Chapter 23: That Frontal Bone

The Primeval Imperial Tomb stretches boundlessly, forming its own ancient world.

Other Heavenly Pride, such as Ye Tianquan and the like, were randomly teleported to different corners of this vast tomb realm.

At this moment, in this ruinous battlefield relic that seems to have been untouched since antiquity, only Ye Wuque's solitary Dark Shadow stood.

His gaze was calm like a deep ancient well, and he began to slowly explore this Dead Silence ruin.

Each step stirred faint dust ripples on the eternally silent ground.

Broken Divine Weapon fragments were everywhere, long bereft of spirit, leaving only cold metallic sheen; their material remained astonishingly hard, indicating the former owner's greatness.

Dark brown, dried and solidified mottled stains stained the earth, emitting a faint, intermittent pressure—that was blood, belonging to various strong ones; after ages, most of its will and power had faded, yet the lingering aura still startled.

Even larger, colossal claw marks, fist imprints, and slash‑and‑chop traces were deeply etched onto massive pillars, floor tiles, and even Space barriers' wreckage, silently recounting the ferocity and horror of the battles that once erupted.

Ye Wuque's Divine Sense, like an invisible tide, carefully and meticulously swept over every inch within sight.

Broken walls, shattered pillars, deep pits, skeletons… he tried to decipher scattered information about the Primeval Imperial Tomb's owner from these silent ruins, or to find valuable clues.

However, after the exploration, aside from a deeper sense of the place's tragic antiquity and the omnipresent, suffocating Jiemie dead aura, there were no special discoveries.

Those broken Divine Weapons have long become scrap metal;

Those dried Divine Blood's rule fragments have also long been worn away to nothing;

The massive battle traces are merely traces; the Dao Rhythm they once contained has long been washed clean by time.

Just as Ye Wuque deemed the place worthless and prepared to leave this Dead Silence plaza to explore deeper,

his steps, when passing a corner shrouded by the shadow of a massive broken pillar, faltered slightly.

It was a relatively well‑preserved "intact" broken wall, its body cast from a strange dark‑golden metal; though riddled with Liewen, it had not collapsed entirely.

What caught his eye was the inner side of the broken wall, its surface largely covered by thick dust.

Beneath the dust, uneven line contours faintly emerged.

Ye Wuque's gaze tightened slightly as his robe sleeve flicked lightly.

A gentle yet precise force brushed the wall, like the most deft duster, silently sweeping away the millennia‑old dust and revealing the buried true visage.

A massive, mottled ancient mural, weathered by endless ages, suddenly unfolded before his eyes!

The mural was colossal, occupying almost the entire broken wall.

Though the image was blurred and its colors faded, leaving only varied‑depth engravings, its depicted content instantly seized Ye Wuque's entire spirit!

The mural portrayed a starry sky so vast it defied description!

Stars, countless as the sands of the Ganges, gathered into a brilliant Star Sea, rotating star constellations, and surging Star River!

The background was deep and vast, as if the Star Domain of the entire Zhutian Wanjie had been condensed onto this wall.

The grandeur and vastness of the starry sky, through those rugged yet powerful engravings, struck the viewer, instantly evoking a shock at one's own dust‑like insignificance.

And at the center of this boundless starry sky, a scene that made Ye Wuque's spirit shiver was depicted!

Nine Dao terrifying Dark Shadows stood atop the star vault!

They were not solid; the mural used heavy, twisted, ominous Liewen to outline nine forms shrouded in towering mist!

The mist was as black as ink, roiling endlessly, as if formed from pure Destruction and malice; even the mural's engravings exuded a terrifying aura that eroded everything and corrupted the rules!

Their forms varied—some like twisted demonic shadows, some like ferocious beasts, some indescribable—but all emitted a dreadful pressure capable of sinking the Star Sea and making ten thousand Dao wail.

Ye Wuque's pupils narrowed slightly, tinged with a hint of cold.

These nine terrifying Dark Shadows were, astonishingly, Bane Creatures!

And they were extremely terrifying Bane Creatures!

They were undoubtedly the true great powers among the Inauspicious Clan!

Their achievements shaped creation! Their might shook the Zhutian Huanyu!

The nine Bane Creatures, like nine dark demon mountains suppressing the heavens, cloaked the entire central Star Domain in their shadows and malice!

They were, unbelievably, besieging!

The target of the siege was the center of the mural, where the sole light source lay!

A Dark Shadow!

A towering figure so grand that the entire boundless starry sky seemed merely his backdrop!

Even though the mural was blurred, the man's visage could no longer be discerned, leaving only a swirl of chaotic Guangying.

Yet this could not conceal his world‑shaking aura that pierced the mural!

He stood alone at the star vault's center, upright as the spine that supports the heavens!

A hazy yet radiant glow enveloped him; the glow was not blinding but contained an immaculate, eternally Immortal supreme realm, like the first ray of Open Heaven and Split Earth, ever‑lasting, dispelling the boundless darkness and malice brought by the nine great Bane Creatures!

His momentum rose through the mural into the heavens, like an invisible sword piercing nine layers of demonic barriers, aiming to reset the cosmic order!

The nine great Bane Creatures, nine terrifying presences beyond imagination and of unfathomable realms, had their attacks depicted on the mural as dark torrents tearing the Star River, gigantic maws devouring light, and freezing‑cold currents that froze the rules… such incomprehensible apocalyptic scenes could make any viewer's soul tremble!

Yet the towering man at the center was by no means outmatched!

His stance was not passive defense but active offense!

In the mural, one of his arms rose, fingers splayed, as if pressing down on one of the Bane Creatures!

Even that engraved motion exuded an invincible momentum that encompassed the universe and grasped the cosmic order!

Elsewhere, he seemed to swing a fist; where the fist pointed, a stretch of Star Domain displayed a strange scene smoothed by pure power, even the Space engravings became exceedingly sleek, as if all chaos and attacks fell into order beneath that blow.

He fought one against nine in this vast starry sky!

With each gesture, the Star River reversed, and the rules were reshaped!

The nine great Bane Creatures' terrifying onslaught was outright blocked by him, even hinting at a counter‑pressure!

Though the mural was silent, the battle frozen upon its surface seemed to thunder silently in Ye Wuque's sea of perception, conveying an unparalleled transcendence that gazed over ages and swallowed the universe!

What a magnitude of aura!

What a magnitude of Great Power!

Even though Ye Wuque has roamed the Zhutian and witnessed countless powerful beings, now as he gazes at the vague yet blindingly radiant Dark Shadow at the center of the mural, his spirit is deeply shaken.

Those nine ominous auras, though merely traces left on the mural, already make him feel a terrifying pressure far beyond his current realm's comprehension.

Yet this towering man, fighting alone against the siege of nine such Dark Beings, has reached a level whose height and combat power are incalculable, a peerless tier that even Ye Wuque must look up to!

"Could it be… the master of the Ancient Imperial Tomb… could this terrifying presence be him?"

Ye Wuque's thoughts swirled, his eyes burning as he stared at the radiant, dazzling Dark Shadow at the mural's center.

That invincible bearing, capable of swallowing stars and battling the nine ominous alone, truly merits the title of "Emperor"!

As Ye Wuque's emotions rose and fell, he carefully examined every detail of the mural, trying to perceive a hint of the great man's lingering invincible Dao Rhythm.

Suddenly, something on Ye Wuque's body emitted a violent surge!

Ye Wuque's expression instantly turned solemn!

He grasped with his right hand and took that object out of the Primordial Sun Ring!

It was a palm-sized piece of pure white jade… a forehead bone…

It was exactly the bone that the Mysterious Being had given him at the beginning!