The Great Ruler: Starting from the Dark Ages

Chapter 114 Each Seeks Survival, Extraterrestrial Gods and Demons (Part 2)

Ten thousand years have passed since the Azure Emperor was reborn.

Pride is like wild grass, rising and falling in a single lifetime.

Few people bother to speculate about the Heavenly Emperor's lifespan anymore. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, yet the Heavenly Emperor remains as radiant as the sun in the sky, truly destined to live on forever.

In this generation, all the geniuses and peak quasi-emperors who were sealed into the divine source in the past have emerged.

Previously, they did not want to live in the shadow of the Heavenly Emperor, but now they no longer harbor the wishful thinking of outliving the Heavenly Emperor. Fortunately, the Heavenly Emperor suppressed his own Great Dao, allowing future generations to glimpse the opportunity to attain enlightenment.

During this period, someone attained enlightenment, but the new emperor did not boast about it. He humbly went to the Heavenly Court to discuss the Dao, and then left in frustration.

Ten thousand years have passed, and the Azure Emperor and the Celestial Venerable Lingbao are still in their prime, their vitality undiminished. The two have visited the Heavenly Court several times to discuss the methods of becoming immortals.

Xu He did not hide anything, but simply told him the method to become an immortal in the mortal world.

As for right and wrong, success and failure, success may be in the hands of fate, but planning is definitely up to humankind.

Another ten thousand years passed. The Azure Emperor and the Celestial Venerable Lingbao entered their later years. For the next few thousand years, Xu He kept observing and considered taking action, but ultimately chose to wait and see.

Over these thousands of years, the Azure Emperor and the Celestial Venerable Lingbao grew old and were on the verge of death. Even so, neither of them chose to sever their own lives, as they disdained to do so.

Finally, the deathly aura surrounding Lingbao Tianzun led him to abandon everything and sever himself.

This is not self-severance, but rather something akin to the Immortal Three Severances, only the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's severance was more thorough.

He severed his physical body, the decaying Sendai, and all his emotions.

One night, Lingbao Tianzun was reborn and had a new body. This body looked old, but it was full of vitality and had an otherworldly appearance that was very similar to the Great Dao.

Xu He could not tell at all that this was the former Lingbao Tianzun.

Xu He knew that Lingbao Tianzun's physical body had indeed been replaced, and that Lingbao Tianzun had become much stronger this time.

Physical transformation, a true rebirth.

In the later years of Xu He's third life, his physical body decayed. When he lived his fourth life, he rebuilt his physical body. Ruthless woman also underwent a transformation. However, compared to the physical deaths of Xu He and Lingbao Tianzun, she was more ruthless and direct, and she refined her previous life's body into an imperial weapon.

But no matter how you look at it, Lingbao Tianzun has really become much stronger.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on living another crucial life. You are one step closer to becoming an immortal in the mortal world." Xu He said, squatting at the place of Lingbao Tianzun's Nirvana.

"Not at all, I still have to thank the Heavenly Emperor for bestowing upon me the Immortal Arts of the Mortal World." Although Lingbao Tianzun was extremely indifferent in this life, he still managed to force a smile when he saw Xu He.

The longer one lives, the more one can perceive the terror of the Heavenly Emperor.

That's absolutely true.
Lingbao Tianzun had lived for over 20,000 years in his previous life, nearly 30,000 years. Now, having lived a crucial life and reached the pinnacle, he felt that his vast and powerful blood energy was insignificant compared to Xu He's.

But the Heavenly Emperor is still in his fourth generation.

More importantly, he could clearly sense that the Heavenly Emperor's blood energy was still at its peak, and was even rising.

Surely the Heavenly Emperor won't still be in this life when I live out my next life?

Lingbao Tianzun's expression turned strange as he marveled at how the Heavenly Emperor was still alive.

In the end, he put these thoughts aside and simply said to the Heavenly Emperor, "After this life, if I want to live to the next life, I'm afraid I'll have to become a Holy Spirit."

