Divine Root Bone

The fertile land of Zhongzhou stretches for hundreds of millions of miles, its spiritual energy as dense as swirling, unyielding clouds, making it the core territory of martial arts. Blessed with unique spiritual veins that crisscross the earth, countless top-tier lineages, reclusive clans, and powerful cultivators have taken root here. Floating immortal mountains rise in countless layers, their Daoist radiance descending from the heavens, their majestic and profound Daoist aura enveloping the vast land, its boundaries stretching as far as the eye can see, a grand and boundless expanse that shakes the very soul.

at the same time.

In a secluded private retreat, layer upon layer of ancient, lost restrictions are laid out, forming an impenetrable barrier. Ordinary elders and inner disciples cannot even take a step closer. Anyone who dares to trespass will have their soul crushed by the power of the restrictions in an instant.

In the very center of the forbidden area, a gaunt figure sat quietly on a lotus platform carved from millennia-old cold jade.

The man's body was shriveled, wrinkles covered his entire body, and his skin was a deathly gray-white. His flesh clung tightly to his bony bones, and from a distance, he looked like an ancient, lifeless, dried-up corpse, devoid of any trace of human life. Yet, around this inanimate body, a terrifying pressure capable of crushing the heavens and earth surged continuously.

No one in the entire forbidden area knew its name or origin. Only two or three core high-ranking members knew. Countless years had passed in deathly silence. The old man, who looked like a withered corpse, trembled slightly with his eyelashes.

Two dazzling golden rays suddenly burst forth from his tightly closed eyes, piercing through layers of ancient restrictions and dispersing the clouds and mist that had lingered over the forbidden area for thousands of years.

In the darkness, a strange movement drifting from the Eastern Region was detected, and a familiar, bone-chilling, sinister aura followed the energy flow and entered the soul's perception.

The old man sat motionless on the lotus platform, not uttering a word, yet his aged thoughts resounded throughout the Purple Gold Elder Hall.

In just a few breaths, a middle-aged cultivator dressed in a purple-gold cloud-patterned Daoist robe steadily stepped into the forbidden area. At this moment, he stood below the cold jade lotus platform with his back ramrod straight, his head bowed deeply, and his hands hanging at his sides. He didn't even have the courage to look directly at the old man on the lotus platform. All the pressure around him was completely suppressed, and he respectfully awaited instructions.

After a moment of deathly silence, a hoarse, aged sound, like the friction of rotten wood, slowly echoed throughout the forbidden area:

"Just now I had a strong premonition that a tremendous change was about to happen in the Eastern Region."

The old man's withered fingertips lightly tapped the air, and a wisp of dark, cold black mist appeared between the two, its chilling and sinister aura spreading outwards.

"That area is permeated with a dense, sinister aura. I am all too familiar with this turbid energy; it is certainly not something that could be generated by ordinary remnants of the demonic path. You must immediately select your elite forces and set off for the Eastern Region to thoroughly investigate everything, find out the root cause of the incident, and make sure to firmly control this sinister source. We cannot allow the evil energy to spread and wreak havoc on the entire continent."

Elder Zijin's mind jolted, sensing the deadly danger lurking within the black mist. Without the slightest hesitation, he bowed deeply and solemnly accepted the order:

"Your subordinate will obey Your Majesty's decree and immediately depart for the Eastern Regions to investigate. We will certainly contain the source of the evil and prevent the disaster from spreading!"

After speaking, he bowed and slowly took three steps back, then turned and quickly left this forbidden area, which was off-limits to all. He then called over an old man and gave him a few instructions.

Immediately, the old man transformed into a purple-gold rainbow that stretched across the sky, rushing at full speed towards the distant Eastern Region.

The old man was always surrounded by an invisible void barrier. When traveling, he did not need to release it deliberately. The immense power he was born with would spontaneously stir up the air currents of heaven and earth, forming a terrifying gale that could destroy mountains and shatter peaks, which followed the escape light on both sides.

Along the mountain path, several Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators were traveling together to gather herbs. When they saw the purple-gold rainbow in the sky, they felt a sudden tightness in their hearts. Just as they were about to use their cultivation to dodge, the violent wind pressure that followed the escape light had already crushed them first.

Qi Refining cultivators have no source power to protect their bodies and need to actively activate it themselves. Even with some precautions, their Qi Refining cultivation is as thin as paper in the face of such fierce winds. As soon as the wind pressure brushes past their bodies, their flesh collapses inward and their bones shatter inch by inch. They can't even let out a wail before their whole body explodes. Blood, foam, broken bones, and tattered clothes are scattered all over the sky. When they land, all that remains is a pool of indistinct flesh. Even their souls are torn into tiny wisps of smoke by the violent airflow and disappear without a trace.

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators could barely manage to shield their bodies with their meager internal energy, but the void wind pressure emanating from the elder's journey was far beyond what their meager Foundation Establishment energy could withstand. The moment their thin protective layer of internal energy touched the gale, it shattered like glass. The violent wind pressure poured directly into their bodies, crushing everything from their internal organs to their limbs. Their chests caved in, their limbs twisted and bent into bizarre arcs, and blood gushed wildly from their seven orifices, crashing heavily onto the bluestone of the mountain path. The warm blood instantly soaked through large sections of rock, and their remaining, weak souls couldn't even withstand it for a moment before being pulverized by the void turbulence, leaving them no chance for reincarnation.

The elder's passing gust of wind, generated by his escape, was merely a passing gust of wind. Without any deliberate attack or display of killing intent, all the low-level cultivators along the way perished, their corpses and flesh scattered everywhere, the stench of blood permeating the surrounding area with the mountain wind. The remaining cultivators who had managed to hide in the distant valleys witnessed this scene, their bodies trembling violently, their legs going weak as they knelt on the ground, tightly covering their mouths, afraid to utter a sound. Their eyes were filled with a deep-seated fear. Without knowing any of the elder's cultivation level, the terrifying wind pressure alone, which had slaughtered a group of cultivators with a mere passing by, was enough to clearly perceive the vast difference between them, the disparity like ants facing the heavens.

Without stopping, the purple-gold rainbow tore through the sky and sped towards Black Stone Ridge in the Eastern Region, where evil energy was rampant.

The withered old man on the lotus platform closed his eyes again, and the golden light slowly dissipated, returning the entire forbidden area to deathly silence. Only that wisp of yin and evil energy from the Eastern Region lingered in his soul's perception for a long time.