Xu Zimei exerted a slight force, and a scream emanated from the mouth of the man in the red robe.
His right fist was crushed into powder, turned into dust.
Xu Zimei slowly extended his hand and placed it on the man’s head.
"Divine, Divine King," the elder trembled all over, stammering as he spoke.
"Spare me, sir, I am willing to do anything."
"Tell me about your group," Xu Zimei said.
"I am an elder of the Sect of Seven Fears, our sect was established in the Great Marshland, what else does your excellency wish to know?" the elder hastily inquired.
"Sect of Seven Fears?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Yes, this sect gate was founded by our ancestor, the Great Sage of Seven Fears. Although it may not be the strongest, it has some reputation in the Great Marshland," the elder replied without any hesitation.
"What is meant by Great Saint?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"To open the tenth Vein Gate is to be a Great Saint," the elder answered.
"Tell me about the rankings above Great Emperor," Xu Zimei said.
"Ten Vein Gates signifies a Great Saint, and eleven Vein Gates means a Taoist Fruit powerhouse; the matter is somewhat complex, and I’m not very clear about it," the elder said.
"These matters are not something that a mere Saint like me could have access to."
"How many more of your Sect of Seven Fears are in the Eternal Ancient Continent?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"None left, they’ve all died at your hand," the elder hastily shook his head, shouting, "Let me go, I’ve told you everything I know, please."
"Too bad you’re of no use alive," Xu Zimei shook his head.
His right hand grabbed down again, and with a "boom," the elder’s body stiffly fell to the ground.
At that moment, the sealed city gates of the Southern District were finally burst open.
It was only then that the forces from the Eternal Ancient City reacted, starting their counterattack.
But when they arrived at the city gates and saw the corpses piled up in the streets, everyone was stunned.
Xu Zimei paid no attention to the rest, and went straight to the site of the Immortal Path ruins.
This place used to be guarded by disciples of the Eternal Ancient Divine Sect, but now they had all been killed as well.
The Immortal Path ruins were enveloped by the Void Array; Xu Zimei tore apart the formation with both hands, directly entering the ruins.
This vast land had been resting for tens of thousands of years, yet still couldn’t revive itself.
The land was parched and cracked open, devoid of any green vegetation. The fissured earth spread out like innumerable spider webs, stretching to the horizon.
How fierce had the wars been that this land experienced, the scorched soil and dark vegetation were enough to tell it all.
Flocks of vultures flew through the sky, searching for fresh flesh and food.
When they saw Xu Zimei enter, they swooped down and attacked a living person.
"Goo goo," several shrill cries that could stop clouds in their tracks sounded, and a few vultures all fell to the ground.
Xu Zimei frowned as he surveyed the scene before him.
There was no path, only bones and jagged rocks stretching as far as the eye could see.
The earth was charred black, the air carried a dry feeling, inhaling it involuntarily made one’s throat uncomfortable.
The smoke from burning flames, like signal fires, intermittently floated across the land, as if even the whole sky had been stained black.
Xu Zimei trod upon the land, taking steps toward the distance.
Apart from the vultures above, many bones wandered like ghosts, aimlessly wandering around this land.
They did not attack passersby but simply roamed the expanse.
The outer layer of this Immortal Path ruin had virtually no danger left; disciples of the Eternal Ancient Divine Sect had long since cleared out the area.
What remained were ruins that still bore testimony to the prosperity of bygone days and the ferocity of great battles.
Xu Zimei continued walking forward, the so-called Heaven-reaching Record should be in the core area.
Inside, there were also dangers at every turn; according to what the Eternal Ancient Divine King had said, he too had searched this core area before, but unfortunately found nothing.
In the end, with no other choice, he then stepped onto the Immortal Path Bridge.
As Xu Zimei ventured deeper, the bone creatures he encountered grew increasingly powerful.
No longer like the specters of the outer world, they had begun to develop spiritual intelligence.
Of course, these did not pose any obstacle to Xu Zimei.
After walking for an hour, he finally arrived at the core of this Immortal Path ruin.
A colossal pit appeared beneath his feet, boundless and bottomless at a glance.
It was hard to imagine what kind of attack could have inflicted such terrifying damage.
Moreover, within this immense pit, there seemed to be countless smaller pits.
Outside the massive pit, a transparent barrier blocked Xu Zimei’s path.
Xu Zimei lightly touched the barrier with his hand and felt a force repelling his entry.
He attempted to use the Heaven-reaching Key that the Eternal Ancient Divine King had given him.
The moment the key touched the barrier, the phantom face within the key begun to devour the barrier’s power.
In just a moment, the barrier was torn open by a gap.
If Xu Zimei did not stop it, the entire barrier would perhaps be consumed completely.
Xu Zimei pocketed the key and stepped into what was called the core area inside the barrier.
No sooner had he entered when he felt an extremely evil force.
This force was so malevolent that it was arguably the most evil Xu Zimei had ever encountered on the Yuan Central Continent; there was no other like it.
The air above the barrier was dark red, this power having merged with the spiritual energy and the air.
It sought to erode Xu Zimei’s body at every moment.
Even a Saint could not withstand this barrier, and given more time, even a Divine King might be in trouble.
"The least those who died here must have stepped into immortality," Xu Zimei conjectured internally.
Within this dark red spiritual energy, countless skeletons glowing with a dark red light moved about.
They resembled patrols, and when they saw Xu Zimei enter, a group of skeletons swarmed towards him.
When Xu Zimei swept away the skulls into dust with a slap, the rest of the skeletons seemed to sense fear and all retreated.
Having estimated roughly, nearly every skeleton here possessed the power of the Melting Heaven Realm.
Even a Great Saint would not be able to handle so many skeletons swarming at once.
With a strange feeling in his heart, Xu Zimei continued to move forward, the skeletons he encountered no longer hindering him.
Upon seeing him, the skeletons merely followed at a distance, choosing not to act but seemingly monitoring him.
Xu Zimei closed his eyes and released his Divine Soul, seeking to sense the source of this land’s evil energy.
After a long while, Xu Zimei opened his eyes, his gaze deeply focused towards the east.
"There, a powerful creature seems to have resurrected."
Although he was unclear about what had happened at the source, he had indeed sensed a living presence there just now.