They had finally reached the main topic.
Xu Xian’s back straightened subconsciously, his focus sharpening.
The Twilight Emperor.
Sealed in Fanzhou by the Li family. Xu Xian already knew this.
It was not just from the account of the giant tortoise; the Twilight Emperor himself had said as much.
Xu Xian had come here specifically to investigate this matter.
Li Taibai naturally noticed Xu Xian’s unusual reaction and discerned his response.
Therefore, he deliberately mentioned the origins of this emperor.
He said, "The Twilight Emperor was born by the shores of the Boundary Sea and rose to power during the twilight. Because he is immortal and indestructible, he is also known as the Undying Great Emperor. Our clan’s secret records mention that the Twilight Emperor possesses a portion of the bloodline of the dark creatures."
"The dark creatures are the Spirit-Devouring Tribe."
Xu Xian nodded, indicating his understanding.
"The first ancestors of our clan speculated that he might be the child of a Spirit-Devouring Tribe member and a being of Cangming, or perhaps he was corrupted by the darkness and underwent a mutation."
"It is difficult to say for certain."
"However, he only possesses the undying power of the dark creatures, not their devouring ability."
"Not only that..."
"He also awakened a specific ability of the dark creatures."
"Infection."
"He can grant others immortality."
"It is also a form of symbiosis."
"And they will not be assimilated or lose their consciousness."
"It was precisely because of this ability that he gathered a vast number of followers, allowing him to rise powerfully in a short time right under the eyes of the various great emperors."
"To prevent the Twilight Emperor from throwing Cangming into chaos again, the three first ancestors of my clan used the power of the seal left by our founder to sink a corner of the Heavenly Sword Province into the lower realm, creating this cage."
"They suppressed him within it."
"They also used the mist derived from the chaos to isolate it on all sides, leaving only a single Sky Gate. This allowed the original inhabitants of the lower realm of Fanzhou to ascend to the upper realm."
"In those years..."
"Those who existed in symbiosis with the Twilight Emperor were also suppressed here together with him."
"From then on, the members of my Li clan have not only guarded the Sword Mound while waiting for the fated one to appear, but have also taken on the task of watching over Fanzhou."
"Every thirty thousand years, a powerful expert from the clan is sent to descend into the mortal world to clear karma and observe the surroundings, ensuring the seal does not loosen and give him an opportunity."
That was logical.
So Xu Xian thought that Li Taibai might have simply come to inspect the mortal world.
After all, he had said himself that he was a Sword Protector.
But clearly...
He also knew in his heart that if that were truly the case, there would have been no need to seal the Sky Gate.
Li Taibai suddenly sighed, his gaze turning heavy. "However... the heavens have unpredictable storms, and people have sudden fortunes and misfortunes. Who can truly say for certain what will happen in this world? My Li family did not wait for the fated one, but instead waited for the end of an era."
"Grave news came from the Boundary Sea."
"The dark creatures broke the seal and came forth."
"But at that time..."
"There were no emperors in Cangming."
"There was no one to stop them."
"The dark creatures swept in like a tide, unstoppable..."
"Ancient races were wiped out one by one..."
"Immortal Kings fell one after another on the front lines..."
"No one could stop it."
"Despair, fear, helplessness... people could only watch as star systems were extinguished and one piece of bad news after another returned."
"Our clan sent powerful experts from the sect more than ten times to join the allied forces of the myriad races of Cangming at the front lines, yet not a single person returned..."
As he reached this point, the same expression flickered in the eyes of the other four.
Pain.
Sorrow.
Dread.
And of course, even more so, a deep sense of helplessness...
Li Taibai continued, "I was born just as the Era of Ancient Immortals was coming to an end and the Dark Era was beginning, a time of great upheaval."
"My talent was mediocre; how could I ever have been worthy of the honor of being a Sword Protector?"
"But the powerful experts of the clan fell batch after batch."
"The geniuses and prodigies set out on long journeys batch after batch."
"And so..."
"It eventually fell to me."
"I have never seen what the dark creatures look like. I have only heard people say that they are frenzied, tyrannical, and bloodthirsty. Wherever they go is like a swarm of locusts passing through, blotting out the sun and leaving nothing alive."
"I cultivated hard, thinking that one day I would surely inherit the legacy of my fathers, go to the battlefield, and purge the darkness."
"But..."
"Before I could see that day..."
"I saw the darkness overrun the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and arrive before the Heavenly Sword Province."
"It was a dense, black mass, like a sea of dark clouds, pressing down upon the world."
"All my ambitions turned to dust at that moment."
"No one could stop them."
"No one..."
"The fall of the Heavenly Sword Province was inevitable."
"At that time, the last Immortal King ancestor of our clan, in order to leave behind a final sliver of hope, had me take the sword stele and the Sword Mound into this cage to continue waiting for the fated one to appear."
"And so..."
"I crossed the boundary with my four Sword Attendants and came to Fanzhou."
His voice stopped there, and the story came to an end.
A single narrative thread.
The birth of the universe originated from a single will.
The root of the calamity also originated from a single will.
The Primordial Era, the Chaos Era, the Ancient Era, the Ancient Desolate Era, the Ancient Period, the Era of Primal Chaos, the Era of Ancient Immortals...
Until now...
The Dark Era.
A brand new era, yet also an era filled with despair and helplessness.
The collision of darkness and light.
Flickering out.
Death.
The fall.
Li Taibai and his four Sword Attendants were the last fire seeds of the Li family.
Because of the invasion of the dark creatures, they had come to Fanzhou.
As for the rest of the clan...
Li Taibai did not say, but it was not hard for Xu Xian to guess.
After ten thousand years, they had likely perished along with the dark creatures.
Xu Xian digested this information, organizing his scattered thoughts.
Actually, it was alright. Before coming here, he had already known some things and had some suspicions.
Although the direction of the story differed slightly from his guesses, they shared the same root.
Li Taibai’s story...
Just as he had said, it had resolved many of the perplexities in Xu Xian’s heart.
The meaning behind Fanzhou’s existence?
The origin of the Twilight Emperor?
Why he was sealed in this place?
The origin of the sword stele and the Sword Mound?
Li Taibai’s background?
And the reason why he had personally sealed the Sky Gate...
Everything now had a definitive answer.
However...
With the confusion cleared, Xu Xian did not feel a sense of enlightened relief. Instead, he felt as if a weight of a thousand tons had settled on his shoulders.
Regarding the future...
He was filled with worry and uncertainty...
If this was truly the case, how should he walk his path in the future, and would he even be able to continue?
How much longer could Fanzhou hold out...
He looked back at the Sky Gate beside him and murmured, "So, sealing the Sky Gate was not to prevent the Twilight Emperor from escaping or to stop the common people from becoming immortals, but simply out of fear that Fanzhou would also turn into a dark wasteland, right?"
Li Taibai confirmed, "Yes."
"Is there anything else?" Xu Xian asked calmly.
Li Taibai smiled slightly. "As for the stories that follow, I should not need to tell you. You’ve likely heard them already, so there’s no need to repeat them."
Xu Xian did not deny it.
From then on...
The Sword Ancestor was born, sweeping through the eight directions, unifying the Northern Borders, and establishing the Wendao Sect, which has been passed down for ten thousand years to this day.
And today, ten thousand years later...
He had come.
Like the first spirits at the beginning of life, he carried a heart full of confusion, brushed aside the heavy clouds, and unraveled this unknown past.
Seeing Xu Xian’s brow furrowed in worry, Li Taibai asked calmly:
"My story is finished. Now, it is your turn. If you have anything you wish to ask, then ask. I will tell you everything I know."
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