novelraw Chapter 1183 - 1183 The End of the Footprints
Chapter 1183 - 1183 The End of the Footprints
The Dam World has been shrouded in mystery since time immemorial.
Like the boundless Sea of Realms, it had become the stuff of legend.
It was a place that only the mightiest of beings could ever set foot in.
And now, here in the Dam World.
Jun Xiaoyao had actually spotted a faint trail of footprints.
It was clear they belonged to a human.
Moreover, the laws governing the Dam World were different from those of the Immortal Domain.
To leave footprints in this place, and for them to have endured through the ages without fading away —
it spoke volumes about just how unimaginably powerful the being who left them must have been.
"Could it be that the one who left these footprints is the owner of that drop of perfect holy blood?"
Jun Xiaoyao couldn't help but wonder.
Of course, it was only speculation.
These ancient secrets of the ages were still far too deeply buried for Jun Xiaoyao to unravel.
He simply didn't have enough clues to work with.
Now, Jun Xiaoyao faced a choice.
Leave immediately.
Or follow the trail of footprints in search of answers.
The trail stretched on, reaching deep into the heart of the Dam World.
To say there was no danger would have been impossible.
Yet Jun Xiaoyao barely hesitated before pressing forward, following the faint trail of prints.
The word "fear" simply wasn't in his vocabulary.
That said, Jun Xiaoyao was no reckless hothead acting on courage alone.
He moved forward because he believed he had what it took.
Jun Xiaoyao shielded himself with the Chaotic Emperor Talisman and advanced along the trail.
The deeper he went, the more he could feel the desolation and danger that permeated the Dam World.
It was hard to imagine who could have constructed this dam.
And the Sea of Realms — what kind of existence was it, really?
Jun Xiaoyao had even entertained a wild thought: could the Sea of Realms be the inner universe of some inconceivably powerful being?
This world held far too many ancient secrets.
Even someone as sharp as Jun Xiaoyao sometimes felt dull and slow, as though bound by some invisible framework.
That was precisely why Jun Xiaoyao sought to reach the supreme pinnacle.
He wanted to look down upon all of time and space, and unravel every last secret.
Just as these thoughts were turning over in his mind.
Suddenly, he caught the faint sound of weeping.
At first, Jun Xiaoyao thought it was an illusion.
After all, this was the Dam World — how could the sound of a person crying just appear out of nowhere? It seemed far too out of place.
But in the next moment, Jun Xiaoyao's expression hardened.
This was no illusion. He had truly heard someone crying.
The weeping was low, hoarse, and muffled.
It was as if one could feel through it an indescribable anguish and despair.
"What's going on — could this be some kind of spiritual interference?"
Jun Xiaoyao immediately went on high alert.
After all, this was the mysterious and treacherous Dam World.
Anyone would feel a creeping unease at the sudden sound of weeping in a place like this.
Jun Xiaoyao steadied his focus and stayed on guard, ready to unleash the Chaotic Emperor Talisman at a moment's notice.
At last, following that trail of footprints, Jun Xiaoyao caught sight of a scene in the distance.
It was also the source of the weeping.
Because of the distance between them, Jun Xiaoyao could only make out a hazy silhouette.
The figure looked like an extraordinarily tall and imposing man.
His long hair was a mix of gray and white, spilling down in wild disarray.
Even from behind, it was clear this was a man who should have been strikingly powerful and heroic in bearing.
But now, before him, there sat an ice coffin.
The man was slumped over it, letting out hoarse, broken sobs.
It was like something out of the mortal world — a middle-aged widower, utterly alone, grief-stricken beyond words.
"This is……"
Jun Xiaoyao was deeply stunned.
In this eerie Dam World.
At the end of this faint trail of footprints, this was the scene that greeted him.
A utterly broken man, slumped over a coffin, weeping.
If not for the fact that this was the Dam World, Jun Xiaoyao might have thought he'd wandered into the mortal realm.
It was simply beyond belief.
"Could that be……"
As though something had just clicked, a startling thought flashed through Jun Xiaoyao's mind like a bolt of lightning!
Even Jun Xiaoyao's breathing grew slightly unsteady.
He pushed forward against the pressure to get closer.
And as he drew nearer still.
He realized.
That the scene before him was not real.
Traces of a Dao aura still lingered there.
"This is — an image from ancient times, one that has persisted all the way to the present!"
Jun Xiaoyao drew a deep breath.
