The black water flow became much gentler.

In the distance at the edge of the wasteland, the dense fog slowly dispersed, gradually revealing the shadow of a cliff wall.

This cliff wall stretched from top to bottom, as if an entire mountain range had been brutally severed by a blade’s edge, slanting into the ground. Looking up, no end could be seen as it disappeared into the clouds and mist of the dome above.

“What is this?” Mu Cengxiao stepped forward, his gaze falling upon the cliff wall.

The gray-black cliff wall was covered with massive cracks running in all directions, seemingly traces left by spirit artifacts. These cracks were very deep – upon closer inspection, they nearly penetrated several inches into the cliff wall. A faint trace of yuanli remained on the cracks, and just approaching them, one could feel the lingering embers of residual yuanli rushing forward.

Mu Cengxiao gripped the Mieshen Saber in his hand tightly and couldn’t help but retreat several steps.

“Who left these here?” Fu Ronghua was somewhat amazed. “To leave such traces, with such profound yuanli – even the great masters of today’s cultivation world would find it difficult to achieve this level. This is a sword mark, and this one is… a halberd?”

That deep carved mark on the cliff wall appeared to be traces left by a war halberd.

A fierce battle had once taken place here, but the person who left battle traces on the cliff wall was no longer present.

Zanxing stood in place, and for some unknown reason, suddenly felt the Heavenly Demon power within her body undergo some changes, as if something was calling to her. The begonia flower on her forehead began to bloom faintly.

Gu Baiying noticed her change, turned his head to look at her, and asked: “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Zanxing shook her head. “The Heavenly Demon power seems to have discovered something.”

Mimi, at her feet, seemed somewhat restless. Ever since boarding the black dragon fish, Mimi hadn’t transformed into lion form. It barked twice into the distance, then suddenly ran forward.

“Follow it.” Zanxing’s gaze sharpened.

The white cat’s agile figure moved through the black wasteland like a light feather. After running for an unknown amount of time, Mimi stopped.

“This is…” Everyone looked at what lay before them, their expressions becoming solemn.

Before them was a massive deep pit, as if someone’s overwhelming yuanli had smashed down from overhead, forcibly creating this giant crater in the ground. At the very top of the giant pit, several broken magical artifacts were slanted into the ground.

One was a purple jade flute, another was an azure long sword, and in the very center was a blood-red war halberd broken in two. The war halberd was extremely tall and large, with demonic yuanli remaining on it. The moment Zanxing approached, she immediately felt the Heavenly Demon blood within her body begin to boil slightly.

She was startled, and before she could recover, she heard Fu Ronghua cry out from the other side: “Isn’t this Qinghua Xianzi’s Suihua Sword?”

When Qinghua Xianzi had slain Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang with a single sword at the Ruins of Golden Gate years ago, she brought back Gui Diao Tang’s corpse but didn’t bring back her worn Suihua Sword. It turned out that the beautiful Suihua Sword had been damaged so severely that even its sword spirit had dissipated.

Everyone then looked toward that massive blood-red war halberd, and Fu Ronghua murmured: “Could it be…”

“Menghun Halberd.” Bujiang, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke. She walked to the halberd, broken in two sections, reached out to gently caress the spearhead, her gaze seeming to hold distant meaning. “This is a Demon Lord’s magical artifact, the Menghun Halberd.”

Zanxing was startled.

Bujiang turned her head to look at Zanxing and smiled gently: “Zanxing, this is your father’s magical artifact.”

Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang had been dead for many years.

As time passed, the Demon Lord’s appearance from those days had gradually blurred in everyone’s memories.

And now, with this massive blood-colored war halberd reappearing, it instantly awakened everyone’s impressions of the Demon Lord. That handsome yet cold-blooded, gentle yet cruel man who once wielded a massive Menghun Halberd, bringing nightmare after nightmare to the Duzhou continent.

“This is where Qinghua and the Demon Lord battled.” Shaoyang Zhenren lowered his eyes. “The place where Qinghua slew the Demon Lord years ago.”

Back then, everyone had been unable to enter the Ruins of Golden Gate and couldn’t know how intense the fierce battle within the Golden Gate Ruins truly was. But now, in the traces left on this cliff wall, before this giant pit created by overwhelming yuanli, beside these broken and damaged magical artifacts, they caught a glimpse of the shadow of that great battle from years past.

Zanxing fell silent.

She had never seen Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang and could only learn what kind of person Gui Diao Tang was from others’ scattered words and phrases. But no amount of others’ descriptions could compare to the powerful feeling she experienced standing before this war halberd herself.

The Menghun Halberd still contained the Demon Lord’s power, creating resonance with her Demon Lord bloodline.

Fu Ronghua cleared his throat lightly: “Those are all matters of the past. What’s done is done, and we need not keep dwelling on former times.” He glanced at Bujiang, fearing this place might awaken Bujiang’s hatred toward the sect and cause her to temporarily side with the demon race in rebellion. His tone was particularly amiable as he said, “The Demon Lord went astray back then, and Qinghua Xianzi’s intervention was to save all living beings. Now that all living beings face danger once again, this time our human race and demon race should share common hatred for the enemy and work together with united hearts – that is the path forward. Isn’t that right, Demon Empress?”

Bujiang let out a sarcastic laugh and ignored his words.

On the other side, Mimi circled that massive deep pit, tentatively extending its claws to scratch at it, appearing somewhat excited as it turned back to look at Zanxing and called out several times.

Gu Baiying was startled: “There’s something inside?”

Everyone paused and carefully approached the giant pit. The moment they drew near, they felt a rich energy emanating from within.

“There is something.” Tian Fangfang was somewhat surprised. “What is this? It looks like… like…” He racked his brains but couldn’t think of an appropriate description for a moment.

“Like a seed.” Meng Ying spoke up.

Deep within the giant pit lay a black round particle quietly. This round particle looked like a massive seed that hadn’t yet sprouted, lying silently in the depths of the pit.

“This seed…” Zanxing’s heart jumped. From this black seed, she sensed an aura identical to the Xiaoyuan Pearl – it wasn’t her imagination.

“This seed is somewhat strange.” Lingxin Daoren frowned. “Should we probe it first? Apart from that cliff wall, there’s nothing else in this place, no sign of the Emperor’s Chess. I think the path to the immortal realm is very likely hidden within this seed.” After saying this, he unhesitatingly gripped his demon-subduing pestle and was about to probe inside.

Lingxin Daoren had always been an impulsive personality. Before Zanxing could call out to stop him, suddenly a strong gust of wind came from behind, carrying fierce killing intent. Her heart was alarmed, and she heard Gu Baiying beside her shout, “Be careful!” When she turned to dodge, with a “bang” sound, Gu Baiying’s Embroidered Bone Spear had already collided with a long sword thrusting from behind.

The collision of spear and sword created yuanli that overturned the surrounding people.

Putao looked at the sword-wielding woman in disbelief and spoke in amazement: “Senior Sister?”

“She’s not your senior sister.” Zanxing turned back to look at the unfamiliar smiling woman before her, her expression turning cold as she spoke word by word: “Isn’t that right? Gui Yansheng.”