"Senior Brother?" The Pioneering Emperor Venerable arrived and looked at the Undefeated Immortal Venerable in surprise. "You've come out of seclusion?"
He knew perfectly well why the Undefeated Immortal Venerable had entered seclusion. Everyone did. Now that he had emerged safe and sound, had he succeeded?
Impossible.
The Pioneering Emperor Venerable rejected the thought. Heaven and earth no longer permitted anyone to Become Heaven. The Undefeated Immortal Venerable could not have crossed that threshold.
He had heard that even attempting it would end in being reduced to dust and ashes. Heaven's Decree would not tolerate anyone who violated the taboo. Death was certain.
Shortly after the Undefeated Immortal Venerable entered seclusion, signs of his impending demise had appeared. Clearly, that restriction imposed by Heaven's Decree still existed.
Once the Undefeated Immortal Venerable began his seclusion, he had effectively left himself no retreat. Almost nothing but death awaited him.
Yet now, the Undefeated Immortal Venerable had suddenly emerged!
"Already prepared to collect my corpse?" the Undefeated Immortal Venerable asked in return, looking expressionlessly at the Pioneering Emperor Venerable. He knew what the other man was thinking.
"You jest, Senior Brother. Naturally, I hoped you would succeed." The Pioneering Emperor Venerable smiled and asked tentatively, "So, Senior Brother, have you really... succeeded?"
"I don't know." The Undefeated Immortal Venerable truly did not know.
Had he succeeded, or had he failed?
He could not tell.
Judging by the result, he had not Become Heaven, so it counted as a failure.
But he had not perished because of it. What did that count as?
Had Heaven's Decree spared him?
"Senior Brother, during your years in seclusion, the various races have behaved themselves. Relations between them are much more harmonious now. If we launch another Immortal Emperor War, the outcome will certainly be entirely different,"