Grim...
Gloomy...
Tense...
That was the atmosphere hanging over countless people at this moment.
Even though the sky might be blue, with the sun rising warmly and illuminating the world, bathing everything in a peaceful and positive atmosphere, the people could not appreciate it.
Their hearts instead felt restless, filled with worry and fear.
In fact, such feelings had been familiar to everyone for the past seven years.
It was an atmosphere they had already grown accustomed to.
But they never liked it.
And they never would.
Why was that?
Why did such a contradiction exist?
Slash!
Crash!
Boom!
"Uwagh!"
"Aggh!!!"
"Don’t give any of them time to counterattack! Keep attacking!"
"Keep pushing! Don’t let them overwhelm you!"
The chaotic sounds of battle shook the region. Attacks of various elements created a terrifying and chaotic sight.
Tens of thousands of men and women from different factions clashed in one part of the world, while in other parts, the same scene could also be seen.
Every second, someone’s soul departed for the underworld. The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Many screams filled with agony and despair resounded across the battlefield. Corpses in various conditions were scattered across the land.
There were some who only had stab wounds. Some had lost their limbs, while others had lost their heads.
There were even some who looked like they had been burned to a crisp, while others looked as if they had been struck by something so hard that their bodies had been completely destroyed.
Truly, it was a nightmare scene.
The battles not only caused death but also brought destruction to the environment. From destroyed patches of earth to crumbling hills and mountains. Rivers could be forced to change their course, while even the sea could be split apart.
It was a show of power that was far beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals.
The Valdam Continent, a place that had never truly experienced peace, was now witnessing a war unlike anything it had ever seen throughout its history.
The Valdam Continent was one of the main continents in the Eastern World, and it was even considered the strongest because of the existence of many powerful factions within it.
Amongst the most powerful, five major factions stood at the top of the continent’s pyramid of power.
Tyron Empire.
Relguis Empire.
Vermion Empire.
Celestial Garden Sect.
Heavenly Sword Valley.
Besides those five, there were also dozens of smaller powers that were not as strong as them but still possessed considerable power.
Throughout the history of the Valdam Continent, the continent had already been in a fragile situation for a long time, especially when it came to the relationships between the five great powers.
Although there had been efforts to ease the situation, they could never truly make the five great powers lessen the strained relationships between them.
And finally, after thousands of years of maintaining the status quo, the situation finally collapsed into a chaos of war.
All of that was because of one trigger.
Ten years ago, a heavenly treasure fell from the firmament.
No one knew its origin.
At that moment, a blinding light appeared in the sky, and they saw a line of light that eventually fell and embedded itself into the continent.
After some time, they finally learned what kind of treasure it was, and since that day, the situation on the continent began to deteriorate.
A treasure that was said to be capable of uniting the entire continent and even the lands beyond it.
A heavenly sword.
The moment this sword fell, it was as if all the leashes that had restrained the ambitions of the great nations were suddenly broken.
Each of them had ambitions.
The ambition of domination.
They knew that they could not let the sword fall into the hands of anyone other than themselves. The sword was simply too powerful for anyone else to possess.
Each of the great nations tried to snatch it, and the smaller powers, even though they did not want to partake in the war, were forcibly dragged into it.
They knew that whoever obtained the sword would have the highest chance of uniting the entire continent.
When that happened, those who supported them would gain countless benefits. Those who were left behind would lose their momentum and might even fall behind to the point where they would lose their relevance in the future and eventually be forgotten in the river of history.
Since then, the smaller powers chose their sides and fought alongside their chosen factions, causing the entire continent to become engulfed in a great war.
A war that had already gone on for seven years and taken the lives of tens of millions.
From weak mortals without any power to the powerhouses of the continent, the ones who wielded the power of heaven and earth—the cultivators.
No one was safe from death.
But, on the other hand, this war also gave birth to many new heroes. The ones who never had a chance to show their brilliance finally had the opportunity to do so.
The old figures who were already famous also became even more renowned, elevating their great names and titles to even greater heights. They were already powerful cultivators, but the war only made their names grander.
Among the famous young heroes was a man from the Vermion Empire.
He was a young adult with long black hair that reached his shoulders. He was not exceptionally handsome, but he was still considered good-looking. He had a tall and fit build, and there was a certain charm to his appearance.
Everyone who saw him would undoubtedly feel drawn to him. Not only because of his character, but also because of his achievements.
Everyone in the Vermion Empire knew him as the youngest Battalion Commander in the empire.
The descendant of a baronial noble family.
One of the most promising talents in the empire.
The first person in the history of the Vermion Empire to become a Battalion Commander of the Imperial Family’s troops at the age of two hundred and fifty.
By that age, his cultivation had already reached Peak Fifth Stage, something that would normally take most people more than three hundred years to achieve.
He was also considered one of the most talented swordmasters in the history of the empire.
Because of his achievements, he also became the personal knight of one of the empire’s Crown Prince candidates and one of the prince’s closest people.
He was also a loving husband.
Despite having a challenging romantic life, he had ultimately reached a point where he could finally marry the woman he loved, and build a happy life together with her.
That man’s name was Zayden Dravenhart.
The prodigy of the Dravenhart Family.
The man idolized by countless people, especially the younger generation.
Many wanted to be like him and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
With all of his achievements, it was no wonder that many believed that, in the future, he might be able to elevate the Dravenhart Family and turn it into a high-ranking noble family.
Even becoming a duke was not an impossible dream.
In short, the man was destined to become a great person, a powerhouse, a powerful cultivator capable of shaking the continent...
If nothing happened to him in his life.
At this time, the man himself was near the place that had become the source of all the chaos on the continent.
The place where the Heavenly Sword had embedded itself.
The sword was embedded almost at the center of the continent, right at the edge of one of the most mysterious and dangerous places on the continent.
The Abyss of the Undying Light.
A vast and dangerous bottomless pit with a diameter of more than a thousand kilometers.
Why was the abyss named as such?
Because there was a strange, shining light at the bottom of the abyss. It did not entirely illuminate the abyss, but it could still be seen by anyone standing at its edge.
The light was like a ball of light floating in the middle of the abyss’s darkness.
Its existence had been recorded since ancient times, and it had always remained the same.
It shone with the same intensity, remained the same size, and had never disappeared even once.
Many cultivators throughout history had tried to uncover the mystery of the abyss and that strange light.
But once anyone descended into that darkness, the moment their figures were engulfed by the depths of the abyss, no one had ever been able to return.
No one.
Even the strongest cultivators, those who possessed the highest levels of cultivation, shared the same fate.
That was why this place had become a legend across the continent and the most mysterious place whose secrets no one had ever been able to uncover.
The Heavenly Sword had fallen near the edge of the abyss, specifically on the eastern side.
The sword was still in its sheathed condition. Its scabbard was engraved with beautiful symbols depicting a dragon dancing along its surface.
A sign that the sword had something to do with the dragons, one of the most revered races that all cultivators held in high regard.
Just by seeing the engraving, anyone, without exception, could feel how extraordinary the sword was.
The sword was dominated by a combination of silver and gold. Its hilt also carried an engraving depicting a dragon.
However, the most noticeable thing besides its appearance was the sword’s aura.
It exuded an aura that no one had ever felt from any artifact before.
It felt transcendent.
It felt sacred.
It felt powerful.
The sensation was enough to awaken the greed within anyone who felt it.
The greed for a powerful artifact.
The greed for power.
The very greed that fueled the battle taking place near the Heavenly Sword.