Chapter 50: O Vast Heavens, Why Do You Alone Weep?

After a moment's consideration, Qiu Han deftly cast several Wind Blade spells, slicing the massive Desert Red Crystal into dozens of smaller pieces for easier storage within his pouch.

Above the cavern, the colony of ant beasts had surged toward the entrance when the tremendous crash of the falling crystal echoed out. Yet, though they gathered furiously, they dared not descend. The magma that posed little threat to the Ant Beast King was evidently lethal to the rest of the swarm.

Inside the cavern, once Qiu Han had completely stowed away the enormous Desert Red Crystal, he made his way toward the surrounding rock walls. Wherever he walked, the magma retreated, unwilling to draw near.

At last, Qiu Han struck a large opening into one section of the rock wall and stepped inside.

After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Qiu Han found himself following the tunnel until he emerged onto a broader passage. The corridor was about three yards wide and twice as tall, with smooth stone walls all around. Were it not for his certainty that, deep in the earth, he was utterly alone, Qiu Han might have suspected that this passage had been forcibly carved out by human hands.

He walked along this corridor for another hour. Thirty yards ahead, he finally reached its end. Drawing near to within nine yards, Qiu Han looked up.

Before him stood a massive stone gate, reminiscent of city gates in the mundane world. Above the gate stretched a flat section of stone wall, and at the very top, three large characters were engraved horizontally. Qiu Han did not recognize these characters; he vaguely recalled seeing this script in ancient texts—it was an archaic writing, rarely seen in the present age. In fact, he had only ever encountered it by chance in the sect’s old records.

Below the three great characters, twenty-four smaller characters were carved in three vertical rows of eight, each about the size of a palm—half the size of the ones above. The strokes of these inscriptions were sharp and natural, exuding an aura of dominance at first glance. As Qiu Han stared, a sense of desolation, age, and ancient sorrow welled forth, leaving his breath short and uneven.

Gradually, as he continued to gaze, dizziness overtook him, bloodshot veins spreading across his eyes. He tried to look away, to escape the pull of the script, but an irresistible force compelled him to keep looking.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Qiu Han felt his vital energy roil within him; a sweet taste filled his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. At that very moment, a wave of oppressive power crashed down upon him, making his blood feel as if it would flow backward and his body was about to collapse.

Clenching his teeth with all his might, Qiu Han barely resisted the pressure, refusing to fall to his knees. But just then, the mysterious disc within his spiritual sea flew out again, spinning rapidly and emitting a brilliant light that enveloped the great characters on the stone wall.

At the same time, an ancient voice echoed in his mind: “O Heaven above, you have slain my beloved; O Heaven above, will your cruelty never end? O Heaven above, why do you alone weep?”

“O Heaven above, you have slain my beloved; O Heaven above, will your cruelty never end? O Heaven above, why do you alone weep?”

Though Qiu Han did not understand the language, which was utterly foreign to his world, he tried to repeat the words silently in his mind, yet their meaning eluded him.

As the mysterious disc hovered in the air, the crushing pressure faded away. Qiu Han collapsed unconscious. When he awoke, he found himself in a dense forest.

His first action was to check within his spiritual sea for the mysterious disc. Seeing it still floating there, he was relieved. He then examined his body inside and out and, finding nothing amiss, stood and surveyed his surroundings.

“Where am I? I remember before losing consciousness, I was still inside that tunnel. Where am I now? Am I out of danger?”

Shaking his head, Qiu Han used a flight spell to rise into the air, sending out his spiritual sense to observe the area. After a moment, he landed again, muttering to himself, “To the left, there’s nothing but gray—likely the Ant Sandlands. That means I’ve already left the Ant Sandlands behind. I must be somewhere along the route to the Misty Marsh.”

“Although I don’t know how much time passed in the outside world during my year inside the mysterious disc’s space, given that the Ant Beast King was still waiting when I returned to the cavern, it can’t have been too long… Now that I’ve found my bearings, I’ll rest here for a day or two before heading to the Misty Marsh to complete the final trial tasks.”

With that thought, Qiu Han found a secluded spot in the forest and sat down to meditate.

While Qiu Han remained in the forest, about fifty miles away, at the edge of the Ant Sandlands and deep beneath the earth, within the tunnels below the ant beast colony’s lair, the stone gate stood unchanged.

Deep within the gate, in a grand hall, sat an emaciated old man. His eyes were clouded and his face creased with wrinkles, yet within his gaze flickered a trace of white fire.

At that moment, a middle-aged man’s voice echoed through the hall: “Lord Zhuyan, why did you let that outsider go? We, the descendants of the lost clan, live here in secrecy—are you not afraid he will reveal our existence?”

The old man called Zhuyan replied calmly, “I had my reasons for letting him leave. Besides, after so many eons of absence, now that it has reappeared here, perhaps before long, we shall return to our world once more!”

If Qiu Han had been present to hear their conversation, he would have been greatly astonished, for the language they spoke was remarkably similar to that which he had heard outside the stone gate.

After these words, silence fell over the hall. A moment later, the old man’s lips moved slightly. If one listened closely, one could make out his whispered words.

“Inheritance… Realm Spirit… Realm Lord… the great calamity of heaven and earth approaches…”

Having said this, the old man closed his eyes once more, sinking into meditation…

In the forest, after a day’s rest, Qiu Han prepared to set out for the Misty Marsh. The jade slip given to him by Gu Sui Feng contained a rough description of the Misty Marsh.

The Misty Marsh lay south of the Tianyin Mountains, thousands of miles from their range and no longer considered part of the Tianyin region, separated by the vast expanse of the Ant Sandlands. It was also the location of the third and final trial of Qiu Han’s journey.

His goal in the Misty Marsh was to collect ten each of Fire Spirit Beads, Earth Essence Pearls, Fire Crystals, Shadow Spirit Beads, Crimson Heart Pearls, and Demon Tiger Eyes. The Misty Marsh was shrouded year-round in a thick mist that blanketed the entire area, making it impossible to see more than thirty feet ahead. Within this perpetual haze dwelled countless demon beasts, some of which were of the formidable second rank.