Gaze and you will become stronger: starting from Doupo

"Kill..."

Inside the Imperial Pass City, before any cultivator could even make out the specific scene on the screen, a deafening battle cry rang out in their ears. The sound was filled with boundless rage, determination, and tragic grandeur, as if it could tear the heavens and earth apart, causing everyone's heart to pound violently.

Then, the image gradually became clearer.

It was an ancient and majestic city, its walls soaring into the clouds, scarred by countless battles and chisels. Beyond the city lay a vast, boundless battlefield, stretching as far as the eye could see. On this battlefield, powerful warriors roamed, their strength so immense they could pluck stars from the sky and grasp the moon; every gesture they made unleashed earth-shattering power, each one ridiculously strong.

That colossal city, incredibly sturdy, stretched across the desolate frontier, so vast it was unbelievable, like an independent world, protecting the billions of lives behind it.

"Boom!"

In the boundless battlefield, the aura of immortals rippled from time to time, and dazzling runes surged up, like giant dragons tumbling in the sky. Even countless stars fell from the sky due to the aftershocks of the battle, crashing to the earth and creating earth-shattering roars.

The intensity of the battle was beyond description, exceeding everyone's imagination. Every instant, countless lives were lost, and blood stained the earth, forming winding rivers of blood.

As the scene slowly panned, several figures appeared with difficulty. They supported each other, their bodies covered in deep, bone-revealing wounds, blood dripping continuously. In the dim light of the setting sun, they walked step by step towards the ancient city in the desolate borderlands. Their injured bodies swayed slightly, as if they might collapse at any moment, but their eyes were unusually determined.

The dim sunset cast a golden glow upon them, making their figures appear exceptionally tall. Their injuries did not diminish their strength; instead, they exuded an aura of unparalleled power, a majesty forged through countless trials and tribulations, a majesty tempered after teetering on the brink of life and death.

There were seven people in total. They were like seven invincible kings. They supported each other and stepped over the endless corpses under their feet, returning step by step to the giant city to continue guarding this land.

Soon after, countless terrifying creatures attacked from the foreign land. These creatures were of various shapes and sizes, exuding the aura of supreme divinity, as if they had reached the realm of immortality. Faint immortal light flowed over their bodies, making them incredibly powerful and giving people a suffocating sense of oppression.

"kill!"

Seeing this, the seven men, though exhausted and covered in blood, rose without hesitation. Their towering figures stood atop the city wall, letting out a furious roar filled with indomitable fighting spirit. Then, they charged out of the giant city once more, plunging into the endless sea of ​​enemies, engaging in a desperate battle with those terrifying creatures.

Within the giant city, many people remained, their clothes tattered and their hair unkempt. Among them were emaciated old men, frail boys, and little girls dressed in tattered, patched animal skin garments. Though lacking great strength, they all resolutely climbed the city walls, took up their makeshift weapons, and resolved to fight to the death against the giant city in this battle for survival.

Amidst the earth-shattering roar of battle, holy light suddenly shot up from the foreheads of these people. Countless beams of holy light converged, shattering the clouds in the sky, piercing the firmament, and finally coalescing into a huge 'sin' character, radiating powerful energy and protecting the giant city.

The seven kings, dragging their heavily wounded bodies, fought a bloody battle on the battlefield, battling the invading enemies until the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light. Every move they made was accompanied by the deaths of many enemies, but they themselves were also constantly wounded, their breaths growing weaker and weaker.

As the scene shifted, the battle continued, and the seven kings finally fell one after another. At the moment they fell, the countless stars in the sky seemed to sense their sacrifice, all turning dim and losing their light, and a sorrowful atmosphere filled the world.

The old men, boys, and girls behind them, whose foreheads were marked with the word 'sin,' looked up to the sky and wept bitterly when they saw the Seven Kings fall. Their cries were filled with endless sorrow and anger.

