“Rather than joining in form, it would be better to ally in substance. The Golden Crow Clan is willing to form an eternal alliance with the Primordial Ancient Realm, to advance and retreat together!”
Lu Xuan’s voice rang out, firm and powerful.
He had both tactfully declined the invitation and made clear his steadfast stance on alliance.
After Immortal King Wuzhong and the others heard this, though a trace of regret flashed through their eyes, they were not too surprised.
At their level, all had their own paths and convictions. Such things could not be forced.
Lu Xuan’s refusal was only reasonable, and the promise of an eternal alliance he offered was all the more precious.
“Haha, good!”
The True Dragon King was the first to laugh aloud, his voice like a great bell.
“Fellow Daoist is frank and straightforward! An alliance it is, then! Having those words from you is better than anything!”
The Six Paths of Reincarnation Immortal King also nodded slightly.
“We understand Fellow Daoist’s heart. From this day forth, the Golden Crow Clan and the Ancient Realm shall be the firmest of allies!”
A relieved smile appeared on Immortal King Wuzhong’s face. “Since Fellow Daoist’s mind is made up, we shall naturally respect it. An eternal alliance—excellent! May our two lands of Immortal Antiquity stand shoulder to shoulder and resist foreign enemies together!”
The willow branches of the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit swayed gently, transmitting a gratified thought: “Good.”
An invitation that might have changed the balance of power thus came to an end in the form of an even closer alliance.
Both sides obtained the outcome they wanted—the Ancient Realm received Lu Xuan’s clear pledge as a powerful reinforcement, while Lu Xuan maintained his own independence.
With the Dao discussion and invitation concluded, Lu Xuan no longer lingered. After bidding farewell to the various giants of the Ancient Realm, he tore open the void and returned to the Immortal Domain.
For Lu Xuan and the Golden Crow Clan, this journey to the Ancient Realm had already yielded tremendous gains.
The Realm Sea.
It was boundless and endless, its waves surging violently, burying countless shattered ancient realms and annihilated Great Daos.
And in its deepest reaches, where even an Immortal King’s divine sense could scarcely touch, there lay an even more eternal, absolute darkness.
Here, light was devoured, and even the concept of time became blurred and distorted.
Only a pure source of darkness flowed slowly.
At the center of this absolute darkness floated an ancient palace impossible to describe in words.
It was not built of brick or stone. Its material seemed to be solidified darkness itself, and also as if countless universes had been smelted together.
The outline of the palace shifted minutely without cease, emanating an ominous aura that could make all the heavens and myriad realms tremble.
This was one of the strongholds of the dark beings in the depths of the Realm Sea—the Ancient Hall of Reception.
Around the ancient hall, several terrifying figures stood silent like sculptures.
They had no fixed forms. At times they were like masses of roiling shadow; at times they manifested tentacles covered in demonic eyes; at times they became long, flowing rivers of darkness.
They were the Dark Immortal Kings stationed here, the vanguard and claws of the dark source as it eroded the myriad realms.
At the very instant Lu Xuan, Immortal King Wuzhong, and the others sealed the Primordial Gate—
“Hum…”
At the very core of the Ancient Hall of Reception, a dark demonic wall suddenly trembled ever so slightly.
Upon its surface, an extremely dim mark flickered with an almost negligible ripple, then swiftly vanished.
Yet that ripple instantly startled the several terrifying figures lying dormant within the ancient hall!
“Mm?”
A Dark Immortal King was the first to open its eyes, its Immortal King will sweeping across the demonic wall.
“Was that… the fluctuation of the gate?”
A mental fluctuation came from another vast existence.
“Though faint, and though it was instantly cut off… there is no mistake! It was a signal from the coordinates on that side!”
“How many epochs has it been… That abandoned gate has finally reacted again?”
The third figure emanated an aura of utmost deathly stillness.
Their thoughts intertwined within the ancient hall, filled with the excitement of discovering prey.
“According to the imprint, that gate connects to a place known as the Primordial Ancient Realm.”
A calculating light flickered in the demonic eyes of the Shadow Immortal King.
“It was once one of the realms whose will to resist was the most tenacious. Its world source remains a rare tonic for us.”
“More importantly,”
the second Immortal King figure whispered mentally.
“If we can use that gate to establish a stable passage, we can bypass most of the natural dangers of the Realm Sea and descend directly! This will be an excellent springboard for us to once again harvest the heavens on a grand scale!”
“The fluctuation appeared, but was immediately sealed by powerful forces of spacetime and reincarnation.”
The Broken Giant Spear Immortal King analyzed calmly.
“It seems the existences on that side have also realized the danger of the gate. However… since the fluctuation was able to transmit here, it means the seal is not flawless. Or perhaps… they once attempted to open it, triggering the gate’s source resonance!”
“An opportunity!”
Resolution seeped through the Shadow Immortal King’s thoughts.
“We cannot miss this sensing! Gather our forces at once and lock onto the direction from which the coordinate fluctuation last came!”
“Have Shijie lead the Darkborn Legion to the coordinate region, search for traces of the gate, and attempt to establish an initial connection!”
“Notify the other ancient halls. The coordinates of an ancient realm have preliminarily revealed themselves. Prepare for a joint hunt!”
“Awaken a portion of the sleepers. This operation must not fail!”
One command after another issued from the Ancient Hall of Reception.
Very soon, the endless darkness around the ancient hall began to boil!
One dark warship after another emerged from the void, their hulls engraved with twisted runes, emanating an aura that devoured light.
Countless strangely shaped dark beings surged onto the warships like a tide, among them no lack of powerful existences whose auras were comparable to Undying Kings!
Their leader was a Dark Immortal King known as Shijie.
Its aura was vicious and tyrannical, and it excelled especially at eroding world barriers.
“Set out!”
At Immortal King Shijie’s command, the vast dark fleet rushed out of the Ancient Hall of Reception’s domain.
It sailed into the surging Realm Sea, beginning its expedition across the endless void toward the general direction of the Primordial Ancient Realm!
They were not searching blindly.
That faint fluctuation from the Primordial Gate guided their direction.
Although the coordinates had been disturbed by the seal and become blurred, for dark beings who had roamed the Realm Sea for ages, it was already enough!
A dark surprise attack aimed at the Primordial Ancient Realm had already been quietly launched!
And at this moment, Immortal King Wuzhong and the others, who had just seen Lu Xuan off and were busy reinforcing the seal and repairing the Ancient Realm, had yet to notice.
A dark calamity far more terrifying than the foreign realm was following the clues left behind by the “Primordial Gate” they had sealed, crossing the endless Realm Sea and drawing closer step by step!
After bidding farewell to the giants of the Primordial Ancient Realm,
Lu Xuan tore open the void and crossed endless star domains in a single step, returning to the resplendent Golden Crow ancestral land.
He did not alert anyone. His figure directly merged into the core of the newly born Fusang Divine Tree and entered the independent spacetime at the deepest part of the Ancient Sun Cave.
On this journey to the Ancient Realm, though he had gained no tangible treasures, what he had seen and heard, what he had sensed and comprehended, far surpassed ordinary opportunities.
The warning of the Primordial Gate had given him a more direct understanding of the dark source on the far shore of the Realm Sea.
It was a power of erosion that surpassed the darkness of the foreign realm and pointed straight to the source of the Great Dao. Its terror was far beyond imagination.