Chapter 600: The Mysterious Cemetery, The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect
Palace Head Dan Chi’s heart sank to the bottom of the valley the instant the transportation formation closed. All color drained out of Elder Yun Nie’s face as his lips trembled slightly, unable to accept this reality. Mu Gaoqi clutched his head with both hands, squatting down in misery. And if it wasn’t for Palace Head Dan Chi’s fast reactions, Ling Bi’er likely would’ve crashed onto the ground after fainting.
“My condolences, ole brother Dan Chi…” Honored Master Tian Ming walked over with a soft sigh and comforted Dan Chi.
Elder Chen hadn’t emerged on the Sacred Sword Palace’s side either, but Wang Jianyu could not do anything about it other than curse loudly. He had no idea what had happened. Logically speaking, Elder Chen shouldn’t have lost track of time. If he’d succeeded in killing Jiang Chen, he should’ve exited immediately. If he’d failed, he should’ve left early as well. There was no way an expert of his caliber would make the mistake of losing track of time. Therefore, something must’ve happened inside, something big. Otherwise, how could an expert like Elder Chen not have made it out?
On the Great Cathedral side, Xiang Qin also stared dumbly at the formation, tongue-tied for the longest of times. He had rather admired Jiang Chen, and was quite crestfallen to see that Jiang Chen hadn’t exited. However, the other members of the Great Cathedral, particularly Elder Xiang Gan, were actually taking delight in the Regal Pill Palace’s misfortune after witnessing Jiang Chen’s stunning abilities. It wasn’t a bad thing that such an extraordinarily talented person like Jiang Chen hadn’t come out, particularly since he possessed so many sky rank spirit herbs! His absence would surely shave away at the foundations of the Regal Pill Palace.
As the foremost sect in the Myriad Domain, the Great Cathedral was never happy to see their competitors grow stronger. There was no need to even speak of the Walkabout Sect—they were almost dancing a jig of delight. Unexpectedly, it was Elder Wu Hen, with his previous experience facing off against Jiang Chen, who frowned slightly, also feeling that something was amiss here. It constantly nagged at him; Jiang Chen was not an unlucky person so how could he possibly have been trapped within the mountain?
Regardless, the formation to the mountain had shut and they could only reopen it after another thirty years. If Jiang Chen and Elder Chen were still inside the ancient herb garden, then they’d have to wait three thousand years before that formation could be opened.
Three thousand years…
That number was simply too stupefying!
With Ding Tong’s demise, the Tristar Sect could not spare any effort to delight in the Regal Pill Palace’s loss of Jiang Chen. They sketched perfunctory waves of farewell and decided to leave.
The next was the Walkabout Sect, whose morale was also affected after losing Wei Qing.
Xiang Wentian of the Great Cathedral called out at this time. “Everyone, allow me remind you all before we leave. Remember to keep the ancient herb garden a secret. After all, we’ve all sworn secrecy on our sects and will bring annihilation down on our sects if we accidentally reveal its existence.”
After the groups of people had left, only the Sacred Sword Palace, Regal Pill Palace and Dark North Sect remained. The Dark North Sect did indeed have good relations with the Regal Pill Palace. They’d stayed because they were worried that the Sacred Sword Palace would do something disadvantageous towards the Regal Pill Palace. However, since the Sacred Sword Palace had lost Elder Chen and Du Lihuang, their battle strength was roughly on par with the Regal Pill Palace now.
The Sacred Sword Palace dithered for a long time but realized that the Dark North Sect seemed to have no intention of leaving. Thus, the former knew that it’d be difficult to make trouble for the Regal Pill Palace this time. The fierce and ambitious Wang Jianyu also left irritably with his group when he saw that nothing could be initiated here. No matter how important Elder Chen was, they could only come back after thirty years.
The Dark North Sect felt great gratitude towards Jiang Chen for not only giving them the antidote, but also returning all of their earth spirit herbs. This undoubtedly strengthened the friendship between the two sects. The Dark North Sect kept the Regal Pill Palace company for a few days, only taking their leave when it was apparent that the Sacred Sword Palace would not return.
Palace Head Dan Chi sighed lightly, knowing that it was useless to keep waiting here. He left despondently with the Regal Pill Palace’s team. Along the way, when Elder Yun Nie relayed that Jiang Chen had handed over half of his spirit herbs, the latter’s loss cut into his heart even harder.
The more extraordinary Jiang Chen was, the harder it was for Palace Head Dan Chi to tolerate all this. Moreover, he had been the one to bring Jiang Chen to the Regal Pill Palace. If anything really had happened to Jiang Chen, then he would have let down both the Precious Tree Sect and Elder Shun.
“Palace Head, we must remember that Jiang Chen is someone who possesses great fortune. Perhaps we’ll be able to save him after thirty years, when we enter the mountain again.” Elder Yun Nie sighed.
Palace Head Dan Chi nodded. “Indeed, Jiang Chen doesn’t seem like the sort who will meet an early doom. I believe that he will make it out. Don’t reclaim his residence when we return, and don’t alarm those of the Precious Tree Sect. All shall be as before.”
