Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial smiled. “This is a good sign. I am now increasingly certain that the celestials are slumbering somewhere in this place.”

Only the celestials of the Kunlun Ruins possessed the might to shackle some of the deadliest creatures in all realms, the Nether Kun, in this place.

Jiang Yunlai did not refute him. In fact, he was thinking the same thing. “Time is limited. Let us find the Kunlun Divine Palace.”

The Nether Kun had just finished feeding, and it was unlikely that it would feed again in the short term. Moreover, every dangerous Nine Nethers Demon in the area had either been consumed by the Nether Kun or scared off, so the Nine Nethers Rift was relatively safe right now. In other words, there was no better time than now to search for Kunlun Divine Palace and the celestials.

“It is as you say, Dao Brother.” Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial nodded, and the duo flew deeper into the gap.

Now that they no longer have to avoid the Nine Nethers Demon, the two Sages were moving much faster than before. Even so, the Nine Nethers Rift was deep enough that it took them several incense sticks to reach the bottom.

The bottom of the rift was a patch of chaos and nothingness, shattering and disarray. Like a mirror that had been shattered into countless pieces, the fragments could be seen floating aimlessly in the void. From time to time, gusts of chaos wind would blow past the fragments, tearing them into pieces or outright annihilating them. It was quite scary to say the least.

This was the point where two realms collided, which was why this particular space was filled with chaos and nothingness. The gusts of chaos wind might seem gentle, but they could easily rip space itself into pieces. Anyone or anything unfortunate enough to get caught in a current of chaos wind was one hundred percent dead.

“Where is the Kunlun Divine Palace? Why don’t I see it?”

Jiang Yunlai stood at the edge of the primal chaos and nothing, his expression brightening and dimming at intervals due to the erratic illumination of the surroundings.

“Impossible. It has to be here!”

For once, Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial had lost his cool as well. “Who and what else can shackle a Nether Kun if not the Kunlun Divine Palace and the celestials?”

“Look!”

It was at this moment Jiang Yunlai noticed something and pointed at the center of the primal chaos.

“That… looks like an altar!”

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial observed it for a moment before saying, “Let’s take a look.”

The two Sages slowly avoided the chaos rifts and made their way toward the altar.

When they finally got close enough to see the altar clearly, both Jiang Yunlai and Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial’s eyes abruptly widened in shock.

The altar was about three hundred meters tall and completely made of bones. Eerie white in color, it was incredibly conspicuous amidst this space of chaos and nothingness.

Strangely, the bone altar did not feel evil or even eerie. On the contrary, it felt mysterious, noble, and holy.

As they were Sages, Jiang Yunlai and Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial easily noticed that the bones were all human bones. Not only that, they could tell that the owners of the bones were all below twenty years old.

The strangest thing about the bone altar was that half of it was made of male bones, and the other half female bones. Together, they were a complete altar.

What really drew their attention wasn’t the altar, however. It was the person sitting on the top of the altar.

She was a woman, an extraordinarily beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties. She was wearing a noble and exquisitely designed phoenix robe. Her countenance was as picturesque as a panting, and her presence was sacred and noble unlike any mortal.

Right now, the woman was sitting primly on the altar. her eyes were closed almost as if she had fallen asleep.

“It’s a celestial!”

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial was beyond excited when he saw the woman.

“Indeed, she is.”

Jiang Yunlai’s expression did not change, though his tightly clenched fists betrayed his true feelings.

It was at this moment Jiang Yunlai noticed something and blurted, “No, wait a second. She’s… dead?!”

Although the woman on the altar boasted a picturesque countenance and exuberant vitality, her mind was as dead as it could be. She was definitely dead.

Not only that—though it could just be his imagination—Jiang Yunlai sensed an intense feeling of resentment and hatred from her. Savagery and vengeance seemed to be burning underneath her calm exterior.

“She’s dead…? But how is that possible?”

