Ye Chu’s gaze swept across the stone tablets. Every name carved upon them had once shaken entire regions and made the world tremble. Yet now their tablets stood right before him. Whether these were truly tombstones or not was unclear, but if they were, the implications were staggering.
Any one of these figures had been a supreme existence who dominated their domain. Together, they could have intimidated an entire realm. Yet here they all were, gathered in this place.
“This is not a place you should be.”
A voice suddenly rang out behind Ye Chu. He turned and saw Ji Die standing gracefully before him. Her snow-white chiffon dress was somewhat dishevelled. The hem reached her thighs, accentuating her long, slender legs even more strikingly white and alluring. A belt cinched her waist, making it appear impossibly soft and supple. Her long hair draped over her full, proud chest. Her figure was curvaceous and enchanting. Yet at this moment, her flawless, beautiful face was slightly pale. Her gaze rested on the stone tablets, her expression equally complex.
After speaking those words, Ji Die paid him no further attention. Ye Chu shrugged indifferently. He knew in her eyes he was nothing more than a background character.
His gaze swept over her stunning features before subtly moving away. He thought to himself that her former fiancé was truly useless. Even resorting to force had failed. What a pity. Such a peerless beauty, and yet he had let her slip away.
“Is this the tombstone of the Ye family’s founding ancestor?” Ye Chu asked Ji Die, unconcerned by her disregard.
Ji Die glanced at him and actually answered. “Throughout the ages, every supreme powerhouse who entered the Ancient Nightmare Forbidden Land would leave a stone tablet here beforehand. It symbolises their own tombstone. Because none of them had any confidence they could enter and come out alive.”
With that, Ji Die stepped forward and walked deeper into the mountain.
“Hey!” Ye Chu’s heart skipped a beat. “Even supreme powerhouses had no confidence in surviving inside, yet you dare enter? Are you trying to die?”
“Once you reach this point, the only way out is to go deeper. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped here forever and die. The countless bones you saw along the way—what do they represent? They were all people trapped inside who perished.” Ji Die did not turn back. Her steps quickened as she continued forward.
Hearing her words, Ye Chu paused for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth and followed.
As soon as they entered the peak, a wave of sinister energy rushed towards them. Ye Chu could not help shivering. The yin-cold aura felt as though it were invading his body. Fear and oppression surged in his heart. Before his eyes appeared endless illusions: people devouring each other, rivers of blood flowing, scenes of savage cruelty like a living hell.
Ye Chu knew these were illusions, yet he was completely immersed in them. All kinds of violent, brutal emotions gathered in his mind, threatening to consume his sanity. His eyes turned blood-red, filled with murderous thirst. He bared his teeth and claws, lunging forward savagely and viciously.
The sinister aura continued seeping into his body. The illusions in his mind grew clearer, as though they were truly happening. In one vision, someone tore out their own heart, blood dripping, and devoured it with their mouth.
Ye Chu’s hand slowly moved towards his own chest. This violent madness was causing him to lose himself. Only the most savage, tyrannical emotions remained. His fingers pressed against his chest. His nails dug into his flesh.
At this moment, Ye Chu could no longer feel pain. The last sliver of rationality struggled to hold on, but the violent, twisted emotions had taken control. His true self could not resist.
Ye Chu’s heart filled with terror and panic. He knew exactly what this motion meant.
Just as he panicked, a cool sensation flowed from his arm into his primordial spirit. Like icy spring water, it washed over him. The violent emotions vanished instantly. In their place came an overwhelming sorrow—the grief of life and death parting. Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes, crystalline like raindrops falling one by one.
Ye Chu did not know why he felt such sorrow, yet the tears poured like rain. Grief flooded his heart. He wanted to wail aloud.
This heart-rending sorrow enveloped him. Yet at the same time, Ye Chu could feel his primordial spirit growing stronger. It circulated faster along the black iron patterns. In a short time, the great cultivator’s Primordial Spirit True Source was completely absorbed by Ye Chu. His strength surged again, faintly reaching the bottleneck of the seventh layer of the Innate Realm.
But Ye Chu felt no joy. The ceaseless tears falling from his eyes made his back run cold. His face turned pale.
“The Supreme Being’s will has fused into his primordial spirit!”
This was terrifying. His primordial spirit had been tainted by a Supreme Being’s will. It would not be long before it was slowly assimilated, leading him to lose himself completely.
And that time would not be long—perhaps a month, perhaps half a year. Ye Chu could not be sure. But he knew clearly: the faster his strength grew, the faster he would lose himself.
Before this, Ye Chu had not been too worried about losing himself. After all, there was still time. But now, he might not even make it to the Ruo Water Clan.
The cool sensation from his arm spread quickly. Ye Chu took a deep breath and looked towards the deep peak ahead.
Rumour had it that the Ye family’s founding ancestor had found a method to suppress a Supreme Being’s will inside this place. Since he had come here, he might as well search for it.
After hesitating, Ye Chu finally gritted his teeth and cast aside his fear. If death was inevitable, what did it matter if it came a few months earlier?
This was the core of the Ancient Nightmare Forbidden Land. Ji Die’s figure was ahead, her jade bracelet shining brightly, protecting her entire body. Whenever desiccated corpses appeared, she easily shook them to death.
Following behind her, Ye Chu encountered far fewer troubles.
“Boom… boom…”
Not long after Ye Chu and Ji Die ventured deeper, the mountain peak began to shake. A terrifying aura erupted. As the energy surged, the terrain of the peak shifted. Terrifying power rolled forth. Peerless majesty exploded.
Ji Die’s expression changed drastically. She tightly gripped a bluestone. Her feet dangled in the air as the peak split open with massive fissures.
Ye Chu also clung desperately to a giant rock. Looking down at the ten-thousand-zhang-deep chasms below, his face turned pale.
“Crack…”
The giant rock he was holding suddenly broke and fell into the fissure. Ye Chu was horrified. His body twisted violently. He kicked off the falling rock and used the force to leap onto another massive stone on the peak.
The broken rock smashed into the fissure and shattered instantly with a piercing sound. The peak beneath Ye Chu continued to twist and shift, gradually forming a patterned shape.
The rumbling continued without end. The peak rolled like a giant dragon. The giant rocks Ye Chu clung to were constantly pushed upward. Looking down from above, Ye Chu saw a scene that left him utterly shocked.
The shifting terrain had transformed into a ten-thousand-zhang giant tiger, a ten-thousand-zhang giant dragon, a ten-thousand-zhang majestic lion—various ferocious beasts gathered together, roaring and clawing, all facing one direction. They completely surrounded that area.
No one could imagine how majestic and shocking dozens of ten-thousand-zhang ferocious beasts were. And the position where they stood—Ye Chu faintly sensed it was a grand array.