Eight large characters, written in blood.
They appeared on both sides of the stone gate before him, radiating a terrifying, irresistible pressure.
In front of the stone gate lay a pile of ancient, decayed purple-crystal bones.
The bones looked ancient, but the key detail was their purple-crystal hue. Even the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, Evan Lin, couldn't achieve such a transformation.
Bones of purple-crystal grade are far beyond the realm of ordinary humans.
Evan Lin's heart stirred slightly. He stepped forward, lowered his head, and examined a surviving segment of purple-crystal spine among the bones.
On the spine, two characters were inscribed.
True Immortal Zane One.
Although countless years have passed since those characters were written,
they still circulate with undispersed dao-rhythm, condensed and unbroken.
Just a single glance was enough for Evan Lin, even with his current cultivation, to sense the breath of heaven itself.
"True Immortal... Zane One?"
Evan Lin's tone was strained.
Even for him—even the bones of the Nine Mysteries Immortal Lord, Lin Jiuxuan—could never reach the realm of purple-crystal transformation.
"On the Immortal Martial Continent, in the distant legends of antiquity, there was a dao-name Zane One. With a single hand he could open the heavens, with a dust brush he could slay gods and demons. His might was unmatched—ten years to enter the dao, a hundred years to ascend. He left behind a supreme sect-lineage called the Way of the One."
In ancient times, the Way of the One wielded overwhelming authority and power, standing as one of the three great cultivation sects of the Immortal Martial Continent.
"But at some unknown point, the Way of the One gradually faded. And the legendary True Immortal Zane One, said to have ascended and become famous even in the Immortal Realm, never again showed any trace in the Immortal Martial Continent."
"Could this really be True Immortal Zane One?"
"Even as an immortal, he died here..."
The shock in Evan Lin's heart was beyond measure.
The era of the Immortal Martial Continent where Evan Lin lived was separated from True Immortal Zane One's era by hundreds of thousands, even up to a million years.
During that span, even Evan Lin could find no trace of what happened.
At most, while browsing top-tier secret manuals, he had glimpsed a few stray mentions of Zane One.
But Zane One—
Just those two characters, in a sense, dominated his entire era.
What kind of presence was that?
Evan Lin reached out, intending to take that segment of purple-crystal spine into his hand.
He never expected—
Just a single touch—
The entire segment of purple-crystal spine instantly crumbled into powder and fell to the ground.
"Even True Immortal Zane One, founder of the Way of the One, ended up dead and erased here."
"So what's really behind this door?"
Evan Lin stared at that stone gate, a surge of feelings he couldn't even put into words flooding his heart.
Especially those eight blood-red characters.
They looked just like fresh blood, as if someone had written them here only moments ago.
The killing intent radiating from them was absolutely overwhelming.
"That heavy treasure... that crying child... did they come from here?"
Evan Lin took a deep breath, stepped forward, and stood before the stone gate, wondering how he was supposed to open it.
Suddenly—
The eight blood-red characters shimmered with light, slowly enveloping Evan Lin.