In the wilderness, the golden-eyed youth leaned his head back against the stone wall. Blood flowed from his forehead and face down his neck, seeping into his collar.
There was no need to do anything more—his life force was rapidly fading. He had offered himself to the Xiao Yuan Pearl, which had absorbed most of his demonic energy. His body had already struggled to contain the remnants of those souls, and now this vessel was about to shatter.
In the silence, Gu Caiyu sighed softly. He glanced at Gui Diaotang and shook his head disapprovingly, saying, “Your Majesty the Demon King still doesn’t understand humans. When a woman tells you to leave, nine times out of ten, it’s just angry words. How could you take it seriously? If it were me, I would shamelessly stay in the room, pestering her until she softened, and only after she’s calmed down would I explain things seriously.” Whether he was trying to stir trouble or claim credit was unclear. He then glanced at Gu Baiying and chuckled, “Qinghua and I never had such misunderstandings, leaving others no chance to take advantage.”
“That’s because you’re shameless,” Bu Jiang sneered.
“Have you all finished catching up?” Rong Shuang’s expression was cold. “But we didn’t come here today to witness a reunion between His Majesty the Demon King and his long-lost son.”
Gu Caiyu widened his eyes, “Oh? Then what are you here for?”
Zanxing replied, “Outside Douzhou, there’s been continuous rain and floods. The spiritual veins of major sects have dried up, causing disasters among mortals. I’ve heard that a thousand years ago, there was a similar flood. A cultivator entered the Golden Gate Ruins, found the Imperial Chessboard, and gambled with an immortal. By winning the game, they obtained a solution to the flood. We’re here today to find that immortal’s solution.”
“You’re talking about the flood from a thousand years ago?” Gu Caiyu paused. “I’ve heard of that legend too, and you actually believe it?”
Shaoyang Zhenren said indifferently, “The Immortal Hexagram shows that the Golden Gate Ruins are the only way out.”
“The Immortal Hexagram?” Gu Caiyu looked at him with some surprise. “Shaoyang Zhenren has truly sacrificed a lot this time. Even using the Immortal Hexagram to divine? It seems the situation outside is indeed very dire.”
“Your Majesty,” Bu Jiang fixed his gaze on Gui Diaotang, “why is there nothing here? No Imperial Chessboard, and no other way out.”
Gui Diaotang was silent for a moment before he spoke, “This is not the Golden Gate Ruins.”
“What?” Everyone looked at him in shock.
After all the hardships they’d endured to get here, with some even injured in battle with Gui Yansheng, they now learn that this place isn’t the Golden Gate Ruins?
What a joke!
“But back then, you gave me the key,” Bu Jiang frowned.
“I found the Xiao Yuan Pearl here all those years ago. Legend said the Xiao Yuan Pearl is hidden within the Golden Gate Ruins. But,” he looked up at the sky, veiled in white mist, “it fell from above.”
Above?
Everyone looked up. In the wilderness, the sky was filled with endless white clouds, making the place feel like a black island floating amidst the mist. The sky seemed boundless. A cultivator from the Yinfeng Sect attempted to fly upwards using swordsmanship, but as soon as the sword left the ground, it was as if an invisible hand swept it back down.
The disciple stood up from the ground, utterly confused. “Sect Master, sword-flying doesn’t work here.”
It seemed that Gui Diaotang had anticipated this. He calmly said, “The Golden Gate Ruins are directly above us.”
Zanxing’s heart stirred.
It was said that the Golden Gate Ruins connected the human realm and the heavens, with its entrance at the bottom of the Underworld River, which was already outrageous. Now, hearing the Demon King say that the true Golden Gate Ruins are in the sky, somehow, it didn’t seem impossible to accept.
But the issue was, without the ability to fly with swords or ride the wind, how could they possibly reach the heavens?
“How do you know that the true Golden Gate Ruins are up there?” Rong Shuang asked. “Just because the Xiao Yuan Pearl fell from above?”
“No.” Standing in the wilderness, Gui Diaotang’s long eyes took on a misty look, as if recalling a scene from long ago. He said, “At that time, I caught a brief glimpse of a palace above.”
“But it was only for a fleeting moment.”
Everyone froze. The white mist piled up in layers at the horizon, and deep within the mist, could there really be a palace? What did the dwelling place of immortals look like? A sense of anticipation arose in everyone’s hearts. After all, the life of a cultivator was spent striving upward, and now, with the Immortal Realm seemingly within reach, it was hard to keep calm.
“But how do we get up there?” Zanxing asked, troubled. “Even Your Majesty the Demon King back then couldn’t reach the ruins. Now, while we can see our destination so close, we have no way to get there.”
“It’s not that there is no way,” the Demon King spoke.
Zanxing looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Gui Diaotang replied, “To ascend to the Golden Gate Ruins, you need the Heavenly Ladder.”
“The Heavenly Ladder?” Gu Baiying frowned, raising his eyes to look around.
Aside from the wilderness and the gray cliffs, there was nothing in the vicinity. Where was this ladder to the heavens? It couldn’t possibly be the gray cliff, could it? But there were no steps on the cliff, and how could anyone stand on it, let alone climb upwards?
Tian Fangfang couldn’t help but speak up, “Where’s the Heavenly Ladder?”
Gu Caiyu burst into laughter and casually pointed. “Isn’t that it?”
Everyone froze.
Gu Caiyu was pointing toward the massive pit where the Menghun Halberd and the Suihua Sword were embedded. Mimi dashed over excitedly, almost tumbling as it went. It stopped just before the pit, peering down into it.
Zanxing’s eyes lit up. “Is it that seed?”
“That is the Heavenly Ladder,” Gui Diaotang said.
That black, enormous seed—was it really the Heavenly Ladder?
The ancient texts said: “At the beginning of humanity, the world was interconnected. Man ascended in the morning, descended in the evening. Heaven spoke to man in the morning and again at night.”
The connection between the Human Realm and the Celestial Realm had long become legend. And now, the Heavenly Ladder, the bridge between the two realms, was nothing like the stairway everyone imagined. Instead, it had taken the form of a silent seed, buried deep in the desolate wilderness.
Gu Caiyu said, “To restore the Heavenly Ladder, it must be activated with the Primal Energy of Chaos. Let me think, in the cultivation world, one would need to set up the Ancient Qiankun Formation to summon ancient powers. But with so few people here,” he furrowed his brow deeply, “it seems that the spiritual energy in Douzhou has indeed become quite scarce over the years. To form an Ancient Qiankun Formation with just this small group might be a bit difficult.”
“We’ve come this far, we might as well give it a try,” Fu Ronghua looked over at Shaoyang Zhenren. “Zhenren, what do you think?”
Shaoyang Zhenren lowered his eyes and said calmly, “Form the array.”
The Ancient Qiankun Formation had not been seen for many years. It was notoriously difficult to arrange, not only requiring a large number of disciples to set up the formation, but each key point also needed to be sealed by highly skilled experts with exceptional cultivation levels.
Many of the great experts in Douzhou had perished in the great battle of years past. Even those who hadn’t fallen back then had long since disappeared from the world.
The formation diagram for the Ancient Qiankun Formation still existed, but whether the array could actually be completed was uncertain.
Suddenly, a golden-red light spread across the wilderness.
The disciples took their positions, and Shaoyang Zhenren commanded, “Form the array!”