Chapter 518: The Origin Ancient Road Opens

It is one of the ultimate Guardians in the legend of the Forbidden Starry Sky, and the few ancient beings who know of its existence revere it as… Ban Can Shu Tong!

The broken Ban Can Shu Tong at this moment turned its eye slightly, as if glancing toward the direction Yu Jiao Xue departed.

A grand, indifferent, emotionless thought‑voice, yet resonating directly across this void dimension, slowly sounded:

"This woman… within the very source of her bloodline, there also lies a thread… of Nirvana's true meaning. Though not as dazzling as her Dao Companion, nor entangled in Causality, she is… extraordinary."

The thought carried an extremely faint, almost impossible ripple, like a subtle ripple in an ancient well:

"Could it be… one of the new hopes that this era has birthed?"

At that moment, another hoarse, sharp, bizarre sound, like two pieces of rotting metal grinding, abruptly rang out in the void:

"Lao Can… your eye hasn't gone completely blind yet? Still sneaking here to watch the juniors attempt the trial."

With the voice, a terrifying figure, like a specter, appeared beside the broken Ban Can Shu Tong.

It was a humanoid being, but most of its flesh rotted away, exposing a forest of white bones, which were riddled with cracks and charred blackness.

On its face, hardly any intact skin remained; one eye socket was empty, while the other burned with two specks of eerie green ghost‑flame that seemed able to freeze a soul.

All over its body were grotesque, terrifying wounds that seemed never to heal, some oozing thick black pus that exuded a dreadful aura.

It seemed as if it had crawled out of the most dreadful ancient battlefield graveyard, and endured eons of erosion—a terrifying existence.

It was the other ancient Guardian of the Forbidden Starry Sky, alongside Ban Can Shu Tong… Lao Gui.

As for Lao Gui's grating voice and terrifying appearance, Ban Can Shu Tong seemed already accustomed; the broken eye didn't even bother to turn, and a grand thought responded:

"Lao Gui… this time… you awakened much earlier than expected."

"Hmph!" Lao Gui's eye, alight with ghost‑flame, flickered, emitting a cold snort, "The cataclysm of this epoch, that nauseating dark tide and ominous unrest, even through the endless Space‑Time River and the turtle‑shell shield you old ones set, I could smell it! It began fermenting early! That's why I was prematurely disgusted awake!"

Ban Can Shu Tong's thought fell silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Indeed… sensed it. The flow of the Space‑Time River is shifting, the black tide in the Deep of No Return Road is rising… the prologue to this epoch's finale has indeed been drawn forward."

"So, you old fellow, during this time, how many seeds have you covertly sent out?" Lao Gui rasped, his tone tinged with curiosity.

Ban Can Shu Tong did not conceal, its thought calm and still: "Gradually… six or seven. All of them are the top‑tier of this era's destiny‑favored, will‑strong talents under this starry sky."

The ghost‑flame in Lao Gui's eye flickered: "Only six or seven? That's so few. Enough? The other side this time… is coming in a storm, ready to play big."

Ban Can Shu Tong's thought, for the first time, revealed an extremely faint, almost sighing ripple: "Quantity… has never been the key. Quality… is the foundation. Among those six or seven, in my view… only perhaps two truly can bear the weight of hope and are qualified to play chess with the darkness on the final stage."

"Two?" Lao Gui seemed surprised, then the ghost‑flame flared violently, "I say Lao Can, although I trust your insight, can merely two juniors really manage it?"

Ban Can Shu Tong's thought gently explained: "One is a Body Cultivator, the other a Sword Cultivator, both hailing from peak great clans of the Zhutian Wanjie… absolutely no problem. The Causality entwined around them and the radiance they emit are the most intense and also the most… unique among all seeds of this epoch."

Lao Gui fell silent; the rotting visage, illuminated by the eerie green ghost‑flame, appeared even more grotesque, bearing a hint of heaviness.

