Outside the Ziwei Star Domain, a figure suddenly appeared and silently gazed at the Ziwei Star Domain for a long time.
If Ying Hao had been here, he would certainly not have found this person unfamiliar, because it was Laozi, whom he had met once before.
"This lifetime is about to end. I should go meet Haotian the Great Emperor!" Laozi sighed.
Back on Earth, he had been awakened prematurely by Haotian the Great Emperor and had therefore missed the opening of the Immortal Ascension Path.
Timing and fate were beyond anyone's control. No matter how helpless he felt, he could only accept it.
He had originally held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that if he walked the Imperial Path again, perhaps there might still be a chance.
But this era belonged to Haotian the Great Emperor. Others simply had no chance at all.
Now, as this lifetime of his approached its end, he happened to witness Haotian the Great Emperor's rebirth and his emergence into a second lifetime.
Feeling Haotian the Great Emperor's powerful, terrifying aura, he could not help recalling what Cao Yusheng had once said.
There was always gain after loss. Could this truly be an opportunity?
That was why he had come. He entered the Ziwei Star Domain and, in Tanggu Valley, where yin and yang qi swirled, he met Haotian the Great Emperor once again.
"Greetings, Great Emperor!" Laozi said, cupping his hands in salute.
Compared to the past, Haotian the Great Emperor remained as graceful as ever, impossibly young, while he himself had already grown old and frail.
No! It was not that he remained as graceful as ever. Haotian the Great Emperor had become even more unfathomable!
His aura was clearly undetectable, making him look like an ordinary mortal, yet he gave Laozi an uncontrollable feeling of trembling.
"Greetings, fellow Daoist!"
Ying Hao studied Laozi. They had not met for ten thousand years, and Laozi had started cultivating from scratch. Now, he had achieved the Dao by an alternative path.
He was not surprised by this. Laozi was the spirit born from the corpse of Daoist Heavenly Venerate, so reaching this stage was only natural.
However, this was already Laozi's limit. He could sense that Laozi's life had reached its end.
Moreover, Laozi must have taken divine medicine. Otherwise, with his cultivation after achieving the Dao by an alternative path, his lifespan in one lifetime could not possibly exceed ten thousand years.
"The Great Emperor has successfully lived out a second lifetime and extended the peak of his first lifetime. Truly, this is cause for celebration!" Laozi said.
Haotian the Great Emperor was already invincible beneath the heavens. Now that he had lived out a second lifetime, how far could he go in the future?
Before coming to the Ziwei Star Domain, he might not have felt this deeply. But after meeting Haotian the Great Emperor, he suddenly had no definite answer.
Normally, the second lifetime was an Emperor's limit. Living out a third lifetime was almost impossible.
But Haotian the Great Emperor was already so powerful. Could he truly be unable to break through the shackles and defy the heavens to live out a third lifetime?
After all, before this, Haotian the Great Emperor had already broken through the shackles of heaven and earth more than once.
"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?" Ying Hao asked.
Laozi was already on the verge of dying. He had come to see Ying Hao at this time, so it certainly was not merely to meet him one last time.
After observing Laozi for some time, he had more or less guessed Laozi's purpose.
"I have an improper request. I hope the Great Emperor can lend me a hand."
Laozi's expression turned solemn as he stated the purpose of his visit. In truth, he had come carrying a sliver of hope.
This lifetime of his had reached its end, and Daoist Heavenly Venerate's long-held wish was difficult to fulfill. Naturally, he was unwilling to accept that.
His only hope was for Haotian the Great Emperor to lend him a hand and bury him in Earth once again.
With Haotian the Great Emperor's methods, allowing a new consciousness to awaken when the Immortal Ascension Path opened should not be difficult.
The only problem was whether the corpse of Daoist Heavenly Venerate could give birth to a new will once again.
Could corpse-spirit awakening happen only once, or could it happen multiple times? Even the Venerate had never fully understood this subject.
