Chapter 421

This is…

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian, Xiang Hong, was stunned, frozen in place.

The scenery before their eyes was even more shocking than when they had seen the dark light transform into Qin Shi Huang and Yinglong.

The sound of rushing water reached their ears.

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian, Xiang Hong, and Tianxie Jianxian turned at the sound, pupils contracting as they stared at the torrential river surging behind them—vast, boundless, its origin unknown, waves crashing one after another, each wave a world.

This water sound!!

They suddenly remembered the dark light—the gentle ripple it made when shifting matched this river's sound; that sound was this river's sound!

Seeing this river, seeing this scene, they finally understood why the dark light's water sound felt familiar—it came from this river, and they knew this river…

The River of Time!!!!

With stiff necks, they turned with difficulty, slowly lifting their gaze to the towering imperial pass before them, its height lost to the horizon.

Xiang Hong and the other two could not remain calm; their spirits trembled violently, their souls bristled with dread.

"Hangu Pass!"

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian stared at the three ancient, weathered characters carved into the towering imperial pass—inked with the Dao itself—and was utterly shaken.

"We've come out… come out of the River of Time…"

Majestic, boundless, mighty, sublime, ancient, weathered, solemn… the incomparable, indescribable aura of Hangu Pass washed over them, stunning the three so deeply they could not find words to express their emotions.

That portal had brought them to the gates of Hangu Pass, on the River of Time.

He slapped his own cheeks hard, then pinched his thigh—Xiang Hong winced in pain.

Pain? That means this isn't a dream.

"Not a dream… so this is real?"

Xiang Hong muttered to himself, glanced at the ground beneath his feet, hesitated slightly, then knelt and picked up a handful of soil, licking it.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft—real dirt, not an illusion."

Spitting out the soil, Xiang Hong confirmed this was no illusion.

They had truly arrived atop the River of Time—specifically, at its downstream, at the frontier pass guarding the future: Hangu Pass.

The dark light was part of the River of Time, or perhaps a portal linking to it—the reason was clear: when the dark light shifted, it emitted the sound of the River of Time.

To be honest, Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian, Tianxie Jianxian, and Xiang Hong remembered the River of Time's sound; they recognized the dark light's noise as familiar but failed to identify it, not for any other reason than they simply never connected the dark light with the River of Time.

What is the River of Time, for heaven's sake?

It is the concept of time across all dimensions, spacetimes, and worlds—transcending life and death, one of the universe's most mysterious Dao principles, belonging to the supreme realm, the ultimate endpoint of all existence.

This is the River of Time—the most mysterious, most inaccessible thing in the world.

How could such a thing possibly be linked to a mere cluster of light? Just thinking of it was absurd.

Yet it was precisely this unbelievable truth.

"Could the masters recorded in the Heaven's Punishment Canyon as never returning have entered that light cluster?" Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian spoke.

Xiang Hong and the other two froze.

Come to think of it… it's entirely possible.

At the bottom of Heaven's Punishment Canyon lay a light cluster leading to Hangu Pass on the River of Time; none of the powerful beings who entered the canyon ever returned—perhaps they perished in destruction.

Or perhaps they entered the light cluster.

"I get it now—because that light cluster is tied to the River of Time, it manifested Qin Shi Huang, Yinglong, the World Tree, Tiancang Immortal, Wan Cheng Immortal, and others."

Xiang Hong suddenly understood.

The River of Time encompasses all time across all heavens—past and future—carrying everything. Qin Shi Huang, Yinglong, Wan Cheng Immortal—all are iconic figures of their eras and worlds, renowned through history, recorded by time itself.

"Look! Someone's there!"

Xiang Hong's gaze accidentally flicked forward, and he shouted in shock, pointing at Hangu Pass.

There, a figure hurried through the great gate of Hangu Pass, aura of slaughter rising like a supreme ghost-god, suppressing one hundred thousand demons and evil spirits, his presence overwhelming, shaking the ten directions of heaven and earth.

Is he heading to the First Battlefield?

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian and the other two exchanged glances; faintly, they could hear thunderous roars beyond Hangu Pass—shouts and clashes weaving into a tragic, grand song.

"Shall we go see? Hangu Pass?"

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian's eyes gleamed; the deafening battle cries beyond the pass echoed in his ears, his blood surging—he longed to charge into the First Battlefield and slaughter until heaven and earth turned upside down.

After ten thousand years of life, he now understood: the Immortals of the myriad heavens, the primordial gods and demons, fought for the past, buried their bones on the battlefield, leaving no names behind.

He revered these gods and demons; he wished to fight beside them.

"Let's go see. The group master said the fallen Supremes appeared in Heaven's Punishment Canyon—perhaps they passed through the light cluster to Hangu Pass. Let's search here."

Tianxie Jianxian stared at Hangu Pass; his immortal sword behind him hummed in resonance.

His immortal artifact possessed spirit—it sensed the carnage beyond the pass, yearning to drink blood, to cut down all, craving the baptism of blood and fire.

Though they stood before Hangu Pass, they were still some distance away.

The pass was simply too grand—standing before it, even from afar, they could see its colossal, towering form, standing firm, watching the River of Time surge, time shift, and dynasties change.

Compared to the clamor outside, Hangu Pass resembled a slumbering ancient titan.

Its entire structure appeared dark and chilling; streaks of temporal lightning struck down—but they were stained crimson, soaked in the blood of the First Battlefield, turning the temporal lightning blood-red.

The majestic imperial pass had endured too many trials; its walls were pitted and scarred with wounds left by supreme power, even cracked in places.

Faintly visible: demonic shadows reciting sutras, the spirits of gods roaring and screaming, desperate to storm the Nine Heavens and fight once more; squads of ghostly soldiers and divine generals stood silent, patrolling, gripping ancient war weapons, coldly watching beyond the pass.

On full alert, ready to charge into battle at any moment.

That gaze, as if sensing the eyes of Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian and the other three, turned toward them—sending chills down all three spines.

They had merely been staring at the weathered scars on Hangu Pass's wall, at its congealed blood—and yet they saw this terrifying vision—as if the ghostly soldiers and divine generals had come alive.

Even in death, their unextinguished battle will, their unyielding guarding spirit, had soaked into Hangu Pass.

A solemn sense of awe!

Bizarre and uncanny.

In the past, looking at Hangu Pass from afar, spanning the vastness, one only saw its grandeur, majestic might, towering presence, and sheer enormity.

But now, standing before Hangu Pass, a close-up view revealed something different.

The entire ancient Imperial Pass exuded an eerie, sinister atmosphere. Too many towering beings had died here — it was hard to imagine what kind of battles had taken place, so utterly tragic and brutal. At this moment they even discovered that the black of the Imperial Pass had been dyed black by blood.

As for those fresh-red, congealed bloodstains, they must have been added in more recent eras.

……