Chapter 1561: Chapter 1561: Before the Martial Arts World Is Destroyed He Ao released the Historical Contract, holding the silver longsword in his hand, inching forward. The Historical Contract floated beside him, seemingly ready to turn a page again, but after wobbling around, it ultimately did not open. And the silver longsword in He Ao’s hand approached the hazy radiance. Gripping the silver longsword, He Ao raised his hand as tiny droplets of black radiance spread from his fingertips, entwining the silver longsword. This is the power from the Historical Contract. Enveloped by the power of the Historical Contract, He Ao brought the longsword closer to the radiance. At that moment, the longsword in his hand trembled slightly, as if a special ‘throb’ was resonating. A vague sensation surfaced in He Ao’s mind. Within that radiance lies the ‘past’ of this sword. He Ao intensified the power of the Historical Contract, moving the silver longsword closer to the intangible radiance. The ‘past blade’ in his consciousness grew increasingly distinct until the silver longsword was almost touching the radiance, and the connection finally became strong enough. He Ao attempted to use the power of the Historical Contract to link this intangible connection, slowly applying force. Past and present swords connected, and at the point the sword tip neared, a thin crack faintly appeared. Through this crack, He Ao could vaguely see a blur of the historical river behind the radiance. No, not behind the radiance, but within the radiance. This snippet of historical river was contained within the gray radiance like a broken knife, and deeper, remained blurred radiance, blocking earlier history. He Ao lowered his gaze, observing the segment of historical river wrapped in the radiance. He couldn’t clearly see the interiors of these historical rivers. But the crack was too small for him to pass through. He attempted to increase the power, and the tiny crack gradually expanded, simultaneously causing the surging radiance to begin shimmering. It seemed like a connection to the deepest part of time-space was about to form. Meanwhile, the overwhelming radiance started spreading out, nearly enveloping the area where He Ao stood. Seeing the spreading radiance, a terrifying ‘premonition’ surged within his heart. The Historical Contract floated behind him, turning the pages once more. He Ao immediately withdrew the sword and retreated a distance, withdrawing the power and severing the connection. The expanding crack quickly closed, and the spreading radiance also slowly retracted. He Ao took several breaths, looking at the erected radiance, Things left by a good friend are truly dangerous. Even thinking about creating a hole brings an immediate death premonition. As he pondered, the invisible connection in the void seemed about to establish once more. Hmm, can’t connect now. He Ao suppressed his thoughts, watched the invisible connection fade away again, gripped the silver longsword, and descended into time and space. The familiar blank stele appeared in his field of view once more. He placed the silver longsword in front of the stele. Such a small crack, his main body definitely couldn’t pass through; Hao Yi’s clone might be able to, but maintaining the connection is uncertain. As he pondered, he raised his hand, a ‘K’ symbol converging on the ground, followed by rays of radiance emerging on this symbol, forming a silhouette similar in size to himself. After a brief thought, he created two more projections. The three projections transformed into three beams of radiance, falling into his hand. Then he raised the silver longsword once more, tracing back up the historical river, arriving before the radiance, and reopening the small crack. He raised his fingertip, and a ray of projection light fell into the crack. The moment the projection touched the crack, it faintly trembled and then automatically shattered. The power was too strong, unable to pass through, hitting the edge of the radiance. He Ao withdrew some power from the second ray of light and inserted it into the crack. This time, the light successfully passed through the crack and fell into the radiance-shrouded historical river. Vaguely, some blurred reflections appeared in He Ao’s field of view, depicting chaotic crowds and bustling cities. And in that instant, the illusions suddenly disappeared. The link between He Ao and the projection was severed, and naturally, the projection collapsed. Thɪs chapter is updated by ⓝovelFire.net The crack still contained faint power from the radiance, capable of severing mystical connections. He Ao looked at the crack, raising his hand slightly. Now, the crack was showing signs of gradually closing, as if some self-healing