Lu was genuinely curious about what lay beyond the rift.

  This was one of the reasons he had willingly helped Emperor Tianling break the memory seal.

  He really wanted to know.

  What exactly had Tianling seen deep in the rift that drove him to choose self-destruction in despair?

  Lu narrowed his eyes.

  The void collapsed inch by inch. The scenes in the memory shifted from blurry to gradually clear.

  It began with Tianling breaking free from the entanglement of the ancient emperors outside the void rift, then slowly moved deeper.

  Lu saw a ceaseless flow of light and shadow.

  Finally…

  The scene deep within the void rift fully materialized before him.

  Emperor Tianling’s body trembled faintly.

  As the images surged, every memory flooded back like a tidal wave, filling his mind.

  The familiar scenes brought an inexplicable chill—a primal, uncontrollable shiver of dread from the depths of his soul.

  Both Lu and Tianling’s pupils contracted sharply.

  The image appeared.

  In the boundless darkness of the void’s depths lay row upon row of coffins—bronze sarcophagi, each covered in thick dust.

  Every coffin resembled a nutrient tank, each containing a heart that pulsed with terrifying energy. Each beat seemed capable of crushing space itself.

  Countless hair-thin threads extended from the hearts, connecting to a figure floating above the coffins.

  It was a withered, ancient form. Its skin resembled parched earth baked by the sun—cracked and fissured, as though the slightest movement would cause it to flake away entirely.

  Like a body coated in dried mud.

  Gaunt to the bone, long strands of hair hung down in disarray.

  Each of those fine threads bulged slightly, as if energy was being pumped from the hearts in the coffins into the withered body.

  At first glance, the scene wasn’t particularly shocking or horrifying.

  But the moment Tianling appeared, the figure seemed to sense him.

  Crack.

  The figure slowly raised its head.

  Then, the cracked skin began to peel away, sloughing off in sheets.

  Yet beneath the skin was no flesh and blood—only blinding white radiance.

  And within that white light, countless anguished faces flickered in and out of existence…

  This was what caused Lu and Tianling’s pupils to shrink in shock.

  Among those countless faces, Lu recognized Fire Spirit Ancient Emperor—who had once invaded the Five Phoenix Continent—and the Water Clan Ancient Emperor, whom he had effortlessly slain…

  In other words, this single body had fused with many of the Nine Heavens’ ancient emperors?!

  “This light… is a Heavenly Dao clone?”

  “No… that’s Hao…”

  Tianling’s body trembled as he stared at the raised face.

  He could never forget that visage.

  “The Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao fused all the ancient emperors—including Hao—into one?”

  Lu was stunned.

  The thought struck him.

  Or perhaps…

  His eyes narrowed slightly.

  “The Heavenly Dao is Hao, and Hao is the Heavenly Dao’s greatest incarnation… and through this, it devoured the other ancient emperors in order to break its shackles?”

  “No wonder the Nine Heavens hasn’t produced an Emperor realm in so many years…”

  Lu seemed to understand something. He drew a slow breath.

  Tianling fell silent.

  “Besides the lack of sufficient Emperor-level energy, there’s another reason: if anyone were to break through to Emperor realm, they would have to commune with the Heavenly Dao. And once they did… they might discover this secret.”

  “To protect this secret, the Nine Heavens has deliberately prevented any Emperor realm from emerging for all these years.”

  Even though this wasn’t the first time Tianling had seen the scene, he still felt a violent tremor in his soul.

  Lu sat calmly on the Thousand-Blade Chair, white robes fluttering.

  “Why?”

  “The purpose of the Heavenly Dao is to nurture more and more powerhouses within the world, thereby elevating the world itself.”

  “To grow stronger, the Heavenly Dao needs more powerhouses.”

  Lu murmured.

  So this action of the Heavenly Dao was something he truly couldn’t comprehend.

  Ancient Emperor Hao was an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao…

  “The Heavenly Dao treats the world as its chessboard, every living being as its pieces. Even ancient emperors, in the end, are merely devoured.”

  Tianling exhaled heavily.

  His mental resilience had grown much stronger.

  “In other words… deep in the rift, there is actually only one being—Ancient Emperor Hao, or rather, the Heavenly Dao incarnation.”

  “All the ancient emperors in the passages were illusions—created to make us believe the Nine Heavens’ ancient emperors were all present in the rift! Or perhaps to give those ancient emperors’ consciousnesses the illusion that they were still alive?”

  “In reality, every ancient emperor’s soul has been devoured and controlled by Ancient Emperor Hao.”

  Lu pondered. The more he thought about it, the more chilling it became.