In that battle, although the Seven Kings were defeated, they still managed to repel the terrifying invading enemy by unleashing the power of the word 'sin', successfully defending the vast city that stretched for thousands of miles behind them and saving the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

……

"That battlefield is in the frontier! I recognize that giant city; it's the shield of our Imperial Pass!"

"Who are those seven people?! They risked their lives to protect the Imperial Pass! They are the true heroes!"

"Why have I never heard of these seven people? They protected the Imperial Pass with their lives and made such great contributions. Why do I know nothing about them? Why is that?!"

"Did you see that symbol of sin and blood? Are those seven people also so-called sinners? That's impossible!"

"No way! They clearly protected the Imperial Pass! If it weren't for them, the Imperial Pass would probably have fallen, and we would all have become slaves to these alien creatures!"

……

At this moment, all the cultivators within Imperial Pass City were plunged into mournful cries. They stared blankly at the battlefield in the sky, their blood seemingly ignited, their hearts filled with excitement and rage. They wished they could sprout wings immediately, rush to the borderlands, and fight those foreigners to avenge their fallen heroes!
Of course, they were also filled with doubt, constantly speculating about the identities of the seven who had defended the Imperial Pass with their lives, unable to understand why such great heroes had been forgotten by history. "Do you know anything about that battle back then!"

Above the Jin family's cave, Jiang Han pointed a finger at the scene in the sky, his gaze suddenly shifting to Jin Taijun in the distance. His icy questioning voice pierced the sky like a sharp sword, resounding throughout the heavens and earth, clearly reaching everyone's ears. This questioning voice was filled with endless anger and mockery, as if to tear apart Jin Taijun's disguise completely, exposing her to everyone's gaze.

Jin Taijun's body stiffened abruptly, her eyes flickering, unable to meet Jiang Han's gaze. Her face grew even more ashen, as if someone had touched her deepest wound, and for a moment she was speechless.

Seeing Jin Taijun's reaction, the surrounding cultivators became even more suspicious. They vaguely sensed that the cover-up of the Seven Kings' deeds was probably closely related to Jin Taijun.

Meng Tianzheng looked at Jin Taijun, a flicker of disappointment and anger in his eyes. He had been guarding the borderlands all along, yet he knew nothing of this tragic history, nothing of the seven heroes who sacrificed themselves to protect the Imperial Pass. He realized that he might have been kept in the dark all along.

Wang Changsheng and Zhao Haotian exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing shock and solemnity. They had lived for countless years, yet had never heard of the Seven Kings' deeds, leading them to wonder how many untold secrets remained hidden within the history of the Imperial Pass.

The Stone Clan members behind Jiang Han, upon seeing the figures of the Seven Kings and hearing the word "sin," instantly had tears blurring their vision. They finally understood that their ancestors were not sinners, but heroes who protected the Imperial Pass! The grievances and anger that had been suppressed for tens of thousands of years finally found an outlet at this moment, and their bodies trembled violently with excitement.

A deathly silence fell once more within Imperial Pass City. All eyes were fixed on Jin Taijun, awaiting her answer. The scenes of the brutal battle continued to play in the sky, silently recounting a forgotten history and urging the truth to emerge. An even greater storm was quietly brewing within Imperial Pass City, about to erupt completely.

Jiang Han's questioning voice seemed to carry some mysterious power; it wasn't deafening, but it possessed a penetrating force that reached the depths of the soul. The instant his voice echoed throughout the entire Imperial Pass City, everyone—from high-level supreme experts to novice cultivators—experienced their surging divine power abruptly halt, as if its flow had been choked by an invisible hand. Some lower-level cultivators even paled, their blood churning, nearly spitting out blood. They were horrified to discover that their connection to the energy of heaven and earth seemed to have been temporarily severed, and the feeling of powerlessness filled them with fear.

In the distance, Jin Taijun's face grew increasingly grim, like the sky before a storm, so dark it seemed ready to drip water. Her gaze towards Jiang Han blazed with a palpable killing intent, freezing the surrounding air and radiating a chilling aura. Her own aura became extremely unstable, sometimes raging like a tidal wave, sometimes restrained like an abyss, clearly indicating that her inner rage was on the verge of exploding.

