Though the capital was blanketed in heavy snow and wind, the grim, iron-clad aura emanating from the Martial Saint Hall could not be suppressed.
Xiao Wuchen had returned to this place, which was once the supreme sanctuary of mortal martial arts. However, upon learning of the rigid hierarchy within the cultivation world, this magnificent palace now seemed to him to be tinged with the sorrow of a trapped beast fighting its last battle.
Xiao Wuchen stepped into the main hall, his footsteps echoing across the cold, blue-brick floor. The Hall Master — the man once hailed as the 'World's Premier Martial Artist', Yan Kuangtu — should have been instructing the assembled heroes within, but he was nowhere to be seen. Only a massive, broken army blade lay slanted in the ground, already dusted with a thin layer of grime.
"The Hall Master has been in seclusion for over three months. No one is permitted to disturb him during this period,' the guard outside the hall stated.
Xiao Wuchen gave a cold snort, his phoenix-like eyes narrowing slightly. The 'Sword Intent of Birth and Death' seeped like a faint thread into the secret chamber at the rear of the hall.
The chamber was utterly empty; not a single strand of hair remained to indicate life.
"Your Excellency, your servant has found it."
Xiao Wuchen's most trusted eunuch, Xiao Guizi, knelt silently in the shadows at the foot of the steps. Beside him stood a gaunt, fawning old man — the so-called 'omniscient' Bai Xiaosheng.
"Speak," murmured Xiao Wuchen, stroking his sleeve.
'Your Excellency,' whispered Xiao Guizi, 'the "seclusion" that the Palace Master claimed was merely a ruse. Your servant discovered traces of a blood sacrifice in the secret passage of the rear mountain — a sign that the ancient teleportation array has been activated."
Bai Xiaosheng hastily chimed in, his voice hoarse and urgent. "Your Excellency, see clearly! That Yan Madman has gone mad. His lifespan is nearly spent, yet he refuses to settle for being a mere martial artist. He purchased the most crucial secret map of Fallen Dragon Valley from me. Instead of secluding himself, he has taken all the spiritual herbs accumulated by the Martial Saint Hall over a century and has forcibly entered those ancient ruins. He seeks to seize the heavenly secrets within the earth's veins in order to form his Core!"
"Forming the Golden Core."
These two words echoed through the vast hall, heavy enough to suffocate.
On the Nine Provinces Continent, even martial artists who reached the Diamond Realm or Heavenly Being Realm were nothing more than century-old skeletons. Only by forming the Golden Core could one enjoy a lifespan of five hundred years, truly stepping through the threshold of "immortality."
Xiao Wuchen approached the broken army blade, running his fingers over its rough hilt. He could sense the lingering fear of death and the frenzied roar of injustice against fate etched into its steel.
"So it seems I am not the only ant striving to crawl out of this mire."
Xiao Wuchen laughed bitterly. His laughter held no warmth, only a kindred resonance and a deeper, more profound intent to kill.
The pinnacle of this world was far too narrow, with room for only one. Yan Kuangtu sought to form his Golden Core, Su Huaian craved power, but Xiao Wuchen desired not only power, but also immortality.
[System alert: the cruelty of data]
Ding! The host has triggered a side quest: Yan Kuangtu's Gamble.
Target: Yan Kuangtu.
Current status: Half-Step Golden Core (Forcibly Breaking Through).
Danger level: Extreme (Madness State).
System alert: multiple such 'pseudo-cultivators' have gathered within the Fallen Dragon Valley ruins. Although they seek the Dao through martial arts, their lack of foundational cultivation makes them easy prey for the ruins.
Xiao Wuchen's eyes grew colder and more ominous.
'Xiao Guizi, prepare the horse. Muster one hundred Blood Guards from the Xuanyi Corps. Follow me into the valley."
He turned, his sword finger flickering. A slash of life-and-death sword energy instantly severed a strand of Bai Xiaosheng's white hair. 'Bai Xiaosheng, stay by my side. Should the Earth Vein Map show the slightest deviation, I shall refine you into a Living Human Pill.'
"Yes... yes! Spare me, Your Grace!" Bai Xiaosheng trembled in terror.
[Finale: Crimson Robe Stained with Snow, The Dawn of Mortals Slaying Immortals.
Xiao Wuchen strode out of the Martial Saint Hall.
Outside, heavy snow had sealed the path, yet with each step he took, the snow beneath his feet melted away.
He had once believed that he was fighting only against a corrupt court and hypocritical noble houses. Now, he realised that the true battlefield lay above the clouds.
