NOVPUB```
When Xu Zimei entered the vicinity of the stele, a group of people immediately stepped forward to block his way.
"This path is closed, please take a detour."
"Since we’re here, should we take a look?" The Divine Emperor didn’t pay any attention to those people and turned his head to ask Xu Zimei.
Xu Zimei’s gaze stretched into the distance, where a collapsed mountain seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog, where he could sense a powerful force contained within.
"Let’s go take a look," Xu Zimei nodded and said.
"Hey, the two of you, did you not hear what I said?" The leader of the group said coldly.
"Take one more step forward, and you die."
"Roll or die, the choice is yours," the Divine Emperor said indifferently.
The group sneered, and their leader drew his sword and chopped at the Divine Emperor.
The Divine Emperor regarded the group with an indifferent gaze, and with a "boom," an explosion erupted in front of him.
Directly ahead was leveled to the ground, everything turned to ashes and dust.
The two of them stepped forward and walked on.
The further Xu Zimei went, the more distinctly he could feel that a special force seemed to radiate from the mountain as its center to the surroundings.
The flora that absorbed this energy all grew vigorously.
"This power is very strange," Xu Zimei remarked.
"Indeed, I’ve never encountered it before," the Divine Emperor nodded and replied.
The two continued straight ahead and after about a few minutes, finally arrived at the foot of the mountain.
That’s when Xu Zimei realized that there were already several groups of people gathered here.
The elder from the Heavenly Dao Academy had arrived with a few disciples, occupying a piece of rock, sitting cross-legged, resting with his eyes closed.
To the left, a group of elders was accompanied by some young men and women, and judging by their dress and attire, Xu Zimei guessed they were probably from the Long River Immortal Sect.
As for the far right, an old man was sitting with an extremely powerful aura; Divine Vein ninth layer, and Xu Zimei estimated that the man was at least at the fifth layer of Divine Vein.
In this assembly, excluding the younger generation, aside from those ancient ancestors who remained secluded from the world, they were probably the peak combat force of their respective sects.
Divine Vein Realm, this was already the highest realm that the secular could contact.
The process from being ordinary to stepping into immortality is not something ordinary people could witness.
Just being in the Divine Vein Realm was an existence most people could only hope and not attain in their lifetime.
Because people from the major Imperial Rule Immortal Sect were wearing their respective sect’s garments, Xu Zimei could more or less identify them.
However, the other Loose Cultivators around, about a dozen or so, Xu Zimei did not recognize.
Unlike those from the Immortal Sect, Loose Cultivators tended to venture where there were secret realms to explore.
After all, they needed to acquire their own resources for cultivation, without any power to nurture them.
The arrival of Xu Zimei and the Divine Emperor also drew the attention of these people.
As all eyes turned to Xu Zimei, he could feel a faint pressure enveloping him.
He knew these people were showing off their might.
"Haven’t seen a handsome face before? If you want to fight, come on; if not, then scram," Xu Zimei said lightly.
No sooner had the words fallen than a Loose Cultivator elder beside them chuckled.
With yellow teeth visible, carrying a gourd on his back, the elder grinned and said, "The kid’s got quite the temper and a big mouth, doesn’t he?"
"Kill him," Xu Zimei said nonchalantly.
The Divine Emperor stretched out his hand, slowly lifted his right hand and suppressed it downwards.
In that moment, his palm became like an unyielding, majestic mountain, grand and imposing, peerless in the world.
The old man’s body surged with the might of the Divine Vein Realm, as he watched the palm descend upon him.
```
Perhaps the others nearby didn’t feel it quite as intensely, but he was almost scared out of his wits.
The pressure prevented him from moving, with the spiritual energy flowing sluggishly within his body and his blood seemingly frozen in place.
It was as if a great mountain bore down upon him, the heavy weight making it difficult to breathe.
He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, maintaining the pain and his body’s responsive nerves.
Biting so fiercely, the tip almost severed, letting blood flow out.
His mind having just cleared a bit, he let out a loud roar, "Gourd!"
The gourd hanging from his waist suddenly rose into the air, bursting forth with a five-colored radiance that spanned thousands of feet.
The radiance shot towards the Divine Emperor’s huge hand while simultaneously enveloping the elder, helping him to dart to the side to escape.
With a "boom," the moment the radiance collided with the palm of the Divine Emperor, it didn’t even last a second before being extinguished.
But fortunately, the gourd had wrapped around the elder and they broke through space, entering it in hopes of fleeing.
The Divine Emperor slightly furrowed his brows, flicked his right finger, and a "bang" sounded.
The space all around was completely sealed, and the elder’s body was forcibly expelled from it.
"The junior deserves death, not knowing of the senior’s esteemed arrival, please spare my life.
The junior deserves death," the gourd elder fell to the ground and immediately knelt down, kowtowing and pleading for mercy.
"This gourd is quite interesting," said the Divine Emperor indifferently.
"This gourd is produced by the Immortal-chasing Vine, flowering once every two thousand years, fruiting once every three thousand years.
Only once in five thousand years could such a gourd come about, the junior has worshipped it for a thousand years, turning it into his own magical treasure.
If the senior likes it, the junior will give it to you right away," said the elder without hesitation, hastily placing the gourd in front of him.
However, upon looking at the gourd, his expression became one of dread.
His hands trembled slightly, noticing that the surface of the gourd was now covered with countless cracks, as if it could shatter at any moment.
What this gourd was, no one knew better than the elder.
It’s no exaggeration to say that even a Stepping into Immortality powerhouse might not be able to crack this gourd.
And now, without even touching the gourd, simply having extinguished the colorful light inflicted such damage.
He looked up, swallowed hard. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"What in the hell is this existence!"
The elder felt like crying but had no tears, only able to keep pleading on the ground.
"Young master, to kill or to let go?" the Divine Emperor looked at Xu Zimei and asked.
"Tell me about the situation here," Xu Zimei said.
The elder looked up, only then realizing that the one in charge was this unremarkable-looking young man before him.
"Yes, young master," the elder quickly responded.
After a thorough explanation, Xu Zimei finally understood.
According to the information the elder had, the ruins here were no ordinary ruins.
They possibly dated back even before the Mythical Era.
It’s said that the Huayuan Sect once unearthed a type of crystal stone here, which had been lost since the Wild Desolation Era.
These stones existed even before the more ancient Mythical Era when the Yuan Central Continent was undivided.
As for this legend, some believed it while others did not, but many people were still willing to take a chance and prepared to come to take a look.
The ruins had not yet opened, and everyone was waiting. According to the Huayuan Sect, the ruins would open on the night of the full moon three days later.
For the time being, let us leave aside the conversation between Xu Zimei and the elder. The onlookers around, who were originally watching the fight as if it were a show, were dumbfounded.
