Chapter 2774: Ancient Desolate Ruins City
Zhang Ruochen took out a Message Light Talisman and sent it flying.
"Snap!"
It flew only a short distance before the talisman's light dimmed and fell to the ground.
"Here, darkness completely devours light. Message Light Talismans cannot be used," Yan Wushen said.
Zhang Ruochen had been testing exactly that. Frowning, he said, "This place is boundless, with no reference points. Moreover, spiritual power and vision are severely affected. If we lose our way, we might be trapped here forever."
"Do you have any ideas?" Yan Wushen asked.
Zhang Ruochen set up a Space Teleportation Array on the ground.
But the array failed to activate.
"It seems the darkness not only devours light but also suppresses space," Zhang Ruochen said with a bitter smile. His reverence grew stronger, and he repeatedly told himself that this place had buried many Heavenly Venerable-level figures—an extremely dangerous location.
Be careful. He had to be careful.
The group dared not linger long and pressed on toward the Ancient Desolate Ruins City.
Before entering the Abyss of Darkness, Zhang Ruochen had learned about the Ancient Desolate Ruins City from the Yama Clan.
Wu Qingzong, the patriarch of the Dark Abyss Yan Clan, had once reached this place. But upon seeing the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, he immediately turned back without venturing further.
He only said it was the ruins of a city left from the ancient desolate era.
He said nothing else.
Seeing the harsh environment here, Zhang Ruochen found it hard to imagine why anyone would build a city in such a dark place. Why build it?
Who built it?
When Zhang Ruochen laid eyes on the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, all these questions vanished from his mind. He was utterly stunned, his body numb, unable to speak.
"Thud!"
Beside him, a Supreme Realm Great Saint knelt and kowtowed toward the distant city.
Affected by the darkness, he couldn't see the city's full form, but he could feel terrifying auras emanating from it—ancient desolate qi and divine qi.
Beneath the broken city walls lay massive divine corpses, each exuding powerful energy, their bodies undecayed.
No one knew how many millions of years they had lain there.
There was a human god with a pierced chest, his divine body towering thousands of feet high. There was a Phoenix Clan god whose feathers had turned gray, dead in some unknown era. When the wind blew, it stirred up a layer of gray dust, and his divine body decayed into soil.
There was a bull-like god, only half remaining, its horns sharp, demonic energy surging.
...
This didn't look like a city at all. It was more like a dumping ground for gods since ancient times.
Yan Wushen said, "The patriarch said that when these gods were alive, they were at least Great Gods, each having survived an Eon Calamity. The Ancient Desolate Ruins City is a boundary. Cross this boundary, and the strong are killed, their bodies thrown into the city. When the city couldn't hold more, they piled up outside."
"Since ancient times, nine out of ten strong beings who entered the Abyss of Darkness have their corpses here. Some have been piled up for over a hundred million years, even a billion years, until the divine bodies decayed."
"None of them were weak when alive."
"The patriarch said he didn't dare enter the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. Just as he was about to cross the city gate, he received a voice left by the old patriarch a hundred thousand years ago, telling him to retreat immediately. Only cultivators who haven't survived an Eon Calamity might cross the Ancient Desolate Ruins City and survive."
"Because the taboos here don't even bother with the weak, just like ants crawling under our feet—they can't be bothered to crush them."
The sight was too shocking. Even if spread, no cultivator would believe it.
Zhang Ruochen couldn't calm the turmoil in his heart for a long time.
Yan Wushen said, "In truth, with our cultivation, coming here is still extremely dangerous, practically seeking death. But we have reasons we must come, so we have to take the risk."
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, gradually steadying himself, and forced a smile: "If not for the Severing Dao Curse, I would turn back immediately and not set foot here until I become a God Venerable."
In his view, any forbidden land in the world paled in comparison to this.
On some divine corpses outside the city, Zhang Ruochen saw serpent-like aberrant beasts. He said softly, "Better not enter the city. Let's go around it and head straight for the Great Nether Mountain."
Yan Wushen shook his head and sighed, "We can't go around. This city wasn't built by mortals. The patriarch suspects it was built by a Heavenly Venerable-level existence. Going around would take millions of miles, and it gets more dangerous the farther you go. Conversely, passing through the city is safer for us."
"Aberrant beasts can't enter the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, at least not the serpent-like ones."
Zhang Ruochen looked around warily and said, "No, if True Gods had reached the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, they would surely wait outside. Why don't we see them?"
"And Blood Butcher is missing too!"
Yan Ting's face changed color. "With Blood Butcher's courage, seeing such a sight, he wouldn't dare enter the city alone. Could he have been eaten by the aberrant beasts?"
In Zhang Ruochen's field of vision alone, there were twelve serpent-like aberrant beasts. Some had tiger heads, some scorpion tails, some had wings...
And they had already noticed Zhang Ruochen's group, slowly approaching.
