Chapter 2801: Heavenly Gate
There was indeed a footprint.
If one did not look at it, it was fine. But once they stared at the footprint, it was as if they had been bewitched, their soul about to be pulled out.
It was just a footprint like that of a normal human, yet it was like an endless abyss. The more one looked, the deeper it became, the larger it grew. The sky spun, the earth rotated, and the entire person felt as if they were about to be devoured by it.
Just as Zhang Ruochen leaned forward, about to fall into the footprint, Chi Yao's cold hand grabbed his wrist.
Zhang Ruochen recovered and dared not look at the footprint again. His heart pounded like a war drum.
"Boom!"
Xue Butcher fell to the ground, his face landing on the footprint. His hands flailed about, like a drowning man, unable to get up no matter how hard he tried.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed him and pulled him up.
Xue Butcher gasped for air, immediately moving far away from that footprint.
"Too sinister! How could it be so terrifying? It was just a footprint, yet it nearly killed a True God. If Senior Brother hadn't saved me just now, I'm afraid I would never have been able to get up." Xue Butcher spoke with lingering fear.
Chi Yao said, "The footprint still contains residual soul aura and mental remnant power of the Yan Clan's old Patriarch. You should be grateful that it has been a hundred thousand years, and the power contained in the footprint has greatly diminished."
Xue Butcher immediately closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Even with its power greatly diminished, it's still this formidable. The old Patriarch truly deserves to be called a figure who dominated an era. He is the role model of my life, Xue Butcher."
Zhang Ruochen thought carefully and said, "Such a footprint cannot be left casually. I think the Yan Clan's old Patriarch left this footprint with a profound meaning, most likely because..."
He paused mid-sentence.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen moved with incredible speed, reaching a hundred miles away, appearing at the spot where the extraordinarily beautiful woman had stood earlier.
Sure enough, there was also a footprint on the ground.
Xue Butcher chased after him and said, "Senior Brother, don't look. This woman's cultivation is probably not inferior to the old Patriarch's."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Just as I thought! This footprint has an extremely strong aura of death. It must have been left by an ancient powerhouse of the Underworld Clan."
"Yinxue Tian?"
Chi Yao's soul perception was far superior to Zhang Ruochen's and Xue Butcher's. She observed the footprint on the ground but did not dare get too close.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Calculating the time, it could only be her. If it were too long ago, it would be almost impossible to cross time and space to seize the Arhat White Pearl."
Xue Butcher said, "You two, stop discussing this. These Heaven-level existences are all immensely powerful and unfathomable. Talking about them in the places they've passed through might very well be sensed by them. What if they cross time and space again and attack? How could we withstand it? We can't afford to offend them. Truly, we can't afford to!"
"It's not that exaggerated."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Whether it's Yinxue Tian or the old Patriarch, not every footprint they leave has such power. If I'm not mistaken, when Yinxue Tian left a special footprint here back then, it must have been for some purpose."
"Just like back then, when Wuqing Zong heard the old Patriarch's voice transmitted to him across time and space outside the city gate of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. It must have been because the old Patriarch left a similar footprint at the city gate. When Wuqing Zong arrived there, it triggered the time-space, allowing the old Patriarch from a hundred thousand years ago to sense it and then transmit his voice to him."
"Yinxue Tian was able to hear our conversation from hundreds of thousands of years ago, precisely because the place where we talked was near this footprint she left. Moreover, we said something unfavorable to the Nether Hall, which caused her to sense it."
"A hundred thousand years ago, the old Patriarch passed by here, discovered the footprint left by Yinxue Tian, and so left his own footprint here as well."
Chi Yao nodded and said, "They left footprints here, essentially using the footprints to perceive the future. Why would they want to perceive the future here? Could it be that they sensed something would happen here in the future?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were sharp and wise. "Perhaps they realized that continuing forward would be very dangerous. So, they left footprints here to perceive the future, wanting to know if their future selves would return alive to this place."
"That possibility is very high!" Chi Yao said.
Xue Butcher said, "Forget about the footprints and time-space. Let's not speculate about the actions of beings at that level. Let's hurry up and leave! Since the figures of Yinxue Tian and the old Patriarch have appeared, at least it shows we've come to the right place."
The three continued forward. The light blue glow in the western sky grew brighter and brighter.
Gradually, there were no more divine corpses on the ground.
Only occasionally could some bones that had not completely decayed be found in the soil.
The fragrance grew stronger and stronger.
Zhang Ruochen continuously absorbed the fragrance into his body and found that the mental power thoughts within his Sacred Heart became more active, and his mental power strength slowly increased. This made him even more convinced that it was the scent of the Udumbara Flower.
The fact that the flower's fragrance could drift millions of miles away showed just how rare and precious the Udumbara Flower was. It was undoubtedly a divine medicine.
After who knows how many days, the three of them finally arrived at the base of the two heavenly pillars.
The heavenly pillars emitted a glassy luster, with a diameter as large as a mountain, rising into the clouds and mist.
The two pillars were eight hundred miles apart, with a faint glassy light curtain in between. The pillars were inlaid with many gems, which turned out to be star cores.
At the base of the two heavenly pillars were broken walls and ruins, a scene of desolation.
Arriving here, Zhang Ruochen felt as if he were being crushed by an immense gravitational force, turning him into a mere mortal, extremely uncomfortable.