Because the laws of heaven and earth in the Dam World differed from those of the Immortal Domain.
Once an imprint was left here, it was nearly impossible to erase.
A scene that had once truly occurred had been branded into this place, forming an indelible mark.
Even now, the image remained, unchanged and undimmed.
In other words, what Jun Xiaoyao was seeing before him.
Was something that had taken place here long, long ago.
The reason Jun Xiaoyao was so shaken was that a certain person had come to mind.
A great hero whose name had shaken the ages and left its mark on the annals of the Immortal Domain.
The Endless Emperor!
The Endless Emperor had once been the Holy Body of an ancient era, cultivating it nearly to its great completion.
He and the Queen Mother of the West of Yaochi were a pair of cultivation partners whom all in the Nine Heavens Immortal Domain envied.
Then a terrible upheaval broke out across the Immortal Domain.
The Endless Emperor sought to ascend to the Nine Heavens and quell the chaos.
The Queen Mother refused to be left behind, wishing to go with him — to share whatever fate awaited, life or death.
In the end, the Endless Emperor relented, saying they would enter seclusion together, break through, and then ascend to the Nine Heavens.
But what followed was a betrayal — the Endless Emperor had deceived her.
Leaving behind the words "I shall not fail the world, nor shall I fail you," he ascended to the Nine Heavens alone.
What came after was a broken body falling from the Nine Heavens above.
The Queen Mother's hair turned white overnight. For love, she defied the heavens and offered herself as a sacrifice.
With her twelve-aperture immortal heart, she wrested his life back from fate itself.
And just like that, the world lost a pair of devoted lovers.
But gained one of the most supremely powerful Innate Holy Body Dao Embryos in existence.
The Endless Emperor sealed the Queen Mother within an eternal ice coffin.
He carried the coffin on his back, slaughtered his way through the Nine Heavens, and quelled the great upheaval of that age.
It was said that afterward, the Forbidden Zone of the Nine Heavens was dealt a devastating blow, and for several entire eons, not a stir came from within.
This was something known to every living being in the Immortal Domain.
They revered the Endless Emperor as the hero who had saved the Immortal Domain.
Yet in the end, the Endless Emperor walked away with the coffin on his back and was never seen again.
A hero of the ages who had saved all living beings in the Immortal Domain.
Yet in the end, he was utterly alone, with no one to share his sorrow.
Now, barring the unexpected.
The imprinted scene Jun Xiaoyao was witnessing before him.
Was that of the Endless Emperor, from long ago!
This caught Jun Xiaoyao somewhat off guard.
In the eyes of the world, the Endless Emperor was a hero, a godlike existence.
He had possessed great love and boundless compassion, saved countless living beings, and fulfilled the sacred duty of the Holy Body lineage.
But now.
What had appeared before Jun Xiaoyao's eyes.
Was not that towering, godlike hero.
But a broken man, slumped over an ice coffin, weeping in a low and ragged voice.
Could an Emperor weep too?
Jun Xiaoyao felt a momentary daze come over him.
It could be said that those who cultivated to the level of Emperor were not without feeling, but at the very least, their Dao hearts were fully rounded and complete.
Any emotion could be effortlessly kept in check.
For they had seen through so many of the world's illusions and touched the root of truth.
All the seven emotions and six desires, every manner of feeling — for beings of an Emperor's caliber, they could be felt, but also easily suppressed, or even cast aside entirely.
This was also why some supreme existences slumbering within the Forbidden Zones of the Nine Heavens could unleash endless calamity and upheaval.
For they had long since abandoned every emotion that belonged to a living being.
Leaving only a cold, ruthless pursuit of immortality and transcendence!
And yet now, Jun Xiaoyao was witnessing an Emperor weeping in grief.
An Emperor, of all things!
Not to mention that the Endless Emperor was an Innate Holy Body Dao Embryo — his true power was absolutely not as simple as merely being an Emperor.
The title "Endless Emperor" was simply a name, and did not mean his cultivation was limited to the Emperor level.
Yet here he was — one of the most powerful beings whose name had earned a place even in the ancient history of the Immortal Domain.
Weeping like a heartbroken child.
The contrast left one at a loss for words.
Jun Xiaoyao also noticed, nearby, a slab of stone in the shape of a stele.
Carved upon it were two lines of characters, left in blood.
This departure holds no promise of return.
In life and death, we drift apart, lost to each other.