Plundering the Heavens

A red lantern flew through the nine heavens against the brightness of the moon, and a peculiar aura covered the skies overlooking the Guixu Ruins.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Guixu Ruins was a place one could enter but not leave. It was like a cage, and those who entered would be forced to spend their entire life unable to escape. According to the words passed down from their seniors or clan masters, however, it wasn’t completely 

impossible to leave the Guixu Ruins if they wished to do so—a mysterious coffin had landed in the outside realm three thousand years ago, causing the rules of the Guixu Ruins to be riddled with cracks that allowed people to escape.

There was also another rumor that some people would have the opportunity to leave when nine moons rose into the sky. Such a peculiar sight as nine moons was a rarity even in a thousand years, however, and people believed it to be nothing more than hearsay, a rumor created by the bored old seniors who created such a tale to help their juniors fantasize about hope. It wasn’t until now—when a red lantern rose from the Guixu Ruins’ innermost depths towards the nine heavens to compete with the brilliance of the moon—that people remembered such a story.

The clans within the ruins quickly began to boil with excitement, and even the cultivators who’d given up any hope of leaving had their hearts moved once more. As for the younger generation of cultivators, it was only natural they weren’t able to calm their curiosity when they heard there was a whole new realm outside just waiting for them to discover.

Even those older cultivators who were nearing the end of their lifespan began to feel new hope. The rules within the Guixu Ruins were different, and no matter how powerful a cultivator was, they would be unable to enter the Budding Soul Stage. Those with full mastery of Golden Core Stage could live up to one thousand years at the absolute most, but if they were able to leave, they would have the chance to enter the Budding Soul Stage and add an extra two thousand years—the same as having two more lifetimes.

Amidst all the excitement, however, there were endless doubts. Even if the story about the nine moons was true and eight lanterns were able to compete against the moon’s brilliance, how could such an opportunity be utilized?

It had been too long. Three thousand long, dull years filled with endless waiting had eroded the clans’ hopes, and even though the clans still followed the ancient teachings of their original ancestors to form teams that searched the Guixu Ruins, the teams were meant to discover spirit veins or spirit mines, not the Guixu Ruins’ mysteries. Attempts to find the secrets at the center of the Guixu Ruins had been given up long ago due to wasted resources and costs.

Peril beasts lived all over the outskirts of the Guixu Ruins and human survivability was very low already, but the inner depths were even harsher. The strongest peril beasts living on the outskirts only went as high as tier five whereas there were rumors of seventh-tier peril beasts in the ruins’ innermost depths, on top of an endless amount of chaotic void streams and terrifying black thunder swamps.

Even if a spirit-vein-searching team was being led by someone with full mastery of Golden Core Stage, their survival rate would be no greater than ten percent as soon as they entered the Guixu Ruins’ innermost depths and nearly every single team sent inside faced total annihilation. Even if the team were to come back alive, they’d have almost no information aside from the terrifying peril beasts and the unknown chaotic rules of the area.

With such great danger, the clans all gradually lost interest in trying to enter the depths of the Guixu Ruins. And even though there were always new people entering the Guixu Ruins from outside who were extremely ambitious, they too would eventually lose all interest. For these reasons, it wasn’t even an exaggeration to say most of the clans had absolutely zero understanding of the ruins’ central areas.

Everything combined into a rather awkward situation. There was a sign the nine moons were beginning to rise, but even though the chance to leave the Guixu Ruins had arrived, no one knew how to leave. They didn’t even know how to get into the ruins’ depths….

The clans were ambitious, but even if they sent out brave soldiers who weren’t afraid to risk their lives to gather information on the innermost depths, just how many would actually survive to reach the center with the peril beasts, chaotic voids, and black thunder swamps in their way? This dilemma caused the clans to lose confidence.

Sacrifice the strength of their clan over a mere rumor? Stay put and forego such a great opportunity? The clans had been surprised and excited at first, but it didn’t take long before headaches started to set in.

The Fengtian clan, Baiyue clan, Yushou clan, the Hentian clan whose battle prowess was greatly reduced, and even a few smaller clans were all flustered and hesitant, and it was during this period of uncertainty that they suddenly welcomed a visitor. Each visitor wore hemp clothes and stray woven shoes. Their hair laid messily over their shoulders like a monster, and they’d come to pay a visit as silently as a ghost.

“Please pass on to your esteemed master, the emissary of the Xunlong clan is requesting for a visit….”

“Xunlong clan….”

When they heard an emissary from the most mysterious clan in the Guixu Ruins was visiting, all clans were shocked. Particularly at such a critical moment when such a peculiar sight had occurred, the arrival of a Xunlong clan emissary naturally stirred up a peculiar feeling in the hearts of the clan elders. Each one sent their most prominent person—either their clan master or foremost elder—to welcome the emissary with great importance, as though welcoming royalty.

