124: Ancestral secrets, ancient secrets

Within the spatial aisle, starlight flowed, as if traversing a cosmic galaxy. Xiao Chen and Feng Xian walked side by side, feeling enveloped by a gentle yet vast power, their sense of time and space blurring.

After an unknown period, their vision suddenly brightened, and the two had stepped out of the aisle, landing in a completely new world.

The sight before them stunned both Xiao Chen and Feng Xian!

This was not the gloomy underground palace or ruined wasteland they had imagined, but a boundless starry sky! Beneath their feet was a massive landmass suspended in the void. Upon this land, mountains, rivers, palaces, and pavilions were all present, yet all were shrouded in a hazy starlight, exuding an ancient and vicissitudes of lifeaura.

Looking up, there was no blue sky and white clouds, but a brilliant Milky Way and countless rotating stars, as if they were in the center of the universe! The pure energy permeating the air far exceeded the outside world, even several times more concentrated than within the star tower!

“This…is this the Xiao Clan Ancestral Land?! It’s actually an independent small world?!” Feng Xian was dumbfounded. Feeling the pure Power of Starlight around him, his cultivation method spontaneously began to circulate.

Xiao Chen’s heart, however, was in turmoil! The Throbbingdeep within his bloodline reached its peak here, and the clan mark on his brow was scorching hot, as if a wanderer had returned home!

What shocked him even more was that the energy attribute of this small world subtly resonated with the Star God Contemplation Method he cultivated and the heaven burning furnace!

“The ancient Xiao Clan…actually possessed such a complete starry small world! Such means are probably beyond the reach of even the current Pill Tower and Soul Hall!” Xiao Chen’s soul perception spread out, discovering that this small world had complete rules, stable space, and a vast extent comparable to a province! This was definitely not something an ordinary Dou Sheng could open up!

“Brother Xiao, look over there!” Feng Xian pointed towards the center of the land. There, a towering Star Altar stood out! The altar was entirely constructed from unknown star crystals, soaring into the clouds, and inscribed with countless profound runes that resonated strongly with the ancestral land secret key phantom in Xiao Chen’s sea of consciousness!

At the top of the altar, something seemed to be suspended, emitting a heart-pounding energy fluctuation.

“That’s the core!” Xiao Chen’s eyes burned. He could feel that all the summoning sensations originated from that altar.

The two no longer delayed, transforming into streaks of light and flying towards the Star Altar in the center of the land. Along the way, they saw many ruined palaces and collapsed statues, vaguely hinting at their past glory.

Some areas still bore traces of fierce battles; sword and saber marks, and craters from energy impacts were everywhere, telling of the tragic war this place had endured in ancient times.

“Xiao Clan…what exactly did they encounter back then?” Xiao Chen’s mood was heavy. From these ruins, it was clear that the Xiao Clan’s past strength far exceeded imagination, yet they ultimately met with a fate of near annihilation.

The closer they got to the altar, the stronger the energy pressure in the air became. The altar was guarded by powerful restrictions, but Xiao Chen, relying on the aura of the ancestral land secret key, was not hindered. The two successfully ascended to the top of the altar.

The top of the altar was a huge circular platform. In the center of the platform, instead of the imagined treasures or inheritances, a broken black stone tablet floated! The stone tablet was only half a person tall, with jagged breaks, as if shattered by immense force.

The stone tablet was covered with dense, ancient divine script that Xiao Chen could not understand at all! But when his gaze fell upon those divine scripts, a Throbbingcame from deep within his soul, as if he could vaguely comprehend their meaning!

“This…is this a stone tablet recording the history of the Xiao Clan?” Xiao Chen approached the stone tablet and reached out to touch it. A cold sensation came, and at the same time, a vast and chaotic stream of information surged into his sea of consciousness!

Fragments of images flickered:

In the endless starry sky, a massive fleet was fiercely battling countless ferocious Outer Realm Heavenly Demons! The flag fluttering on the warships was precisely the clan mark of the Xiao Clan!

A Xiao Clan Dou Di, whose aura was comparable to the sun and moon, causing stars to collapse with every move, was locked in a life-and-death struggle with a terrifying Demon Emperor shrouded in chaotic death energy!

Suddenly, a black arrow from behind pierced through the back of the Xiao Clan Dou Di’s heart! The Dou Di roared, turning to look at the attacker, his eyes filled with unbelievable grief and despair! The attacker’s figure was blurry, but his aura gave Xiao Chen a hint of familiarity…it was of the same origin as the death energy of the Soul Hall, yet even more ancient and evil!