  All those ancient emperors thought they were alive, but in truth, they had long been dead.

  Tianling breathed heavily, his eyes faintly red.

  “Why would the Heavenly Dao do this?”

  Tianling closed his eyes. After a long moment, he slowly opened them again.

  He couldn’t understand.

  But Lu had a faint understanding.

  Perhaps this was the decision the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao made after realizing it could no longer ascend further.

  To use the power of all living beings to break through its shackles.

  To cultivate an existence that could surpass the Extreme Emperor realm, thereby allowing the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao to transform into an immortal source.

  Unlike the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao, the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao had no Young Master Lu. After being attacked by gods and demons, it had been severely wounded. It was no longer ascending—it was declining.

  So it had made this ruthless choice.

  “The power of all living beings originally belongs to the Heavenly Dao. To break through, the Heavenly Dao simply reclaims what it once dispersed… though the consequences would be unimaginable, if it succeeds, it can rewrite all of history.”

  “But if it fails, the Nine Heavens will collapse entirely. That’s why Ancient Emperor Hao prepared the Void Heaven as a fallback…”

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  Lu said.

  Tianling closed his eyes in pain.

  “So everything… was just a game played by the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao—or rather, ‘Hao.’ And as an ancient emperor with immense energy, I became one of their targets. That’s why they tried to devour me.”

  “Unfortunately, I chose to self-destruct and ruined one corner of their chessboard.”

  Tianling said.

  Lu leaned back in the Thousand-Blade Chair and glanced at him.

  The words stung a little.

  “Whether you self-destructed or not wouldn’t have mattered much. Even if you did, the energy you released would still belong to the Nine Heavens. The Heavenly Dao would only need to spend some effort to reclaim it.”

  “But unfortunately, your soul fragments were snatched away by me—er, I mean, your soul fragments escaped on their own, fled into the Five Phoenix Continent, and reincarnated… disrupting Hao’s plans.”

  Tianling froze, looking at Lu in confusion, as though he had just heard something incredible.

  Lu quickly changed his wording.

  He had almost slipped up.

  But this explanation suddenly brought clarity to Lu.

  “So the Heavenly Dao incarnation is Extreme Emperor-level Hao… that explains why the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao—once at the peak of high martial, half a step into immortal martial—was so weak back then.”

  “The Heavenly Dao we saw was never the true Heavenly Dao. The true Heavenly Dao was quietly gathering power…”

  Lu fell into thought.

  While Lu and Tianling were deep in contemplation,

  in the memory scene—

  The Heavenly Dao incarnation, Ancient Emperor Hao, seemed to sense something.

  Boom!

  Faintly,

  it looked toward Lu and Tianling from within Tianling’s memory.

  In those profound eyes, an entire starry sky seemed to be reflected.

  “We’ve been discovered.”

  Lu narrowed his gaze.

  Tianling also looked up.

  Crack…

  The memory images began to fracture, then shattered like glass smashed by a hammer—twisting and exploding apart.

  Whoosh!

  The scenes rushed past at blinding speed.

  Lu and Tianling opened their eyes simultaneously.

  Tianling collapsed, falling onto the stone steps below the White Jade Capital pavilion, still dazed.

  He remembered the scenes deep in the rift… but the impact on his mind was just as devastating the second time.

  Though he had already endured it once.

  “They’re dead… they were all dead…”

  Tianling murmured.

  Lu ignored Tianling, who was still sitting dazed on the ground.

  He was also processing the images he had just seen.

  The information they contained was far too massive.

  “Those ancient emperors are dead, yet Ancient Emperor Hao created the illusion that they were still alive. In truth, those wills might even be the real ancient emperors’ wills… but that makes it even more horrifying.”

  “A group of brains kept in nutrient tanks, all believing they’re still alive… unaware that if the connection is severed, they would wither instantly.”

  Lu slowly exhaled.

  The Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao—or rather, Ancient Emperor Hao—was truly ruthless.

  Lu raised his head and looked toward the sky.

  In his vision, he seemed to see the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao immortal source soaring past.

  The Heavenly Dao… is like a child.

  Its growth environment determines its path.

  Compared to the carefree, joyful Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao, the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao had it rough.

  “But a Heavenly Dao that doesn’t prioritize the lives of all beings… can it still be called the Dao of the living?”

  Lu said.

  His body transformed into a streak of white light and appeared below the pavilion.

  Tianling finally snapped out of his shock, his face numb.

  He had wanted revenge, but now… what was the point of revenge?

  Everyone was dead.

