The Ancient Ruins and the War Sword

The wooden tablet bore crooked, scrawled characters that were utterly disarming.

The Lost Paradise was filled with heavenly spiritual essences. The little snow-white beast's belly was round, its fur shimmering with crystalline luster as it slumbered soundly beneath a peach tree, huffing contentedly as it slept. Even when surrounded and observed, the little creature cared not and slept deeply.

At the sight of those crooked, scrawled words on the wooden sign, the foreign race kings completely lost their temper. The little beast was clearly determined to outlast them all.

Radiant light flickered around the small creature, safe and unharmed. Xiao Chen finally set his heart at ease.

Or perhaps it should be said that Keke was doing quite well. The Lost Paradise was filled with divine essences of heaven and earth—not only trees born of half-ancestor spiritual energy but also purple diamond yin wood trees, celestial fruit trees, and countless other precious trees Xiao Chen had never seen or heard of, all collected by Keke over so many years.

Through Jin Sanyi’s low muttering, Xiao Chen learned something of Keke’s circumstances:

In all these years, the little one had lived a hermit-like existence, occasionally discovered and immediately moving on. It had been cautious indeed. Though it had run into danger several times, the small creature’s formidable abilities had always seen it safely through the ordeal.

Many sought it, but its tracks were hard to find.

If not for the seal on this ancient ruin breaking open and leaking vast quantities of spiritual energy, drawing Keke here, who knew how many more years it might have taken to meet again?

This ancient ruin was no ordinary place. A foreign race king had accidentally discovered it, drawing the kings of all races here one after another. Without knowing why, the great powers of the hundred races attached great importance to this place, each inventing reasons to claim it as their own.

The Lily race claimed it as their place of origin; the Asura race claimed it as their birthplace; the Sacred Dragon race claimed it as the dragon’s homeland; the Giant race asserted it was their ancestral land; the Angel race named it the site of the ancient paradise; the War God race called it the War God Starfield…

But no matter how they argued, they could not change one fact: a little beast had already claimed this place.

For so many years, the poor little one had lived a wandering life. This time it was uncharacteristically stubborn. Faced with the approaching army of foreign race kings, it would not retreat. Unable to defeat them, it simply hid in the Lost Paradise and refused to come out, spreading its divine realm to block the path—no one could pass.

For years, the little one had heeded Xiao Chen’s dying words: do not casually come out to stir trouble until reaching the half-ancestor realm. The reason it was so insistent this time was that these spiritual essences of heaven and earth were too tempting to the greedy little creature. It would not give them up for anything.

Xiao Chen could not go to acknowledge Keke now. To do so would accomplish nothing and only expose himself. Better to observe quietly and strike at the right moment.

"Roar…"

"Thump!"

A sharp roar from a sacred dragon was followed by the sound of a heavy impact against the ground. A massive winged dragon circling low in the sky was struck down by the dazzling young woman, Snow Dance.

One had to admit, the white-clad girl’s ferocity made even Xiao Chen click his tongue. Like a sylph, she stood barefoot at the stream’s edge, her feet white as jade, and killed the dragon purely through a force field formed by her will and imposing aura.

"Roar…" More than a dozen dragons in the sky roared in fury, their massive bodies writhing like clouds blotting out the sun.

"Snow Dance, you go too far…"

"Contemptible mortal, you have insulted the majesty of the Dragon race!"

Facing the thundering dragon roar, Snow Dance rose straight into the air and shouted, "Shut up!"—her voice drowning out even the sound of more than a dozen dragons.

Jin Sanyi shrank his neck, feeling a chill run down his spine. He mumbled softly, "I think Sister Dance should be called the Dragon Lady… fiercer than the dragons themselves."

A brilliant divine radiance appeared in the sky, centered on Snow Dance, spreading ripples like water waves. The light shot into the heavens, ringing with clear celestial music.

Absolute air-suppression! All the sacred dragons were trapped within. The massive creatures suddenly felt as if plunging into a bog. Then one dragon split apart and plummeted to the ground.

The War Clan king, Jing Pu, rose into the air. His right arm transformed into a heavenly sword and slashed through the void. The rippling light centered on Snow Dance was torn open, and the remaining dozen sacred dragons barely escaped.

The two experts faced off in midair.

Swish!

A vast golden divine light erupted. The immense golden giant king, wielding a golden battle-axe, soared into the sky and confronted War King Jing Pu, unexpectedly siding with Snow Dance.

Swish! Swish!

Figures flickered. The yellow-diamond skeleton from Skeleton Island ascended into the air and stood beside War King Jing. At the same time, the somewhat boyish Zhao Zhongyang soared up, taking his place beside the golden giant king and Snow Dance.

In moments, more than a dozen figures filled the sky, split into two factions facing off—a great battle was about to break out.

Xiao Chen was quite surprised. He had not expected that some races among the hundred would ally with humanity. But it looked more like a temporary union of interests: everyone’s goal was the secret deep within this ancient ruin.

