Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 222 The Heavenly Gate Opens, A Lone Shadow Vanishes into the Dust

The primordial afterimage did not attack, but slowly raised its hand, pointing towards the top of the tower. A heavy, ancient voice, seemingly traversing countless ages, resounded in everyone's minds:
"The road ahead... has all fallen into ashes."

"Those who are obsessed with their past can return to their source of soul."

"Those who defy the heavens... will only perish."

These three simple sentences contain a more terrifying impact on will than the aura of nothingness.

That was the ultimate warning of both the pioneers and the sealers of the path, a despair that Master Hunyuan had verified with his life.

It directly challenges the deepest fears and doubts within the trial participants: Should we really... continue? Knowing it's a dead end, should we still venture forth?
Shen Ying, who had just been stabilized by Chu Ning, had the light that had just gathered in her eyes instantly dissipate under the impact of this will, and the dark golden light pillar protecting her body also fluctuated violently.

"No...no...Even the patriarch said it was a dead end...we..." he murmured, his will on the verge of collapse.

Li Muwan was also shocked by the sudden appearance of the chaotic afterimage and its words, and the light on her long sword flickered uncertainly.

The soul diagram constructed by Jade Star Water shook violently, almost collapsing.

Mu Guishan stared intently at the chaotic afterimage, his old eyes churning with extremely complex emotions—awe, resentment, anger…and finally, it transformed into a burning determination!

“Grandmaster…” he began hoarsely, his voice not loud, but carrying immense power, “You… have guarded this place for a thousand years.”

"They guarded the boundary... but they killed... the soul!"

"This old man... today, I'm determined... to brave this... dead end!"

He suddenly straightened his hunched back, and his withered body burst forth with an astonishing aura.

The wooden staff in his hand burst forth with unprecedentedly dazzling golden light, and he actually took a step towards the chaotic afterimage.

Meanwhile, outside the tower, Chu Ning looked at the chaotic afterimage inside, feeling the sorrow and warning contained within it. Instead of retreating, his eyes burned with an even more intense flame.

He forcefully suppressed the churning blood and the excruciating pain of the soul lock, pouring his last bit of strength into the array's core.

"Three breaths...that's it!"

Chu Ning's voice, like a divine oracle that shook the heavens and the earth, resounded throughout the tower.

Om-! ! !
The order-level critical array tower unleashed its final, all-encompassing beam of light.

All the illusions, oppression, and illusory aura within the tower, even the chaotic afterimage, seemed to have been paused, instantly freezing and dissipating.

The light faded.

The portal at the bottom of the tower opened again.

One after another, figures staggered, swayed, or were even supported by their companions as they fell out of the portal.

Mu Guishan leaned on a wooden cane, his body covered in blood, his breath extremely weak, but his old eyes shone with a frightening light, as if burning with the flames of new life.

Li Muwan leaned on her long sword, panting heavily. Her body was charred in many places, clearly indicating that she had been severely burned by the demonic flames, but her fighting spirit remained high.

Yu Xingshui's face was as pale as snow, her soul power was greatly depleted, and there was blood at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were clearer and more determined than ever before.

Shen Ying, Yu Qianshui, and the others also struggled to their feet. Although they were in a sorry state and their soul fire was weak, they ultimately... survived those three breaths of purgatory.

However, not everyone came out.

The moment the portal closed, those worshippers and soul practitioners on the Heavenly Mirror Platform who were staring intently at the Soul Tower felt a jolt in their hearts.

Some people stared wide-eyed at the Soul Fire Stone Plate beside the high platform, only to see that the several wisps of soul fire that should have been burning on it dimmed and went out in an instant.

As the flames died down, it was as if a star had quietly fallen in some corner of the world; all was silent except for the cold wind.

An elderly retainer murmured, "...Junior Brother Li, as expected..."

Before he could finish speaking, he slowly removed the bronze badge with the soul pattern from his chest, bowed his head, and knelt in the snow.

People around them followed suit, some standing solemnly, others bowing their heads, silently grieving.

A young warrior gritted his teeth, his face pale, and muttered to himself:
"I clearly saw him block the Phantom Soul with his final attack... how could this be..."

The wind and snow swept across Tianjingtai, bringing a biting chill and ruffling their clothes and hair.

Some soul flames are extinguished, while others return.

Some people prostrated themselves on the ground, bidding farewell to the deceased;

Some looked up at the sky with complicated emotions, feeling ashamed of their own survival, yet also quietly igniting a new flame because they had survived for three breaths.

In the silence of those who survived the catastrophe, tragedy is no longer an abstract word, but rather a mark illuminated by the flames of life, etched in people's hearts.

Chu Ning looked at the standing figures, at the lingering fear and relief at surviving the ordeal in their eyes, and at the faint light of "hope" that had been ignited deep within them.

He slowly raised his blood-stained hand, his fingertips trembling as he wiped away the pale golden soul blood that kept overflowing from the corner of his mouth.