The method of transforming into a Holy Spirit was naturally told to Lingbao Tianzun by Xu He. After all, when the Ruthless Man in the ancient times killed the Feathered Emperor who had achieved the ultimate success of transforming into a Holy Spirit with a single palm strike, this Mythical Tianzun was still in a half-dead state.

Although Lingbao Tianzun never saw it, one can glean some insight from the name of this method.

After all, every Holy Spirit is a beloved being of Heaven, possessing profound spiritual insight, and requires millions of years of gestation to take shape.

"Don't go down this path unless absolutely necessary," Xu He simply said.

Xu He has now lived his fourth life. Although he is truly close to being an immortal, he can still clearly feel the slow passage of time and has not truly reached the point where he is immune to the effects of time.

"To remain untouched by the passage of time, one would probably need to live to the fifth time. To truly become a mortal immortal comparable to a quasi-immortal king, one would need to accumulate merit over nine lifetimes."

Fortunately, a way for Xu He to live out his fifth life has been found.

That was to transform into a chaotic body. Although Xu He found it difficult to explore the path after that, he had never really thought of transforming into a holy spirit.

The time required is far too long. I'm afraid that before I've even finished transforming the Holy Spirit, the Dark Emperor will have already finished refining both realms.

It seems they've already conquered the Immortal Realm.

The method of transforming into a holy spirit has the drawback of being extremely lengthy, and its success rate is also unknown.

In his mind, the method of transforming into a Holy Spirit was only slightly better than the method of evolving a Celestial Realm within the Desolate Tower, but both were traps.

Therefore, he reminded Lingbao Tianzun not to take this path unless absolutely necessary.

Lingbao Tianzun sighed deeply. He had already lived several lifetimes in reverse. In terms of the length of his life, there were probably few people in this world who were older than him.

However, on the path to immortality, he is far inferior to this junior, and instead resembles a follower.

"Let's take it one step at a time. There's still a long life ahead of us, and perhaps we can find another way," Lingbao Tianzun said, shaking his head.

Xu He nodded silently. In fact, Lingbao Tianzun didn't need to be so pessimistic.

Perhaps he won't live to see Xu He achieve immortality through nine lifetimes, and won't be able to forcefully open up the strange world.

But in the end, there is still a way to forcefully break through the strange space and let them go in first.

Breaking through the barrier is not difficult, and it is also feasible to make them become immortals in the mortal world within the strange space.

However, the potential for becoming an immortal through external means is ultimately much limited.

Moreover, there is a possibility that they may be ambushed by the Immortal Emperor, or that they may be ambushed by the Soy Sauce Immortal and perish with resentment.

Emperor Wushi may also be preoccupied with other matters.

Just as Xu He was pondering, a secret place in the universe erupted with astonishing immortal light, and the supreme imperial might was indeed emanating from it, but it was still a bit inferior to that of the Azure Emperor and the Spirit Treasure Heavenly Venerable.

"It seems the new emperor is unwilling to pass away either." Lingbao Tianzun looked in that direction, secretly calculating the time in his heart. Indeed, it was nearing the end of the new emperor's lifespan.

"He didn't commit suicide, but instead took an elixir of immortality?" Xu He sensed the vigorous life force following that trace of resentment and detected the scent of the elixir of immortality within it.

He has been in contact with the elixir of immortality for far too long. Apart from the elixir of immortality itself, probably no one in the entire world would disagree if Xu He said, "No one understands the elixir of immortality better than me."

What surprised him was that the new emperor also possessed an immortal elixir.

It should be known that there have only been about thirty immortal herbs throughout the ages, and some of them cannot be revived. They have been passed down from generation to generation by celestial venerables, ancient emperors, and great emperors, and many have been lost.

Now that the new emperor actually possesses one, it seems he truly has some fortuitous connection to it.

At the same time, in a lotus pond in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the Chaos Green Lotus burst forth with celestial light.

A faint, angry roar of resentment could be heard, and an overwhelming and unparalleled imperial might surged forth.

