The alliance army pressed deeper. When passing through some towns on the plains, they saw people of the guardian lineage living there.
Watching the mighty alliance army passing through, an ancient recluse appeared. He seemed old and dim-sighted, but suddenly said, "I hope a few of you can survive. But even if you do, what then? In the end, you'll all..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but the profound implication made all the overlords' hearts skip a beat, as if some earth-shattering danger lurked within.
A Supreme Elder personally stepped forward to inquire, but unfortunately, the ancient recluse fell silent. The powerful members of the guardian lineage all remained silent, watching them indifferently, almost as if looking at a group of dead men.
This couldn't help but make everyone tense. The overlords dared not force them to speak, for although the guardian lineage was not as numerous in powerhouses as the alliance army, they were still considered extremely powerful, possessing Saint Lord-level figures and the most terrifying ancient recluses—living fossils with one foot already in the Reincarnation realm.
If a real conflict broke out, they could at least drag several overlords from the alliance to their deaths.
But some overlords sneered, unconcerned. Because this time, their preparations were unprecedented. Besides the prepared forbidden artifacts, they had even greater preparations. Even if something unexpected truly occurred, they would not fear it.
After crossing the Skeletal Wasteland and advancing tens of thousands of li, what appeared before their eyes was another magnificent ancient pass, not much different from the previous Demon-Slaying Pass. It also showed signs of repair and was guarded by the guardian race. Seeing their arrival, the guardians grew excited but sternly warned them against attacking the pass. Otherwise, in the end, they would awaken an unprecedented terror that could overturn heaven and earth.
If only one ancient pass spoke like this, it would be one thing. But when the third ancient pass said the same, it seemed strange.
What exactly was this so-called unprecedented terror? Could it truly withstand the alliance army gathered from various forces?
At this point, the overlords no longer heeded the warnings. They advanced fearlessly and forcefully attacked, just as before. The second ancient pass was blasted open, and the alliance army charged through.
The guardian lineage stationed at the second ancient pass left it and headed for the previous pass.
After crossing the second ancient pass, they encountered another astonishing Skeletal Wasteland, only this time the number of bones was greater, and the beings who died here were more powerful.
Soon, they encountered a third magnificent ancient pass, with the same experience. This couldn't help but make people feel heavy-hearted. How many ancient passes existed on this ancient path? They attacked one after another, as if endless.
Moreover, after each ancient pass was breached, the guardians of those passes went from initial dissuasion to final cold observation. While indifferent, some were also filled with pity.
Similarly, the guardians who had defended the passes would leave, rushing to the previous pass, following a special pattern.
In the end, the alliance army attacked a total of nine ancient passes. Although the final casualty count was almost negligible, their divine power consumption was severe.
When the ninth pass collapsed, the guardians of the ninth pass even sternly warned them not to attack any further passes. Because it was highly likely they would provoke the most terrifying terror, and then everyone would perish here.
An extremely aged ancient recluse nearly made a move but, after weighing the situation, ultimately sighed and said, "This is our final warning to you. Do not recklessly touch the forbidden land."
Finally, the guardian clan of the ninth pass still withdrew, relocating entirely, paying them no further mind, and charging toward the passes ahead.
The overlords sneered silently, not taking it to heart at all.
Finally, the ninth ancient pass was blasted apart. According to the records on the stone stele along the way, the next pass would be the final one. Once crossed, it would be a completely new world—the "Primordial Immortal Realm" where the Great Power of the Purple Mansion meditated in the divine hall.
However, nine was the number of extremity, while ten represented great perfection. Just as in the Mythical Era, the Tenth Heaven was the realm of great perfection. Ye Chen guessed that the tenth pass would be unprecedentedly extraordinary, and the resistance encountered would be terrifying.
Sure enough, when they captured the ninth pass and the alliance army charged toward the next one, they suddenly felt their vision darken, as if entering a dim world, like a night sky enveloping them, the horizon pitch black like ink.
Yet the sun was clearly still shining in the sky, and everything on the ground was clearly visible. It was clearly still daytime, so why was the sky so dark?
When they truly understood, everyone's expressions changed dramatically, gasping in shock.
Because this wasn't sudden nightfall—it was because an unprecedentedly magnificent ancient pass stood towering in the distant horizon—
The Heavenly Pass!
After nine ancient passes, amidst the vast heavens and earth, the tenth pass had appeared.
Only, the magnificence and grandeur of the tenth pass were unprecedented, confirming Ye Chen's guess—ten was the number of great perfection.
This was a special city pass, its entire body pitch black like ink, made of unknown material, possessing an indestructible, immortal quality, unbreakable and unmovable.
Moreover, the city pass was exceptionally majestic—one could even say majestically chaotic. Even from the distant horizon, it could be clearly seen, towering into the boundless clouds, its full form impossible to discern. It directly blotted out the sky and sun, covering half the firmament. There was no doubt it soared into the Nine Heavens above.
