The Great Moon Slope — this was a place of peculiar nature.
The terrain was not particularly steep, shaped like a half-moon from which it drew its name. It looked desolate, not a blade of grass growing upon it, stretching vast and wide.
Legend had it that this place was once where ancient beasts drew close to the divine, though no one knew how it had evolved into its current state — utterly lifeless and steeped in death.
Whether day or night, it remained perpetually shrouded in grey, with drifting mist and dim scenery submerged in a dull haze.
When Ye Fan and the others stepped into this region, they could see not a single plant, not a single ant or insect — all living things had vanished, not even birds flew over this place.
The Great Moon Slope was bleak and desolate, as though no one had set foot here in hundreds of thousands of years. Silent and without sound, it was a forsaken land.
Yet according to the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, this slope had not always been this way. Certain ancient beast elders had spoken of some tales — the Great Moon Slope had once been an important site in the age of mythology, nothing like the wasteland it was today.
There had once been an age of mythology? This was bewildering. What could have happened to the Great Moon Slope to reduce it to this forsaken place?
Snow-white bones, one after another, rotting corpses, one after another — they appeared intermittently on the ground. Mist curled around them; though it was broad noon, it felt as though dusk had come.
This region was heavy with yin energy. Both Ye Fan and Long Ma remained vigilant, not completely trusting the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon. The ferocious beast loudly protested its innocence, insisting it harbored no ill intentions whatsoever.
Having learned of Ye Fan and Long Ma’s origins, the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon had made up its mind to follow them, putting away the various stray thoughts that had once occupied it.
Against the backdrop of an impending war on the stellar ancient path, it felt that staying close to a despicable dragon like Long Ma and an unfathomable Sacred Physique like Ye Fan would be comparatively safer.
Whoosh!
A divine light flickered in the distance and was gone. Even through the layers of thick mist, it could not escape Ye Fan’s Heaven-Penetrating Divine Eyes. Having already become a Saint, more of his body’s treasure doors had opened, his spiritual senses ever more acute.
Two hundred li away, a powerful creature moved with startling swiftness, transforming into a beam of light that sliced across the silent land.
“Didn’t you say this place had no living creatures?” Long Ma was suspicious, afraid the crocodile dragon was setting a trap.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was equally puzzled. It offered a sincere explanation and pressed forward to investigate, wanting to understand what was going on.
Ahead, the mist grew even thicker, grey as leaden clouds pressing down. The bones on the ground were numerous, long since rotted — stepping on them produced cracking sounds before they disintegrated instantly.
“A stone wolf!”
Ye Fan’s heart sank and a strange expression crossed his face. With the Tenth City and this ancient star already saturated with tension and dread — a Sacred Spirit soon to come and attack — the appearance of a stone wolf here was absolutely no good omen.
Sacred Spirits were born of heaven and earth, sheltered by the heavens from the moment of their birth, each one immeasurably powerful.
Yet fate was a difficult thing to read clearly. The more the heavens favored them, granting them battle power that shocked the world, the more prone they were to mishap.
This stone wolf had a fate riddled with misfortune. It had not taken human form, and its wolf body bore significant flaws — something had gone wrong during its gestation. It was far from complete perfection, having arrived in this world hundreds of thousands of years too early.
It had only three legs, and its skull bore a terrifying crack. Yet even so, tides of blood energy surged within its body, containing an ocean of sacred blood and vital essence that could crash forward like a tsunami at any moment.
“Saint realm — it will not be easy to deal with,” Long Ma’s expression grew grave.
No one wished to face a Sacred Spirit. These beings were innately powerful from birth, commanding many heaven-defying laws, and in battles among peers they were virtually invincible — sweeping enemies away like dead branches and withered leaves.
They advanced for over eight hundred li, gradually approaching the depths of the Great Moon Slope. The grey mist had thinned somewhat, and some features of the barren horizon became visible.
“An ancient fortress — there’s actually an ancient fortress!” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s expression changed drastically as it let out an involuntary cry of alarm.
It was a magnificent ancient fortress, like the dwelling of a demon god, engraved with the traces of countless ages, radiating an aura of grandeur and might as it sat upon the land.
“Didn’t you say there were no living creatures in the Great Moon Slope?” Long Ma voiced its suspicion again.
“Based on everything I knew, that was indeed the case. But clearly something strange has occurred here — something has changed. This has made me think of certain legends.” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s expression shifted between light and shadow.
“Legends? Don’t tell me they’re connected to the age of mythology,” Long Ma shot it a sidelong glance.
“That’s exactly what they’re connected to,” the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon said gravely.
“Then tell us about them,” Ye Fan indicated, urging it to speak plainly. The Great Moon Slope was a peculiar place, holding the most ancient secrets of this ancient star — there were bound to be many untold stories.
“According to the old tales, every several hundred thousand years, when cracks appear in the burial ground of gods and ghosts, magnificent ancient fortresses and other such anomalous phenomena appear alongside them.” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon shared some of the tales it knew.
This was a forsaken land with extremely ancient history, ordinarily supremely still — nothing within it but grey mist and deathly silence.
Only in special eras would anomalous scenes appear, manifesting the various ancient vestiges from before the Primordial Age. Since legend claimed this place had seen glorious events in the age of mythology, it was not difficult to draw the inference: this place had buried the past — interring everything from the mythological age before the Primordial Age.
Some believed that within the burial ground of gods and ghosts there were terrifying things, secrets unknown to the world, things that had not entirely ended. Those who ventured inside might obtain ancient artifacts, and it might even prove to be a great fortune.
