Chapter 568 - Destruction of the Great City

However, at this moment, all of a sudden—

“Boom!”

The ground started shaking.

Li Lan stood up in surprise. He looked around and saw in the distance that the ground had suddenly cracked open and endless underground fire spewed out like a demon that had been suppressed for tens of millions of years.

“Is this place… going to be destroyed?”

After a brief moment of surprise, Li Lan realized it.

Before he could react, all of a sudden, there was a loud bang in the sky, and a huge time-space transmission crack appeared. A terrifying suction force gushed out and enveloped his body in an instant, pulling him into the crack.

“Time is up. Is the Sage Battlefield about to close? Does that mean that I can get out of this place alive?” Li Lan wondered.

He turned his head subconsciously.

He saw that instead of disappearing, the ghostly white-dressed woman tightly followed him, and was transmitted out through the time-space cracks together with him.

“Who the hell is she?” That was the last thought in Li Lan’s mind before he lost consciousness.

“Junior Sister Yiruo, eat something first. Senior Brother Ding will be fine.”

Zhang Fan scratched the back of his head. He didn’t know how to persuade this beautiful girl in front of him. Since she parted with Ding Hao, Li Yiruo had not eaten a thing. Every day, other than the short breaks, she went through crazy and endless cultivations. Although being a primordial master allowed her to survive for three or four months without eating or drinking, she still lost a lot of weight.

“Senior Brother Zhang, how many days are there before the Sage Battlefield closes?” Li Yiruo asked softly as she stood at the top of the Sword Tower.

Zhang Fan said decidedly, “The deadline is less than a day away.”

Li Yiruo had asked this question at least 11 times within a short period of time.

“Oh,” Li Yiruo replied. She turned her head, saying with a smile, “Senior Brother Zhang, I’m fine. You can go on practicing. You haven’t mastered more than half of the saber techniques and fighting skills on the second floor of the Saber Tower, have you?”

Zhang Fan once again unwittingly scratched the back of his head and said, “Well…I’m not as smart as Senior Brother Ding. I’ve only learned less than 20 saber techniques in the past three months. But I think Senior Brother Ding is right. Everyone has his own method and opportunities. I can just choose some of the most suitable saber techniques for myself. There’s no need to learn all of them.”

Li Yiruo continued with a smile, “That makes sense. However, I think that you should memorize all the saber techniques. Even if you don’t practice them, you can pass them to the right person in the future. Otherwise, it would be a pity that so many high-level saber techniques would stay unknown. I think that Brother Hao would also agree. That is why he left you here.”

“Well, is it because of this?” Zhang Fan scratched the back of his head and was suddenly enlightened, “You’re right. I’m really stupid. I didn’t know. I’ll note down all the saber techniques now.”

After that, the young hunter turned around and left.

Looking at Zhang Fan’s back, Li Yiruo smiled again.

She was slightly envious of him. He had always been simple and carefree, cultivating the saber techniques every day, thinking only about the Baiman Mountain and Ding Hao in his heart. Love didn’t bother him. For such a long time, she had not heard of Zhang Fan falling for any girl.

Perhaps girls were more easily affected by love.

Li Yiruo felt that she was about to become another person.

The self-conceited girl who used to look down on any man had almost lost her edge. Perhaps she was destined to be trapped by love the moment she saw the ragged young man who was cruel to her three years back by the Sword-cleansing Pond.

“I’m so lovesick. Why do I still enjoy it as ever?”

A hint of sadness appeared on Li Yiruo’s face.

She used to think she could match up to any man in the world. However, she lost that kind of confidence after seeing Brother Hao.

This time, she had watched Brother Hao enter the ancient westbound road alone, but she could not help him.

In fact, ever since they entered the Sage Battlefield, she seemed to have been a burden. Even this quota was obtained because of Brother Hao. Therefore, during these days, Li Yiruo swore to seize every minute and second to cultivate.

Counting with her fingers, since entering the Sage Battlefield, she had made rapid progress and had reached the peak of Inborn Martial Grandmaster Realm.

She had definitely been progressing by leaps and bounds.

However, compared to Brother Hao…

Li Yiruo couldn’t help sighing.

She knew clearly that if she still wanted to stay with Brother Hao, she had to find every way to improve her strength. As long as she followed him closely, she wouldn’t be abandoned by his world.

The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, the Snow Province, and even the entire Northern Region might be too small for Brother Hao one day.

If she were only satisfied with being an ordinary master, then she wouldn’t even have the chance to watch Brother Hao from behind in the future.