In that instant, all living beings in the universe seemed to see a lotus flower blooming in the eternal blue sky.

Lotus leaves fall one by one, swept away by the cosmic gale, as if clearing away fallen leaves.

"Is the Azure Emperor going to live another lifetime?" someone exclaimed. Since the time of the Heavenly Emperor, it has long been an open secret that the Great Emperors could live several lifetimes in reverse.

Both of them turned around at that moment.

Xu He felt a pang of emotion. The four great emperors of this era, each struggling to survive, were just as cruel as the competition on the path to becoming an emperor.

Five thousand years have passed, and four emperors coexisted, with the Heavenly Emperor reigning supreme.

The general public's impression of multiple emperors coexisting has overshadowed the memory of a single great emperor in one era; only a few old sages remember the past.

But as time goes by, fewer and fewer people will have this memory.

In that same year, a breach suddenly appeared on the edge of the universe.

A chilling aura poured in from the gaps in the desolate wilderness, mixed with cosmic gales, and blew into the ordinary star field.

In an instant, terrifying images flashed through the minds of countless people. Some of the stronger cultivators looked towards the edge of the universe, where a gap had indeed been opened.

A humanoid creature emerged from there, incredibly eerie. It wasn't just eerie; upon closer inspection, one could truly sense the aura of an supreme emperor.

Lingbao Tianzun sat cross-legged in the Taoist temple, but in an instant his pupils widened.

That eerie, cold, and extremely strange aura really reminded him of the immortal corpses from the mythical era.

"Corpse calamity..."

Lingbao Tianzun murmured, raised his hand and summoned the Four Swords of Zhuxian. They immediately tore through the void and arrived. In an instant, the domineering and unparalleled supreme imperial might was revealed. He had truly ascended to the pinnacle and was about to engage in a battle of the highest order.

At the same time, two other places within the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths also erupted with extreme power, and in a brief moment, they converged again.

Before the gaping hole on the edge of the universe, three figures descended almost simultaneously.

The Azure Emperor, the Mysterious New Emperor, and the Celestial Venerable Lingbao finally reached a historic meeting.

All three were originally in seclusion, but they all sensed the strange aura of the borderlands and came here. When they looked at the loophole, they found that one of them had arrived earlier than them.

Xu He's five fingers transformed into a cage, suppressing the humanoid creature so it could not move. Although the strange creature was still roaring, its struggles were futile.

"The calamity of corpses has truly descended." Lingbao Tianzun approached the humanoid creature, his mind filled with the extremely dangerous scenes of the past:
"I just didn't expect that this calamity of corpses didn't happen in this realm, but came from outside the realm."

Xu He nodded, sensing the strange aura. Although he was somewhat surprised by the outbreak of the corpse calamity in the outer realm, he was not too surprised.

Most cultivators in this world only know about the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and even regard all the myriad worlds as the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Apart from that, they only know about the Immortal Realm above this world.

Only a very few emperors knew that cultivators from beyond the realm were mostly referred to as "extraterrestrial gods and demons."

In fact, this matter has been recorded for a long time. There have been rumors that an ancient emperor truly killed gods and demons from beyond the realm, but the records are too few, just a few strokes, and are far less impressive than the Holy Spirit of the Emperor's Sharpening Stone.

Surrounding the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths are strange spaces and shattered immortal realms that resemble mirrors.

Above the Immortal Realm lies the Unknown Realm, and above both lies the Boundary Sea, separated by a long, boundless beach. Many cultivators may never be able to leave the beach, and even Immortal Kings are lost within the Boundary Sea, their fate unknown, living in a daze.

Surrounding it are the myriad realms of heaven and earth, or rather, the Immortal Realm is merely a speck of dust among these myriad realms of heaven and earth.

Not to mention the heavens.

Therefore, Xu He was not too surprised to see a cultivator who had been strangely corrupted; he just wanted to find out where the cultivator came from.

"It's getting a bit noisy."