mechanism of the radiance was restoring its integrity. He Ao vaguely sensed that after this ‘restoration,’ it would be much harder to open the crack again. He Ao looked at the light in his hand, strands of black radiance slithering from his link with the light, wrapping around it. He hoped the power of the Historical Contract could enhance and stabilize the connection. He raised his hand and poured the light with black specks into the crack, aiming toward an earlier history. Soon, the light nearly reached the top of this severed historical river and then descended into it. And the moment it descended into the historical river, the light suddenly unfolded into a hazy humanoid form. Landing on the ground. He Ao controlled the illusion to lift its head and look around. This seemed to be a barren hill, the green grass covering the hills stretching all the way out. Yet He Ao felt this place seemed somewhat familiar. He looked up, directly facing a peak covered with green trees. He turned his head, looking behind him. A silver longsword was planted at the top of the hill behind him. This seemed to be the past’s Eternal Silence Mark, likely appearing here using the Eternal Silence Mark as an anchor. With a thought, the silver longsword slightly trembled. He reached out, trying to touch the longsword, his hand passing right through it. Vaguely, he could sense that the sword was not ‘complete’ at the moment. At that moment, He Ao’s mind stirred, and he raised his head to look towards the sky. The bright firmament seemed as if it had been sliced open by a colossal blade, leaving a gray mark that spanned almost the entire sky. Simply gazing at this mark, He Ao felt an invisible oppressive aura, a familiar presence rising in his heart. He immediately withdrew his field of view. This was the brilliance that severed history. He could vaguely feel some invisible force extending through this brilliance, spreading across the entire world. He turned his gaze and looked around. In the distance, there were faint traces of a few household chimneys emitting smoke. It was evident that, at this point in time, the Eternal Silence Mark had not been discovered, or perhaps, it had not yet attracted human attention. Withdrawing his gaze, He Ao shifted his gaze in the other direction. The landscape of this world was reflected in his mind, with which he was uncannily familiar. He lightly leaped, his figure swiftly traversing between the mountain ranges. A certain invisible connection seemed to be forming between him and the Eternal Silence Mark. Amidst his actions, he could faintly sense an assistive force from this world. Even though this projection of his body retained less than D-level power, within this world, he could reach C-level speed or even higher, with nearly limitless energy. Soon, he crossed this wilderness and arrived at a city. He had once reached the location of this city, now reduced to ruins. But at present, the city was unusually prosperous, with crowds bustling to and fro. However, it seemed as though these people could not see He Ao. Even though He Ao could touch their bodies and clothes, it was as if some invisible force enveloped him, causing them to instinctively overlook the consequences of He Ao’s actions. It was somewhat like the effect of a Concealed Being. Except this time, it was being ‘forcefully concealed.’ Of course, they also seemed unable to see that massive fissure in the sky. Unable to interact, He Ao felt no inclination to linger and swiftly passed through the city. Flourishing streets and bustling crowds, shops and buildings were etched into his eyes. This Martial Arts World also had its own script, most of which He Ao did not recognize, but through the store fronts, he could vaguely discern the purposes of shops or houses along the street edges. This city had a very dense collection of martial arts schools. He Ao randomly entered a few dojos; some practised alone, others had teachers instructing. Though what they were learning differed vastly, they all seemed to practice the same breathing skill. It was the breathing skill that He Ao had seen deep within the monument forest. He himself was also practicing this method. Yet, he hadn’t expected this method to be so widespread in this world, so ubiquitous that even the most rundown dojos were teaching it. After a rough tour, He Ao left the city and continued on his journey. As he traversed the vast wilderness, the sound of the sea crashing against the rocks reverberated in his ears. Two towering steles appeared at the edge of his field of view. He slowly walked over. One stele depicted the breathing skill, the other depicted the Killing to Immortality Skill He Ao had seen before. At this moment, a figure was hefting a massive stele, placing