The walls of the tomb passage were adorned with murals that caught the eyes of the two individuals.
The first mural depicted a giant, axe in hand, sitting motionlessly amidst chaos.
He remained still, letting dust settle upon him, burying him.
In the second mural, the giant opened his eyes and took out half of his heart.
As he chanted incantations, the half-heart began to glow brightly.
A sprout emerged from the half-heart, rapidly growing into a towering tree that split the heart in two.
Zi Linling's pupils constricted, for the sprout looked exactly like the one that had appeared in her dantian.
The third mural showed the towering tree reaching for the heavens. The half-heart also grew, its veins thickening, and mountains and rivers began to take shape. Su Dan Novel Network.
The fourth mural depicted the half-heart transforming into stars. Upon these stars, vast oceans appeared.
The giant furrowed his brow, and with a light touch of his hand, three landmasses emerged.
These three landmasses expanded continuously, rivaling even the immense seas.
The fifth mural showed the giant seated in the sky, looking benevolently at nine figures before him.
With a flick of his finger, droplets of blood entered the brows of the nine individuals.
The sixth mural depicted the nine figures, ecstatic and kneeling on the ground, taking oaths.
The seventh mural showed the giant waving his hand, creating halos around the stars, fiercely protecting them.
The eighth mural depicted the giant departing, and behind the kneeling nine, a dark swarm of tiny figures appeared.
Upon seeing this, Zi Linling understood. The first to eighth murals depicted the process of the Ancestral God's creation.
And those nine individuals were the Nine Great Guardians.
It was only natural that Xi Zhihe, as one of the Guardians, would record the grand feat of the Ancestral God's creation in the form of murals for posterity.
Ye Lingyuan and Zi Linling continued forward, the murals becoming increasingly detailed.
Starting from the ninth mural, the narrative depicted the rapid development of the Azure Star under the protection of the Nine Great Guardians after the departure of the Ancestral God.
The swarming tiny figures also quickly evolved into the human race.
Mountains, rivers, and the land gave birth to life, from flora and fauna to birds, fish, insects, and beasts, with various species diversifying.
Soon, both humans and other lifeforms discovered methods to become stronger, and they began to cultivate using the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth.
Later, wars erupted between the various races, but under the protection of the Nine Great Guardians, the Azure Star grew increasingly powerful.
Until one day, a group of strangely appearing creatures discovered the halo outside the Azure Star, which was its protective shield.
Using peculiar instruments, they detected life fluctuations.
Overjoyed, they began to attack the protective shield.
However, the lifeforms on the Azure Star did not perceive the approaching crisis, not even the Nine Great Guardians.
More and more strange creatures gathered outside the protective shield, and the dark energy emanating from them began to corrode the Azure Star's shield.
Day after day.
Finally, one day, a small hole was corroded through the Azure Star's protective shield.
A few of the strange creatures managed to squeeze through this opening.
Their immense power was a catastrophic disaster for the native inhabitants of the Azure Star.
Apart from the Nine Great Guardians, almost no one could withstand even a single blow from them.
Thus, the few strange creatures that breached the shield were like a pack of wolves entering an unguarded territory.
Soon, the Azure Star was filled with cries of suffering, and its inhabitants plunged into dire straits.
What was even more terrifying was that the corroded hole continued to enlarge, and the strange creatures outside were eagerly pouring in.
Their immense size, coupled with the smallness of the hole, limited their speed in entering the Azure Star; otherwise, the Azure Star would have long since fallen.
The Nine Great Guardians finally realized the gravity of the situation. They swiftly killed the creatures that had entered while simultaneously trying to mend the large hole.
However, these creatures possessed tremendous vitality, making them incredibly difficult to eliminate.
Later, the native lifeforms of the Azure Star had to resort to sacrifice, combining it with the Primordial Chaos Seal left by the Ancestral God, to seal away those creatures.
After sealing the creatures that had invaded the Azure Star, the Nine Great Guardians exited through the large hole, attempting to relocate the battlefield to the starry expanse beyond the Azure Star.
However, upon reaching space, they discovered that the creatures were as numerous as mountains and seas, an inexhaustible horde.
More critically, their strength was greatly diminished away from the Azure Star, rendering them unable to fight at full capacity.
In their desperation, the Nine Great Guardians had no choice but to retreat to the Azure Star and devise another plan.
Ultimately, the nine decided to refine the Heaven-Mending Five-Colored Stones using Primordial Chaos Purple to repair the large hole.
The crucial task of refining these stones fell upon Mother Venerable Feng Liqi, for she was an artifact refiner.
However, after the Primordial Chaos Purple was extracted, breakthroughs for the various races on the Azure Star became exceptionally difficult.
Already outmatched by the external enemies, they lost all hope.
After deliberation, the Nine Great Guardians decided to seal the large hole using the Primordial Chaos Seal.
But after sealing it, they discovered that the energy circulation of the Azure Star's protective shield was obstructed around the large hole.
In other words, the protective shield's energy could no longer form a complete cycle.
This left the Azure Star once again in peril.
Finally, the Nine Great Guardians decided to use the Ancestral God's blood within their bodies as a guide to forcibly manipulate the energy circulation of the protective shield.
This was because the protective shield was personally established by the Ancestral God, and only the Ancestral God's blood, which shared the same origin, could be compatible with it.
The outcome was as the Nine Great Guardians had predicted: the large hole was sealed, and the energy shield resumed its circulation. However, without the return of the Ancestral God, the sealed large hole would eventually be breached again.
Therefore, before their divine consciousness perished, they could only spare a wisp of their residual souls to reincarnate on the Azure Star to face future calamities.
The murals in this tomb passage narrated the entire sequence of events.
After viewing the murals, the two were filled with profound admiration for the Nine Great Guardians.
Zi Linling said with a heavy heart, "There is no such thing as a peaceful era; it is merely that someone is bearing the burden for us to move forward!"
Although Ye Lingyuan said nothing, the faint traces of killing intent emanating from him conveyed everything.
After a long pause, he finally said to Zi Linling, "Lin'er, do you regret it?"
Zi Linling was taken aback, but quickly understood that Ye Lingyuan was asking if she regretted shouldering the heavy responsibility of resisting the apocalyptic tribulation.
She shook her head and replied, "They did not regret it even when they sacrificed their lives and were on the verge of soul annihilation; why should I regret it?"