Perfection: The Eastern Emperor Bell manifests, I am the Golden Crow Heavenly Emperor

Chapter 72 The Place Where Heaven Reaches Absolute Desolation
With a thought, an item was drawn by the chaotic energy and appeared before him.

It was neither a divine material that shone with divine light, nor a supreme treasure that was surrounded by laws.

Instead, it was a palm-sized, rusty, and even somewhat damaged bronze piece.

It looks ordinary, like a fragment that has fallen off some ancient artifact.

It is engraved with some ancient patterns that are so blurry that they are almost unrecognizable, full of traces of the passage of time, and exuding a desolate and lifeless atmosphere unique to the era of the fallen emperor.

Lu Xuan didn't pay much attention at first. Although relics from the era of the fallen emperor were rare, he had seen quite a few. Most of them contained broken laws and lost historical information, which were of limited help to him in his current situation.

He casually picked up the bronze piece, preparing to use his divine sense to explore any remaining information within it.

However, the instant his fingertips touched that cold bronze—

"Boom!"

The dormant Chaos Bell within his body spontaneously emitted an extremely faint yet indescribably stirring hum!

This was neither a warning of a threat nor the joy of discovering treasure; it was more like... an instinctive reaction to encountering something extremely familiar!
Immediately afterwards, Lu Xuan's whole body trembled violently!
His once tranquil and serene state of mind, which reflected the heavens, was now stirred up into a raging storm!

A faint, ethereal resonance, seemingly from the other side of time and space, emanated from the depths of the bronze fragment. It traveled along his fingertips and instantly spread throughout his entire body, shaking his Dao Fruit and causing a slight tremor in his Three Corpses Origin!
This aura...this feeling...

Lu Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and for the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face!
The ancient aura remnants on these bronze fragments, belonging to the era of imperial decline, were actually...

It contained a faint aura that shared the same origin as his own essence, the deepest part of his soul, and the Chaos Dao he wielded!
Although this aura was so faint as to be almost negligible, and had been worn away by time over countless ages, leaving only a trace, Lu Xuan would never mistake its essence!

It's like... like another "him" who existed and was active long ago, leaving an indelible mark on this bronze plate!

"How can this be?!"

Even with Lu Xuan's current state of mind, he couldn't help but break down in tears.

He and the Fallen Era of this perfect world should have been two completely unrelated timelines!
Why does this relic from the fallen era bear his aura?

Is it an illusion?
Is it some kind of misleading analogy to the Dao?

still is……

An even more bizarre thought, yet one that sent a sudden jolt through him, uncontrollably surfaced:

Could it be... that his arrival was not accidental?

Is his existence somehow connected to the mysteriously fallen era of the Emperor's Demise, which buried countless secrets?
This sudden discovery shocked him even more than his tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation without being able to break through to the Emperor Realm, and gave him... a strange chill.

He stared intently at the inconspicuous bronze fragment in his hand, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through eternity to see the truth buried by dust and time.

The bottleneck to the Emperor Realm, which had been stagnant for tens of thousands of years, seemed to have loosened slightly because of the appearance of this fragment and the pull of this trace of the same origin.

But what followed was an even greater fog that shrouded his path ahead.

The secrets of his era of Dao Emperor's fall, and that unattainable Emperor Realm...

All of this seems to be connected by this small piece of bronze.

Lu Xuan slowly gripped the bronze shard in his hand; the cold touch made him more alert than ever before.

"The era of the fallen emperors... It seems we must go and investigate it thoroughly."

His deep voice echoed through the chaotic palace, carrying a resolute tone.

The once clear path ahead suddenly became unpredictable and uncertain. But the appearance of this fragment also tore open a rift leading to a deeper truth.

However, he was not entirely ignorant of the ancient history of this world.

He recalled a mysterious place mentioned in the original work—a forgotten ancient land where the laws were incomplete, spacetime was disordered, and even the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was isolated, a place known as "the place where heaven and earth are cut off".

More importantly, he remembered that the Lord of the Forbidden Zone in the original work had used heaven-defying methods in that ancient land to send Shi Hao into... the Era of the Fallen Emperors!
"The Lord of the Forbidden Zone, whose power transcends heaven and earth..."

A glint flashed in Lu Xuan's eyes, and all the clues connected at that moment.

To uncover the secrets of the bronze fragments, clarify one's connection to the era of imperial decline, and even find the true opportunity to break through to the imperial realm.

Heading to that ancient land and finding the mysterious and unpredictable master of the forbidden zone may be the only viable path at present!
He hesitated no more.

Once one's cultivation reaches a certain level, with a firm mind, there are no more obstacles.

"I need to travel to the ancient realm."

The resounding Daoist voice entered the core of the Golden Crow Clan's territory and entered the hearts of Lu Huang, who was in charge of clan affairs, and several core elders.

Without explaining the reason, the undeniable authority contained within made Lu Huang and the others instantly feel awe, all knowing that His Majesty must have something of paramount importance to discuss.

The next moment, Lu Xuan's figure disappeared from the Chaos Palace.

He did not alarm the kings of the Immortal Realm, nor did he make a big fuss. He simply tore through the void quietly, took a step, and crossed the endless star field, arriving at the Primordial Ancient Realm adjacent to the Immortal Realm.

The primordial ancient world, the central celestial palace.

The Immortal King Wuzhong and the Immortal King Liudao Lunhui sensed each other almost the instant Lu Xuan arrived.

The two leaders of the ancient realms appeared outside the Heavenly Palace in an instant. When they saw Lu Xuan, whose aura was even more unfathomable than it had been tens of thousands of years ago, they were both shocked.

"Fellow Daoist Donghuang has suddenly arrived. What brings you here?"

The Immortal King Wuzhong cupped his hands and asked, his tone carrying a hint of doubt and solemnity.

Lu Xuan's every move now affects the situation of the heavens, and they cannot help but pay attention to him.

Lu Xuan glanced at the two Immortal Kings and spoke calmly.

"I wish to find a place called 'Severed Heaven and Connected Earth.' I also wish to meet a person, the 'Lord of the Forbidden Zone.' You two fellow Daoists are in charge of the ancient world's reincarnation and time and space; do you know his whereabouts?"

"The one who transcends heaven and earth? The master of the forbidden zone?"

The black hole surrounding the Six Paths Reincarnation Immortal King paused slightly, clearly indicating that these two names had triggered his ancient memories.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "'The Land of Absolute Heaven and Earth'... that is an abandoned ancient land, said to be connected to some unknown rift between eras. Its laws are broken, making it extremely dangerous. It has long been listed as a forbidden area of ​​the ancient realm, and is not to be entered lightly. As for the 'Lord of the Forbidden Zone'..."

He looked at the Immortal King Wuzhong, who replied with a solemn expression.

"That being is far more ancient than us, and its origins are shrouded in mystery. It dwells deep within forbidden zones and rarely interacts with the outside world. Even we have only seen scattered records of it in extremely ancient texts and have never witnessed it in person. What brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

Lu Xuan did not reveal anything about the bronze fragments, but simply said, "Seeking proof is crucial to the future."

These few simple words sent a huge shock through Wuzhong and Liudao's hearts.

(End of this chapter)