Chapter 272 The Ruined Remains of the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Heavenly Court
The Kyoto Alliance's central intelligence room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
On the large screen, high-resolution satellite cloud images are being refreshed at a breathtaking speed.
Above the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai, the already torn radial clouds were now being forcibly pushed apart to both sides by an invisible force. The sea of clouds churned, the light of the sky distorted, and a deep, dark crack stretched across the sky, as if something had forcibly ripped a corner of the entire sky apart.
Within that crack, the massive, sky-obscuring ruins of an ancient portal are slowly but irresistibly inching their way into reality.
That's not "appearance".
It's more like another world that has already collapsed, forcibly pressing into humanity.
"Switch to live footage! Quickly!"
Professor Wang Mingyuan practically shouted it out; his voice was completely hoarse.
The screen flashed.
First-hand optical images from the Taishan front-line observation station instantly filled the entire screen.
The next second, a collective gasp filled the intelligence room.
It was an extremely magnificent, yet extremely dilapidated, bronze gate.
It's too big.
So large that even the exposed half of the gatepost is as tall as the side peak of Mount Tai. It is also so dilapidated, as if it had just been forcibly pulled out of an ancient war powerful enough to shatter the heavens.
The left gatepost was cleaved diagonally by some incredibly sharp force, the cut as smooth as a mirror, yet the edge of the break was always entwined with a layer of dark, malevolent energy that had lingered for millennia; the right gatepost, though still standing, was covered with crisscrossing sword marks, charred black from being scorched by lightning and fire, and large patches of dark golden congealed stains, like dried divine blood adhering to it, which had not faded to this day.
Above the two broken pillars, on the huge, rickety plaque with a corner cut off, three ancient and powerful seal characters, exuding endless pressure, were slowly glowing.
【South Heavenly Gate】.
boom--
The moment those three words entered everyone's eyes.
An indescribable, immense wave silently rippled out from the depths of that ruined door.
It's not a sound.
But it was heavier than any sound.
Within thousands of miles of Mount Tai, whether it was a sword-wielding cultivator, a great demon of the mountains and forests, or even many mutated beasts that had not yet gained sentience, all felt an almost instinctive fear and awe at this moment.
Several Foundation Establishment cultivators with slightly weaker cultivation levels turned pale on the spot, and even unconsciously softened their breathing.
"This is not a gate to a mortal mountain..."
An elder, his lips dry, stared at the ruins of the South Heavenly Gate on the screen, his voice trembling.
"This is something that truly fell from the sky."
The Sword Tomb of Mount Shu, the Temple of the God of War, and the Dragon Palace of the East Sea—no matter how magnificent they may be, they can still be understood within the framework of "ancient sects" and "ancient overlords."
But this door is different.
From its very first appearance, it naturally possessed a level of grandeur that surpassed all other sectary sites in the human world.
It's not bigger, nor stronger.
Rather, they are at different levels.
"All energy models are completely distorted!"
An operator jumped up from his seat, his voice filled with horror, "The spiritual pressure is unmeasurable, the material structure is unanalyzable, and the gravitational and spiritual fields around Jade Emperor Peak are simultaneously in disarray! This place is completely outside our existing parameter system!"
Forget the specs, look at the actual situation!
Wang Mingyuan pressed down on the control panel, his eyes turning red.
He knew better than anyone that this thing was no longer a "high-level relic".
This is a mythological remnant that could directly rewrite the entire understanding of cultivation civilization.
Half an hour later.
The first batch of elite armed warships of the Kyoto Alliance has arrived outside Mount Tai.
As the hatch opened, a group of high-ranking cultivators, powerful clan elders, and members of the research team stepped out of the ship and gazed at Jade Emperor Peak in the distance.
Only when they were actually on site did they realize for the first time that satellite images were simply insufficient to convey the oppressive feeling that the gate brought.
There were no unnecessary movements at Nantianmen.
It just stood there.
Yet that sense of vicissitude, collapse, slaughter, and majesty emanating from the end of time seemed to permeate the entire world, making even looking up feel like an offense.
"Don't go any further!"
A Golden Core cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly raised his hand to stop the crowd behind him.
"The spiritual pressure field and gravitational field around Jade Emperor Peak are completely chaotic! Even my divine sense can't pass through that gate!"
No sooner had the words been spoken than several drones tasked with advancing to scout ahead provided the most direct answer.
As soon as they entered the area within tens of kilometers of the Jade Emperor Peak, their fuselages began to twist violently, as if they were being crushed from all directions by an invisible giant hand.
next moment.
boom! boom! boom!
Several drones exploded one after another, turning into countless fine metal powders that were scattered by the mountain wind.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
Immediately afterwards, several third-tier demonic beasts from further away, eager to scout ahead, also pounced.
Their bodies were enormous, their scales thick and heavy, and even armor-piercing missiles might not be able to easily tear through their defenses. But the moment they stepped into the ten-kilometer radius of Jade Emperor Peak, their scales simultaneously emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and their enormous bodies suddenly sank, as if they were carrying an entire mountain on their backs.