Although Jiang Chen hadn’t emerged, Dan Chi wasn’t the sort to burn a bridge after crossing it. However, he was worried that someone else within the sect might do so, so he made this statement before anything could happen.
……
Jiang Chen remained in that groggy, unaware state for an indeterminate period of time. Then all of a sudden, the suction force vanished, restoring autonomous function to his limbs. He took another look around and saw that he had entered a space that was completely cut off from the rest of the outside world!
What greeted his eyes was a vast, sprawling cemetery. As It stretched out in the distance, the sheer sense of desolation resulting from the countless years that had passed here almost made Jiang Chen suspect that he was standing at the origin of time.
“The tomb of Lu Qiu of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.”
“The tomb of Lu Qi of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.”
There were rows of tombstones that looked like they had been cut from the same mold. They were all graves of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect members, and each one was just a cenotaph containing the personal effects of the deceased! This meant that their bodily remains weren’t present beneath the tombstones.
“Why is it like this?” Jiang Chen walked straight down the rows of the tombstones. All of them were adorned with only a few simple words, but he had the feeling that there seemed to be a glorious history behind each of these names. Each person here had lived a impassioned, fervent life. . It was just… for some reason, not only had all of them died without exception, their bodies had not been recovered.
The endless graveyard gave Jiang Chen the sudden forlorn feeling of having reached the end of the world. Finally, when he reached the end of the graveyard, he suddenly saw an altar there that was exactly the same as the one on the island!
“How is this possible?!” He stopped, stunned, and stared at the altar for a long while.
“It really is that altar!” He confirmed in the end that this was the same altar as the one that had stood on the island. It appeared that this altar was the key to triggering the transportation formation. Jiang Chen had activated it because of the nameless blade, and it’d sent him to this bleak cemetery which appeared to have been forgotten by the heavens as it lay quietly in the long river of time. No one had looked for it and weeds were flourishing everywhere.
“Just where is this place? And what is the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect?” Jiang Chen’s mind was full of questions. He’d spent a fair bit of time in the Regal Pill Palace and had perused many of its ancient tomes. Thus, he knew a bit of the history of the Myriad Domain. However, there was no record of this sect in the Regal Pill Palace’s archives.
Jiang Chen almost suspected that he’d been transported to another plane! But looking at the altar, he had to admit that he was still on the Divine Abyss Continent. It definitely wasn’t that easy to move between planes. With his cultivation at fifth level origin realm, he would never be able to withstand the immense pressure and turbulence from transportation between planes.
Jiang Chen stared dumbly at the altar as his nameless blade fell soundlessly to the ground behind it. He walked over quietly and picked it up. No matter whether he was able to use it or not, it was still one of his belongings and he wasn’t willing to discard it.
After he’d crossed over the cemetery, what lay beyond was a mess of broken and dilapidated buildings. Although abandoned, their scale and aura of magnificence illustrated their once-glorious states. As Jiang Chen weaved his way through the ruins, he sensed the desolation clinging to the buildings and felt a wave of bleakness wash over him.
Judging from the materials used in the buildings and the fragmented formations around him, Jiang Chen could already see that the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect had once been an absolutely enormous entity. All of the Myriad Domain sects together wouldn’t be enough to stand up to even one of its fingers.
Although Jiang Chen had never experienced the might of a true first rate sect such as the Ninesuns Sky Sect, his instinct was that the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect was even stronger than the Sky Sect! Except, even such a strong sect had been unable to weather the tribulations or time, becoming part of a nameless history that no one asked after. If it hadn’t been for Jiang Cheng experiencing the cataclysm in his past life, he wouldn’t have been able to believe his eyes.
“Ai, even after thousands of years of power, even if their name was carved into the annals of history, one is still unable to escape being rendered obsolete by the heartless passage of time. Then, this Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect was likely a sect from the ancient times? Current books have almost no record of the ancient times.” Jiang Chen didn’t understand much of the Divine Abyss Continent, but he knew that its history traced back to the ancient times. Perhaps this sect had been one that existed in that era.
As Jiang Chen walked along, he arrived beneath a cliff as tall as ten thousand feet that looked as if it would bridge the heavens. There were countless words carved on the stone cliff, giving it an extremely strong visual impact.
“The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect seeks not for our legacy to be passed down through the ages, but seeks to have a clear conscience. As strong enemies from outside the region have invaded, the entire sect has mobilized. Since we know death is a sure fate, we hereby raise our tombstones to pass this knowledge on. From today henceforth, the doors to the mountain will be sealed off from the world. If there are any disciples who do not die in this battle, they should reopen the formation and restore the sect. If the entire sect perishes, then anyone who comes after can receive the legacy of my Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect!”
Jiang Chen saw that the elegant script on the wall was simple but noble, filled with a grand and magnificent air. Although the writer was charging into certain death on the battlefield, he had the optimism of one who could look at death calmly in the face.
Who knew how many thousands of years it’d been, but Jiang Chen could still imagine the heroism of the writer as he read the words on the wall. It was a pity that he seemed to be the first who’d set foot into the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect afterwards. That meant to say that every one of the sect had fallen, and no disciple had made it back alive.
