Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Ruins of the Ancient City, A Trail of Footprints, My Name is Beihe
Thousands of miles away, reached in half a day.
In the high sky, ten thousand meters above.
A group of five people stood at the bow of the ship, looking down at the plain that stretched over a thousand miles below, with not much vegetation, only many broken stones covered in moss.
From afar, this place seemed to rival the Gobi Desert.
“This is the ancient battlefield recorded in the texts. It’s said that three thousand years ago, this place used to be a large city spanning a hundred miles, with millions of inhabitants. However, a mysterious great war took place, ultimately leading to the city’s destruction,”
Ji Ziling pointed at the desolate area below and explained.
The history of the Shenzhou Continent is long and storied.
On that vast and fertile land, countless prosperous civilizations once emerged, as well as many powerful beings.
However, as history ebbed and flowed, many civilizations were destroyed.
Just like the ruin below.
It was once a bustling city, nurturing many powerful prodigies. In the end, it was still crushed by an even more formidable force, and the entire city vanished.
To this day, no one knows who was behind that action.
Ye Feng gazed at the ruins below with a sigh of emotion.
He had encountered similar events before.
For instance, Shuiyang City.
With a wave of his hand, Ye Feng put away the Spirit Snake Flying Boat, landing on the ground with his four disciples, Ji Ziling, Qiao Jiaxi, Long Tianxing, and Wang Ping’an.
Boom!
A giant stone shattered and transformed into a stone crab two meters tall, swinging its massive pincers towards the group.
Bang!
Qiao Jiaxi bravely stepped forward and punched through the stone crab.
“It seems to have mistaken us for prey,”
Ji Ziling massaged her right temple and recalled, “I remember now, this kind of demonic beast is known as a Mutated Stone Crab, usually disguised as a rock, waiting for its prey. Once it detects any movement, it will revert to its true form and attack.”
Ye Feng smiled.
If he hadn’t brought Ji Ziling, the “encyclopedia” with him, he would have had to rely on the Spirit Beast Pavilion’s scouting feature to learn the specific information about the stone crab.
He reached out, transferred the spirit blood of the stone crab, and found out it was only a light group the size of a thumb, looking rather pitiful.
“Just this much…”
Ye Feng was speechless.
The stone crab, after all, was at the High-rank Demon Soldier Level, yet the quantity and quality of its spirit blood were far less than other demonic beasts of the same rank.
“You all continue your training around the perimeter and stay safe. Sect Leader is going to observe the surroundings while taking care of some matters,”
“All right.”
The four disciples spread out.
Apart from Qiao Jiaxi, the remaining three prepared a light sphere in their right hand while executing the “Iron Shield Technique” with their left, ready to defend and attack at a moment’s notice.
Boom!
Another rock transformed into a stone crab and attacked.
Qiao Jiaxi reacted quickly, his punch blasting through it.
“I should get serious too,” Long Tianxing finished his spellcasting, instantly entering the Dragon Transformation Form with a surge in physical strength, dominating the region.
Many stone crabs and Man-Eating Giant Worms emerged from the ground, but all were ripped apart by his claws.
Ye Feng slowly lifted off the ground.
He took out the Wind Spirit Pearl, absorbing the Ancient Heroic Spirit Force in the area, and found it was still substantial.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Ye Feng had harvested the equivalent of a Fourth Layer Element Gathering Realm cultivator.
“Not bad,”
Ye Feng smiled and showed his teeth.
He extended his hand and Slaughter Energy appeared in his palm, devouring the residual Evil Qi in the vicinity.
To Ye Feng’s surprise, the amount of Evil Qi in the ancient city ruins was scarce, as if it had been devoured by something, leaving behind only a few sparse trails.
“Could it be that the Heaven-Devouring Demon Sect got to it first?”
Ye Feng speculated.
He continued to walk through the ruins of the ancient city.
“Ah, it hurts!”
From a few hundred meters away, suddenly came the agonized cry of Wang Ping’an.
Ye Feng’s heart tightened, and in an instant, he appeared by Wang Ping’an’s side, with one hand on his shoulder, protecting him with the Power of Heroic Spirits.
“Junior Brother Wang, are you all right?” Qiao Jiaxi rushed over upon hearing the scream.
Soon after, Ji Ziling and Long Tianxing also arrived.
“He’s fine.”
Ye Feng said, his face slightly tense as he pointed at the ground, “Be careful, there’s a series of footprints on the ground. Don’t step on them, or you’ll endure pain as if thousands of red-hot needles were violently stabbing you.”