The voice was hoarse and broken, yet it contained a power that pierced through the silence of eternity, imprinted deep within the soul of every survivor:

"Those who can survive three breaths..."

"The Heavenly Gate—opens for you!"

"Step through the boundary lock, enter the realm of nothingness!"

"On this journey... I hope you all..."

"In the midst of deathly silence... carve out a path to life!"

His gaze, as if burning with the last embers of life, passed over the surviving crowd, their breaths weak but their eyes burning with passion, and locked onto the top of the tower.

At the end of that pillar of light, formed by the power of the boundary lock, piercing the lead-gray sky.

There, a faint light flickers, a door that has been closed for millennia, the final boundary where despair and hope intertwine...

The howling wind and snow seemed to be choked by an invisible force, and suddenly fell silent.

That thousand-foot-tall critical array tower had completed its cruel yet sacred mission.

On the tower, countless runes, like stars that have burned out, have dimmed and peeled off in large swaths.

The phantom of the soul locks that entwined the base of the tower broke and withered inch by inch, emitting a silent lament. The entire giant tower exuded a tragic and desolate feeling of exhaustion and yet a successful retreat.

Thirty-six figures stood solemnly before the tower.

Their soul robes were tattered and stained with blood, their auras as weak as candles flickering in the wind. Yet their eyes shone like stars forged in the furnace of hell, bright and resolute, burning with an inextinguishable soul fire.

Mu Guishan, Li Muwan, Yu Xingshui, Shen Ying, Yu Qianshui... They were the first group of pioneers under the Soul Path who, with their own will and strength, broke through the shackles of the "Peak of the Boundary Lock".

At that moment, no one spoke.

The solemn atmosphere was so heavy it could crush the mountains.

Everyone understands that the purgatory of the Order Tower is merely a qualification.

The real journey begins with each step and ends in the unknown... the void of nothingness.

On the high platform, Chu Ning's figure moved.

He walked unsteadily, yet with an unwavering resolve, step by step toward the core of the array.

The plain black and gold-patterned soul robe was already soaked in soul blood, the dark red and pale gold intertwined, a shocking sight.

The five soul patterns between his brows, symbolizing the soul's authority, shone so brightly they were almost burning, yet cracks had already spread to his neck, as if the exquisite porcelain was about to shatter completely at any moment.

He was like an arrow burning itself out to shoot towards the heavens, resolutely stepping into the pillar of light that connected heaven and earth. The pillar of light was scorching, scorching his broken soul and body.

Ignoring the excruciating pain, he struggled to raise his hands and, in the void, using his remaining soul essence as a guide and the shattered soul lock as a foundation, outlined the final, profoundly mysterious hand seal—the Ascension Guide.

A deep, resolute voice, like the final pronouncements of a deity, echoed across the silent snowfield:

"This gate is called—the Realm of Innocence!"

"Only those whose inner fire remains unextinguished can ascend this path!"

"I draw the path with the Soul Map, guard the fate with the Soul Mirror, and imprint the soul with my broken body... to guide you all!"

"Tread the Heavenly Road!!!"

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of pale golden soul blood containing the essence of the source.

The blood did not fall, but instead transformed into countless runes burning with golden flames, merging into the hand seals he formed.

"Boundary Lock Ascension Array - Activate!!!"

Rumble, rumble—! ! !
The Tianjingtai seemed to have been stomped on by an ancient giant god, causing the earth to shake violently.

The critical array tower, on the verge of collapse, emitted a final, earth-shattering roar before disintegrating.

But it did not collapse; instead, it transformed into billions of dazzling specks of light, like a galaxy flowing backward, converging into the pillar of light that locks the boundary at the top of the tower.

The beam of light expanded billions of times in an instant.

It was no longer a pillar of light, but a bridge of light that spanned heaven and earth, constructed from the pure light of order.

It tore through the leaden gray sky, piercing through the heavens, its brilliance instantly dispelling the millennia-old gloom of the far north, illuminating the entire Cangque Snowfield as if a divine kingdom had descended.

Om-!
The soul flames around the thirty-six ascendants, which had long resonated with the boundary lock, were completely ignited at this moment.

Uncontrollably, boundless soul power surged forth, and beneath their skin, countless profound and sacred golden "heavenly patterns" emerged and coalesced on their own, as if ancient imprints from the boundless void, responding to the call of this path to heaven.

Mu Guishan's hunched body slowly floated up in the golden light.

The wrinkles on his withered face smoothed out, and his cloudy old eyes burst forth with unprecedented vitality, as if a withered tree had come back to life, having transcended a century of constraints, leaving only liberation and longing.

He took one last look at the earth beneath his feet, his gaze complex before finally settling into a clear, serene expression.

Li Muwan let out a long roar, displaying her heroic spirit.

The battle blade in her hand hummed and trembled, and her whole body suddenly transformed into a human-shaped, blazing white flame, like a phoenix reborn from the ashes, stepping on the bridge of light and rushing upwards.

