Divine Root Bone

Zhang Yang mustered his last bit of strength and climbed completely into the stone gate.

He lay weakly on the ground, subconsciously turning his head to look back at the world outside the stone chamber.

That boundless void remained terrifying beyond measure.

A thick, gray-white mist rolled and churned, with layers of spatial ripples spreading wildly. Countless fine, menacing black spatial rifts wandered everywhere, opening and closing unpredictably, each rift spewing out terrifying spatial sharpness capable of instantly tearing apart a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Outside, there is deathly silence, coldness, bloodshed, and despair; it is a dangerous realm where every step is fatal and every chance of survival is slim.

The moment one steps outside the stone gate, one is shattered to pieces and utterly destroyed.

But the moment Zhang Yang slowly turned his head to look inside the stone chamber—

He froze completely, his pupils contracted sharply, and his mind went blank with shock.

The scene before me was the complete opposite of the hellish void outside!

Fragrant grasses stretch to the horizon, an endless expanse of green!

An endless green grassland stretches to the horizon, a gentle breeze rustles the grass and trees, and clear, soft light bathes the entire land.

Wildflowers bloom everywhere, butterflies dance lightly, birds chirp as they flit across the sky, and gentle little rabbits and exotic animals can be seen grazing on the grass in the woods, the vitality so rich it's almost viscous.

Birds sing and flowers bloom, spring-like weather prevails all year round, the sunlight is gentle, and the earth's atmosphere is pure.

On one side is a deathly void, rife with endless killing intent and countless rifts.

On one side is a secluded paradise where all things coexist and thrive.

Separated by a wall, yet they are worlds apart, one of life and one of death!

This extreme and outrageous contrast shocked Zhang Yang so much that he couldn't recover for a long time.

The moment his entire body stepped into the stone chamber, a warm, pure, and boundless spiritual energy of heaven and earth slowly enveloped his body.

The internal injuries, torn meridians, and trembling blood and qi that were originally crushed by the pressure of the Nascent Soul Void were slowly repaired and soothed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The blood that had spilled from the corner of his mouth gradually dried and disappeared, the excruciating pain throughout his body rapidly subsided, and his depleted strength slowly returned.

After only a few breaths,

Zhang Yang, who had previously struggled even to lie down, steadily supported himself on the ground and slowly stood up.

He stared blankly around.

This grassland stretches endlessly, not at all like the space inside the stone chamber. Instead, it resembles an independent, complete little world, self-contained and full of life.

A tremendous storm raged in Zhang Yang's heart.

He simply couldn't imagine what kind of supremely powerful being could accomplish such a thing.

After being deeply shaken for a long time, Zhang Yang finally suppressed his restless emotions and slowly walked forward along the grassland.

They walked for nearly five or six hundred meters.

Suddenly, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

Two ancient stone paths stand directly in front. The left path is secluded and quiet, shrouded in a light mist, while the right path is dark and somber, exuding an ancient charm.

The two paths lead to unknown destinations and have completely different atmospheres, making it difficult to choose.

Zhang Yang hesitated for a moment, unsure which path to take.

Just as he hesitated, his gaze fell on a small pile of stones half-hidden by tall grass right in the middle of the two roads.

The stone pile is square and simple, clearly left by humans, and covered with ever-growing grass and a thin layer of dust, looking as if it has been silent for thousands of years.

Zhang Yang stepped forward, bent down, and gently brushed away the surface weeds and dust.

As the dust settled, eight powerful, ancient characters, etched into the stone, clearly emerged before our eyes—

[The Burial of Time: The Abode of the Supreme]

The characters are ancient and weathered, belonging to no dynasty in the Southern Region today. They carry the vast and ancient Taoist charm, standing here quietly, having watched over countless millennia.

Zhang Yang stared at the eight-character proverb, his brows furrowed, repeating it to himself several times, but he was still completely baffled.

I recognize the literal meaning, but I don't understand the deeper meaning at all.

What is meant by "timely burial"?

What is the abode of the highest?

Does it mean that the opportunity lies hidden here?

Only those with the highest level of spiritual attainment can find peace and enlightenment here.

But these two habitats are different, Zhang Yang was completely baffled, and scratched his head.

A myriad of doubts welled up in my mind; the two paths ahead were uncertain, and the secret meaning of the ancient characters remained undeciphered.

Zhang Yang took a deep breath and simply sat cross-legged in front of the pile of stones.

With eyes slightly closed, he calmed his mind, quietly pondered, deduced, and comprehended, attempting to decipher the mystery of these ancient characters and choose the true path to survival and opportunity.

Right at this moment~

Before he could even begin to deduce what was going on, two deep, muffled "duang, duang" sounds faintly reached his ears.