After a while, he rasped: "The ultimate outcome of this epoch… will it, like some past eras, sink into Eternal Night, or will it carve out a sliver of new dawn… perhaps, truly, before we old ones are completely annihilated… the answer will be revealed."

"Do all we can, heed destiny. Having watched until now, we… have no regrets." Ban Can Shu Tong's final grand, indifferent thought echoed through the void, and the broken eye slowly closed, as if slipping once more into endless slumber and vigilance.

Lao Gui stood for a moment, the decaying body gradually merging into the void, leaving only a barely audible sigh tinged with endless vicissitudes and a hint of hope, drifting away on the wind.

……

The Zhutian Wanjie, vast and boundless.

While the Forbidden Starry Sky was engaged in unseen dialogues and farewells, a growing, increasingly intense special ripple, seemingly emanating from the deep core of the Zhutian Tiandao, was propagating from focal points such as the Tianjun God‑Sealing Stele, continuously reaching every being who had once left a name upon it and received its resonance.

The Origin Ancient Road is about to open!

This ripple, like a massive stone cast into a tranquil lake, in the Nine Heavens Ten Earths, across countless qualifying Star Domains, ancient realms, and the vast universe of the Zhutian Wanjie, raised a towering wave!

The young beings long hailed in their respective forces as timeless geniuses and unparalleled monsters felt their dormant passion boil, their secluded Dongfu opened one after another, and waves of bold, confident, battle‑filled aura, like a coiled dragon finally stirring, began to awaken and surge!

In the Nine Heavens Ten Earths, within the core forbidden lands of countless ancient Dao traditions and peak great clans, brilliant divine light shot skyward, as their descendants made final preparations and farewells before departure.

The Honghuang World, a vast realm whose heritage spans eternity and whose depth is unfathomable.

Here the mountains and rivers are magnificent, Dao Rule manifests, and the spiritual qi is so dense it flows as a liquid river through the air.

In the deep ancestral land of one of the most renowned families of this realm… the Changli Family, a tense, excited, and hopeful atmosphere now pervades.

The family Council Hall, as well as the surrounding plaza and the Divine Mountain, were packed with core members of the Changli Family.

From the Ancestor whose beard was white and whose aura was as deep as a sea, to the dignified, solemn Clan Leader and the powerful Elders, down to the vibrant young disciples, everyone's gaze burned reverently toward the family's most central forbidden land… the direction of the Li Huo Nirvana Pool!

Because the Changli Family possesses, in history, the most astonishingly talented and unparalleled prodigy, hailed as a peerless marvel, who is about to end seclusion and break through!

And her first goal after emerging is that Origin Ancient Road that shakes the heavens!

She, renowned across the entire Honghuang World, outshining her contemporary Heavenly Pride, honored as the Imperial Daughter of the Changli—Changli Weiyang!

Boom—!

As the crowd held their breath in anticipation, from deep within the Li Huo Nirvana Pool came a sudden sound, like a phoenix's clear cry and the primal tone of the Dao—a thunderous roar!

The endless scarlet divine dawn surged skyward like a volcanic eruption, dyeing half the heavens a gorgeous fiery red!

Within the divine dawn, a peerless, world‑surpassing beauty gracefully stepped out of the flames.

In an instant, it seemed all the light of heaven and earth converged upon her alone!

She wore a floor‑sweeping red gown, its hem like flowing flame, also like the most brilliant sunset on the horizon, faintly patterned with ancient motifs of a divine phoenix spreading its wings and a Golden Crow traversing the heavens.

Her figure was graceful, curves breathtaking, yet exuded a noble, aloof elegance that seemed to tower above the heavens and look down upon all beings, making one dare not harbor any disrespect.

Her visage was stunningly beautiful, as if she had seized all of heaven and earth's creation.

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains tinged with ink, her eyes like autumn water rippling, her jade‑like nose straight and lofty, her vermilion lips a single dot.

Her skin was as white as jade, and under the surrounding scarlet divine dawn, it seemed to emit a faint halo.