Li Yiruo had mastered about ten among the hundreds of saber techniques on the second floor of the Sword Tower.

She spent more time on improving her Qi cultivation.

However, she was much smarter than Zhang Fan. She had already noted down all the sword techniques and compiled them into a sword scripture, so she could study them progressively later and use the special laws of heaven and earth in the Sage Battlefield to improve her Qi cultivation. That was the priority.

A long time had passed and she was worried about Ding Hao’s safety every day.

It was hard to imagine the dangers in the ancient westbound road.

Over the past few days, many masters had retreated from the city, bringing with them shocking news.

The great geniuses of the past were all killed like mere weeds.

Many sects had been completely annihilated, including several supreme masters in the Demon Royal level. Some of the masters who had barely escaped were also covered in wounds. They would tremble with fear at the mention of the words ‘ancient westbound road’.

If Ding Hao had not warned her and Zhang Fan again and again about not entering the ancient westbound road, maybe she would have entered it without hesitation to find him.

Day after day of waiting was like tens of millions of years of torment.

If it hadn’t been for the tedious and complicated cultivation, Li Yiruo would really have gone crazy.

Every day, she would stand at the peak of the Sword Tower to gaze in the direction of the ancient westbound road. That was the most expected and tormenting moment for her.

Every day after dusk, she would be looking in that direction, hoping that under the golden sunlight, the figure would slowly walk out of the ancient road with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, she was disappointed every day. She watched how the sun set and darkness engulfed the earth, but there had been no miracle.

It was the final day of the Sage Battlefield.

She wondered whether Senior Brother Hao had finished his journey on the ancient westbound road, found the mysterious ruins, and the divine materials and precious medicines for refining the Mysterious Elixir of Magic Horns.

Li Yiruo sunk in thought.

Unknowingly, the sun was about to set, leaving only half of it hanging in the sky.

“This is the last day. Brother Hao, why haven’t you come back?” Li Yiruo was anxious.

Right at this moment…

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

After a series of loud bangs, heaven and earth started shaking, and the magnificent Highest Heaven began to tremble.

Buildings after buildings began to collapse under the violent shaking. The ground cracked open and revealed the heaven below. Countless people ran out of the buildings in a panic…

“What’s going on?”

Li Yiruo looked bewildered.

It shouldn’t be like this, even if the time for leaving the Sage Battlefield was up.

The great city of the Highest Heaven had existed in this world for ages, and the Sage Battlefield had opened and closed countless times. If every time it rocked this violently, the huge city would have been destroyed long before.

Time went by, but this violent shaking did not stop. On the contrary, it was getting more and more intense.

Buildings kept falling in the distance.

Even the Eight Forbidden Lands nearby showed signs of collapse, and the Seventh Heaven was in chaos.

“Oh no, teacher Ximen…” Li Yiruo’s face changed, and she immediately rushed to the second floor of the Sword Tower. She entered the bedroom; Ximen Qianxue, who was lying in bed, frowned slightly. She seemed to have noticed the change.

“We must leave this place!” Li Yiruo packed up the things in the room as quickly as she could, and then rushed downstairs with Ximen Qianxue in her arms.

“What is happening?”

“Fairy Li, the Heaven Sabre – Peerless Sword Tower is about to collapse. We must get out of here as soon as possible!”

On the first floor of the Sword Tower, Tian Neng, Ai Qing, and the others had already packed up everything.

Zhang Fan rushed out of the Saber Tower with his Triumph Saber. They ran out of the Heaven Sabre – Peerless Sword Tower together. Right at that moment, a light shield above their heads was shattered. This strong outermost cover that had guarded the Highest Heaven for tens of thousands of years had finally been broken. The cold air came toward them, and snowflakes poured in through the crack of the protective cover.

At the same time, the ground under their feet had completely collapsed. Pieces of the ground had fallen to the heaven below them.

“Let’s get out of here…!” Zhang Fan shouted. He waved his Triumph Saber; the saber light acted as a shield, blocking the countless massive stones.

In the distance, a figure flashed over. It was Shen Buhui.

“This place is about to be destroyed. The entire Highest Heaven is collapsing; this ancient city is finished…” Shen Buhui shrieked as he carried a large bag on his back. “Everything below the Sixth Heaven has been destroyed. I’m here to warn you all to not pass through the central transmission door and leave directly through the sky!”

It was out of everyone’s expectations.

Everything happened too quickly. In the blink of an eye, a great city which had existed for tens of thousands of years and withstood countless attacks, fell apart.