Volume 1, Chapter 521 – Return

The immortal crane seemed somewhat wary of that stretch of palace ruins and had not landed very close to it.

Shi Lan hurried along at full speed and only reached the outskirts of the ruins after a quarter of an hour. The pressure around her grew heavier and heavier. Even simply moving her hands and feet felt somewhat laborious.

Scattered throughout the palace ruins were bits and pieces of bones. Dao marks were carved across the skeletons, and remnants of domain power still lingered on them. In life, their strength had all been at least above the eighth tier.

As she passed one set of remains, Shi Lan could not help stopping in her tracks. The skeleton before her was smooth and lustrous as jade, its Dao imprints extremely complete and shining with precious light.

The Dao imprints on these bones stirred the true essence within her body. The circulation of the Yuqing Creation Art became slightly disordered. This was the effect of power from the same source.

The cultivation method this skeleton had practiced in life, even if it was not the Yuqing Creation Art, had to be extremely close to it.

This world was actually connected to the Primordial World as well. That was undoubtedly beyond Shi Lan’s expectations.

Suppressing the shock in her heart, Shi Lan did her best to imprint the traces of those Dao imprints into her mind before continuing onward. As she passed another stretch of ruins, a prompt suddenly sounded in her head.

[High-tier divine ability detected. Record it?]

“Record it!”

[Recorded in the system’s virtual space. Host may review it at any time.]

Shi Lan was instantly invigorated. The last time the system had given this kind of prompt was when she first came into contact with the Heaven Extremity Seal. After that, it had never reacted again. Clearly, this function of the system had some sort of limitation and could only be activated in a specific environment.

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With that thought, Shi Lan carefully examined the stretch of ruins beside her, and after several breaths, she made a discovery.

There was still some kind of power fluctuation clinging to these ruins that had not yet dissipated. It resembled laws, but was not entirely the same, and carried a dense imprint.

[High-tier divine ability detected…]

[High-tier divine ability detected…]

[Top-tier divine ability detected…]

[Unknown immortal art detected…]

Shi Lan continued forward. Whenever she passed some special lingering trace, the system’s prompt would sound. Without exception, they were all divine abilities of at least the high-tier level or above.

That was only natural. The traces left behind by ordinary divine abilities had long since faded away over the course of endless years. There was no way they could have remained until today.

Although the Dao of this world was different from Lingyang’s, and its divine abilities were also unlike Lingyang’s martial arts, their power was likely no weaker.

The Guanghan Palace was vast in scope. Due to the pressure, Shi Lan’s speed was limited as well. After recording roughly a dozen divine abilities and immortal arts, she estimated the time and reluctantly began to turn back, racing toward where the immortal crane was.

She had only just traversed one-third of the ruins. The remaining two-thirds, including the core region stained with the blood of beings beyond the Supreme realm, she had not yet had time to set foot in.

Shi Lan felt some regret over that, but she did not force herself to stay. She only had a quarter of an hour. To cling to a sliver of hope and challenge the tidal force stirred up by this enormous star with her own meager strength would have been sheer stupidity.

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The core of a star that could bear the battle of beings above the Supreme realm was terrifyingly powerful. With her current frail frame, she would probably be crushed to death in an instant.

She had not run far before the speed of the heaven and earth energy around her abruptly increased. A heavy burden instantly pressed down upon Shi Lan’s body. This was the precursor to the star’s breathing.

Shi Lan’s heart tightened, and she quickened her pace. She had gone no more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea when she heard a crane’s cry by her ear. The immortal crane had moved toward her, clearly coming to pick her up.

The fluctuations of energy between heaven and earth became increasingly violent, and wild winds rose from the earth. Carrying Shi Lan, the immortal crane rode the wind upward, transforming into a streak of black-and-white mysterious light. It tore through the ever-thickening cold mist and descended toward the summit of Tian Mountain.

…

“Senior, how long will this tidal surge last?”

Once her feet touched solid ground, Shi Lan went over to the old man’s side. If this tidal surge was brief, she might still have a chance to ascend the Taiyin Star again.

“One tidal surge lasts anywhere from seven days to half a month.”

Hearing that, Shi Lan felt somewhat disappointed. Clearly, she could not afford to wait that long.

“Thank you, Senior.”

Shi Lan did not dwell further on the matter. After thanking him, she retreated a few steps, then not far from Tong Yuan and Yan Yun, took Xiang Yu’s body out of the Qiongluo Realm and used local materials to build him an ice tomb.

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Since the old man had said there was a chance for the Immortal Gate to open here, burying Xiang Yu in this place was naturally the best choice, even if only for that sliver of possibility.

“Shi Lan, it is time to go. The Heavenly Dao of this world is about to awaken.”

Seeing that Xiang Yu had been settled properly, Reincarnation spoke up to remind her. Shi Lan had already stayed in this world for too long. If she remained any longer, the risk would only grow greater.

“I understand.”

Shi Lan naturally understood the wisdom of stopping while she was ahead. With the dozen or so divine abilities from the Taiyin Star, her confidence in withstanding the world-ending great tribulation had undoubtedly increased by another measure.

“This junior takes her leave.”

After bowing to the old man by the cliff and casting one last glance at the Taiyin Star in the sky, Shi Lan turned and headed down the mountain.

Shi Lan had no intention of probing into why the old man remained here, sitting withered and alone, fishing all this time. Everyone had curiosity, but there were always some things in this world that were unsuited to close investigation.

The spatial passage leading to Lingyang Realm was still in Youzhou. If she wanted to return to Lingyang, there was no way around passing near that area. Shi Lan did not have much nine-star energy left, and to set up another spacetime passage would be far too extravagant for her.

…

…

The flames of war in the Nine Provinces were growing fiercer and fiercer, and bloody battles beyond the borderlands were no less relentless.

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In the unending wars, countless powerhouses fell, their blood and qi returning to heaven and earth. The concentration of essence in the world was rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The changes in the greater environment brought corresponding changes in the cultivation of many powerhouses. Several top-tier first-rate generals successively broke into the ranks of the age’s greatest heroes, while the martial attainments of the others also improved considerably, advancing by leaps and bounds.

In troubled times, mighty figures rose together, and the strong only grew stronger.

Before the grand momentum of heaven and earth, human strength was far too insignificant. Below the Supreme realm, there was simply no ability to change the overall situation.

However, judging from the current state of heaven and earth, the emergence of newly advanced Supremes was only a matter of time. When that happened, the structure of the world would inevitably be redrawn.

The return journey was always faster. In less than two days, Shi Lan arrived in Youzhou.

At this time, Youzhou was already completely under Liu Bei’s control. Compared with the other provinces, the situation there was relatively peaceful, and Shi Lan encountered no trouble along the way.

The spacetime passage remained as it had been before. Its entrance was hidden within the void. Without coordinates, no one else could possibly find it.

Only after sealing all the blood and qi in her body and suppressing the fluctuations of her aura did Shi Lan step into the passage.

Outside the brilliant spacetime passage, the light and shadow of worlds crisscrossed one another, filled in an instant with death and new life.

In the briefest of moments, Shi Lan’s feet were already on solid ground. Heavy shackles descended layer upon layer, and in an instant, compared with outside the realm, less than a tenth of her combat strength remained.