Chapter 1223: Ancient Battlefield

Chapter 560

However, that sword intent vanished instantly upon entering the Soldier Tomb, like a clay ox into the sea, without stirring any ripples.

“Hmm?”

For the first time, Xu Ran’s expression grew serious.

To dissolve his sword intent so effortlessly, the opposing force was undoubtedly extraordinary! It might even be… far superior to him!

Just as he was about to wield even greater power, an ancient, seemingly breathless sigh echoed from the depths of the Soldier Tomb.

“Ah… after countless eras… finally, one who is acknowledged by ‘It’ has arrived again…”

This voice, intermittent yet clear, reached the ears of all three.

As the voice emerged, the towering pile of broken divine soldiers began to slowly part, revealing a narrow path leading into the darkness.

A hunched figure, leaning on a cane made from a broken spear, slowly stepped forth from the shadows.

It was an elder.

An elder so ancient he seemed on the verge of crumbling into dust.

His skin was withered like the bark of an old tree, tightly clinging to his bones. His hair and beard had all but fallen away, leaving only a bald scalp and bare chin. He wore a tattered gray cloth garment, its original material long obscured, covered in dust and the traces of time…

…marks.

His only distinguishing feature was his eyes.

They were a pair of eyes beyond description.

Murkiness, as though carrying all the dead remains and death of the Sea of Realms.

Yet clarity, as if able to reflect the very first ray of light at the dawn of the Cosmos.

Filled with exhaustion and age, yet upon seeing Xu Ran, they glimmered with a flicker of… hopeful light.

“Who are you?” Xu Ran asked solemnly, his internal power secretly pushed to its limits.

This elder gave him an intense feeling of danger. Though clearly standing there, in Xu Ran’s divine thought and perception, he was like an emptiness, a non-existent “void”.

“Me?” The elder grinned, revealing a toothless smile, his voice hoarse, “You can call me… Tomb Guardian.”

“Tomb Guardian?” Xu Ran raised an eyebrow, “Whose tomb are you guarding?”

“Heh heh…” The elder chuckled, pointing with his cane at the Godslaying Blade towering behind Xu Ran.

“For it, and for… all those buried here, the… ‘Rebels’.”

At these words, Xu Ran’s heart shook violently!

In that instant, he understood many things!

No wonder the evil Qi here forms tides; it’s probably the Tomb Guardian manipulating it, maintaining the existence of this ancient battlefield through some special method, preventing the will of the Godslaying Blade from completely dissipating in the river of time!

“How long have you been waiting for me?” Xu Ran asked.

“I can’t remember.” The Tomb Guardian shook his head, a hint of confusion in his murky eyes, “Time has long lost meaning for me. I only remember, the last one recognized by ‘It’, his name… seemed to be ‘Desolate’. He walked out from here, creating monstrous waves, but unfortunately… he was eventually defeated.”

“Desolate!”

Xu Ran’s heart spirit was again struck by these two words!

That name, in some ancient text fragments, he seemed to have seen before! A forbidden existence that once pushed an era, unrivaled in combat power, even shaking the order of cosmic laws!

Unexpectedly, that legendary supreme being also emerged from here like him!

“Senior, who exactly are you…”

“I am but a barely surviving failure.” The Tomb Guardian interrupted Xu Ran, waving his hand, his eyes that seemed to pierce everything, deeply looking at Xu Ran.

“Young one, you’ve gained ‘Its’ recognition and embarked on this path, which is both your opportunity and your… fate.”

“Do you know what lies at the end of this path?”

Xu Ran was silent for a while, then slowly spoke, “Either shatter the heavens or perish entirely.”

“Well said!” The Tomb Guardian’s eyes burst with unprecedented brilliance, resembling a light’s final spark, “But do you know, after that initial swordsman, none have ever reached the end? Including ‘Desolate’, countless remarkable individuals fell along the way!”

“Why?”

Xu Ran’s voice echoed in the empty deathly silence of the ancient battlefield, carrying a weight he hadn’t fully realized. He faintly felt the answer to this question would affect every step he took in the future, possibly deciding his ultimate fate.

The Tomb Guardian’s face, filled with ridges and furrows, gradually lost its brightness, transforming back into a murky, stagnant pool. He didn’t immediately answer but turned around, gently tapping the Soldier Tomb below with the broken spear cane.

Thump.

A deep sound echoed, as though striking a node of eternal ages.

“Because they are all ‘rootless’ beings.”

The elder spoke softly, his voice hoarse like decaying wood rubbing against wood, “‘Rebel’, by its very nature, means to sever all ties with ‘cosmic law’. You sever the path it grants you, sever the destiny it plans for you, sever the sequence of all things in reincarnation it sets. You have leapt out of the Three Realms, beyond the Five Elements, becoming a drifting soul outside the world order.”

He paused, raising that pair of eyes seemingly able to see through the river of time, gazing at Xu Ran, “Why can a tree grow tall? Because it has roots, deeply embedded in the earth. Why can stars hang eternally? Because they follow established trajectories, sustained by the gravity of the entire cosmos. But the ‘Rebels’, they personally severed their own roots, removed their own paths. Surely, they gained unparalleled freedom and strength, but also became… vulnerable.”