True Martial World Chapter 1705 - Ending (3) - Guardian

Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon

Tianxuan Mengyao's presence before Yi Yun’s statue drew the gaze of countless onlookers.

Many admired her eminent poise, with some even commending her for bearing striking traits that echoed Lin Xintong's from years past.

Yet, to seasoned experts, Tianxuan Mengyao inspired only sighs of pity.

They realized she fell far short of the radiant, legendary figure others imagined her to be.

“It’s a scar left behind by the Great Dao... This young lady is ambitious, but unfortunately, the Great Dao is heartless. The Empress’s cultivation technique has such a high requirement that it’s unlikely she can succeed.”

They discerned a deep scar etched within Tianxuan Mengyao’s dantian.

When Bai Yueyin departed the White Lunar Divine Empire, she bequeathed fragments of heritage. Incomplete as they were, these legacies stemmed from no trivial source—they originated from Empress Sheng Mei.

Though not her core cultivation techniques, mastering them remained extraordinarily arduous. In ancient times, with the Sinkhole Heavenly Dao intact, prodigies might have forged a path forward. But now, under fractured Heavenly Dao laws, pursuing such ancient methods brimmed with peril.

In this twilight of martial arts, even proclaimed geniuses found their ways utterly blocked.

Achieving true success proved immensely daunting.

Suddenly, above the Mirage Sea Realm’s square, Heaven Earth Yuan Qi surged wildly as a radiant light screen materialized from the void, which shuddered violently.

The light screen gradually unveiled a colossal door—the gateway into the Mirage Sea Realm.

This light screen constituted the very core of the Mirage Sea Realm’s array.

With the door flung open, a passage stretched deep into the Mirage Sea Realm, its path lined with nomological fragments, an elder standing vigil at the threshold.

Gaunt and white-haired, the elder wore ragged clothes, yet a mocking smile played across his lips.

He served as the array's steadfast guardian. Were Yi Yun there, he would instantly recognize Old Snake.

Across the sixteen Lands of Hope, every array demanded guardians to preserve its stability.

These sentinels refined ancient laws to uphold the array's nomological balance in an age bereft of the Heavenly Dao.

As an ancient Godly Monarch, Old Snake was perfectly suited for the task, which explained why the Mirage Sea Realm’s Land of Hope excelled among the sixteen.

In the cataclysmic ancient war, Old Snake endured grievous wounds and forfeited much of his memories. To this day, his restoration lagged behind.

Spotting the assembled youths, Old Snake let out a chuckle before waving his hand to dissolve the final barrier.

The young prodigies strode through the passage, and as the linen-clothed youth crossed it, he shot a glance at the elder, gripped by an elusive emotion.

He sensed the elder’s nomological forces subtly resisting the array’s relentless currents.

Though powered by Godly Monarch Immortal Annuli on the energy front, the arrays required guardians to sustain their nomological integrity.

Lands of Hope were said to endure for millions of years, binding their guardians to eternal watch over the arrays. Such endless duty inexorably drained their nomological essence...

Thus, Lands of Hope held no permanence; they were doomed to decay in time.

The elder generation sacrificed their vitality to buy precious cultivation time for the young.

Confined here as sentinels, they forfeited freedom and braved profound solitude.

Even so, their offering spanned merely a few million years. How far could the next generation truly advance?

Who among them might defy the Sinkhole's grim fate? No one dared claim certainty. Despite their hopeful titles, scant true hope lingered in the Lands of Hope.

Warriors honed martial arts to rebel against the heavens and rewrite destiny. Against the crumbling Heavenly Dao, defiance burned fierce. Thus, even in failure, they departed without regret.

Having traversed the passage, the linen-clothed youth glanced back at the elder’s solitary figure.

The elder remained a total stranger—no familiarity, not even a name known to him.

Indeed, this ignorance extended beyond just the linen-clothed youth. Every other prodigious genius who traversed the passageway, along with disciples already within the Mirage Sea Realm, remained oblivious that the life-weary elder was one of the eight statues positioned on the outer square.

This stemmed from Old Snake's deliberate choice.

As he put it, that ancient battle had long slipped from his memory.

The Dragon King among the eight Godly Monarchs resembled a bygone incarnation.

If so, there was no point in revealing it to the world.

He wished to preserve the Dragon King's mighty, flawless image in the world's mind forever, not that of a hero faded beyond his peak.

Thus, Mirage Sea Realm disciples passing through the passageway would always behold the smirking Old Snake.

...

Emerging from the passageway revealed a colossal palace. Upon its lofty platform loomed armored figures with savage glares, standing roughly three meters tall. Black chains twisted around their frames, while flaming scale armor encased their bodies.

These weren't Mirage Sea Realm disciples, but the Ancestor God's demonic servants!

They ranked as the mightiest among demonic servants, commanded by the Demonic Marshall who had first inspected the Sinkhole.

When the Ancestor God prepared to consume the Heavenly Dao at last, he sent demonic servants scouring the realms for spiritual treasures to form the ultimate array. Even Bai Yueyin's core artifact, the White Jade Phoenix Palace, drew their greedy eyes.

With Bai Yueyin severely wounded and the White Jade Phoenix Palace fallen, demonic servants stormed the White Lunar Divine Empire to seize it.

This unfolded during Lin Xintong’s ascension, igniting Yi Yun's fierce clash against the Heavenly Cosmic Divine Lord and Demonic General Perfected Hou. Ultimately, Yi Yun slew them both.

Yet, it halted nothing. The Ancestor God still devoured the Sinkhole’s Heavenly Dao successfully.

Afterward, the Ancestor God departed the Sinkhole for the Chaos Heavens. He took numerous demonic generals along, while others remained behind to dominate the Sinkhole.

The Demonic Marshall was already immensely powerful. Additionally, a token infused him with the Ancestor God’s strength. In the Sinkhole, none could defy him, nor even muster the courage to try.

Sinkhole denizens survived only because the Ancestor God overlooked its destruction. Bluntly stated, after consuming the Sinkhole’s Heavenly Dao, he deemed this universe mere garbage, too insignificant to bother obliterating.

But if the Ancestor God flew into rage, one mere thought would annihilate every life in the Sinkhole.

Once the Ancestor God departed, the Demonic Marshall lingered to harvest lingering resources. The Ancestor God scorned them, but the Demonic Marshall eagerly drained every last drop.

The location he picked for his outpost was the Mirage Sea Realm’s Land of Hope.

In the Sinkhole, the Mirage Sea Realm’s Land of Hope brimmed with the densest Spirit Qi, offering the smoothest path to cultivation.

Human elders poured their lives into sustaining the array, only for these demonic servants to claim the ultimate prize. They monopolized the prime cultivation resources in the Land of Hope.

Most bitterly, the Land of Hope's warriors could only grit their teeth and endure it.