Chapter 774: Huge Harvest

In a corner stood a tall, enclosing wall.

The wall was covered in dense, intricate reliefs.

The reliefs were exceptionally exquisite. Despite the ravages of time, they remained stubbornly etched into the wall.

And from these reliefs, Shen Bai felt the desolate aura grow even stronger.

But what startled him most wasn’t the stone carvings, but what lay at the very center of the carved wall.

A skeleton was pinned to the wall by a longsword. The longsword gleamed with a cold light, and wisps of a deathly silent aura flowed around it.

Shen Bai’s gaze followed the skeleton’s arm, and he saw a Deceit Transformation Pearl clutched in its bony hand.

Looking down past the skeleton’s feet, he saw a disheveled book lying on the ground beneath its dangling legs.

Its pages were old and yellowed, splayed about haphazardly.

Due to the darkness, he couldn’t make out the words on them.

After a moment’s thought, Shen Bai raised Cold Moon and swung it at the skeleton.

‘When in doubt, draw your sword. See if there’s any danger first.’

But as Shen Bai drew his longsword and unleashed a streak of Blood Red Sword Qi, something strange happened.

The longsword piercing the skeleton’s chest actually emitted a terrifying azure Sword Qi that collided with Shen Bai’s Blood Red Sword Qi.

The two energies ground against each other and vanished in an instant.

“Automatic defense?” Shen Bai stroked his chin, a guess forming in his mind.

The longsword had only released a single streak of azure Sword Qi and didn’t attack again. He suspected it might be some kind of automatic defense mechanism.

Of course, a guess was just a guess. Shen Bai’s true target was the Deceit Transformation Pearl in the skeleton’s hand.

With this in mind, Shen Bai channeled the Qi in his body and gave a sharp pull toward the Deceit Transformation Pearl in the skeleton’s hand.

Under the influence of his Qi, the Deceit Transformation Pearl landed smoothly in Shen Bai’s hand.

Shen Bai was slightly surprised; he hadn’t expected it to be so easy.

He then turned his attention to the book beneath the skeleton. Repeating his earlier action, he brought the book into his hands as well.

Nothing unusual happened. It seemed that as long as Shen Bai didn’t attack the skeleton, the longsword wouldn’t launch an attack against him.

“Interesting.”

Shen Bai tossed the Deceit Transformation Pearl into the space of his Yin Yang Storage Skill, then picked up the yellowed book he had just acquired and carefully opened one of its pages.

When he turned to the first page of the yellowed book, a line of text entered his sight.

Shen Bai couldn’t understand the script; it clearly wasn’t the writing of the Great Zhou Country.

Yet, under the influence of a magical force, he was somehow able to comprehend its meaning.

In the Era of Ten Thousand Cities, Molten Rock City was destroyed in an instant.

The very first sentence was staggering.

Shen Bai thought to himself, ‘So this was a city from the Era of Ten Thousand Cities?’

Red Makeup responded in his mind, “Master, there were many cities in the Era of Ten Thousand Cities. I don’t recall a Molten Rock City.”

“But it’s possible there were simply too many. After all, even in the golden age of the Era of Ten Thousand Cities, those that could be considered truly rare and exceptional were few and far between.”

Shen Bai nodded and continued reading.

Molten Rock City was but an insignificant city in the Era of Ten Thousand Cities. After I took charge, I worried it would be destroyed amidst this prosperous age, but the torrent of the era kept pushing me forward.

A strange organization appeared. They called themselves Luan, for they wished to plunge all the world’s laws and order into chaos and ruin.

I lost. I was destroyed at the hands of Luan. The entire city was lost, its people died, and I died as well.

They are the true culprits behind the end of the Era of Ten Thousand Cities, the masterminds behind it all.

I hate them.

Reading this, a theory had already formed in Shen Bai’s mind.

‘So the mastermind organization from the Era of Ten Thousand Cities was called Luan. It certainly fits their description.’

‘In that case, this skeleton must be the true City Lord of Molten Rock City… no, that’s not right. The one I faced was also a City Lord, but he must have been the City Lord after Molten Rock City became a Forbidden Land.’

‘This scene is the aftermath of Molten Rock City’s destruction.’

A series of thoughts echoed in Shen Bai’s mind. In just a few moments, he had sorted through all the clues.

After organizing his thoughts, Shen Bai looked down and continued reading.

In a daze, I was pierced through the chest by a longsword. That member of Luan was named Yang Xiu. His Swordsmanship was too strong; I could not defeat him.

But before I died, I gave it my all, burning my entire Divine Soul and life force to uproot the whole of Molten Rock City and crash it into the Desolate Forbidden Land.

Yang Xiu wanted me dead, so I would drag him into the Desolate Forbidden Land with me and make him walk into death by my side.

Death is terrifying, but I have come to see it as trivial. My only wish is to die and take him with me.

“Crashed into the Desolate Forbidden Land?”

Shen Bai stroked his chin and said, “So that’s how it is. No wonder this place has the aura of the Desolate Forbidden Land. Molten Rock City probably became a Forbidden Land because the City Lord crashed the entire city into it.”

Red Makeup sighed emotionally in Shen Bai’s mind, “Aside from the masterminds, that so-called Luan organization, every City Lord of the Era of Ten Thousand Cities actually possessed great courage.”

“If it were my father, I doubt even he would have dared to crash into the Desolate Forbidden Land at the end. Everything there is far too terrifying.”

Shen Bai nodded. “When faced with the dirge of death, even desolation becomes a joyful tune. He had to take something with him. Perhaps taking Yang Xiu was his final wish.”

For one person to annihilate an entire city—to the City Lord, this was a blood debt that reached the heavens.

The courage to plunge into the Desolate Forbidden Land alone was born from that blood debt and the inevitability of death.

There was more text in the book. Shen Bai continued to read.