Blood of ancient battles, all fuel for the pot.

As soon as Qin Hao finished speaking, the orb of light in his hand suddenly vibrated violently. Every throb numbed Qin Hao's palm, and with each pulse, the light radiating from the orb surged in intensity.

Then the orb moved. Just as Qin Hao rejoiced, thinking it would lead him to Liu Ruyan, it broke free from his grasp and hovered in mid-air.

It circled Qin Hao a few times, as if confirming the direction, and then, with the speed of a thunderbolt, it slammed straight into his chest.

Bang!

The orb struck with immense force, knocking Qin Hao flat onto the ground. Seeing this, Ah Long and Ah Hu hurried forward to help, but the intense light radiating from the orb kept them at bay. Even Shen Suning, a cultivator at the Immortal King realm, could not get close.

The three of them could only watch helplessly as the orb gave Qin Hao a severe beating.

The orb smashed into Qin Hao again and again, sending him rolling across the ground.

Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! I was just joking! How could I leave without finding you?

As Qin Hao admitted his mistake, the orb finally stopped in mid-air. Qin Hao peeked at it through his fingers. Seeing it had no intention of continuing its assault, he quickly said:

Ruyan, since you can hear me, take me to find you.

The orb flashed, spun in the air a few times, and then returned to Qin Hao's hand. Seeing this, Qin Hao frowned deeply:

What do you mean? Why won't you take me to you? Are you not here?

The orb bobbed up and down, as if nodding in agreement with Qin Hao's words.

What! You are not here? But you clearly told me I could find you if I came to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

The orb swayed, as if indicating it did not know what had happened either. The orb's reaction made the hairs on the back of Qin Hao's neck stand up.

Liu Ruyan was a Nine-Lives Immortal Emperor. Logically, she should know everything that happened in her past lives like the back of her hand. What exactly occurred that could exceed her expectations?

Was it the Foreign Realm? Or was there an even more powerful existence watching everything in secret?

Suddenly, the dimmed orb lit up again. It floated a short distance away, stopped, and spun a few times, as if waiting for Qin Hao to follow.

Let's go! Seeing this, Qin Hao felt a surge of joy and followed without hesitation.

Shen Suning, Ah Long, and Ah Hu followed closely behind. Guided by the orb, the four of them traversed the grayish-white mist and drifted past floating skeletons.

The orb led them onward for three days and three nights before finally coming to a halt in a void. The mist here was thicker and far more oppressive than anywhere else.

Could Ruyan be here?

The orb floated forward slowly, with Qin Hao close behind. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the mist suddenly parted, revealing an empty expanse. There was nothing here but a single stone stele.

Qin Hao noticed words carved into the stele. It was Liu Ruyan's handwriting.

Qin Hao hurried forward, his eyes falling on the characters. As he read line by line, his expression grew increasingly solemn, and his frown deepened.

After a long while, Qin Hao finally spoke: Oh, my Ruyan, could you not be so cultured? If you wanted to leave a message for me, just say it directly. I cannot understand this at all.

Qin Hao scratched his head in embarrassment.

Seeing this, Shen Suning quickly stepped up beside him:

The azure sea and rosy clouds scatter, the vast sky and sun and moon sink, the blood of eternal conquest, all are but firewood beneath the cauldron. Shen Suning read the words left on the stele. She frowned slightly before her brows slowly relaxed:

I understand.

What do you understand? Qin Hao leaned in, looking at Shen Suning expectantly. He always had a headache with these literary things. What azure sea and rosy clouds? What vast sky and sun and moon? Writing all this was far less practical than simply leaving a sentence telling him which direction to go and how many miles to travel to find her.

Shen Suning did not speak immediately. Instead, she read the poem on the stele again, then turned around, her gaze falling on the floating skeletons:

The azure sea and rosy clouds scatter, the vast sky and sun and moon sink. These two lines mean that the azure sea will dry up, the rosy clouds will dissipate, the vast sky will age, and the sun and moon will set. Nothing is eternal, and the same goes for war.

Sister Ruyan wrote this to tell future generations that this war has lasted for countless years, but it will not last forever. One day, it will end.

Qin Hao clutched his head. No, why was he starting to feel sleepy? He had actively sought his luck to transmigrate to another world, not to attend lectures!

What about the next line? What does the next line mean?

Shen Suning's eyes narrowed slightly, her voice dropping lower: Firewood beneath the cauldron refers to the fuel burning under a pot. The blood of eternal conquest refers to the blood shed in the war, pointing to the predecessors who died in battle. Not just those from the Three Realms and Nine Heavens, but those from the Foreign Realm as well. All are but firewood beneath the cauldron.

Hearing Shen Suning's words, Qin Hao's pupils shrank violently. What! The cultivators of both the Foreign Realm and the Three Realms and Nine Heavens were all just firewood? Then who lit this fire, capable of burning countless mighty figures from both worlds as fuel?

And what exactly was cooking in this cauldron? What required the cultivators of two entire worlds to serve as firewood to cook it?

Bang!

A loud crash echoed. Just as Shen Suning finished analyzing the meaning of Liu Ruyan's poem, the pitch-black stone stele suddenly shattered right in front of Qin Hao. It was not smashed by anyone; it shattered on its own, as if it had fulfilled its mission.

It seems my analysis was correct. Haohao, you said Sister Ruyan told you to come here to find her. I think something she did not anticipate might have happened afterward, or perhaps she discovered a greater secret that caused a mishap.

By leaving this message, she likely wanted to tell us that the Foreign Realm is not the enemy. They are pawns, just like us. Our true enemy is the one who engineered this war.

At this point, Shen Suning could not help but sigh: Who could possess such capability? The people of two worlds! So many Immortal Emperors and Immortal Kings, mighty figures who had mastered complete Great Daos, yet everyone was schemed against.

Qin Hao remained silent. He simply picked up a broken piece of stone left behind by the shattered stele. His fingers tightened, clenching the fragment in his palm. The shard was sharp and actually cut into his skin, but Qin Hao did not let go, continuing to grip it tightly:

I thought I would find you once I came to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, but you are not here. Now, I truly have no clues at all. Where should I go to find you?

Qin Hao felt incredibly lost at this moment. If it was just an accident that prevented Liu Ruyan from keeping their appointment, it would be fine; he could find her eventually. But what if she could never come? The mere thought of such a possibility made his heart clench.