Chapter 252 - Nineteen Years Old and the Final Pillar
Days passed.
By the time Su Bai noticed the date, he was standing in what remained of Layer Two with the Petrified Calamity-Magnet in one hand and several ancient weapons drifting behind him.
He paused.
For a moment, his attention shifted away from the final traces of Ashen-Blood Miasma twisting through the ruins.
One year.
It had already been exactly one year since the system awakened on his eighteenth birthday.
Which meant...
Su Bai lowered his hand.
’This body is nineteen years old now.’
The realization felt strangely ordinary considering everything that had happened during that year.
Su Bai glanced toward the distant boundary of the Sanctuary.
’Then I should at least make the day useful.’
He wanted to leave today.
That would be a birthday worth remembering.
Over the past month, Su Bai had already finished cleansing Layer Three.
The enormous solidified barrier that had once separated it from Layer Two no longer existed. Every last section had been absorbed, leaving the path between the two layers completely open.
Afterward, Su Bai moved outward through Layer Two.
He did not rush blindly.
Every ruin, broken ground, and battlefield was searched again while the Ashen-Blood Miasma was steadily drawn away.
More ancient weapons were discovered along the way.
Some still possessed artifact spirits. Others were little more than damaged shells, but Su Bai collected those as well. Anything capable of surviving this long inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary was worth keeping.
The remnant souls were less fortunate.
A few emerged from ancient weapons or hidden ruins during his search, but none possessed enough sanity or restraint to be trusted. The moment they attempted to invade his consciousness, the Dao-Devouring Blank Stele dealt with them as it always had.
By the end of Layer Two, Su Bai’s collection had grown considerably.
So had the group following him.
The saber was no longer leading only a handful of ancient companions. More awakened artifact spirits had joined them during the final sweep, and after learning that Su Bai was actually capable of taking them outside, none showed any desire to remain behind.
As the days passed, another change had become impossible to ignore.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary itself was weakening.
The red sky above remained, but it no longer looked complete.
At certain angles, Su Bai could see something beyond it.
At first, there had only been faint distortions. Later, those distortions became pale patches, and eventually the distant silhouette of another sky began appearing behind the crimson boundary.
The Sanctuary was no longer perfectly separated from the outside world.
With the sealed creatures dead, the Immortals gone, and the ancient formations collapsing, the isolation that had held this place apart for countless years was finally coming undone.
That was why Su Bai had become more careful as he approached the end.
He would not allow the Sanctuary to reopen while even a trace of concentrated Ashen-Blood Miasma remained.
On the morning of his nineteenth birthday, he stood beside one of the final reddish wisps remaining in Layer Two.
The Petrified Calamity-Magnet pulled once.
The miasma twisted through the air before disappearing into him.
Su Bai waited.
Nothing else appeared.
He swept the area with his spiritual sense once more before turning toward the ancient weapons.
"Search again. If you find anything valuable, bring it back. If you sense even a trace of Ashen-Blood Miasma, call me immediately."
The ancient weapons scattered in different directions.
None complained.
They could feel the boundary thinning as clearly as Su Bai could.
For them, this was not merely another search.
It was the final inspection before leaving a prison they had inhabited for longer than Su Bai could properly imagine.
Several hours later, the artifact spirits returned.
The saber arrived first.
"Nothing."
The hammer followed shortly after.
"Nothing significant."
Others reported the same result.
No remaining concentrated miasma. No unexplored chambers worth mentioning. No surviving hostile remnant souls. Nothing that could threaten the outside world once the Sanctuary reopened.
Su Bai finally nodded.
"The Inner Area is finished."
The words seemed to affect the artifact spirits more than he expected.
Several weapons became unusually still.
They had remained here through eras of decay, corrosion, death, and silence.
Now they were actually leaving.
Su Bai did not interrupt the moment.
He simply turned toward the direction of the Outer Area.
"Let’s go."
Their journey outward was much faster than the descent had been.
There were no sealed-source creations blocking the path anymore, no solidified miasma barrier, and no reason to explore every ruin slowly.
Still, Su Bai refused to leave useful things behind.
By the time they reached the Outer Area, his spiritual sense had already started sweeping over anything remotely suspicious.
Broken weapons entered his inventory.
Ancient metal entered his inventory.
Damaged formation components followed.
Even several stone structures that had survived remarkably well received more attention than they probably deserved.
The artifact spirits eventually stopped asking questions.
Su Bai had already demonstrated that if something could be moved and might possibly be useful someday, there was a considerable chance he would take it.
The old cultivation walls suffered the same fate.