  Ancient Emperor Hao was merely an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao.

  Was he supposed to take revenge on the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao?

  Even if he had the power to destroy it, doing so would mean annihilating the countless lives of the Nine Heavens.

  Could he bear to do it?

  Tianling was lost.

  When the truth he had chased for so long was laid bare before him, he found himself powerless to act.

  “Perhaps… none of it was real?”

  “Maybe it was just what Ancient Emperor Hao wanted you to see?”

  Lu said.

  “I’ve killed Fire Spirit Ancient Emperor and the Water Clan Ancient Emperor before. So to confirm whether it’s true or false, all we need to do is go to the rift and see if those two ancient emperors are still alive.”

  “If they’ve truly been devoured by Hao, then even if they die, they will simply reform.”

  Lu’s words caused Tianling’s eyes to flicker slightly.

  “Then let’s go now!”

  Tianling stood up immediately.

  There was still a sliver of hope in his heart—perhaps what he saw was fake?

  But soon, Tianling realized Lu had no intention of moving.

  “You’re not going, Young Master Lu?”

  Tianling asked in confusion.

  Lu shook his head. “I have things to do. You can go alone. Don’t worry—this Young Master will support you from behind and assist you.”

  “This Young Master’s assistance… is quite reliable.”

  Lu smiled.

  He truly had no interest in entering the Nine Heavens.

  Compared to the affairs of the Nine Heavens, fusing the Indestructible Fire Body was far more important right now.

  And dealing with the adorable little Gold Origin Beast Ancestor statue was even more urgent.

  After all, he had taken the statue—and in doing so, had provoked the Elemental Gods and their disciples.

  Though the ancient starry void was vast and boundless, with the strength of the Elemental Gods and their disciples—beings who surpassed immortal rank—Lu had no doubt they would eventually find the Five Phoenix Continent.

  So he needed to use this time to grow stronger.

  Tianling’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  He exhaled slowly.

  He had been a bit greedy. With Lu’s strength, if Lu accompanied him, his safety would be guaranteed.

  But Lu had no obligation to go with him.

  This was, after all, a matter of the Nine Heavens.

  Lu no longer belonged to the Nine Heavens.

  Strictly speaking, Tianling himself no longer belonged to the Nine Heavens either. He could simply ignore it.

  But…

  In his previous life, he had sat guarding the ancient starry void for hundreds of thousands of years.

  In the end, he had been schemed against.

  This had become an obsession buried deep in his soul, blocking his path forward. He simply wanted to fight for his dignity and clear his mind.

  Of course, he also wanted to resolve the karma with the Nine Heavens.

  “Thank you, Young Master Lu, for breaking the seal. I am endlessly grateful. Once I return from the Nine Heavens, I will fulfill my promise and guard the Five Phoenix passage for ten thousand years.”

  Tianling said.

  Lu nodded slightly.

  …

  Nine Heavens.

  Void Rift.

  “We’ve been discovered…”

  “Tianling really isn’t dead.”

  From deep within the rift, a low voice rose like a chant.

  The many ancient emperors fell silent.

  “Lu Ping’an actually revived Tianling… just to learn the secret of the rift and disrupt our plans?”

  The voice carried surprise and astonishment.

  Perhaps he hadn’t expected Lu Ping’an to revive an enemy.

  “But so what if he knows?”

  “The plan is already in its final stages. Even Lu Ping’an cannot stop it.”

  “The Heavenly Dao has given everything for the living beings. Now, it is time for the living beings to give everything for the Heavenly Dao…”

  “The original fallback was the Void Heaven. After countless years of sealed rules, it was the perfect place for the world to be cleansed and rise anew. Unfortunately, Lu Ping’an took advantage of it and created the Five Phoenix Continent…”

  “But the Five Phoenix Continent has yet to produce an existence beyond Extreme Emperor…”

  “It can serve as the new fallback.”

  The faint voice drifted through the air.

  Rumble!

  The void rift tore wider and wider.

  Finally,

  when the rift reached its limit,

  a figure of light stepped out from within—it was none other than the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao incarnation that had once entered the Five Phoenix Continent and nearly been devoured by the Five Phoenix Heavenly Dao in its origin universe.

  Now, after being nourished in the rift, the incarnation had fully recovered.

  The Heavenly Dao returned to the Nine Heavens.

  Every world in the Nine Heavens seemed to receive a gentle blessing.

  After the Heavenly Dao phantom stepped out of the rift,

  one ancient emperor after another followed, their auras rising and falling as they emerged.

  Fire Spirit Ancient Emperor, Water Clan Ancient Emperor—every ancient emperor who had once vanished now stepped out of the rift.

