Chapter 123: Witness of the Era (20) |
Su Chen's face was pale. He stared at the Spirit Divine King's downfall and murmured to himself, "Truly, one cannot afford to be too arrogant."
The Spirit Divine King's strength had been terrifying beyond measure. After fusing with that single arm bone, his power had rivaled an alternative path to the Dao—on par with a Supreme.
But… he had been far too arrogant. To challenge the entire cosmos's powerhouses single-handedly. Failure had been his inevitable fate.
More than ten Quasi-Emperors, wielding emperor scriptures, forced the gravely wounded Supremes to retreat. Together, they executed the unwilling Spirit Divine King.
In this battle… too many had died. Even the old Quasi-Emperor of the Emperor Palace had fallen. From the direction of the palace came the sound of mournful weeping. With his death, the era of the Emperor Palace had truly come to an end.
Yet even after the battle concluded, the Emperor Tribulation did not disperse.
"Someone… has become an Emperor!"
As the tribulation descended, the crowd finally saw the figure bathed in thunderlight.
"You… how could it be you?"
In that moment, black qi surged from Lin Zhan's body. With a casual sweep of his hand, he erased an entire star domain. Then, without another word, he fled into one of the forbidden zones.
Wang Yunfei returned to the Heavenly Profound Domain.
"I will seal myself away and await the opening of the next great era… In this one, it is not that I cannot become an Emperor, but that the timing will not wait for me."
After entrusting everything to Su Chen and leaving the Wang family in his care, Wang Yunfei returned to the Emperor Palace. Together with Fan Qingyin, he sealed himself away, waiting for the dawn of the next great era.
The Supremes of the forbidden zones—perhaps battered enough—did not emerge again.
It made sense. Divine Evolution Great Emperor had slain four, gravely wounded one, and driven two to flee. Then came the battle against the Spirit Divine King, in which two more emerged only to be severely injured. The only one who profited, Supreme Zhou Guang, had taken the Spirit Divine King's arm bone and vanished without a trace—seemingly wary of something.
These were Supremes whose lifespans neared their end, forced to gamble everything in one last desperate bid. The others, if they conserved their vitality, might endure another few hundred thousand or even a million years. There was no need to risk death against a newly ascended Great Emperor. If they lost that gamble, the consequences would be unbearable.
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"Fang Bubai… it was actually him who became Emperor!"
Su Chen felt both surprise and a sense of inevitability.
Aside from the Spirit Divine King, Fang Bubai had been the closest to the peak of Quasi-Emperor. After the battle with the Spirit Divine King, he had gained the greatest benefits.
As the thunder tribulation faded, a new great Dao slowly rose in the cosmos once more, suppressing all beneath it.
"Congratulations to the Invincible Great Emperor—ascension to the Emperor Dao!"
After the primordial era, the thirty-fourth Great Emperor had appeared!
The ones who rejoiced most were the people of the Eastern Wasteland's Prison-Suppressing Sacred Land… With Fang Bubai's ascension in this era, had they not become an Emperor lineage?
After achieving the Dao, Fang Bubai traveled to many places. With a Great Emperor alive in the world, the myriad races of the cosmos dared not disobey.
In the end, Fang Bubai returned to the Heavenly Profound Domain. Heaven, earth, and the myriad races once again returned to peace.
In this era, an utterly terrifying Dark Turmoil erupted. The number of Supremes involved could be counted on two hands. Astonishingly, despite so many Supremes emerging, the catastrophe did not lead to the extinction of all life. Among every recorded Dark Turmoil in history, the number of casualties in this one was the fewest.
Eight hundred years later, Su Chen's cultivation reached the peak of the Saint realm.
He resigned from his position as patriarch of the Wang family. His most outstanding descendant took over as the new patriarch.
The Wang family's last remaining Saint King had grown decrepit with age. Su Chen had no choice but to seek out an opportunity to break through to the Saint King realm.
Another eight hundred years passed in the blink of an eye. Su Chen successfully advanced to the Saint King realm.
A Saint King enjoyed eight thousand years of lifespan—an extension of three thousand more years. Yet Su Chen knew that, given his aptitude, he would likely never have the chance to reach the Great Saint realm in this lifetime.
After breaking through to Saint King, Su Chen returned to the Wang family. The last Saint King of the clan had reached the end of his life. In a final desperate gamble, he ventured into a life-forbidden zone and never emerged again. His soul lamp extinguished soon after.
The Heavenly Profound Domain had undergone enormous changes. Thanks to Fang Bubai's ascension, the domain had been elevated to an Emperor Domain and become the new center of the cosmos. The Eastern Wasteland had replaced Central Continent as the most powerful of the five.
Su Chen traveled to the Eastern Wasteland. Almost all of his old acquaintances had perished over the years. Yet Ling Wuya of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Land had survived multiple cataclysms and turmoil. Now he served as the Sacred Land's lord and had become a Saint King powerhouse. When the two old friends reunited, they spoke freely and joyfully for a long time.
Several months later, Su Chen departed the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Land and headed to the Southern Barbarian Lands.
The former Heavenly Sword Sacred Land had failed to produce even a single Saint during this great era. Its original territory had been seized long ago, and the sect had vanished into the river of history.
Su Chen arrived at the new Sacred Land that now occupied the site. He made no effort to conceal his Saint King aura. A trembling Saint soon appeared before him.
"Senior, what brings you here?"
Su Chen spoke calmly. "This seat once had ties with the Heavenly Sword Sacred Land of old. Tell me—did your sect destroy them?"
The words alone drained the color from the Saint's face. He trembled uncontrollably.
Su Chen gave a faint smile. "This seat sees that your cultivation has not been easy. Hand over the inheritance of the Heavenly Sword Sacred Land. In return, I will find a suitable successor for them. That way, I will not have betrayed the old bonds."
The Saint dared not refuse. He knew full well this was outright robbery, yet under the crushing pressure of a Saint King, he had no choice but to comply.