But this beauty was not fragile; it was a world‑shaking, confident, soaring magnificence, bearing an innate imperial bearing.

The most striking was her long red hair, like burning flame and flowing blood!

The hair, waist‑long, moved without wind; each strand seemed to contain scorching life force and unyielding fighting will, swaying lightly with her steps, further enhancing her unparalleled elegance.

She is Changli Weiyang!

Just standing there, she became the sole center of heaven and earth, dimming sun and moon, making all blossoms ashamed!

"Welcome the Imperial Daughter's emergence!!"

"Salutations, Imperial Daughter! May the Imperial Daughter be safe!"

The mountain‑roaring, tsunami‑like chants of worship rang through the Ancestral Land of the Changli Family, and every Changli clan member's face was filled with fervor and pride.

This is their pride, the greatest hope for their family's future to stand tall among the Zhutian and even contend for that single thread of super‑transcendental fate!

Changli Weiyang's Qiushui‑like eyes calmly swept over the excited crowd below; their red lips slightly parting, the voice clear and resonant like a phoenix's cry, yet bearing an unmistakable composure:

"The Origin Ancient Road will open; I shall go there."

"Family affairs, I trouble the Elders. After I depart, there is no need for concern."

Two simple sentences, and the matter was explained.

Changli Weiyang had not even spoken much with the Clan Leader or Ancestor, as if such worldly matters no longer entered their eyes.

Changli Weiyang's gaze was already fixed on the end of the Star Sky Ancient Road, that even more magnificent, gathering the Zhutian heroes onto the ultimate stage!

"Imperial Daughter, rest assured! The family will give its full support!"

"May the Imperial Daughter be revered on the Ancient Path, and may our Changli reputation be raised!"

Amid the excited yet reluctant farewells of the clan, Changli Weiyang gave a slight nod, then her red dress fluttered lightly, transforming into a crimson streak that pierced heaven and earth, ignoring Space, heading straight toward the direction sensed beyond the vault of the Honghuang World, and broke through the void!

The target pointed directly at... the Origin Ancient Road!

Not only the Changli Weiyang of the Honghuang World.

At this moment, in every corner of the Zhutian Wanjie, those Top‑tier Monsters who had inscribed their names on the Tianjun God‑Sealing Stele in various places and had received the Origin Ancient Road's resonance, as if prearranged, each ended their seclusion or wanderings and made the same choice!

They came from different races, different civilizations, cultivating wholly distinct systems, yet at this moment, the fire of the same fierce battle burned in their eyes and a yearning for the pinnacle!

Figures of varying colors, yet equally dazzling and awe‑inspiring, surged upward from ancient stars, floating Divine Mountains, and vast secret realms, like countless ever‑rising ancient suns, cutting through their own skies and stepping onto the heavens!

Guided by the resonance in their hearts, they raced toward the common convergence point… the end of the Star Sky Ancient Road, beyond the Tianjun God‑Sealing Stele, where the gate to the mysterious, perilous, and boundless opportunities of the Origin Ancient Road lay, charging forward without hesitation!

This is a grand gathering that sweeps the highest tier of the younger generation across the Zhutian Wanjie!

Perhaps the road ahead is endless Darkness and bloody combat, a brutal battlefield confronting ominous doom.

Perhaps the vast majority of them will fall on that path, becoming stepping stones for others to ascend, turning into unattended white bones beside the Ancient Path.

Yet no one at this moment chooses to retreat!

Because this is their era!

This is the ultimate trial to prove oneself, seize destiny, and glimpse the supreme Tiandao!

Only by stepping there, contending with the top peers of the Zhutian Wanjie and battling the most terrifying Darkness minions, can one truly reach ultimate transcendence, stand out, and embrace the possibly existent… infinite future!

The myriad stars glitter, each racing forward.

A young Supreme contest destined to be recorded in the annals of Zhutian is about to unfold its most magnificent and most brutal prologue on the mysterious and ancient Origin Ancient Road!