  Their forms appeared above every world in the Nine Heavens.

  In every world, in every layer of the Nine Heavens, the people saw the manifest ancient emperors.

  The living beings went wild with excitement.

  The ancient emperors had returned!

  A new era had begun.

  With the ancient emperors and the Heavenly Dao returning together, the Nine Heavens—which had been severely weakened by the departure of the Heavenly Spirit Clan and the destruction of the Saint Clan—would soon return to its peak under the rule of the ancient emperors!

  A golden age was coming!

  In an instant, jubilation swept across the Nine Heavens.

  …

  After Tianling left,

  Lu returned to the upper floor of the pavilion.

  He fell into deep thought.

  “Ancient Emperor Hao is the incarnation of the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao. He devoured all the ancient emperors except Tianling. His plan… is likely to use the power of all living beings to break through the Extreme Emperor realm and reach the Great Luo Immortal level…”

  Lu’s eyes flickered. Having created the current immortal-martial Five Phoenix Continent, he could somewhat guess Ancient Emperor Hao’s goal.

  If Lu were to devour the power of every powerhouse in the Five Phoenix Continent, he too could pile his cultivation up to the Great Luo Immortal realm.

  But…

  Lu’s goal was different from Ancient Emperor Hao’s.

  Lu sought to create a supreme fantasy world. To him, the world itself was the foundation.

  He needed the world to grow strong as a whole—not just himself as an individual.

  That kind of personal strength held no meaning for Lu.

  This was the fundamental difference between Lu and Ancient Emperor Hao.

  Lu shook his head, putting the matter aside.

  He had no control over the current situation in the Nine Heavens.

  Right now, he needed to deal with the gold beast statue.

  “Place the gold beast statue in the Fortune Tower? Make it a cultivation project?”

  Lu’s eyes gleamed.

  He acted immediately.

  With a thought, he appeared inside the Fortune Tower.

  He took out the adorable trophy-sized little gold beast statue and prepared to integrate it into the tower.

  However…

  Before he could set it down, Lu’s expression changed dramatically.

  Because he could clearly feel that if he really placed the statue inside, the Fortune Tower would instantly explode.

  Every powerhouse within the Fortune Tower would be erased in an instant!

  Lu took a deep breath and picked the statue back up.

  “This statue… where exactly is it adorable?”

  Lu couldn’t help but complain.

  It seemed fusing the little statue with the Fortune Tower was impossible. He would need to create a dedicated secret realm for comprehension…

  Lu rubbed his chin.

  Ideas for a secret realm quickly formed in his mind.

  As the cultivators of the Five Phoenix Continent grew stronger, Lu was starting to feel the strain. They were becoming harder and harder to fool.

  Creating a secret realm that could fool everyone was no easy task.

  But…

  With the Six Paths of Immortality and this powerful, mysterious, adorable little Beast Ancestor statue, he should be able to craft a secret realm shrouded in mystery—similar to the Gold Origin mysteries comprehension ground in the ancient starry void.

  If every cultivator in the Five Phoenix Continent could master the Gold Origin mysteries, it might bring about a massive leap in strength!

  …

  Meanwhile.

  Emperor Tianling returned to the Cosmic King Mansion and spent some tender moments with the little princess.

  Then he set off for the Nine Heavens.

  Once this matter was settled, if he could return alive, he would truly belong to the Five Phoenix Continent.

  He would have no more ties to the Nine Heavens.

  The Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao… ruthless and heartless. It filled Tianling with dread.

  Step by step.

  Emperor Tianling arrived outside the Void Abyss.

  Perhaps because of the passage, many Five Phoenix powerhouses were now stationed outside the abyss.

  Tianling appeared silently.

  With a flicker of his body, he stepped into the abyss. His flesh withstood the corrosive power of the abyss. With his peak sixth-turn Golden Immortal strength, crossing it was effortless.

  Boom!

  One step tore open the barrier between the abyss and the Nine Heavens.

  The familiar aura filled Tianling with complex emotions.

  He stepped forward.

  Finally, Emperor Tianling returned to the Nine Heavens.

  But…

  The moment he returned, his expression froze.

  He looked toward the worlds floating in the Nine Heavens.

  Behind those worlds, he could clearly sense the radiant auras of Fire Spirit Ancient Emperor and the Water Clan Ancient Emperor.

  The faint hope Tianling had clung to instantly sank into the abyss.

  Ancient Emperor Hao and the Nine Heavens’ Heavenly Dao’s plan… had begun!

  This world would soon be stained with blood.