Covering the Heavens: Starting from the First Great Emperor

Chapter 157 Reality
"Are they trying to lure me into committing suicide?"

Xu Yuanming's senses were getting worse and worse. His thoughts were getting swirling and his consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred. However, his heart did not stop beating. It was still pounding and thumping, signaling Xu Yuanming to come forward.

"Try one last sprint, and if that doesn't work, then retreat immediately!"

Xu Yuanming made up his mind. He was unwilling to give up any possibility of success, but life was the most important thing. If the situation was bad, he would choose to save his life.

If he couldn't become an Immortal Emperor, there was nothing he could do but continue with the old methods to increase his strength.

If things continue like this, the path to sublimation isn't far off, but what about the sacrificial ceremony?

The distance between the sacrificial path and the immortal emperor is indeed too great. A sacrificial path cultivator could kill an immortal emperor who has reached the pinnacle of cultivation in just one moment.

At that time, Shi Hao's all-out attack caused a strange Immortal Emperor to perish forever.

This is not on the same level; it's simply too difficult to overcome.

Besides, what good is it to have strength comparable to the level of a sacrificial priest?
He could only possess that level of strength; he was not a being at the level of a sacrificial being, but only at the weakest level.

If Xu Yuanming were a Celestial Emperor right now, or even a tiger or a cat, he wouldn't be in this predicament. With his strength, he could easily fight Lu Jin, who had ascended to a higher level.
However, if he is only a Dao Ancestor, that is far from enough. He only has strength, but he is not an Immortal Emperor in essence. This is a fatal flaw.

As a result, he could only rival beings of that realm, but could not suppress them.

Those who were killed earlier were just phantoms of the former Immortal Emperors. Although they were brought back to life, they were not physical entities. Killing someone who is already dead is not the same as killing a real Immortal Emperor.

The difficulty of both is no less than asking a being who has never cultivated to kill a peak existence in the human realm.

With his current strength, Xu Yuanming was already very proud. His Dao Ancestor was comparable to the Tyrannosaurus Immortal Emperor, something that no one had ever achieved throughout history.

Unless it is a being above the sacrificial path who intervenes, no one can do it.

It's too easy for beings on the sacrificial path to change the past. Even those who have just begun their cultivation can kill sacrificial path cultivators at will. Such a fundamental difference is destined to be insurmountable.

If he cannot become an Immortal Emperor, then Xu Yuanming will only ever be this good.

The moment he returned to his original time and space, he was instantly and eternally silenced by the eerie progenitor of the sacrificial path.

Although it's unclear why he survived the creation of the world by the God of Creation, he could only survive if he couldn't break through to the Immortal Emperor level.

Sooner or later, when the Creator God is terminally ill, the eerie progenitor will be born.

The future monstrous progenitor will suppress and kill him.

Dead end.

There is only one way.

That is to become an Immortal Emperor.

Xu Yuanming briefly regained his senses and then launched his final charge.

A strong wind blew, and the Eternal Flower beneath Xu Yuanming began to dim. Each time, it turned countless cultivation systems to ashes, turning them into nothingness.

Having traversed endless time and space, and wandering aimlessly, the Land of Extinction began to change.

Here, in the midst of ice and snow, in endless darkness, everything is ordinary, yet it feels close to reality.

Xu Yuanming stared at it carefully and tried to memorize it.

Each snowflake, colder than the road itself, can freeze everything.

Ordinary ice blocks could be smashed so hard that even a Celestial Emperor would run away in terror.

Finally, Xu Yuanming was approaching, and every pattern in that coffin depicted three different time periods.

These correspond to three eras: the Chaotic Ancient Era, the Post-Wilderness Ancient Era, and the Heavenly Emperor Era.

Shi Hao, Ye Fan, and Chu Feng.

Of these three destinies, one is destined to become a being on the sacrificial path.

The three of them work together to maintain the bridges of this world.

The closer he got, the more he felt that nothing could compare to this place, and everything else seemed insignificant.

To his surprise, he discovered that he could actually go inside the coffin by passing through the normal gaps in the coffin's texture.

"Is this... the true path?"

Xu Yuanming murmured to himself. He deliberately approached those vast and boundless textures. After touching them, everything became so unimportant, as if he had crossed an ocean.

As the coffin drew near, the world fell silent, so silent that even the Great Road disappeared.