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial was wearing a disbelieving expression as well.

What was a celestial? Unlike the gods and deities who were born together with the world, they were cultivators who attained great accomplishments in their cultivation and merged their Ways with the world. They were, in essence, humans who had attained perfection in their Way and become a celestial. In this regard, they were clearly different from the gods.

Cultivators like these were above Sages. They called it the Immortal stage. It was the ultimate dream of countless warriors and cultivators to become immortal and indestructible. Although an Immortal still wasn’t eternal and permanent like the world itself, they enjoyed a lifespan long enough to witness thousands and thousands of tribulations. In a sense, they might as well be eternal. Hence, immortality.

A Sage was a being who had shedded their mortal shell and become extraordinary. But however extraordinary they were, the word “ordinary” was still in the word. Until they had truly, utterly shedded their mortality, they could not be called a true celestial.

Therefore, it was every warrior and cultivator’s dream to become an Immortal celestial. It was considered the pinnacle of cultivation and the martial way.

But of course, immortality had always been difficult to attain. In ancient times, when the world still boasted an ample amount of spiritual qi, it was possible for warriors and cultivators to attain enlightenment and become a celestial. But after the Great Tribulation, the Heavenly Way was severely damaged, spiritual qi became incredibly scarce, and the world was full of pollution.

The human world could no longer sustain the existence of a celestial, so many of them chose to pierce through space and explore the world beyond, ascend to other realms and create a new sky for themselves, seal themselves and enter a long slumber, accept death and pass on peacefully to the afterlife, ruin their own cultivation to live another day, or create a blessed land and live in seclusion, never to make contact with the outside world or the human world again.

In ancient times, the Kunlun Ruins was the place where celestials attained perfection in their Dao and became celestials. Legend had it that it was the Dao Domain of the Queen Mother of the West, and it was one of the very few blessed lands even back then. After the Great Tribulation, some celestials fell into slumber or were unwilling to leave the human world. So, they used their immense power to cut off the connection between the Kunlun Ruins and the human world, essentially carving out a realm of their own. Since then, the Kunlun Ruins were permanently cut off from the human world.

On one hand, the Kunlun Ruins boasted more than enough spiritual energies and vitality to sustain the celestials living within it. On the other hand, it became impossible for them to leave the Kunlun Ruins. If they tried, they would become tainted by the red dust of the human world.

At best, their celestial body would be corrupted, and their cultivation would plummet. At worst, their spiritual energies would vanish, and they would die.

That was why the Kunlun Ruins were both a blessed land for the celestials and a cage. It was a cage that trapped them forever unless they were willing to accept death.

The point was, a celestial was almost impervious to death, destruction, and mortality so long as they remained within the Kunlun Ruins. Even in its current corrupted state, so long as the Kunlun Ruins did not collapse completely, the celestials should fall into a long slumber at worst.

And yet, there was a dead celestial right before their eyes.

It was no slumber. It was true death in every sense of the word.

Jiang Yunlai and Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial were shocked and angry, of course. They spent untold amounts of energy and time to find the celestials, and when they finally did, she turned out to be dead since heavens-know-when.

Assuming that the rest of the celestials were dead as well… How the hell were they going to save themselves from their curse?

Would they and their descendants have to bear this curse for all eternity?

Jiang Yunlai said suddenly while observing the woman, “Wait, something’s not right. I don’t think she committed suicide of her own choice. It looks more like she’s… trapped here?”

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial snapped out of his anger and asked, “What?”

“Look at her neck, wrists, and ankles.” Jiang Yunlai pointed.

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial looked. He saw some sort of bracelet or collar wrapped around her arms, legs, and neck.

The five bracelet-like objects looked ancient and mysterious, exquisite and elegant. Their colors were all different as well. It was why Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial did not notice the oddity immediately; he thought that they were ornaments.

Now that Jiang Yunlai mentioned it, he realized that the five bracelets were unusual.