Yet at this moment, these future powerhouses, without exception, had faces filled with despair, grief, indignation, and unwillingness.
Facing the direction of the ancient cave, they seemed to be crying out desperately, roaring, even kowtowing, unleashing all manner of earth-shaking divine abilities in an attempt to assault the ancient cave, or to change something.
But strangely, Lu Xuan could not hear a single sound.
All their movements, all their expressions, all the energy fluctuations erupting from them seemed to be separated by an invisible barrier that could never be penetrated, as though a grand and silent pantomime were being performed.
He could only see their twisted faces, their trembling bodies, and the heart-rending sorrow and powerlessness revealed in those soundless cries.
Just then, several of the future powerhouses who seemed to be leaders abruptly turned their heads. Their gazes pierced through the obstruction of spacetime and fell upon Lu Xuan, who had just arrived here!
When they clearly saw Lu Xuan’s face, especially when they sensed the chaotic aura around him—so incompatible with this dead and silent spacetime, yet carrying some kind of fundamental resonance—
The despair and grief on the faces of those future powerhouses were instantly replaced by an extreme, indescribable shock and horror!
Their eyes widened to the utmost, their mouths falling open, as though they had seen the most inconceivable, most impossible thing in the world!
They pointed at Lu Xuan, their arms trembling violently, seemingly wanting to say something, wanting to shout, their expressions so agitated they were nearly distorted.
And yet, still no sound came through.
Lu Xuan could only see their faces, written full of horror and disbelief, and their pupils that seemed about to split apart from excessive emotion.
They seemed to be silently crying out a name—or perhaps a title. From the shape of their mouths… Lu Xuan vaguely felt that it seemed to have something to do with “Donghuang”?
These powerhouses from the future knew him? Moreover, they seemed incomparably shocked by his appearance?
Was it because he had appeared in this Emperor’s Fall Era, where he should not have appeared?
Or was it because of… something else?
Doubts surged endlessly in Lu Xuan’s heart. He tried to move forward, wanting to get a little closer, to see whether he could pass through that invisible barrier and communicate with them.
However, the instant he took a step, the chaotic immortal mist gushing from the ancient cave suddenly intensified.
A tremendous, irresistible suction force, as though originating from the very source of spacetime itself, violently acted upon him!
At the same time, the bronze fragment in his arms became scalding hot, and that wisp of kindred aura resonated violently!
When those future powerhouses saw this scene, the shock on their faces instantly transformed into even more complicated emotions: anxiety, warning, and even a trace of… pity?
They desperately made gestures, as though trying to stop him, yet also as though trying to tell him something.
But Lu Xuan could no longer examine it closely.
“Whoosh—!”
His figure was uncontrollably dragged by that suction force, transforming into a streak of flowing light as he was hurled toward the mysterious ancient cave gushing with chaos and immortal mist.
He vanished into the hazy radiance at the cave entrance.
After he disappeared, the future figures surrounding the ancient cave gradually grew indistinct and transparent, like a sand painting scattered by the wind, before finally vanishing completely.
Only the countless silent great tombs remained, along with the ancient cave that still soundlessly gushed forth life and destruction, telling of the desolation of the ages and unsolved mysteries.
After being swept into the ancient cave by that irresistible suction force, the darkness he had expected did not descend. Instead, there was a dazzling, bizarre expanse of chaotic radiance.
Spacetime had utterly lost all meaning here. Lu Xuan felt himself rushing through a passage formed from countless shattered scenes and fragments of laws.
The bronze fragment in his arms was as hot as a branding iron, and that wisp of kindred resonance had grown intense to the extreme, as though guiding him onward.
Who knew how long passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity—before he suddenly broke free from that weightless state of traversal, his feet landing on solid and icy ground.
He steadied himself, chaotic qi naturally coiling around him to protect his body as he vigilantly surveyed his surroundings.
This seemed to be the depths of the ancient cave, an extremely vast underground space.
The cave walls around him were not natural rock, but were constructed from some unknown material that was warm and lustrous like jade, yet incomparably hard.
Carved upon them were countless ancient and mysterious images and runes, emanating a desolate, far-reaching aura.
Most eye-catching of all was the immense cave wall directly opposite him, upon which was engraved a continuous, lifelike mural!
No one knew what pigment had been used to paint the mural. It had endured through the ages without decay, its colors still vivid, as though it had forever frozen a sealed epic in this place.
Lu Xuan’s gaze was instantly drawn to the contents of the mural.
He slowly stepped forward, his mind immersing itself within it.
The beginning of the mural depicted a prosperous age so glorious it was difficult to imagine.
The heavens were lofty and distant, palaces stretched endlessly, billions of gods and demons bowed their heads, and the myriad Daos harmonized in shared reverence.
There were powerful beings who created stars with a wave of the hand, and sacred existences whose sermons caused golden lotuses to spring from the earth…
It was a civilization far beyond the level of Immortal Kings. It was an era that truly belonged to “Emperors”!
However, prosperity at its peak must decline.
The colors of the mural began to grow dim and oppressive.
From the far shore of the Realm Sea, an indescribable darkness, dense to the extreme, began to spread like a tide that devoured all things, surging toward this glorious age.
Within that darkness, countless twisted, bizarre, ominous figures could vaguely be seen.
War erupted.
With vivid and dripping strokes, the mural depicted a campaign tragic to the utmost.
Stars shattered, great realms overturned, powerful beings were corroded and fell within the darkness, and blood and fire dyed the heavens red.
Just as this apocalyptic calamity unfolded and the light retreated step by step, the central scene of the mural appeared.
It was an existence whose majesty could not be described in words.
His entire body was enveloped in hazy radiance, his true appearance impossible to see clearly, but the aura he emitted was enough, even through the mural, to make Lu Xuan feel an absolute suppression and awe on the level of life itself—
That was a realm above Immortal Kings. That was a true quasi-Immortal Emperor!
This quasi-Immortal Emperor seemed to be preparing to journey far away.
He stood upon an altar-like structure, his gaze directed toward the Realm Sea, filled with resolute will and the determination to press forward without retreat.
In his hand he held an ancient, unadorned longsword, its blade wreathed in the aura of creation and ending.
Below the altar, countless people knelt prostrate in grief.
And at the very front of that kneeling crowd, in the position closest to the quasi-Immortal Emperor, stood a person.
It was a man, tall and straight, his black hair falling loose. Although it was only a side profile in the mural and his full appearance could not be seen clearly, the moment Lu Xuan laid eyes on him, his heart suddenly gave a violent thud!
An indescribable sense of familiarity and resonance, originating from the depths of his bloodline and soul, surged into his heart like a tide!
This man… this man who was bidding farewell to the quasi-Immortal Emperor about to set out on an expedition to the Realm Sea…
His outline, his bearing, even the subtle posture of the way he stood…
Were actually five or six parts similar to Lu Xuan himself!
No, it was not merely similarity!
Lu Xuan could clearly sense that the kindred aura coming from the bronze fragment in his arms and the aura of this man in the mural were almost of the same source!