Stepping into the tomb gate, just as expected, the laws of heaven and earth were the first things to change.
The world turned black, devoid of sun or sky, then brightened as blood-red light swirled around.
Wind whistled in his ears, and the noise gradually grew louder...
"What the hell is this?"
"Does this look like some kind of arena to you?"
"What arena? This is a burial ground..."
"What kind of creature do those bones belong to? Why are they so massive?"
"Senior Brother, I'm scared. I want to go back, waah."
"Don't panic, everyone. This old Taoist has been catching ghosts and subduing demons for thirty-five years; I can certainly protect you all."
"You damn Taoist, 'subduing demons'? Try supporting me first; if I fall, I'll fleece you for everything you're worth..."
Xu Xian stepped out of the gate and slowly opened his eyes; what he saw around him was a massive plaza crowded with living beings.
There were not just humans, but also demons, devils, and spirits...
A multitude of creatures had been dropped together, huddled in a dense mass.
It was like arriving at the spawn point of a starter village in a game.
Crowded.
Chaotic.
Noisy.
This was his first impression. Xu Xian pushed through the crowd and walked forward until he reached the edge of the plaza.
Looking into the distance, with the help of Shuer's Pupil of Insight, a brand-new world came into view.
Below his feet was a high platform suspended at the peak of a cliff. Behind him was the towering tomb gate, where sparse numbers of beings were still stepping through the azure light curtain.
There were eight such high platforms in total, lined up along the cliff side, separated by dozens of miles.
Each high platform was as massive as dozens of football fields, and every single one was packed with a dark mass of people.
Above his head, the sea of clouds drifted aimlessly, and a pair of blood-red suns hung high in the sky—one to the south and one to the north.
At first glance, they were as massive as stars, shedding a blood-red radiance.
Upon closer inspection, those twin suns looked remarkably like a pair of giant eyes.
The Emperor's Eyes?
That was Xu Xian's first thought.
In front of him, below the high platforms, was a wasteland of ruins that stretched as far as the eye could see, crisscrossed with ravines but devoid of any greenery.
The uniform scorched earth exuded an aura of death and desolation, while the bleached white bones scattered everywhere added a sense of sorrow and gloom.
Under the illumination of the two blood-red suns above, it looked exactly like a hellish landscape.
It made one's skin crawl.
In particular, those white bones were as large as mountains and as thick as pillars.
An Emperor's Tomb? It should be called a burial ground.
An arena? More like a shura field.
No one knew for sure, but everything in sight radiated a suffocating aura of slaughter.
Especially the wind blowing toward them; as it passed through their sleeves, the chill was bone-deep, making their spines tingle and their scalps go numb.
Xu Xian murmured to himself, "I'm afraid more than one emperor was buried here."
This ancient battlefield and desolate world silently sang of a vanished past.
It was soul-stirring and heroic, yet also filled with endless sorrow...
The crowd was dazed.
Before entering, they had imagined countless times what the scene inside would be like.
A brand-new world, an ancient tomb, or something else...
But they had never expected the scene before them.
Blood suns in the sky.
Piles of white bones.
A bone-chilling cold.
Waves of killing intent.
High platforms packed with people, a tomb gate behind them that they couldn't return through, and a boundary wall in front of them that they couldn't cross.
The tomb gates were open.
But the Emperor's Tomb was not.
It seemed they still had to wait, whether for a specific moment in time or for everyone to arrive, it was unknown.
The newcomers remained immersed in the shock of what they saw, unable to recover.
Those who had arrived early were already restless and impatient.
Half were cursing,
Half were gasping in surprise.
After Xu Xian's gaze lingered on the sky and earth for a moment, he began searching for the others.
Unfortunately, even the range of Shuer's investigation was not enough to cover the entire small world.
He could see the people on the same high platform as him, but he couldn't see clearly those on the distant platforms.
There were unfamiliar figures.
There were also familiar faces.
Some were from the Wendao Sword Sect, some were from the Demon Abyss...
However.
Whether it was Lu Yuan, Xia Chu Yi, Lin Qianqian, Chi Ji, or the others... not a single one of them appeared.
Xu Xian knew very well that regardless of which gate they entered the Emperor's Tomb through, the high platform they appeared on was random.
Clearly, they had been scattered.
He couldn't help but feel worried.