At first, Zhang Yang thought it was just a hallucination caused by his own mental confusion and didn't take it seriously. However, in just a few breaths, the sound of the impact became clearer and clearer, coming from the two deep passages on the left and right at the same time, getting closer and closer, making the entire grassland tremble slightly.

Along with the sound came a terrifying pressure that was so familiar it chilled him to the bone. It was of the same origin as the divine might of the Nascent Soul Void outside the stone chamber, thick and cold, locking down his blood and qi. His meridians, which had just been repaired, began to sting faintly again.

Zhang Yang suddenly opened his eyes, filled with surprise and doubt: Just now this secret realm was peaceful and stable, without any trace of evil aura, so why did such a strange change occur in an instant?

He subconsciously looked down at the green grass at his feet. The moment his gaze pierced through the surface of the grass and trees, his mind went blank, and he froze on the spot.

The ground of the entire grassland was not solid soil at all, but a layer of illusory shadow. Beneath it lay a boundless, intricately patterned giant ancient clock face! Countless ancient and mysterious patterns outlined the scale, and an extremely thick second hand was slowly turning clockwise, inch by inch. With each tick, a dull, resonant sound of a bell would ring out.

Zhang Yang's mind went blank, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

The idyllic paradise before my eyes, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, was all an illusion! This world was a man-made creation, and the giant clock face beneath it was clearly a timer. The strange noises and oppressive aura from the left and right passages were all the gatekeeper's deadly intent triggered by the countdown!

Before he could sort out his thoughts, two huge black figures slowly stepped out from the depths of the two passages on the left and right.

Two colossal skeletons, each nearly ten feet tall, stood guard on either side. Their skeletons gleamed with a dark bronze hue, and faint void patterns flowed through the gaps between their bones. The skeleton on the left held a heavy black iron shield engraved with spatial runes in one hand, while the skeleton on the right gripped a jet-black, sky-splitting greatsword tens of feet long, its blade gleaming with a sharpness capable of cleaving through dimensions.

Zhang Yang focused intently on sensing the aura emanating from the two skeletons, and his heart suddenly tightened.

The oppressive aura emanating from them far surpassed that of the two Foundation Establishment Peak Ancestors of Qingyun and Heisha Demon Sect, their strength being more than ten times greater! The peak Foundation Establishment Realm would probably be like ants in front of them; these two Guardian Puppets were of an extremely high level!

The skeleton was devoid of any life force, utterly lifeless and cold. Only two clusters of eerie green flames flickered in its empty eye sockets. It had no independent intelligence, acting like a cold machine, strictly following the countdown instructions on the dial, solely to intercept anyone who dared to enter the secret realm.

Both paths, one to the left and one to the right, were completely blocked, leading to dead ends with no room for hiding or detours.

Zhang Yang was frantic, his mind racing, searching through all his memories but finding no solution. Seeing the two skeletons getting closer and closer, he dared not linger any longer. He suddenly stood up and ran, trying to escape the encirclement of the two puppets.

But the two skeletons behind him sensed his fleeing aura, and their eyes suddenly blazed with ghostly fire. With just one step, they leaped hundreds of feet, closing the distance by more than half in an instant.

The two skeletons were enormous, yet their speed was unbelievable. Their heavy pressure locked onto Zhang Yang, and the shadow of death was within reach.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang's injuries had fully recovered. He used all his spiritual power to activate his movement technique and escape at all costs. However, the distance between them was still rapidly shrinking. It seemed that he would be caught up in an instant, with the Rift Sky Greatsword and the Xuan Iron Shield about to fall on him at any moment.

At the critical moment, the black jade kept close to his chest suddenly burst forth with a dazzling, warm golden light, breaking free from his clothes and floating up.

Zhang Yang had assumed the jade pendant would guide him to escape routes to the left, right, front, and back, just like before. However, the black jade floated straight up, grazed his nose, and finally hovered steadily above the top of his head, its light shooting straight into the sky.

Zhang Yang was stunned and filled with doubt: the escape route is always in all directions, so why does the black jade point upwards?

The whooshing sound of the skeletons behind him was already close enough to hear him, leaving him no time to ponder the reason.

He chose to believe in Black Jade.

Immediately, Zhang Yang raised his hand and gripped the black jade floating above his head. He mobilized all the spiritual power of his eighth level of Qi Refining, gathered all the blood and qi in his body and the spiritual energy in his dantian into his legs, and leaped into the sky with all his might!

click-

A crisp, piercing cracking sound came from the void above his head. He forcefully smashed open a spatial barrier with the power of the black jade. The surrounding scenery suddenly distorted and peeled away. The green grassland, the giant watch face, and the ten-foot-tall skeleton all turned into afterimages and disappeared.

A feeling of weightlessness swept over Zhang Yang's body, and everything went black before his eyes. His body pierced through the shattered spatial barrier and fell into a completely new and unknown dimensional space!