"Yan Kuangtu, you shall never bind this pill."
Xiao Wuchen swung himself onto his horse, his crimson python robe trailing in a resolute arc through the blizzard.
'Since this sovereign has set his sights upon the essence of heaven and earth, it shall be his! Should any deities dare to stand in the way, they too shall be annihilated!"
Thick fog hung heavy as lead at the bottom of Dragonfall Valley.
On this scorched, forbidden land, three thousand Guards clad in Xuan armour stood solemnly. Not a sound disturbed the silence, except for an eerie golden glow emanating from the altar at the centre.
"Chief Seal Keeper Xiao, this is the 'Dragon-Anchoring Pillar'."
Master Miaokong pressed his palms together in prayer, his compassionate countenance flickering in the shifting light of the array. The dozens of Daqian Astronomical Bureau sorcerers beside him were working up a sweat as they channelled their artefacts to feed countless precious spirit stones into the grand formation.
'Though imperial power is waning, I can still force open a fissure within the ruins by relying on the Great Qian Dynasty's three-hundred-year fortune.' Master Miaokong murmured Buddhist mantras softly as a relic bead engraved with Sanskrit script flickered from his fingertip.
Xiao Wuchen stood with his hands clasped behind his back at the edge of the cliff. His crimson, dragon-embroidered robe flapped in the chilling wind. He watched the space below gradually crack open with cold detachment. "Miaokong," he said. "I seek not a mere crack, but every secret within this ruin."
"Open!"
At his command, the nation's fortune coalesced into an ethereal golden dragon which hurtled straight into the void.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled as a deep, shattered entrance finally tore open before all eyes, exuding an ancient, desolate aura.
Entering the Realm: The Withered Immortal Land. Xiao Wuchen stepped inside first.
Instead of the divine sanctuary he had imagined, he saw only crumbling ruins. The sky wore a sickly dark purple hue, while the sparse spiritual energy flickered like a dying candle flame in the air.
Most eerie of all were the countless massive stone pillars strewn across the ground, each one engraved with intricate array formations. Though damaged, they still radiated an awe-inspiring aura of power.
"Aaah—!"
A black-robed guard stumbled upon a broken pillar fragment. Before he could scream, a violent surge of energy tore him apart, reducing him to a spray of blood.
"Retreat!" Master Miaokong cried out in horror. "These are the remains of the ancient Ten Directions Annihilation Array! Anyone touched by them meets an instant death!"
Xiao Wuchen did not retreat.
Instead, he slowly approached the formation fragment capable of shredding a Grandmaster, his eyes revealing an unprecedented mixture of bewilderment and delight.
Within his body, the 'Life-and-Death True Qi' — an extreme, cold and yin-dominant energy born from his castration — began to surge wildly. Despised by the world as 'imperfect qi', this energy formed a strange resonance with the ancient, decaying and depleted array fragments around it.
'Life is yang; destruction is yin.'
Xiao Wuchen extended his pale, jade-like fingers and gently tapped the array fragment pulsing with destructive energy.
The expected explosion did not occur.
Instead, the moment the yin-infused energy touched the array fragment, violent crimson lightning bolts coiled obediently around his fingertips as if greeting their master. Ultimately, they were absorbed into his body.
[Ding! Fragment of the Arrangement of Withered and Thriving Extremes detected! Host attribute compatibility scan... Compatibility: 98%! Due to the host possessing the 'Yin-Yang Birth and Death' destiny, the incomplete formation poses no threat and can be directly mind-controlled.
'So that's how it is...'
Xiao Wuchen murmured softly. He sensed that the ruin was no longer a labyrinth, but rather a tattered map that could be mended. His true energy was the needle capable of stitching together the boundary between the mortal and immortal realms.
[Power Harvest: Mastery of 'God's Perspective'."
"Seal! Look, Your Excellency!'
The black-robed guard exclaimed. Wherever Xiao Wuchen passed, hidden killing arrays fell silent and the scattered, faint spiritual energy began to gather towards him involuntarily.
Xiao Wuchen turned to face the horrified expression of Master Miaokong behind him.
'Miao Kong, you once said mortals must not touch divine formations.'
With a flick of his fingertip, a jet-black sword of intent mingled with residual formation light instantly cut off the top of a mountain peak a thousand zhang away.
"Not only have I touched it, but I shall make this entire ruin my very own!"
He gazed into the depths of the system interface — the 'Source of Spiritual Veins' that had always guided him now radiated an alluring crimson glow. At the same time, Yan Kuangtu's savage aura drew ever closer from the other end of the ruins.