Even Xu Yuanming's perception, comparable to that of a peak Immortal Emperor, was blocked, leaving him completely unaware.

It's as if your eyes are blindfolded, your ears are plugged, your five senses are stripped away, your nine consciousnesses are cut off, your heart is filled, and your desires are extinguished.

It's terrifying, absolutely terrifying. Compared to this, the so-called inner demons seem insignificant. This is the closest thing to reality.

Xu Yuanming's cultivation gradually disappeared, and he eventually became an ordinary person, an ordinary person to the point of being unremarkable, yet he was able to transcend this place and rise above reality.

The concepts of time and space became blurred, cause and effect and fate intertwined, and finally it flew away.

An eternal darkness, from the depths of time, surged forth like a tidal wave, swallowing up all perception.

The closer he got to reality, the clearer Xu Yuanming became, and the stronger his perception became. Once he used any cultivator's methods, he would be like a dead man again.

Xu Yuanming tried several times and finally came to a conclusion.

A person who truly cares about the essence of things; what is false is the cultivation system, a path of civilizational evolution where one spark after another ignites!

Upon reaching this conclusion, Xu Yuanming was greatly surprised and felt fear.

If that's the case, then what's the point of all that long of cultivation?
What about those things we came into contact with?
If it's all fake, what's the point?
In that moment of distraction, Xu Yuanming was thinking, but his thoughts had not yet settled.

But in an instant, that sense of vicissitude seemed to come from ancient times, as if it were the first time seeing the world, and that feeling rushed over you, as if you had experienced countless cycles of reincarnation.

The scale of time is completely disrupted here; neither the past nor the future is wasted.

However, wherever I went, I wanted to meet these so-called prodigies, but I never expected that these so-called prodigies were just a joke in my hands.

Xu Yuan's breathing gradually became steady, and his mind remained as calm as an ancient well.

From his beginnings, he wanted to live, then gained some fame, began to compete for the title of genius of a planet, and later became invincible throughout the star field. He then embarked on a journey through the universe, walking alone, creating his own path, becoming a Celestial Venerable, and proving the pinnacle of the Dao.

Afterwards, he traveled to all the heavens and myriad worlds, and through the past, present and future. Xu Yuanming went to cultivate, but wherever he went, he was always there, working tirelessly under the stars and moon, suppressing everything, becoming the highest level of being, and letting everyone see his worldly appearance.

It's unclear how much time passed—perhaps a fleeting moment, or perhaps millions of years. Suddenly, the endless darkness that had enveloped the surroundings receded like a tide.

Xu Yuanming suddenly opened his eyes, and his whole being became mysterious and profound. The realms that had disappeared all began to return to their peak, and all the Great Dao systems began to merge, becoming one Great Dao.

He looked up and saw that the starlight in the deep sky was like the lights of thousands of homes.

Those faint lights, flickering uncertainly in the eternal darkness, when you look back, you see only family joy.

The world is vast and boundless, and all of us are part of humanity.

Xu Yuanming looked down, and there was a world there.

At this moment, the boundary between reality and illusion becomes blurred.

"Am I really inside the coffin? Or am I on top of the coffin?"

Xu Yuanming was lost in thought. He had only tried his best, after all, his previous attempts had all ended in complete failure.

But he actually succeeded and managed to reach the top of the coffin!

"This is such a surprise! I didn't even know I was up there. It's such a wonderful surprise!" Xu Yuanming grinned unconsciously.

He had never been in such a good state before. Even when he broke through each realm, he was never as burdened as he was today. His thoughts were now soaring over the entire world, reaching a new height.

Xu Yuanming wanted to burst out laughing, but he held back. What was on top of the coffin?
He was unaware that there might be something even more terrifying.

Are the previous speculations true? What about the creator god above the sacrificial altar?

He's been missing for so many years, could he be here?

Was the secluded place where Shi Hao, Ye Fan, and Chu Feng lived back then located here?
"How much time has passed?" Xu Yuanming pondered, muttering to himself, "It feels like a very long time has passed on the journey, but I hope it hasn't been too long!"

He didn't want this era to pass by like this. For example, he hadn't even killed the Immortal Emperor who had reached the pinnacle of his cultivation, who had tried to kill him before.

Xu Yuanming, now living in this world, will repay every single loss he has ever suffered.