The monster was still roaring, devoid of any humanity. Xu He frowned slightly, knowing that it had completely perished and become a living corpse under the corruption of darkness. He immediately threw a punch.

A golden light shone brightly on the edge of the universe. After the dust settled, the supreme beings approached and examined the mysterious extraterrestrial demon god.

The creature was entirely blue, even its blood was azure, and despite its decay and eerie aura, it was still easily recognizable.

Judging from their attire, it was truly ancient; at least the Azure Emperor, the mysterious new emperor, and Xu He had never seen it before.

Lingbao Tianzun narrowed his eyes, staring at the robes for a long time, before speaking after a moment of daze:
"It looks familiar. I think I saw it when I was a child, but it's an old relic."

As soon as the Celestial Venerable finished speaking, the emperors all turned their gazes toward him, their expressions all strange.

They had no idea what the Celestial Venerable had seen as a child was about the ancient artifacts.

"Are you sure?" Xu He asked seriously. If this clothing could really be used as a breakthrough, then the answer was already obvious.

"Uh... I dare not make any rash judgments." Seeing Xu He's serious expression, and recalling their previous discussion, Lingbao Tianzun continued:
"Although I was born in the early days of mythology, I haven't witnessed much. I can only confirm that this clothing mythology era never existed."

As he spoke, Lingbao Tianzun sighed and said:

"If there were even more ancient beings, perhaps they could confirm the Heavenly Emperor's conjecture. Unfortunately, there are probably few beings in this world more ancient than me."

Upon hearing this, Xu He looked up, perhaps thinking of something, and immediately smiled and said, "There really is."

"Oh?" Lingbao Tianzun raised an eyebrow, his expression full of disbelief. There are very few people from the mythological era who are still alive today, so how could there be an even more ancient existence?

"Heavenly Emperor, even the most supreme ancient emperors within the Primordial Ancient Mine were from the Mythological Era, and they too are unaware of this."

Lingbao Tianzun kindly reminded him, but he discovered that Xu He was not heading towards the super forbidden zone, but instead entered a remote star field.

They blew up an ancient tomb while looking up.

Inside, a middle-aged, plump man in a Taoist robe jumped out and began cursing at Xu He:

"So you want to drag me down with you when you're about to die, is that it?!"

The fat man was furious and extremely indignant, and his appearance was incredibly slovenly. However, when Lingbao Tianzun saw his face, he was immediately taken aback.

"Transcending Tribulation Celestial Venerable!!!" Lingbao Celestial Venerable exclaimed in an instant.

His eyes widened suddenly, he could hardly believe that his former fellow Daoist had actually lived to this life.

What he found even harder to believe was that Xu He was able to find the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable in the cycle of reincarnation so easily. Judging from their appearance, it seemed that this was not their first meeting.

How many secrets does the Heavenly Emperor actually know?
This question not only arose in Lingbao Tianzun's mind, but also lingered in Qingdi's heart. He also remembered that a fat Taoist priest had once entered his territory.

He also revealed his identity and spent a long time discussing philosophy with himself.

And now it has reappeared in the world.

Upon careful consideration, both Celestial Venerables felt a chill run down their spines. It seemed that both the Azure Emperor and the Spiritual Treasure Celestial Venerable had reappeared in the mortal realm with the assistance of the Heavenly Emperor.

Now that the Heavenly Venerable of Tribulation has been found by the Heavenly Emperor, it is difficult for them to make any connection.

"Considering that I successfully formed the Reincarnation Seal, I won't hold it against you." Duan De snorted. "Tell me, Heavenly Emperor, what trouble do you have that you need me for?"

He knew that the Heavenly Emperor was incredibly powerful, and that asking him for help was definitely not something a strong enemy could do.

This piqued his curiosity.

Without wasting words, Xu He grabbed Duan De and walked to the edge of the universe, pointing at the corpse of the extraterrestrial demon god and saying, "Look at these clothes, do you recognize them?"

(End of this chapter)