it in the center of the two steles. The figure wore a loose white robe, with entirely white hair tied up and fastened with a jade pin. His attire somewhat resembled that of an ‘Ancient Practitioner’ from the Main World. As he moved, his robe slightly billowed, as if he were a celestial being. Once the stele was fully stabilized, the figure looked at the blank stele with contemplation. Just then, he seemed to notice something, turned, and looked in He Ao’s direction. He Ao also saw his appearance clearly. Compared to his celestial aura from behind, this figure’s appearance was not so transcendent; his face was broad and weathered, like an old farmer who had toiled in the fields for years, with eyebrows and beard turned white, giving him an elderly appearance. Yet, his body was harmoniously integrated with the world, as if it was not a human standing before He Ao, but a part of the sky and earth. He looked at He Ao, gently raised his hands, placing them together in front of him, as if in a salutation, and bowed slightly, “Greetings, fellow Daoist.” His voice was ancient and weathered, speaking in a language that He Ao did not understand. Yet, accompanying his words, the world seemed to tremble, a tremor that transmitted to the Eternal Silence Mark, and through its connection with He Ao, flowed to He Ao’s mind, enabling him to comprehend his meaning. He Ao was slightly taken aback, and he imitated the elder’s gesture, returning the salute, “Hello.” He transmitted his words back to the Eternal Silence Mark in the same way the tremor had arrived, extending it to the world. Evidently, this method was effective, as the elder slightly raised his hand, indicating the stone table with two stone stools nearby, and smiled, “Fellow Daoist, please.” One stone stool was new, while the other was old; the new one seemed freshly made. He Ao glanced at the new stool, then at the elder, and smiled, “Old Sir, did you anticipate my arrival?” “I simply awoke from a dream today with a flash of inspiration,” the elder chuckled, “knowing that a distinguished guest would visit today,” He raised his hand once more, “Fellow Daoist, please.” He Ao took a look at the elder before him and sat down directly on the stone stool, “Then I shall not stand on ceremony.” The elder followed suit and sat on the stone stool as well. “So, Old Sir, you were deliberately waiting here for me?” He Ao asked as he looked at the elder before him and then at the stele ahead. “Not exactly; I did not know when you would arrive, only that I left an open position here,” the elder chuckled and shook his head. He pointed to the stele behind him and said, “I plan to erect some steles here to record the martial arts methods of this world,” The undulating waves crashed against the rocks, producing a crisp sound as the elder slowly continued, “If this world has a future, it can be left for future generations to see. If no future awaits, at least some traces can remain.” “Can you see that massive fissure in the sky?” He Ao asked as he looked at him. “In truth, I haven’t slept for a long time,” the elder glanced at He Ao and sighed deeply, “Every time I close my eyes, I can see the world’s destruction and the shattering of all things.” “Are you the only one who hears this world’s ‘lamentation’?” He Ao looked at him. From the beginning, he had noticed that the elder before him seemed to have a significant ‘connection’ with this world. He Ao’s connection with the world stemmed from his control over the Trapped Destiny Plate and his mastery over the Eternal Silence Mark, but how did this elder, a being within this world, achieve it? “‘Lamentation,'” the elder softly sighed upon hearing He Ao’s words, “an apt description, indeed, it is the lamentation at our world’s death.” He lowered his head, “Presently, only I can hear it, but soon enough, more and more martial artists might hear it, first those with high cultivation, then those with lower cultivation. As they are pressured by this lamentation, they will grow increasingly frenetic until the entire world is utterly destroyed.” “What about the ordinary people? Will they hear it too?” He Ao curiously continued to ask. “They should hear it as well,” the elder slowly shook his head, “However, I am attempting to see if I can block these sounds, sparing them from hearing it, at least giving them a ‘merciful’ destruction.” Wouldn’t it be better to remain blissfully unaware and live out one’s days in ordinary life than to witness death approaching step by step and be driven mad? He Ao quietly observed the elder before him; he did not delve further into this matter but instead asked, “Old Sir, you seem quite certain of this world’s demise. How do you know that the world is ‘dying’ and not simply ‘damaged’?”