Chapter 17: A Glimpse of the Future
The Sacred Maiden of Tianxuan admitted softly, “I have heard a little.”
“I heard that Daoist Luo’s original reason for entering the Sanctuary was admiration for a peerless woman. Yet now, it seems you do not hold such admiration—or perhaps you never truly did,” she said in a lively, gentle voice.
Truly worthy of being the most beautiful woman six thousand years ago, even a cultivator of Luo Yan’s realm couldn’t help but be captivated by her tone.
“The Patriarch asked me to inquire whether you have glimpsed a fragment of the future—whether the Tianxuan Sanctuary will ultimately succeed?” This time, the Sacred Maiden no longer addressed him as “Daoist” but as “Senior.” She could not resist bringing up the matter at hand.
She stared intently at him. Although they appeared about the same age, he was a cultivator said to be beyond the Sage realm, his strength comparable to her own patriarch—a reality difficult to comprehend.
After a moment’s silence, Luo Yan said, “Throughout history, countless heroes, tyrants, and ancient emperors have not necessarily succeeded. If there truly were a path to immortality in this world, why would countless supreme deities perish, leaving behind only elusive legends?”
Without uttering more, his words conveyed the outcome.
The Sacred Maiden, unwilling to accept this, pressed on, “So, will the Sanctuary decline because of this?”
Luo Yan did not answer directly but said, “I have captured a fragment of the future from the time river. When the Sacred Maiden sees it, she will understand.”
He took out a shattered mirror and placed it before them. The Time Mirror slowly shifted, revealing a silent world—devoid of life and smoke—where divine veins slumbered. The terrain was unprecedentedly grand, a land like no other in past or present. Clearly a sacred land where a nation and faith were founded, yet utterly lifeless, eerily so.
Without Luo Yan’s explanation, the Sacred Maiden recognized it instantly. Her once peerless face twisted with disbelief; she turned pale and staggered backward, murmuring to herself, “Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could it be like this?”
A once flourishing, transcendent sanctuary, at its peak, would be utterly destroyed merely for attacking a forbidden zone in the future.
No one could accept such a reality.
Even the Sacred Maiden doubted the truth of what the Time Mirror revealed. A holy land wiped out simply for assaulting a forbidden zone? Who would believe it? The forbidden zone must be terrifying, she thought in shock.
“Senior, is the scene truly a fragment taken from the time river’s future?” Her tone was grave, her flawless face unable to accept such an ending.
It was indeed a scene from the future, though not merely captured but projected.
The Time Mirror held remnants of the future ruins of the Tianxuan Sanctuary, a discovery Luo Yan stumbled upon.
Traversing the time river was astounding, something even Immortal Kings rarely achieved—Luo Yan was an exception.
Strictly speaking, he was a stowaway, exploiting a loophole in the laws of time to slip into past history.
Facing her hopeful gaze, Luo Yan folded away the Time Mirror without further words. He had indirectly revealed the final fate of the Tianxuan Sanctuary’s future. Whether she believed it or not was irrelevant. He could hardly tell the entire sanctuary that he came from six thousand years later.
Most would surely consider him mad.
Revealing this truth already bore immense karmic consequences; he might be held accountable in the future. Still, it was his way of repaying the sanctuary for gifting him the secret of the “Line of Conduct.”
Soon, the Sacred Maiden left, burdened with heavy emotions. Such a revelation left her unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow.
Whether the Tianxuan Sanctuary would ultimately attack the Ancient Forbidden Zone remained unknown to Luo Yan. For now, he only needed to wait for the deity within the Time Mirror to awaken—and that day was drawing near.
Luo Yan sensed the time essence inside the Time Mirror was nearly refined. The once broken shards had now coalesced into a complete, flawless mirror, roughly one-tenth the size of the entire surface.
Outside Mount Canfeng.
The battle between Wei Yi and Yun Yue had come to an end, with Wei Yi defeated as expected.
Yet the disciples of the sanctuary remained unexpectedly silent.
Wei Yi of the Dao Palace Secret Realm could truly hold his own against Yun Yue from the Four Extremes Secret Realm!
At this moment, everyone finally understood the true worth of the “Three Talents of Tianxuan.”
Their innate gifts far surpassed theirs by a great margin.
“Father...”
“Stop. From now on, whenever you encounter that person, you must show respect.” Yun Shan naturally sensed his son’s unwillingness. Originally meant to suppress Wei Yi and others, Yun Yue ended up being their whetstone.
Yun Yue felt utterly humiliated. That person never once looked him in the eye, sending a child under ten years old to deal with him!
He had won the battle yet lost in spirit.
...
Time flowed on, as always.
Three days later.
The Nanyang Patriarch returned to the sanctuary, battle-worn but bearing imperial weapons. There was indeed a path beneath the Ancient Forbidden Zone. Ahead stood a stone stele, inscribed with three immortal characters: “Path to Immortality,” eternal and unyielding!
This news ignited the entire sanctuary.
Immortality!
It was the pursuit of countless throughout history. Numerous tyrants had fallen on this corpse-strewn road to immortality!
Now, a shortcut to immortality lay before them—almost maddening, driving men to lose reason. Even the living fossils sealed within the Divine Source were unsealed, appearing once more outside the Ancient Forbidden Zone.
The allure of those two words was overwhelming—enough to drive these long-lived elders to frenzy.
Yet, compared to the uproar across the Eastern Wasteland, the true decision-makers within the Tianxuan Sanctuary remained unusually quiet.
They had already heard the unbelievable truth from the Sacred Maiden.
Soon, the entire Tianxuan Sanctuary would be reduced to ashes because of their decision to attack the Ancient Forbidden Zone—a colossal, transcendent entity toppled overnight, disappearing from the world.
If it were others, they might dismiss it with a laugh. But spoken by a figure rumored to be on the verge of Emperor realm—a being bearing the title “Emperor”—such a person was historically destined to become a Great Emperor, if not for unfortunate timing.
This outcome surpassed all their expectations and endurance.
If the Tianxuan Sanctuary were to fall, they would be criminals against the lineage of Tianxuan, unable to face the departed Great Emperors or their masters.
The Tianxuan legacy must not end on their watch!
No matter what—
The Forbidden Zone must be attacked. The Path to Immortality lies right before them!
On that day, an elderly man past sixty, his vitality waning, appeared at the foot of Mount Canfeng.
He was a Grand Saint-level powerhouse with little lifespan left, one of only three Grand Saints within the Tianxuan Sanctuary—the venerable Nanyang Grand Saint, a peerless warrior who had twice ventured deep into the Ancient Forbidden Zone and returned unscathed.
Such feats were rare in the world.
Behind him walked a young woman, the Eastern Wasteland’s greatest beauty, the peerlessly gifted Sacred Maiden of Tianxuan.
“So, this is your decision?” Luo Yan was not surprised. When a sanctuary truly makes up its mind, it was not something he could deter with a few words.