"It really looks like a gate. What kind of place is this?"
Xue Butcher entered the ruins and searched around, growing more astonished with each discovery.
"Broken walls forged from Fire Cloud Gold."
"Window frames carved from Divine Wood."
"Shattered tiles cast from Azure Ice Divine Jade."
...
Xue Butcher found that the remnants in the ruins were all made of rare and precious materials, even better than those used to build the Destiny Temple and the Undying Divine Temple. He wanted to collect them, but he found that space was almost frozen, making it impossible to open the internal spaces of various treasures.
"This is the Heavenly Gate! The legendary, lost Heavenly Gate." Chi Yao murmured.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Heavenly Gate? It sounds familiar, like I've heard of it somewhere."
"Heavenly Gate?"
Xue Butcher exclaimed, looking up at the two heavenly pillars. "It does resemble the records. But why are only two pillars left?"
Zhang Ruochen remembered.
The Heavenly Gate was the gate to the Saint Realm.
A hundred thousand years ago, the Heavenly Court did not yet exist.
The great world where the Heavenly Court is now located was once called the Saint Realm.
Cultivators from all realms of the universe who reached the Saint Realm could ascend to the Saint Realm to cultivate.
To enter the Saint Realm, one had to pass through the Heavenly Gate.
A hundred thousand years ago, during the great calamity of the world, the Saint Realm was destroyed by an unknown force, and the Heavenly Gate disappeared along with it.
A thought simultaneously arose in the minds of the three: "Could the destruction of the Saint Realm be related to the Abyss of Darkness?"
After a long silence, Xue Butcher said gloomily, "Senior Brother, if we take the Heavenly Gate out and sell it to the Heavenly Palace, how many Divine Stones do you think we could get?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and looked toward the interior through the glassy light curtain between the two pillars.
The glassy light curtain was very faint, allowing a vague view of what was inside.
It seemed to be a massive structure, even taller than the two pillars, but it was unclear.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward but was pulled back by Chi Yao.
She shook her head at him and said, "This place is eerie. Even Heaven-level powerhouses are wary. Your cultivation is too low. It's better not to enter. Wait for me outside."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes showed confusion. He didn't understand why Chi Yao was doing this.
Was it for another purpose, or was she truly worried about his safety?
He turned around and pulled her back. "Since even Heaven-level powerhouses are wary, then it doesn't matter which of us goes in. This matter has nothing to do with you. You are the one who should least enter. But I must go in."
Zhang Ruochen was actually very clear-headed. Even after learning that Bore was Chi Yao, he could still remain calm and get along with her openly. This already showed that the hatred and obsession in his heart had long been let go.
All that remained were a few questions.
And these questions, he actually already had answers in his heart. He just needed to confirm them.
Chi Yao said, "I'll go with you! Since we've already entered the Abyss of Darkness, what's a mere Heavenly Gate?"
Zhang Ruochen gazed into her eyes, using the Heart of Truth to perceive. He found that every word she spoke came from the heart. He didn't believe that, with his current cultivation and mental power, Chi Yao could deceive the Heart of Truth.
Could it be that Chi Yao could truly set aside the cold pride of the peerless Empress and take the initiative to come to the Hell Realm, just to repair their relationship? To help him break the curse and achieve godhood?
But if she truly had such intentions, why didn't she meet him in her true form?
Why had she transformed into Bore's appearance?
On the other side, Xue Butcher pressed his hands against one of the heavenly pillars, squatting down, his entire body surging with divine power.
But even with his face turning red from strain, he couldn't budge the heavenly pillar.
Xue Butcher gasped for breath, then looked at Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao. "What are you two whispering about? Come over and lend a hand. This heavenly pillar is too heavy!"
Zhang Ruochen, who had been about to take this opportunity to directly confront Chi Yao and ask her everything, had his train of thought interrupted by Xue Butcher's shout. His lips parted, then closed.
Suddenly.
Zhang Ruochen sensed something and looked into the distance. "There are cultivators coming this way. Hide first!"
"Really? My soul perception didn't sense anything!"
Just as Xue Butcher was puzzled, Zhang Ruochen grabbed him and dragged him into the ruins.
Chi Yao turned into a blur, flew to a star core on the right heavenly pillar a hundred meters above the ground, activated the power of the Fate Judgment Staff, and her figure disappeared.
About half an hour later.
Led by Yan Ting, a group of Yama Clan Supreme Realm cultivators fled to the base of the heavenly pillars.
In the distance, the sounds of battle could be heard.
Yan Wushen was engulfed in blazing flames, with the "Death Heavenly Book" floating above his head. He controlled a stone bridge, continuously attacking backward. He was severely injured, sacred blood flowing from his body, yet he continued to burn his sacred blood.
Chasing them from behind was a ghostly cloud of divine might.
Within the ghostly cloud were countless resentful souls, their howls unending.
"Young Venerable, go first!"
An elder of the older generation, a Supreme Realm Great Saint, shot out like lightning, striking the already very weak Yan Wushen in the chest. The force sent Yan Wushen flying, and he fell to the base of the heavenly pillars.
At the same time, that Supreme Realm Great Saint charged into the ghostly cloud.
"Boom!"
His Sacred Source self-destructed.
The destructive force tore the ghostly cloud apart, the light blindingly bright.
Layers of power, like water waves, crashed into the Yama Clan cultivators hundreds of miles away, sending them flying.