The others looked at the ground and noticed something amiss.
A row of faintly glowing footprints emerged from the stone slabs in front of them, each nearly three feet apart, with a slightly large stride, indicating that the owner of the footprints was a person with a tall and robust stature.
“What’s with these footprints?” Ji Ziling followed the serpentine trajectory of the footprints and discovered there were a total of seven steps.
“Seven steps to form a poem?”
Ye Feng came up with this absurd idea in his mind, but quickly, he shook his head, discarding this unrealistic thought.
“Sect Leader, do you know what grand figure left these footprints?” Long Tianxing squatted on the ground, scrutinizing the footprints and found that within them, it was as if there was a starry sky—vast and boundless, beyond exploration.
“Let me analyze them.”
Ye Feng raised the Wind Spirit Pearl and released a strand of Wind Element Spirit Energy, allowing it to enter the first glowing footprint.
Buzz!
The Wind Element Spirit Energy connected to Ye Feng’s consciousness entered a vast starry landscape, the view suddenly opening up to a feeling of infinite vastness.
Ye Feng directed the Wind Element Spirit Energy to travel within the starry world of the footprint, and quickly, he found its edge.
The interior space of the entire footprint was as large as a hundred miles!
“Is this a Phenomenal Realm?”
Ye Feng recalled descriptions from ancient books.
Legend had it that after entering the Void Break Realm, one could create a Phenomenal Realm. Not to mention a hundred miles, even a thousand miles or ten thousand miles was not an issue.
The disciples, upon hearing this, were quite surprised.
Could it be that this series of footprints was a Phenomenal Realm left by someone in the Void Break Realm?
Soon, that strand of Wind Element Spirit Energy dissipated.
It had successfully completed its scouting mission.
A stream of information flooded into Ye Feng’s mind.
He opened his eyes and found the surrounding scene had completely changed; countless images began to rewind, as if returning to the ancient past.
At that time, the ancient city was still thriving, with numerous cultivators walking through it, full of vigor.
But one day, a mysterious fog enveloped the ancient city.
When the mist dissipated, the ancient city had turned into the ruins before them.
Only a tall and robust grand figure with a blurred face stood in the middle of the ruins, sighing softly.
“Is he the culprit?” Ye Feng stared at the figure in the image, frowning slightly.
“Alas, I’ve still arrived one step too late.” At that moment, the grand figure in the image murmured, his eyes revealing much helplessness.
Hearing this, Ye Feng was astonished.
It seemed that this mysterious grand figure was not the one who destroyed the ancient city but had appeared after its destruction.
At this time, the figure in the image moved.
Behind him appeared a Phenomenal Realm, and the Power of Heaven and Earth poured down like the tide. As this person walked on the stone slabs, he left behind this series of seven glowing footprints.
“My name is Beihe. Today I leave behind a self-created Secret Technique ‘Seven Steps to Heaven,’ for the destined ones of later generations, to be used against the enigmatic Soul-Devouring Clan. Remember this well!”
The grand figure murmured.
Then, Ye Feng saw that the image changed again.
As the grand figure, named “Beihe,” walked towards the sky, taking seven consecutive steps, his momentum suddenly surged to its peak, as if about to tear apart heaven and earth, unstoppable.
He lifted his foot and stomped forward with force.
Boom!
That instant, heaven and earth violently trembled as if mourning.
Soon, unable to withstand the terrifying pressure, heaven and earth shattered, revealing countless terrifying spatial rifts.
Afterward, the entire scene vanished.
Ye Feng jolted awake, his consciousness returning to reality.
He looked around at the desolation; where was the mysterious figure “Beihe”?
However, the glowing footprints on the ground were trembling slightly, transforming into a piece of obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient text, hovering in midair.
“This is Ancient Scripture!”
Ji Ziling, who had some knowledge of ancient texts, could only recognize the words ‘Seven Steps to Heaven.’
Beyond that, it was somewhat incomprehensible.
“Look, the scripture is slowly disappearing!” Qiao Jiaxi noticed something amiss, “It looks like we must comprehend or record the ancient texts now, or else we’ll miss this opportunity.”
“Hurry up and copy it down!” Ji Ziling took out paper and ink to transcribe.
However, as the words landed on the paper, they directly turned into flames, incinerating the entire sheet.
“The creator of this scripture is definitely powerful, having left behind the force of heaven and earth’s rules; ordinary paper and ink can’t record the ancient texts.”
Ji Ziling sighed, put away her pen, and prepared to understand and memorize it with her mind.