Chapter 1546 The Ruins

Miserable screams reverberated between heaven and earth. The choking stench of blood permeating the bone-chilling winds was too strong to dissipate.

A blinding blood light filled the sky where there echoed the sorrowful mourning for the fall of the Saints.

When the battle came to an end, only four supreme Saints were lucky to escape with their lives. However, it was in a manner no different from lost dogs as they had been scared witless.

Lin Xun could have hunted them down if he had wanted to, but he didn’t want to waste that kind of time and energy.

His top priority was not to kill all the enemies at all cost, but instead to ensure the safety of Shaohao, Toady, A’lu, and the other Ancient Wasteland Domain experts.

When he returned to the group, everyone, including Ruowu, looked up at him in unison.

His tall figure was clad in moon-white clothes, and his long black hair was dancing in the wind. Treading the air, he looked ethereal like an exiled immortal.

This was Lin Xun, the Demon God Lin that they knew so well!

But who could dare to imagine that this young man, who appeared to have a calm temperament, would be so intimidating and demonic in battle?

In less than a quarter of an hour, he had killed fourteen supreme Saints one after another, letting only four escape!

It was impossible to forget that stunning sword strike, which had beheaded five supreme Saints in a flash. Such style, such bearing could only belong to a legendary sword immortal.

From beginning to end, he had never once been injured. Alone, he had dominated the group of enemies and looked down upon them with disdain!

Watching Lin Xun walking toward them, Ruowu, Shaohao, Toady, A’lu, and every other Ancient Wasteland Domain expert present felt as though they were witnessing the descent of a god.

Only after a long time did Shaohao come to his senses and lament, “In this place, I already have no regrets.”

Ruowu understood what he meant. She smiled. “There is no hurry in the competition for the Great Dao. As long as you live, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

Previously, Shaohao had said that his biggest regret was that he had never dueled Lin Xun before, but obviously, he had changed his mind about this.

“Big brother!”

“I knew it! As long as my big brother is present, he will set things right and suppress all enemies!”

A’lu and Toady excitedly rushed over to Lin Xun.

It was also at this moment that Lin Xun was completely at ease. Laughing as he lightly bumped the two guys with his fist, he said, “I’m glad that you’re all okay. Don’t forget that you were able to survive this time thanks to the help of Brother Shaohao.”

Then, he cupped his fist and earnestly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you so much for what you’ve done, Brother Shaohao!”

Shaohao smiled brightly. “What’s there to thank me for? It is I who should thank you for coming in time and saving everyone from the predicament.”

Ruowu rolled her eyes and pretended to be angry. “What about me? Does no one want to thank me? Ouch, my self-esteem is hurting.”

Shaohao and Lin Xun exchanged glances and burst out laughing. Ruowu couldn’t help but laugh as well, looking indescribably charming as she did.

Some things didn’t need to be said out loud. As long as they understood each other, that was enough.

The Ancient Wasteland Domain crowd also walked over and profusely thanked Shaohao, Lin Xun, and Ruowu.

Seeing Yue Jianming, Xiao Qinghe, and many other friends among the group, Lin Xun was secretly relieved that he had come for them in time.

He didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences otherwise.

After a brief chat with everyone, Lin Xun and Ruowu worked together to clean up the battlefield. They collected all the corpses, blood, flesh, and treasures before leading everyone to leave this desert.

This was not an appropriate place to talk and catch up.

On the way, Shaohao learned why Lin Xun and Ruowu had traveled to the Ancient Wasteland Territory, and he couldn’t help but clap his hands and laugh in joy, “So you guys are also planning to rebuild the City of Protection. This couldn’t be better news. Count me in as well.”

The others chimed in, “Us, too!”

There was strength in numbers, and Lin Xun naturally understood this.

Most importantly, his purpose of rebuilding the City of Protection was to provide a place for cultivators of the Ancient Wasteland Domain to shelter themselves from the wind and rain outside.

It was for the best that Shaohao and the others could pitch in.

Lin Xun immediately took out the Grand Universe Ark and flew the group to where the ruins of the City of Protection was located.

Dangers lurked throughout the Ancient Wasteland Territory, and enemies from the other eight domains could be seen everywhere.

But Lin Xun couldn’t bother with them at the moment. His top priority was to properly arrange everyone first. As for killing enemies, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

The funny thing was that they still encountered some lumps and bumps on the road. Some foreign enemies decided to attack the Grand Universe Ark without investigating the situation beforehand.

The result was predictable. Lin Xun didn’t even need to lift a finger as Ruowu alone easily handled everything.

“You guys haven’t been able to contact Jingxuan and the big black bird at all?”

“No, we haven’t.”

In the cabin, Lin Xun couldn’t help but frown after hearing Toady and A’lu’s reply.

Now that he was deeply cognizant of the cruelty and ferocity of this Nine Domains Battlefield, it was impossible for him not to worry about Zhao Jingxuan’s safety.

As for the big black bird, he was not as concerned. The black-hearted, cunning bird might not be remarkable in battle, but when it came to the ability to escape, even Lin Xun had to admit defeat.

