Chapter 464 (1)
With Lu Qing’s current cultivation, propelling his golden flying boat was naturally swift beyond compare.
One vast province after another was swiftly left behind.
Before long, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation and stopped, gazing downward.
“Lu Xiaolangjun, what is it?”
Lin Zhirui had been marveling at the speed of the golden flying boat. Seeing Lu Qing come to a halt, he couldn’t help but ask.
However, Lu Qing simply looked downward, his expression somewhat peculiar.
Lin Zhirui instinctively leaned over to glance below, and in an instant, his body trembled.
“Isn’t this Azure Dragon Pass? We arrived so quickly… No, wait, look at Azure Dragon City!”
His eyes widened in shock—not just at how quickly they had arrived, but even more at the scene unfolding beneath them.
Below lay the enormous Azure Dragon City, sprawled across the earth.Yet, from their high vantage point, they could see that the city’s entire outline was strikingly peculiar.
At first glance, it resembled an unimaginably massive beast’s claw, imprinted upon the land.
Not far from Azure Dragon City, beyond the great bridge, was the Azure Dragon Mountain Range, where a perfectly straight fissure stretched across the mountains for a hundred miles.
That fissure bore an uncanny resemblance to a sword scar, as if, countless years ago, someone had unleashed a mighty sword strike, cleaving the entire mountain range in two!
“This… This…”
Lin Zhirui was utterly stunned, unable to form coherent words.
Never had he imagined that, when viewed from high above, Azure Dragon City and One Line Sky Gorge would reveal such an awe-inspiring and shocking sight.
Yet, Lu Qing’s feelings were even more profound than Lin Zhirui’s.
For a moment, he seemed to glimpse an ancient battle from untold millennia ago—one man, one beast, locked in fierce combat.
The man unleashed a sword qi that reached the heavens, while the beast struck with a claw that shook the skies.
Sword qi and claw imprint clashed, neither yielding, before they ultimately landed upon the earth.
The sword qi split the Azure Dragon Mountain Range in half, while the claw imprint carved an immense mark into the ground.
Now, countless years had passed, and yet the sword scar and claw imprint remained, untouched by time.
“These traces must have been left by entities of unfathomable cultivation. At the very least, they must have been formidable experts who had advanced deep into the Nascent Soul Realm.
Perhaps… they weren’t even from this world.”
Sensing the ancient essence emanating from the sword scar and claw imprint, Lu Qing silently pondered.
Beyond the peak of the Nine Transformations of the Golden Core Realm lay the mysterious and unfathomable Nascent Soul Realm.
The Nascent Soul Realm was divided into nine tribulations. With each tribulation overcome, a cultivator underwent a profound transformation.
Yet, according to the inheritances left behind by the Li Huo Sect and the Cold Water Palace, there was no mention of the Nine Tribulations of the Nascent Soul Realm. 𝘙𝓪ŊΟ𝐁ĚŞ
In fact, their inheritances only guided cultivators up to the initial entry into the Nascent Soul Realm.
Beyond that, all cultivation relied on personal exploration.
Even the sect-founding patriarchs of these great cultivation sects had, at most, only reached the initial stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Furthermore, as "Yan" had once stated, in the ancient era of cultivation, although the power of Nascent Soul cultivators varied, the disparity was not too extreme.
This implied that in the ancient cultivation era, the vast majority of Nascent Soul cultivators had only reached the first or second tribulation at best.
Thus, it was understandable that they had no knowledge that the Nascent Soul Realm actually contained nine tribulations in total.
Lu Qing only learned of this concept from the techniques and cultivation notes left behind by the gray-robed brothers.
Now, looking at the claw imprint in Azure Dragon City and the sword scar of One Line Sky Gorge—so vast, so enduring, still exuding traces of ancient essence despite the passage of countless millennia—it was clear that they could not have been left by mere first or second tribulation Nascent Soul cultivators.
“Unbelievable. So many tens of thousands of years have passed, an entire era of cultivation has long since faded into history, and yet this sword scar and claw imprint remain unchanged.”
Within the Li Huo Cauldron, "Yan" suddenly let out a sigh.
Lu Qing’s heart stirred. “Senior Yan, do you know the origins of these traces?”
“Of course not.”
Unexpectedly, "Yan" shook his head.
“These traces have existed for who knows how many millennia. Even when the last cultivation era began, they were already here.
No one knows how long they have existed, nor who left them behind.
The only thing known is that they contain mysterious power, seemingly capable of maintaining their form indefinitely.”
Lu Qing was not surprised by this answer.
On his last visit to Zhongzhou, he had already used his special abilities to observe One Line Sky Gorge.
Back then, he had learned that the sword scar had been left by a powerful, mysterious figure over 100,000 years ago.
The last cultivation era was merely 30,000 years past—of course, they would not have known the origins of these traces.
However, at that time, he had only been able to observe part of the sword scar from within the gorge, and he had been completely unable to perceive the claw imprint.
It was nothing compared to seeing the full picture now, from high above.
“Xiaolangjun, this sword scar and claw imprint were famous during the ancient cultivation era.
Almost every accomplished cultivator who could fly would come here to pay their respects.
According to legend, there were Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who comprehended extraordinary inheritances from these traces.
With your unmatched talent, if you carefully comprehend them, you may also gain something.”
Yan’s voice echoed in Lu Qing’s mind.
“Inheritances are contained within them?” Lu Qing’s gaze fixed on the scene below.
“I wonder if my ability can reveal anything…”
Feeling the faint ancient aura emanating from the sword scar and claw imprint, Lu Qing immediately activated his special ability and looked downward.
He first focused on the immense claw imprint beneath Azure Dragon City.
For a long time, he saw nothing unusual.
But Lu Qing was patient and continued to observe.
Lin Zhirui, seeing Lu Qing’s solemn expression, though uncertain of the reason, did not dare to disturb him and simply waited in silence.
After a quarter of an hour, Lu Qing finally noticed a change in his vision.
An incredibly dense, nearly black-purple radiance of special energy emerged from the massive claw imprint.
At the same time, several strips of text floated into his view.
“Purple again?”
Lu Qing was slightly startled.
Since gaining his ability, the highest grade of special energy he had ever observed was purple.
He had thought that investigating this ancient claw imprint might reveal a new color, but unexpectedly, it was still purple.
“Could it be that purple is simply the highest grade of special energy my ability can display?”
The thought crossed Lu Qing’s mind.
But such matters were trivial. He quickly set them aside and focused on the text that had appeared.
[Suan Ni’s Claw Imprint: A mark left by the Five-Tribulation Beast, ‘Suan Ni.’]
[Suan Ni: One of the nine sons of the Nine-Tribulation Beast ‘Ancestral Dragon.’ Born as a Nascent Soul Realm beast, its power is extraordinary.]
[One hundred thousand years ago, during the ancient era, Suan Ni roamed the world and exchanged pointers with a mysterious expert in this realm, leaving behind this claw imprint.]
[Detected essence inheritance. Would you like to download and simulate?]