In Eastern Europe, during the seventh month of the fourteenth year of Tianqi, in the western region known as the Domain of Ghostly Night, the height of summer had arrived.
The sun blazed like fire, melting gold and scorching stones. This was the western region's rare hot and dry season, though it did rain often. Fortunately, the moisture evaporated during the daytime.
The arrival of high summer also signified the end of certain events.
It had been exactly three months since the hasty conclusion of the Grand Assembly in Unfalling City.
During these three months, besides the advent of high summer, several significant events had transpired in the Domain of Ghostly Night.
Chronologically, the foremost was Xu Mu's rise to fame.
On the Unfalling Plaza, the young man had removed his face-covering black cloth, ascended the high platform alone, signed the waiver of life and death, and with a single strike, killed his enemy. This left an indelible impression on many.
Moreover, he was the recipient of a First-Class Merit.
Thus, when he safely returned home, Xu Mu's name thoroughly echoed through Ghostly Night.
Countless factions paid visits, and retainers flocked endlessly, all eager to curry favor with him. However, apart from his striking crimson official robe, no one else could enter that mysterious small courtyard.
Xu Mu declined all visits from factions, citing his desire to focus on cultivation.
If anyone else had acted in such a manner, they would certainly have been criticized by various parties for being impolite or even disrespected, possibly leading to provocations.
But everyone knew that behind this rural night watchman stood a swordsman of the third stage.
He himself was a member of the Demon Extermination Division, possessing a powerful background. Even the sole lord of the Domain of Ghostly Night, Elder Shu Ju, had spoken up for him. Therefore, no one dared to court disaster.
And shortly after Xu Mu's fame, the Domain of Ghostly Night saw further changes.
This matter concerned Vilitan.
After months of exhaustive searching, Vilitan, who had absconded with the Heavenly Book, had still not been found.
This was perplexing, as from the Domain of Ghostly Night outwards, all surrounding towns, villages, and even dangerous polluted zones had been scoured by powerful ability users from various factions.
Furthermore, throughout the Great Xia, wanted posters of Vilitan were plastered everywhere that people frequented. For a time, no one dared to wear black robes on the streets for fear of being mistaken for Vilitan and causing unnecessary trouble.
Yet, Vilitan remained unfound.
Consequently, the ability users of the major factions unanimously concluded that Vilitan was still hiding within the Domain of Ghostly Night, and most likely, within one of the four most heavily polluted areas.
Under the strong demands of various parties, the Domain of Ghostly Night was completely sealed. No personnel were allowed to leave, regardless of the reason, and only external powerful individuals were permitted to enter.
Factions, in groups, surged into Ghostly Night.
Some flew on swords, others patrolled on boats, and some entered the mountains with beasts. They traversed the polluted areas wantonly, digging three feet into the ground, searching day and night, all for the half volume of the Heavenly Book.
It was said that the laws of heaven and earth in the Domain of Ghostly Night were special, exerting an irreversible influence on external lords and domain lords. However, for the sake of the Heavenly Book, these magnates could not afford to be so concerned. It was an opportunity that could allow them to break through and become King-level powerhouses!
They pursued madly, venturing forth. For a time, Ghostly Night became a battlefield of opportunities for major factions, with new forces arriving daily.
But Vilitan was still not found. He seemed to have vanished, leaving no trace in this world since that night on the Western Mountain.
However, while the Heavenly Book remained elusive, people had not come away entirely empty-handed.
The world knew that there were eight Sacred Relics in total, buried in the eight polluted lands of the Primordial Realm.
Among them, the only Sacred Relic found was the Heavenly Book hidden in the Wonan Mud Swamp, belonging to the Golden Horde. Later, Vilitan stole half of it.
Apart from this, the remaining seven Sacred Relics were still nowhere to be found.
As one of the eight polluted lands, the Domain of Ghostly Night naturally harbored a Sacred Relic. For instance, Nangong Mao Guan's earlier deep foray into the Western Mountain was actually an attempt to test his luck upon hearing some rumors about the Sacred Relic.
In the end, he nearly lost his life.
Despite knowing the danger, human greed could not deter them from their search. A few days ago, a team composed of rogue ability users from various factions, numbering over thirty people, ventured into the Western Mountain at night. They lost their way and ventured deeper and deeper.
Subsequently, they arrived at the core region of the Western Mountain without any hindrance.
Then, by chance, they discovered a tomb.
This was an opportunity. Except for a twin brother who remained above, everyone in the team descended into the tomb.
Unlike the tales in martial arts romances where people find tombs and expect grand opportunities, this turned out to be a tomb that would bury them.
According to a survivor's account, the tomb was unimaginably vast.
During the search of the burial chambers, people gradually became lost. Finally, someone, it was unknown who, touched an unknown taboo. From a coffin, a surge of terrifying darkness erupted.
That energy was the most primitive, most horrifying, and most pure.
It was of the same origin as the darkness that had rained down from the sky during the Ghostly Night.
As the darkness gushed out, the rules of the Western Mountain abruptly changed. Countless towering peaks collapsed, and the earth veins began to move like earth dragons. Amidst the panic, only three people managed to escape the tomb.