“Heaven favors a great person like Miss Zhao. I’m sure she’s okay, big brother,” Toady comforted him.

Both Toady and A’lu were well aware of the special relationship between Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan, and were worried that he would brood over it to the point of depression.

“I hope so,” sighed Lin Xun.

The Nine Domains Battlefield was too big a place. Each area was comparable to an interface and was filled with enemies from the other eight domains. Here, even the danger in blindly searching for a person was nothing compared to the fact that it was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.

Lin Xun could only hope that when word of his appearance in the Ancient Wasteland Territory spread, Zhao Jingxuan would hear about it and come to join him.

He then asked, “What about you guys, why did you fail to become supreme Saints in the Absolute Hell Secret Realm?”

Instantly, Toady and A’lu gritted their teeth furiously and looked like they had a murder that they desperately wanted to commit.

Lin Xun then learned about some of the things that had happened in the Absolute Hell Secret Realm.

When this secret realm had emerged, many supreme figures from the nine domains had entered it in order to seek the chance to supreme Sainthood.

The laws of the Absolute Hell Secret Realm restricted supreme Saints from approaching it, so the cultivators of the Ancient Wasteland Camp had been able to enter without obstruction.

This was supposed to be a relatively fair competition where everyone was a supreme expert at the ninth longevity stage, but what the cultivators from the Ancient Wasteland Domain couldn’t have expected was that –

As soon as they had entered the Absolute Hell Secret Realm, they had met with the joint suppression of the other eight domains’ experts, who had clearly intended to kill them to the very last one!

The number of Ancient Wasteland Domain experts qualified to enter the secret realm was already small. One could already imagine what had happened when they had been targeted in such a way.

According to Toady and A’lu, it had been difficult for everyone to survive, let alone find opportunities to supreme Sainthood!

By the time the secret realm had closed, a large portion of the Ancient Wasteland Domain cultivators who had entered had died horribly. Only a few hundred of them had been lucky enough to escape.

“Our domain already didn’t have many supreme cultivators, but just in the Absolute Hell Secret Realm, hundreds of us died miserably!” A’lu’s eyes were bloodshot, his hatred and resentment were visible in the blue veins bulging on his forehead.

“Big brother... Unsolved Mystery Sword Alms’ Mo Tianhe, Great One Sect’s Wang Xuanyu...” Toady’s voice lowered as he mentioned one familiar name one after another. “All of them were killed...”

Lin Xun’s pupils shrunk as he fell into a stunned silence.

He thought back to that pleasant time in the Upper Nine Realms when they had gathered to chat and laugh over wine and food.

But now, those old acquaintances had all been killed, with no possibility of ever appearing again in this world...

Lin Xun’s heart throbbed with complex emotions, and he couldn’t calm down.

They might not have been friends or been through much together, but they had met and talked.

Now that he heard of their death, how could he remain indifferent?

“Big brother, only after entering this Nine Domains Battlefield did I realize that our previous conflicts were nothing but small scuffles.” A’lu was downcast. “Those foreigners are too hateful! They treat us as grass and wantonly humiliate and slaughter our people. This...is just f*cking unbearable.”

Toady gnashed his teeth. “I had never been more stifled before, you know. In that Absolute Hell Secret Realm, I watched a beautiful woman with a superb talent being tortured and ravaged by those animals after they captured her. She couldn’t even die even when she begged to!”

He then clenched his fists and took a deep breath to suppress the seething hatred within him. “Later, I set her free – I killed her with my own hands! Yet there was nothing but heartfelt gratitude on her face...”

Lin Xun took out a wine gourd and handed it to Toady.

Toady threw his head back and drank furiously before exhaling a long breath. His eyes were firm as he continued, “At that time, I swore that if I could live, I would definitely slaughter all of those beasts one day!”

A’lu nodded fiercely. “Of course!”

Looking at the palpable hatred on the two men's faces, Lin Xun recalled the tragic things he had seen throughout his journey in the Blood Demon Territory and fell more and more silent.

Inside, his heart became as hard as steel!

An hour later, the Grand Universe Ark came to a stop.

Everyone drifted to the ground, where they were greeted with the view of a dusty, barren, and depleted land filled with cracks.

Whimpering winds blew, kicking up a storm of sand that had been drifting for no one knew how long as they carried the color of dried blood.

Scattered across the earth were what could still be made out to be rotten bones and tattered armor.

With his hands behind his back, Shaohao said emotionally, “This is what’s left of our City of Protection. In the first Conflict of the Nine Domains, in this place once stood a huge, lofty city that spanned a thousand miles. It had sheltered our Ancient Wasteland experts from dangers and fended off foreign enemies.

“But with the passage of countless ages, it has all become a shadow of the past, leaving behind only blood and hatred, shame and humiliation!”

Lin Xun scanned the surroundings for a while, then he turned to the people around him and said, “For the next period of time, I’m going to reconstruct a city here with the blood and bones of our enemies, so that it will protect our experts from those foreigners. I would love for you all to join me in this.”

His speech stirred everyone’s emotions, and they all agreed to contribute.

From this day onward, they stayed here and started planning the reconstruction of the City of Protection.