This time, the visions unfolded much faster than before, revealing many stories in a short amount of time. It was a heroic war where the ancestors of Huaxia gambled their futures—a conflict of life and death, a battle for their very existence.

Wang Jian had already witnessed the Black Soul Monsters' ability to devour souls firsthand, having seen it happen to Zhang Haiyuan. The war behind the Stone Gate grew fiercer. The creatures seemed endless. An ordinary person's Yang Soul was simply not enough to defeat these monsters. Even their severed parts would transform into smaller beasts to roam the battlefield. Many Yang Souls were overwhelmed by swarms of monsters and became their nourishment. As this disadvantage grew, the pressure on the human side mounted. Their allies grew weaker while their enemies grew stronger and more numerous.

"Everyone, things are looking grim!" someone shouted, unable to bear it any longer.

"Brother, don't panic! I'm coming!" Comrades with free hands rushed forward to fill the gaps.

The scene was chaotic, yet the comrades' coordination remained surprisingly orderly. This continued until the situation became completely one-sided…

The two figures Wang Jian had seen before suddenly appeared. Their power was astounding; with a mere wave of their hands, entire clusters of monsters would explode. To save the others, they transferred this power to their allies' Yang Souls. By repeating this process, the two of them single-handedly managed to turn the tide of the entire battle. Unfortunately, the war was not so simple. For every horde they slaughtered, an even larger one would swarm out from the depths of the world. Even as they constantly absorbed energy to replenish themselves, mental exhaustion began to take its toll.

Eventually, one warrior, deep in a battle frenzy, was entangled by a Black Soul Monster and chose to charge into the enemy ranks and self-destruct. This was the first time Wang Jian learned that a Yang Soul could be made to detonate, with power comparable to modern weaponry.

A sense of crisis arose in Wang Jian's mind. After I get out, I need to find Zhang Haiyuan and talk this over with him in detail.

He had no idea how much time had passed. The flow of images began to accelerate once more, so fast that Wang Jian could no longer make out what the figures inside were doing. He could only discern that the numbers of both the human Yang Souls and the monsters were dropping rapidly. In the end, only a few hundred human figures remained. Though only a portion of the enemy forces was left, they still blotted out most of the sky.

"Fellow Daoists!"

"Behind us are our people! If we retreat, our race will cease to exist!"

"People of Huaxia, do we fight or do we retreat?"

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

Without any hesitation, the few hundred figures roared at the sky.

"Then we fight!"

"I have a method that can seal this place for millennia and leave a sliver of hope for our descendants."

"Please speak, Saint!"

"We shall offer our souls to protect our people!"

"Offer…"

The image quickly faded. All that remained in Wang Jian's vision was the sight of those Heroic Souls plunging into the Spirit Stone without a moment's hesitation. He finally understood why this place repelled the entry of Yang Souls. These martyrs had used their very own Yang Souls to seal it.

He knew that for those who had reached their level of cultivation, eternal existence was not just an empty dream. Yet, they chose to stand guard here for millennia, ultimately fading until only remnants of their will remained.

Wang Jian suddenly realized something. The reason the scenes kept shifting was not just an issue of time; it was a blend of the memories and fragmented thoughts from the hundreds of Heroic Souls here. The constantly changing perspectives were a result of each individual's consciousness being different. What Wang Jian couldn't understand, however, was why he never saw the perspective of the two powerful beings. It felt like something was missing. He replayed the memories many times but could never view them from the vantage point of those two.

He only awoke from the Spirit Stone when two voices sounded inside his head.

"Junior, the future rests on your shoulders now. You must not yield a single step to those creatures."

"We can hold on no longer. Take care."

After the voices faded, his memories ignited like a flame. What the martyrs had left behind was not just images, but also their residual cultivation and vast knowledge. Only then did Wang Jian understand where the two seniors had gone. The seal had been maintained all these years primarily by the Yang Souls of the two Saints, with the other martyrs serving only as support. The cultivation of these two was immeasurably profound.

What shocked Wang Jian even more, however, were their actions. If there truly are Immortals in this world, it must have been them. For the sake of future generations, they had unhesitatingly given up their immortality and sacrificed their entire beings, not leaving behind even a single thought or a wisp of their souls.

As Wang Jian realized this, a crack appeared on the Spirit Stone at the center of the Eight Trigrams Array. He was inside it, and the shimmering, flowing liquid that had filled it before was now gone. Wang Jian's Yang Soul was now almost corporeal; it was clear he had absorbed all the vanished liquid. Moreover, this had not been voluntary—the two seniors had forcefully infused it into him. The moment Wang Jian opened his eyes, he saw the crack on the Spirit Stone. The immense power coursing through his body told him everything he needed to know.

Wang Jian reached out a hand, and with just a light touch, the central Spirit Stone shattered into pieces. If not for the energy remaining in the surrounding circle of Spirit Stones, the entire seal would have likely broken immediately. Remembering the scenes he had just witnessed, Wang Jian couldn't spare another thought and flew straight up. He went directly to the Stone Gate of White Jade City. At first glance, everything seemed fine, but he soon frowned.

A black mark had appeared in the seam between the doors. The gate had been pure white before. At first, he mistook it for a shadow in the gap, but he quickly realized something was wrong. The mark was moving. Not daring to leave it be, Wang Jian immediately destroyed it. He relaxed only after confirming that nothing else was seeping through.

With that done, Wang Jian didn't rush to leave, as he had learned other things from the memories. The twelve towers here had not, in fact, been left by the martyrs. They had descended from the heavens along with the great gate—an artifact from beyond the sky, not of this world. They were the ones who had spread the tale of the twelve towers and White Jade City as a warning to the world. They never intended for their descendants to twist it into a beautiful legend about achieving immortality, let alone a title of honor.

Wang Jian waited for a good while longer, only daring to leave after confirming there was no further activity in the seam of the gate.

He had no time to hesitate. Considering the state of the gate, a great swarm of monsters could burst through at any moment. Failing to prepare would lead to an absolute catastrophe. He had to find Zhang Haiyuan to confirm something crucial: he needed to know if modern weaponry was effective against those monsters! If it wasn't, they had to create weapons that were!

What worried Wang Jian even more was the possibility that this wasn't the only gate. After all, Zhang Haiyuan hadn't been attacked here. All of this felt like a great sword hanging over humanity's head. He couldn't afford to delay for even a second.