Chapter 486: A Sword that Cleft the Earth

Shen Daoxing’s expression faltered. He and Liu Ying quickly leaped up, soaring high into the sky.

BOOM!

A tremendous boom rang out.

The giant claw slammed down with terrifying force, as if it would shatter the very heavens.

Where they had just been standing, the earth cracked and rubble exploded outwards, leaving a massive crater in its wake.

Looking toward the chasm, they saw a sharp, ferocious head suddenly emerge from within, appearing right before them.

Its eyes were enormous, like two suns in the sky—ferocious and terrifying. A long, sharp horn protruded from the top of its head.

BOOM!

With a sudden movement, it leaped from the chasm and landed on the ground, its five long, white tails held high.

The entire ground shook violently.

’This is... an Ancient Giant Monster.’

Shen Daoxing was stunned. It was another creature that should only exist in ancient times—an exceptionally ferocious Celestial Balance Realm Fierce Beast that preyed on the Human Race, the Demon Race, and other humanoid life forms.

’What in the world is this place? Why are there ancient creatures here?’

Shen Daoxing glanced around, but there was no time to ponder. He spurred the Great Ming Demon Sparrow into the air, quickly putting distance between them and the Ancient Giant Monster.

At that very moment...

SCREECH!

A piercing cry echoed from the sky.

The next moment, a giant bird with a human face appeared in the sky. After an elegant turn, it extended its two sharp talons and swooped violently toward Shen Daoxing and Liu Ying.

It had the body of a pheasant, the tail of a dog, and a pair of broad wings, but its face was that of a grotesque old crone.

It was a Human-faced Pigeon, another Fierce Beast from ancient times that was long extinct. Shen Daoxing had only ever read about it in ancient texts.

Shen Daoxing was stunned yet again.

At that very moment, the Ancient Giant Monster below them roared and swiped again with its world-shattering claws.

It seemed Shen Daoxing and Liu Ying were about to be torn apart by both the Human-faced Pigeon and the Ancient Giant Monster.

Suddenly, with a CRACK, the entire scene before Shen Daoxing’s eyes shattered like glass. It broke into countless pieces, and he and Liu Ying began to sink again, falling into the darkness below.

The next moment, the darkness around Shen Daoxing suddenly lit up again.

The world was dim, awash in a deep red glow. Dazzling lights flared all around them amidst the incessant clang of weapons and shouts of battle.

Shen Daoxing looked up and saw magnificent Magical Treasures clashing violently in the sky, making the very heavens tremble.

Unknown, powerful experts were locked in fierce combat. Each possessed a terrifying aura, their every move capable of shattering mountains, splitting rivers, and churning the clouds.

The sheer power of their auras was in no way weaker than the battle Shen Daoxing had witnessed between He Yi and the Celestial Secret Elder.

In fact, it might have even surpassed it.

Countless collisions and violent explosions rang continuously in Shen Daoxing’s ears.

Mountains crumbled and the world trembled unceasingly.

Shen Daoxing and Liu Ying were like innocent leaves caught in a storm; a single careless moment could see them torn to shreds.

Suddenly, Shen Daoxing sensed a bright light overhead. He looked up to see that a dazzling curtain of light had appeared, stretching forward to blanket the entire sky.

The dazzling curtain of light grew larger and larger until it filled their entire field of vision, and then it descended.

Only then did Shen Daoxing realize that this curtain of light was actually a beam of sword light—a colossal beam that spanned the entire world. It descended violently, carrying the power to reshape heaven and earth, to shatter the very firmament.

RUMBLE!

A tremendous sound erupted, shaking the entire world.

Shen Daoxing’s ears rang incessantly, and he was blinded by the dazzling light. It felt as if an immense force had detonated right below him.

A mere ripple of the aftershock sent him flying far into the distance, soaring so high he nearly breached the cloud layer.

After a long while, the dazzling light finally began to fade.

Shen Daoxing focused his gaze below and froze. The land was now a stretch of barren brown earth. An entire layer had been sheared clean off, and all the previous vegetation had vanished.

In that instant, a massive Tianze stretching for thousands upon thousands of miles appeared before his eyes.

Soaring high in the sky, Shen Daoxing saw the full expanse of the Tianze. It lay coiled across the land below like a slumbering dragon, bisecting a range of one hundred thousand mountains.

Suddenly, Shen Daoxing felt that the Tianze looked familiar. Its shape was identical to Yun Meng Lake, where his Cyan Nether Sword Sect was located, except this one contained no water.

At that moment...

CRACK! CRACK!

A few faint sounds were heard.

The scene before Shen Daoxing and Liu Ying suddenly cracked like glass once more. The fissures grew, spreading out in all directions like a spiderweb, before the entire vision shattered, revealing a dark, empty void.

The ground beneath their feet vanished, and they immediately began to fall rapidly once more. Everything they had seen was gone, leaving only pitch-black emptiness.

But soon, their surroundings lit up yet again.

This time, they were met with a barren, brown landscape of exposed earth. Looking up and into the distance, they saw towering cliffs rising from the ground on all sides, completely enclosing them.

It seemed Shen Daoxing and Liu Ying had arrived inside the massive Tianze that was carved out by that single sword strike.

But now, specks of green dotted the barren land. Although the place was desolate, they could faintly make out scattered patches of vegetation.

It seemed a great deal of time had passed.

"This is..."

Shen Daoxing looked puzzled.

Beside him, Liu Ying narrowed her delicate eyes, scrutinizing their surroundings. "They say that time is chaotic within the Ancient Ruins of the Abyss," she said suddenly. "I fear what we just saw were scenes from this ancient battlefield’s past."

Shen Daoxing nodded, his mind flashing back to the world-cleaving sword strike. ’That must have been it,’ he thought, ’the strike from the Great Sword Immortal that carved out our Yun Meng Lake.’

Then, he looked around and felt an ancient, time-worn aura wash over him, carrying with it the faint, lingering scent of blood.

At that moment, the Inherited Jade Pendant from Dugu Sheng suddenly flew out from within Shen Daoxing’s robes. Glowing faintly, it flew forward, indicating a direction for the two of them.

Shen Daoxing looked into the distance and saw a dense mountain forest within the Tianze.

Ancient trees reached for the sky amidst thickets of thorny brambles. The dim forest was pitch-black within, like the gaping maw of a monster waiting for its prey to wander in.

"What exactly is in these Ancient Ruins of the Abyss?"

Shen Daoxing asked, unable to contain his curiosity.