Amidst the flames, she glanced back at the blood-soaked figure in the pillar of light, a wild and grateful smile spreading across her lips, her voice piercing through the light:
"Chu Ning! You madman... you actually did it!!"

Yu Xingshui looked serene and slowly closed her eyes.

Behind her, the illusory image of the Myriad Soul Map silently unfolded, transforming into a pair of magnificent wings of light flowing with star trails and spatial runes. With a gentle flap, they carried her gracefully and resolutely upwards into the sky.

Wherever the light wings passed, the chaotic spatial ripples were quietly smoothed out.

Shen Ying, Yu Qianshui, and the others, whose soul flames had been waning, were rekindled under the nourishment of the boundary light, becoming more vigorous than ever before.

They were lifted up by gentle yet irresistible golden rays, like pilgrims, slowly and resolutely flying towards the crevice high in the sky.

Thirty-six figures in total!

Thirty-six stars that have broken free from their cages!
Their soul fires resonated on the bridge of light, and the celestial patterns and boundary light resonated together, emitting a hum that was not a sound, but a "Daoist rhythm" that shook the very origin of the world.

On the snow-covered plain, all things fell silent, and time and space seemed to freeze at this moment, just to witness this epic moment when the gates of heaven were reopened after the severance of the soul path for ten thousand years.

"Thirty-six ascended beings..." Li Jing'an's voice was dry and trembling as he gazed at the bridge of light reaching to the heavens, tears streaming down his face. "The thousand-year-old shackles of the Soul Path... were actually... actually pried open by him... with his own crippled body..."

At the core of the pillar of light, Chu Ning's figure appeared increasingly small and broken under the violent energy surge.

He gazed at the thirty-six beams of light flowing upstream, and a barely perceptible yet incredibly genuine sense of relief welled up from his blood-stained lips.

“They…” he murmured to himself, his voice drowned out by the roar of the light stream, “not chosen by heaven… but… fighting for themselves.”

The soul mark between his eyebrows suddenly trembled violently.

A new, menacing crack spread out.

Blood instantly stained half of his cheek.

He gritted his teeth, spread his arms wide, and poured the last bit of his remaining will and soul power that was holding him together into the array's core.

"Let's go!"

A hoarse roar, carrying the Soul Master's final blessing and expectation, exploded within the stream of light:

"Go see... that heaven beyond heaven for me!"

"Pierce through this eternal seal for me!"

"Rebuild...a new chapter in the path of the soul for me!!!"

Thirty-six figures had already reached the edge of the sky.

The ancient "boundary rift," under the impact of the Heavenly Bridge of Light, silently melted away like ice, creating a huge "hole" filled with chaotic light.

The stream of light enveloped the ascendants, instantly engulfing them.

The last figure, Li Muwan transformed into flames, suddenly turned around just as the cave entrance was about to close.

She didn't say anything, but solemnly clasped her hands in a salute to the blood-soaked figure standing tall in the pillar of light.

In those fiery eyes, there was farewell, gratitude, and even more so... a silent vow.

The next moment, the flames completely disappeared behind the chaotic cave entrance.

boom--!
The light bridge suddenly contracted and dissipated.

The "boundary" that had been forcibly torn closed instantly, as if it had never been opened at all.

Only the lingering, slowly spreading, magnificent halo above the sky, and the sudden, absolute silence that seemed to have drained all sound from the snowfield, silently recounted the astonishing scene that had just unfolded.

At this moment, the entire Soul Map world, like an ancient well to which stones have been thrown, rippled without visible signs of life.

In the capital city thousands of miles away, the main seal suspended on the dome of the Soul Law Hall moved automatically without wind, emitting a deep and long resonance, as if in response.

The towering border monument cracked open with a "crack," revealing a winding, shimmering golden soul pattern, from which a faint dragon-shaped phantom flashed by.

At the very bottom of the Soul Tower abyss, an ancient stone tablet, silent for countless years, saw its surface covered in dust, which then fell away, and it spontaneously combusted without fire. Within the flames, three characters for "Soul," engraved with primordial power and dimmed for millennia, blazed anew with dazzling light:
"The boundary has been moved."

The fading light of the Bridge of Light, like the final sigh of a deity, silently painted itself across the silent snowfield.

Chu Ning remained standing at the core of the formation, maintaining the final hand seal.

Until... the last ray of light completely disappeared into the depths of the sky.

Pfft!
He could no longer hold on, and his knees slammed heavily onto the cold, hard surface of the ice platform.

The plain black gold-patterned soul robe covering his body seemed to have been cut a thousand times by an invisible blade, instantly turning into countless fragments, mixed with pale gold and dark red bloodstains, which scattered and fell in all directions.

The five-patterned soul lock that bound his body let out a heartbreaking cry, crumbling inch by inch, turning into specks of golden light like fireflies, and dissipating in the cold wind.

The mark between his brows, symbolizing the position of the Soul Master, extinguished its light completely, leaving only a hideous, charred crack that seemed to pierce through his soul.

(End of this chapter)