Including the twin brother, there were four in total. They then discovered a dark palace, appearing like an illusion, that had risen from the ground and stood before them.
The palace was enveloped in mist, surrounded by flowing light like steel. Even from outside the Western Mountain, its towering silhouette could be seen from afar, seemingly connecting with the sky.
It stood there quietly. No one knew where it came from, nor what lay within.
Amidst the commotion in the Western Mountain, the four fled aimlessly. Only one person safely returned to Unfalling City. The other three perished in the Western Mountain.
Upon hearing the detailed account from that person, people quickly analyzed that this matter must be related to a Sacred Relic.
It was highly probable that this team had inadvertently stumbled upon the true secret of Ghostly Night. The Sacred Relic of the Domain of Ghostly Night was likely within that palace!
There were even rumors that simply entering the palace and retrieving the Sacred Relic could completely resolve the pollution of Ghostly Night!
In the face of a true Sacred Relic, Vilitan's half Heavenly Book was no longer as enticing.
Including the Demon Extermination Division and other ability user factions, everyone focused their energy on the palace, hoping to enter and seize the Sacred Relic.
But the Western Mountain was not easily approached. Even the central region rendered the factions stationed there helpless.
The "dragons crossing the river" could not suppress the "local snakes" in the Domain of Ghostly Night. The lords and domain lords constantly endured the oppression of the rules, their strength greatly reduced, unable to act as freely as before.
Furthermore, due to the changes in the Western Mountain's rules, people discovered that aerial flight was no longer possible here.
No means were effective. As soon as one flew into the sky, they would be subjected to a million tons of gravity, crashing into the ground and being crushed into a pulp.
Not only that, spatial ability techniques were also restricted in the Western Mountain. Teleportation arrays failed, and people could no longer escape or enter the Western Mountain using the method employed by Jinjiao's group that night.
The fastest method of travel was to ride a swift horse or a demonic beast.
Beyond this, for people to approach the palace, they had to travel from the outermost edge of the Western Mountain all the way to its core region.
However, along the way, they would be ambushed by countless powerful demonic beasts.
Due to the geographical changes, the central region was now the most active area for these powerful demonic beasts, including the presence of Lord-level demonic beasts, and occasionally, terrifying existences of the fifth stage.
However, compared to ordinary fourth-stage great demonic beasts, fifth-stage domain lord beasts could transform into human form. They would not easily attack ability users, but when they did, their attacks were like thunder.
The Western Mountain held dangers beyond people's imagination, but also immense opportunities.
Still, countless ability users charged towards the black palace. In just three days, numerous factions suffered immeasurable damage.
Various powerful beings fell on the path to the palace. The abilities of lords were infinitely weakened under the special rules of the Western Mountain. Some weaker lords could not even contend with two third-stage great demonic beasts simultaneously.
After countless battles, a ferocious and invincible domain lord, leading his team, broke through numerous obstacles, killing countless great demonic beasts along the way, including Lord-level great demonic beasts of the fourth stage.
He stepped on the corpses of countless demonic beasts and异鬼, and witnessed by numerous cultivators behind him, arrived before the magnificent black palace.
The palace gate was sealed, and no key could open it.
The domain lord then attempted to use his abilities to force it open.
Terrifying Daoist magic bombarded the palace but left no trace. Instead, the domain lord suffered considerable backlash.
Subsequently, from within the palace, countless distant bell tolls sounded, and dark mist surged, enveloping the domain lord.
The crowd behind them retreated in time, avoiding the impact. However, they could hear the sounds of clashing blades and swords from within the black mist, and finally, the domain lord's screams.
When the dense mist dissipated, the palace remained the same. The domain lord, however, had vanished, seemingly swept away by the black mist.
Everyone began to retreat. Along the way, there was another round of fierce fighting. Those who narrowly escaped back to Unfalling City then received notification: the life token of the domain lord, stored with the imperial court, had shattered.
This meant he was dead. Thus, humanity had lost a fifth-stage ability user.
What did this signify? Throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty, among tens of thousands of top factions, the number of fifth-stage powerhouses was less than two hundred, and most had long since retired from worldly affairs.
Now, a domain lord had perished.
Under such a heavy price, people finally remembered the terror of the Domain of Ghostly Night.
It was one of the eight polluted lands formed by the Tianqi event.
Back then, even the Martial Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, with the full might of the nation, could not resolve it. In the end, they could only reluctantly leave some ability users to barely survive there.
With the death of that domain lord as a precedent, no matter how greedy people were, they no longer dared to easily advance into the Western Mountain.
More people chose to set up camp on the outskirts of the Western Mountain. The surrounding villages and tribes became packed due to the arrival of these individuals.
Fengqing Village was no exception. This village, with the deepest foundation, housed many powerful ability users, all possessing the strength of the third stage.
As a result, no one paid attention to Xu Mu, who resided in his small courtyard.
He, a second-stage ability user, no matter how heaven-defying his deeds, was still only second stage.
However, no one would have imagined that this second-stage ability user, no longer needing to guard the village at night, had been silently residing for three days before the magnificent black palace in the core area of the Western Mountain, where even domain lords had perished.