"Let's go. Enter the city first. If these serpent-like aberrant beasts surround us, we'll die without a burial place."
Yan Wushen released Saint Qi, enveloping the Yama Clan cultivators, then burst into extreme speed, turning into a golden light charging toward the city gate of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City.
The so-called city gate was just four or five giant stone pillars standing there, as tall as mountains.
"Roar!"
A winged serpent aberrant beast, its wings like two black clouds, swooped down from the sky.
Its cry was sharper than a False God's divine roar, shaking the Yama Clan cultivators pale.
"Whoosh!"
The Diamond Moon Wheel flew into the sky, a hundred meters in diameter, crashing into the winged serpent aberrant beast, making it howl in pain and fly sideways.
But its defense was strong. Taking a hit from a Supreme Sacred Artifact, it only lost four scales.
"You go first. I'll hold them off."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Red Son Sword, suspending it between his hands. It burst with bright blood light and flew toward the tiger-headed serpent aberrant beast charging from the left.
Yan Wushen looked back and saw Zhang Ruochen surrounded by four serpent-like aberrant beasts. Gratitude flashed in his eyes, and he sped toward the city gate even faster.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
Zhang Ruochen controlled four Supreme Sacred Artifacts at once, fighting while retreating. But the number of serpent-like aberrant beasts was too great, and they were powerful. Soon, he was surrounded.
Unwilling to reveal the God-Defying Stele easily in front of others, he fought with extreme difficulty.
Hai Shui clung tightly to Zhang Ruochen's back, holding his clothes, the Flame God Armor covering her body, never leaving the protection of the Eternal Return One Dao Domain.
"You can use the power of the Arhat White Pearl. These serpent-like aberrant beasts should fear it," she said softly.
Zhang Ruochen channeled Saint Qi into the Arhat White Pearl hanging around his neck. Instantly, dazzling white light radiated in all directions, illuminating the endless darkness.
All the serpent-like aberrant beasts, having never seen such brilliant light, had their eyes bleed when struck. They wailed and retreated.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Ruochen wrapped one arm around Hai Shui's slender waist and shot toward the city gate at incredible speed.
The moment he passed through the city gate, Zhang Ruochen felt his body sink as countless forces converged from all directions, pressing down on him.
It was divine might.
Though the gods were dead, their might remained.
Countless gods had been buried in the Ancient Desolate Ruins City since ancient times. These divine mights stacked together. An ordinary Saint Realm cultivator coming here would instantly kneel.
Landing on the ground, Zhang Ruochen and Hai Shui looked back.
The serpent-like aberrant beasts could only roar in fury, not daring to enter the city.
More and more serpent-like aberrant beasts gathered. Zhang Ruochen breathed a sigh of relief, glad he had used the Arhat White Pearl to escape. If he had delayed any longer, even using the God-Defying Stele might not have let him break through the encirclement.
Hai Shui broke free from Zhang Ruochen's embrace, her expression always calm.
Zhang Ruochen, on the other hand, felt quite awkward. The situation had been urgent, and he hadn't thought much of it.
A monk couldn't just hug people casually.
Although he was known as the Romantic Sword God, aside from Lian Xi, he had never actively flirted with or provoked any woman.
Hai Shui said, "The Yama Clan cultivators seem to have gone ahead without waiting for us."
"Impossible. Yan Wushen is not that kind of person..."
Zhang Ruochen's voice caught in his throat because he indeed couldn't see any trace of the Yama Clan cultivators.
Aside from the cries of the serpent-like aberrant beasts outside, the city was eerily silent, with no sound at all.
"No, something must have happened. Entering the city should be safe. Even if Yan Wushen didn't come back to help me, he wouldn't leave." Zhang Ruochen searched the ground for traces of the Yama Clan cultivators, intending to follow them.
Hai Shui said, "Perhaps you were being used all along. The Yama Clan just wanted to borrow your strength to get through the outer reaches of the Abyss of Darkness. Once you reached the Ancient Desolate Ruins City, you lost your value."
On the ground, Zhang Ruochen found no traces at all, as if the Yama Clan cultivators had never passed this way.
But he had clearly seen Yan Wushen leading everyone through the city gate.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. Beneath a giant stone eight hundred meters high, he spotted a three-inch-long five-colored sword mark.
He touched it with his finger and breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been worried about Bore, Gu Shejing, Xiao Hei, and the others. Seeing this five-colored sword mark, he finally relaxed.
The mark was left by Bore, bearing the aura of the Five-Colored Stone Sword.
Clearly, they had arrived first.
Following the direction the sword tip pointed would lead him to them.
Hai Shui asked, "What did you find?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly, having already erased the mark with that touch. He said, "This Ancient Desolate Ruins City is quite strange. We must be careful. I suspect some True Gods have already arrived here first. The sudden disappearance of the Yama Clan cultivators might be related to the True Gods."
Since Bore and the others had already arrived, True Gods from other factions had likely come as well.