One of the crimson-armored demon bears only took two more steps forward before its legs exploded into a cloud of blood mist, and it rolled back with a miserable howl.
No one dared to make any rash moves anymore.
This place is not a place that any living being on Earth at this stage can casually venture into.
There's something behind the door!
Wang Mingyuan suddenly raised the psionic telescope, his voice filled with almost uncontrollable excitement.
"Zoom in again! Quickly!"
Almost simultaneously, everyone's gaze turned to the depths of the dilapidated gate of the South Heavenly Gate.
Behind the door, it wasn't empty.
It is not simply a path to the void.
In that thick, almost impenetrable ancient celestial mist, a section of broken white marble steps floated faintly.
The steps were badly broken, with only a short section visible, yet they still stretched upwards, as if leading to a long-destroyed palace somewhere beyond the sea of clouds.
At the end of that celestial staircase, in the fleeting moments when the celestial mist occasionally churned and dispersed, everyone caught a glimpse of an outline that sent chills down their spines—
It was the enormous remains of a headless god general.
It knelt at the end of the broken steps, its body clad in tattered golden armor, the plates covered with sword marks, lightning burns, and large chunks of dried divine blood. Even a single glance from afar was enough to make many Golden Core cultivators' chests tighten with the sheer brutality of its killing intent.
In its right hand, it tightly gripped half of a broken golden spear.
On that broken spearhead, there was still a faint, extremely weak, yet malevolent aura that caused everyone's spiritual roots to ache.
"That's not a stone sculpture..."
A high-level cultivator spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse.
"That is the remains of a true ancient celestial general."
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone present began to breathe more heavily.
The mere glimpse of the South Heavenly Gate was enough to drive the entire cultivation world into a frenzy.
Even if only a fragment of that armor were brought back, it would be enough to bring about a qualitative change in the current weapon-forging system; even if only a trace of divinity remained of that half-spear tip, it would be enough to become a powerful weapon capable of suppressing an entire region.
Not to mention, what was revealed behind the door was clearly far more than that.
"This place... we have to go in."
Wang Mingyuan stared intently at the staircase behind the door, his eyes filled with fanaticism.
"This isn't just any ordinary opportunity; it's something that could directly rewrite the entire course of civilization!"
But everyone knows that shouting won't do any good.
By this time, hunter convoys from the Yellow Zone, the demon army, and even more cultivators from the Green Zone had arrived at the outskirts of Mount Tai.
The various forces that were originally fighting each other in Emei, the desert, and the East China Sea have now formed an extremely strange and huge encirclement at the foot of Mount Tai.
No one dared to cross the line first.
Everyone is waiting.
We're waiting for a fearless madman to explore the true bottom line of this Southern Heavenly Gate for everyone.
at last.
A Golden Core cultivator from the Green Zone, nearing the end of his lifespan and with no hope of breaking through, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"I'll give it a try first."
He took a deep breath, raised an ancient bronze mirror to protect his chest, and his body shone with a bright spiritual light. He slowly flew towards the sky above the Jade Emperor Peak.
Hundreds of thousands of eyes were fixed on him at the same time.
The first ten miles passed without incident.
Eighth mile, the bronze mirror began to tremble.
By the fifth mile, the monk's forehead was covered in sweat, and his face was visibly pale.
The third mile.
The tattered plaque above the South Heavenly Gate suddenly trembled slightly.
The next instant, the bronze mirror in front of the cultivator didn't even have time to utter a mournful cry before it exploded with a deafening roar. The protective aura shattered layer by layer, and he was struck head-on by an invisible giant hammer. His chest instantly caved in, and he coughed up blood, flying hundreds of meters backward before crashing heavily into the mountain wall. His fate was unknown.
The audience was silent.
A Golden Core cultivator.
He was beaten to a pulp before he even got close to the door.
The terror of Nantianmen was completely crushed by this attack.
Just when everyone was stunned by this scene.
The swirling mist behind the door suddenly parted slightly.
Followed by.
A piece of tile, about the size of a palm, dark gold in color, and with broken edges, rolled down the broken section of the sky staircase very slowly.
Clang.
It rolled over the threshold and landed on the charred rocks of Jade Emperor Peak.
There was a moment of silence all around.
Then--
A wisp of extremely pure, ancient immortal energy, completely outside the current dimension, slowly seeped out from the crack in the dark gold tile.
In that instant, the concentration of spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius of Jade Emperor Peak was increased tenfold!
The vegetation grew wildly, the clouds churned, and even the surrounding rocks seemed to gleam faintly under the influence of this ethereal aura.
At that moment, everyone's eyes turned red.
That was just a piece of broken tile that had rolled off from behind the South Heavenly Gate.
That alone is already terrifying to this extent.
What is truly buried behind that door?
After a brief silence.
The entire area surrounding Mount Tai has gone completely mad.