It pierced into the heavens above, like a curtain of night, its pitch-black walls blocking all paths forward.
The Immortal Pass spanned between heaven and earth, probing the clouds above and shaking the Ten Earths below. It was the end of all this, beyond which one could not advance further.
The previous nine ancient passes were also considered magnificent and huge, reaching a thousand zhang in height. But compared to this tenth ancient pass before them, they were simply not worth mentioning. Perhaps calling it a Heavenly Pass would not be an exaggeration.
Everyone was shocked beyond measure, unable to imagine that such a magnificent and enormous Heavenly Pass existed in the world. It was simply unimaginably huge.
On the immortal pitch-black city walls were traces extraordinary to the world. Staring with the Heavenly Eye, one could vaguely see spherical colossal entities, some round, some incomplete, on the wall surface. These were not other things—they were actual extraterrestrial stars, each one enormous, often as large as towns.
But against the magnificent Heavenly Pass, they appeared tiny, not worth mentioning.
One could imagine that this was the work of a supreme Great Power using heaven-reaching means to refine and summon the myriad stars of the heavens to attack the Heavenly Pass, half-embedding them into it.
Having endured endless years, unchanging for millennia, immortal for ten thousand generations, they formed ancient relics that shook past and present, drawing all eyes.
They also saw terrifying traces appearing. Even after the passage of countless ages, there still flowed an aura that shocked the mortal world. The void was easily torn apart, showing that in ancient times, unprecedented existences had personally taken action to attack the immortal Heavenly Pass.
Yet all this seemed unable to leave any damage on the Heavenly Pass. The Heavenly Pass still stood tall in the distant horizon.
All this seemed to narrate the extraordinariness of the Heavenly Pass.
"Unimaginable. The world actually has such a colossal ancient pass. It can truly be called a Heavenly Pass," many sighed, marveling at the majestic Heavenly Pass.
"Could this be the true ancient gate recorded on the ancient stele?"
No one knew from what era this city pass remained, so huge and majestic, reaching into the Nine Heavens above and probing the Nine Netherworlds below. They seriously suspected that this Heavenly Pass might have been created by the Emperors and Sovereigns of the Mythical Era, because it was too magnificent, too enormous—simply impossible to see how high it truly was. Even the myriad stars of the heavens appeared tiny before it.
But the moment they saw the Heavenly Pass, a significant portion of people changed color—especially those from the supreme sacred lands and forces that possessed the inheritance of Emperors and Sovereigns, such as the Ancient Heavenly Court, Yao Chi Sacred Land, Great Thunderclap Temple, and the overlords of the imperial Ye Clan. They all paled.
Precisely because they came from such truly immortal forces, they truly understood how astonishing the origins of the Heavenly Pass were. They had learned part of the lost truth, records that other immortal forces did not possess.
Moreover, they all understood that in recent times, this was not the first appearance of the Heavenly Pass. This had already happened several times, each time earth-shattering, accompanied by endless disasters and towering mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
"The Heavenly Pass, we meet again!"
Ye Chen gazed into the distance at that immortal Heavenly Pass spanning the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, his expression filled with complexity.
Because his fall in his previous life had a significant direct relationship with the Heavenly Pass.
In his previous life, he had seen the Heavenly Pass more than once. He never expected to see the immortal Heavenly Pass again in this life. This was absolutely an unprecedented land of great terror. Every time it appeared, casualties were severe, accompanied by the fall of countless people, their blood dyeing heaven and earth red. It was the most dangerous forbidden land in the myriad realms.
Who could have imagined that the ancient path recorded on the stone stele was the passage leading to the immortal Heavenly Pass? No wonder the guardians of the nine ancient passes had such expressions. Now they had truly stirred up a great disaster.
He distinctly remembered that in his previous life, when seven ancient Great Sages joined forces to attack another immortal Heavenly Pass, they provoked a terrifying terror. Powerful as they were, they could not withstand it. In the end, they sacrificed his previous life's self to close the Heavenly Pass.
Now, the appearance of this immortal Heavenly Pass felt like a thousand divine peaks pressing on his heart, unbearably heavy.
If the overlords truly recklessly attacked and assaulted the Heavenly Pass, they would likely disturb the unprecedented terror's emergence once more. By then, probably everyone here would find it difficult to escape death.
He couldn't help but clench his fists, wanting to stop these overlords. But even if he was an Immortal True King, he was only at the Demigod realm. Not many would believe him.
Insignificant and powerless—such was his situation.
However, he looked toward the several imperial clans, royal clans, and the Ancient Heavenly Court—these supreme forces possessing the inheritance of Emperors and Sovereigns. He believed these forces should understand the terror of the Heavenly Pass and would make their own judgments. Otherwise, he could only worry needlessly.
Suddenly, the most terrifying aura erupted, overwhelming heaven and earth, spreading through the six directions and eight wildernesses.
The Primordial Female Saint Lord went berserk!