3: A world crippled by powerful beings

After some conversation, Long Aotian learned that the Grand Void Dragon Clan's ancestral Treasure, the tai xu dragon seal, was what the Dragon Soul asked him to help return to the Grand Void Dragon Clan.

This also revealed the Dragon Soul's identity: Ao Zhan, Clan Chief of the Grand Void Dragon Clan during the Myriad Clans Era!

The tai xu dragon seal was a symbol of the Grand Void Dragon Clan Clan Chief's authority, and it was also a rare Treasure. It was said that after the Grand Void Dragon Clan's powerful ancestors passed away, their Dragon Souls would transform into the purest Soul Power, and these Dragon Soul Powers were collected within the tai xu dragon seal.

From the Primordial Era, to the Savage Era, to the Ancient Era (Ancient, Archaic, and Remote Ancient), to the Primitive Era, and then to the Myriad Clans Era where Ao Zhan resided, the tai xu dragon seal had collected an unknown amount of Dragon Soul Power from the Grand Void Dragon Clan's powerful ancestors.

When the tai xu dragon seal appeared, a Void Realm would tremble, and even be suppressed and sealed. The terrifying Dragon Soul pressure could crush a planet into dust.

Given such a Heaven-Defying, fierce artifact, Ao Zhan naturally could not hand it directly to Long Aotian. Instead, he sealed it within a mysterious spatial bead.

Holding the bead, it appeared and felt very ordinary. Long Aotian did not sense any Heaven-Defying Treasure within this mysterious spatial bead.

It was clear that even this mysterious spatial bead was a rare spatial Magic Treasure, but after obtaining the Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower, Long Aotian viewed other spatial Magic Treasures with much less importance.

Among the Myriad Realms, what spatial Magic Treasure could be more impressive than his Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower? It was a Heaven-Defying Treasure Pagoda that even a powerful being like Ao Zhan could not bind, and an ancient being like Ao Zhan did not know what it was.

Long Aotian had no covetous thoughts about the mysterious spatial bead. Not to mention he now had to face Ao Zhan. Although Ao Zhan was currently just a remnant soul, killing a Mortal child like him would be incredibly easy.

A single breath would suffice.

Long Aotian also gained a general understanding of why Ao Zhan had fallen into distress on the Sky Ruins Continent from his words.

Ao Zhan was Cultivating in the Chaos Holy Ruins and, by Opportunity, obtained the Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower. However, the Treasure brought trouble. Other powerful beings didn't care if it was his Opportunity; whoever had the strongest fist claimed the Opportunity.

Thus, an unprecedented great battle erupted in the Chaos Holy Ruins, and Ao Zhan was ganged up on by other powerful beings.

The fight spilled out of the Chaos Holy Ruins.

Those powerful beings feared Ao Zhan would escape back to the Grand Void Dragon Clan and gather Dragon Clan powerful beings to retaliate. Coupled with the temptation of the Heaven-Defying Treasure, they pursued him relentlessly.

To escape, Ao Zhan had to flee in disarray from higher Planes to lower Planes. Lower Planes had world rules that suppressed Cultivation. Ao Zhan used this to his advantage, and also utilized the Grand Void Dragon Clan's inherent strong Physical Body, eventually fighting those powerful pursuers to a standstill.

They didn't know how many lower Plane worlds they had shattered until they arrived at the Sky Ruins Continent. Ao Zhan knew that if he didn't completely eliminate those powerful pursuers, he would never have a day of peace. So, at the cost of being reduced to only a remnant soul, he finally eliminated those powerful pursuers.

The name 'Sky Ruins Continent' also originated from their great battle.

The entire continent was affected by their great battle at the time. Not only was the continent shattered, but even the world rules were crippled by them.

The subsequent disaster for the Sky Ruins Continent was that Cultivators on the Sky Ruins Continent, when they Cultivated to Ascension, might not be able to sense the Immortal Realm's reception, thus being unable to use the Ascension Passage for normal Ascension, or being unable to Ascend to Immortality at all.

This undoubtedly crippled those Cultivators of the Sky Ruins Continent at the very top level of Cultivation.

Upon hearing this, Long Aotian was completely stunned.

Is this how the Sky Ruins Continent came to be?

Does Sky Ruins Continent mean Ruins Continent?

Those top-tier Cultivators on the Sky Ruins Continent who could Ascend to Immortality, because the world rules were incomplete, couldn't Ascend to the Upper Realm?

Long Aotian was a bit bewildered.

If he couldn't Ascend to the Upper Realm, should he still Cultivate to Immortality?

Just as Long Aotian felt lost about his inability to Ascend to the Upper Realm when he Cultivated to Ascension in the future, Ao Zhan gave him hope.