"Ya-ya—fighting again…" A soft, tender voice came from the Lost Paradise. The little snow-white beast, Keke, sat up drowsily, rubbed its large eyes, and shook the wooden tablet carved with crooked words as if in protest.

War King Jing Pu swept his gaze across the four sides and said, "We should band together and kill that snow-white beast. As for our enmities, it is too early to start fighting now…"

"War King speaks wisely. That little beast blocks our path; we should eliminate it first," echoed the yellow-diamond skeleton.

The golden giant king sneered, "It blocks our way to be sure, but it always walks at the very front, breaking many restrictions for us. We have come to seek the lost treasures of our ancestors. Because of bloodline limits, that little beast cannot obtain any of our races’ treasures no matter what."

The giants’ king said this deliberately to win Keke over, hoping to bring this heaven-defying little beast into their camp.

"How do you know there are no other opportunities here? If it always walks ahead, in the end, we will all regret it," War King Jing Pu sneered coldly.

"Ya-ya ya-ya!" The little snow-white beast, furious, waved multicolored divine light from the Lost Paradise, sweeping it toward the sky.

The foreign race kings on Jing Pu’s side joined forces to block the seven-colored radiance. Chaos erupted in the sky. The golden giant king, Zhao Zhongyang, and others began to strike, and a melee broke out.

The sky was filled with interlacing sword qi and divine power; dazzling displays of techniques bloomed everywhere. The void was completely engulfed in a tidal wave of energy. All the kings who had surged into the high sky unleashed their ultimate arts, acting as if they were ready to fight to the death.

Rather than a battle for the treasures of the ancient ruins, it was more like settling grievances between races—each fell upon their hated enemies.

Xiao Chen watched from afar. He could see that Zhao Zhongyang was not ordinary. Though he still seemed a bit immature, his combat power was terrifying. Divine light burst from every one of his acupoints. Even standing still, he could kill enemies; every inch of his skin held terrifying strength.

Each beam of divine light pierced through the void. No one could fight him at close quarters. To him, there was little difference between one enemy and a dozen.

The dozen sacred dragons in the sky were almost all killed by him in an instant. Every massive body was pierced through, rolling and crashing to the earth.

Seeing both sides at war, the little beast Keke grew calm again, as if it had already grown accustomed to this.

But Xiao Chen’s mind stirred. He needed to refine Life-Source Liquid to resurrect. Was this not his opportunity? Glancing at the unmoving War God, Asura, and other powerful kings of the dominant races, he strode boldly into the center of the field.

The bodies of more than a dozen sacred dragons were collected into his spatial ring—this was a new ring he had brought from the death world; the previous one had shattered when carrying dragon corpses across the great barrier. His actions confused many. Only the yellow-diamond skeleton in the sky felt a pang of regret, for those corpses had been his intended targets.

Ignoring everyone, Xiao Chen sped far away and began to refine the divine liquid ten li off.

Three hours later, all the life essence of a massive sacred dragon was refined into liquid, while part of its soul energy was also absorbed by Xiao Chen.

Looking at the crystalline sacred liquid in the porcelain bottle, Xiao Chen felt a surge of gratification. Perhaps several dozen such bottles would allow him to truly revive.

He rose and quickly dashed deeper into the ruins. The great battle had long since ended, and the others had already pressed forward. The little beast Keke had withdrawn the Lost Paradise and was advancing into the depths of the ancient ruins.

This ancient ruin was unfathomably deep. The group advanced haltingly for days without reaching the end.

Apart from the little white beast harvesting two more spirit roots, the kings still had nothing to show. Over these days, Xiao Chen refined all the sacred dragon corpses into sacred liquid.

Moreover, he fully absorbed them. In just a few days, his soul force grew stronger, and the aura of life in his body became even more intense. He could clearly feel his harmony with heaven and earth increasing, to the point where he could gradually operate the ancient stele cultivation method.

The fire-seed had long since overflowed from his skull, forming a human-shaped soul that dwelled within his yellow-diamond skeleton. His powerful soul force, like true flesh and blood, thickened and condensed further.

On the fifth day, the kings discovered something astonishing in the ancient ruins.

A great stone tower stood in the pure land ahead, hundreds of zhang high, covered in powerful sealing energy. The little beast Keke passed by it indifferently, not bothering to compete.

When the kings battered open the stone tower with all their might, a beam of light shot into the sky. The stone tower had sealed a War Sword!

Several dozen figures soared into the air, all chasing after the War Sword.

Xiao Chen walked at the very rear. The moment he saw this, his expression grew grave.

This War Sword was no different from those he had lost in the Dead City, nor did it have any distinction from the twenty-four fixed in the stone statue.

But this one was definitely not among those he had seen before, because it had been sealed in this stone tower for who knows how many years.

Just how many War Swords were there?

Could it truly be as the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden had predicted? The Great Expansion number is fifty; the ones used number forty-nine. If so, the origin and power of these War Swords were unimaginable.

This mysterious ancient ruin held no telling how many secrets. They seemed to be still at the edge, and yet a weapon like a War Sword had already appeared. The deepest reaches were surely something else. The veil had only just been lifted from one corner.