However, given the current situation, everyone was waiting for the boundary wall to dissipate. Before the so-called immortal opportunity fully revealed itself, most would likely choose to conserve their strength and stay put.
They probably wouldn't start fighting yet.
After a brief moment of reflection, Xu Xian raised his arm and called out to assemble the Wendao Sword Sect disciples on this platform.
"Disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect, come to me!"
Xu Xian's voice was very loud, momentarily drowning out the noise of the crowded platform.
The abrupt shout naturally attracted the attention of those around him.
The Wendao Sword Sect disciples who had just entered and were still in a daze heard him and immediately gathered toward him. The confusion in their eyes and the unease in their hearts vanished instantly.
"It's the Little Grand-Uncle."
"The Little Grand-Uncle is here."
"Little Grand-Uncle, I'm coming!"
...
In the Sword Pavilion, under the Sword Ancestor, there were now thirteen disciples, and Xu Xian was ranked eleventh.
By logic, he was naturally no longer the youngest, the 'Little' Grand-Uncle.
But everyone still called him that. Even in the worlds outside, it was always recognized that Xu Xian was the Little Grand-Uncle, and the only one.
As the disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect pushed through the crowd to approach and gather around Xu Xian, many gazes from the surroundings were also cast toward them.
For a moment, they even became the center of attention.
Scrutiny,
Investigation,
Curiosity,
Fear,
All were mixed together.
"From the Wendao Sword Sect?"
"Is he Xu Xian?"
"He truly is a man of exceptional talent..."
"The Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect? In my opinion, he looks quite ordinary."
"Are we that unlucky? How did we end up on the same platform as this Living Yanwang?"
"Xu Xian... Heh, how interesting..."
Xu Xian.
A very famous name. Everyone present was of the younger generation of Fanzhou. Although they had never met the youth, they had to admit that since he made his debut, especially after the battle at the Demon Suppression Abyss.
They had always lived in his shadow.
Whether it was themselves or the elders of their sects, they would intentionally or unintentionally compare them to Xu Xian.
Clearly, Xu Xian was always the 'prodigy from another sect'.
Even for the descendants of the demon race from the North Sea, it was no exception.
Different people had different views of Xu Xian.
For the human race, it was mostly admiration and envy; even the occasional negative comment was rooted in jealousy.
After all, in the battle of Yecheng, Xu Xian had slain the Xiushe and killed all the evil cultivators. And in the Demon Suppression Abyss, although he had played the seven great sects quite badly.
The scene of him offering his sword at the bank of the Wild River was unforgettable.
Especially that one sentence.
'Step back; the swords of my Wendao Sword Sect will protect you for another ten thousand years.'
It was widely circulated.
It had caused many of their generation to be infatuated with him for a time.
To be born as a human, one should be like that.
Although Xu Xian's reputation was not very good among the elders, truth be told, Xu Xian had never personally harmed them, and they had never met him.
Naturally, they had no personal grudge.
Seeing Xu Xian today, their eyes were mostly filled with novelty.
Their gazes were intense.
As for the demons of the East Desolation and the devils of the Demon Abyss, it was different.
The devils were repulsed by any human they saw, let alone someone from the Wendao Sword Sect; they felt both fear and hatred.
And the demons of the East Desolation felt it even more strongly.
If Xu Xian hadn't offered his sword, how could Yun Zheng have slaughtered his way through the East Desolation?
They would never forget how, on that day, one man and one sword had struck down their ancestor and collapsed the Ancestral Mountain.
Yun Zheng was dead.
Xu Xian was alive.
They wanted him dead, wishing they could eat his flesh and drink his blood.
As for the spirits and the geniuses of the demon race from the North Sea, their mindset was completely different. Regarding a human junior with such a grand reputation.
They were mostly scrutinizing and evaluating him, with no lack of disdain and contempt.
They felt that Xu Xian was just average.
Some were even starting to get restless, eager to try their hand and challenge this legendary Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect.
Many descendants of the demon immortals were even entertaining thoughts.
If they were the ones to kill him.
Wouldn't it be them who became famous throughout the world?
In the crowd, a junior descendant of the Dragon race licked their red lips, narrowing their phoenix eyes with unbearable hunger.
"What a delicious man; I really want to eat him in one bite."
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