That is, the legend in Long Village about an Immortal battle at Immortal Severing Mountain was true!

Because the world rules were crippled, Ao Zhan's Dragon Soul was also crippled in the battle. Due to his incomplete Dragon Soul, Ao Zhan could not Possess others. With the crippled world rules and the unmanifested Ascension Passage, he also couldn't follow Ascenders into the Immortal Realm, nor could he tear open the Immortal Realm barrier to enter the Immortal Realm, thus being completely trapped on the Sky Ruins Continent.

Given Ao Zhan's Cultivation and the severity of his injuries, only by returning to the Immortal Realm was there a slight possibility of healing. Remaining in the Mortal Plane was slow suicide.

But there was no other way; the world rules were crippled by them, and he could only suffer the consequences of his actions.

Just as Long Aotian didn't believe he couldn't Cultivate to Immortality despite having twelve Spiritual Roots, Ao Zhan initially didn't believe he couldn't return to the Upper Realm. So, he racked his brains on the Sky Ruins Continent, searching for various ways to return to the Upper Realm. The result was failure after failure; no method gave him hope.

Finally, he had to face the cruel reality.

He couldn't go back.

Thus, countless millennia passed until, several thousand years ago, two powerful beings suddenly descended from the Immortal Realm one day.

The appearance of these two powerful beings shocked Ao Zhan.

Because these two powerful beings had remained on the Sky Ruins Continent after its world rules were crippled. Ao Zhan had even met them years ago when he sought a way to enter the Immortal Realm.

With Ao Zhan's Dao, he could naturally discern their Cultivation at a glance. Both were Immortal Lord Realm powerful beings, which truly astonished Ao Zhan. At the same time, the appearance of these two Immortal Lord Realm powerful beings also revealed a piece of information to him.

That is:

He had toiled for countless millennia, seeking a way to enter the Immortal Realm, and it wasn't that there truly was no way.

At least these two Immortal Lords, who could return from the Immortal Realm, had a method to enter the Immortal Realm without going through the Immortal Realm's Ascension Passage for Ascension.

Ao Zhan's conjecture was correct.

Those two Immortal Lords who returned from the Immortal Realm indeed did not enter the Immortal Realm through the normal Ascension Passage. Their method was to temper a powerful Physical Body, tear through space, then use their powerful Physical Body to withstand the Void Realm wind blades, enduring decades or even centuries, traversing the Void Realm, and finally, after countless hardships and a near-death experience, entering the Immortal Realm.

In other words, as long as one's Physical Body was strong enough and one's perseverance firm enough, it was possible to traverse the Void Realm and enter the Immortal Realm.

This method was tens of thousands of times more difficult than directly Ascending to the Immortal Realm through the Ascension Passage, but it might also be the only possible way for Cultivators of the Sky Ruins Continent to enter the Immortal Realm.

Of course.

There was another method.

That is, if a powerful being from the Upper Realm used a World Rule Talisman or other Magic Treasure that could circumvent world rules to return to the Lower Realm, then used some powerful spatial Magic Treasure to collect people into the spatial Magic Treasure and took the spatial Magic Treasure back to the Upper Realm, they could easily bring people from the Lower Realm to the Upper Realm.

But obviously, such a spatial Magic Treasure that could disregard rules and bring people from the Lower Realm to the Upper Realm was a rare Treasure even in the Immortal Realm; not even Immortal Emperor-level powerful beings were guaranteed to possess one.

It was merely a pipe dream.

According to Ao Zhan, those two Immortal Lord powerful beings returned to the Sky Ruins Continent specifically for him, meaning they coveted his Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower.

Although they didn't know what the Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower was, the Immortal aura it emitted, even if they didn't recognize its true value, they knew it was a Heaven-Defying Treasure.

After arriving in the Immortal Realm, even after their Cultivation Breakthrough to the Immortal Lord Realm, they had never seen a Magic Treasure like the Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower that, purely by feeling, seemed so Advanced and Heaven-Defying.

With this in mind, the two ultimately decided to return to the Sky Ruins Continent to snatch the Nine Treasures Glazed Chaos World Tower from Ao Zhan.

However, they never expected that a dying camel is still bigger than a horse. Ao Zhan's strength was far greater than they imagined. Even as a lingering remnant soul, killing them was as easy as turning a hand.

In the end, one was killed, and the other was injured and fled in disarray.

The world returned to peace.

The two Immortal Lords, one might say, tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice.

Time flies, years pass silently.

Ao Zhan didn't know how many millennia he had been trapped on the Sky Ruins Continent.

In short, after that battle with the two Immortal Lords, he became even weaker.

Until Long Aotian's appearance, he felt his end was near...