gave Xu Luo an incredulous look and thought, ‘It’s just not fair… Is there anything in this world you can’t do, Luo Tian?’

Master Mao, squatting on Xu Luo’s shoulder, looked down at the silent city, its prosperity laced with endless eeriness, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ahhhhhh, this is too terrifying! This master has never seen a city like this.”

Du Qingteng couldn’t help but glance at Master Mao. “Your reaction… is a little slow, isn’t it?”

“What do you know? This master was deep in thought!” Master Mao rolled his eyes and then said, “This master was wondering, after all these years, has not a single one of them… discovered they’re living in an illusion?”

“Even if no one ever found out, we’re here now. We’re living people! Outsiders! And they still haven’t noticed a thing?”

“Besides… this city is so quiet. Don’t they find that strange?”

Du Qingteng couldn’t help but fall into thought as well. Just then, a streak of Sword Qi suddenly slashed up from the ancient city below.

This Sword Qi was like a long rainbow piercing the sun, hundreds of zhang thick!

It shot straight toward the three people and one cat!

BOOM!

A huge swath of empty space was sliced open!

The Sword Qi’s appearance was so abrupt, so unbelievable!

And the shocking killing intent it contained was enough to make a Venerable’s head explode on the spot!

“Hmph!”

Lan snorted coldly, instantly forming a defensive barrier that enveloped Xu Luo, Du Qingteng, and Master Mao. Then, with her graceful figure, she flew directly toward the Sword Qi.

The Sword Qi was unbelievably fast.

Lan’s speed… was also unbelievably fast!

Lan moved almost at the very instant the Sword Qi slashed out!

In the sky, Lan’s graceful figure was like that of a fairy, ethereally elegant, as she stepped toward the Sword Qi.

HUM!

From all directions, from the heavens above, a low hum suddenly resounded. That terrifying Sword Qi, filled with endless killing intent, was actually stomped to smithereens by Lan’s foot!

Then, Lan shouted coldly, “Come out!”

A massive, illusory Dharma Aspect slowly rose from an altar in the city.

It was enormous!

This space could barely contain it!

It seemed about to fill the entire sky!

This Dharma Aspect was very ethereal, its body wreathed in a hazy mist that completely obscured its features.

After rising, it said nothing. It simply raised a hand and brought it down to suppress them.

“I killed your true self. You think I’d be afraid of a mere sliver of your will?” Lan shouted coldly. Ethereal blue flames suddenly erupted around her as she shot straight toward the enormous, sky-covering palm.

PUFF!

Lan’s body passed straight through the center of the giant palm, which immediately burst into roaring flames.

The giant Dharma Aspect that nearly filled the heavens trembled violently. Its massive body flickered, seeming as if it could collapse at any moment.

“Demoness! It was you back then… You destroyed my nation, ruined my world, and obliterated my heritage!”

“And now you seek to strip away even this last bit of my true self’s amusement! You are despicable!”

A grand, Dao-like voice boomed across the entire world, rumbling like thunder.