The Dou Di fell, the Xiao Clan army collapsed, the Ancestral Land was invaded, mountains and rivers shattered…Finally, a heavily wounded Xiao Clan great power, using his last strength, sealed the core of the Ancestral Land, sent it into the void turbulence, and left behind bloodline inheritance and the ancestral land secret key, hoping that future generations would one day be able to reopen the Ancestral Land and revive the clan…

The information stream abruptly stopped. Xiao Chen quickly withdrew his hand, his face pale, his breathing rapid, his eyes filled with shock and rage!

“Outer Realm Heavenly Demons…Dou Di fell…attacked from behind…is it the ancient Soul Clan?!” He could almost confirm that the attacker’s aura was of the same origin as the Soul Hall and the Netherworld Ghost Emperor!

The decline of the Xiao Clan was actually related to the betrayal of the Soul Clan!

“Brother Xiao, are you alright?” Feng Xian asked with concern.

“I’m fine.” Xiao Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart. His gaze once again fell on the broken stone tablet.

Besides these historical fragments, the stone tablet also concealed information about a broken secret method—the Star Immortal Body! This was a supreme method for cultivating the physical body, using Power of Starlight to temper the body. A master of this method could traverse the void with their physical body and resist Emperor-grade weapons!

Unfortunately, the stone tablet was incomplete, and the secret method was not whole.

“It seems this stone tablet is one of the true inheritances of the Ancestral Land.” Xiao Chen understood in his heart. He tried to inject his Heavenly Realm Soul Power into the stone tablet, wanting to obtain more information, but the stone tablet showed no reaction, seemingly requiring specific conditions to activate.

His gaze then turned to the edge of the altar. There, nine massive bronze statues stood! The statues varied in form, some holding axes, some gripping swords, some drawing bows, all exuding an overwhelming fighting spirit, like living ancient war gods!

Each statue’s brow had a groove, subtly matching the shape of Xiao Chen’s clan mark.

“These statues…could they be the ancestors of the Xiao Clan?” Xiao Chen approached a statue holding an axe, feeling a familiar bloodline resonance. Subconsciously, he pressed his brow against the groove on the statue’s brow.

“Buzz—!”

The clan mark glowed brightly with golden light! The statue seemed to come alive, its eyes lighting up with brilliant starlight! A pure, primordial fighting spirit surged into Xiao Chen’s body along with the clan mark!

At the same time, a deeper understanding of the Nine Axes of Heaven Opening surged into his mind!

“The Sixth Form…Heaven Opening?!” Xiao Chen’s heart pounded! This statue actually contained the inheritance of the sixth form of the Nine Axes of Heaven Opening! Although it was only a partial understanding of the artistic conception, it instantly elevated his comprehension of the first five forms to a new level!

Within the axe intent, the will to create, establish, and order became even clearer!

He tried the other statues in turn, and each time he received partial inheritance insights regarding movement techniques, soul defense, energy control, and other aspects! These inheritances were all profound secret methods reaching the Heavenly Rank! Although incomplete, their value was immeasurable!

“These nine ancestor statues are the greatest wealth the Ancestral Land has left for future generations!” Xiao Chen was incredibly excited. If he could cultivate in seclusion here and fully digest these inherited insights, his strength would undoubtedly undergo a qualitative leap!

However, just as he was immersed in the joy of acquiring the inheritance, the entire small world suddenly vibrated violently! In the starry sky below the altar, the originally stable void began to show cracks!

A terrifying aura filled with destruction and deathly stillness was seeping in from the other side of the cracks!

“No good! The Ancestral Land’s seal…is being forcibly broken by external forces!” Xiao Chen’s face drastically changed! He instantly thought of the Soul Hall’s Emperor Hunting Plan! It must be that the Soul Hall had discovered the entrance to the Ancestral Land and was frantically attacking from outside!

“I must quickly accept the core inheritance, and then leave!” Xiao Chen’s eyes were resolute as he looked at the broken stone tablet in the center of the altar. He had a premonition that the true core secret and the method to deal with the crisis lay within that stone tablet!

“Brother Feng, protect me! I’m going to try and communicate with the stone tablet!” Xiao Chen sat cross-legged in front of the stone tablet, his Heavenly Realm Soul Power fully erupted, and at the same time, he pushed his Xiao Clan bloodline power to its limit, injecting it into the stone tablet!

The stone tablet began to tremble slightly, and the ancient divine script on it gradually lit up…A deeper secret was about to be revealed! And the crisis from the outside world was already imminent!