Several practice walls still carried sword marks, palm impressions, movement traces, and fragments of ancient techniques left behind by cultivators who had once exchanged insights here.
Su Bai stood before one of them for a while.
These were not simple decorations.
The Intent and comprehension remaining within some of the marks had survived even after countless years.
Leaving them behind would be wasteful.
Su Bai drew one of the ancient weapon.
The saber immediately became suspicious.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking the wall."
The saber was quiet for several breaths.
"You can take walls?"
Su Bai swung.
A deep cut ran through the stone beside the ancient markings.
"Apparently."
The artifact spirits watched as Su Bai carefully separated the entire engraved section from the surrounding structure and stored it.
After that, several more walls disappeared.
Su Bai took every section worth preserving.
He had no intention of keeping all of them for himself.
The Radiant Sky Sect had disciples.
A collection of ancient comprehension walls that had survived the Fallen-Star Sanctuary would be far more useful there than slowly crumbling in an empty ruin.
By the time Su Bai finished with the Outer Area, calling what remained a treasure land had become increasingly generous.
...
The final task waited at the outposts.
Outposts One and Two no longer possessed their Boundary Pillars. Those had already been removed long before Su Bai reached this stage.
So he began with Outpost No. 3.
The remaining Boundary Pillar towered above the ruined platform, buried deeply within the ancient foundation.
Su Bai stood before it.
Earlier in the Sanctuary, moving something like this would have required formations, tools, or considerable preparation.
Now he simply placed both hands against the pillar.
The artifact spirits gathered behind him.
Su Bai tightened his grip.
The Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body responded.
Strength spread through his entire frame.
His feet sank slightly into the stone beneath him as his fingers closed around the ancient surface.
Su Bai pulled.
The outpost shook.
A deep grinding sound rolled through the surrounding ruins as the enormous Boundary Pillar resisted for several breaths.
Su Bai’s arms tightened.
Finally, the pillar moved.
The artifact spirits became quiet.
With another pull, the buried section tore free from the ancient foundation.
The moment it left the ground, a heavy fluctuation passed through the entire Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
Su Bai looked upward.
The crimson sky became noticeably thinner.
For an instant, the distant blue beyond it appeared almost clear.
"So that’s one."
He stored the Boundary Pillar.
The artifact spirits stared at the empty hole.
One of them finally muttered, "He really did pull it out."
The saber gave a knowing hum.
"This great one stopped being surprised several impossible events ago."
They moved on.
At each remaining outpost, Su Bai repeated the process.
The Boundary Pillars were still enormous, but his newly transformed body handled them far more easily than he would have before entering the Vajra Body Realm.
Each removal weakened the Sanctuary further.
The red sky faded.
Distant mountains from the outside world occasionally appeared beyond the boundary before disappearing again.
Fresh spiritual fluctuations began slipping through for the first time in months.
Su Bai could feel it.
The outside world was close.
Outpost No. 4 fell behind them.
Later came No. 5.
The remaining journey continued until only one pillar was left.
Outpost No. 9.
Su Bai stood before it as the weakened red sky flickered overhead.
The Sanctuary had become strangely quiet.
The miasma was gone. The ancient enemies were dead. The Immortals had reincarnated. The ruins that once felt oppressive now seemed empty.
Su Bai looked down at himself.
Finally, he took out another emergency robe and put it on.
The ancient saber gave a relieved hum.
Su Bai walked toward the final Boundary Pillar.
Behind him floated the growing group of ancient weapons that would soon see the outside world again.
Su Bai placed one hand against the pillar and looked across the Fallen-Star Sanctuary for the last time.
More than eight months.
That was how long he had been trapped here.
He had entered at eighteen.
He would leave at nineteen.
Su Bai smiled.
’There were worse birthday gifts.’
The ancient saber floated closer.
"Ready?"
Su Bai nodded.
"Let’s go home."
His fingers tightened.
The Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body surged with strength.
Su Bai pulled.
The final Boundary Pillar groaned. Stone shattered around its base.
With one final surge of force, the enormous pillar tore free.
Su Bai immediately stored it.
For half a breath, nothing happened.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary became completely still. The red sky above froze.
Su Bai slowly raised his head.
It was then that a thunderous sound rolled across the entire world.
The ground lurched beneath him.
Mountains shook.
Ancient ruins trembled, while cracks of light spread across the crimson sky like fractures racing through glass.
The boundary that had separated the Fallen-Star Sanctuary from the cultivation world for countless years had finally lost its last support.
Su Bai watched as the first enormous patch of blue appeared beyond the fractured red heavens.
His smile slowly disappeared.
The entire Sanctuary was returning to the world.