43. The Forsaken Realm’s Silent Scream
The void twisted as space tore apart before them.
A moment later, Ling Tian and Xu Qing'er stepped through the dimensional rift, emerging into the skies of the Forsaken Realm once more.
But something was wrong.
The realm, once filled with raging storms of Qi, was silent.
Too silent.
Ling Tian's golden-azure eyes flickered as his divine sense swept across the vast land.
Not a single living soul responded.
A place once brimming with cultivators, ancient sects, and blood-soaked battlefields… was now eerily empty.
Xu Qing'er's expression darkened. "This… isn't right."
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An Empty World
They descended slowly, landing atop a ruined mountain peak.
Ling Tian's gaze swept across the Forsaken Realm, his heart growing colder.
The once-mighty sects… reduced to crumbling ruins.
The spiritual veins… drained of all energy.
The rivers… dried, their beds cracked like a parched wasteland.
No corpses.
No traces of battle.
Just… nothingness.
As if everything had been erased.
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The Whispering Ashes
Xu Qing'er crouched down, running her fingers through the dust-covered ground. Her silver eyes flickered with an eerie glow.
"This… isn't natural," she murmured.
Ling Tian narrowed his eyes. "What do you sense?"
Xu Qing'er's brows furrowed. "Something… lingers in the air. Not death. Not destruction. But something worse."
She lifted her hand—a faint golden-azure wisp flickered within her palm.
It was familiar.
Ling Tian's own aura.
But it wasn't his.
It was an echo. A remnant.
And suddenly—
The sky shuddered.
---
Fate's Reflection
A deep hum resonated through the air. The dust swirled around them, rising like phantom shadows.
Then—
The world shifted.
A vision unfolded before their eyes.
The Forsaken Realm was whole once more, bustling with cultivators.
The grand sects stood tall, their banners fluttering in the wind. Experts clashed in the sky, battles raging across the land.
It was the past.
A memory of what had once been.
Ling Tian's gaze hardened as he watched. This wasn't just a random vision—someone, or something, wanted him to see this.
And then—
The Forsaken Realm screamed.
---
The Silent Devourer
The sky cracked open, revealing a void of endless blackness.
From it, a massive shadow emerged—formless, formless, yet terrifyingly vast.
It moved with unnatural fluidity, devouring the land itself.
Mountains crumbled.
Sects vanished into nothingness.
Cultivators turned to dust before they could even react.
Not even screams remained.
Everything—everything—was consumed.
Ling Tian clenched his fists. "So this is what happened…"
The Forsaken Realm wasn't destroyed by war or natural disaster.
It was devoured.
Erased.
Just like the Ling Clan.
Xu Qing'er's breath was unsteady. "This… this is the work of something beyond our understanding."
---
A Name Lost to Time
The vision faded. The ruins returned. The silence once more settled upon the land.
But Ling Tian remained still.
His mind replayed the events over and over again.
There was no doubt about it.
The same power that erased the Ling Clan… had consumed the Forsaken Realm.
But what was it?
A whisper, barely audible, drifted through the wind.
A name.
"…Vanquished Throne…"
Ling Tian's eyes turned cold.
Xu Qing'er shuddered. "That name… it keeps appearing."
She met his gaze. "Ling Tian, we need to find the truth. Fast."
He nodded.
The Forsaken Realm was merely the beginning.
The real battle had yet to begin.
And this time—
He would not allow fate to erase what was his.
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