“An ancient land sealed by time,” Ye Fan murmured. He was thinking of many things.
Deep within the universe, a Sacred Spirit was about to lead a vast army to attack the ancient path of the human race. Already one or two holy cities had been destroyed, and stretches of the ancient path had been severed.
No war was without cause — it was driven either by hatred or by interest, by the desire to obtain something supremely precious.
Now, seeing a stone wolf come here to scout, Ye Fan had reason to believe the situation was growing ever more complex. The Sacred Spirit’s campaign against the human race’s ancient path harbored no small ambition.
The age of mythology was long, and there were many forsaken lands. This place was certainly one of the Sacred Spirit’s targets — but not its only one. Presumably, along the ancient path, such places were not few.
“What is the Sacred Spirit searching for?” Ye Fan murmured.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was well-informed — this ancient star had an extraordinary heritage that had never declined, and it had heard many secrets from the ancient saints of previous generations.
“I once heard that before the Primordial Age, in the age of mythology, there existed heaven-defying ancient techniques that could allow a flawed Sacred Spirit to achieve perfection through effort. That was an age where one could draw close to divinity.”
Could the Sacred Spirit that had appeared in the depths of the universe be searching for these things? This was cause for both alertness and unease.
“This is an ancient path belonging to the human race. I believe the human race’s strength is by no means weak. Surely someone has long since perceived the Sacred Spirit’s intentions. But we can’t worry too much about any of that now — the most important thing is to work as hard as possible to elevate our own strength.”
They whispered quietly among themselves while moving in concealment, advancing without sound or trace to the depths of the Great Moon Slope.
The ancient fortress was immense, boundless in its grandeur, and from within came sounds like the wailing cries of gods and demons — supremely terrifying.
Yet each time they drew near, the fortress dimmed and faded, unstable in its manifestation, dissolving into a phantom — impossible to enter.
Ahead, the stone wolf was doing the same — making multiple attempts without success. It had already reached the very center of the slope.
“There is a massive gateway over there!”
The ancient fortress and other formations had vanished. A towering stone gate stood closed, rising from the land to a height of several hundred zhang — as though constructed specifically for gods and demons.
Behind it was no structure at all. It connected to empty void, as though one could use it to enter another world entirely.
“I understand now — whether the fortress from before or this pair of great gates, they are all entrances. Passing through them, one can enter the burial ground of gods and ghosts.” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon came to a startled realization.
“Look — there is a formation over there, and a sacred beast is attending to it,” Long Ma said.
Before the massive gateway, layers upon layers of dao markings had been laid down, each point glimmering with a faint flowing light like a shimmering expanse of water, connecting toward the great gate.
A wild fox was there, guarding this formation with focused concentration. Before it sat a stone sacrificial altar, upon which rested a golden, brilliantly radiant divine egg.
“The offspring of a Tyrant Dragon!” The expressions of Ye Fan and the others shifted at once. In that instant they knew — this golden dragon egg’s origin was unmistakable.
A wild fox guarding a stone altar on which a golden divine egg was placed, facing the towering stone gate — the scene was bewilderingly strange.
This wild fox was powerful, a sacred beast, its blood energy reined tightly within. Yet its terrifying aura could still be sensed. In this desolate, lifeless place, it had no need to conceal its cultivation.
The stone wolf arrived at this location, and the wild fox immediately approached to meet it. They exchanged whispers, communicating through divine sense, discussing something.
It was evident — the Beastly Saint King Tuolan and the offspring of a Great Saint-level Tyrant Dragon were here because of the cooperation between powerful beings on this ancient star and the Sacred Spirit forces from beyond. The egg had been stolen and brought here to serve some great purpose.
“This egg is extraordinary — even the shell is covered in wisps of divine markings. Those are clearly the imprints of a Great Saint,” Long Ma said, shaken.
Even the offspring of a Sacred Beast, though destined to be powerful and different from all others, could not bear divine markings like these while still in the egg — those only gradually emerged as one grew up and slowly transformed into a Sacred Beast.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s voice trembled: “Several years ago, the ruler of this ancient star — the Great Saint-level Tyrant Dragon sovereign — passed away in a seated meditation. It is said that in the moment before death, it unleashed heaven-defying divine powers, transmitting the fruit of its entire lifetime of cultivation to its descendants, hoping to perfect them.”
“That’s supremely heaven-defying — using the entire lifetime of cultivation of a Great Saint as a vessel to nurture another. The future achievements of this divine egg once it hatches into a young tyrant dragon will be beyond reckoning!” Long Ma exclaimed. Using a Great Saint’s entire lifetime of Dao attainment as a sacrificial offering — this was truly an attempt to defy heaven itself.
“It is likely precisely because of this that this divine egg was plundered and brought here,” Ye Fan said.
The wild fox chanted an incantation. The stone altar lit up, and the golden divine egg instantly radiated boundless immortal brilliance — brilliant and dazzling, golden divine light overflowing like rippling waves.
Layer upon layer of dao markings interlaced. The entire formation reawakened, connecting toward the towering stone gate as rumbling sounds rang out from it.
The stone gate connecting to the burial ground of gods and ghosts trembled violently, emitting grinding sounds as a tremendous force set it in motion, slowly causing it to move and open a crack.
“They want to open the burial ground of the mythological age!” Ye Fan’s expression changed. This was absolutely a terrifying forsaken land.
He seized a favorable position and signaled to Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon to spread out, preparing to cut off the retreat of the stone wolf and wild fox.