He looked down and saw nothing but emptiness beneath the coffin; it was all fake, as if it didn't exist.

It only existed in Xu Yuanming's mind, but the power contained within his body did not decrease at all; in fact, it increased with this action. It is estimated that he is not far from reaching the ultimate sublimation.

This was a tremendous gain; all the hardships we had endured before seemed insignificant in comparison.

Most importantly, Xu Yuanming sensed that membrane!

He is no longer the Dao Ancestor, but a half-step Immortal Emperor!
Arriving here marked the beginning of his true transformation from a Dao Ancestor. Xu Yuanming was overjoyed and wanted to find an opportunity here to see if he could prove himself as an Immortal Emperor in one fell swoop.

Xu Yuanming exhaled a breath of stale air and looked up at the sky above this entirely new world.

The starlight in this world is poor, negligible, and dim, yet it brings unparalleled hope.

Although I don't know why, if even a Celestial Emperor could accidentally perish here, it's enough to prove just how terrifying the creatures in this world are. Of course, this is the upper limit, and it's not necessarily true.

Xu Yuanming was more cautious than ever before, using all his strength to transform into 'one' and hide in the space.

He did not believe that there were many powerful beings in this world.

After cultivating to become an immortal and ascending to heaven, one will be a mid-to-high level cultivator in any world.

Now that Xu Yuanming has broken through this world, even if he no longer has only those people above him like before, it's not like he's living in a sewer anymore.

Xu Yuanming was in this state of mind as he walked around this place.

Here, every particle is terrifying, and there are even worlds with immortal emperors, worlds with boundless space.

Xu Yuanming remained silent and continued walking upwards.

Above this so-called coffin, there is a vast universe, containing many powerful realms, some of which are so powerful that even he would be no match for them, yet he is still confined to that world.

Some are quite ordinary in strength, or even only slightly stronger than the average person.

Xu Yuanming continued walking, and some places were indeed terrifying, requiring beings at least at the sacrificial level to cause such an event.

Before even fully arriving here, we've already encountered such terrifying creatures. Could there be many beings on the sacrificial path here?
Finally, he saw the top, but didn't go in.

Xu Yuanming wandered around the area for countless years, observing, but ultimately gained nothing and chose to go inside.

After entering, Xu Yuanming did not experience what he had been looking for. The place was very peaceful, unlike the era of the extinction of spirits or the era of the end of Dharma. It was very strange, and the peace made him feel that it was abnormal.

This made Xu Yuanming serious. What is this?
Does everything return to oneness?
This is the real world here, plain and natural, without any frills or embellishments, which makes Xu Yuanming even more uneasy.

This is a universe, very small, smaller than one billionth the size of the particle next to Xu Yuanming.

This was a premonition, and Xu Yuanming did not investigate it. If he were to discover some old monster at the level of the Sacrifice Dao, or even a being above the level of the Sacrifice Dao, he would not even know how he died.

And so, Xu Yuanming moved slowly through the universe, only proceeding to the next step after confirming there was no danger.

These planets were so ordinary that even Xu Yuanming couldn't believe it.

Finally, he found a vibrant planet in the starry sky. This planet was a deep blue and looked full of life from afar.

Xu Yuanming landed on this planet, concealed his presence, and observed the life forms of this planet.

“In today’s society, college graduates are worthless. They’re everywhere. Take me, a college graduate, for example. I’m so busy every day, sleeping later than a dog and waking up earlier than a rooster, and I only make three or four thousand yuan a month. What’s the point of that?”

"What are you saying? I can't even find a job yet, and you don't want this job? I want one!"

"Never mind, something is better than nothing."

"..."

"Are you going to class today?"

"What kind of classes are you going to take? Look at this, even if you go to learn them, you might not actually know them. Even if you do know them, you might not be able to take the exam. And even if you pass the exam, it won't be of much use in the future. You still won't be able to find a job."

"That's true. It's better to sleep a little longer. Anyway, once we get to the classroom, we'll just sit there doing our own thing, playing on our phones. It's better to stay in the dorm!"

"..."

"There are only 100 days left until the college entrance exam. It's not tough or tiring, but senior year is also incredibly boring. Good luck to you all, for your own sake, so you can find good jobs in the future. I don't want to hear that you're working odd jobs somewhere..."

"..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)