At that very moment, the Stone Clan members behind Jiang Han stared intently at the scenes unfolding in the sky. The figures in those images, though blurry, felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity and warmth. Tears welled in their eyes, streaming down their cheeks and staining their clothes with dark lines. Their eyes were red from crying, and suppressed sobs escaped their throats, their hearts filled with a mixture of emotion and sorrow—this was their ancestor, the very source of their long-standing slander and oppression, now finally revealing the truth to the world in this way.

Unbeknownst to them, their blood began to resonate strangely with the scene before them, like a dormant volcano awakened, surging and roaring in their veins. On each of their foreheads, the character for 'sin' slowly emerged, more dazzling than ever before. Countless tiny runes intertwined and coiled around them, forming sacred bands of light that soared into the sky, echoing the scene in the heavens and radiating an aura of solemnity.

"Disciple, remember your master's words. Your ancestors were not sinners; they were the true guardians of this Imperial Pass! You are the lineage of guardians! The runes between your brows are not sins, but glory! They record the achievements and glories of your ancestors!"

Jiang Han gently picked up the little one beside him. His voice was gentle yet full of power. These words were not only spoken to the little one, but also clearly spread throughout the entire Imperial Pass, reaching the ears of every member of the Stone Clan, as well as the ears of everyone in the Imperial Pass, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths who were paying attention to this place.

"Our ancestors were not guilty, and we are not sinners either!" A young man from the Shi tribe suddenly raised his head, tears blurring his vision, but his eyes were unusually bright and filled with determination. "The blood flowing in our veins is pure; it is glory! Glory forged with the lives and blood of our ancestors!"

“Our ancestors fought on the frontier until their deaths. They gave everything to protect the Imperial Pass. They are innocent!” Another elder of the Stone Clan said in a trembling voice. The wrinkles on his face were tightly squeezed together with excitement. It was a sense of relief that the grievances that had been suppressed for tens of thousands of years were finally released.

The Stone Clan members cried and then laughed, their laughter tinged with tears and a sense of relief, as if the burden that had weighed them down for tens of thousands of years had finally been lifted. They straightened their backs, their bodies, which had been hunched over because of their "Sinful Blood" status, now filled with unprecedented uprightness and pride.

"What exactly is going on? Could it be that the Stone Clan, the Fire Clan, and those with the mark of sinful blood between their brows are not descendants of sinners?" Inside the Imperial Pass City, a cultivator couldn't help but ask, his voice filled with confusion.

"Who can tell me the truth of the matter! Those were clearly seven guardians who protected the borderlands and all of us with their lives, but why are their descendants now considered sinners!" Another cultivator waved his fist, his tone filled with anger and resentment.

"What else is there that we don't know? Is all of this tens of thousands of years of history just an elaborate lie?"

"Have we been wrong all these tens of thousands of years? The so-called sinners we despise and suppress are actually the descendants of heroes; they represent glory and sacrifice!"

……

Inside the Imperial Pass City, countless cultivators recovered from their initial shock, exchanging glances filled with deep bewilderment and intense longing. They yearned to know the truth, to understand why the descendant of a hero had inexplicably become a universally despised sinner, and what kind of conspiracy and depravity lay hidden within.

"They are the saviors of the nine heavens and ten earths, the true guardians! Alas, after years of fighting in the borderlands, they couldn't even protect their own descendants. It's truly heartbreaking." Meng Tianzheng shook his head, a deep sigh on his face, his words filled with undisguised shame. As the supreme ruler guarding the borderlands, he was utterly ignorant of this historical truth, which filled him with immense self-reproach.

"So the people of Sin Province are innocent; they are descendants of the Guardians!" The Gluttonous King, the Demon King, the Old Celestial, and other cultivators who had long resided at the Imperial Pass exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with deep astonishment and surprise. (End of Chapter)