The Xunlong emissary gladly entered but would give only a single sentence before leaving: “Three days from now, at the Rising Immortal’s Altar, the Xunlong clan master would like to invite everyone to discuss the secret matters of the Guixu Ruins, to enter the secret location, and open the Dao’s Palace!”

The Xunlong clan’s emissary had come for the sake of sharing and discussing the Guixu Ruins’ secrets collected over the past thousands of years? Such news was even more shocking than the nine moons, and nobody was able to hold back. The clans had long given up discussing the Guixu Ruins’ secrets in the past, but that was because they didn’t have enough resources or manpower to waste.

There was a single clan who hadn’t faltered like this, however: the most mysterious Xunlong Clan. Everyone in that clan was crazy, without a single one giving up on finding the secrets of the Guixu Ruins. They put as much vigor into this after thousands of years as they had on the very first day, and if there was any clan that could understand the depths with the greatest and clearest details, if the Xunlong clan claimed to be second best, no one would dare claim to be first.

Truth be told, after the appearance of the red moon, many clans had considered trying to find the Xunlong clan to seek out the ruins’ secrets, but the Xunlong clan was so mysterious that even if someone wanted to find them, there’d be nowhere to start. They hadn’t expected the Xunlong clan to reveal themselves at such a critical juncture and even invite all the clans to discuss and seek the secrets together….

In moments, no matter what their thoughts were, each clan made plans to head to Rising Immortal’s Altar.

The Rising Immortal’s Altar stood above an endless abyss at the center of the Guixu Ruins. It was a white jade stone Dao altar ninety-nine feet tall, ninety-nine feet wide, and ninety-nine feet long, and it was said this altar was where the ancient Taishang cultivators would go in order to rise into the upper realm and become an immortal. There were even legends that during Taishang Daoism’s most glorious days, there’d been ten immortals in the same sect and seven of those immortals had used this altar to reach that point.

After tens of thousands of years, the Taishang Daoism that once ruled the world had become nothing but ruins, but this altar that once represented glory and legend remained untouched. It was said this altar still had the immortals’ presence from the past, which ensured it remained clean and white. Weeds did not grow on it, birds did not dare to land, and peril beasts were unwilling to get close all out of fear towards contaminating such a hallowed place.

The clans in the Guixu Ruins were scattered all over the mountains and rivers. Some were close while others were far, but three days’ worth of time was just enough for that farthest clan to arrive, showing things had been prepared just in case they decided to come.

At the start of the second day, men gradually began to arrive and sat with their legs crossed at the Rising Immortal’s Altar to wait.

By noon, peril birds cried, the sun was suddenly obstructed, and the Yushou clan arrived from the southwest.

By dusk, a group of blue-robed youths with traditional clothing and a solemn presence arrived atop their Flying Swords—the Fengtian clan had arrived.

On the night of the third day, the moon was a bright crescent. Although a faint red lantern hung on the other side of the sky, the moon seemed to have become brighter than usual, and its silvery light seemed to light up the entire land below. It was also at this time that a silver pipa lute pushed aside a cloud in the night sky, revealing the female cultivators of the Baiyue clan in the skies right above the Rising Immortal’s Altar.

All the large clans claimed a corner of the altar, and whether they were sitting, standing, chatting with the clans they were close to, or simply looking towards their foes with great enmity, all the clans in the Guixu Ruins had arrived. There were even people who came but kept their distance from the altar and simply waited in silence; there were plenty of rogue cultivators who’d entered the Guixu Ruins from the outside but hadn’t joined any of the clans after doing so.

‘What is the Xunlong clan playing at? Everyone within the Guixu Ruins has come….’Fang Xing was also boredly waiting in the shadow of a large tree below the altar. He was a bandit who knew all too well how important it was to gather information, and he hadn’t hidden himself completely from the world even after fleeing. He’d immediately felt something big had to be happening when he noticed the two moons in the sky, and after sneaking out to get more information, he heard about this gathering at the Rising Immortal’s Altar and headed there immediately. As for the red dragon, Fang Xing had decided against bringing it with him and instead left it in a hidden valley ten thousand miles away, where it waited for him.

Although the big doggie was a very powerful helper, its mind wasn’t very clear and it didn’t have the ability to use spells—it would just be an inconvenience for him. If Fang Xing ran into trouble on his own, he could simply act accordingly and flee by covering up his presence. If he brought the red dragon along as well, however, the unnamed ability wouldn’t be enough on its own to hide the red dragon, so it would have to face any danger head-on. It was actually easier for Fang Xing to escape dangerous situations if he was alone.