That was precisely why he had called it an improper request. He was merely holding onto a sliver of hope and wanted to give it a try.
"Your spirit was born from a corpse. Your body is divine, but you are not yourself anymore. What meaning is there in this?" Ying Hao asked.
"This is Daoist Heavenly Venerate's long-cherished wish, and it is also the meaning of my existence. How could I let it go?" Laozi sighed.
Ying Hao fell silent. He merely stared at Laozi, as if he wanted to see through him completely, inside and out.
Laozi was a will born from the corpse of Daoist Heavenly Venerate. In theory, Laozi should have been an entirely new living being.
Yet Ying Hao always felt that things were not so simple. On Laozi, he saw traces of Daoist Heavenly Venerate.
When Laozi had first awakened, those traces had not been obvious. Now, after meeting again ten thousand years later, they had become increasingly distinct.
Had Laozi been influenced by Daoist Heavenly Venerate's corpse?
Or, as Laozi's cultivation continuously increased, was Daoist Heavenly Venerate's consciousness gradually awakening?
"I will naturally lend you a hand, but there is no need for such trouble!" Ying Hao said.
Laozi had been awakened by him, so he could be considered to have disrupted Daoist Heavenly Venerate's plans. It was only right for him to lend Laozi a hand.
Moreover, he was becoming increasingly curious about Laozi. This might be an excellent opportunity to study reincarnation.
"Does the Great Emperor mean self-sealing?" Laozi's heart skipped a beat as he asked.
Many people used self-sealing to cross the long years and emerge again when the Immortal Ascension Path opened.
But he was different. His body was Daoist Heavenly Venerate's body, belonging to the Imperial level, and it was fundamentally impossible to self-seal.
Unless he severed his cultivation, but if he had been willing to do that, Daoist Heavenly Venerate would have done so back then.
"No need for self-sealing! Why not simply stay alive until the Immortal Ascension Path opens?" Ying Hao said with a smile.
Laozi wore a blank expression. Although he did not know how long it would be before the Immortal Ascension Path opened, it would certainly be an extremely long time.
Without self-sealing, who could live for such a long time?
Before he could voice the confusion in his heart, a peach appeared before him, and its exotic fragrance immediately filled his nose.
Merely smelling its fragrance gave him the feeling that he was about to ascend to immortality. His entire body seemed to grow several years younger in an instant.
What kind of peach was this? How could it possess such an astonishing effect?
Just as he was stunned, he heard a voice beside his ear say, "Eat it." He immediately put the peach into his mouth.
It melted as soon as it entered his mouth. A warm current flowed through his body, and his decaying body immediately radiated new life.
Ying Hao kept his eyes fixed on Laozi. The peach's effects had been based entirely on his speculation.
Now that Laozi had consumed it, vigorous life force surged through his body, and his entire person began to change.
Under Ying Hao's gaze, Laozi slowly regained his youth, no longer showing the slightest trace of his former frailty and old age.
Everything was just as he had expected. The peach's effects were extraordinarily potent; it could indeed extend one's lifespan.
Laozi had not only achieved the Dao by an alternative path, but his physical body was also at the Imperial level. He could be said to be separated from an Emperor by only a hair's breadth.
Since the peach could extend Laozi's lifespan, extending an Emperor's lifespan should not be too difficult either.
Now, all that remained was to see just how heaven-defying the peach's effects were and how many years it could add to Laozi's life.
In the time to come, he would learn the answer to this question from Laozi.
Laozi stared at Haotian the Great Emperor, dumbfounded. A tidal wave surged through his heart, and it took him a long time to calm down.
How was this possible?
He had merely eaten a peach, yet he had truly regained his youth, and his body was filled with vigorous life force.
He felt as though he had returned to the moment he had first awakened. Did this not mean that he could still live for a very long time?
What kind of immortal medicine could possibly possess such an astonishing effect?
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