Chapter 1693: 1693 ### Chapter 1693: The War Between a Drop of Blood and a Fragment of an Ancient Rune Lin Muyu’s expression changed slightly as he rapidly retreated. The rune arrows came raining down like a torrential downpour, numbering in the billions, leaving no room for evasion. Moreover, Lin Muyu knew that he had been locked onto. Not only himself, but the skeletal god generals were also locked onto. Whoosh! The wings of the undead, unused for a long time, instantly unfurled and violently shook. The wings of the undead transformed into invisible blades, severing the soul lock. Lin Muyu felt a surge of lightness throughout his body as he pushed his speed to the limit, retreating at 150 million kilometers per second. But just 0.1 seconds later, he felt himself being locked onto again. This time, the lock was even more intense than before, but the wings of the undead could still sever it. One lock after another, one severing after another. Lin Muyu constantly changed directions, and the rune arrows followed suit, changing directions as well. They were like rabid dogs, having fixated on Lin Muyu, with an unyielding determination to kill him. The speed of the ancient rune arrows was extremely fast, far surpassing Lin Muyu’s, and they quickly caught up to him. The arrows grew larger and larger in his vision. Lin Muyu took out a Body Talisman and slapped it onto himself, instantly manifesting a golden armor. Bang! The Body Talisman shattered, with just a single arrow strike shattering the golden armor. After shattering the Body Talisman, that arrow immediately collapsed, but more arrows followed. The attack power of the ancient rune arrows was terrifying, with each arrow no weaker than the full-force strike of a first-rank God Sovereign. And now, billions of arrows were coming at him. Billions of arrows equated to billions of first-rank God Sovereign attacks, enough to blast him into oblivion. Faced with this situation, Lin Muyu remained calm and composed, adopting the oldest and most practical method – using the undead army as a meat shield. The skeletal god generals flew back to him, their bodies radiating golden light as golden armors manifested from thin air, layer upon layer, forming a dense defense. The arrows collided with the armors, shattering countless armors and arrows in the process. Simultaneously, the skeletal god generals unleashed sword energies, attacks at the God Sovereign realm, capable of destroying the arrows as well. Lin Muyu continuously cycled through the skeletal god generals, withdrawing those without Body Talismans and summoning new ones with Body Talismans. A second golden sun rose in the sky as Lin Muyu and the arrows reached a stalemate. The skeletal god generals were numerous enough that even billions of arrows found it difficult to break through at once. Even if they did break through, with the defensive power of the skeletal god generals, taking one or two arrows would not be a problem. Gradually, the number of arrows dwindled. Lin Muyu’s heart stirred, and instead of retreating, he advanced, launching a counterattack. Around the fragment of the ancient rune, there were hardly any rune fragments left, making it an opportune time to approach. The skeletal god generals waved their bone swords, unleashing dazzling sword energies, clearing a path for Lin Muyu. The way he had escaped earlier was now the way he would charge back in. The fragment of the ancient rune transformed into a blazing sun, burning fiercely. The previous halos were like its protective umbrella, shielding it tightly. Now that the halos had dissipated, the fragment of the ancient rune was completely exposed. Lin Muyu led the skeletal god generals upstream, shattering the arrows and directly facing the fragment of the ancient rune. The closer he got to the ancient rune, the more he could feel the rule power emanating from it. Lin Muyu did not look directly at the ancient rune, as his current ability was still insufficient to gaze upon it directly. But he could sense the power of the ancient rune, and it was the strongest fragment of an ancient rune he had ever encountered. Its scale was at least several times larger than the ordinary fragments found in secret realms. The higher the degree of completeness of a fragment of an ancient rune, the stronger its power. This time, as he approached, the ancient rune did not react much, as if it had already resigned itself to its fate. Lin Muyu felt a sense of strangeness. How could the second stage be cleared so easily? When he was less than a million kilometers away from the ancient rune, Lin Muyu suddenly paused. "Huh? There’s someone there." His gaze fell upon the area behind the ancient rune. Behind the ancient rune, hundreds of millions of kilometers away, stood a person wielding a long sword. Previously, his view had been obstructed by the ancient rune, so he had not noticed. This person swung his long sword, unleashing chilling sword energies. The sword energies were as red as blood, accompanied by a thick, bloody scent. The ancient rune continuously evolved arrows to attack him. The sword energies shattered the arrows one by one, preventing them from getting close. It seemed that the battle between him and the ancient rune had been raging for countless years, becoming a formalized routine. "So, he’s the one who created the sea of blood." "But who is he? He looks like a human cultivator, but his aura is only that of a low-rank God Sovereign." Lin Muyu observed with curiosity, focusing his gaze. His gaze pierced through the ancient rune arrows and the bloody sword energies, finally seeing the person’s appearance. Lin Muyu’s entire body trembled as a look of shock appeared on his face. He had seen this ’person’ before. Not in the real world, but in the Black Rain Secret Realm, where the ancient rune had taken him back to witness scenes from countless years ago. It was the swordsman who had severed a finger from the ancient giant. Lin Muyu would never forget him, for in that moment, the swordsman had glanced at him with a murderous intent that left a deep impression. "How is he here?" Lin Muyu’s heart was filled with endless doubts. A cultivator from that era, how could he appear here? Moreover, how had his strength become so weak? He was a being far surpassing the other shore realm, yet now he was only at the God Sovereign realm. As his soul power surged, Lin Muyu carefully observed and finally noticed a clue. This was not the swordsman’s main body, but rather a fragment of it. His true core was a single drop of fresh, red blood. Just like the ancient rune, he had been formed from a single drop of blood. Lin Muyu felt a chill run down his spine as he witnessed the true might of a powerful cultivator once again. The severed finger of the ancient giant could release a complete ancient rune, which could then evolve into countless secret realms, even after shattering. And a single drop of blood from the ancient swordsman could evolve into a billion-kilometer sea of blood while contending with the ancient rune. "Just who are these people? They’re all so terrifying." "What is the other shore realm compared to them? It’s truly insignificant!" Lin Muyu compared the two and realized the vast gulf between them and the cultivators of the ancient era. The other shore realm was already the pinnacle in this era, but compared to the ancient cultivators, it was not even on the same level. Lin Muyu seemed to gain some understanding of why the other shore realm sought information from the ancient era and pursued the ancient runes. It was because they wanted to break through their limitations and reach the level of strength from the ancient era. Suddenly, Lin Muyu recalled some words that Antares had once spoken, mentioning an ’Invincible Cultivator’. But in the great world, there was no concept of an ’Invincible Cultivator’. The Holy Venerables of the other shore realm were already the strongest known existences. But Antares would not have spoken nonsense, so he must have known something. The dragon race was an ancient race, not one of the four source races, but they had never been invaded, and their internal records were extremely complete. Unlike the human race, which had nearly gone extinct, resulting in massive gaps in their records. "I should ask Antares about it the next time I see him." "Who knows what he’s up to now, or when he’ll show up again." Lin Muyu pondered in his heart as the black water rune in his soul world suddenly trembled.