Limitless Cultivation: I Can Master Every Profession!-Chapter 236: Calamity 5

Chapter 236: Calamity 5

.

The period during which the great calamity occurred is often considered by historians as one of the darkest eras of the Hanxu continent,

and this was due to the enormous destruction and death that the disaster brought in those years.

Yet, although it is regarded as the dark period of the continent, it is also known as the era of the Three Emperors, the first three who managed to unite their race, to a great extent, under a single banner.

The knowledge of these legendary individuals has been passed down far and wide and has survived through hundreds of thousands of years.

Yet, even so, increasingly detailed information about that time, as well as other important events, was lost over the centuries, arriving at the present day where only a few manuscripts, revised and handed down from generation to generation, remain,

the only sources still able to recount something of that period. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

But they were not the only things to survive all this time; alongside them, many other things endured, from cultivation techniques to significant historical buildings, weapons, and so on, items of great value, some more, some less.

Among all these, three in particular stand out, known by all as

The Three Wonders of the Past.

These three are a collection of places, buildings, and other things that have survived to this day. Their origins have been lost in time, but their grandeur remains.

One of these, in particular, is known by everyone: the Thousand Forgotten Guardians.

To this day, their exact origin is unknown, as is who created them or why. Yet the fact that countless statues of this kind have been found over time in large or small cities, in forgotten villages or still populated ones, and even in the imperial city, the oldest city still present in the human empire, which houses dozens of these statues at various important points, has given rise to numerous theories and legends over time.

One of the most well known and popular claims is that these statues are guardians of the past, protecting the places they inhabit.

A legend, yes, but given the presence of these statues in so many important locations, it was thought they might also be monuments of some ancient heroes of each city, and so on.

Naturally, intensive investigations were conducted on all three wonders of the empire, but nothing substantial was ever discovered, except one thing:

The statues were extremely resilient, so much so that even a cultivator at the fifth stage of the Mortal Realm could barely scratch them.

This surprised many for a long time, but such astonishment was temporary, and over time people had grown used to their presence.

But no one could have guessed that these statues held something far greater, something hidden from every eye, even the most powerful beings.

Right now, the town near Mount Chijing was engulfed in chaos.

The tide of beasts had reached the city gates, and the fear that had already swept through the nearby villages, now just smoldering piles of rubble, was spilling into the streets, growing stronger by the second.

People ran in every direction, some blindly fleeing, others desperately searching for family members. Their screams mingled with the distant thunder of the beasts’ advancing footsteps, echoing through the crumbling streets.

Soldiers shouted orders, but their voices were lost in the tumult.

Everything shook, as if the city itself were holding its breath.

At the center of the square, on a pedestal blackened by time, stood a three meter tall statue, an ancient warrior carved from white stone similar to marble, but rough in some parts and remarkably smooth in others.

The majestic armor, the halberd held firmly in its hands, and the heroic stance facing the horizon gave it an aura of silent solemnity.

Next to the pedestal, a child sobbed, his face streaked with tears and dust. Terrified, he had taken refuge right there, clutching the edge of the stone base with small, trembling hands.

In the chaos, he had lost his parents, and in his confusion, the only thing he felt could protect him... was that immobile statue.

Since he was little, his mother had told him stories and legends of ancient heroes, many inspired by the statues of the Thousand Forgotten Guardians.

In the current chaos, it was the only thing offering him a semblance of comfort and protection as he looked around with frightened, confused eyes, searching for his parents.

Tears welled up in his eyes and fell like waterfalls, while he trembled.

But as the child wept, something changed.

Crack!

A faint sound came from right beside him, but confused as he was, he didn’t notice it.

Not much time passed before another sound followed.

And then another.

The statue’s surfaces began to vibrate.

A delicate light filtered through tiny fissures forming on the ancient carved armor.

Golden glimmers pulsed beneath the white stone, like a heart beginning to beat again after a millennial slumber.

Crack.

The sounds continued, crisp and deep. The fissures widened, spreading like lightning across the stone surface, yet the stone itself did not break: it was as if the statue were breathing, as if the stone were moving from within.

The ground around the pedestal began to tremble, stirred by an ancient energy being unleashed.

Fine dust slid off the warrior’s shoulders, and the halberd quivered slightly, as if a giant were waking its long stiffened limbs after an eternity.

The ground around the pedestal continued to shake, driven by a deep, primal force.

Suddenly, the entire statue seemed to vibrate even more intensely.

A powerful aura began to radiate from the stone, a warm golden glow spreading around the warrior, illuminating the square as if a hidden sun had suddenly ignited.

The child froze, at this sight.

Every carved detail seemed to move, the halberd trembling in the warrior’s hands, the armor sparkling under the aura’s light, as if time itself were restoring strength to the stone.

A shiver ran down the child’s spine as he witnessed the impossible scene unfolding before his eyes.

The mysterious, ancient statue that had amazed countless people for countless years was coming to life.