As Xu Zimo stepped toward the stone stele, a group of guards immediately moved to block his path.
“This road is closed. Take another route.”
“Since we’re here, why not take a look?” the God Emperor said, ignoring them and turning to Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo gazed into the distance. The collapsed mountain was shrouded in a dense mist. He could faintly sense a powerful energy radiating from within.
“Let’s check it out,” Xu Zimo nodded.
“Hey, didn’t you hear us?” the leader of the guards said coldly. “One more step, and you die.”
“Leave, or die. Your choice,” the God Emperor replied calmly.
The guards sneered. The leader drew his sword and slashed at the God Emperor.
But the God Emperor simply glanced at them. With a thunderous boom, an explosion erupted in front of them, flattening everything in its path. All was reduced to dust.
The two of them stepped forward, continuing on.
As they walked deeper, Xu Zimo felt the unique energy pulsing stronger, emanating from the center of the mountain ruins and spreading outward.
All the plants and trees that absorbed this power grew unusually lush and vigorous.
“This energy is strange,” Xu Zimo commented.
“Yeah. I’ve never encountered it before,” the God Emperor nodded.
The two walked for several minutes before reaching the mountain’s base, where several groups had already gathered.
The elder from the Heavenly Dao Academy, along with his five students, sat cross-legged on a large boulder, eyes closed in meditation.
To the left was another group of elders and young disciples, based on their robes and attire, Xu Zimo guessed they were from Grand River God Sect.
To the far right sat a lone elder whose aura was extremely powerful. Judging by the pressure, Xu Zimo estimated he was at least 5th-stage God Meridian Realm.
Excluding the younger generation and reclusive Immortal Ancestors, these individuals were likely the peak combat strength of their sects.
In the mortal world, God Meridian Realm was the highest tier of cultivation most people could ever witness.
The path from the mundane to the immortal was something the average person couldn't even fathom.
Just achieving God Meridian Realm was a lifelong dream for most.
Thanks to the sect robes, Xu Zimo could recognize those from the major imperial lineages. But the rest, about a dozen rogue cultivators, were unfamiliar.
Unlike disciples from powerful sects, rogue cultivators had to rely on themselves. They hunted for treasures wherever there were ruins or secret realms. Without a faction to support them, they had to earn all their resources through their own efforts.
Xu Zimo and the God Emperor’s arrival didn’t go unnoticed. The others turned to look at them.
Xu Zimo could feel a subtle pressure in those gazes, an unspoken show of strength.
“What, never seen someone this handsome before? If you want to fight, step up. If not, then piss off,” Xu Zimo said flatly.
At his words, an old rogue cultivator let out a dry chuckle.
The old man had yellowed teeth and carried a gourd on his back. He grinned with a wheezy laugh: “Feisty, aren’t you, little brat?”
“Kill him,” Xu Zimo said calmly.
The God Emperor lifted his right hand and slowly pressed downward.
In that moment, his palm transformed into an immovable mountain, massive, majestic, and unstoppable.
The rogue cultivator’s God Meridian aura surged around him, but the crushing force of that hand made him feel as though his soul was about to shatter.
Others may not have felt the full pressure, but the old man was drowning in it.
His spiritforce stagnated. His blood nearly froze. It was like having a mountain dropped on his chest, he could barely breathe.
He bit down hard on his tongue to remain conscious. Blood poured from his mouth.
Only after that pain did he manage to scream: “Gourd!”
The gourd hanging from his waist suddenly flew into the air, erupting with brilliant five-colored light.
That light shot toward the God Emperor’s descending hand while wrapping around the old man to pull him to safety.
But with a loud boom, the light shattered instantly when it touched the divine hand, barely lasting even a second.
Fortunately, the gourd managed to rip open space, letting the old man escape into a spatial rift.
The God Emperor frowned slightly, then flicked his finger.
Crack!
The surrounding space locked in place.
The old man was forcibly ejected from the rift.
“Spare me, senior! I didn’t know you were such a powerful being. Please forgive me! Spare me!” the old man cried as he dropped to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly.
“Interesting gourd,” the God Emperor remarked.
“It’s from the Immortal-Chasing Vine,” the old man explained frantically. “It blooms once every 2,000 years and bears fruit after 3,000. It takes 5,000 years to grow a single gourd. I’ve spent a millennium refining it into my personal weapon. If you like it, senior, it’s yours!”
Without hesitation, the old man placed the gourd before the God Emperor.
But when he looked closer, his face turned pale.
His hands trembled as he saw countless cracks across the gourd’s surface, as if it were on the verge of shattering.
This gourd was supposed to be nearly indestructible, even by immortal experts.
Yet just from the God Emperor destroying the light it emitted, it had been nearly ruined.
The old man swallowed hard, staring in horror.
“What kind of monster is this!?”
He looked like he might cry, kneeling and pleading nonstop.
“Young master, do we kill him or let him go?” the God Emperor asked, turning to Xu Zimo.
“Tell me what you know about this place,” Xu Zimo replied.
The old man lifted his head and was surprised to see that the one in charge was the seemingly ordinary youth before him.
“Yes, young master!” he quickly answered and began explaining everything in detail.
Xu Zimo finally understood.
According to the old man, this ruin wasn’t ordinary. It might date back before the Legendary Era itself.
Rumor had it that someone from Grand Origin Sect once uncovered a crystal stone here, a kind that was lost even during the Desolate Era.
It dated back even earlier, to when the Primordial Heartlands was still a single landmass, before it split into five great continents.
Some believed the tale, others didn’t. But many were intrigued enough to come and investigate.
The ruins had not yet opened. Everyone was waiting.
According to Grand Origin Sect, the ruins would officially open in three days, during the full moon night.
Meanwhile, the surrounding onlookers, who had witnessed the brief clash, were completely stunned into silence, their eyes wide with disbelief.